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HISTOEY  OE  ENGLAND. 


FROM  THE  FIRST 


INVASION  BY  THE  ROMANS  ] 

TO  THE  J 

ACCESSION  OF  ¥ILLIAM  AND  MARY  \ 

i 

IN  1088.  \ 

I 
By  JOHN  LINGARD,  D.D.  \ 

i 

I 

i 
IN  TEN  VOLUMES.  j 


VOL.  vii.  n^^^ 

^  ry 


LONDON: 
CHARLES    DOLMAN,    61,   NEW   BOND  *STEEET, 

AND    22,    PATERNOSTER   ROW. 
MDCCCLIV. 


J)A 

a'2 


CONTENTS 


OP 


THE    SEVENTH    VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  I. 


JAMES  I. 


Amval  of  James  in  England — Emhassies  from  Foreign  Courts — Conspiracy — 
Confei'ence  at  Hampton  Court — Proceedings  in  Parliament — In  Convocation 
— Seventies  against  the  Catholics — Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Gunpowder 
Plot — Its  Failure,  and  the  Fate  of  the  Conspirators — Tnal  and  Execution 
of  Garnet — Meeting  of  Parliament — New  Penal  Laws — Controversy  respecting 
the  Oath  of  Allegiance. 


James  proclaimed 

4 

Conference  at  Hampton  Court . . 

16 

He  enters  England 

ih. 

A  parliament 

18 

His  popularity  decreases 

ib. 

Proceedings  of  Con-wcation 

20 

Distribution  of  honours 

5 

Persecution  of  the  Puritans 

21 

Embassies 

6 

Of  the  Catholics 

22 

From  Holland    . . 

ib. 

Catesby's  plot     . . 

23 

From  the  archduke 

ib. 

His  associate  Winter     . . 

ib. 

From  the  king  of  France 

ib. 

Other  accomplices 

24 

Politics  of  the  Spanish  court    . . 

7 

James  rejects  the  intercession  of 

Conspiracy  in  England  . . 

ib. 

the  Spanish  king 

25 

"The  Bye"         

8 

The    conspirators    work    at   the 

Apprehension    of   the  conspira- 

mine    . . 

26 

tors       

9 

Catesby  proposes  a  case  to  Gar- 

King's coronation 

11 

net 

ib. 

Trials 

ib. 

Percy  hires  a  cellar  under  the 

Of  Raleigh           

12 

parliament-house 

27 

Of  Cobham  and  Grey     . . 

13 

Severity  of  the  persecution 

28 

Executions 

ib. 

Catesby  receives  more  associates 

29 

Pardon  of  Cobham,   Grey,   and 

His  object  suspected 

ib. 

Markham 

14 

Parliament  prorogued    . . 

30 

King's  conduct  to  the  Catholics 

15 

Sir  Everard  Digby 

ib. 

To  the  Puritans 

ib. 

Francis  Tresham 

31 

CONTENTS. 


Plan  of  the  conspirators 
The  plot  revealed  to  Garnet 
Tresham  hesitates 
Letter  to  Lord  Mounteagle 
Doubts  of  the  conspirators 
They  resolve  to  persevere 
Apprehension  of  Faukes 
His  resolution     . . 
His  accomplices  flee 
Are  all  slain  or  taken 
Prisoners  examined 
Trials       . . 
And  execution    . . 
Apprehension  of  Garnet 


31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
ib. 
36 
ib. 
ib. 
37 
ib. 


His  examination  . .         . .  39 

His  trial 40 

Subsequent  examinations  . .  42 

And  execution    . .  . .  . .  43 

Punishment  of  Catholic  lords    . .  44 

Proceedings  in  parliament         . .  45 

Expostulation  of  Henry  IV.     . .  ib. 

New  penal  code  . .  . .  . .  46 

Oath  of  allegiance  . .  . .  47 

Condemned  by  the  pope  . .  49 

Approved  by  the  arch-priest    . .  ib. 
James  writes  in  favour   of  the 

oath 50 

Controversy  respecting  it         . .  51 


CHAPTER  II. 


James  and  his  Consort,  Anne  of  Denmark — Insurrection — Union  of  England 
and  Scotland — King's  Expenses — Proceedings  of  Parliament — Marriage, 
Imprisonment,  and  Death  of  Arabella  Stuart — Death  of  Prince  Henry — Rise 
of  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset — Divorce  of  Earl  and  Countess  of  Essex — Rise  of 
George  Villiers,  Duhe  of  Buckingham. — Arrest  and  Tnal  of  Earl  and  Cov/ntess 
of  Somerset — Disgrace  of  Coke — Transactions  with  Holland — Errors  of 
Vorstius — Synod  of  Dort — Introduction  of  Episcopacy  into  Scotland — Visit- 
of  James  to  Ediiiburgh —  Commission  of  Graces  in  Ireland — Flight  of  Tyrone' 
— Plantation  of  Ulster — Proceedings  of  Irish  Parliament — New  Planta- 
tions. 


Occupations  of  the  king  . .  52 

Of  the  queen       . .  . .  . .  ib. 

Insuirection        ..  ..  ..53 

Salisbury  and  Northampton     . .  55 
Union    of   England    and    Scot- 
land     . .          . .          . .          . .  ib. 

Naturalization    of    British    sub- 
jects    . .  . .  . .  ...  56 

King's  expenses  . .  . .  . .  57 

New  plan  of  finance       . .  . .  58 

Impositions  . .  . .  . .  59 

Feudal  burthens. .  . .  . .  60 

Grievances  . .  . .  . .  ib. 

Death  of  Cecil 62 

Arabella  Stuart  . .  . .  ..  ib. 

Death  of  Prince  Henry  . .  . .  64 

Marriage  of  Princess  Elizabeth  Q5  , 

King's  favourites  . .  . .  ib.  \ 

Carr,  earl  of  Somerset   .  .  . .  ib.\ 

Sir  Thomas  Overburj'    . .  . .  &Q  . 

(Jause  of  his  imprisonment        ..  67  | 

Divorce  of  the  earl  and  countess  I 

of  Essex  . .  . ,  . .  ih. 


Marriage  of  Somerset    . . 

New  parliament . . 

Rise  of  George  Villiers . . 

Arrest  of  Somerset 

Inquiry  into  the  death  of  Over 

bury     . .  . . 

Execution  of  the  murderers 
Conduct  of  Somerset 
Conviction  of  the  countess 
And  of  the  earl  . . 
Disgrace  of  Coke 
Rise  of  Bacon 
Transactions  with  Holland 
Respecting    the     succession     to 

Cleves  . . 
The  errors  of  Vorstius  . . 
The  synod  of  Dort 
The  church  of  Scotland  . . 
Restoration  of  episcopacy 
King's  visit  to  Scotland. . 
The  five  articles  . . 
Ireland     . . 
Public  tranquillity 


681 
691 
70i 
71  = 

ib. 
72 
73 

74 
ib. 
78 
ib. 

77 


79 
ib. 
80 
ib. 

83 
84 
85 


CONTENTS. 


Leligious  discontent 
Commission  of  graces     . . 
■ufferings  of  his  friends , . 
ievolt  of  O'Dogherty    . . 
Plantation  of  Ulster 
nstitution  of  baronets  . . 


Disputes  in  parliament . . 
Remonstrance  of  Catholics 
King  judges  between  the 

ties 
Conclusion  of  pai'liament 
New  plantations 


par- 


92 


ih. 
94 


CHAPTER  III. 


Persecution  of  the  Catholics,  Puritans,  and  Unitarians — Bacon — BucTcingham. — 
I%e  family  of  the  Lakes — Sir  Walter  Raleigh — The  Palatine  elected  King  of 
Bohemia — Proceedings  of  Parliament — Impeachments — Disgrace  of  Bacon — 
Williams  made  Lord  Keeper — Homicide  hy  Archbishop  Abbot — Dissension 
between  the  King  and  the  Commons — Marriage  Treaty  with  Spain — The 
Prince  at  Madrid— The  Match  broken  off — Parliament — Supply — Impeach- 
ment of  the  Lord  Treasurer — Intrigue  against  Buckingham — Preparations 
for  War  with  Spain — Marriage  Treaty  with  France — Death  of  the  King. 


Archbishop  Abbot         . .  . .      95 

Sufferings  of  the  Catholics  . .  96 
Burning  of  Unitarians  . .  . .      97 

Bacon  in  disgrace  . .  . .      98 

Power  of  Buckingham  . .  . .      ih. 

Trial  of  the  earl  of  Suffolk         . .      99 

Of  the  Lakes 100 

Sir  ^Valter  Raleigh         . .  . .      ih. 

His  discharge  from  the  Tower. .  102 
His  previous  voyage  to  Guiana  ib. 
Obtains   leave  to  make  another 

voyage   . .  . .  . .  ..    ib. 

His  unfortunate   attack   on  the 

town  of  St.  Thomas   ..  ..103 

His  return  to  England  . .  . .    104 

His  apprehension  . .  . .      ih. 

His  confinement. .  . .  . .      ib. 

His  death  . .  . .  . .    106 

Death  of  the  queen         ..  ..      ib. 

Insurrection  in  Bohemia  . .    107 

The  palatine  elected  king         . .      ib. 
Embarrassment  of  James  ..    108 

A  parliament       ..  ..  ..    109 

Its  proceedings  . .  . .  ..      ib. 

Impeachment  of  patentees         ..    110 
Of  the  lord  chancellor    ..  ..Ill 

His  judgment      ..  ..  . .      ib. 

Other  impeachments      ..  ..112 

Close  of  the  session        ..  ..113 

Williams  lord  keeper     ..  ..    114 

Homicide  by  Archbishop  Abbot  115 


He  is  absolved  from  irregularity  116 

Treaties  in  favour  of  the  palatine     ib. 

Second  session  of  parliament    . . 

Quarrel  between  the  king  and 
the  Commons  . . 

Dissolution  of  parliament 

Punishment  of  the  members 

Treaty  of  marriage  with  Spain. . 

Indulgences  granted  to  the  Ca- 
tholics . .  . .  . .  . .      ib. 

Progress  of  the  treaty   . .  . .    1 21 

Journey  of  the  prince  to  Spain. .    122 

Delays  of  the  Spaniards 

Dissatisfaction  of  Buckingham . . 

Artifice  to  break  off  the  match. . 

Recall  of  Bristol. . 

Regret  of  James. . 

Parliament  called 

Vote  of  money    . . 

Proceedings  against  Catholics  . . 

Grievances 

Prosecution  of  the  earl  of  Mid- 
dlesex . . 

Intrigue  against  Buckingham  . . 

Defeated  by  VVilliams    . . 

Preparations  for  war 

Treaty  of  marriage  with  a  French 
princess 

It  is  concluded    . .  . .  . .    138 

Death  of  James  . .  . .  . .    139 

His  character      ..  ..  ..    140 


ib. 

117 

119 

ib. 

120 


123 
124 
125 
127 
128 
129 
131 
132 
ib. 

133 
134 
135 
136 

137 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CHAELES     I. 


The  King's  Marriage  —  His  First  Parliament  —  Unsuccessful  Expedition 
against  Cadiz — Second  Parliament — Impeachments  of  Bristol  and  Bucking- 
ham—War with  France — Disgraceful  Expedition  to  the  Isle  of  Rhe — Third 
Parliament — Petition  of  Right — Assassination  of  Buckingham — Ministers — 
Laud,  Bishop  of  London — Expedients  to  raise  Money — Peace  with  France 
and  Spain — Proceedings  in  favour  of  the  Palatine. 


The  king's  marriage       . .  . .    142 

He  calls  a  parliament    . .  . .    143 

State  of  parties  . .  . .  ..     ih. 

Proceedings   of   parliament     at 
Westminster  . .  . .  . .    145 

At  Oxford  ih. 

Expedition  against  Cadiz  .,    146 

Foreign  treaties . .  ..  ..147 

Preparations  for  the  meeting  of 
parliament       ..  ..  ..148 

Complaints  by  the  Commons     . .    149 
Question  of  privilege      ..  ..    150 

Bristol  accused  of  treason  ..    151 

He  accuses  the  duke      . .  . .      ib. 

Bristol's  answer  . .  . .  . .    152 

The  duke  is  impeached  by  the 
Commons         . .  . .  . .      ih. 

Two  of  the  managers  imprisoned     ih. 
The    duke    made    chancellor   of 
Cambridge       . .  . .  ..      ih. 

His  defence         . .  . .  ..    153 

Expedients  to  raise  money        . .    154 
A  forced  loan      . .  . .  . .    155 

Punishment  of  the  refractory  . .      ih. 
Causes  of  war  with  France       . .      ih. 
The  duke's  passion  for  Anne  of 
Austria  . .  . .  . .    156 

Dismissal  of  the  queen's  household  157 
Of  the  causes  of  dissension        . .      ib. 
Intrigues  with  the  French  Pro- 
testants . .  . .  . .    158 


Buckingham  appears  before  Ro 
chelle    . . 

Descent  on  the  Isle  of  Rhe 

Revolt  of  the  Protestants 

Retreat  from  Rhe 

A  parliament  called 

Its  proceedings  . . 

Petition  of  right. . 

The  king  dissembles 

And  passes  it 

Prorogation  of  parliament 

Advantages  gained  by  the  country 
party    . . 

Political  apostacy 

Assassination  of  the  duke 

Punishment  of  the  assassin 

Loss  of  Rochelle. . 

Religious  grievances 

Petition  of  right . . 

Tumults  in  the  lower  house 

Members  imprisoned 

Plan  to  govern  without  parlia 
ment     . . 

Members  of  the  council 

Bishop  Laud 

Peace  with  France 

With  Spain 

Intrigues  with  the  States  of  Flan- 
ders 

New  sources  of  revenue 

Treatment  of  the  Catholics 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


Vhe  King  in  Scotland — Discontent  in  England  — In  Ireland — Oppressive 
Conduct  of  Wentioorth — In  Scotland — New  Service  Booh — Covenant — Riots 
— King  marches  against  the  Covenanters — Pacification  of  Berwick — Scottish 
and  English  PaHiaments  —  A  Second  War  —  Scots  obtain  Possession  of 
NortJiumbaiand  and  Durham — Great  Council  at  York — Treaty  transferred 
to  London. 

Transactions  in  Scotland 

Coronation  in  Edinburgh 

Scottish  parliament 

Conduct  of  Laud 

Envoys  from  the  pope  . . 

Trials  in  the  Star-chamber 

Trial  of  the  bishop  of  Lincoln 

Of  Prynne 

Of  Bastwick  and  Burton 

Their  punishment 

High  Commission  court 

New  treasurer    . . 

Encroachments  on  the  forests 

Ship-money 

Hampden 

Proceedings  in  Ireland  . . 

Wentworth  lord  deputy 

Irish  parliament 

Convocation 

Irish  Court  of  Wards     . . 

New  plantations  projected 

Prosecutions 

Trial  of  Mountnorria 

Wentworth's  apology    . . 

Scotland  . . 

Trial  of  Balmerino 

New  service-book 

It  is  opposed 


184 

Tumult 

207 

ib. 

Establishment  of  the   ''  Tables  ' 

209 

ib 

T^ptif.innR 

ib 

185 

A  new  covenant . . 

ib. 

ib. 

Hamilton  commissioner 

210 

188 

Concessions  refused 

211 

189 

Assembly  at  Glasgow    . . 

212 

190 

Preparations  for  war 

213 

191 

Backwardness  of  the  English  . . 

214 

192 

Scots  begin  hostilities    . . 

215 

193 

The  armies  meet. . 

216 

194 

Pacification  of  Berwick, . 

217 

195 

Assembly  at  Edinburgh 

ib. 

196 

Parliament 

218 

197 

Destruction  of  a  Spanish  fleet  . . 

ib. 

198 

Irish  parliament. . 

219 

199 

English  parliament 

ib. 

200 

Dissolution 

221 

201 

Eiots 

222 

202 

Convocation 

223        ' 

ib. 

Scottish  parliament 

224 

203 

Warlike  preparations     . . 

ib. 

204 

Scots  pass  the  Tyne 

225 

ib. 

Negotiation 

226 

205 

Great  council  of  peers   . . 

ib. 

ib. 

Partial      agreement     with     the 

206 

Scots     

227 

207 

Treaty  transferred  to  London  . . 

ib. 

VUl 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

Proceedings  in  Parliament  —  ImpeacJiments  of  Strafford  and  Laud  —  Vote 
against  the  Legislative  and  Judicial  Powers  of  Bishops — Trial  and  Execution 
of  Strafford — Triennial  Parliaments — The  King  holds  a  Parliament  in 
Scotland — ReheUion  in  Ireland — Remonstrance  of  tJie  Commons — Protest  and 
Impeachment  of  Twelve  Bishops — King  impeaches  Six  Members — Bishops 
depi'ived  of  Seats  in  Parliament — Progress  of  the  Rebellion  in  Ireland — 
King  retires  to  York — He  is  refused  Entrance  into  Hull — The  Houses  levy 
am,  Army — Charles  sets  up  his  Standard  at  Nottingham. 

Opening  of  parliament  . . 
State  of  parties  . . 
Proceedings  in  parliament 
Impeachment  of  Stratford 
Of  Windebank  . . 

Of  Land  

Of  Finch 

Treaty  with  the  Scots    . . 
Vote  of  the  Commons   . . 
Petitions  against  bishops 
Change  of  ministers 
Trial  of  Strafford 
Charges  made  against  him 
The  Lords  favourable  to  him    . . 
The  Commons  pass  a  bill  of  at- 
tainder.. 
Strafford's  defence 
The  king's  efforts  to  save  him  . . 
Protestation  of  the  houses 
Bill  passed 

Strafford's  letter  to  the  king     . . 
Distress  of  Charles 
He  yields 
Death  of  Strafford 
Strafford's  guilt  . .  . . 

More  impeachments 
Queen's  terrors   . . 
Jealousy  between  the  houses    . . 
King  in  Scotland 


227 

The  incident 

248 

228 

Irish  rebellion     . . 

250 

229 

Its  origin. . 

251 

230 

Secret  intrigue  by  the  king 

252 

ib. 

Plot  discovered  . . 

263 

231 

Rebels  in  Ulster 

ib. 

ib. 

Their  apology     . . 

254 

232 

Charles  returns  to  London 

ib. 

ib. 

The  remonstrance 

255 

233 

Proceedings  of  parliament 

ib. 

ib. 

Commitment  of  twelve  bishops. . 

257 

235 

Six  members  impeached  by  the 

ib. 

king 

ib. 

237 

Triumph  of  his  opponents 
Intrigues  in  court  and.  the  two 

258 

239 

houses  , . 

259 

ih. 

Dispute  about  command  of  forces  260 

240 

King  retires  to  York      . . 

261 

241 

Progress  of  rebellion  in  Ireland. . 

ib. 

242 

Rising  of  the  pale 

ib. 

ib. 

Their  vindication 

262 

243 

Cruelties . . 

263 

ib. 

Measures  of  relief 

ib. 

ib. 

Fruitless  attempt  on  Hull 

264 

244 

Both  parties  raise  men  . . 

265 

ib. 

Their  demands    . . 

ib. 

245 

Commencement  of  hostilities    . . 

266 

246 

King  raises  his  standard 

267 

247 

Reflections 

ib. 

APPENDIX 


269 


THE 

HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND 

VOL.    VII. 


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HISTORY 


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ENGLAND 


CHAPTEE  I. 


JAMES  I. 

CONTEMPOKAEY  PEmCES. 


Emperors. 

Eodolph    1612 

Matthias   1619 

Ferdinand  II. 


JT.  of  France. 

Henry  IV 1610 

Louis  XIII. 


X.  of  Spain. 

PMlipJII 1621 

Philip  IV. 


Popeg. 
Clement  VIII....  1605 

Leo  XI 1605 

Paul  V 1621 

Gregory  XV.  ...1624 
Urban  VUI. 


ARBIVAL  OP  JAMES  IN  ENGLAND — EMBASSIES  PROM  FOREIGN"  COURTS — CONSPIRACY 
CONFERENCE  AT  HAMPTON  COURT PROCEEDINGS  IN  PARLIAMENT IN  CON- 
VOCATION  SEVERITIES    AGAINST    THE   CATHOLICS ORIGIN    AND    PROGRESS  OF  THE 

GUNPOWDER    PLOT ITS    FAILURE    AND    THE    FATE    OP    THE    CONSPIRATORS TRIAL 

AND     EXECUTION     OF    GARNET MEETING    OF     PARLIAMENT NEW     PENAL    LAWS 

CONTROVERSY    RESPECTING    THE    OATH    OF    ALLEGIANCE. 


The  narrow  and  selfish  policy  of 
the  late  queen  had  left  the  succession 
to  the  crown  in  suspense  and  un- 
certainty. James  VI.  of  Scotland 
was  by  descent  the  next  heir;  but 
the  exclusion  of  the  Scottish  line  in 
the  will  of  Henry  VIII.  had  thrown 
some  doubt  on  his  right,  and  it 
was  generally  beheved  that  his  pre- 
tensions would  meet  with  opposition 
from  the  fears  of  the  noblemen  whose 
hands  had  been  stained  with  the  blood 
of  his  unfortunate  mother :  from  the 
jealousy  of  the  churchmen,  who  must 
fear  the  accession  of  a  prince  edu- 
cated in  the  principles  of  Calvin; 
and  from  the  intrigues  of  the  Catho- 
lics, whose   interest  it  was  to  seek 

^  It  was  probably  to  encourage  this  belief 
that  his  work   entitled   Basilicon   Doron, 


relief  from  the  penal  laws  by  support- 
ing a  CathoHc  successor.  For  years 
the  public  mind  had  been  agitated 
with  predictions  of  the  fearful  conse- 
quences to  be  apprehended  on  the 
death  of  Elizabeth ;  predictions  which 
the  event  proved  to  have  been  no 
better  than  the  dreams  of  timid 
or  designing  politicians.  Not  a  voice 
was  raised  in  favour  of  any  other 
claimant.  The  supposed  enemies  of 
James  had  long  ago  made  their  peace 
with  their  future  sovereign;  the 
clergy  gave  credit  to  his  assurances 
that  he  loathed  a  form  of  religion 
which  led  to  the  depression,  if  not  the 
extinction,  of  the  royal  authority;^ 
and  the  Catholics,    flattered  by  the 


which  he  had  completed  in  1599,  was  now 
printed.    It  was  so  universally  read,  that 


JAMES. 


[CEEAP.  T. 


reports  of  their  agents,  hailed  with 
joy  the  succession  of  a  prince  who 
was  said  to  have  promised  the  tolera- 
tion of  their  worship,  in  return  for  the 
attachment  which  they  had  so  often 
displayed  for  the  house  of  Stuart. 

By  .the  address  of  Cecil  the  acces- 
sion of  the  Scottish  king  was  pro- 
claimed, before  the  death  of  the  late 
queen  had  become  publicly  known. 
At  his  invitation,  thirty-five  indi- 
viduals, councillors,  prelates,  peers, 
and  officers  of  state,  met  him  at 
Whitehall,  and,  with  the  name  of  the 
lord  mayor  at  the  head,  subscribed  a 
declaration  that  James  of  Scotland 
was  the  lawful  and  undoubted  heir 
to  the  English  crown.  Not  a  moment 
was  lost.  The  whole  body  assembled 
in  front  of  the  palace,  and  proceeded 
thence  to  the  cross  in  Cheapside :  at 
both  places  the  king  of  Scots  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  voice  of  Cecil  himself; 
and  the  citizens,  by  their  acclama- 
tions, bonfires,  and  the  ringing  of 
bells,  testified  their  satisfaction  at  the 
accession  of  the  new  monarch.' 

James,  who  was  in  his  thirty- 
seventh  year,  received  the  intelli- 
gence with  transports  of  joy.  He  had 
long  been  weary  of  a  throne  on 
which  his  darling  propensities  were 
continually  checked  by  the  want  of 
money,  and  his  high  notions  of  the 
royal  dignity  were  combated  by  the 
levelling  principles  of  the  clergy,  and 
the  factious  spirit  of  the  nobles.  He 
lost  not  a  moment  to  take  possession 
of  his  new  inheritance:  visions  of 
wealth  and  power  and  enjoyment 
floated  before  his  imagination ;  and  his 
expectations  were  confirmed  during 
his  progress  by  the  cheers  of  the  mul- 
titudes who  assembled  to  greet  their 
sovereign,  and  by  the  sumptuous  en- 
tertainments which  he  received  in  the 
houses  of  the  nobility  and  gentry.    To 


it  went  throuch  three  editions  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1(303. 

1  Strype,  iv.  370.    Ejni.  xvi.  493,  494. 

a  See  Soniere,  ii.  147;  Stowe,  821. 


his  Scottish  followers  he  remarked 
with  exultation,  that  they  had  at  last 
arrived  in  the  Laud  of  Promise. 

But  as  he  proceeded,  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  EngUsh  began  to  cooL 
The  gait  of  the  new  monarch  was 
ungraceful,  his  countenance  repulsive. 
A  tongue,  apparently  too  bulky  for 
the  mouth  which  contained  it,  eyes 
that  rolled  their  large  and  vacant  orbs 
on  the  surrounding  objects,  and  a 
scanty  beard,  scarcely  indicative  of 
manhood,  were  not  calculated  to  in- 
spire awe.  or  to  beget  affection;  and 
the  king's  unwillingness  to  be  seen  by 
the  crowds  that  came  to  meet  him, 
the  haste  with  which  he  ordered  an 
offender  to  be  executed  without  trial 
or  defence,  and  the  partiality  which 
he  betrayed  on  all  occasions  for  his 
own  countrymen,  provoked  from  some 
expressions  of  dislike,  and  awakened 
in  others  the  fear  of  a  despotic  and 
unpopular  reign.^ 

In  many  his  marked  antipathy  to 
his  predecessor  excited  the  most  pain- 
ful emotions.  So  keenly  did  he  feel 
the  injuries  which  she  had  inflicted 
on  his  mother  and  himself,  that  he 
could  not  bear  the  mention  of  her 
name  without  showing  signs  of  uneasi- 
ness and  displeasure.'  Of  her  talents 
he  affected  to  speak  with  disparage- 
ment, of  her  morals  with  reproach. 
It  might  have  been  expected  that  he 
should  honour  her  funeral  with  his 
presence;  but  he  was  spared  this 
mortification  by  an  order  of  the 
council,  that  the  body  of  the  late 
queen  should  be  interred  before  the 
arrival  of  her  successor.  The  absence 
of  the  king  was,  however,  supplied  by 
the  voluntary  attendance  of  fifteen 
hundred  persons  in  deep  mourning, 
who,  in  testimony  of  their  respect  for 
the  memory  of  Elizabeth,  followed 
her  remains  to  Westminster  Abbey, 


*  When  the  French  ambassador  ordered 
his  suite  to  dress  in  mourning  for  Elizabeth, 
it  was  considered  by  James  as  an  insult, 
and  lie  was  compelled  to  revoke  the  order. 
—Sully's  Memoirs,  1.  xiv.  xv. 


A.D.  1603.] 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  HONOURS. 


where  they  were  deposited  in  the 
chapel  of  Henry  VII.' 

Trom  Edinburgh  James  had  in- 
vited the  earl  of  Southampton,  still  a 
prisoner  in  the  Tower,  to  meet  his 
friend  and  sovereign  at  York.  This 
act  of  kindness  to  the  associate  of 
Essex  alarmed  all  those  who  had  been 
instrumental  in  the  death  of  that 
nobleman.  They  were  now  divided 
into  two  factions,  mortal  enemies  to 
each  other;  the  secretary,  with  his 
colleagues  of  the  council,  and  the 
earl  of  Northumberland,  with  Lord 
Grey,  Lord  Cobham,  and  Sir  "Walter 
Ealeigh.  All  hastened  to  meet  the 
new  monarch,  that  they  might  re- 
mind him  of  their  past,  and  tender 
to  him  their  future  services.  But 
James  had  already  made  his  election. 
If  the  secretary  had  more  deeply 
offended,  he  was  yet  the  more  likely 
to  prove  useful.  Him  he  confirmed 
in  office ;  a  share  of  the  royal  favour 
was  also  promised  to  Northumber- 
land; but  Cobham  and  Grey  were 
left  to  complain  of  ingratitude  and 
neglect ;  and  Ealeigh  lost  not  only  the 
honourable  post  of  captain  of  the 
guard,  but  the  more  valuable  office  of 
warden  of  the  Stanneries.^ 

James  had  accepted  the  invitation 
of  Cecil  to  spend  a  few  days  at  his 
house  of  Theobalds,  where  he  was 
entertained  with  extraordinary  mag- 
nificence. Of  late  years,  under  Eliza- 
beth, the  secretary  had  guided  without 
control  the  councils  of  the  nation ; 
but  to  retain  the  same  pre-eminence 
under  the  new  monarch  was  a  matter 
of  doubt  and  difficulty.  He  had  to 
study  the  tastes  of  the  sovereign,  and 
to  win  the  friendship  of  his  foreign 
favourites.    He  spent  his  time,  as  he 

1  James,  however,  had  previously  de- 
clared to  the  council  that  he  would  attend, 
if  they  deemed  it  proper  for  the  honour 
of  the  queen,— Ellis,  Original  Letters,  &c. 
iii.  65. 

2  He  stDI  retained  the  government  of 
Jersey,  and,  as  some  compensation,  ob- 
tained a  remission    of  the   rent  of  three 


informs  us,  "in  trouble,  hurrying, 
feigning,  suing,  and  such  like  matters, 
knowing  not  where  the  winds  and 
waves  of  the  court  might  bear  him.'* 
A  new  council  was  formed,  into 
which,  by  his  advice,  or  at  least  with 
his  approbation,  six  Scotsmen  were 
admitted,— the  duke  of  Lennox,  the 
earl  of  Marr,  the  lord  Hume,  Sir 
George  Hume,  Bruce  of  Kinloss,  and 
secretary  Elphinstone;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  to  balance  the  account 
between  the  nations,  six  English 
noblemen,— the  earls  of  Northum- 
berland and  Cumberland,  the  lords 
Henry  and  Thomas  Howard,  and  the 
barons  Zouch  and  Burrough,  received 
the  same  honour.^ 

As  the  king  entered  London,  pro- 
clamation was  made  to  suspend  all 
grants  of  licenses  and  monopolies  till 
they  had  been  examined  by  the  coun- 
cil, to  revoke  all  royal  protections  for 
the  purpose  of  delay  in  the  courts  of 
law,  and  to  prohibit  the  abuses  of 
purveyors,  of  the  makers  of  saltpetre, 
and  of  the  officers  of  the  household. 
Honours  were  afterwards  bestowed 
with  a  most  lavish  hand.  The  earl 
of  Southampton  and  the  young  earl 
of  Essex  recovered  their  titles  and 
estates ;  Mountjoy  and  three  of  the 
Howards  were  raised  to  the  rank  of 
earl ;  nine  new  barons  were  created, 
among  whom  was  Cecil,  the  secretary; 
and  in  the  course  of  three  months 
the  honour  of  knighthood  was  con- 
ferred on  seven  hundred  individuals. 
This  profusion  provoked  murmurs; 
and  a  pasquinade  was  seen  fixed  on 
the  door  of  St.  Paul's,  offering  to  teach 
weak  memories  the  art  of  recollecting 
the  titles  of  the  new  nobility.'* 

The  accession  of  the  Scottish  prince 


hundred  pounds  per  annum,  which  he  had 
contracted  to  pay  out  of  the  income. — Ellis, 
Original  Letters,' iii.  82. 

3  Nugae  Ant.  i.  3-15.  See  Stowe  for  the 
king's  progress  from  Ediaburgh  to  Theo- 
balds, 816—822. 

4  Stowe,  824^827:  See  a  catalogue  of 
the  monopolies  in  Lodge,  iii.  159 — 162. 


JAMES. 


[chap.  I. 


was  calculated  to  produce  an  im- 
portant change  in  the  political  rela- 
tions of  England.  He  felt  nothing  of 
that  animosity  against  the  king  of 
Spain  which  had  so  long  festered  in 
the  breast  of  his  predecessor  ;  nor  did 
he  know  how  to  reconcile  with  his 
high  notions  of  the  royal  authority 
the  wisdom  of  lending  aid  to  men  in 
arms  against  their  legitimate  sove- 
reign. Aware  of  his  disposition,  the 
states  of  Holland  sent  to  him  a  splen- 
did and  honourable  embassy,  at  the 
head  of  which  was  Frederic  prince  of 
Nassau,  aided  by  the  sagacity  and 
experience  of  three  able  statesmen, 
Valck,  Barnevelt,  and  Brederode. 
But  James  stood  on  his  guard  against 
their  entreaties  and  flattery;  he  in- 
vented pretexts  to  elude  every  demand 
of  an  audience ;  and  over  his  cups  he 
hesitated  not  to  brand  the  deputies 
and  their  masters  with  the  ignomi- 
nious designation  of  traitors.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  conduct  of  the  arch- 
duke gave  him  the  highest  pleasure. 
That  prince,  in  comphment  to  the 
king,  discharged  all  his  English  pri- 
soners, as  the  subjects  of  a  friendly 
monarch ;  and  then  solicited  and 
obtained  permission  to  send  an  am- 
bassador to  the  English  court.  Eor 
this  office  he  chose  one  of  the  first 
noblemen  in  his  dominions,  the  count 
of  Aremberg.  Aremberg,  however, 
came  not  to  negotiate,  but  to  pro- 
tract the  time  till  instructions  could 
be  obtained  from  Spain  ;  he  employed 
the  interval  in  studying  the  temper 
of  the  court,  and  in  purchasing,  by 
presents,  an  interest  in  the  council. 

Two  days  after  Aremberg,  landed 
a  rival  statesman,  the  celebrated 
Eosny,  better  known  as  duko  of 
Sully.'     The   king   of   France    had 


*  Rosnv  embarked  with  his  snite  on 
board  of  two  vessels  offered  by  the  Eng- 
lish vice-admiral ;  and  on  his  passage  he 
waa  met  by  the  French  vice-admiral  bear- 
ing  his  flttg  on  hia  miiin-top-gallant-mnst. 
The  English  immediately  poured  a  broad- 
side into  the  French  ship,  and  would  have 


hitherto  aided  the  Hollanders  in  con 
junction  with  the  queen  of  England 
the  succession  of  the  new  monarch 
taught  him  to  fear  that  the  whole 
burthen  must  devolve  upon  himself, 
or  the  Spanish  king  would  recover  the 
dominion  of  the  revolted  provinces. 
Under  this  impression  Bosny  was 
despatched  to  oppose  the  intrigues  of 
Aremberg;  by  the  distribution  of 
presents  to  the  amount  of  sixty 
thousand  crowns,  he  secured  the 
favour  of  the  queen  and  of  the 
courtiers;  and  the  elegance  of  his 
manners,  the  delicacy  of  his  flat- 
tery, and  his  insinuating  eloquence, 
soon  gave  him  a  temporary  ascend- 
ancy over  the  mind  of  James.  He 
taught  the  king  to  mistrust  the  fide- 
hty  of  his  own  counsellors.  Cecil 
was  openly  charged  with  duplicity; 
and  the  royal  signature  was  sub- 
scribed to  a  treaty  drawn  up  by  the 
Frenchman.  It  bound  the  kings  of 
England  and  France  to  aid  the  States 
with  men  and  money,  but  clandes- 
tinely, and  without  any  manifest 
breach  of  amity  with  Spain;  and  if 
Philip  should  resent  such  practices, 
then  to  join  in  open  hostilities  against 
that  monarch.  The  ambassador  de- 
parted exulting  in  the  success  of  his 
mission;  it  soon  appeared  that  his 
influence  depended  on  his  presence. 
The  treaty  was  indeed  ratified ;  but 
it  bound  the  king  to  little  which 
could  divert  him  from  the  pursuit  of 
his  great  object,  peace  with  all  the 
nations  of  Christendom.'* 

While  the  French  court  negotiated 
in  Englaild,  the  Spanish  cabinet,  with 
its  characteristic  slowness,  consumed 
the  time  at  home  in  endless  consulta- 
tions. To  solicit  a  peace  from  the 
new  king  appeared  to  Philip  equi- 


11 


repeated  it,  had  not  the  flag  been  taken 
down  at  the  instance  of  the  ambassador. 
The  bearing  of  the  flag  was  the  cause  of 
offence. —Sully's  Memoirs,  1.  xiv. 

*  Sully's  Memoirs,  1.  xiv.  xv.  xvi.  Some 
of  the  presents  were  continued  annually  as 
pensions. — Id.  1.  xvi.    Lodge,  iii.  166. 


A.D.  1603.] 


CONSPIRACY  IN  ENGLAND. 


valent  to  a  confession  of  weakness; 
to  continue  the  war  was  to  remove 
every  probability  of  reducing  his  re- 
volted subjects.  Daring  this  struggle 
between  pride  and  interest,  two 
Englishmen  arrived  at  Madrid,  the 
envoys  of  that  expiring  faction  which 
has  been  called  the  Spanish  party 
among  the  English  Catholics.  In  the 
preceding  year,  Thomas  Winter,  as  its 
representative,  had  arranged  with  the 
ministers  of  Philip  a  plan  for  the 
invasion  of  England.  The  death  of 
EUzabeth  disconcerted  the  project. 
The  Catholics  almost  unanimously 
supported  the  right  of  James;  and 
Garnet  had  thought  it  prudent  to 
burn  the  breves  in  favour  of  a 
Catholic  successor.  Still  a  few  dis- 
contented individuals  remained ;  and 
"Wright  was  despatched  from  England, 
Eawkes  from  Flanders,  to  discover  the 
real  disposition  of  the  Spanish  council. 
The  duke  of  Lerma  thanked  them  for 
their  offers,  and  assured  them  of  the 
gratitude  of  his  sovereign ;  but  added 
that  Philip  had  no  cause  of  hostility 
against  James ;  he  looked  on  the  king 
as  his  friend  and  ally;  and  had  ap- 
pointed the  Conde  de  Villa  Mediana 
his  ambassador  to  the  English  court.* 
At  this  moment,  when  the  enmity 
between  the  two  crowns  seemed  on 
the  point  of  expiring,  it  was  in  some 
measure  revived  by  the  detection  of 
a  dark  and  unintelligible  conspiracy 
in  England.  The  earl  of  Northum- 
berland was  sensible  that  he  held  the 
royal  favour  by  a  very  precarious 
tenure,  as  long  as  his  adversary  Cecil 
possessed  the  first  place  in  the  cabinet, 
and  his  associates,  Cobham  and  Ea- 


1  See  statute  3  James  I.  c.  2;  Gunpowder 
Treason,  92—94,  162.  The  substance  of 
this  charge  is  acknowledged  by  Garnet  and 
his  advocates,  though  they  object  to  many 
particulars.— Gunpowder  Treason,  186,  187. 
Eudaemon  Joannes,  295,  306—310. 

*  Raleigh's  trial  furnishes  sufficient  proof 
of  the  secret  dealing  with  Areraberg.  There 
is,  according  to  Carte,  still  stronger  proof 


leigh,  disgraced  by  the  king,  shunned 
by  the  courtiers,  gradually  abandoned 
themselves  to  the  suggestions  of  re- 
venge and  despair.  At  first  all  three 
attempted  to  intrigue  with  the  French 
council.  They  transmitted  their  offers 
through  La  Pontaine,  and  applied 
personally  to  Beaumont  the  resident, 
and  Rosny  the  extraordinary  am- 
bassador. But  no  countenance  was 
given  to  the  overtime :  Henry  wisely 
preferred  the  docility  with  which 
James  listened  to  his  envoys,  before 
the  wild  and  impracticable  schemes 
of  three  discontented  courtiers.  Here 
Northumberland  had  the  prudence  to 
desist.  The  other  two  persevered  in 
their  dangerous  course,  and  Cobham 
personally,  Raleigh  through  Cobham, 
made  proposals  to  Aremberg,  the 
ambassador  of  the  archduke,  who, 
ignorant  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
king  of  Spain,  consulted  the  court 
of  Brussels,  and  was  ordered  to  en- 
courage the  correspondence.  That 
they  asked  for  money  in  return  for 
their  future  services  can  hardly  be 
doubted ;  but  what  those  services 
were  to  be,  is  uncertain,  perhaps  was 
never  determined.  The  character  of 
Raleigh  forbids  us  to  attribute  to  him 
any  other  object  than  the  overthrow 
of  his  political  enemies  by  the  support 
of  the  Spanish  interest  against  that  of 
Prance ;  but  Aremberg  may  have  had 
other  more  important  results  in  view, 
— the  establishment  of  a  party  in 
favour  of  the  claim  of  the  Infanta, 
or,  as  was  pretended,  of  Arabella 
Stuart,  under  the  protection  of  Spain.^* 
This,  in  the  language  of  the  ini- 
tiated, was  termed  "  the  Main :"  "  the 


in  the  despatches  of  Beaumont,  who,  on 
October  20th  and  December  6th,  informed 
the  king  of  France  that  he  was  fully  con- 
vinced of  the  guilt  of  Cobham  and  Raleigh, 
both  of  his  own  knowledge,  and  from  the 
two  intercepted  letters  of  the  ambassador, 
which  he  had  perused;  and  that  the  object 
of  the  conspiracy  was  to  support  the  claim 
of  the  Spanish.  Infanta.— Carte,  iii.  718, 
721. 


8 


JAMES. 


[chap. 


Bye,"  or  "the  surprising  treason,"  a 
subordinate  and  equally  mysterious 
plot,  was  under  the  direction  of  Sir 
Griffin  Markham  and  of  George 
Brooke,  the  latter  of  whom,  being 
the  brother  of  Lord  Cobham,  was 
the  connecting  link  between  the  two 
parties,'  Discontent  made  them  con- 
spirators, and  the  successful  attempt 
of  the  Scottish  lords  on  a  former  oc- 
casion suggested  to  them  the  forcible 
seizure  of  the  royal  person.  With 
the  king  in  their  possession,  they 
would  be  able  to  remodel  the  govern- 
ment, to  wreak  their  vengeance  on 
their  enemies,  Cecil  and  Sir  George 
Hume,  and  to  secure  to  themselves 
and  their  friends  the  principal  offices 
in  the  state.  It  was  not,  however, 
pretended,  that  with  the  conduct  of 
this  plot  Cobham  and  Ealeigh  had 
any  concern.  They  were  satisfied  to 
know  of  its  existence,  and  to  cherish 
a  hope  that,  "if  one  sped  not,  the 
other  might."  2 

But  how  were  Markham  and 
Brooke,  men  without  money  or  in- 
fluence, to  accomplish  their  purpose  ? 
They  sought  for  co-operators  among 
the  Puritans  and  the  Catholics ;  who, 
though  enemies  to  each  other,  were 


1  Much  of  what  appeared  mysterious  in 
the  history  of  these  conspiracies  has  been 
cleared  up  by  the  diligence  and  discern- 
ment of  Mr.  Tierney,  in  the  fourth  volume 
of  his  new  edition  of  Dodd's  Church  History. 
He  has,  moreover,  published  at  length  the 
confessions  of  the  conspirators  from  the 
originals  in  the  State  Paper  Office. 

2  Cecil's  letter  to  Parry,  apud  CaylCy,  Life 
of  Ealeigh,  ii.  8.  In  it  he  expressly  attributes 
the  conspiracy  to  Markham  and  Brooke;  and 
adds,  as  was  afterwards  inserted  in  the  in- 
dictment from  the  confession  of  Watson,  that 
it  was  intended  to  make  Watson  lord  chan- 
cellor, Brooke  lord  treasurer,  Markham 
secretary,  and  Grey  earl  marshal.  But  is 
it  possible  to  believe  that  such  a  distribu- 
tion of  offices  could  be  seriously  contem- 
plated ?  The  absurdity  of  the  thing  is  its 
own  refutation.— N.B,  Mr.  Jardine  (i.  393) 
supposes  that  by  these  words  I  deny  the 
existence  of  the  plot.  I  intended  merely  to 
intimate  my  disbelief  that  any  such  dis- 
tribution of  offices  was  ever  settled  among 
the  coQspiratora.     Cecil's  account  of  this 


equally  dissatisfied  with  the  penal 
code  which  oppressed  them,  and 
might  easily  be  led  to  approve  ol 
an  enterprise  which  had  for  its  object 
religious  toleration. 

Among  the  Catholics  they  connected 
themselves  with  the  missionary  "W^at- 
son,  who,  during  the  late  reign,  had 
been  distinguished  by  his  opposition 
to  the  Spanish  party.  To  James  he 
had  rendered  the  most  important 
services,  but  in  return  had  been 
treated  by  the  monarch  with  neglect 
and  ingratitude,^  "Whether  he  really 
sought  to  further  the  object  of  the 
conspirators,  or  to  make  their  efforts 
subservient  to  his  own  plans,  may 
perhaps  be  doubted;  but  he  called 
together  his  confidential  friends,  and 
began  with  administering  an  oath, 
which  bound  them  to  watch  over  the 
safety  of  the  king,  to  procure  by  all 
lawful  means  the  restoration  of  their 
religion,  and  never  to  betray  without 
permission  from  the  heads,  the  secret 
plans  of  the  society.''  He  next  pro- 
posed a  resolution  that  they  should 
assemble  in  a  numerous  body,  should 
throw  themselves  on  their  knees  be- 
fore the  king,  as  he  went  out  to  hunt, 
and  representing  the  services  which 


al  1 


distribution  differs  from  that  by  Watson; 
and  Watson  says  that  it  was  nothing  more 
than  "random"  talk.  W'hen  he  spoke  of 
himself  as  keeper  of  the  great  seal,  he  was 
severely  rebuked  for  his  folly  by  Copley. — 
See  Watson's  confession  of  Aug.  10,  in 
Tierney. 

3  Watson  had  written  in  favour  of  James 
against  the  pretensions  of  the  Infanta  ;  and 
before  the  death  of  EHzabeth  he  repaired 
to  Scotland,  where  he  received  the  most 
cheering  welcome  from  the  king.  On  his 
return  he  laboured  among  his  Catholic 
brethren  to  support  the  succession  of  the 
Scottish  monarch ;  but  finding  afterwards 
that  James  granted  no  toleration,  and  even 
exacted  the  fine  of  twenty  pounds  per  lunar 
month  from  recusants,  he  waited  on  the 
king,  and  reminded  him  in  vain  of  his 
former  promises.  On  his  leaving  the  royal 
presence,  James  observed  to  one  of  his 
attendants,  "  that  since  Protestants  had  so 
generally  received  and  proclaimed  him  king, 
he  had  now  no  need  of  Papists."  This  was 
the  origin  of  Watson's  discontent. 

*  See  it  iu  Tierney,  iv.  App.  xxix.  note. 


I.D.  1603.] 


THE  BYE  PLOT. 


9 


they  had  done  at  his  accession,  should 
beg  in  return  the  toleration  of  their 
religion.  More  than  this  was  not 
divulged  openly  ;  to  a  few  he  disclosed 
his  mind  with  less  reserve.  The  Puri- 
tans, he  told  them,  had  formed  a  plan 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  royal 
person.  It  was  therefore  his  plan, 
that  they  should  meet  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, under  the  pretence  of  pre- 
senting a  petition ;  should  improve 
the  opportunity  to  liberate  the  sove- 
reign from  his  captors,  should  con- 
duct him  to  a  place  of  security,  and 
there  solicit  from  him  liberty  of  con- 
science. James  could  never  refuse  so 
small  a  boon  to  the  liberators  of  his 
person.' 

Among  the  Puritans,  Brooke  and 
Markham  had  applied  to  Lord  Grey, 
a  young  nobleman  of  enthusiastic  zeal 
and  determined  courage.  He  thought 
his  merit  overlooked  by  the  king :  his 
enemy,  Southampton,  was  established 
in  the  royal  favour ;  and  his  brethren 
in  rehgion  loudly  complained  of  penal- 
ties and  disabilities.  On  these  ac- 
counts he  entered  with  cheerfulness 
into  the  plot,  and  promised  to  bring 
to  the  "surprise"  one  hundred  men 
on  horseback. 

The  conspirators  had  originally 
intended  to  eflfect  their  purpose  at 
Greenwich  during  the  darkness  of 
the  night;  but  when  it  was  consi- 
dered that  three  hundred  armed  gen- 
tlemen lay  within  the  palace,  they 
preferred  to  make  the  attempt  at 
Hanworth,  where  James,  in  his 
hunting-parties,  was  accustomed  to 
call  for  refreshment  at  the  house 
of  a  private  gentleman.  But  when 
the  appointed  day,  the  24th  of  June, 
approached,  the  lord  Grey,  to  the 
surprise  of  his   associates,  proposed 


to  defer  the  '  enterprise  for  some 
months.  He  was  in  reality  jealous 
of  the  reported  number  of  the  Catho- 
lics, and  hoped  to  strengthen  his  own 
party  in  the  interval,  under  the  pre- 
text of  collecting  forces  for  the  service 
of  the  States.  AVithin  a  day  or  two 
Watson's  friends  arrived.  They  were, 
however,  few  and  without  followers : 
the  leaders  saw  that  their  force  was 
unequal  to  their  object :  much  alter- 
cation ensued ;  and  the  design  was  at 
last  abandoned  as  impracticable.'* 

About  two  months  before  this, 
Markham  and  Watson  had  sought 
to  bring  about,  not  only  a  reconcilia- 
tion, but  even  a  coalition,  between 
their  own  party  and  their  former 
opponents  of  the  Spanish  faction. 
Conferences  were  held,  and  a  long 
correspondence  was  continued,  during 
which  the  Jesuits  Darcy,  Holtby,  and 
Gerard,  the  negotiators,  acquired  some 
knowledge  of  the  surprisal  of  the  royal 
person  projected  by  the  conspirators 
of  the  Bye.  Blackwall,  the  arch-priest, 
and  Garnet,  the  provincial  of  the 
society,  insisted  that  the  information 
should  instantly  be  laid  before  the 
government.  For  this  purpose  Gerard 
came  to  London ;  but  he  had  been 
forestalled  by  John  Gage  of  Haling, 
whose  wife  was  the  sister  of  Copley. 
On  the  preceding  day.  Gage  had  con- 
veyed the  intelligence  to  the  bishop 
of  London,  and  was  probably  imitated 
by  others  anxious  to  ward  off  the 
penalties  to  which  they  had  rendered 
themselves  liable  by  having  become 
privy  to  the  intended  treason.  A 
proclamation  was  issued,  describing 
the  names  and  persons  of  several  of 
the  conspirators.  In  a  few  days  these 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  pursuivants, 
and  then  subjected  to  the  most  search- 


-  See  the  same,  and  Sir  Edward  Parbam's 
examination  of  September  1,  and  that  of 
Bartholomew  Brookesby,  of  September  14, 
in  the  same  office.  Also  their  speeches  at 
their  trials.  Copley  pretends  that  to  his 
confidants   Watson    occasionally   betrayed 


more  criminal  designs ;  but  too  much  credit 
ought  not  to  be  given  to  the  man  who 
accuses  another,  that  he  may  be  spared 
himself.  I  shall  add  the  extract  from  his 
confession  in  Appendix,  EEE. 
2  Copley's  confession. 


10 


JAMES. 


[chap.] 


ing  examinations  before  certain  com- 
missioners. They  seem  to  have  used 
no  disguise,  but  to  have  rested  their 
hopes  of  mercy,  if  they  entertained 
such  hopes,  on  the  candour  and  pleni- 
tude of  their  confessions.  Watson 
alone  advanced  a  most  singular  plea: 
his  object  was  the  king's  safety;  he 
sought  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  the 
Spanish  faction,  for  he  knew  that  at 
the  very  time  the  Jesuits  were  in- 
triguing with  Aremberg,  and  had 
collected  a  large  sum  of  money,  and 
bought  up  horses  to  aid  a  Spanish 
army  about  to  land  at  Milford  Haven, 
and  to  proclaim  the  lady  Arabella. 
This  plea  did  not  avail  him :  he  com- 
plains that  it  drew  upon  him  reproof 
and  insult  from  the  commissioners, 
and  especially  from  his  adversary  the 
lord  Cecil' 

It  may  be  that  Cecil  had  other 
secret  information  :  he  asserts  that 
the  mere  fact  of  Brooke  being  among 
the  conspirators,  led  him  to  suspect 
Cobham,  and  Cobham's  friends  North- 
umberland and  Raleigh,  The  earl  was 
already  in  custody  on  another  account; 
but,  nothing  appearing  to  criminate 
him,  he  was  shortly  set  at  liberty. 
E/aleigh  also  by  his  answers  satisfied 
the  council,  and  was  accordingly  dis- 
missed. But  his  dismissal  did  not 
lull  his  misgivings  ;  and  to  eschew 
the  danger  which  he  foresaw,  he 
wrote  to  Cecil  that  he  had  reason 
to  suspect  Cobham  of  secret  dealings 
with  Aremberg,  and  therefore  advised 
the  apprehension  and  examination  of 
La  llensie,  the  agent  of  Aremberg.^ 


1  See  the  several  confessions  at  length  in 
Tiernej's  Dodd  ;  also  Rym.  ivi.  522,  and 
Abbot,  Antilopia,  130,  13tf. 

2  Jardine,  Criminal  Trials,  412,  416. 
Kaleif^h  says  that  Cecil  willed  him  not  to 
speak  of  this,  beeanse  the  kinp,  at  the  first 
coming  of  Count  Aremberg,  would  not  give 
him  occasion  of  suspicion.  Wherefore,  he 
adds,  I  wrote  to  tne  lord  Cecil  that,  if 
La  liensie  were  not  secured,  the  matter 
would  not  be  discovered,  for  ho  would  fly ; 
yet,  if  he  were  then  apprehended,  it  would 
give  matter  of  sospicion  to  the  lord  Cob- 
ham.—Ibid. 


A  few  days  later  both  Cobham  am 
La  Rensie  were  committed  to  th 
Tower,  lialeigh's  apprehensions  re 
vived ;  as  he  had  betrayed  Cobham,  i 
was  also  possible  that  Cobham  migh 
betray  him.  Under  this  impressioi 
he  sent  to  the  latter  a  hypocritica 
letter  in  praise  of  his  own  fidelity 
Many  questions,  he  stated,  had  beei 
put  to  him  respecting  Cobham;  bu 
to  all  he  had  returned  answers  whicl 
exculpated  his  friend.  Let  Cobban 
pursue  the  same  conduct  with  respec 
to  him.  Then  there  could  be  nc 
danger;  for  the  testimony  of  on( 
witness  —  La  liensie  was  probably 
meant — could  not  legally  procure  : 
conviction.  The  whole  statement  wa' 
false.  At  his  examination  no  mentioi 
had  been  made  of  Cobham:  his  de 
nunciation  of  that  nobleman  was  sub 
sequent  and  voluntary.^ 

Cobham  underwent  two  examina 
tions,  and  persisted  in  the  denial  o 
the  offence  imputed  to  him.  He  wa; 
then  called  before  commissioners  t( 
answer  interrogatories  administerec 
in  writing.  On  the  repetition  of  hi: 
denial,  Raleigh's  letter  to  Cecil  was 
put  into  his  hands.  His  eyes  wen 
now  opened  to  his  danger.  "Thai 
wretch,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that  traitor 
Raleigh !  hath  he  used  me  thus : 
Nay,  then,  1  will  tell  you  all."  H( 
then  confessed  that  at  the  instigatior 
of  Raleigh,  and  under  the  persuasior 
that  the  existing  tranquillity  could 
not  long  continue,  he  had  made 
application  to  Aremberg,  with  whom 
it  was  arranged  that  he  should  pro- 


3  Jardine,  432.  If  Raleigh's  first  lettei 
to  Cecil  seemed  to  proceed  from  an  inno 
cent  man,  his  second  to  Cobham  betrayec 
a  consciousness  of  guilt.  Cecil  declared 
both  at  the  trial,  and  in  his  letter  to  Win- 
wood  (Jardine,  416,459),  that  when  Raleigh 
wrote  it,  he  had  not  been  asked  a  single 
question  respecting  Cobham;  whence  it 
was  inferred  by  indifferent  persons,  that 
"  it  was  written  rather  to  arm  Cobham  for 
that  which  might  be  to  come,  than  to  in- 
struct him  for  that  which  was  passed,"— 
Jjetter  in  Jardine,  463. 


.D.  1603.] 


THE  KING'S  COEONATION. 


11 


eed  to  Spain  to  receive  a  large  sum 
f  money,  and  on  his  return  should 
isit  Kaleigh  in  his  government  of 
Tersey,  to  consult  with  him  respecting 
he  distribution  of  it.  Thus  each 
accused  the  other ;  and  each  was 
;ommitted  to  the  Tower,  to  abide 
lis  trial.' 

Ealeigh  was  now  fully  aware  of  his 
langer.  He  knew  the  power  of  his 
3nemies  in  the  cabinet,  and,  as  he 
3X  presses  it,  the  cruelty  of  the  law 
of  England,  which  in  trials  for  treason 
made  it  difficult  for  the  most  inno- 
cent man  to  escape  conviction.  One 
afternoon,  while  the  lords  of  the 
council  were  employed  in  the  Tower, 
he  made  an  attempt,  probably  a 
feigned  attempt,  to  commit  suicide, 
by  stabbing  himself  under  the  right 
breast.  By  his  opponents  this  despe- 
rate act  was  attributed  to  conscious- 
ness of  guilt ;  by  himself  to  the  per- 
suasion that  he  was  doomed  to  fall 
a  victim  to  the  arts  and  malice  of 
the  secretary.  Cecil  is  said  to  have 
given  too  much  countenance  to  the 
charge,  by  his  indecent  triumph  over 
an  unfortunate  and  prostrate  enemy.^ 
The  apprehension  of  the  conspira- 
tors was  followed  by  the  king's  coro- 
nation. He  had  long  ago  appointed 
for  this  purpose  his  saint's  day,  the 
festival  of  St.  James ;  and  though  a 
dangerous  mortality  raged  in  the  city, 
he  would  not  allow  of  any  postpone- 
ment. This  haste  was  imputed  to  the 
alarm  excited  in  his  mind  by  the  doc- 
trine of  Watson,  that,  since  the  suc- 
cession had  not  been  settled  by  act  of 
parhament,  James  could  not,  till  his 


1  Jardine,  411,  415. 

2  Cayley,  ii.  8.  Cecil,  however,  has  found 
an  able  advocate  ia  the  author  of  his  life 
(in  the  Cabinet  Cyclop.  112)  ;  and  it  was 
probably  by  Cecil's  direction,  though  for 
what  reason  we  know  not,  that  Coke  at  the 
trial  "  urged  not  the  least  word  against 
Ealeigh  by  reason  of  the  guilty  blow  which 
he  gave  himself  in  the  Tower.'' — Letter  in 
Jardine,  464. 

*  See  the  proclamations  to  prevent  at- 
tendance, in  Kymer,  ivi.  521,  527.    Accord- 


coronation,  be  considered  as  the 
actual  possessor,  but  only  as  claimant 
of  the  regal  dignity.  The  ceremony 
was  hastily  performed  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  without  the 
usual  parade,  and  in  the  presence  of 
those  only  who  had  been  summoned 
to  attend,^ 

From  Westminster  the  king  fled 
into  the  country;  but  the  infection 
pursued  him  wherever  he  went ;  and 
for  several  months  the  judges  Avith 
their  suitors  followed  the  sudden  and 
uncertain  migrations  of  the  court. 
To  this  was  attributed  the  long  delay 
in  bringing  the  conspirators  to  trial; 
but  there  was  another  and  more 
secret  cause — the  presence  of  Arem- 
berg,  who  was  deeply  implicated  in 
that  part  of  the  plot  denominated 
"  the  Main."  Soon  after  his  depar- 
ture, the  commoners  accused  of  parti- 
cipating in  "  the  Bye"  were  arraigned 
in  the  castle  of  Winchester.  Their 
confessions,  in  which  they  had  been 
careful  to  accuse  not  only  themselves, 
but  also  each  other,  furnished  the 
proofs  of  their  guilt;  and  one  only, 
Sir  Edward  Parham,  was  acquitted, 
who  pleaded  that  a  design  to  rescue 
the  king  from  the  hands  of  those 
who  might  detain  him  in  captivity 
could  not  in  justice  be  considered 
treason.* 

The  conviction  of  Ealeigh  offered 
a  more  serious  difficulty.  He  had 
made  no  confession ;  and  the  real  evi- 
dence of  his  guilt,  certain  inter- 
cepted letters  between  Aremberg  and 
the  ministers  of  the  archduke,  could 
not  with  decency  be  made  public.^ 


ing  to  Camden,  the  number  of  deaths  in 
London  from  the  plague  amounted  to 
30,578. 

*  Howell's  State  Trials,  ii.  61;  and  a 
letter  from  Francis  Aungier  in  the  Loseley 
MSS.374. 

5  This  was  asserted  by  Beaumont  in  his 
despatches  (Carte,  iii.  721),  and  is  confirmed 
by  the  remark  of  Cecil  to  Ealeigh,  in  p.  13, 
note ;  by  the  apology  which  he  compelled 
Coke  to  make  to  Aremberg  for  expressions 
which  had  escaped  him  at  the  trial;  and 


12 


JAMES. 


There  remained  only  one  mean  of 
connecting  him  with  the  conspiracy, 
— the  declaration  of  Cobham.  But 
if  Cobham  had  at  first  in  his  passion 
accused  him,  he  afterwards  retracted 
the  chief  points  in  his  accusation; 
and  his  subsequent  depositions  were 
so  wavering  and  contradictory,  that 
they  appeared  to  be  suggested  by  hope 
or  terror,  without  any  attention  to 
truth.  Aware  of  the  weakness  of  his 
case,  the  attorney-general.  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  had  recourse  to  invective  and 
abuse ; '  but  Ealeigh  controlled  his 
feelings,  and  replied  with  a  modera- 
tion which  placed  in  a  stronger  light 
the  indecorous  and  violent  conduct 
of  his  adversary.  He  demanded  that 
Cobham  should  be  confronted  with 
him ;  he  appealed  to  thf.  statute  law, 
and  to  the  law  of  God,  which  re- 
quired two  witnesses ;  he  even  offered 
to  abandon  his  defence  if  his  accuser 
would  dare  to  assert  in  his  presence 
that  he  had  ever  advised  any  dealing 
whatever  with  the  Spanish  monarch. 
But  he  was  told  that  the  statutes 
which  he  cited  were  not  in  force ;  that 
the  law  would  not  allow  an  accusing 
accomplice  to  be  brought  into  court, 
lest  he  might  take  the  opportunity  to 
give  false  evidence  for  his  friend ;  and 
that  the  trial  of  treason  was  as  satis- 
factdty  by  jury  and  Avritten  deposi- 
tions as  by  jury  and  witnesses.  He 
replied  that  his,  however,  was  a  sin- 
gular case ;  for  the  charges  against 
him  had  be§n  retracted  by  the  man 
who  originally  made  them  ;  let  then 
his  accuser  stand  forth ;  and  if  Cob- 
ham dared  to  reaffirm  a  single  charge 
before  his  face,  he  would  submit 
to  his    doom,    he  would  not  add  a 


[CHApfl 


by  hia  instructions  to  the  ambassadors  at 
foreign  courts,  who  were  to  say  that  Arem- 
berg  had  no  notion  that  the  money  was 
wanted  for  anything  but  *'  the  advancement 
of  peace.''     Nov.  30.— Cayley,  ii.  &i. 

1  He  called  Ealeigh  a  damnable  atheist, 
a  spider  of  hell,  the  moat  vile  and  execrable 
of  traitors.  lialeigh.  —  You  speak  indis- 
creetly, barbarously,  and  uncivilly.  Coke. — 
I  want. words  sufficient  to  express  thy  vipe- 


word  in  his  own  defence.  It  wast 
bold  challenge,  but  made  with  perfect 
confidence ;  for  he  had  brought  witl 
him  a  letter,  written  to  him  by  tha^ 
nobleman  about  a  fortnight  before,  ir 
which  was  the  following  passage :  "  T( 
free  myself  from  the  cry  of  blood,  ] 
protest,  upon  my  soul  and  before  Goc 
and  his  angels,  I  never  had  conferenc( 
with  you  in  any  treason;  nor  wa; 
ever  moved  by  you  to  the  things ! 
heretofore  accused  you  of;  and,  fo: 
any  thing  I  know,  you  are  as  inno 
cent  and  as  clear  from  any  treason 
against  the  king,  as  is  subject  liv 
ing.  And  God  so  deal  with  me,  an( 
have  mercy  on  my  soul,  as  this  i: 
true." 

To  meet  this  challenge.  Coke  pro 
duced  what  he  deemed  equivalent  t< 
the  presence  of  the  accuser,  a  lette 
written  by  Cobham  to  the  lords  onl; 
the  evening  before.  In  it  he  stated 
that  being  convinced  of  the  design  o 
Ealeigh  to  clear  himself  by  betr ayinj 
Mm,  he  had  resolved  to  set  down  th< 
truth,  and  to  retract  what  had  cun 
ningly  been  drawn  from  him.  Thi 
truth  was,  that  Ealeigh  had  been  th' 
cause  of  his  discontent,  and  of  hi 
dealings  with  Aremberg;  had  soli 
cited  through  him  a  pension  of  1,500^ 
for  intelligence,  and  had  sent  t( 
Aremberg,  as  a  sample  of  his  services 
information  of  the  secret  agreemen 
between  the  king  and  the  States. 
During  the  reading  of  this  letter  the 
unfortunate  prisoner  could  not  dis 
guise  his  astonishment  and  pertur 
bation.  When  he  had  recoverec 
himself,  he  admitted  that  there  hac 
indeed  been  some  talk,  but  talk  only 
of  such  a  pension ;  denied  that  he  ha( 


rous  treasons.  Jialeigh. — You  want  words 
indeed,  for  you  have  spoken  the  one  thin; 
half  a  dozen  times.— State  Trials,  ii.  26. 

2  See  the  copy  of  this  letter  in  Jardine 
445.  In  this  letter  Cobham  says  nothin; 
of  his  former  charges  whether  "they  wer. 
true  or  false  ;  he  merely  recalls  his  protes 
tation  that  Kaleigh  was,  as  fur  as  he  knew 
innocent  of  treason,  and  then  assigns  nev 
instances  never  before  mentioned. 


i.D.  1603.] 


EXECUTIONS. 


13 


1 2mployed  any  artifice  to  procure  the 
retraction  of  Cobham,  and  putting  the 
letter  to  himself  into  the  hands  of 
Cecil,  insisted  that  it  should  be  read, 
as  an  antidote  to  that  which  had  been 
written  to  the  lords.  Of  the  two, 
the  former,  from  its  solemn  appeal  to 
the  knowledge  and  justice  of  God, 
deserved  the  greater  credit,  if  credit 
could  be  due  to  anything  coming 
from  such  a  man.  But  it  was  now 
too  late.  Ealeigh's  inability  to  deny 
the  charge  of  the  pension,  had  made  a 
deep  and  unfavourable  impression  on 
the  minds  of  the  jury,  who  returned, 
though  with  visible  reluctance,  a  ver- 
dict of  guilty.  By  the  great  mass  of 
the  spectators  it  was  received  with 
disapprobation.  They  had  at  first 
looked  upon  the  prisoner  with  abhor- 
rence, as  abase  and  revengeful  traitor; 
but  his  defence  had  changed  their 
sentiments:  many  pronounced  him 
innocent;  most  acknowledged  that 
he  had  been  condemned  without  legal 
or  suflBcient  proof.' 

Cobham  and  Grey  were  arraigned 
before  their  peers.  The  shufiiing  and 
meanness  of  the  one  opposed  a  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  spirit  and  elo- 
quence of  the  other.  Cobham  appeared 
unworthy  of  the  pardon  which  he 
claimed  as  the  reward  of  his  confes- 
sion; Grey  won  the  esteem  of  the 
very  judges  by  whom  he  was  con- 
demned. 


1  Jardine,  445—449.  State  Trials,  ii.  27 
—30.  The  proceedings  on  this  trial  will 
justify  the  presumption  that  there  was 
aomething  criminal  in  the  dealings  of  the 
two  friends  with  Aremberg,  but  do  not 
supply  sufficient  evidence  that  Ealeigh  had 
been  guilty  of  treason.  Such  evidence  was, 
in  the  opinion  of  James  and  of  Beaumont, 
the  French  ambassador,  supplied  by  the 
intercepted  letters  of  Aremberg;  but  of 
the  correctness  of  that  opinion  we  have  no 
opportunity  of  judging.  The  letter  or  dis- 
sertation in  Raleigh's  Works,  viii.  756  (Oxf. 
edit.),  was  certainly  written  by  Lord  Henry 
Howard,'and  probably  to  Cecil ;  but  I  can- 
not persuade  myself  that  it  betrays  any 
design  in  those  noblemen  of  getting  up  a 
false  charge  of  treason  against  Cobham  and 
Baleigh. 


The  two  priests  were  the  first  who 
suffered.  Eor  them  no  one  ventured 
to  sohcit  the  royal  mercy;  it  was 
even  whispered  that  James  had  no 
objection  to  rid  himself  of  Watson,  as 
one  of  the  individuals  whom  he  had 
formerly  authorized  to  promise  tole- 
ration to  the  Catholics.  The  day 
before  his  execution,  the  earl  of 
Northampton  visited  him  in  prison, 
and,  as  he  afterwards  asserted,  ob- 
tained from  him  an  avowal  that  no 
such  promise  had  been  made.-  At 
the  gallows,  Watson  abstained  from 
any  allusion  to  the  subject.  "  Both 
he  and  his  fellow-sufferer  were  very 
bloodily  handled ;  for  they  were  both, 
cut  down  alive ;  and  Clarke,  to  whom 
more  favour  was  intended,  had  the 
worse  luck:  for  he  both  strove  to 
help  himself,  and  spake,  after  he  was 
cut  down.  They  died  boldly,  both, 
and  Watson  (as  he  would  have  it 
seem)  willingly,  wishing  he  had  more 
lives  to  spend,  and  one  to  lose  for 
every  man  he  had  by  his  treachery 
drawn  into  this  treason.  Clarke  stood 
somewhat  on  his  justification,  and 
thought  he  had  hard  measure ;  but 
imputed  it  to  his  function,  and  there- 
fore thought  his  death  meritorious,  as 
a  kind  of  martyrdom.  Their  quarters 
were  set  on  Winchester  gates,  and 
their  heads  on  the  first  tower  of  the 
castle."  3 

Of  the   lay   conspirators,  Brooke 


2  See  the  speeches  of  Northampton  at 
the  trials  of  the  gunpowder  conspirators, 
and  of  Garnet.  "Watson,  at  the  gallows, 
alluding  to  the  former  disputes  between 
himself  and  the  Jesuits,  said,  "  he  forgave 
and  desired  to  be  forgiven  of  all;  namely 
that  the  Jesuits  would  forgive  him,  if  he  had 
written  over-eagerly  against  them ;  saying 
also,  that  it  was  occasioned  by  them,  whom 
he  forgave  if  they  had  cunningly  and  covertly 
drawn  him  into  the  action  for  which  he 
suffered." — Stowe,  831.  Indeed  so  great 
was  the  hostility  between  the  parties,  that 
Copley  in  his  MS.  confession  chiefly  laments 
"  the  occasion  of  triumph  which  their  failure 
would  give  the  Jesuits,  knowing  how  much 
they  were  their  enemies." 

3" Sir  Dudley  Carleton  to  Mr.  John  Cham- 
berlain, in  Jardine,  i.  470. 


14 


JAMES. 


[chap. 


alone  was  executed.*  With  respect 
to  the  others,  James  resolved  to  sur- 
prise his  subjects  with  a  specimen  of 
that  kingcraft  in  which  he  deemed 
himself  so  complete  a  master.  At 
court  several  of  the  lords  had  inter- 
ceded in  their  favour ;  their  enemies 
called  aloud  for  punishment;  and 
Galloway,  the  minister  from  Perth, 
"  preached  so  hotly  against  remissness 
and  moderation  of  justice,  as  if  it  were 
one  of  the  seven  deadly  sins."  The 
■  king,  if  he  rejected  the  prayer  of  the 
one,  equally  checked  the  presumption 
of  the  other.  Confining  his  secret 
within  his  own  breast,  he  signed  on 
Wednesday  the  warrants  for  the  exe- 
cution of  Markham,  Grey,  and  Cob- 
ham;  and  the  next  day  despatched 
a  private  letter  to  Tichbourne,  the 
sheriff,  by  Gibb,  a  messenger  who  had 
just  arrived  from  Scotland,  and  was 
consequently  unkno^Mi.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  Friday  Markham  was  led  forth 
to  suffer.  He  complained  that  he 
had  been  deluded  with  false  promises 
of  life ;  but  though  surprised  he  was 
not  dismayed;  and  when  a  napkin 
was  offered  him,  he  refused  it,  saying 
that  he  was  still  able  to  "  look  death 
in  the  face  without  blushing."  While 
he  made  himself  ready  for  the  block,  the 
sheriff  was  withdrawn  by  Gibb,  and,  at 
his  return,  addressing  Markham,  told 
him  that  as  he  was  not  sufficiently  pre- 
pared, he  should  have  two  hours  more 
for  private  devotion.  As  soon  as  Mark- 
ham was  locked  up,  Grey  made  his 
appearance,  preceded  by  a  crowd  of 
young  gentlemen,  and  supported  on 
each  side  by  two  of  his  dearest  friends. 
The  minister  who  attended  him 
prayed  aloud :  Grey  followed  with  a 
firm  voice,  affected  language,  and  a 
delivery  expressive  of  the  most  fer- 


1  He  had  written  to  Cecil,  who  had  heen 
married  to  the  sister  of  Brooke,  to  inquire 
"whHt  he  raight  expect  after  so  many 
promises  received,  and  so  much  conformity 
and  accepted  service  performed  by  him  to 
Cecil."— In  App.  to  Mrs.  Thompson's  Life 
of  Kaleigb.    To  what  services  or  promises 


vent  piety.  He  then  arose,  confesse 
his  guilt,  and  falling  again  on  h: 
knees,  prayed  a  full  half-hour  for  th 
king  and  the  royal  family.  The  mc 
ment  he  stopped,  the  sheriff  in  forme 
him  that  he  must  leave  the  scaffold 
that  he  had  been  brought  forward  b; 
mistake;  and  that  Cobham,  accord 
ing  to  the  warrant,  must  die  befor 
him.  His  removal  made  place  fo 
that  nobleman,  who,  to  the  surpris 
both  of  his  friends  and  foes,  showe( 
nothing  of  the  mean  and  abjec 
spirit  which  he  had  betrayed  at  hi 
trial.  He  ascended  the  ladder  with  ; 
firm  step,  surveyed  with  an  un 
daunted  eye  the  implements  of  death 
and,  acknowledging  his  own  guilt 
affirmed  on  his  salvation  that  of  hi 
associate  Ealeigh. 

At  this  moment  Markham  anc 
Grey  separately  mounted  the  scaffold 
and  each  of  the  three,  in  the  persua^ 
sion  that  his  companions  were  already 
dead,  stared  on  the  other  two  witl 
looks  of  the  wildest  astonishment 
The  crowd  pressed  forward  in  breath- 
less suspense;  and  the  sheriff  in  i 
loud  voice  explained  the  mystery,  bj 
a  declaration  that  the  king  of  his  owe 
gracious  disposition  had  granted  life 
to  each  of  the  convicts.  They  wen 
conducted  to  different  prisons,  and 
Raleigh,  whose  execution  had  been 
fixed  for  the  Monday,  shared  the 
royal  mercy  in  common  with  his  fel- 
lows. James  reaped  the  full  fruit  ol 
this  device.  The  existence  of  the 
plot  was  proved  by  the  confessions 
made  on  the  scaffold;  the  guilt  of 
Raleigh  was  no  longer  doubted  after 
the  solemn  asseveration  of  Cobham : 
and  the  royal  ingenuity  as  well  as 
clemency  was  universally  applauded.' 

It  is  plain  that  this  conspiracy,  so 


ho  allades,  is  uncertain.  They  may  have 
preceded,  or  have  followed,  his  apprehen- 
sion. • 

2  For  these  proceedings  see  the  Hard- 
wicke  Papers,  i.  377—393  ;  Lodge,  iii.  215  ; 
Winwood,  ii.  11;  Howell's  State  Trials,  ii. 
65—70;   Cayley's  Life  olJialeigh,  ii.  6—84; 


D.  1603.] 


EELIGIOUS  INTOLEEANCE. 


15 


sterogeneously    composed    and    so 
isily    defeated,    offered    but    little 
round  of  alarm ;  yet  it  taught  the 
ing  to  distrust  more  deeply  the  pro- 
jssions  both  of  the  Puritans  and  the 
atholics.    From  the  moment  when 
e  crossed  the  Tweed,  the  two  parties 
ad  never  ceased  to  harass  him  with 
etitions  for  religious  toleration.    To 
lie  Catholics  he  felt  inclined  to  grant 
jme  partial  indulgence.     He  owed 
-J  to  their  sufferings  in  the  cause  of 
iis    unfortunate  mother ;    he    had 
•ound  himself  to  it  by  promises  to 
heir  envoys,  and  to  the  princes  of 
heir   communion.     But   his    secret 
eishes  were  opposed  by  the  wisdom 
>r  prejudice  of  his  advisers ;  and,  if 
18  was  a^ihamed  to  violate  his  word, 
le  was  taught  also  to  dread  the  offence 
)f  his  Protestant  subjects.    At  last 
le  compromised  the   matter  in  his 
iwn  mind,  by  drawing  a  distinction 
3etween  the  worship  and  the  persons 
Df  the  petitioners.    To  every  prayer 
for  the  exercise  of  that  worship,  he 
returned   a   prompt   and   indignant 
refusal ;  on  more  than  one  occasion 
he  even  committed  to  the  Tower  the 
individuals   who    had   presumed   to 
offer  such  an  insult  to  his  orthodoxy. 
But  he  invited  the  Catholics  to  fre- 
quent  his   court,   he   conferred   on 
several  the  honour  of  knighthood; 
and  he  promised  to  shield  them  from 
the  penalties  of  recusancy,  as  long  as 
by  their  loyal  and  peaceable  demean- 
our they  should   deserve  the  royal 
favour.    This  benefit,  though  it  fell 
short  of  their  expectations,  they  ac- 
cepted with  gratitude.    By  most  it 
was  cherished  as  a  pledge  of  subse- 
quent and  more  valuable  concessions  ; 
and  the  pontiff,  Clement  YIII.,  now 


Stowe,  828-832;  and  Jardine's  Criminal 
Trials,  i.  470.  Cecil  tells  us  that  the  king's 
object  was  to  see  how  far  the  lord  Cobham  at 
hia  death  would  make  good  his  accusation. 
Markhara,  Copley,  and  Brokesby,  were 
banished  for  life.  Grey  expired  in  the 
Tower,  after  a  captivity  of  eleyea  years ; 
and  Cobham  being  discharged  from  con- 


that  Elizabeth  was  no  more,  deter- 
mined to  cultivate  the  friendship  of 
the  new  king.  By  two  breves  directed 
to  the  archpriest  and  the  provincial 
of  the  Jesuits,  he  strictly  commanded 
the  missionaries  to  confine  themselves 
to  their  spiritual  duties,  and  to  dis- 
courage, by  all  the  means  in  their 
power,  every  attempt  to  disturb  the 
tranquillity  of  the  realm.  The  intel- 
ligence that  Watson  and  Clarke  had 
been  engaged  in  the  late  conspiracy, 
was  received  by  him  with  regret.  He 
ordered  the  nuncio  at  Paris  to  assure 
James  of  the  abhorrence  with  which 
he  viewed  all  acts  of  disloyalty ;  and 
he  despatched  a  secret  messenger  to 
the  English  court  with  an  offer  to 
withdraw  from  the  kingdom  any  mis- 
sionary who  might  be  an  object  of 
suspicion  to  the  council.' 

The  Puritans  relied  with  equal 
confidence  on  the  good-will  of  the 
new  monarch.  He  had  been  edu- 
cated from  his  infancy  in  the  Genevan 
theology ;  he  had  repeatedly  expressed 
his  gratitude  to  God  "  that  he  be- 
longed to  the  purest  kirk  in  the 
world;"  and  he  had  publicly  de- 
clared that,  "as  long  as  he  should 
brook  his  life,  he  would  maintain  its 
principles."  These  may  have  been 
the  sentiments  of  his  more  youthful 
years;  but  in  proportion  as  the  de- 
clining age  of  Elizabeth  brought  the 
English  sceptre  nearer  to  his  grasp, 
he  learned  to  prefer  the  submissive 
discipline  of  a  church  which  owned 
the  sovereign  for  its  head,  to  the  in- 
dependent forms  of  a  republican  kirk; 
and,  as  soon  as  he  saw  himself  pos- 
sessed of  the  English  crown,  he  openly 
avowed  his  belief  that  the  hierarchy 
was  the  firmest  support  of  the  throne. 


finement,  died  in  extreme  poverty  in  1619. 
With  Kaleigh  the  reader  will  meet  again. 

1  "  Paratissimum  esse eos  omnes  e 

regno  evocare,  quos  sua  majestas  rationa- 
biliter  jiidicaverit  regno  et  statui  suo  noxios 
fore." — From  instructions  given  to  Dr.  Gif- 
ford,  deau  of  Lisle,  MS.  penes  me. 


16 


JAMES. 


[chap.  I 


and  that,  where  there  was  no  bishop, 
there  would  shortly  be  no  king.' 

The  first  petitions  of  the  Puritans 
were  couched  in  submissive  language  : 
gradually  they  assumed  a  bolder  tone, 
and  demanded  a  thorough  reformation 
both  of  the  clergy  and  liturgy.  James 
was  irritated,  perhaps  alarmed;  but 
he  preferred  conciliation  to  severity, 
and  invited  four  of  the  leading  minis- 
ters to  a  conference  at  Hampton 
Court.  They  attended,  but  were  not 
admitted  on  the  first  day,  because  the 
king  spent  it  in  private  consultation 
with  the  bishops  and  his  council. 
Before  them  he  declared  that  he  was 
a  sincere  convert  to  the  church  of 
England,  and  thanked  God,  who 
"  had  brought  him  to  the  promised 
land,  to  a  country  where  religion  was 
purely  professed,  and  where  he  sat 
among  grave,  reverend,  and  learned 
men  ;  not  as  before,  elsewhere,  a  king 
without  state,  without  honour,  and 
without  order,  and  braved  to  his  face 
by  beardless  boys  under  the  garb  of 
ministers."  Yet  he  knew  that  every- 
thing on  earth  was  subject  to  imper- 
fection ;  and,  as  many  complaints  had 
been  laid  before  the  throne,  he  had 
called  them  together,  that  they  might 
beforehand  determine  how  far  it 
would  be  prudent  to  concede  to  the 
demands  of  their  adversaries.  It  was 
not  the  interest  of  the  bishops  to  ali- 
enate the  king  by  unreasonable  oppo- 
sition. They  readily  consented  that 
in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to 
prevent  misapprehension,  explanatory 
words  should  be  added  to  the  general 
absolution,  and  the  form  of  confirma- 
tion; that  the  practice  of  the  com- 
missary courts  should  be  reformed  by 
the  chancellor  and  the  chief  justice; 
that  excommuni(5ation  should  no 
longer  be  inflicted  for  trifling  offences; 
and  that  the  bishops  should  neither 
confer  ordination,  nor  pronounce  cen- 


1  Calderwood,  256.    In  his  precmonition 
to  the  apology  for  the  oath  of  allegiance,  he 


sures,  without  the  assistance  of  some 
grave  and  learned  ecclesiastics.  Th( 
great  subject  of  debate  was  privaU 
baptism.  The  king  argued  against  i' 
during  three  hours ;  but  was  at  lasi 
satisfied  with  this  concession  fron 
the  bishops,  that  it  should  be  admi- 
nistered only  by  clergymen,  to  th( 
exclusion  of  laics,  and  especially  o 
females. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  confe 
rence,  the  Puritan  ministers  wer< 
admitted.  They  reduced  their  de 
mands  to  four  heads,— purity  of  doc 
trine,  a  learned  ministry,  the  reforma 
tion  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  anc 
the  correction  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer.  The  first  three  did  no 
occasion  much  debate.  But  the  law 
fulness  of  the  ceremonies,  and  the 
obligationof  subscribing  to  the  articles 
were  warmly  contested.  After  th< 
bishops  of  London  and  Winchester 
and  some  of  the  deans,  had  spoken 
James  himself  took  up  the  argument 
and  displayed,  even  in  the  opinion  o 
his  adversaries,  considerable  ability 
If  he  taunted  them  with  the  weaknes 
of  their  reasoning,  he  reprimande( 
the  prelates  for  the  asperity  of  thai 
language.  Sometimes  he  enlivenec  i 
the  discussion  by  the  playfulness  o 
his  wit,  sometimes  he  treated  witl 
ease  the  most  abstruse  questions  ij 
theology.  He  did  not,  however,  dis 
semble  that  his  determination  was  a 
much  the  result  of  political  reasonini 
as  of  religious  conviction.  "  If,"  h' 
said,  "  you  aim  at  a  Scottish  presby 
tery,  it  agreeth  as  well  with  monarch; 
as  God  with  the  devil.  Then  Jack 
and  Tom,  and  Will,  and  Dick,  shal 
meet,  and  at  their  plea.sure  censur 
me  and  my  council,  and  all  our  pro  i 
ceedings.  Then  Will  shall  stand  U] 
and  say,  '  It  must  be  thus : '  Thei 
Dick  shall  reply, '  Nay,  marry,  but  w 
will  have  it  thus ;'  and  therefore  her 


dates  his  conversion  six  years  before  hi 
accession  to  the  English  throne  (p.  45). 


..D.  1604.] 


EESULT  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 


17 


;  must  once  more  reiterate  my  former 
peech  and  say,  Le  roy  s'avisera."  In 
lonclusion,  all  that  the  ministers 
!Ould  obtain  was,  that  a  national 
jatechism  should  be  framed,  and  a 
lew  translation  of  the  scriptures  be 
lubUshed;  that  the  Apocrypha,  as 
read  in  the  church,  should  be  distin- 
guished from  the  canonical  scriptures; 
md  that  some  doubtful  expressions 
.n  the  articles  should  be  more  clearly 
3xplained. 

The  morning  of  the  third  day  was 
devoted  to  an  inquiry  into  the  abuses 
of  the  High  Commission  court ;  and 
a  resolution  was  taken  to  limit  the 
number  of  the  judges,  and  to  select 
them  exclusively  from  the  higher 
classes  in  the  state.  The  dissenting 
divines  were  then  called  in ;  the  deci- 
sion of  the  king  was  announced;  and 
at  their  request  a  certain  interval  was 
granted,  during  which  the  obligation 
of  conformity  should  not  be  enforced.' 
Thus  ended  the  conference  ;  but  it 
produced  few  of  the  effects  expected 
from  it.  The  prelates  were  not  in 
haste  to  execute  those  reforms  to 
which  they  had  consented  more  from 
the  fear  of  exciting  displeasure,  than 
from  any  persuasion  of  their  necessity. 
The  Puritans  were  dissatisfied  with 
their  divines,  who  had  been  selected 
without  their  concurrence,  and  had 
not  displayed  in  the  presence  of  the 
sovereign  that  bold  and  independent 
spirit  which  became  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  They  also  complained,  and 
not  without  reason,  that  James  had 


1  Compare  Fuller,  cent.  xvi.  1.  x.  7—24 ; 
Howell's  State  Trials,  ii.  70—94,  with  Dr. 
Montague's  letter  in  Winwood,  ii.  13—16, 
and  the  bishop  of  Durham's  letter  in  Strype's 
Whitgift,  App.  236.  It  is  plain  that  Bar- 
low has  greatly  abridged,  and  often  omitted, 
the  arguments  of  the  nonconformists. 

*  Howell,  ii.  86,  87.  "The  king  talked 
much  Latin,  and  disputed  with  Dr.  Reynolds 
at  Hampton ;  but  he  rather  used  upbraid- 
ings  than  argument,  and  told  the  petitioners 
that  they  wanted  to  strip  Christ  again,  and 

bid  them  away  with  their  snivelling 

The  bishops  seemed  much  pleased,  and  said, 

7 


acted  not  as  a  judge,  but  as  a  party ; 
that  he  substituted  authority  for 
argument ;  and  that  he  insisted  on 
submission,  when  he  should  have 
produced  conviction.  But  the  king 
himself  was  gratified.  Never  before 
had  the  opportunity  been  given  to 
him  of  displaying  his  theological 
knowledge  on  so  noble  a  theatre.  In 
the  presence  of  several  distinguished 
divines,  of  the  first  dignitaries  of  the 
church,  and  of  the  lords  of  the  coun- 
cil, he  had  expounded  the  scriptures 
and  the  fathers,  resolved  the  most 
knotty  questions,  and  decided  every 
doubt  with  infallible  accuracy.  His 
adversaries  quailed  before  him;  the 
prelates  stood  rapt  in  transports  of 
admiration ;  and  as  he  spoke  in  favour 
of  the  oath  ex  officio,  the  primate  ex- 
claimed, that  "  his  majesty  spoke  by 
the  special  assistance  of  God's  spirit." 
The  bishop  of  London  added  that  "  his 
heart  melted  within  him  to  hear  a 
king,  the  like  of  whom  had  not  been 
since  the  time  of  Christ."  ^ 

Though  the  result  of  the  conference 
disappointed  the  hopes  of  the  non- 
conformists, they  did  not  despair  of 
bettering  their  condition;  but  the 
king,  on  the  presentation  of  a  petition 
in  their  favour,  spoke  of  them  in 
terms  of  bitterness  which  showed  how 
little  they  had  to  expect  from  the 
good- will  of  the  monarch.  It  was,  he 
said,  to  a  similar  petition  that  the 
rebellion  in  the  Netherlands  owed  its 
origin :  both  his  mother  and  he  had 
been  haunted  by  Puritan  devils  from 


his  majesty  spoke  by  the  power  of  inspira- 
tion. I  wist  not  what  they  mean  ;  but  the 
spirit  was  rather  foul-mouthed." — Nugse 
Antiquae,  i.  181.  But  James  seems  to  have 
thought  differently.  "I  peppered  them," 
says  he,  "  as  soundlie  as  ye  have  done  the 

Papists They  fled  me  from  argument 

to  argument.  I  was  forced  at  last  to  say 
unto  them,  that  if  any  of  them  had  been  in 
a  college  disputing  with  their  scholers,  if 
any  of  their  disciples  had  answered  them  in 
that  sort,  they  would  have  fetched  him  up 
in  place  of  a  reply,  and  so  should  the  rod 
have  plied,"  &c.— Strype's  Whitgift,  App. 
239. 

C 


18 


JAMES  L 


1 


[chap.  I. 


their  cradles;  but  he  would  hazard 
his  very  crown  to  suppress  such  mali- 
cious spirits  ;  and  not  Puritans  only, 
but  also  Papists,  whom  he  hated  so 
cordially  that,  if  he  thought  it  possible 
for  his  son  and  heir  to  grant  them 
toleration  in  the  time  to  come,  he 
should  fairly  wish  to  see  the  young 
prince  at  that  moment  lying  in  his 
grave.  Nor  were  the  dependants  of 
the  court  slow  to  act  in  conformity 
with  the  words  of  the  sovereign.  In 
the  Star-chamber  it  was  decided  that 
the  gathering  of  hands  to  move  his 
majesty  in  matters  of  religion  was 
an  act  tending  to  sedition  and  re- 
belUon;  and  orders  were  issued  to 
the  judges  and  magistrates  to  enforce 
with  all  their  power  the  penal  laws 
against  nonconformists,  whether  Pro- 
testants or  Catholics.' 

In  the  mean  time  the  archbishop 
with  his  colleagues  had  put  into 
proper  form  the  improvements  which 
had  been  suggested  for  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  in  the  conference 
at  Hampton  Court.  James,  having 
found  that  they  had  performed  the 
task  in  perfect  conformity  with  his 
diirections,  gave  to  it  the  sanction  of 
his  "supreme  authority  and  prero- 
gative royal;"  not  that  these  im- 
provements were  doctrinal  changes, 
but  merely  enlargements  in  the  way 
of  explication.  The  most  important 
occur  in  the  rubrics  concerning  pri- 
vate baptism,  the  administration  of 
which  is  confined  as  far  as  is  possible 
to  the  minister ;  and  concerning  con- 
firmation or  the  laying  on  of  hands, 
which  are  to  be  laid  on  those  only 
who  can  render  an  account  of  their 
faith.  To  enable  the  young  to  do 
this,  a  new  catechism  on  the  sacra- 
ments of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
supper  was  compiled  by  Dean  Overall, 
and  appended  to  the  form  of  con- 
firmation itself ;  a  place  which  it  still 
continues  to  occupy.^ 


1  Ellis,  2nd  ser.  iii.  216. 
»  Kymer,  XTi.  565. 


A  few  days  later  James  met  his  first 
parliament  with  the  most  flattering 
anticipations ;  and  opened  the  session 
with  a  gracious  and  eloquent  speech 
from  the  throne.  But,  instead  of  the 
return  which  he  expected,  he  found 
himself  entangled  in  disputes,  from 
which  he  could  not  extricate  himself 
with  satisfaction  or  credit.  In  the 
lower  house  a  formidable  party  was 
marshalled  against  him,  composed  of 
the  men  who,  about  the  close  of  the 
last  reign,  had  dared  to  advocate  the 
rights  of  the  subject  against  the  abuse 
of  the  prerogative.  Their  notions  of 
civil  liberty  had  been  shocked  by  a 
recent  proclamation,^  in  which  James 
by  his  own  authority  pretended  to 
lay  down  rules  to  be  observed  in  the 
election  of  the  members ;  and  their 
religious  feelings  had  been  wounded 
by  the  unfavourable  result  of  the 
conference  at  Hampton  Court.  Their 
numbers  and  talents  gave  them 
courage  and  importance :  they  had 
formerly  wrung  concessions  from  the 
despotism  of  Elizabeth ;  they  doubted 
not  to  triumph  over  the  pretensions 
and  the  rhetoric  of  her  Scottish  suc- 
cessor. The  speaker,  in  his  first 
address  to  the  king,  was  careful  to 
inform  him  that  "  new  laws  could  not 
be  instituted,  nor  imperfect  laws  re- 
formed, nor  inconvenient  laws  abro- 
gated, by  any  other  power  than  that  of 
the  high  court  of  parliament,  that  is, 
by  the  agreement  of  the  Commons,  the 
accord  of  the  Lords,  and  the  assent  of 
the  sovereign  :  that  to  him  belonged 
the  right  either  negatively  to  frus- 
trate, or  affirmatively  to  ratify,  but 
that  he  could  not  institute ;  every 
bill  must  pass  the  two  houses  before 
it  could  be  submitted  to  his  plea- 
sure." Such  doctrines  were  not  very 
palatable  to  the  monarch;  but  to 
detail  the  rise,  and  progress,  and  issue 
of  the  altercations  between  him  and 
the  Commons,  would  weary  and  oxr 


3  See  it  in  Bymer,  iri.  561. 


2 


4..D.  1604.] 


EFFORTS  OF  THE  PUEITANS. 


19 


haust  the  patience  of  the  reader. 
James  complained  of  their  presump- 
tion; they  attributed  the  complaint 
to  ignorance  or  misinformation ;  he 
contended  that  the  privileges  of  the 
house  were  matters  of  royal  favour ; 
they,  that  they  were  the  birthright  of 
Englishmen;  he  assigned  the  deci- 
sion of  contested  elections  to  his  court 
of  Chancery;  they  claimed  it  for 
themselves,  as  essential  to  the  govern- 
ment of  their  own  estate:'  he  up- 
braided them  with  the  invasion  of  his 
prerogative  by  making  assarts,  ward- 
ships, marriages,  and  purveyance  the 
subjects  of  their  debates;  they  re- 
pelled the  charge  by  declaring  that 
their  only  object  was  to  relieve  the 
nation  from  an  intolerable  burthen, 
and  to  give  to  the  crown  more 
than  an  equivalent  in  annual  re- 
venue. These  bickerings  continued 
during  a  long  and  stormy  session ; 
and  if  the  king,  by  his  interest 
in  the  upper  house,  succeeded  in 
averting  every  blow  aimed  by  the 
Puritans  at  the  discipline  of  the 
church,  he  was  yet  unable  to  carry 
in  the  lower  any  of  the  measures 
which  he  had  contemplated,  or  to 
obtain  a  supply  of  money  in  addition 
to  the  accustomed  vote  of  tonnage 
and  poundage.^  On  one  question 
only  were  all  parties  agreed.  Fana- 
ticism urged  the  Puritans  to  perse- 
cute the  Catholics ;  and  the  hope  of 
conciliation  induced  the   friends  of 


1  Sir  Francis  Goodwin  had  been  chosen 
knight  of  the  shire  for  the  county  of  Buck- 
ingham ;  but  the  clerk  of  the  crown  had 
refused  to  receive  the  return,  on  pretence 
that  Goodwin  had  been  outlawed,  and  Sir 
John  Fortescue,  a  member  of  the  council, 
was  elected  in  virtue  of  a  second  writ.  The 
Commons  voted  that  Goodwin  was  duly 
elected ;  a  vote  which  displeased  both 
James,  who  by  proclamation  had  forbidden 
the  choice  of  outlaws,  and  the  lords  of  the 
council,  who  maintained  the  election  of 
Fortescue.  But  the  Commons  were  obsti- 
nate ;  they  refused  to  confer  on  the  subject 
•with  the  Lords,  or  to  submit  to  the  contrary 
decision  of  the  judges.  James  at  length 
ordered  them  to  debate  the  question  with 
the  judges  in  his  presence:   they  obeyed. 


the  crown  to  add  their  support. 
The  oppressive  and  sanguinary  code, 
framed  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  was 
re-enacted  to  its  full  extent ;  it  was 
even  improved  with  additional  seve- 
rities. To  send  any  child  or  other 
person  beyond  the  seas,  to  the  intent 
that  he  should  reside  or  be  educated 
in  a  Catholic  college  or  seminary,  was 
made  an  offence  punishable  by  fine  to 
the  king  of  not  less  than  lOOZ. ;  every 
individual  who  had  already  resided  or 
studied,  or  should  hereafter  reside  or 
study,  in  any  such  college  or  semi- 
nary, was  rendered  incapable  of  inhe- 
riting, or  purchasing,  or  enjoying 
lands,  annuities,  chattels,  debts,  or 
sums  of  money  within  the  realm, 
unless,  at  his  return  to  England,  he 
should  conform  to  the  established 
church;  and  severe  penalties  were 
enacted  against  the  owners  and  mas- 
ters of  ships  who  should  presume  to 
take  beyond  the  seas  any  woman  or  any 
person  under  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  without  a  permission  in  writing 
with  the  signatures  of  six  privy  coun- 
cillors. Moreover,  as  missionaries 
sometimes  eluded  detection  under 
the  disguise  of  tutors  in  gentlemen's 
houses,  it  was  provided  that  no  man. 
should  teach  even  the  rudiments  of 
grammar  without  a  license  from  the 
diocesan,  under  the  penalty  of  forty 
shillings  per  day,  to  be  levied  on  the 
tutor  himself,  and  the  same  sum  on 
his  employer.^ 


and  at  his  suggestion  agreed  to  a  compro- 
mise, that  both  elections  should  be  declared 
void,  and  a  new  writ  issued.  The  victory 
was  in  reality  obtained  by  the  Commons ; 
for  the  speaker,  by  order  of  the  house, 
issued  his  warrant  for  tbe  new  writ,  and  they 
have  continued  ever  since  to  exercise  the 
right  which  they  then  claimed,  of  deciding 
on  the  merits  of  contested  elections. — 
Journals  of  Commons,  149,  151, 156, 158, 161, 
162,  171.  Cecil's  explanation  of  this  matter, 
to  be  adopted  by  the  ambassadors  at  foreign 
courts,  is  in  Winwood,  ii.  10. 

2  See  the  Journals  of  the  Lords  and  Com- 
mons for  the  session,  passim. 

*  Stat,  of  the  Kealm,  vol  iv.  part  ii. 
p.  1019,  1020.  In  this  parliament  an  act 
was  passed  to  disable  bishops  from  alie- 
C  2 


20 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


The  convocation  sat  at  the  same 
time  with  the  parliament ;  and  the 
result  of  its  deliberations  was  a  code 
of  ecclesiastical  canons,  amounting  to 
one  hundred  and  forty-one.  By  them 
the  sentence  of  excommunication  ipso 
facto  was  pronounced,  1.  against  all 
persons  who  should  deny  the  supre- 
macy of  the  king,  or  the  orthodoxy  of 
the  English  church;  2.  against  all 
who  should  affirm  that  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  was  superstitious  or 
unlawful,  or  that  any  one  of  the  thirty- 
nine  articles  was  in  any  part  erro- 
neous ;  or  that  the  ordinal  was  repug- 
nant to  the  word  of  God;  and  3. 
against  all  those  who  should  separate 
themselves  from  the  church,  or  es- 
tablisk  conventicles,  or  assert  that 
ecclesiastical  regulations  might  be 
made  or  imposed  without  the  royal 
consent.  Then  followed  the  laws  for 
the  celebration  of  the  divine  worship, 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments, 
the  duties  and  residence  of  incum- 
bents, and  the  practice  of  the  eccle- 
siastical courts.'  This  new  code  was 
afterwards  confirmed  by  letters  patent 
under  the  great  seal ;  but  its  autho- 
rity was  fiercely  disputed  both  by  the 
dissenters  and  by  the  lay  members  of 
the  establishment.  It  was  contended 
that  the  clergy  had  no  power  to 
create  oflences  which  should  subject 
the  delinquent  to  the  civil  punish- 
ment consequent  on  the  sentence  of 
excommunication ;  and  in  the  next 
session  of  parliament  a  bill  passed  the 
Commons,  declaring  that  no  canon 
or  constitution  ecclesiastical,  made 
within  the  last  ten  years,  or  to  be 
made  thereafter,  should  be  of  force  to 
impeach  or  hurt  any  person  in  his 
life,  liberty,  lands,  or  goods,  unless  it 
were  first  confirmed  by  an  act  of  the 
legislature.     The  bishops  united  in 


nsting  the  possessions  of  their  sees  to  the 
crown,  that  they  might  more  easily  "  main- 
tain true  religion,  keep  hospitaiity,  and 
avoid  dilapidations.*' — Ibid. 


opposing  this  bill,  as  derogatory  from 
the  autiiority  of  the  convocation,  and 
of  the  king,  the  head  of  the  church. 
Several  conferences  took  place  be- 
tween the  two  houses ;  but  the  parlia- 
ment was  dissolved  before  the  third 
reading,  and  the  decision  of  the  ques- 
tion fell  to  the  judges  in  Westminster 
Hall,  who  have  often  declared  that, 
though  the  canons  of  1604  bind  the 
clergy  by  whom  they  were  framed, 
they  have  no  power  to  bind  the  people, 
as  long  as  they  have  not  been  sanc- 
tioned by  the  approbation  of  the 
legislature.^ 

When  the  canons  were  published, 
Bancroft,  who  had  lately  succeeded 
Whitgift  in  the  see  of  Canterbury, 
called  on  the  officiating  clergy  to  con- 
form. The  greater  part  submitted; 
the  disssidents  were  silenced  or  de- 
prived. The  Puritans,  however,  did 
not  tamely  yield  to  the  storm.  They 
assembled  and  consulted;  they  soli- 
cited the  protection  of  the  council, 
and  of  the  favourites;  they  poured 
in  petitions  and  remonstrances  from 
every  quarter.  But  James  proved 
inexorable;  and  of  the  petitioners 
several  were  punished  with  the  loss  of 
office,  or  the  erasure  of  their  names 
from  the  commission  of  peace ;  others 
were  called  before  the  council,  and 
admonished  that  their  obstinacy  in 
opposing  a  measure  which  had  been 
finally  determined,  amounted  to  an 
offence  little  short  of  high  treason. 
The  distress  of  the  ejected  ministers 
and  of  their  families,  the  imprison- 
ment of  a  few,  and  the  voluntary 
exile  of  several,  have  been  feelingly 
deplored  by  the  Puritan  writers,  who 
describe  this  as  the  most  violent  of 
persecutions.  But  while  they  make 
the  deprived  clergy  amount  to  three 
hundred  individuals,  their  adversaries 


1  Wilk.   Con.  iv.  3S0— 405,  489,  584,  637. 

-  Lords'  Journals,  ii.  425.  Dftlrymple'g 
Memorials,  i.  22—25.  Somers's  Tracts, 
ii.  14. 


A.D.  1604]        PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CATHOLICS. 


21 


reduce  the  number  to  fifty,  exaggerate 
the  obstinacy  and  unreasonableness  of 
the  sufferers,  and  claim  for  the  pre- 
lates the  praise  of  moderation  and 
forbearance.  The  representations  of 
both  are  probably  too  highly  coloured. 
It  must  have  been,  that  on  such  an 
occasion  many  cases  of  individual 
hardship,  perhaps  some  of  unjus- 
tifiable rigour,  would  occur;  yet  it 
will  remain  a  difficult  task  to  show  on 
what  just  ground  men  could  expect  to 
retain  their  livings  while  they  refused 
to  submit  to  the  doctrine  or  to  con- 
form to  the  discipline  of  that  church 
by  which  they  were  employed.' 

The  Puritans  in  their  discontent 
had  accused  the  king  of  papistry.  He 
prosecuted,  they  said,  the  disciples, 
while  he  favoured  the  enemies  of  the 
gospel.  James  hastened  to  rescue 
himself  from  the  charge.  Another 
proclamation  was  published,  enjoining 
the  banishment  of  all  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries; regulations  were  adopted 
for  the  discovery  and  presentment  of 
recusants;  and  orders  were  sent  to 
the  magistrates  to  put  the  penal  laws 
into  immediate  execution.  He  even 
deemed  it  expedient  to  deliver  his 
sentiments  in  the  Star-chamber,  to 
declare  his  detestation  of  popery,  and 
to  repeat  his  wish  that  none  of  his 
children  might  succeed  him,  if  they 
were  ever  to  depart  from  the  esta- 
blished church.  These  proceedings 
afforded  some  consolation.  If  one 
opening  were  closed,  another  was 
oflfered  to  the  exertions  of  the  zealots. 
If  they  were  not  suffered  to  purge  the 
church  from  the  dregs  of  superstition, 
they  might  still  advance  the  glory  of 


1  JTeal,  part  ii.  c.  i.  Collier,  ii.  687, 
"Winwood,  ii.  4f0. 

2  Before  I  proceed  to  the  history  of  the 
gunpowder  plot,  I  should  inform  the  reader 
that  I  am  indebted  for  many  of  the  follow- 
ing particulars  to  two  manuscript  narra- 
tives in  the  handwriting  of  their  respec- 
tive authors :  the  one  in  English,  by 
Father  John  Gerard ;  the  other  an  Itahan 
translation,  but  enriched  with  much  addi- 


God  by  hunting  down  the  idolatrous 
papist.'^ 

The  execution  of  the  penal  laws 
enabled  the  king,  by  an  ingenious 
comment,  to  derive  considerable  profit 
from  his  past  forbearance.  It  was  pre- 
tended that  he  had  neyer  forgiven  the 
penalties  of  recusancy :  he  had  merely 
forbidden  them  to  be  exacted  for  a 
time,  in  the  hope  that  this  indulgence 
would  lead  to  conformity;  but  his 
expectations  had  been  deceived ;  the 
obstinacy  of  the  Catholics  had  grown 
with  the  lenity  of  the  sovereign ;  and, 
as  they  were  unworthy  of  further 
favour,  they  should  now  be  left  to 
the  severity  of  the  law.  To  their 
dismay  the  legal  fine  of  20^.  per  lunar 
month  was  again  demanded ;  and  not 
only  for  the  time  to  come,  but  for  the 
whole  period  of  the  suspension ;  a 
demand  which,  by  crowding  thirteen 
separate  payments  into  one  o^260Z., 
exhausted  the  whole  annual  income 
of  men  in  respectable  but  moderate 
circumstances.  Nor  was  this  all.  By 
law,  the  least  default  in  these  pay- 
ments subjected  the  recusant  to  the 
forfeiture  of  all  his  goods  and  chat- 
tels, and  of  two-thirds  of  his  lands, 
tenements,  hereditaments,  farms,  and 
leases.  The  execution  of  this  severe 
punishment  was  intrusted  to  the 
judges  at  the  assizes,  the  magistrates 
at  the  sessions,  and  the  commissioners 
for  causes  ecclesiastical  at  their  meet- 
ings. By  them  warrants  of  distress 
were  issued  to  constables  and  pur- 
suivants; all  the  cattle  on  the  lands 
of  the  delinquent,  his  household  fur- 
niture, and  his  wearing  apparel,  were 
seized  and  sold ;  and  if  on  some  pre- 


tional  information,  by  Father  Oswald  Green- 
way.  Both  were  Jesuit  missionaries,  the 
familiar  acquaintance  of  the  conspirators, 
and  on  that  account  suspected  by  the 
government  of  having  been  privy  to  the 
plot.  They  evidently  write  with  feelings  of 
compassion  for  the  fate  of  their  former 
friends ;  but  they  disclose  many  important 
particulars  which  must  have  been  otherwise 
unknown. 


V 


JAMES  L 


LCHijp.  r. 


text  or  other  he  was  not  thro^vI^  into 
prison,  he  found  himself  and  family 
left  without  a  change  of  apparel  or 
a  bed  to  lie  upon,  unless  he  had  been 
enabled  by  the  charity  of  his  friends 
to  redeem  them  after  the  sale,  or  to 
purchase  with  bribes  the  forbearance 
of  the  officers.  Within  six  months 
the  payment  was  again  demanded, 
and  the  same  depauperizing  process 
was  repeated.'  The  sums  thus  ex- 
torted from  the  sufferers  formed, 
most  opportunely  for  James,  a  fund, 
out  of  which  he  could  relieve  himself 
from  the  claims  and  clamours  of  the 
needy  Scotsmen  who  had  pursued  him 
from  their  own  country,  and  now 
importuned  him  for  a  share  in  the 
good  things  of  the  land  of  promise. 
Of  the  moneys  thus  extorted,  a  con- 
siderable portion  was  known  to  be 
appropriated  to  these  adventurers. 
Nor  was  this  appropriation  thought 
of  itself  a  small  grievance  at  a  time 
when  the  jealousies  between  the  two 
nations  had  grown  to  a  height  of 
which  we  can  form  but  a  very  in- 
adequate notion  at  the  present  day. 
The  sufferers  bitterly  complained  that 
they  were  reduced  to  beggary  for  the 
support  of  a  crowd  of  foreign  beggars; 
that  the  last  remnant  of  their  pro- 
perty was  wrung  from  them  to  satisfy 
the  rapacity  of  the  Scottish  harpies 
that  followed  the  court.  But  they 
complained  in  vain.    The  exaction  of 


I  the  penalties  was  too  profitable  to 
James  and  his  minions  to  admit  of 
redress  by  the  king;  and  among  the 
magistrates  in  every  locality  were 
found  persons  eager  to  prove  their 
orthodoxy  by  tormenting  the  idola- 
trous papist,  or  to  benefit  their  depen- 
dants and  officials,  by  delivering  him 
up  to  the  tender  mercies  of  men,  who 
were  careful  to  charge  the  highest 
price  for  the  most  trifling  indulgence."-' 
Among  the  suflerers  was  Eobert 
Catesby,  descended  from  an  ancient 
and  opulent  family,  which  had  been 
settled  during  several  generations  at 
Ashby  St.  Legers,  in  Northampton- 
shire, and  was  also  possessed  of  con- 
siderable property  in  the  county  of 
"Warwick.  His  father.  Sir  William 
Catesby,  more  than  once  had  been 
imprisoned  for  recusancy;  but  the 
son,  as  soon  as  he  became  his  own 
master,  abandoned  the  ancient  wor- 
ship, indulged  in  all  the  licentiousness 
of  youth,  and  impaired  his  fortune  by 
his  follies  and  extravagance.  In  1598 
he  returned  to  the  religion  of  his 
more  early  years;  and  from  that 
moment  it  became  the  chief  subject 
of  his  thoughts  to  liberate  himself 
and  his  brethren  from  the  iron  yoke 
under  which  they  groaned.  AVith  this 
view,  having  previously  stipulated  for 
liberty  of  conscience,  he  joined,  to- 
gether with  several  of  his  friends, 
the  earl  of  Essex;  and  in  the  ill4 


1  See  Garnet's  letter  in  Appendix,  FFF. 
"ETery  six  weeks  is  a  several  court,  juries 
appointed  to  indite,  present,  find  the  goods 
of  Catholicks,  prize  them,  yea,  in  many 
places  to  drive  away  whatever  they  find. 
If  these  courses  hold,  every  man  must  be 
fayne  to  redeeme  once  in  six  moneths  the 
▼ery  bed  that  he  lyeth  on  :  and  hereof,  that 
is  of  twice  redeeminge,  besides  other  pre- 
sidents, I  find  one  in  these  lodgings  where 
nowe  I  am." 

*  "It  is  both  odions  and  grievous  that 
true  and  free-bom  subjects  should  be  given 
S3  in  prey  to  others."— Gerard,  MS.  p.  35. 
"  Leurs  biens  sont  dcpartis  et  assignes  en 
don,  i  des  particuliers  courtisans,  avec 
lesqueles  ils  sont  contraints  de  composer : 
dont  ils  sont  au  desespoir." — Beaumont  n 
Villeroi,  1  June,  1605,  in  Jardincj  ii.  23. 


From  the  Book  of  Free  Gifts  it  appears 
that  James  gave  out  of  the  goods  of  recu- 
sants, in  his  first  year,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  to  Sir  Richard  Person ;  in  his 
third,  three  thousand  pounds  to  John 
Gibb;  in  his  fourth,  two  thousand  pounds 
to  John  Murray,  and  one  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds  to  Sir  James  Sandilands, 
&c.  &c.— See  Abstract  of  his  Majestie's 
Revenue,  p.  17—39.  But  from  the  letter 
of  Beaumont  juat  quoted,  it  appears  that 
he  had  not  been  more  than  a  year  in 
England,  before  he  began  to  make  over  his 
rlairas  upon  recusants  to  his  favourites, 
enabling  the  latter  to  proceed  at  law  in  his 
name  against  their  victims,  unless  these 
should  submit  to  purchase  their  forbearance 
by  composition. — On  this  head  consult  Tier- 
ney,  iv.  App.  ix,  p.  Ixiv, 


..D.  1C04,J        ORIGIN  OF  THE  GUNPOWDER  PLOT. 


23 


.  iirected  attempt  of  that  nobleman 
vas  wounded,  taken,  and  committed 
0  prison.  He  had,  indeed,  the  good 
brtune  to  escape  the  block,  but  was 
:ompelled  to  purchase  his  liberty  with 
the  sum  of  three  thousand  pounds. 
A-fter  his  discharge,  he  attached  him- 
self, through  the  same  motive,  to  the 
Spanish  party  among  the  Catholics, 
and  bore  a  considerable  share  in  their 
intrigues  to  prevent  the  succession  of 
the  Scottish  monarch.  When  these 
had  proved  fruitless,  he  acquiesced  in 
the  general  opinion  of  his  brethren, 
and  cherished  with  them  the  pleasing 
hope  of  indulgence  and  toleration. 
But  the  delusion  soon  vanished;  in 
every  quarter  it  was  easy  to  discern 
the  gathering  of  the  storm  which 
afterwards  burst  upon  their  heads ; 
and  Catesby,  reverting  to  his  original 
pursuit,  revolved  in  his  mind  every 
possible  means  of  relief.  To  succeed 
by  insurrection  he  saw  was  hopeless ; 
the  Catholics  were  the  weaker  party, 
and  disunited  among  themselves;  to 
look  for  sufficient  aid  from  the  princes 
abroad  was  equally  visionary;  the  king 
of  Prance,  the  king  of  Spain,  and  even 
the  pontiflF,  all  professed  themselves 
the  friends  of  James.  At  length  there 
suggested  itself  to  his  mind  a  plan 
which  required  not  the  help  of 
foreigners,  nor  the  co-operation  of 
many  associates,  but  a  plan  so  atro- 
cious in  principle,  and  so  sanguinary 
in  execution,  that  it  is  difi&cult  to 
conceive  how  it  could  be  harboured 
in  the  mind  of  any  human  being— 
the  plan  of  blowing  up  the  parlia- 
ment-house with  gunpowder,  and 
involving  in  one  common  destruc- 
tion, the  king,  the  lords,  and  the 
commons,  all  those  who  framed, 
with  the  chief  of  those  who  executed. 


1  Persons,  however,  observes,  that  this 
was  not  the  first  gunpowder  plot.  *'  There 
be  recounted  in  histories  many  attempts 
of  the  same  kjnds,  and  some  also  by  Pro- 
testants in  our  dayes  :  as  that  of  them  who 
at  Antwerp  placed  a  whole  barke  of  powder 
in  the  great  street  of  that  citty,  where  the 


the  penal  laws  against  the  English 
Cathohcs.' 

The  person  to  whom  Catesby  first 
opened  his  mind  was  an  intimate 
friend,  Thomas,  the  younger  brother 
of  Robert  Winter,  of  Huddington 
in  Worcestershire.  In  his  youth  he 
had  served  as  a  volunteer  in  the  army 
of  the  States ;  afterwards  he  had  been 
repeatedly  employed  at  the  court  of 
Madrid,  as  agent  for  the  Spanish  party 
in  England.  Winter  was  struck  with 
horror  at  the  communication ;  he 
hesitated  not  to  pronounce  the  pro- 
ject most  wicked  and  inhuman.  But 
Catesby  attempted  its  justification. 
He  sought  not,  he  observed,  any 
private  revenge  or  personal  emolu- 
ment. His  sole  object  was  to  suppress 
a  most  unjust  and  barbarous  perse- 
cution by  the  only  expedient  which 
offered  the  prospect  of  success.  There 
could  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  lawful, 
since  God  had  given  to  every  man 
the  right  of  repelling  force  by  force. 
If  his  friend  thought  it  cruel,  let  him 
compare  it  with  the  cruelties  exer- 
cised during  so  many  years  against 
the  Catholics ;  let  him  reckon  the 
numbers  that  had  been  butchered 
by  the  knife  of  the  executioner ;  the 
hundreds  who  had  perished  in  the 
solitude  of  their  prisons;  and  the 
thousands  that  had  been  reduced 
from  affluence  or  ease  to  a  state  of 
want  or  beggary.  He  would  then  be 
able  to  judge  where  the  charge  of 
cruelty  could  with  justice  be  applied.^ 

This  was  at  the  time  when  Velasco, 
the  constable  of  Castile,  had  arrived 
in  Flanders,  to  conclude  a  peace 
between  England  and  Spain.  The 
two  friends,  after  a  long  discussion, 
resolved  to  postpone  their  direful 
purpose   till   they  had  solicited  the 


prince  of  Parma  with  his  nobility  was  to 
passe :  and  that  of  him  in  the  Hague  that 
would  have  blown  up  the  whole  couucel  of 
Hollande  upon  private  revenge." — Letter 
touching  the  New  Oath  of  Allegiance,  sect, 
i.  V.  apud  Butler,  Historical  Memoirs,  i. 
266,  first  edition.     »  Greenway's  MS.  p.  30. 


24 


JAMES  1. 


[chap.  r. 


mediation  of  the  Spaniard  with  their 
sovereign.  With  this  view  Winter 
repaired  to  Bergen,  near  Dunkirk, 
where  a  private  conference  with 
the  ambassador  convinced  him,  that 
though  he  might  speak  in  favour  of 
the  EngUsh  CathoUcs,  he  would  make 
no  sacrifice  to  purchase  for  them  the 
benefit  of  toleration.  From  Bergen, 
Winter  hastened  to  Ostend,  where 
he  met  with  Guy  Eaukes,  a  native 
of  Yorkshire,  and  a  soldier  of  for- 
tune. Eaukes  had  long  served  in 
the  Netherlands,  had  borne  an  im- 
portant command  under  Sir  Thomas 
Stanley,  and  had  visited  Madrid  in 
the  company  of  Winter,  as  agent  for 
the  exiles  of  the  Spanish  party.  His 
courage,  fidelity,  and  military  ex- 
perience pointed  him  out  as  a  valua- 
ble auxihary.  He  consented  to  return 
with  Winter  to  England,  but  was 
kept  for  some  time  in  ignorance  of 
the  part  which  he  was  designed  to 
act.' 

Before  their  arrival,  Catesby  had 
communicated  the  plan  to  two  others, 
Percy  and  Wright.  Thomas  Percy 
was  a  distant  relation  and  steward  to 
the  earl  of  Northumberland.  He  had 
embraced  the  Catholic  faith  about 
the  same  time  as  Catesby,  and  had 
shared  with  him  in  the  disastrous 
enterprise  of  Essex;  but  afterwards. 


he  opposed  Catesby's  associates  of  the 
Spanish  faction,  visited  James  in 
Edinburgh,  and,  in  consequence  of  his 
promises,  laboured  with  success  to 
attach  the  leading  Catholics  to  the 
cause  of  the  Scottish  monarch.^  Sub- 
sequent events  induced  Percy  to  look 
on  himself  as  the  dupe  of  royal  insin- 
cerity ;  he  presented  a  remonstrance 
to  tbe  king,  but  received  no  answer; 
and,  while  his  mind  was  agitated  by 
resentment  on  the  one  hand,  and  by 
shame  on  the  other,  Catesby  seized 
the  favourable  moment  to  inveigle 
him  into  the  conspiracy.  At  first  he 
demanded  time  to  deliberate ;  but  the 
desire  of  revenge,  and  the  hope  of 
averting  the  evils  which  he  had  unin- 
tentionally contributed  to  bring  on 
his  brethren,  won  his  consent,  and 
he  ofiFered  as  a  useful  associate,  his 
brother-in-law  John  Wright,  for- 
merly a  follower  of  Essex,  and  noted 
as  the  best  swordsman  of  his  time, 
who  had  lately  become  a  Catholic, 
and  on  that  account  had  been  harassed, 
with  prosecutions  and  imprisonment. 
The  conspirators  were  now  four ;  after 
a  short  trial  Eaukes  was  added  to  the 
number;  and  all  five  having  pre- 
viously sworn  each  other  to  secrecy, 
received  in  confirmation  of  their  oath 
the  sacrament  from  the  hand  of  the 
Jesuit  missionary,  Father  Gerard.^ 


1  See  Winter's  confession  in  "  The  Gun- 

Sowder  Treason,  with  a  Discourse  of  the 
lannerof  its  Discovery,''  1679,  pp.  48 — 50; 
Greenway's  MS.  36.  t  observe  tnat  Faukes 
always  writes  his  name  with  ti. 

2  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Percy  thus 
represented  the  answer  of  James,  though 
the  king;  afterwards  denied  that  he  had 
any  authority  for  it.  When  the  earl  of 
Northumberland  was  examined  whether  he 
had  ever  affirmed  that  he  could  dispose  of 
the  Catholics  of  England,  he  answered  thus  : 
"  He  denieth  that  ho  ever  affirmed  any 
such  matter,  but  sayeth,  that  when  Percy 
came  out  of  Scotland  from  the  king  (his  lo. 
having  written  to  the  king,  where  his  advice 
was  to  give  good  hopes  to  the  Catholioues, 
that  he  might  the  more  eaailie,  without 
impediment  come  to  the  crown),  then  re- 
turning from  the  king,  he  sayed,  that  the 
king'b  pleasure  was,  that  his  lord!»hip  sliould 
give  the  Catholiques  hopes  that  they  should 


be  well  dealt  withal,  or  to  that  effect :  and 
it  may  be  he  bath  told  as  much  as  the 
king  said." — Interrogatories  of  the  23rd  of 
November,  in  the  State  Paper  Office.  The 
letter  to  which  the  earl  alludes  has  been 
published  by  Miss  Aikin,  in  her  Court  of 
James  I.  p.  253 ;  and  in  it  occurs  the  fol- 
lowing passage :  "  I  will  dare  to  say  no  more, 
but  it  were  pity  to  lose  so  good  a  kingdom 
for  not  tolerating  mass  in  a  corner,  if  upon 
that  it  resteth.'"  As  for  the  denial  of 
James,  it  is  undeserving  of  credit.  There 
are  too  many  instances  on  record  in  which 
he  hns  denied  his  own  words. 

3  This  fact  was  brought  to  light  by  the 
confessions  of  Winter  and  Faukes,  who  out 
of  the  five  were  the  only  two  then  living. 
But  they  both  acquit  Gerard  of  having  been 
privy  to  their  secret.  Winter  says,  that 
"  th"i«y  five  administered  the  oath  to  each 
other  in  a  chamber,  in  which  no  other 
body  was,"  and  then  went  into   another 


.D.  1604.]    TREATY  BETWEEN  ENGLAND  AND  SPAIN. 


25 


"Bat  thougli  they  had  thus  pledged 
hemselves  to  adopt  the  sanguinary 
-roject  suggested  by  Catesby,  its  exe- 
rtion was  still  considered  as  distant 
md  uncertain.  They  cherished  a 
lope  that  James  might  listen  to  the 
prayers  of  Velasco,  that  his  eagerness 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  the  Catholic 
king  might  induce  him  to  grant  at 
least  the  liberty  of  private  worship  to 
his  Catholic  subjects.  The  English 
and  Spanish  commissioners  had  already 
assembled ;  and  though  both  assumed 
a  tone  of  indifference — though  they 
brought  forward  the  most  irrecon- 
cilable pretensions,  it  was  well  known 
that  their  respective  sovereigns  had 
determined  to  put  an  end  to  the  war, 
whatever  sacrifices  it  might  cost. 
After  repeated  conferences  for  the 
space  of  two  months,  the  treaty  was 
concluded.  It  restored  the  relations 
of  amity  between  the  English  and  Spa- 
nish crowns ;  revived  the  commercial 
intercourse  which  had  formerly  sub- 
sisted between  the  nations;  and  left 
to  the  equity  of  James  the  disposal  of 
the  cautionary  towns  in  Holland,  if 
the  States  did  not  redeem  them  within 
a  reasonable  time.*  The  constable 
now  interposed  the  solicitations  of  his 
sovereign  in  behalf  of  the  English 
Catholics,  and  assured  James  that 
Philip  would  take  every  indulgence 
granted  to  them  as  a  favour  done  to 
himself.  At  the  same  time,  to  second 
his  endeavours,  the  Catholics  made  to 
the  king  the  voluntary  ofier  of  a  yearly 


room  to  receive  the  sacrament. — Winter's 
Confession,  p.  50.  Faukes,  that  "  the  five 
did  meet  at  a  house  in  the  fields  beyond 
St.  Clement's  Inn,  where  they  did  confer 
and  agree  upon  the  plot,  and  there  they 
took  a  solemn  oath  and  vows  by  all  their 
force  and  power  to  execute  the  same,  and 
of  secrecj  not  to  reveal  it  to  any  of  their 
fellows,  but  to  such  as  should  be  thought  fit 
persona  to  enter  into  that  action;  and  in 
the  same  house  they  did  receive  the  sacra- 
ment of  Gerard  the  Jesuit,  to  perform  their 
vow  and  oath  of  secrecy  aforesaid.  But 
that  Gerard  was  not  acquainted  with  their 
purpose.''  See  the  fifth  examination  of 
Fankes,  taken  November  9th,  and  sub- 
scribed by  him  November  10th,  in  the  State 


sum  in  lieu  of  the  penalties  payable 
by  law;  and  attempted  to  move  the 
pity  of  the  archbishop  and  of  the 
council,  by  lay  laying  before  them 
a  faithful  representation  of  the  dis- 
tress to  which  numbers  of  respect- 
able families  had  been  reduced,  by 
their  conscientious  adher.ence  to 
the  faith  of  their  fathers.  But  the 
king,  under  the  advice  of  his  minis- 
ters, was  inexorable ;  he  assured  Ye- 
lasco,  that  even  if  he  were  willing,  he- 
dared  not  make  a  concession  so  offen- 
sive to  the  religious  feelings  of  his 
Protestant  subjects.  The  judges  and 
magistrates  were  ordered  by  procla- 
mation to  enforce  the  immediate  exe- 
cution of  the  penal  laws ;  measures 
were  adopted  for  the  more  certain, 
detection  of  recusants ;  and  commis- 
sioners were  appointed,  by  whom 
twenty-three  priests  and  three  lay- 
men were  arbitrarily  selected  from 
the  Catholic  prisoners,  and  sent  into 
banishment  for  life.^  These  proceed- 
ings, following  in  rapid  succession, 
extinguished  the  last  ray  of  hope  in' 
the  breasts  of  the  conspirators.  They 
exhorted  each  other  to  hazard  their 
lives,  like  the  Maccabees,  for  the 
liberation  of  their  brethren:  they 
hastened  to  execute  that  plan  which 
appeared  to  be  their  only  resource; 
and  they  pronounced  it  a  lawful  retri- 
bution to  bury  the  authors  of  their 
wrongs  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  edifice 
in  which  laws  so  cruel  and  oppres- 
sive had  been  devised  and  enacted.^ 


Paper  Office.  It  was  read  at  the  trial, 
with  the  exception  of  the  part  exculpating 
Gerard.  Before  that  in  the  original  is 
drawn  a  line,  with  the  words  liuc  nsqne,  in 
the  handwriting  of  Sir  Edward  Coke,  who 
was  unwilling  to  publish  to  the  world  a 
passage  which  might  serve  for  the  justifica- 
tion of  one  whom  he  meant  to  accuse. 

1  Eymer,  xvi.  585,  617. 

-  Rymer,  xvi,  597.  More,  309,  Gerard's 
MS.  36.  Greenway's  MS.  35.  Tierney,  iv. 
App.  Nos.  X.  ixii.  In  No.  xiv.  he  has 
published  the  numbers  of  the  CathoUo 
recusants  convict  returned  at  the  summer 
assizes  for  1604.    They  amount  to  6,426. 

3  Greenway,  37. 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


On  inquiry  they  found  contiguous 
to  the  old  palace  of  Westminster  an 
empty  house,  with  a  garden  attached 
to  it,  exactly  adapted  to  their  pur- 
pose. It  was  hired  by  Percy,  under 
pretence  of  convenience,  because  his 
office  cf  gentleman  pensioner  occa- 
sionally compelled  him  to  reside  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  court.  For  three 
months  he  was  kept  out  of  possession 
by  the  commissioners  for  a  projected 
union  between  England  and  Scot- 
land ;  but  at  their  departure  he  se- 
cretly introduced  his  associates,  who 
again  swore  to  be  faithful  to  each 
other  at  the  risk  of  their  own  lives. 
On  one  side  of  the  garden  stood  an 
old  building  raised  against  the  wall  of 
the  parliament-house.  AVithin  this 
they  began  to  open  the  mine,  allotting 
two-thirds  of  the  twenty-four  hours 
to  labour,  and  the  remaining  third  to 
repose ;  and  dividing  the  task  among 
themselves  in  such  manner,  that 
while  one  enjoyed  his  portion  of  rest, 
the  other  three  were  occupied  in  the 
work,  whicli,  during  the  day,  consisted 
in  excavating  the  mine — during  the 
night  in  concealing  the  rubbish  under 
the  soil  of  the  garden.  Faukes  had  a 
different  employment ;  as  his  person 
was  unknown,  he  assumed  the  name 
of  Johnson,  gave  himself  out  as  the 
servant  of  Percy,  and  kept  a  constant 
watch  round  the  house.  When  a 
fortnight  had  been  thus  devoted  to 
uninterrupted  labour,  Faukes  in- 
formed his  associates  that  the  parlia- 
ment was  prorogued  from  the  7th  of 
February  to  the  3rd  of  October.  They 
immediately  separated  to  spend  the 
Christmas  holidays  at  their  respective 
homes,  with  an  understanding  that 
in  the  interval  they  should  neither 
write  nor  send  messages  to  each 
other.* 

Before  this,  however,  Catesby  had 
discovered  a  disposition  in  his  fellow- 


1  Winter's  Confession,  51—53.    Gerard, 
36.    Greenway,  38. 


labourers  to  question  the  lawfulne.- 
of  the  enterprise.  That  they  had 
right  to  destroy  those  who  sough 
to  destroy  them  was  admitted,  bu 
what,  it  was  asked,  could  be  sa 
in  justification  of  the  murder  of  th( 
friends  and  Catholics  who  must  I 
enveloped  in  the  same  fate  with  thei 
enemies  ?  The  recurrence  of  th 
question  produced  in  him  alarm  an^ 
irritation.  If  he  was  able  by  hi 
vehemence  to  silence  their  inquirie.' 
he  did  not  convince  their  consciences 
he  saw  that  higher  authority  wa 
required,  and  this  he  sought  with  tha 
secrecy  and  cunning  which  marke< 
the  whole  of  his  conduct.  The  kin; 
had  granted  permission  to  Sir  Charle 
Percy  to  raise  a  regiment  of  horse  fo 
the  service  of  the  archduke,  anc 
Catesby,  through  the  earl  of  Salis 
bury,  had  obtained  the  royal  licenS' 
to  accept  a  captain's  commission.  I 
served  him  as  a  pretence  to  provid 
arms  and  horses  for  his  own  use ;  am 
it  also  supplied  him  with  the  mean 
of  seeking  a  solution  of  the  difficult: 
suggested  by  his  friends,  without  th« 
danger  of  betraying  the  secret.  T< 
Garnet,  the  provincial  of  the  Jesuits 
he  observed,  in  the  presence  of  a  larg( 
company,  that  he  was  about  to  en- 
gage in  the  service  of  the  archduke 
of  the  justice  of  the  war  he  had  n< 
doubt ;  but  he  might  be  commandet 
to  partake  in  actions  in  which  th( 
innocent  would  necessarily  perisl 
with  the  guilty  —  unarmed  womei 
and  children  with  armed  soldier; 
and  rebels.  Could  he  in  consciena 
obey?  AVould  not  the  fate  of  th( 
innocent  render  his  conduct  unlawfu 
in  the  sight  of  the  Almighty  ?  Gar- 
net replied  that,  according  to  divine- 
of  every  communion,  obedience  it 
such  cases  was  lawful ;  otherwise  ii 
would  at  all  times  be  in  the  power  o 
an  unjust  aggressor  to  prevent  th( 
party  aggrieved  from  pursuing  his  jus1 
right.  This  was  sufficient :  the  ne\s 
theologian  applied  the  answer  to  the 


D.  1604]     PEOCEEDINGS  0¥  THE  CONSPIRATOES. 

itended  plot,  and  boasted  to  his  asso- 

ates  that  their  objection  was  now 

roved  to  be  a  weak  and  unfounded 

3ruple.' 

During  the  recess  he  had  imparted 

is  secret  to  Christopher,  the  brother 

f  John  Wright,  and  to  Robert,  the 

Tother   of  Thomas   Winter.     The 

rst  had  lately  become  a  convert  to 

he  Cathohc  faith ;  both  had  suffered 

mprisonment  for  their  religion.  With 

his  accession  to  their  number,  the 
lonspirators  resumed  their  labour; 
)ut  their  progress  was  retarded,  and 
,heir  hope  checked  by  unexpected 
iifficulties.  The  influx  of  water  at 
I  certain  depth  rendered  it  impos- 
dble  to  carry  the  mine  under  the 
'oundation  ;  and  to  pierce  through  a 
wall  three  yards  thick,  and  composed 
3f  large  stones,  was  no  easy  task  to 
men  unaccustomed  to  manual  labour. 
Still  they  persevered,  and  the  perfora- 
tion daily  proceeded  till  they  were 
alarmed  one  morning  by  a  consider- 
able noise,  which  appeared  to  come 
from  a  room  almost  over  their  heads. 
Faukes,  on  inquiry,  learned  that  it 
was  a  vaulted  cellar,  which  lay  under 


^  According  to  Sir  Edward  Coke,  whose 
object  it  was  to  connect  Garnet  with  the  con- 
spiracy, the  question  was  proposed  in  these 
terms :  "  whether  for  the  good  and  pro- 
motion of  the  Catholic  cause  against  here- 
tics, it  be  lawful  or  not  among  many  nocents 
to  destroy  some  innocents  also  ?" — Gun- 
powder Treason,  p.  165.  But  of  this  as- 
sertion he  never  attempted  to  adduce  any 
proof;  and  not  only  Garnet,  but  also 
Greenway,  who  was  present,  declare,  that 
the  case  proposed  was  that  which  I  have 
mentioned  above. — Greenway,  40—43. 

2  Winter's  Confession,  55.  Gerard,  42. 
Greenway,  45. 

■*  "  For  then,  not  only  in  the  shires  and 
provinces  abroad,  but  even  in  London  it- 
selfe,  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  court,  the 
violence  and  insoleneyof  continuall  searches 
grew  to  be  such  as  was  intoUerable ;  no  night 
passing  commonly,  but  that  soldiours  and 
catchpoles  brake  into  quiet  men's  houses, 
when  they  were  asleepe;  and  not  only 
carried  away  their  persons  unto  prisons  at 
their  pleasure,  except  they  would  brybe 
excessively,  but  whatsoever  liked  them  best 
besydes  in  the  house.  And  these  searches 
were  made  with  such  violence  and  inso- 
lency,  aa  divers  gentlewomen  were  drawne 


the  house  of  Lords,  and  would  in  a 
few  days  be  unoccupied.  This  for- 
tunate discovery  filled  them  with  joy : 
the  mine  was  abandoned;  Faukes 
hired  the  cellar  in  the  name  of  his 
pretended  master;  and  into  it  were 
conveyed,  under  the  cover  of  the 
night,  several  barrels  of  gunpowder, 
which  had  been  collected  in  a  house 
at  Lambeth.  To  elude  suspicion, 
these  were  concealed  under  stones, 
billets  of  wood,  and  different  articles 
of  household  furniture,  and  the  con- 
spirators having  completed  their  pre- 
parations, separated  to  meet  again 
in  September,  a  few  days  before  the 
opening  of  parliament.^ 

In  the  mean  time  the  persecution, 
which  had  commenced  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  had  daily  increased  in 
severity.  Nocturnal  searches  for  the 
discovery  of  priests  were  resumed 
with  all  that  train  of  injuries,  insults, 
and  vexations  which  characterized 
them  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.^  The 
jails  were  crowded  with  prisoners; 
and  some  missionaries  and  laymen 
suffered,  more  were  condemned  to 
suffer,  death   for  religious  offences.* 


or  forced  out  of  their  beds,  to  see  whether 
they  had  any  sacred  thing  or  matter  be- 
longing to  the  use  of  Catholic  religion, 
either  about  them  or  under  their  bedds." — 
Person's  Judgment  of  a  Catholic  English- 
man.   8vo.  1608. 

*  Sugar,  a  priest,  Grissold,  Baily,  Wil- 
bourne,  Fulthering,  and  Brown,  laymen, 
were  executed.  Hill,  Green,  Tichbourne, 
Smith,  and  Briscow,  priests,  and  Skitel,  a 
layman,  received  sentence  of  death,  but 
were  reprieved  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  ambassadors,  and  after- 
wards sent  into  banishment.  Skitel  had 
been  condemned  by  Serjeant  Philips  for 
having  only  received  a  Jesuit  into  his 
house.  The  sentence  was  thought  illegal; 
and   Pound,    a  Catholic    gentleman,   com- 

Elained  to  the  council.  Instead  of  redress, 
e  was  called  before  the  lords  in  the  Star- 
chamber,  who  '•  declared  the  condemnation 
to  be  lawfull,  condemned  Pound  to  lose  one 
of  his  ears  here  in  London,  and  the  other  in 
the  country  where  he  dwelleth  ;  to  fine  one 
thousand  pounds,  and  to  endure  perpetual 
imprisonment,  if  he  impeach  not  those 
that  advised  him  to  commence  his  suite; 
and  if  he  would  confess,  this  sentence 
should  be   revoked,    and   their    lordships 


28 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


The  officiating  clergy  were  bound 
under  ecclesiastical  penalties  to  de- 
nounce all  recusants  living  within 
their  respective  parishes  ;'  and  courts 
were  held  every  six  weeks  to  receive 
informations,  and  to  convict  offenders. 
The  usual  penalties  were  enforced 
with  a  rigour  of  which  former  per- 
secutions furnished  no  precedent; 
and  the  recusants,  in  the  middle 
classes  of  life,  were  ground  to  the 
dust  by  the  repeated  forfeiture  of  all 
their  personal  estates,  with  two-thirds 
of  their  lands  and  leases.^  To  reduce 
the  higher  ranks  to  an  equality  with 
their  more  indigent  brethren,  the 
bishops  received  orders,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  chancellor,  to  excom- 
municate the  more  opulent  or  more 
zealous  Catholics  within  their  dio- 
ceses, to  certify  the  names  into  the 
Chancery,  and  to  sue  for  writs  de 
excommunicato  capiendo,  by  which 
the  delinquents  would  become  liable 
to  imprisonment  and  outlawry ;  inca- 
pable of  recovering  debts,  or  rents,  or 
damages  for  injuries ;  of  making  sales 


would  otherwise  determine  according  to 
reason.  In  the  mean  time  Pound  lyeth  a 
close  prisoner  in  the  Tower," — Winwood, 
ii.  p.  36.  The  queen  interceded  for  Pound, 
but  James  forbade  her  evermore  to  open 
her  mouth  in  favour  of  a  Catholic.  Some 
time  afterwards  the  French  and  Venetian 
ambassadors  remonstrated  on  the  severity 
of  the  sentence,  and  Pound,  having  stood  a 
whole  day  in  the  pillory  in  London,  was 
allowed  to  depart  to  his  own  house  at  Bel- 
mont in  Hampshire. — Bartoli,  64.  Eudse- 
mon  Joannes,  238. 

i  Wilk.  Con.  iv.  400,  can.  ciiv.  411. 

2  These  penalties  were  exacted  with  such 
rigour  by  the  bishops  of  Hereford  and  Llan- 
daff,  that  in  the  sole  county  of  Hereford 
409  families  suddenly  found  themselves 
reduced  to  a  state  of  beggary.  It  required 
but  little  additional  provocation  to  goad 
men  in  such  extremity  to  acta  of  violence. 
The  curate  of  Allenmoor,  near  Hereford, 
had  refused  to  allow  the  interment  of  Alice 
Wellington,  a  Catholic  woman,  in  the 
churchyard,  under  pretence  that  she  was 
excommunicated.  Her  friends  buried  her 
by  force  ;  they  repelled  the  civil  officers  by 
help  of  other  Catholics :  their  numbers 
rapidly  increased,  and  the  two  persecuting 

{)relate8    were  compelled  to  flee  for  their 
ivea :   the  earl  of  Worcester,  a  Catholic, 


or  purchases;  or  of  conveying  thei  ' 
estates  by  deed  or  will.^  To  add  t 
their  terrors,  a  report  was  spread  the  ; 
in  the  next  parliament  measure 
would  be  adopted  to  insure  the  tok 
extirpation  of  the  ancient  faith ;  an 
the  report  seemed  to  be  confirmed  b 
the  injurious  epithets  which  the  kin 
in  his  daily  conversation  bestowed  o 
the  Catholics,  by  the  menacing  dire( 
tions  of  the  chancellor  in  the  Stai 
chamber,  and  by  the  hostile  languag 
of  the  bishop  of  London  in  his  sermo 
at  St.  Paul's  Cross. 

It  was  with  secret  satisfaction  ths 
Catesby   viewed    these    proceeding 
He  considered  his  victims  as  runnin  : 
blindly  to  their  own  destruction,  an 
argued  that  the  more  the  Catholic  , 
suffered,  the  more  readily  they  woul  ■ 
join  his  standard  after  the  explosioi 
As  the  time  approached,  he  judged :  I 
necessary  to   add  four  more  to  th  : 
number  of  his  accomplices.     Thes 
were  Bates,  his  confidential  servan 
whom  he  employed  to  convey  arnc  •■ 
and  ammunition  into  Warwickshire 

hastened  from  court  to  appease  the  tumult 
and  his  efforts  were  aiaed  by  messengej 
from  the  missionaries,  and  other  Catholic 
in  the  neighbouring  counties. — Lodge,  ii 
293.  Bartoli,  476.  See  also  Garnet's  lette 
note  FFF;  Eudoemon  Joannes,  135. — D 
Abbot  denies  the  provocation,  and  gives 
different  colouring  to  the  riot ;  but  owns  thi 
Morgan,  one  of  the  leaders,  who  was  ser 
up  a  prisoner  to  London,  was  discharge 
by  order  of  the  council. — Antilogia,  131. 

3  Wilk.   Con.    iv.    411.     "  Our   graciot 
king  hitherto  forbears  to  draw  blood  of  th  i 
Catholiquea  [this  was  not  exactly  truej,n  ! 
civill    practise    tending    to    conspiracy    c  i 
treason  having  yet  appeared  either  by  the:  i 
doctrine  or  their  dispensations;   but  whei 
soever  they  shall  hault  in  dutie,  the  kin 
means   (as  he  hath  cause)  to  proceed  t 
justice.    In  the  mean  time  they  pay  thei 
two  parts  more  roundly  than  ever  they  di  ■ 
in  the  time  of  the  late  queen,  not  any  on 
as    I  think    being   left    out,  or  like  to  b 
left  out  before  Michaelmas  j    and   beside 
like  to  fall  into  church  censures  of  eicon; 
munication,   with  the  penalties   thereunt 
belonging,  which  were  not  felt  formerly ."- 
Northampton's  letter,  July,  1605,  in   Wir 
wood,  ii.   95.    The  length  of  these  quotn 
tions  must  be  excused,  because  it  has  bee 
pretended  that  at  this  period  the  Catholic 
wore  not  peraecuted,  but  favoured. 


>.  1605.]     CAT]eSBY  EECEIYES  MORE  ASSOCIATES. 


29 


jyes,  an  intimate  friend,  irritated 
the  forfeiture  of  his  property,  and 
•tinguished  by  his  boldness  and  reso- 
fcion ;  Grant,  whose  house  at  Nor- 
ook,  in  Warwickshire,  was  conve- 
ently  situated  for  the  subsequent 
lerations  of  the  conspirators ;   and 
mbrose  Eookwood,  of  Coldham  Hall, 
.  Suffolk,  who  could  furnish  a  stud  of 
iluable   horses.    Faukes,  as  his  ser- 
.ces  were  not  immediately  wanted, 
ipaired  during  the  interval  to  Elan- 
ars.    He  was  instructed  to  procure 
!cretly  a  supply  of  military  stores; 
ad  (which  was  of  still  greater  import- 
ace)  to  intrigue  with  the  officers  of 
ae  English  regiment  in  the  pay  of 
tie  archduke.    Several  of  these,  bold 
nd  needy  adventurers,  owed  their 
ommissions     to    the    influence    of 
^atesby.     To  them  he  sent   advice 
hat  the  English  Catholics,  if  they 
ould  not  obtain  redress  by  petition, 
vould  seek  it  by  the  sword ;  and  he 
conjured  them  in  that  case  to  hasten 
.0  the  aid  of  their  brethren,  with  as 
nany  associates  as  they  could  pro- 
cure.     The  proceedings  of  Faukes, 
though  conducted  with  caution,  did 
not  entirely  escape  notice ;  and  Cecil 
was  repeatedly  warned  from  France 
and  Flanders  that  the  exiles  had  some 
clandestine  enterprise  in  hand,  though 
the  object  and  names  of  the  conspira- 
tors had  not  been  discovered.' 

At  home  Catesby  had  been  inde- 
fatigable in  the  prosecution  of  his 
design.  But,  though  he  might  rely 
with  confidence  on  the  fidelity  of  his 
accomplices,  he  knew  not  how  to 
elude  the  scrutinizing  eyes  of  his 
more  intimate  friends.  They  noticed 
the  excited  tone  of  his  conversation, 
his  frequent  and  mysterious  absence 
from  home,  and  his   unaccountable 


1  Winter's  Confession,  56.  Greenway, 
63 — 56.  Winwood,  ii.  172.  Birch's  Nego- 
tiations, 233,  248,  251,  255. 

2  In  this  letter  he  says  :  "All  are  despe- 
rate ;  diverse  Catholics  are  offended  with 
Jesuits;  they  say  that  Jesuits  doe  impugne 
and  hinder  all  forcible  enterprizes.    I  dare 


delay  to  join  the  urmy  in  Flanders. 
Suspicion  was  awakened,  and  Garnet, 
the  provincial  or  superior  of  the 
Jesuits,  having  received  some  general 
hint  of  a  conspiracy,  seized  an  oppor- 
tunity to  inculcate  at  the  table  of 
Catesby  the  obligation  of  submitting 
to  the  pressure  of  persecution,  and  of 
leaving  the  redress  of  wrongs  to  the 
justice  of  heaven.  Catesby  did  not 
restrain  his  feelings.  "  It  is  to  you, 
and  such  as  you,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that 
we  owe  our  present  calamities.  This 
doctrine  of  non-resistance  makes  us 
slaves.  No  authority  of  priest  or 
pontiff  can  deprive  man  of  his  right 
to  repel  injustice."  This  sally  con- 
verted the  suspicion  of  Garnet  into 
certainty.  He  resolved  to  inform  his 
superiors  in  Eome  ;-  and  received  in 
return  two  letters  of  similar  import, 
one  written  in  the  name  of  the  pope, 
the  other  from  the  general  of  the 
order,  commanding  him  to  keep  aloof 
from  all  political  intrigue,  and  to 
discourage  all  attempts  against  the 
state. 

Catesby,  notwithstanding  the  bold 
tone  which  he  assumed,  could  not 
silence  the  misgivings  of  his  own  con- 
science; perhaps  he  feared  also  the 
impression  which  the  authority  of 
the  provincial  might  make  on  the 
minds  of  his  a>ssociates.  He  re- 
peatedly sought  the  company  of 
Garnet,  maintained  his  opinion  that 
the  wrongs  of  the  Catholics  were  such 
as  to  justify  recourse  to  open  violence, 
and  at  last  acknowledged  that  a  plot 
was  in  agitation,  the  particulars  of 
which  he  was  ready  to  intrust  to  the 
fidelity  of  his  friend.  The  Jesuit  re- 
fused to  hear  a  word  on  that  head; 
and  in  the  long  and  earnest  alter- 
cation which  followed,  the  conspirator 


not  informe  myself  of  their  affaires,  be- 
cause of  prohibition  of  F.  Generall  for 
meddling  in  such  affaires."  So  far  in  cipher  : 
he  then  proceeds  in  ordinary  characters, 
"  and  so  I  can  not  give  you  exact  accompt. 
This  I  knowe  by  meare  chance."— Gerard's 
Mb.  c.  V. 


30 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


founded  his  vindication  on  the  two 
breves  of  Clement  VIII.  for  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  Scottish  king  from  the 
succession.  "  If,"  he  argued,  "  it 
were  lawful  to  prevent  James  from 
coming  in  after  his  promise  of  tolera- 
tion, it  could  not  be  wrong  to  drive 
him  out  after  his  breach  of  that 
promise."  To  this  reasoning  Garnet 
opposed  the  two  letters  which  he  had 
lately  received ;  but  they  had  no  in- 
fluence on  Catesby,  who  replied  that 
they  had  been  procured  by  misin- 
formation. In  conclusion  a  sort  of 
compromise  was  accepted  ;  that  a 
special  messenger  should  be  de- 
spatched to  Eome,  with  a  correct 
account  of  the  state  of  the  English 
Catholics,  and  that  nothing  should  be 
done  on  the  part  of  the  conspirators 
till  an  answer  had  been  received 
from  the  pontiff.  The  messenger 
was  accordingly  sent,  with  a  re- 
quest secretly  added  by  Garnet, 
that  the  pope  would  prohibit  under 
censure  all  recourse  to  arms.  Thus 
each  party  sought  to  overreach  the 
other.  Catesby's  object  was  to  silence 
Garnet,  and  to  provide  an  agent  at 
Eome,  whom  he  might  employ  as 
soon  as  the  explosion  had  taken  place. 
Garnet  persuaded  himself  that  he  had 
secured  the  public  tranquillity  for  a 
certain  period,  before  the  expiration 
of  which  he  might  receive  the  papal 
prohibition.' 

Eaukes,  having  completed  his  ar- 
rangements in  Flanders,  returned  to 
England  in  September ;  but  imme- 
diately afterwards  it  was  announced 
that  the  parliament  would  again  be 
prorogued  from  October  to  the  fifth 
of  November.  This  disappointment 
alarmed  the  conspirators:  it  was 
possible  that  their  project  had  been 


1  Sir  Edward  Coke  at  the  trial  gave  a 
different  account  of  this  transaction ;  but 
he  made  no  attempt  to  bring  forward  any 
proof  of  his  statement.  I  write  from  the 
manuscript  relation  of  Greenway  (p.  42), 
•who  was  present.  Eudaimon  Joannes  aa- 
serts  the    same  from  the    mouths  of  the 


discovered ;  and,  to  ascertain  the  fac 
Winter  was  employed  to  attend  i  ] 
the  parliament-house,  and  to  watc  i 
the  countenances  and  actions  of  th 
commissioners  during  the  ceremon 
of  prorogation.     He   observed  ths  i 
they  betrayed  no  sign  of  suspicion  c 
uneasiness;   that   they   walked   an 
conversed  in  apparent  security  on  th 
very  surface  of  the  volcano  prepare 
for  their  destruction.    Hence  it  W8 
inferred  that  they  must  be  still  ignc 
rant  of  its  existence.- 

It  is,  however,  to  these  successiv 
postponements  that  the  failure  of  th 
plot  must  be  attributed.  None  c 
the  conspirators,  if  we  except  Catesbj 
were  rich.  Many  of  them,  for  thi 
last  twelve  months,  had  depended  oi 
his  bounty  for  the  support  of  thei 
families ;  the  military  stores  had  beei 
purchased,  and  every  preparation  ha( 
been  made  at  his  expense.  But  hi 
resources  were  now  exhausted;  an< 
the  necessity  of  having  a  large  sum  o 
money  at  his  disposal  against  the  da; 
of  the  explosion  compelled  him  t< 
trust  his  secret  to  two  Catholic  gentle 
men  of  considerable  opulence.  Th< 
first  was  a  young  man  of  five-and 
twenty,  Sir  Everard  Digby,  of  Gote 
hurst  in  Buckinghamshire.  At  ar 
early  age  he  was  left  by  the  death  o 
his  father  a  ward  of  the  crown,  am 
had  in  consequence  been  educated  ir 
the  Protestant  faith.  From  the  uni 
versity  he  repaired  to  the  court,  where 
he  attracted  the  notice  of  Elizabeth 
but  the  year  before  her  death  h( 
turned  his  back  to  the  bright  prospec 
which  opened  before  him,  and,  re 
tiring  to  his  estates  in  the  country 
embraced  the  religion  of  his  fathers 
It  was  with  difficulty  that  he  couk 
be  induced  to  join  in  the  conspiracy 


persons  concerned. — Apologia,  251.  Garnei 
on  his  trial  explained  it  in  the  same  manner 
and  his  explanation  is  fully  confirmed  bj 
the  letter-which  he  wrote  to  his  superior  ij 
Rome  on  July  24,  after  his  last  conference 
with  Catesby.  See  App.  note  GGG. 
»  Greenway's  MS.  p.  GO. 


LD.  1605.] 


PLAN  OF  THE  CONSPIEATOES. 


31 


Uatesby  made  use  of  his  accustomed 
irgumeuts,  showed  him  a  passage  in  a 
printed  book,  from  which  he  inferred 
:hat  the  attempt  was  lawful,  and 
assured  him  that  the  fathers  of  the 
society  had  approved  of  it  in  general, 
though  they  knew  not  the  parti- 
culars.* By  degrees  the  doubts  and 
misgivings  of  the  unfortunate  young 
man  were  silenced;  he  suffered  himself 
to  be  persuaded,  promised  to  con- 
tribute a  sum  of  one  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds,  and  undertook  to 
invite,  about  the  time  of  the  opening 
of  parliament,  most  of  his  Catholic 
friends  to  hunt  with  him  on  Dun- 
moor,  in  Warwickshire. 

The  second  was  Francis  Tresham, 
who,  on  the  death  of  his  father  in 
September  last,  had  succeeded  to  a 
large  property  at  Eushton,  in  North- 
amptonshire. He  had  formerly  been 
the  associate  of  Catesby  and  Percy  in 
the  attempt  of  the  earl  of  Essex,  had 
on  its  failure  escaped  trial  and  execu- 
tion by  the  judicious  distribution  of 
two  or  three  thousand  pounds  among 
the  queen's  favourites,  and  had  since 
that  time  borne  his  share  of  perse- 
cution on  account  of  his  religion. 
His  character  was  fully  known.  He 
had  nothing  of  that  daring  spirit,  that 
invincible  fidelity,  which  alone  could 
have  fitted  him  to  be  an  accomplice 
in  such  an  enterprise.  He  was  by 
nature  cold  and  reserved— selfish  and 
changeable.  But  his  pecuniary  re- 
sources offered  a  temptation  not  to  be 


1  See  Digby's  letter  at  the  end  of  the 
Gunpowder  Treason,  p.  249,  251.  "I  saw," 
he  says,  "  the  principal  point  of  the  case 
judged  in  a  Latin  book  of  M.  D.,  my 
brother's  (Gerard's)  father-in-law"  (p.  249). 
(Perhaps  it  should  be  N.  D.,  the  initials 
under  which  Persons,  Gerard's  superior, 
had  published  several  works.)  Garnet,  in 
an  intercepted  letter,  furtively  written  to 
a  friend  from  the  Tower,  says ;  "  Master 
Catesby  did  me  much  wrong.  He  told  them 
[his  accomplices]  that  he  asked  me  a  ques- 
tion in  Q.  Elizabeth's  time  of  the  powdor 
action,  and  that  I  said  it  was  lawful :  aU 
which  is  most  untrue.  He  did  it  to  draw  in 
others."— Original  in  the  State  Paper  Office. 


resisted ;  and  the  conspirators,  having 
administered  the  usual  oath,  confided 
to  him  their  secret,  and  extorted  from 
him  a  promise  of  aiding  them  with 
two  thousand  pounds.  But  from  that 
moment  Catesby  began  to  feel  appre- 
hensions to  which  he  had  hitherto 
been  a  stranger.  His  mind  was 
harassed  with  doubts  of  the  fidelity 
of  his  new  colleague,  and  his  rest 
was  broken  by  dreams  of  the  most 
fearful  and  ominous  import.^ 

At  this  time  their  plan  of  opera- 
tions was  finally  arranged.  1.  A  list 
was  made  of  all  the  peers  and  com- 
moners whom  it  was  thought  desirable 
to  save  on  account  of  their  religion, 
or  of  their  previous  opposition  to  the 
penal  enactments,  or  of  the  favour 
which  they  had  hitherto  shown  to  the 
Catholics.  It  was  resolved  that  each 
of  these,  if  he  w^ere  in  London,  should 
receive  on  the  very  morning  a  most 
urgent  message,  which  might  with- 
draw him  to  a  distance  from  West- 
minster, and  at  so  late  an  hour  that 
the  artifice  should  not  be  discovered 
till  the  blow  had  been  struck.^ 

2.  To  Guy  Faukes  was  allotted  the 
desperate  office  of  firing  the  mine.  A 
ship  in  the  river  had  been  provided  at 
the  expense  of  Tresham  to  convey 
him  immediately  to  Flanders,  where 
he  was  instructed  to  pubhsh  a  mani- 
festo in  defence  of  the  act,  and  to 
despatch  letters  invoking  the  aid  of 
all  the  Catholic  powers.  It  was  also 
hoped   that,  in  consequence  of  his 

2  Winter's  Confession,  56.  Greenway's 
MS.  57,  58.  Besides  the  money  promised 
by  these  gentlemen,  Percy  engaged  to 
advance  the  earl  of  Northumberland's  rents, 
about  four  thousand  pounds.  —  Winter's 
Confession,  56. 

3  Greenway,  39.  Winter's  Confession,  54. 
"  Divers  were  to  have  been  brought  out  of 
danger,  which  now  would  rather  hurt  them 
than  otherwise.  I  do  not  think  there 
would  have  been  three  worth  saving  that 
should  have  been  lost.  You  may  guess- 
that  I  had  some  friends  that  were  in  danger 
which  I  prevented ;  but  they  shall  never 
know  it." — Digby's  letter  to  his  wife,  at 
the  end  of  the  Gunpowder  Treason,  p.  251. 


JAMES  I. 


[chap, 


!1 


previous  purchases,  he  would  be  able 
to  send  back  by  the  same  vessel  a 
valuable  supply  of  ammunition  and 
volunteers. 

3.  To  Percy,  as  one  of  the  gentle- 
men pensioners,  it  would  be  easy  to 
enter  the  palace  without  exciting  sus- 
picion. His  task  was  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  young  prince  Charles, 
to  take  him,  under  pretext  of  greater 
security,  to  a  carriage  in  waiting,  and 
thence  to  conduct  him  to  the  general 
rendezvous  of  the  conspirators. 

4.  That  rendezvous  was  D  unchurch ; 
whence  Digby,  Tresham,  Grant,  and 
their  associates,  were  to  proceed  to 
the  house  of  Lord  Harrington,  and  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  infant  prin- 
cess Elizabeth. 

5.  Catesby  undertook  to  proclaim 
the  heir  apparent  at  Charing  Cross, 
and,  on  his  arrival  in  Warwickshire, 
to  issue  a  declaration  abolishing  the 
three  great  national  grievances  of 
monopolies,  purveyance,  and  ward- 
ships. 

6.  It  was  agreed  that  a  protector 
(his  name  was  never  suffered  to 
transpire)  should  be  appointed  to  ex- 
ercise the  royal  authority  during  the 
nonage  of  the  new  sovereign. 

But  what,  the  reader  will  ask,  was 
to  follow  from  the  execution  of  this 
plan?  Could  twelve  private  indi- 
viduals, without  rank  or  influence, 
-and  stained  as  they  would  .be  with 
the  blood  of  so  many  illustrious  vic- 
tims, rationally  expect  to  control  the 
feelings  of  an  exasperated  people,  to 
establish  a  regency,  to  procure  a  par- 
liament devoted  to  their  purposes, 
and  to  overturn  that  religious  esta- 
blishment which  had  now  existed  half 
a  century  ?  To  a  sober  reasoner,  the 
■object  would  have  appeared  visionary 
and  unattainable ;  but  their  passions 


1  Digby's  Letters,  249,  250.  Greenway's 
MS.  58,  69. 

*  Thus  as  late  as  the  23th  of  Aagust  he 
■wrote  to  Persons :  "  For  any  thingo  wee 
can  see,  Calboiicks  are  quiet,  and  likely  to 


were  inflamed — their  imaginations  ex- 
cited; revenge,  interest,  enthusiasm, 
urged  them  forward ;  they  smiled  at 
the  most  appalling  obstacles,  and,  in 
defiance  of  all  probability,  persuaded 
themselves  that  the  presence  of  the 
royal  infants  would  give  a  sanction  to 
their  cause ;  that  many  Protestants, 
and  most  Catholics ;  that  disbanded 
officers  and  military  adventurers: 
that  all  to  whom  a  revolution  offered 
the  prospect  of  wealth  and  honour 
would  hasten  to  their  standard ;  and 
that  of  their  enemies  the  most  formid- 
able would  have  perished  in  the  ex- 
plosion— the  rest,  overwhelmed  with 
terror  and  uncertainty,  would  rather 
seek  to  escape  notice,  than  to  provoke 
destruction  by  acts  of  hostility.' 

Garnet,  ignorant  of  these  proceed- 
ings, still  cherished  a  hope  that  by  his 
conference  with  Catesby  he  had  in- 
duced that  conspirator  to  suspend,  if 
not  to  abandon,  his  criminal  inten- 
tion.2  He  was  quickly  undeceived. 
Catesby,  whatever  he  might  pretend 
to  his  associates,  still  felt  occasional 
misgivings  of  conscience,  and  on  that 
account  resolved  to  open  the  whole 
matter  in  confession  to  Greenway. 
That  Jesuit,  if  we  may  believe  his 
solemn  asseveration,  condemned  the 
design  in  the  most  pointed  terms. 
But  Catesby  was  not  to  be  convinced : 
to  every  objection  he  had  prepared 
an  answer;  and  in  conclusion  he 
solicited  Greenway  to  procure  the 
opinion  of  his  provincial  under  the 
secrecy  of  confession.  With  this  view 
the  Jesuit  applied  to  Garnet,  and  re- 
ceived in  return  a  severe  reprimand. 
He  had  done  wrong  to  entertain  any 
mention  of  so  dangerous  a  project ;  he 
had  done  worse  in  imparting  it  to  his 
superior.  Nothing  now  remained  but 
to  divert  the  conspirator   from  his 


oontinew  their  oulde  patience,  and  to  truste 
to  the  kynge  and  his  sone  for  to  riniidie  al 
in  tyme." — Gerard,  46.  He  repeat  edlj' as- 
serted the  same  at  his  trial.  See  Ap- 
pendix, HUH. 


LD.  1605.] 


PLOT  EEVEALED  TO  GAENET. 


38 


sanguinary  purpose.  Let  him  there- 
ore  employ  every  argument,  every 
_^xpedient  in  his  power;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  let  him  be  careful  to  keep 
the  present  conversation  secret  from 
every  man  living,  even  from  Catesby 
himself.' 

This  communication,  however, 
plunged  the  unfortunate  provincial 
into  the  deepest  anxiety.  Against 
his  will,  and  in  defiance  of  the  pre- 
cautions which  he  had  taken,  he  was 
become  privy  to  the  particulars  of 
the  plot;  and  that  plot  he  found  to 
exceed  in  atrocity  whatever  the  most 
fearful  mind  could  have  anticipated. 
The  explosion,  with  its  consequences, 
perpetually  presented  itself  to  his 
imagination;  it  disabled  him  from 
performing  his  missionary  duties  by 
day — it  haunted  his  slumbers  by 
niiiht.  In  this  distressing  state  of 
mind  he  left  Harrowden,  the  seat 
of  Lord  Yaux,  where  it  is  probable 
that  he  had  received  the  information, 
and  proceeded  to  Coughton,  where 
his  presence  was  expected  by  several 
Catholic  families,  to  celebrate  the 
festival  of  All  Saints.  Catesby  had 
engaged  to  be  of  the  party.  But  he 
never  came;  he  was  detained  by  an 
unforeseen  occurrence  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  metropolis.- 

With  Faukes  in  his  company, 
■Catesby  had  gone  to  AVhite  Webbs, 
a  house  near  Enfield  Chase;  where, 
while  he  was  engaged  in  consultation 
with  Winter,  he  received  an  unex- 


^  I  take  these  particulars  from  Greenway, 
"who  asserts  their  truth,  "on  his  salvation," 
MS.  109,  and  from  his  oral  account  to  Eu- 
dsemon  Joannes,  Apologia,  259,  260,  290. 

'  See  Appendix,  HHH. 

'  The  date  of  this  interview  is  uncertain. 
It  must  have  happened  between  the  I'ith 
and  the  26th  of  October.  I  have  obtained 
the  particulars  from  Greenway's  MS.  67, 
who  writes  on  the  authority  of  Catesby, 
from  the  sixth  examination  of  Faukes  on 
the  16th,  and  from  that  of  Tresham  on  the 
13th  of  November.  The  latter  declares 
that  his  real  object  was  to  put  an  end  to  the 
Tplot.     ••  This  was  the  only  way  that  I  could 

7 


pected  visit  from  Tresham.  There 
was  an  embarrassment  in  the  manner 
of  this  new  associate,  a  visible  effort 
at  concealment,  which  alarmed  his 
two  friends.  He  pleaded  most  ear- 
nestly that  warning  of  the  danger 
should  be  given  to  Lord  Mounteagle, 
who  had  married  his  sister.  In  addi- 
tion, he  suggested  a  further  delay. 
He  could  not,  he  said,  furnish  money, 
unless  he  were  allowed  time  to  ac- 
complish certain  sales  to  the  amount 
of  sixteen  thousand  pounds ;  but  the 
explosion  might  take  place  with  as 
much  effect  at  the  close  as  at  the 
opening  of  parliament;  and  the  con- 
spirators for  greater  security  might 
make  use  of  his  ship,  which  lay  in 
the  Thames,  and  spend  the  interval 
in  Flanders,  where  he  would  supply 
them  with  money  for  their  subsis- 
tence. The  proposal  confirmed  the 
suspicions  of  Catesby ;  but  he  deemed 
it  prudent  to  dissemble,  and,  after 
some  objections,  pretended  to  ac- 
quiesce. Whether  Tresham  was  de- 
ceived by  him  or  not,  is  uncertain ; 
but  Tresham's  real  object  was,  if 
we  may  believe  himself,  to  break  up 
the  conspiracy  without  revealing  the 
names  of  his  associates.^ 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days.  Lord 
Mounteagle  ordered  a  supper  to  be 
prepared,  not  at  his  residence  in  town, 
but  at  a  house  belonging  to  him  at 
Hoxton— a  circumstance  so  unusual, 
that  it  excited  much  surprise  in  his 
family.*    While   he   sat   at   table  a 


resolve  on  to  overthrow  the  action,  to  save 
their  lives,  and  to  preserve  my  own  for- 
tunes, lylFe,  and  reputation."  Both  ex- 
aminations are  in  the  State  Paper  Office. 

*  Mr.  Jardine  has  shown  that  Lord 
Mounteagle  had  been  engaj^ed  in  the  Spanish 
treason,  that  he  had  written  to  Eome  by 
Baynham,  and  that  he  was  probably  ac- 
quainted with  the  existence  of  a  plot ;  but 
he  had  lately  obtained  the  confidence  of  the 
king  and  council,  and  was  one  of  the  royal 
commissioners  at  the  late  prorogation  of 
parliament.  Much  ingenuity  was  employed 
at  the  trial  of  the  conspirators  to  prevent 
his  name  from  being  called  in  question, — 
Jardine,  67,  70. 

D 


34 


JAMES. 


I 


I  CHAP.  I. 


letter  was  delivered  to  him  by  one 
of  his  pages.  It  had  been  received 
from  a  tall  man,  whose  features  were 
not  discernible  in  the  dark.  Mount- 
eagle  opened  the  letter,  and  seeing 
that  it  was  without  date  or  signature, 
and  written  in  a  disguised  hand, 
ordered  Thomas  Ward,  a  gentleman 
in  his  service,  to  read  it  aloud.  It 
was  as  follows : — 

"  my  lord  out  of  the  love  i  heave  to 
some  of  youer  friends  i  have  a  caer  of 
youer  preservacion  therefor  i  would 
advyse  yowe  as  yowe  tender  youer  lyf 
to  devyse  some  exscuse  to  shift  of 
youer  attendance  at  this  parleament 
for  god  and  man  hath  concurred  to 
punishe  the  wickedues  of  this  tyme 
and  thinke  not  slightlye  of  this  ad- 
vertisment  but  retyere  youre  self  into 
your  contri  wheare  yowe  maye  expect 
the  event  in  safti  for  thowghe  theare 
be  no  apparance  of  anni  stir  yet  i  saye 
they  shall  receyve  a  terribel  blowe 
this  parleament  and  yet  they  shall 
not  seie  who  hurts  them  this  cowncel 
is  not  to  be  contemned  because  it 
may  do  yowe  good  and  can  do  yowe 
no  harme  for  the  danger  is  passed  as 
soon  as  yowe  have  burnt  the  letter 
and  i  hope  god  will  give  yowe  the 
grace  to  mak  good  use  of  it  to  whose 
holy  protection  i  comend  yowe." ' 

The  following  evening  the  very 
individual  who  had  been  requested 
to  read  the  letter,  called  on  Thomas 


1  Archaeologia,  xii.  200.  It  may  be  asked, 
who  was  the  writer  of  this  letter  ?  Instead 
of  enumerating  the  different  conjectures  of 
others,  I  will  relate  what  seems,  from  Green- 
way's  manuscript,  to  have  been  the  opinion 
of  the  conspirators  themselves.  They  attri- 
buted it  to  Tresham,  and  suspected  a 
secret  understanding  between  him  and  Lord 
Mounteagle  ;— and  that  such  understanding 
existed  between  the  writer  and  Lord  Mount- 
eagle  can  be  doubted  by  no  one  who  attends 
to  the  particulars.  They  were  convinced 
that  Tresham  had  no  sooner  given  his  con- 
sent, than  he  repented  of  it,  and  sought  to 
break  up  the  plot  without  betraying  his 
associates.  His  first  expedient  was  to  per- 
suade them  to  retire  to  Flanders  in  the  ship 
which  he  had  hired  in  the  river.  He  next 
-wrote  the  letter :  and  took  care  to  inform 


Winter,  one  of  the  conspirators.  He 
related  to  him  the  occurrence  of  the 
preceding  evening  ;  added  that  his 
lord  had  laid  the  mysterious  paper 
before  the  secretary  of  state  ;  and 
ended,  by  conjuring  him,  if  he  were 
a  party  to  the  supposed  plot,  to  pro- 
vide for  his  safety  by  immediate  flight. 
It  was  a  trying  moment  to  Winter: 
he  endeavoured  to  master  his  feelings, 
assumed  a  tone  of  levity,  and  ridiculed 
the  afl'air  as  a  hoax  on  the  credulity 
of  Lord  Mounteagle.  But  early  in 
the  morning  he  hastened  to  White 
Webbs  and  communicated  the  alarm- 
ing intelHgence  to  his  colleague. 
Catesby,  however,  was  unwilling  to 
despair.  He  agreed  with  Winter  that 
Tresham  was  the  writer  of  the  letter. 
But  had  he  done  anything  more? 
Had  he  revealed  the  particulars  of 
the  plot,  or  the  names  of  the  con- 
spirators ?  Till  that  were  ascertained, 
he  would  hope  for  the  best,  and  con- 
tinue to  defy  the  policy  and  the  con- 
jectures of  the  secretary. 

Three  days  later,  in  consequence  of 
a  most  urgent  message,  Tresham  ven- 
tured to  meet  Catesby  and  Winter 
in  Enfield  Chase.  Their  resolve  was 
fixed;  had  he  faltered  or  changed 
countenance,  that  moment  would 
have  been  his  last.  But  he  repelled 
the  charge  of  perfidy  with  spirit; 
and  maintained  his  innocence  with 
so   many    oaths    and    protestations. 


them  on  the  following  evening  that  it  had 
been  carried  to  the  secretary,  in  hope  that 
the  danger  of  discovery  would  induce  them, 
to  make  use  of  the  opportunity  of  escape. 
In  this  he  would  undoubtedly  have  suc- 
ceeded, had  not  his  cunning  been  defeated 
by  the  superior  cunning  of  Cecil,  who 
allowed  no  search  to  be  made  in  the  cellar. 
From  that  moment  Tresham  avoided  all 
participation  in  their  counsels  ;  and  when 
they  fled,  he  remained  in  London,  showing 
himself  openly,  and  even  offered  in  •person 
his  services  to  the  council.  He  was  not 
apprehended  till  the  12th  of  November; 
nor  sent  to  the  Tower  till  the  15th.  On  the 
23rd  of  December  he  died :  nor  will  the 
reader  be  surprised  that  a  death  so  unc 
pected,  but  opportune,  should  be  attribu 
by  his  friends  to  poison. 


so  un^^ 
ttribut^l 

J 


A.D.  1605.] 


DOUBTS  OF  THE  CONSPIEATORS. 


85 


that  they  hesitated  to  take  his  life 
on  no  better  ground  than  bare  sus- 
picion. 

On  their  return  they  despatched 
Faukes  to  examine  the  cellar.  He 
found  every  secret  mark  as  he  had 
left  it.  It  was  plain  that  no  search 
had  yet  been  made,  and  hence  it  was 
inferred  that  no  information  of  the 
mine  had  been  given.  They  now  for 
the  first  time  imparted  to  him  the 
inteUigence.  He  complained  of  their 
previous  silence  as  arguing  a  distrust 
of  his  courage ;  and,  to  prove  that  he 
felt  no  apprehensions,  engaged  to  re- 
visit the  cellar  once  every  day  till  the 
fifth  of  November.* 

The  king,  who  had  been  hunting 
at  Royston,  at  last  returned.  The 
next  day  the  letter  was  laid  before 
him.  He  perused  it  repeatedly,  and 
spent  two  hours  in  consultation  vnth 
his  ministers.*  This  information,  but 
nothing  more,  was  conveyed  to  Win- 
ter by  the  same  attendant  on  Lord 
Mounteagle.  Winter  sought  a  second 
interview  with  Tresham  at  his  house 
in  Lincoln's  Inn  Walks,  and  returned 
to  Catesby  with  the  following  answer; 
that  the  existence  of  the  mine  had 
been  communicated  to  the  ministers. 
This  Tresham  said  he  knew ;  but  by 
whom  the  discovery  had  been  made, 
he  knew  not.  A  council  of  the  con- 
spirators was  held.  Some  proposed  to 
flee  immediately  to  Flanders— others 
refused  to  give  credit  to  Tresham. 
They  oscillated  from  one  opinion  to 


1  I  am  indebted  for  all  these  particulars 
to  the  narration  of  Greenwaj,  p.  62,  who 
learned  them  from  the  conspirators  them- 
selves, whom  he  visited  on  the  sixthofNovem- 
ber. — See  also  Winter's  Confession,  57,  58. 

2  James,  in  his  speech  to  the  parliament 
on  November  9  (Lords'  Journals,  ii.  358), 
and  in  his  own  works,  published  by  Bishop 
Montague,  takes  to  himself  the  merit  of 
being  the  first  to  discover  the  true  meaning 
of  the  letter  to  Lord  Mounteagle  (see 
Howell,  ii.  198),  and  his  flatterers  attributed 
it  to  a  certain  "  divine  illumination"  (Coke, 
Gunpowder  Treason,  118) :  the  parliament 
to  "  a  miraculous  discovery,  tbiough  the 


another,  and  finally  determined  to 
await  the  arrival  of  Percy. 

Percy  exerted  all  his  powers  to 
confirm  the  resolution  of  his  asso- 
ciates. He  reminded  them  of  the 
pains  which  they  had  taken,  cf  the 
difficulties  which  they  had  overcome. 
They  were  now  on  the  point  of  reap- 
ing the  fruit  of  their  labour :  would 
they  forfeit  it  on  a  mere  conjecture — 
on  the  credit  of  a  recreant  colleague, 
who,  to  extricate  himself  from  danger, 
had  probably  feigned  that  which  he 
only  feared  ?  Let  them  wait  at  least 
one  day  longer,  and  then  come  to 
a  final  resolution.  His  arguments  or 
his  authority  prevailed.  But  a  change 
was  made  in  their  former  arrange- 
ments. Faukes  undertook  to  keep 
guard  within  the  cellar;  Percy  and 
Winter  to  superintend  the  operations 
in  London ;  Catesby  and  John  Wright 
departed  the  next  day  for  the  general 
rendezvous  in  W^arwickshire.^ 

Towards  evening  the  lord  chamber- 
lain, whose  duty  it  was  to  ascertain 
that  the  necessary  preparations  had 
been  made  for  the  opening  of  the 
session,  visited  the  parliament-house, 
and  in  company  with  Lord  Mount- 
eagle  entered  the  cellar.  Casting 
around  an  apparently  careless  glance, 
he  inquired  by  whom  it  was  occupied; 
and  then  fixing  his  eye  upon  Faukes, 
who  was  present  under  the  designa- 
tion of  Percy's  servant,  observed  that 
his  master  had  laid  in  an  abundant 
provision  of  fuel.    This  warning  was 


divine  spirit  imparted  to  him  by  God"  (Stat, 
iv.  1067) !  but  the  contrary  is  evident  from 
the  circular  of  the  earl  of  Salisbury.  "  We 
[the  earls  of  Salisbury  and  Suflolk]  both 
conceived  that  it  could  not  by  any  other 
way  be  like  to  be  attempted  than  with  pow- 
der, while  the  king  was  sitting  in  that 
assembly ;  of  which  the  lord  chamberlain 
conceived  more  probability  because  there 
was  a  great  vault  under  the  said  chamber 
we  all  thought  fit  to  forbear  to  impart 


it  to  the  king  until  some  three  or  four  days 
before  the  sessions." — Winwood,  ii.  171. 
3  Greenway,   64.     Winter's    Confession. 

58. 

d2 


JAMES. 


[chap.  I. 


lost  on  the  detemained  mind  of  the 
conspirator.  Though  he  saw  and  heard 
all  that  passed,  he  was  so  fixed  on  his 
ruthless  purpose,  that  he  resolved  to 
remain  to  the  last  moment ;  and 
having  acquainted  Percy  with  the 
circumstance,  returned  to  his  post, 
with  a  determination  on  the  first 
appearance  of  danger  to  fire  the 
mine,  and  perish  in  the  company  of 
his  enemies. 

A  little  after  midnight  (the  reader 
will  ohserve  that  it  was  now  the  fifth 
of  IS^ovember,  the  day  appointed  for 
the  commencement  of  the  session) 
Faukes  had  occasion  to  open  the  door 
of  the  vault ;  and  at  the  very  moment 
was  seized  by  Sir  Thomas  Knevett 
and  a  party  of  soldiers.  He  was 
dressed  and  booted  as  for  a  journey 
— three  matches  were  found  in  his 
pockets— and  in  a  corner  behind  the 
door  was  concealed  a  dark  lantern 
containing  a  light.  The  search  im- 
mediately began;  and,  on  the  removal 
of  the  fuel,  were  discovered  two  hogs- 
heads and  above  thirty  barrels  of 
gunpowder.* 

By  four  o'clock  the  king  and  coun- 
cil had  assembled  to  interrogate  the 
prisoner,  Faukes  stood  before  them 
collected  and  undaunted:  his  replies, 
though  delivered  in  respectful  lan- 
guage, gave  no  clue  to  the  discovery 
of  his  associates.  His  name,  he  said, 
was  Johnson— his  master,  Percy ; 
whether  he  had  or  had  not  accom- 
plices, should  never  be  known  from 
him;  his  object  was  to  destroy  the 
parliament,  as  the  sole  means  of 
putting  an  end  to  religious  persecu- 
tion. More  than  this  he  refused  to 
disclose,  though   he  was   repeatedly 


1  Winwood,  ii.  171,  172.  Gunpowder 
Treason,  32—37. 

*  James's  Works,  apud  Howell,  ii.  201, 
Birch's  Negotiations,  p.  239. 

3  "The  gentler  tortures  are  to  be  first 
used  unto  liim,  et  sic  per  pradus  ad  itua 
tendatur." — James's  Instructions,  Nov.  6, 
in  the  State  Paper  Oifice.    See  in  Mr.  Jar- 


examined  in  the  presence  of  the  king. 
During  the  intervals,  he  bore  without 
shrinking  the  inquisitive  gaze  of  the 
courtiers;  and  answered  all  their  ques- 
tions in  a  tone  of  sarcasm  and  defiance. 
A  Scottish  nobleman  asked  him  for 
what  end  he  had  collected  so  many 
barrels  of  gunpowder  ?  "  To  blow 
the  Scottish  beggars  back  to  their 
native  mountains,"  was  the  reply. 
James  pronounced  him  the  English 
Scajvola.^ 

In  the  Tower,  though  orders  were 
given  that  he  should  be  racked  to 
extremity,  his  resolution  was  not  to 
be  subdued;  nor  did  he  consent  to 
make  any  disclosure  till  his  associates 
had  announced  themselves  by  appear- 
ing in  arms.3  They,  the  moment 
they  heard  of  his  apprehension,  had 
mounted  their  horses,  and  on  the  same 
evening  reached  the  hunting-party  at 
Dunchurch.  There  was  something 
mysterious  in  their  sudden  arrival, 
in  their  dejected  appearance,  and  in 
their  long  and  serious  consultation 
with  Sir  Everard  Digby.  Before  mid- 
night a  whisper  of  disappointed  treason 
was  circulated;  the  guests  gradually 
took  their  leave,  and  three  only  re- 
mained to  share  the  desperate  fate 
of  their  friends.  The  seizure  of  the 
princess  Elizabeth  was  no  longer  an 
object:  they  traversed  in  haste  the 
counties  of  Warwick  and  Worcester, 
to  Holbeach,  the  residence  of  Stephen 
Littleton,  one  of  their  new  associates. 
On  their  road  they  took  by  force 
arms  and  horses  from  two  indivi- 
duals ;  but  to  their  dismay  every 
Catholic  from  whom  they  solicited 
aid  on  the  road  shut  his  doors  against 
them,  and  the  sheriffs  of  each  county 


dine's  Criminal  Trials  (p.  17,  18)  two  fac- 
similes of  his  signature,  the  first,  in  a  good 
bold  hand,  before  torture,  the  second  after 
torture,  exhibiting  the  word  '*Guido"  ia 
an  almost  illegible  scrawl,  and  two  ill-formed 
strokes  in  plaee  of  his  surname.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  been  unable  to  hold  the  pen 
any  longer. 


LD,  1605.] 


FATE  OF  THE  CONSPIRATOES. 


37 


ollowed,  though  at  a  respectful  dis- 
Lauce,  with  an  armed  force.'    At  Hol- 
beacli  House  they  resolved  to  turn  on 
their  pursuers.    Though  they  could 
not    muster,   with   the   addition   of 
their  servants,  more  than  fifty,  per- 
haps forty  men,  yet  well  horsed  and 
well  armed  they  believed  themselves 
a  match  for  the  tumultuary  host  of 
their   adversaries,  and  a  victory  in 
such  circumstances  would  probably 
add  to  their   numbers,— would  cer- 
tainly allow  time  to  provide  for  their 
safety.    But  on  the  fourth  morning 
after  the  discovery  of  the  plot,  during 
their  preparation  for  battle,  a  spark  of 
fire  accidentally  fell  among  the  pow- 
der which  they  had  spread  out  to  dry. 
Catesby  and  some  of  his  accomplices 
were  severely  burnt;  and  the  majority 
of  their  followers  took  advantage  of 
the  confusion  to  make  their  escape. 
Within  an  hour  the  house  was  sur- 
rounded.   To  a  summons  from  the 
sheriff  was  returned  a  haughty  de- 
fiance, not  that  the  inmates  cherished 
the  hope  of  saving  their  lives,  but 
they  sought  to  avoid  the  knife  of  the 
executioner  by  provoking  the  hostility 
of  their  pursuers.    With  this  view 
Catesby,  !Percy,  and  the  two  Wrights, 
armed  with  their  swords  only,  exposed 
themselves  in  the  court  to  the  shot 
of  their  assailants,  and  were  all  mor- 
tally wounded.    Thomas  Winter,  who 
had  accompanied  them,  retreated  into 
the  house;  where,  with  Eookwood, 
Grant,  and  Keyes,  who  had  suffered 
from  the  explosion,  he  was  after  some 
resistance  made  prisoner.  Digby,  with 
two  of  his  servants,  burst  through  his 
opponents,  but  was  pursued  to  a  wood 
near  Dudley,  where  he  was  surrounded 
and  taken.  Eobert  Winter  and  Little- 
ton had  effected  their  escape  at  a  more 
early  hour;  but,  after  a  long  succes- 
sion of  most  dangerous  adventures, 


were  at  last  betrayed  by  a  servant 
of  Mrs.  Littleton,  a  widow,  in  whose 
house,  at  Hagley,  they  had  been 
secreted  without  her  knowledge,  by 
her  cousin  Humphrey  Littleton. 

More  than  two  months  intervened 
between  the  apprehension  and  the 
trial  of  the  conspirators.  The  mi- 
nisters had  persuaded  themselves,  or 
wished  to  persuade  others,  that  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  were  deeply  impli- 
cated in  the  plot.  On  this  account 
the  prisoners  were  subjected  to  re- 
peated examinations;  every  artifice 
which  ingenuity  could  devise,  both 
promises  and  threats,  the  sight  of 
the  rack,  and  occasionally  the  inflic- 
tion of  torture,  Avere  employed  to 
draw  from  them  some  avowal  which 
might  furnish  a  ground  for  the 
charge ;  and  in  a  proclamation  issued 
for  the  apprehension  of  Gerard, 
Garnet,  and  Green  way,  it  was  said 
"  to  be  plain  and  evident  from  the 
examinations  that  all  three  had  been 
peculiarly  practisers  in  the  plot,  and 
therefore  no  less  pernicious  than 
the  actors  and  counsellors  of  the 
treason."^ 

At  length  the  eight  prisoners  were 
arraigned.  They  all  pleaded  not 
guilty;  not,  they  wished  it  to  be 
observed,  because  they  denied  their 
participation  in  the  conspiracy,  but 
because  the  indictment  contained 
much  to  which  till  that  day  they  bad 
been  strangers.  It  was  false  that  the 
three  Jesuits  had  been  the  authors 
of  the  conspiracy,  or  had  ever  held 
consultations  with  them  on  the  sub- 
ject :  as  far  as  had  come  to  their  know- 
ledge, all  three  were  innocent.  AYith 
respect  to  themselves,  they  had  cer- 
tainly entertained  the  design-  laid  to 
their  charge;  but  whatever  men 
might  think  of  the  fact,  they  would 
maintain    that    their   intention  was 


1  Greenway,  7C.  They  took  this  route  in 
expectation  that  Mr.  Talbot  would  join 
them,  in  which  case  they  had  no  doubt  of 
beating  their  pursuers,  or  of  bringing  them 


to  terms.     But  Talbot  refused  to  see  them, 
or  to  receive  any  message  from  them. — 
Digby's  Letters,  250. 
2  liymer,  xtI.  639. 


38 


JAMES. 


[chap.  I. 


innocent  before  God.  Some  of  them 
had  already  lost  most  of  their  pro- 
perty,—all  had  suffered  severely  on 
account  of  their  religion.  The  king 
had  broken  his  promise  of  toleration, 
and  the  malice  of  their  enemies  daily 
aggravated  their  burdens.  No  means 
of  liberation  was  left  but  that  which 
they  had  adopted.  Their  only  object 
was  to  relieve  themselves  and  their 
brethren  from  the  cruelty  of  the  per- 
secutors, and  to  restore  a  worship 
which  in  their  consciences  they  be- 
lieved to  be  the  true  worship  of 
Christ ;  and  for  this  they  had  risked, 
and  for  this  they  were  ready  to  sacri- 
fice, their  fortunes  and  lives.  In 
reply,  the  earls  of  Salisbury  and 
Northampton  strongly  asserted  that 
the  king  had  not  broken  his  faith; 
and  that  the  promises  on  which  the 
Catholics  relied  had  been  the  fictions 
of  designing  men  in  their  own  body. 
The  prisoners  received  judgment,  and 
suffered  the  punishment  of  traitors, 
having  on  the  scaffold  repeated  the 
same  sentiments  which  they  had 
before  uttered  at  their  trials.' 

Of  the  three  Jesuits  mentioned  in 
the  proclamation,  Gerard  and  Green- 
way,  after  many  adventures,  escaped 
to  the  continent.  Garnet,  having 
previously  sent  to  the  council  a  pro- 
testation of  his  innocence,  secreted 
himself  at  Hendlip,  near  Worcester, 
in  the  house  of  Thomas  Abingdon, 
who  had  married  the  sister  of  Lord 
Mounteagle.  The  place  of  his  conceal- 
ment was  known  to  Humphrey  Lit- 
tleton, who  had  not  yet  been  brought 
to  trial;  and  the  hope  of  saving  his 


1  See  "  A  true  and  perfect  relation  of  the 
•whole  proceedings,  1606;"  also  Harleian 
Miscellany,  iii.  127.  Gerard  in  his  MS. 
account  (107 — 121)  frequently  contradicts 
this  writer.    So  does  Stowe's  Chronicle,  831. 

s  Gerard,  87—89.  Greenway,  P5— 97.  "A 
true  discovery  of  the  service  performed  at 
Hendlip,"  in  the  appendix  to  the  second 
volume  of  Mr.  Butler's  Memoirs  of  British 
Catholics,  third  edition,  p.  443.  The  open- 
ing was  from  an  upper  room  through  the 


own  life  induced  him  to  communicate 
the  intelligence  to  the  council.  Sir 
Henry  Bromley,  a  neighbouring  ma- 
gistrate, received  a  commission  to  pro- 
ceed to  Hendlip  with  an  armed  force. 
Mrs.  Abingdon,  in  the  absence  of  her 
husband,  delivered  to  him  her  keys 
with  an  air  of  cheerfulness ;  every 
apartment  was  rigorously  and  re- 
peatedly searched,  and  guards  were 
stationed  by  day  and  night  in  each 
passage,  and  at  all  the  outlets.  Thus 
three  days  passed,  and  no  discovery 
was  made;  but  on  the  fourth  two 
strange  men  suddenly  appeared  in  a 
gallery,  and  were  instantly  appre- 
hended. They  proved  to  be  Owen, 
the  servant  of  Garnet,  and  Chambers, 
the  servant  of  Oldcorne,  another  Je- 
suit, whom  hunger  had  compelled  to 
leave  their  hiding-place.  This  suc- 
cess stimulated  the  efforts  of  the  pur- 
suivants. The  search  proceeded ;  nine 
other  secret  chambers  were  disco- 
vered; and  on  the  eighth  day  an 
opening  was  found  into  that  in  which 
the  two  priests  lay  concealed.  All 
four,  with  the  master  of  the  house, 
who  had  returned  during  the  interval, 
were  conducted  to  London,  and  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower.'^ 

A  bill  to  attaint  the  conspirators 
who  died  at  Holbeach,  or  had  already 
been  convicted,  was  brought  into  the 
house  of  lords;  but  into  it  were 
introduced,  in  imitation  of  the  odious 
practice  during  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.,  the  names  of  several  indivi- 
duals, some  of  whom  had  not  yet 
been  apprehended— none  had  been 
arraigned.    The  lords  hesitated ;  they 


fire-place.  The  wooden  border  of  the 
hearth  was  made  to  take  up  and  put  down 
like  a  trap-door,  and  the  bricks  were  taken 
out  and  replaced  in  their  courses  whenever 
it  was  used. — Fowlis,  608.  Mr.  Hallam 
mentions  "  the  damning  circumstance 
against  Garnet,  that  he  was  taken  at  Hend- 
lip in  concealment  along  with  the  other 
conspirators." — Const.  Hist.  i.  554.  This 
must  be  au  unintentional  mistake.  His 
only  companion  was  Oldcorne,  Abingdon's 
chaplain,  and  not  one  of  the  conspirators. 


.D.  1606.] 


EXAMINATION  OF  GAENET. 


equired  to  be  put  in  possession  of 
he  evidence  against  the  latter;  and, 
?hen  they  had  heard  the  attorney- 
general,  resolved  not  to  proceed  with 
;he  bill  till  more  satisfactory  informa- 
tion could  be  procured.'  Day  after 
lay  the  commissioners  proceeded  to 
the  Tower.  They  interrogated  the 
prisoners;  they  placed  the  two  ser- 
vants on  the  rack;  they  threatened 
Garnet  with  torture,  and  received  for 
answer,  Mlnare  ista  pueris.  Nothing 
of  importance  could  be  elicited,  when 
the  Jesuit,  though  on  his  guard 
against  his  professed  enemies,  allowed 
his  simplicity  to  be  deceived  by  pre- 
tensions of  friendship.  His  warder, 
by  order  of  the  lieutenant,  spoke  to 
him  in  a  tone  of  pity ;  affected  to 
venerate  him  as  a  martyr  for  religion ; 
and  offered  to  him  every  indulgence 
which  could  be  granted,  consistently 
with  his  own  safety.  Garnet  eagerly 
accepted  his  services,  and  through 
the  medium  of  this  unexpected  friend, 
commenced  a  correspondence  with 
several  Catholics.  But,  though  the 
letters  on  both  sides  were  carried  to 
the  lieutenant,  and  by  him  submitted 
to  the  inspection  of  the  commission- 
ers, they  furnished  no  new  intelli- 
gence, no  proof  whatever,  against  the 
prisoner  or  his  friends.^  Another 
experiment  was  then  made.  The 
warder,  unlocking  a  door  in  Garnet's 


1  This  account  is  given  both  by  Gerard 
and  Greenway,  and  it  is  supported  by  the 
journals.  The  bill  was  read  the  first  time 
on  February  1 ;  the  attorney-general  was 
ordered  to  attend  with  his  proofs  on  Febru- 
ary 3.  He  obeyed,  and  on  the  8th  the  earl 
of  Northampton,  in  the  name  of  the  com- 
mittee, moved  that,  "  as  upon  the  examina- 
tion or  the  Jesuits  and  Seminaries  named 
in  the  bill,  some  more  particular  discovery 
might  be  made  of  the  said  treason,  there- 
fore stay  might  be  made  of  any  further 
proceeding  on  that  bill  till  the  said  exarai- 
Dation  might  be  taken."— Journals,  366, 367, 
370.  At  Garnet's  trial  Coke  noticed  this 
circumstance,  and  in  reply  to  the  inference 
drawn  from  it,  observed  that  the  bill  was 
introduced  before  the  apprehension  of  the 
Jesuit,  and  that  his  majesty  would  not  let  it 
proceed  till  the  trial  had  taken  place  by  just 
course  of  law.— Gunpowder  Treason,  148, 


cell,  showed  him  another  door  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  wall.  That,  he 
said,  was  the  only  separation  between 
him  and  Oldcorne,  with  whom  he 
was  at  liberty  to  converse  at  his  plea- 
sure ;  suppressing  the  fact  that,  within 
a  cavity  formed  in  the  passage,  were 
actually  secreted  Lockerson,  the  pri- 
vate secretary  of  Cecil,  and  Forsett,  a 
magistrate  attached  to  the  Tower. 
It  was  an  artifice  that  had  previously 
been  played  off  upon  Winter  and 
Eaukes,  who  had  the  caution  or  the 
good  fortune  to  disappoint  the  expec- 
tation of  the  contrivers ;  but  the  two 
Jesuits,  unsuspicious  of  treachery, 
improved  the  opportunity  to  speak 
without  reserve  of  their  situation,  of 
their  hopes  and  fears,  of  the  ingenuity 
with  which  they  had  parried  the 
questions  put  to  them  in  their  past, 
and  of  the  questions  which  they  feared 
might  be  put  in  their  future  exami- 
nations. Five  times  were  they  thus 
perfidiously  indulged  with  the  means 
of  betraying  themselves:  the  reports 
of  four  of  these  conversations  are  still 
preserved ;  and  though  there  is  no- 
thing in  them  to  bring  home  the 
knowledge  of  the  conspiracy  to  Gar- 
net, there  is  much  calculated  to  pro- 
voke suspicion,  and  much  to  show 
that  there  was  some  important  secret 
which  had  hitherto  escaped  the  re- 
search of  the  commissioners.^    This 


149.  Yet  both  parts  of  this  reply  are  con- 
tradicted by  the  journals ;  for  the  bill  was 
introduced  February  1,  three  days  after  the 
apprehension  of  Garnet,  and  the  reason 
given  for  the  delay  was  that  which  I  have 
copied  above. 

2  The  letters  were  written  with  common 
ink,  and  on  ordinary  subjects  ;  but,  in  ad- 
dition, notes  were  inserted  written  with  the 
juice  of  oranges  or  lemons,  which  on  the 
appliciation  of  heat  became  visible.  On  this 
account  the  lieutenant  found  it  necessary  to 
retain  the  originals,  and  to  forward  exact 
copies.— Greenway's  MS.  105.  Some  of 
these  letters  are  still  in  the  State  Paper 
Office. 

3  In  former  editions  I  stated,  on  the  au- 
thority of  Gerard  and  Greenway,  that  Gar- 
net to  a  question  from  Oldcorne,  replied, 
that  with  respect  to  his  knowledge  of  the 
conspiracy   he  was  safe,  "being  there  was 


40 


JAMES. 


[chap.  I. 


success  stimulated  the  council  to  fi'esh 
exertions:  interrogatories  were  framed 
from  the  facts  disclosed  by  the  reports; 
Oldcorne,  Owen,  Chambers,  and 
Johnson,  the  chief  servant  at  "White 
"Webbs,  were  examined ;  and  the  rack 
was  again  called  into  action  to  subdue 
their  obstinacy :  yet  nothing  of  im- 
portance could  be  drawn  from  the 
servants,  and  little  more  than  an 
admission  of  his  conversation  with 
Garnet  from  Oldcorne.'  After  this 
Garnet  himself  was  asked  if  he  had 
not  spoken  with  Oldcorne  in  theTower. 
He  denied  it  most  vehemently.  The 
confession  of  his  fellow-prisoner  was 
shown  to  him.  He  replied,  that  Old- 
corne might  be  weak  enough  to 
accuse  himself  falsely,  but  he  never 
would.  The  reports  of  Lockerson  and 
Forsett  were  then  read.  He  could  not 
resist  this  additional  evidence;  and, 
overwhelmed  and  abashed,  he  acknow- 
ledged the  fact. 

Still  nothing  had  transpired  to 
connect  him  immediately  with  the 
conspirators.  But  aware  of  the  injury 
which  he  had  done  to  himself  by  the 
obstinacy  of  his  denial,  and  under  his 
expectation  of  being  summoned 
every  moment  to  the  rack,  he  deemed 
it  prudent  to  act  with  more  candour. 
Examination  followed    examination: 


no  man  living  who  could  touch  him  but 
one."  If  he  ever  used  these  words,  it  must 
have  been  in  the  first  meeting,  the  report  of 
which  is  lost.  There  is  no  mention  of 
them  in  the  reports  of  the  other  four  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Jardine,  p.  216 — 225;  and 
they  are  stated  by  De  Thou  to  have  been 
used  by  him  when  he  sought  to  excuse  to 
the  commissioners  his  denial  of  his  conver- 
sation with  Oldcorne.  lie  did  it,  quod 
Bciret  neminem,  eicepto  uuo,  de  hoc  nupero 
facinore  posse  suam  conscientiam  arguere. 
Thuan.  vi.  34^i. 

1  Greenway  (111)  assures  us  that  Old- 
corne was  tortured  repeatedly ;  and  the 
same  is  stated  of  the  other  three  by  Garnet, 
in  an  intercepted  letter  of  March  3.  On 
the  first  of  ttiat  month  Owen  was  tortured 
and  assured  that  on  his  next  examination 
he  should  be  stretched  again  upon  the  rack. 
On  the  third  he  died — on  the  rack  itself, 
through  extremity  of  torture,  if  we  may 


from  one  admission  he  was  artfully 
led  on  to  another  of  greater  impor- 
tance; and  at  last  he  acknowledged 
that  he  knew  of  Catesby  being  en- 
gaged in  some  practice  against  the 
state,  and  had  repeatedly  warned  him 
to  desist;  and  that  subsequently  he 
understood  from  Greenway  the  real 
object  of  the  plot,  but  could  not  con- 
scientiously reveal  it,  because  it  had 
been  communicated  to  him  under  the 
seal  of  confession.- 

Thus  after  an  interval  of  two 
months  was  laid  a  ground  for  the 
trial  of  the  prisoner.  The  interest 
which  it  excited  appeared  from  the 
crowd  of  spectators  assembled  in  the 
court,  among  whom  were  the  king 
himself,  all  the  foreign  ambassadors, 
and  most  of  the  members  of  parlia- 
ment. Sir  Edward  Coke,  the  attor- 
ney-general, spoke  for  some  hours. 
He  detailed  all  the  plots,  real  or  ima- 
ginary, which  had  ever  been  attri- 
buted to  the  Catholics  since  the 
accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth;  he 
declaimed  against  the  Jesuitical  doc- 
trine of  equivocation,  and  the  tem- 
poral pretensions  of  the  pontiffs ;  he 
described  the  missionaries  in  general, 
and  the  Jesuits  in  particular,  as 
leagued  in  an  impious  conspiracy  to 
destroy  the  king,  and  the  leaders  of 


believe  the  Catholic  writers— in  his  cell  by 
his  own  hand,  according  to  the  Protestant. 
At  the  inquest  it  was  deposed  that  the  straw 
on  which  he  lay  was  bloody,  and  that  he  had 
ripped  his  belly  open  with  a  blunt  knife. 
It  matters  little  which  is  true;  "for  there  is 
no  great  difl'erence,"  remarks  Mr.  Jardine, 
"  between  the  guilt  of  homicide  by  actual 
torture,  and  that  of  urging  to  suicide  by  the 
insupportable  threat  of  its  renewal"  (215). 
— Straw  was  the  only  bedding  furnished  to 

Erisoners  in  the  Tower,  unless  they  could 
ire,  or  procure  from  their  friends,  some- 
thing better.  Garnet,  in  his  letter,  says, 
"  If  we  have  any  money  of  the  society,  I 
wish  beds  for  James,  Jhan  (Owen),  and 
Harry,  who  have  all  been  often  tortured." 
The  blunt  knife  was  that  which  was  given  to 
the  prisoners  at  their  meals,  without  point 
or  even  edge,  except  about  the  middle  of 
the  blade,  that  it  might  not  be  converted 
into  a  weapon  of  mischief. — Greenway's 
MS.  117.  »  Jardine,  225. 


.D.  1606.1    TRIAL  AND  CONDEMNATION  OE  GAENET. 


41 


ic  Protestant  interest.    Dut  when 
e  descended  to  the  real  merits  of 
iQ  indictment,  he  soon  betrayed  the 
overty  of  his  case.    Not  a  word  was 
lid  of  the  confessions,  or  the  wit- 
esses,  or  the  dying  declarations,  by 
•hich  he  had  engaged  to  prove  that 
xarnet  had  been  the  original  framer 
f  the  plot,  and  the  confidential  ad- 
iser  of  the  conspirators.    This  part 
if  the  charge  was  seen  to  rest  on  his 
)are  assertion,  supported  only  by  a 
ew  unimportant  facts  susceptible  of  a 
ery  different  interpretation.    Garnet 
eplied  with  temper   and    firmness ; 
)ut  was  so  often  interrupted  by  ques- 
ions  and  remarks  from  the  attorney- 
general  and  the  commissioners  on  the 
jench,  that  the  king  himself  declared 
;hey  had  not  given  him  fair  play.    He 
icknowledged  that  he  had  heard  of 
lie  plot   in  confession ;  but  among 
Zlatholics   the  secrecy  of  confession 
fvas  inviolable.    Were  it  otherwise, 
ao  one  would  disclose  his  intended 
1 3rime3  to  him,  who  of  all  men  was 
I  most  likely,  by  his  advice  and  autho- 
^rity,  to  divert  the  sinner  from  the 
?uilt  which  he  meditated.     As   for 
himself,  he  abhorred  the  plot  as  much 
as  the  most  loyal  of  his  prosecutors : 
and  had  done  to  prevent  it  whatever 
in  his  conscience  he  could  persuade 
himself  that  it  was  lawful  for  him  to 
do.    The  attorney-general  had  indeed 
attempted  to  prove   in  him  a  trai- 
torous intention  from  several  circum- 
stances;  but  these   he   could   show 
proceeded   from  very  different   mo- 
tives, and  ought  to  lead  to  an  opposite 
conclusion.    The  jury  were   not   to 


1  There  are  several  accounts  of"  this  cele- 
brated trial.  That  published  by  authority, 
under  the  title  of  "  A  true  and  perfect  rela- 
tion of  the  whole  proceedings,"  has  been 
reprinted  in  the  State  Trials,  11,  217;  but 
from  the  partiality  with  which  It  evidently 
mutilates  the  answers  and  defence  of  Gar- 
net, it  should  be  compared  with  the  rela- 
tions published  by  his  friends,  which  maybe 
seen  in  Bartoli,  546;  More,  316;  and  in 
Mr.  Butler's  Memoirs,  il.  124.  Gerard  in 
Ms  MS.  narrative,  p.  137,  remarks  that  the 


judge  from  conjectures  and  presump- 
tions :  what  he  had  asserted  was  the 
whole  truth  :  nor  had  the  prosecutor 
attempted  to  bring  forward  any  direct 
evidence  to  the  contrary.— Though  a 
verdict  of  guilty  was  returned,  his 
friends  professed  themselves  satisfied 
with  the  proceedings.  All  that  had 
been  proved  against  him  was  that  he- 
had  not  betrayed  the  secret  confided 
to  him  in  confession.  The  boast  of 
Coke  that  he  would  shovr  him  to 
have  been  the  author  and  adviser  of 
the  plot  had  failed ;  and  Cecil  himself 
had  confessed,  that  nothing  more  had 
been  produced  against  him  than  had 
been  disclosed  by  his  conference  with 
Oldcorne.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, they  asserted  that  if  he  were 
to  suffer,  he  would  suffer,  not  for  trea- 
son, but  for  the  conscientious  dis- 
charge of  his  duty.' 

From  these  proceedings  it  is  plain 
that  Garnet  had  incurred  the  legal 
guilt  of  misprision  of  treason;  but 
that  he  had  committed  any  overt  act- 
of  treason,  was  not  proved,  nor  at- 
tempted to  be  proved,  by  evidence 
either  written  or  oral.=^  For  some 
unknown  reason,  perhaps  the  king's 
uncertainty  as  to  the  real  nature  of 
his  guilt,  or  the  royal  unwillingness 
to  offend  the  foreign  powers  that  in- 
terceded for  him,  more  than  two- 
months  were  permitted  to  elapse  be- 
tween his  condemnation  and  execu- 
tion :  a  long  and  anxious  interval, 
which,  however,  he  was  not  suffered 
to  spend  in  peaceful  preparation  for 
the  fate  which  awaited  him.  He  had 
been   examined   three    and   twenty- 


jury,  when  they  returned  their  verdict, 
confined  it  to  the  guilt  of  having  concealed 
the  knowledge  which  he  had  received  of  the 
conspiracy. — See  Appendi.^,  HHH. 

*  His  examinations  were  so  garbled  and 
intermixed  at  the  trial,  that  an  incautious, 
reader  might  infer  from  them,  that  he  had 
repeatedly  conferred  with  Catesby  about 
the  gunpowder  plot.  That  was  not  the- 
case.  He  merely  advised  Catesby  to  desist 
from  any  treasonable  practice  in  which  he 
might  be  engaged. 


42 


JAMES. 


[chap.  I. 


times  before  his  trial ;  after  trial  the 
examinations  were  resumed.  To 
draw  new  avowals  from  him,  he  was 
falsely  informed  that  Green  way,  whom 
he  beUeved  to  have  escaped  to  the 
continent,  was  in  fact  a  fellow-pri- 
soner in  the  Tower;  and  that  five 
hundred  Catholics,  shocked  at  his 
connection  with  the  plot,  had  con- 
formed to  the  established  church. 
Under  these  impressions  he  was  in- 
duced to  write  in  his  own  vindication 
letters  to  Mrs.  Anne  Yaux,  who  was 
actually,  and  to  Oreenway,  whom  he 
supposed  to  be,  in  the  Tower :  which 
letters  of  course  found  their  way  into 
the  hands  of  the  lieutenant.  These, 
however,  fortunately  for  the  writer, 
had  been  so  cautiously  worded  as  to 
supply  no  fresh  matter  of  charge 
against  him.  At  the  same  time  he 
"wroto  to  the  king,  protesting  in  strong 
terms  his  abhorrence  of  "  the  powder 
actino  "  as  sinful  and  most  horrible ; 
declaring  that  he  had  always  been  of 
opinion  that  it  was  unlawful  to  at- 
tempt violence  against  the  king  or 
state  since  his  majesty's  accession; 
and  also  acknowledging  that  it  was  his 
bounden  duty  to  disclose  every  trea- 
son which  might  come  to  his  know- 
ledge out  of  the  sacrament  of  con- 
fession. It  was  in  this  last  point  that 
he  had  offended.  Partly  through 
reluctance  to  betray  his  friend,  partly 
with  the  hope  of  being  able  to  reclaim 
him,  he  did  not  reveal  the  general 
knowledge  which  he  had  from  Catesby 
of  his  intention ;  and  for  that  offence 
he  humbly  sought  forgiveness  from 
his  sovereign.' 

The  reader  will  observe  that,  under 
allusion  to  "the  sacrament  of  con- 
fession," Garnet  sought  to  cover  his 
concealment  of  the  disclosure  made 
to  him  by  Greenway.  lie  was  im- 
mediately <3alled  before  the  commis- 
sioners, and  falsely  given  to  under- 


1  See  it  in  Jardine,  322. 
*  This  is  plain  ixom  the  drift  of  his  an- 
«wers. 


stand  that,  according  to  the  statement 
of  Greenway  himself,  the  communi- 
cation was  not  made  to  him  in  con- 
fession.'-'  This  added  to  his  perplexity. 
He  wavered,  made  several  attempts 
to  reconcile  his  own  with  the  sup- 
posed statement  of  Greenway,  and 
concluded  by  declaring  that,  whatever 
might  have  been  the  intention  of  his 
brother,  he  had  always  considered  the 
communication  as  made  with  refer- 
ence to  confession. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  three  weeks 
after  his  letter  to  Greenway  had  been 
intercepted,  he  was  examined  whethei 
he  had  not  corresponded  with  that 
traitor.  He  denied  on  his  priesthood 
that  he  had  ever  sent  letter  or  messag( 
to  him,  since  they  parted  at  Coughton 
The  commissioners  exhibited  to  bin 
the  intercepted  letter.  He  acknow- 
ledged it ;  but  maintained  that  he  hac 
done  nothing  wrong.  They  were  th( 
persons  to  be  blamed;  they,  who 
being  in  possession  of  the  letter,  ha( 
nevertheless  put  the  question  to  bin 
as  if  they  were  not.  In  this  instance 
as  in  several  others  since  his  imprison 
ment,  he  had  acted  on  the  principle 
that  no  man  is  bound  to  betray  him 
self;  whence  he  ingeniously inferre< 
that,  where  the  acknowledgment  of 
fact  might  endanger  his  life,  it  ^^■a 
lawful  to  deny  it  with  the  aid  o 
equivocation,  till  it  should  be  prove- 
against  him  by  direct  evidence.* 

Three  days  later  he  was  interrc 
gated  a  second  time  respecting  th 
doctrine  of  equivocation,  and  bold! 
declared  that  the  practice  of  requiric 
men  to  accuse  themselves  was  bai 
barous  and  unjust;  that  in  all  su< 
cases  it  ^yas  lawful  to  employ  equiv 
cation,  and   to   confirm,  if  it  wt 
necessary,  that  equivocation  with 
oath;   and  that  if  Tresham,  as  li; 
been  pretended,  had  equivocated 
his  deathbed,  he  might  have  had 


^  Torturi  Torti,  425.    Antilogia,  110. 
aaubon  ad  Front.  132. 
*  KxsminatioQS  in  the  State  Paper  Of 


D.  1606.] 


EXECUTION  OF  GAENET. 


as  which  would  justify  him  in  the 
;ht  of  God.*  To  these  and  similar 
owals  I  ascribe  his  execution.  By 
sking  shelter  under  equivocation, 
)  had  deprived  himself  of  the  pro- 
ction  which  the  truth  might  have 
forded  him;  nor  could  he  in  such 
rcumstances  reasonably  complain  if 
le  king  refused  credit  to  his  asse- 
;rations  of  innocence,  and  permitted 
I  le  law  to  take  its  course.^  Six  weeks 
I  :ter  his  trial  the  fatal  warrant  was 
I  gned.  On  the  scaffold,  according  to 
le  ambiguous  language  of  the  official 
3C0unt,  he  confessed  his  guilt ;  but  if 
e  may  credit  the  letters  of  spec- 
itors,  he  denied  all  knowledge  of 
le  plot,  except  by  confession;  and 
lough  he  begged  pardon  of  the  king, 
e  was  careful  to  add  that  it  was  not 
)r  any  participation  in  the  treason, 
ut  for  the  legal  offence  of  having 
oncealed  the  general  knowledge 
'hich  he  had  acquired  of  some  prac- 
ice  against  the  state,  designed  by 
'atesby.  His  pious  and  constant  de- 
aeanour  excited  the  sympathy  of  the 
rowd;  their  vociferations  checked 
he  impatience  of  the  executioner, 


1  "  This  I  acknowledge  to  be  according  to 
ay  opinion  and  the  opinion  of  the  school- 
nen.  And  our  reason  is,  for  that,  in  cases 
if  lawful  equivocation,  the  speech  by  equi- 
ocation  being  saved  from  a  lye,  the  same 
peech  may  be  without  perjury  confirmed 
)y  oath,  or  by  any  other  usual  way,  though 
I  were  by  receiving  the  sacrament,  if  just 
lecessity  so  require.  —  Henry  Garnet." 
Original  in  the  State  Paper  Office  in  Gar- 
let's  own  handwriting. 

2  It  should,  however,  be  observed  that 
jarnet's  enemies,  in  their  attempt  to  con- 
riot  him,  paid  as  little  respect  to  truth,  as 
he  prisoner  himself  in  his  efforts  to  justify 
3r  excuse  his  conduct.  The  reader  is  ac- 
inainted  with  the  falsehoods  which  were 
;old  to  him  respecting  Greenway,  to  draw 
joncessions  from  him:  but  what  was  still 
verse,  at  the  trial  his  admissions  were  pre- 

■  to  the  jury  stripped  of  those  qualifi- 

with  which   he  had  clothed  them, 

h  which  they  spoke    more  in   his 

than  against  him.     "  This  was  a  for- 

i"    evidence.     For  when  a  quahfied 

■nt  is  made,  the  suppression  of  the 

li!:ilitieation  is  no  less  a  forgery  than  if  the 

«-hole  statement  had   been   fabricated." — 

Jardine,  358.      Certainly,  if  we  condemn 


and  the  cruel  operation  of  quartering 
was  deferred  till  he  was  fully  dead.^ 

Though  James  was  satisfied  that 
the  great  body  of  the  English  Catho- 
lics had  been  kept  in  ignorance  of 
the  plot,  he  still  believed  that  all  its 
ramifications  had  not  yet  been  dis- 
covered. There  could  be  no  doubt 
that  Faukes  had  admitted  associates 
in  Flanders,  and  suspicion  attached 
to  Owen,  a  Welsh  Catholic,  and  to 
Baldwin,  a  Jesuit,  who  were  both 
saved  from  prosecution  by  the  obsti- 
nate refusal  of  the  archduke  and  the 
king  of  Spain  to  deliver  them  into  the 
hands  of  the  English  ambassador.* 
At  home,  the  domestic  relation  be- 
tween the  earl  of  Northumberland 
and  the  traitor  Percy  was  deemed 
a  sufficient  reason  to  place  the  former 
under  restraint  in  the  house  of  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury;  and  the 
confession  of  the  conspirators  that 
Catesby  wished  to  save  the  viscount 
Montague,  and  knew  the  intention  of 
the  lords  Mordaunt  and  Stourton  to 
be  absent  from  parliament,  led  to  the 
arrest  of  these  three  noblemen.^  It 
was  in  vain  that  they  protested  their 


Garnet  for  the  nse  of  equivocation  to  save 
his  life,  we  cannot  excuse  those  who  em- 
ployed falaehood  and  forgery  to  take  it 
from  him. 

3  It  was  reported  generally  that  he  had 
confessed  his  guilt  (Gunpowder  Treason, 
Boderie,  i.  49),  but  that  confession  was  con- 
fined to  his  concealment  of  his  suspicions. 
— More,  327.  Butler's  Memoirs,  iii.  343, 
second  edition.  Chaloner,  ii.  483.  Eudae- 
mon  Joan.  349. 

*  Owen  was  servant  to  the  king  of  Spain, 
who  demanded  the  proofs  of  his  guilt  to  be 
sent  to  Brussels,  and  promised  to  punish 
him  if  he  were  guilty.  This  was  refused. 
Baldwin  was  apprehended  in  1610  by  the 
elector  palatine,  as  he  was  passing  through 
his  dominions,  and  was  sent  to  England. 
He  underwent  many  examinations  in  the 
Tower,  at  the  last  of  which  the  king  as- 
sisted, but  nothing  was  discovered  to  prove 
him  guilty.— Winwood,  ii.  183, 187—189, 227, 
232;  iii.  211,  407.     Bartoli,  51-7. 

5  Faukes  confessed  that  "  Catesby  told 
him  Lord  Mordaunt  would  not  be  there  the 
first  day,  because  he  would  not  be  present 
at  the  sermon ;  for  as  3'et  the  king  did  not 
know  he  was  a  Catholique,  and  that  the 
lord   Stourton's    occasions   were    such   he 


44 


JAMES. 


[chap. 


ignorance  of  the  treason  ;  they  were 
condemned  in  the  Star-chamber  to 
suffer  imprisonment  during  the  royal 
pleasure,  and  to  pay  fines  to  the  king, 
the  lord  Stourton  in  six  thousand, 
the  lord  Mordaunt  in  ten  thousand 
pounds,  and  the  viscount  Montague 
in  a  still  larger  sum.'  The  earl  was 
committed  to  the  Tower  and  re- 
peatedly examined ;  but  he  answered 
from  the  beginning  with  an  air  of 
scorn  and  confidence,  pointing  out 
the  method  of  discovering  his  guilt, 
if  he  were  guilty,-  and  braving  his 
accusers  to  bring  him  to  a  public 
trial  by  due  course  of  law.  They 
preferred  to  arraign  him,  after  a 
delay  of  seven  months,  in  the  Star- 
chamber,  on  the  following  extra- 
ordinary charges: — 1.  That  he  had 
sought  to  be  the  head  of  the  papists, 
and  to  procure  toleration.  2.  That 
he  had  admitted  Percy  to  be  a  gentle- 
man pensioner  without  exacting  from 
him  the  oath  of  supremacy,  3.  That 
after  his  restraint  he  had  written  two 
letters  to  his  servants  in  the  north, 
requesting  them  to  take  care  that 
Percy  did  not  carry  off  his  money  and 
rents ;  and  in  this  had  committed  a 


could  not  come  to  town  before  the  Friday 
al'ter."— Original  MS.  in  the  State  Paper 
Office.  There  are  in  the  same  collection 
two  letters  from  Lord  Montague  to  the 
lord  treasurer,  declaring  his  innocence,  and 
denying  that  he  had  any  warning  of  the 
plot.  Cecil,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Thomas  Ed- 
monds, says,  that  Percy  wished  to  save 
Northumberland  and  Mounteagle,  and  that 
Catesby  knew  Stourton,  Mordaunt,  and 
Montague  would  be  absent. — Birch,  244. 

1  It  was  customary  to  compound  for  fines 
in  the  Star-chamber.  Northumberland 
compounded  for  eleven  thousand  pounds, 
Montague  for  four  thousand  pounds,  Stour- 
ton for  one  thousand  pounds.  I  suspect 
Mordaunt's  fine  was  entirely  remitted. — 
See  "the  Abstract  of  his  Majesty's  Ee- 
Tenue,"  p,  11. 

'  He  required  them  to  take  the  deposi- 
tion of  Percy  -before  he  died  of  his  wounds. 
*'  He  can  shew  me  clear  as  the  day,  or  dark 
as  the  night.  He  will  tell  the  truth,  being 
about  to  render  his  account  to  God."  — 
Letter  iu  the  State  Paper  Office.  See  also 
Les  Ambaasades  de  Boderie,  i.  122, 180,  29U ; 
'CollioB's  Peerage,  ii.  426.    Hia  examinutions 


threefold  offence:—!.  In  presumh 
to  write  letters  without  leave ;  2.  ] 
preferring  the  safety  of  his  money 
the  safety  of  the  king ;  3.  In  givii 
warning  to  Percy  to  take  care  of  b 
own  person.    He  was  adjudged  to  pj 
a  fine  of  three   hundred   thousai  . 
pounds,   to    bo    deprived  of  all  1: 
offices,  to  be  held  incapable  of  ai 
for  the  future,  and  to  remain  a  pi 
soner  during  life  in  the  Tower.    * 
severe  a  punishment  excited  surpris 
but  the  reasons  were,  that  he  h: 
long  been  the  political  antagonist 
Cecil ;  that  in  the  Tower  he  had  d. 
played  a  spirit  which   alarmed  t' 
weak  mind  of  James,  and  that 
was  supposed  to  be  the  individual 
whom,  had  the  plot  succeeded,  1. 1 
conspirators  would  have  offered  t  i 
dignity  of  protector  during  the  n 
nority  of  the  next  sovereign.    Lo 
Mounteagle  received,   in   reward 
his  loyalty,  lands  to  the  yearly  val  i 
of  two  hundred  pounds,  and  an  ti 
nuity  of  five   hundred  pounds   J 
hfe.' 

The  chief  object  for  which  the  pi  i 
liament  had  been  summoned  to  rrn  i 
in  November  was  to  supply  the  roj  i 

are  in  the  State  Paper  Office,  but  cont   j 
nothing  of  consequence.    In  the  Tower    ( 
applied  himself   entirely  to   scientific   a  ] 
literary  pursuits,   and  by  his  liberality 
men  of  learning,  became  the  Mecneiia 
the  age.     From  the  number  of  math 
ticiaus  who  were  generally  in  his  comi 
and  ate  at  his  table,  he  acquired  the  n: 
of  Henry  the  wizard.     Among  them  v. 
Hill,   Allen,   Hariot,   Dee,   Torperlev,   : 
Warner,  "  the  Atlantes  of  the  mathemiii 
world,"  most   of  whom   enjoyed   annuii 
from  his  bounty. — Collins,  ii.  43S.     In 
year  1611  Cecil  conceived  that  he  had  <   i 
covered  new  matter  against  him,  from  ' 
testimony  of  a  dismissed  servant.    He  \ 
again  subjected  to  examination,  and  ag 
foiled  the  ingenuity  or  nmlice  of  his  per 
cutor.— Winwood,  ii.  287,  288.    In  1617 
king's  favourite.   Hay,   afterwards   earl 
Carlisle,  married  his  daughter  Lucy  agai 
his  will,  which  irritated  him  so,  that  wl 
his  son-in-law  obtained  from  .Ian)ca  am 
for  his  liberation,  it  was  with  ditlieult^ 
he  could  be  induced  to  accept  of  the  faj 
after  an  imprisonment  of  thirteen  y€ 
See  Birch,  246;  Sydney  Papers,  ii.  35 
a  Boderie,  i.  122, 180,  299. 


:     D.  1606.] 


PEOCEEDINGS  IN  PARLIAMENT. 


45 


H  lifers,  which  James  had  emptied  by 
e  rofuse  donations  to  his  countrymen, 
/   id  by  the  extravagance  of  his  esta- 
ij  lishment.     After   a   long  adjourn- 
j  lent,  occasioned  by  the  discovery  of 
le  gunpowder  plot,  the  two  houses 
ssembled.     The  lords   appeared  as 
sual  to  have  no  other  wish  than  to 
ratify  the  sovereign;  but  the  com- 
Qons  resumed  that  bold  tone  of  ex- 
)Ostulation  and  resistance  which  had 
;iven  so   much   offence  in  the  last 
ession.   They  did  not  indeed  refuse  to 
•eheve  the  wants  of  the  king,  though 
nurmurs  were  heard  respecting  his 
ndiscretion  and  prodigality,  but  they 
naintained,  that  every  offer  of  money 
m  their  part  ought  to  be  met  with  a 
3orresponding  offer  of  concession  on 
the  part  of  the  crown ;  they  brought 
forward  a  long  catalogue  of  grievances 
in  the  practice  of  the  ecclesiastical 
courts,  m  the  administration  of  civil 
justice,  and  in  the  conduct  of  every 
department  of  government ;  and  they 
sent,  to  use  the  significant  expression 
of  James,  an  O  yes  into  every  part  of 
the  country  to  find  out  grounds  of 
complaint.     The  ministers   had  re- 
course to  artifice  and  intrigue.    They 
prayed  and  coaxed;  they  attributed 
the  necessities  of  the  king  to  a-  debt  of 
four  hundred  thousand  pounds  left 
by  the  last  sovereign,  to  the  charges 
of  the  army  in  Ireland,  and  to  the 
expenses  of  a  new  reign ;  and  while 
they  conceded  that  James  had  been 
sometimes  too  liberal  in  his  presents, 
sometimes  too  prodigal  in  his  pleasures, 
they  held  out  hopes   of  immediate 
amendment,  and  of  strict  attention  to 
economy  in  future.    Thus,  partly  by 
promises  and  partly  by  management, 
they  contrived  to  elude  every  motion 
for  reform,  and  to  obtain  a  vote  of 
three   subsidies,  and  six-tenths  and 
fifteenths.' 


1  Journal  of  Commons,  265—313.  Cob- 
bett's  Parliamentary  History,  1064,  The 
three  subsidies,  and  six  tenths  and  lifteenths, 
added  to  four    subsidies    granted   by  the 


But  there  was  another  question 
equally  interesting  to  the  passions  of 
the  members,  and  less  likely  to  provoke 
dissension  between  them  and  the 
crown,  the  revision  of  the  penal  code, 
as  far  as  regarded  the  prohibition  of 
the  Catholic  worship.  To  a  thinking 
mind  the  late  conspiracy  must  have 
proved  the  danger  and  impolicy  of 
driving  men  to  desperation  by  the 
punishment  of  religious  opinion.  But 
the  warning  was  lost  ;  the  existing 
enactments,  oppressive  and  san- 
guinary as  they  were,  appeared  too 
indulgent;  and  though  justice  had 
been  satisfied  by  the  death  and  execu- 
tion of  the  guilty,  revenge  and  fana- 
ticism sought  out  additional  victims 
among  the  innocent.  Every  member 
was  ordered  to  stand  up  in  his  place 
and  to  propound  those  measures 
which  in  his  judgment  he  thought 
most  expedient.  These,  in  successive 
conferences,  were  communicated  by 
one  house  to  the  other,  and  in  each, 
motions  were  made  and  entertained 
as  abhorrent  from  the  common  feel- 
ings of  humanity  as  the  conspiracy 
itself.  Henry  IV.  of  France  thought 
it  the  duty  of  a  friend  to  interpose 
with  his  advice,  and  Boderie,  his  am- 
bassador, was  ordered  to  represent  to 
the  king,  that  his  master  had  learned 
from  experience  the  strong  hold 
which  religion  has  on  the  human 
breast;  that  it  is  a  flame  which  burns 
with  increasing  fierceness  in  propor- 
tion to  the  violence  employed  to  ex- 
tinguish it;  that  persecution  exalts 
the  mind  above  itself,  teaches  it  to 
glory  in  suffering,  and  renders  it 
capable  of  every  sacrifice  in  the  cause 
of  conscience;  that  much  might  be 
done  by  kindness— little  by  severity. 
Let  him  punish  the  guilty— it  was  his 
duty ;  but  it  was  equally  his  duty  to 
spare  the  innocent,  even  in  opposition 


clergy,  were  estimated  at  four  hundred  and 
fifty-three  thousand  pounds.— Abstract  of 
his  Majesty's  Revenue,  p.  11, 


46 


JAMES. 


[chap. 


to  the  wishes  of  his  parliament ;  as  it  | 
"was  also  his  interest  not  to  goad  the  j 
Catholics  into  plots  for  his  destruc-  i 
lion,  but  to  to  convince  them  that 
they  possessed   a   protector   in   the 
person  of  their  sovereign.' 

After  a  long  succession  of  debates, 
conferences,  and  amendments,  the 
new  code  received  the  royal  assent. 
It  repealed  none  of  the  laws  then  in 
force,  but  added  to  their  severity  by 
two  new  bills,  containing  more  than 
seventy  articles,  inflicting  penalties 
on  the  Catholics  in  all  their  several 
capacities  of  masters,  servants,  hus- 
bands, parents,  children,  heirs,  exe- 
cutors, patrons,  barristers,  and  phy- 
sicians. 1.  Catholic  recusants  were 
forbidden,  under  particular  penalties, 
to  appear  at  court,  to  dwell  within 
the  boundaries,  or  ten  miles  of  the 
boundaries,  of  the  city  of  London,  or 
to  remove  on  any  occasion  more  than 
five  miles  from  their  homes,  without 
a  special  license  under  the  signatures 
of  four  neighbouring  magistrates. 
2.  They  were  made  incapable  of  prac- 
tising in  surgery  or  physic,  or  in  the 
common  or  civil  law;  of  acting  as 
judges,  clerks,  or  officers  in  any 
court  or  corporation ;  of  presenting 
to  the  livings,  schools,  or  hospitals  in 
their  gift ;  or  of  performing  the  offices 
of  administrators,  executors,  or  guar- 
dians. 3.  Husbands  and  wives,  unless 
they  had  been  married  by  a  Protestant 
minister,  were  made  to  forfeit  every 
benefit  to  which  he  or  she  might  other- 
wise be  entitled  from  the  property  of 


^  Ambasssdes  de  Boderie,  i.  22, 80.  James 
replied  to  the  ambassador,  who  could  not 
obtain  an  audience  till  the  end  of  the  ses- 
sion, that  he  was  by  disposition  an  enemy 
to  harsh  and  cruel  measures :  that  he  had 
repeatedly  checked  the  eajjerness  of  his 
ministers;  but  that  the  Catholics  were  so 
infected  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Jesuits, 
respecting  the  Fubordination  of  the  royal 
to  the  papal  authority,  that  he  was  com- 

Jelled  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  decision  of 
is  parliament.  The  ambassador  observed, 
that  he  oucht  at  least  to  make  a  difference 
between  those  who  held  and  those  who 
rejected  that  doctrine.    It  waa  no  article  of 


the  other ;  unless  their  children  we 
baptized   by   a   Protestant  miui> 
within  a  month  after  the  birth,  c 
omission  subjected  them  to  a  fiut 
one  hundred  pounds;  and,  if  a: 
death  they  were  not  buried  in  a  1 
testant  cemetery,  their  executors  ^^ 
liable  to  pay  for  each  corpse  the  su 
of  twenty  pounds.     4.   Every  chil 
sent  for  education  beyond  the  se 
was  from  that  moment  debarred  froi 
taking  any  benefit  by  devise,  descen 
or  gift,  until  he  should  return  au 
conform  to  the  established  church,  a 
such  benefit  being  assigned  by  law  1 
the  Protestant  next  of  kin.    5.  Ever 
recusant   was   placed   in   the   sam 
situation  as  if  he  had  been  excommi 
nicated  by  name ;  his  house  might  I 
searched,  his    books   and  furnitur 
having  or  thought  to  have  any  reb 
tion  to  his  worship  or  religion,  migl 
be  burnt,  and  his  horses  and  arn: 
might  be  taken  from  him  at  any  tin: 
by  order  of  the  neighbouring  magi' 
trates.    6.  All  the  existing  penaltit 
for  absence  from  church  were  coi 
tinned,  but  with  two  improvements 
1.  It  was  made  optional  in  the  kin; 
whether  he  would  take  the  fine  < 
twenty  pounds  per  lunar  month,  c 
in  lieu  of  it,  all  the  personal,  and  tw( 
thirds  of  the  real  estate ;  and  2.  Ever 
householder,   of  whatever    religioi 
receiving  Catholic  visitors,  or  keepin 
Catholic  servants,  was  liable  to  pay  fc 
each  individual  ten  pounds  per  luno 
month.^    The  first  of  these  two  enact 
ments  led  to  an  additional  and  perhaj 


the  Catholic  faith,  as  had  been  fully  prove 
iu  France,  where  many  stanch  Catholii 
had  lately  aided  the  king  in  opposition  t 
the  papal  bulls  ;  and  he  nad  no  doubt  tht 
the  same  opinion  prevailed  among  the  £n{. 
lish  Cathohcs.— Ibid.  p.  82. 

*  The  fine  of  ten  pounds  per  month  for 
Catholic  servant  was  found  an  intolerabi 
burden.  "  II  y  eut  I'autre  jour  uu  sei 
seigneur  qui  donna  coni;^  a  soixante.  J'e 
seals  d'uutres  de  tres  bonne  quality,  qi 
sont  rt^solus  de  souffrir  tout  plutot  que  d 
contiddier  les  leurs.  C'est  une  dangereus 
arme  que  le  d^sespoir  en  mains  de  personnr 
qui  a'out  rien  aperdre," — July  20,  i,  p.  231 


D.  1606.]        ENACTMENTS  AGAINST  CATHOLICS. 


47 


ointeuded  grievance.  Hitherto,  the 
Dwer  reserved  to  the  king  of  enter- 
ig  into  possession  of  two-thirds  of 
recusant's  lands  could  be  exer(;ised 
nly  in  punishment  of  his  default  by 
le  nonpayment  of  the  fine  of  twenty 
ounds  per  month;  but  now  that 
,  had  become  optional  on  the  king's 
art,  at  any  time,  whether  the  fines 
ad  been  paid  or  not,  the  royal  fa- 
ourites  were  not  slow  to  discover  the 
enefit  which  it  might  enable  them 
■)  derive  from  the  indulgence  of  the 
overeign.  They  prevailed  on  James 
3  make  over  to  them  a  certain  nura- 
f  the  most  opulent  recusants,  who, 
0  prevent  the  two-thirds  of  their 
ands  from  being  seized  at  the  suit  of 
he  crown,  would  deem  it  advisable 
0  compound  with  the  grantees,  what- 
ver  sacrifices  such  composition  might 
ost  them.  There  still  exist  in  the 
itate  Paper  Office  returns  made  frgm 
he  Signet  Office  of  these  grants  in  lan- 
;uage  sufficiently  indicative  of  their 
eal  nature.  They  are  "  Notes  of  such 
■ecusants  as  his  majesty  hath  granted 
iberty  to  his  servants  to  make  profit 
if,  by  virtue  of  that  power  which  his 
najesty  hath,  to  refuse  the  payment 
)f  twenty  pounds  per  mensem,  and 
n  lieu  thereof  to  extend  three  parts 
)f  their  lands."  The  first  on  the  list 
s  the  Scottish  favourite,  Lord  Hay, 
)o  whom  are  granted,  that  he  may 
nake  profit  of  them  the  following 
•ecusants :  Thomas  Arundell,  of  Llan- 
lern;  John  Townley,  of  Townley, 
Lancashire;  John  Talbot,  of  Grafton; 
lohn  Southcot  and  William  Green, 
3f  Essex;  and  Richard  Cotton,  of 
Warblington,  Southampton;  all  of 
them  men  of  extensive  landed  pro- 
perty, from  whose  fears  and  anxieties 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Scot- 


He  says  that  almost  all  the  lords  had  many 
Catholics,  on  account  of  their  ereater 
fidelity. 

^  We  are  indebted  to  jMr.Tiemey  (vol.iv. 
App.  ix.  p.  Ixxv.)  for  the  publication  of 
several  of  these  schedules  from  the  originals 
in  the  State  Paper  Oliice.    A  few  of  the 


tish  grantee  would  contrive  to  reap  a 
very  profitable  harvest.  It  was  a 
grievance,  however,  which  lasted  in 
full  operation  for  years,  and  the  reader 
may  imagine  the  vexation,  the  heart- 
burning, the  distress  which  the  unfor- 
tunate recusants  must  have  felt  when 
they  found  themselves,  without  cause 
on  their  parts,  delivered  over,  bound 
and  gagged,  to  the  mercy  of  the 
spoiler;  and,  moreover,  the  feverish 
excitement  and  annoying  uncertainty 
in  which  those  who  had  hitherto  es- 
caped must  have  continued  to  live, 
aware  as  they  must  have  been  that  the 
visitation  which  had  bafallen  their 
co-religionists,  would  in  its  turn  fall 
with  equal  severity  on  themselves.' 

But  that  which  effectually  broke 
the  power  of  the  Catholic  body  in 
England,  by  dividing  them  into  two 
parties  marshalled  against  each  other, 
was  the  enactment  of  a  new  oath  of 
allegiance,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
drawing  a  distinction  between  those 
Catholics  who  denied,  and  those  who 
admitted  the  temporal  pretensions  of 
the  pontiffs.  The  former,  who  it  was 
supposed  would  take  the  oath,  were 
made  liable  by  law  to  no  other  penal- 
ties than  those  which  have  been  enu- 
merated ;  the  latter  were  subjected  to 
perpetual  imprisonment,  and  the  for- 
feiture of  their  personal  property,  and 
of  the  rents  of  their  lands  during 
life ;  or,  if  they  were  married  women, 
to  imprisonment  in  the  common  gaol 
until  they  should  repent  of  their 
obstinacy  and  submit  to  take  the 
oath. 

That  James,  in  the  proposal  of  the 
last  measure,  had  the  intention  of 
gradually  relieving  one  portion  of  his 
Catholic  subjects  from  the  burden  of 
the  penal  laws,  is  highly  probable; 


grantees  are  English,  the  great  majority 
Scottish.  The  two  latest  grants  are  to  Mr. 
Henry  Stuart,  laird  of  Craigiehall,  and  the 
lady  Elizabeth  Stuart  (his  vrife?),  to  each 
of  whom  are  granted  not  fewer  than  teu 
very  opulent  recusants,  "to  make  profit 
of." 


48 


JAMES. 


[CHJ 


but  whether  those  to  whom  he  com- 
mitted the  task  of  framing  the  oath, 
Archbishop  Abbot  and  Sir  Christo- 
pher Perkins,  a  conforming  Jesuit, 
were  animated  with  similar  senti- 
ments, has  been  frequently  disputed. 
They  were  not  content  with  the  dis- 
claimer of  the  deposing  power ;  they 
added  a  declaration  that  to  maintain 
it  was  impious,  heretical,  and  damna- 
ble. It  was  evident  that  many,  wil- 
ling to  make  the  former,  would 
hesitate  to  swear  to  the  latter;  and 
that  the  supporters  of  the  obnoxious 
doctrine  would  gladly  justify  their 
refusal  of  the  oath  by  objecting  to 
this  impolitic  and  unnecessary  de- 
claration. The  great,  the  only  point 
-of  importance  was  the  rejection  of 
the  temporal  superiority  attributed 
by  many  theologians  to  the  pontiff; 
and  it  is  equally  a  matter  of  surprise, 
that  the  king  on  the  one  hand  should 
have  allowed  the  introduction  of  a 
clause  calculated  to  prevent  his  own 
purpose,  and  that  the  Catholics  on  the 
other  did  not  petition  that  such  clause 
should  be  totally  expunged,  or  at  least 
cleared  from  the  hyperbolical  and 
offensive  epithets  with  which  it  was 
loaded.  The  oath,  however,  as  it  was 
framed,  received  the  approbation  of 
the  legislature;  and  it  was  ordered 
that  all  recusants  convict,  that  all  indi- 
viduals suspected  of  Catholicity,  be- 
cause they  had  not  received  the  sa- 
crament twice  in  the  Protestant 
church  during  the  last  twelve  months. 


1  Stat,  of  Realm,  iv.  1070—1082. 

3  "  Elles  sont  inhumaines  et  plus  barbares 
-qne  chr^tiennea."  —  Villeroy  a  Boderie. 
June  25.    i.  172. 

3  "Beaucoup  de  Catholiqnes  9epr(5parent 
a  8*en  aller  :  voire  y  en  a  de  si  vieux  que  je 
Tois  ne  chercher  qu'une  terro  dtrangere 
pour  s'enterrer  :  et  neanmoina  ai  en  reste- 
t-jl  encore  un  ai  prand  nombre,  qui 
s'etonnent  point  de  toutes  sea  menaces,  que 

c' est  certes  chose  ad mirablo La  plupart 

dea  dames  de  qualit(S  sont  Catboliques,  et 
n'y  a  pas  une  qui  ne  cache  chez  ello  un 
pretre.  — Boderie,  June  21,  vol.  i.  p.  161. 
"Tanta'en  faut  que  cela  fasae  perdre  coeur 
auxdits  Catboliques,  qu'U  semble  qu'ila  s'en 


and  that  all  unknown  persons  trave 
ling  through  any  count}',  should  \ 
summoned  to  take  it,  under  the  hea^ 
penalties  which  have  been  alreac 
mentioned.' 

When  these  enactments  were  pul 
lished,    they   excited    surprise    ar 
dismay.     The     French    ambassad< 
pronounced    them   characteristic 
barbarians  rather  than   Christians 
the  lords  of  the  council,  ashamed 
their  own  work  deliberated  on  exp 
dients  to  mitigate  their  severity ;  ar 
many  Catholics  alarmed  at  the  pr 
spect   before    them,  bade   adieu 
their  native    country;    while  tho 
who  remained  animated  each  oth 
to  forfeit  their  liberty,  property,  ai 
Uves,  rather  than  forsake  their  to. 
gion.^    With  these  the  lawfulness 
the  new  oath  became  a  question  of  tl  \ 
highest    import.      The   missionari  . 
were  divided  in  opinion ;  the  Jesui  i 
in  general  condemned  it,  they  repr  : 
sented  at  Home  the  necessity  of  -v  i 
gorous  and  decisive  measures,  whi:  i 
the  king  of  Prance,  on  the  other  bar 
admonished  the  pontiff  to  beware,  le  : 
by  irritating  James,  he  should  gi  ■ 
occasion  to  the  final  extinction  of  t  i 
Catholic  worship  in  England.* 

The  reigning  pope  was  Paul 
During  the  discussions  in  parliame  i 
he  had  despatched  a  secret  envoy  i 
England,  who,  under  the  disguise  | 
a  messenger  from  the  duke  of  Ix  i 
rain,  obtained  admission  at  ecu  \ 
He  was  the  bearer  of  two  letters,  o  ( 


animent  davantage ;  et  au  lien  de  retii  < 
de  ladite  religion  cenr  qui  sont  recont  I 
d'en  ctre,  il  s'en  dt'clare  toua  lea  jours  (  i 
ne  le  paroissoient  point  auparavant." — II  I 
June  26,  p.  178. 

*  "  lis  pr^tendent  prouver  que  I'ind  i 
gence  et  patience  dont  sa  aaintete  s'  { 
gouvern<5e  avec  lui,  augmente  I'audace  <  { 
auteurs  de  tela  conseils,  empire  la  conditi  i 
desdits  Catboliques,  et  sera  cause  a  la  fin 
leur  entiere  destruction,  lis  ont  a  cette 
envoyiS  expres  vers  la  pape  un  dea  pric 

paux  de  leur  compagnie... Toutefig' 

majestti  continuera  de    faire   son 
pour  inaintenir  aa  aaintete  dedans  leal 
ausdita."— Villeroy    a   Boderie, 
p.  150,  200. 


.D.  1606.]      IMPRISONMENT  OF  THE  AllCHPrvIEST. 


49 


0  the  archpriest  instructing  him  to 
)rohibit  by  papal  authority  all  sedi- 
ious  and  treasonable  practices ;  the 
)ther  to  the  king,  expressing  on  the 
)art  of  the  pontiff  the  deepest  detesta- 
ion  of  the  late  plot,  and  soliciting  the 
■oyal  protection  for  the  innocent  Ca- 
holics.  Though  James  professed 
iimself  pleased,  and  ordered  the  accus- 
;omed  gratuity  to  be  given  to  the  envoy, 
lis  answer  was  cold  and  unsatisfac- 
tory.' When  Paul  learned  the  failure  of 
this  mission,  he  yielded  to  the  clamour 
which  the  enactments  in  England 
biad  excited;  and  Holtby,  who  had 
succeeded  to  Garnet  as  superior  of 
the  Jesuits,  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
archpriest  a  papal  breve,  condemning 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  as  unlawful  to 
be  taken,  because  "  it  contained  many 
things  contrary  to  faith  and  salva- 
tion." Blackwell,  aware  of  the  con- 
sequences, received  it  with  feelings 
of  the  most  profound  grief;  and 
refused  to  notify  it  officially  to  his 
flock,  looking  upon  it  as  nothing 
better  than  the  private  dictum  of 
Paul  V. 

The  papal  breve  sharpened  the 
resentment  of  James.  By  his  orders 
the  bishops  began  to  tender  the  oath 
in  their  respective  dioceses,  and  the 
lecusants  by  whom  it  was  refused 
were  condemned  at  the  assizes  in  the 
barbarous  penalties  of  premunire. 
Three  missionaries,  lying  under  the 
sentence  of  death  for  the  exercise  of 
their  priestly  functions,  were  sum- 
moned to  take  it ;  they  pleaded  scru- 
ples of  conscience,  and  received  orders 
to  prepare  for  execution.  Two  owed 
their  lives  to  the  timely  intercession 
of  the  prince  of  Joinville  and  of  the 
French  ambassador.  Drury,  the  third, 
suffered  the  punishment  of  a  traitor. 


1  See  Boderie,  i.  123, 284,  300, 327. 

2  When  Boderie  begged  a  reprieve  for 
him  and  his  companion  Davies,  James 
granted  it  for  the  latter,  but  with  so  bad  a 
grace  that  the  ambassador  determined  never 

7 


He  was  one  of  those  who  had  signed 
the  protestation  of  allegiance  to  Eliza- 
beth, and  who  believed  in  his  own 
judgment  that  the  oath  of  James  was 
equally  admissible.  But  he  dared  not 
prefer  his  private  sentiments  before 
those  of  the  pope,  and  of  many  among 
his  brethren,  and  chose  to  shed  his 
blood  rather  than  pollute  his  con- 
science by  sw^earing  to  the  truth  of 
assertions,  which  he  feared  might  pos- 
sibly be  false.2 

In  the  course  of  the  next  summer 
the  archpriest  himself  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  pursuivants.  He  had, 
some  time  before,  publicly  announced 
that  the  oath,  notwithstanding  its 
condemnation  by  the  papal  breve, 
might  be  conscientiously  taken  by 
any  English  Catholic.  Before  the 
commissioners  at  Lambeth,  he  avowed 
the  same  opinion :  at  their  demand  he 
took  the  oath,  and  by  a  circular  in- 
formed his  assistants  and  clergy  that 
he  had  taken  it  in  the  sense  in  which 
it  had  been  explained  by  the  lawgiver, 
and  exhorted  them  to  follow  his  ex- 
ample. At  court  his  conduct  gave 
great  satisfaction ;  yet  so  violent  were 
the  prejudices  of  the  zealots,  that 
James,  though  he  lamented  the  im- 
prisonment of  the  old  man,  dared  not 
grant  him  any  other  indulgence  than 
that  he  should  not  be  brought  to  trial 
on  the  capital  offence  of  having  re- 
ceived holy  orders  beyond  the  sea.  He 
was  in  his  seventieth  year ;  and  lan- 
guished in  confinement  till  his  death 
in  1613. 

At  Bome  it  was  contended  that 
Blackwell's  conduct  called  for  imme- 
diate chastisement.  The  pontiff  pub- 
lished a  second  breve,  confirming  the 
former,  and  condemning  the  oath  for 
the  same  general  reason,  that  it  con- 


more  to*  ask  s  similar  favour.  The  real 
cause  of  Drury's  death  was,  he  says,  that  a 
copy  of  a  letter  from  Father  Persons  against 
the  oath  had  been  found  in  his  possession. — 
See  Boderie,  ii.  102,  256;  Howell's  State 
Trials,  ii.  358. 

E 


50 


JAMES  I. 


[CHAP.  1 


tained  matter  contrary  to  faith  and 
salvation.  Yet  Blackwell  was  still 
spared.  Cardinal  Bellarmine  and 
Persons  wrote  to  him  admonitory 
letters",  with  the  hope  of  reclaiming 
him ;  but  he  replied  by  long  and 
laboured  defences  of  his  own  opinion 
and  conduct,  till  his  conversion  was 
despaired  of,  and  the  pontiff  released 
him  from  his  office  of  archpriest  by 
appointing  George  Birkhead  to  supply 
his  place.  This  measure  was  produc- 
tive of  a  deep  and  long-continued 
schism  in  the  Catholic  body.  The 
greater  number,  swayed  by  the  autho- 
rity of  the  new  archpriest  and  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries,  looked  upon  the 
taking  of  the  oath  as  the  denial  of 
their  religion ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  many,  professing  to  be  satisfied 
by  the  arguments  of  Blackwell  and 
his  advocates,  cheerfully  took  it  when 
it  was  oflfered,  and  thus  freed  them- 
selves from  the  severe  penalties  to 
which  they  would  have  been  subject 
by  the  refusal. 

By  the  publication  of  the  second 
breve,  the  indignation  of  James  had 
been  raised  to  the  highest  pitch. 
Sending  for  his  favourite  theologians, 
he  shut  himself  up  with  them  in  his 
study,  refusing  to  listen  to  his  minis- 
ters, postponing  the  most  urgent 
affairs  of  state,  and  abstaining  even 
from  the  pleasures  of  the  chase. 
The  fruit  of  his  retirement  at  last 
appeared  in  a  tract  entitled  "An 
Apologie  for  the  Oath  of  Allegiance," 
which  was  immediately  translated 
into  the  Latin  and  lYench  lan- 
guages.' It  was  followed  by  the 
condemnation  of  six  priests  for  the 
exercise  of  their  functions ;  they  re- 
fused the  oath;  their  obstinacy  was 
not  subdued  by  the  perusal  of  the 


1  See  Boderie,  iii.  103,  131,  164,  W). 

3  Ibid.  227.    ChaUoner,  ii.  19—23. 

'  Boderie  was,  however,  of  a  different 
opinion.  "  La  pr<^soniption  scale  qu'il  n  de 
Bcavoir  plus  en  thdologie  que  tous  les  doc- 
teara  du  monde,  en  est  1' unique  cause." — 
Ibid.  iT.  319. 


king's  tract;  and  three  out  of  thi 
six  paid  the  forfeit  of  their  lives,  on< 
at  York  and  two  at  Tyburn.^ 

The  king  was  now  fairly  launchet 
on  the  sea  of  controversy,  where  h( 
believed  himself  an  equal  match  fo; 
any  opponent.  It  was  not  long  befori 
he  received  answers  to  the  "Apologie' 
from  Persons  and  Bellarmine.  Vanitj 
urged  him  to  refute  their  arguments 
resentment  to  chastise  their  presump 
tion.  His  theological  coadjutors  wer< 
again  summoned  to  his  closet ;  hi 
former  work  was  revised,  and  to  i' 
was  prefixed  an  address,  called  i 
prajmonition  to  all  Christian  princes 
He  made,  however,  but  little  pro- 
gress ;  every  particular  question  gav< 
birth  to  endless  debates ;  and  wha' 
with  objections,  and  improvements 
and  diversity  of  opinions,  it  wa.' 
found  that  at  the  end  of  severa 
weeks,  the  work  was  scarcely  more 
advanced  than  it  had  been  at  the 
commencement.  The  kings  of  France 
and  Denmark  exhorted  him  to  desis' 
from  a  contest  unworthy  of  a  crownec 
head.  To  the  former  James  repliec 
in  terms  of  respect ;  but  the  latter  h( 
admonished  to  consider  his  own  age 
and  to  blush  at  his  folly  in  offering 
advice  to  a  prince  so  much  older  an( 
wiser  than  himself.  The  queen  having 
tried  her  influence  in  vain,  turned  he: 
anger  against  the  earl  of  Salisbury 
whom  she  suspected  of  encouraging 
her  husband  in  this  pursuit,  tha 
he  might  govern  the  kingdom  a 
his  pleasure.^  But  though  the  moun 
tain  had  been  long  in  labour,  thougl 
the  public  had  been  kept  for  month: 
in  breathless  suspense,  when  the  hou: 
of  parturition  arrived,  it  was  unex 
pectedly  deemed  prudent  to  suppres 
the  birth.*    A  new  light  had  burst  oi 


♦  It  was  full  of  dissertations  on  the  ^ 
in  the  Apocalypse,  which  made  the  Fro. 
ambassador  declare  that  the  book  was  "  L 

f)lus  fou,  s'il  m'est  loisible  d'ainsi  parler,  e 
e  plus  pernicieux  que  se  soit  jamais  fait  su 
telsujct"  (iv.  302). 


i 


LD.  1609.] 


THE  KING'S  NEW  WOEK. 


61 


;he  mind  of  James:  he  ordered  all 
he  printed  copies  to  be  called  in,  and 
,he  work  to  be  again  revised  and 
jorrected;  and  aft«r  many  new  al- 
}erations,  gave  it  at  last  to  the  world 
n  a  less  voluminous  and  less  offensive 
form.'  Special  messengers  were  de- 
spatched to  present  it  to  the  several 
princes  in  Europe,  By  most  it  was 
accepted  as  a  compliment,  by  the  king 
of  Spain  and  the  archduke  it  was 
peremptorily  refused.^ 

Neither  the  publications  of  James 
and  his  divines,  nor  those  of  his  ad- 


1  See  Boderie  throughout  akaost  every 
despatch  in  the  fourth  volume.  The  chief 
corrections  consisted  in  the  arguments  to 
prove  the  pope  to  be  antichrist,  which  were 
now  softened  down  to  prove  that  he  was 
antichrist  only  in  as  much  as,  and  as  long 
aa,  he  should  pretend  to  temporal  power  in 
the  dominions  of  others. — Winwood,  iii.  55, 
56,  66.  It  was  called  Apologia  pro  jura- 
mento  fidelitatis,  praemissa  praefatione  mo- 
nitoria.— Birch,  298,  299. 

2  He  also  made  presents  of  both  the 
English  and  Latin  editions  to  the  English 


versaries,  determined  the  controversy 
which  continued  to  divide  the  Catho- 
lics for  the  greater  part  of  the  century. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  oath  was  re- 
fused by  the  majority  of  those  to 
whom  it  was  tendered ;  on  the  other, 
it  was  taken  by  many  of  considerable 
weight  both  among  the  clergy  and 
laity.  Among  the  latter  are  to  be 
numbered  the  Catholic  peers  (they 
amounted  to  more  than  twenty),  who, 
with  a  single  exception,  spontaneously 
took  the  oath  on  different  occasions 
in  the  upper  house  of  parliament.^ 


prelates.  Matthews,  archbishop  of  York, 
threw  himself  on  his  knees  to  receive  them 
from  the  messenger,  kissed  them,  promised, 
to  keep  them  as  the  apple  of  his  eye,  and 
to  read  them  over  and  over  again. — Sic 
Patrick  Young  to  the  king,  June  19,  1609. 
Dalrvmple'a  Memorials,  p.  13.  See  Appen- 
dix, III. 

3  This  wUl  appear  from  a  diligent  perusal 
of  the  journals.  The  lord  Teynham  alone 
eluded  it,  by  never  attending  his  duty  in 
parliament  more  than  one  day  during  each 
session. 


CHAPTER  II. 


JAMSS    ASD   HIS    CONSORT    AXNE   OF   DENMARK — INSCRRECTION T7NI0K  OF  ENGLAND 

AND    SCOTLAND— KING'S     EXPENSES PROCEEDINGS    OF     PARLIAMENT MARRIAGE, 

IMPRISONMENT,    AND    DEATH    OP   ARABELLA    STUART DEATH    OF    PRINCE  HENRY 

BI3E    OF    CARR,    EARL    OF    SOMERSET DIVORCE    OF    EARL    AND    COUNTESS    OF  ESSEX 

RISE    OF    GEORGE    VILLIERS,     DUKE    OF    BUCKINGHAM ARREST    AND    TRIAL    OP 

EARL   AND    COUNTESS     OF     SOMERSET DISGRACE     OP     COKE TRANSACTIONS     WITH 

HOLLAND ERRORS    OP    VORSTIU8 SYNOD     OP     DORT — INTRODUCTION     OF    EPISCO- 
PACY   INTO    SCOTLAND VISIT    OF    JAMES    TO    EDINBURGH COMMISSION    OF    GRACES 

IN     IRELAND — FLIGHT     OP     TYRONE — PLANTATION     OF     ULSTER — PROCEEDINGS   OF 
IRISH    PARLIAMENT NEW    PLANTATIONS. 


When  James  prorogued  the  par- 
liament in  1606,  he  had  been  more 
than  three  years  on  the  throne,  and 
yet  had  made  no  progress  in  the 
esteem,  had  acquired  no  place  in 
the  affections,  of  his  English  subjects. 
It  was  in  vain  that  he  sought  by 
speeches  and  proclamations  to  earn 


I  the  reputation  of  political  wisdom; 
I  his  inattention  to  business,  and  his 
I  love  of  dissipation,  provoked  remon- 
istrances  and  complaints.  Twice  in 
the  week  the  king  of  England  de- 
voted his  time  to  the  amusements  of 
the  cockpit;'  day  after  day  the  chase 
kept  him  on  horseback  from  the  dawn 


^  "  II  vit  combattre  les  cocqs,  qui  est  un 
plaisir  qu'il  prend  deux  fois  la  semaine."— 


Boderie,  i.  56.    I  observe  that  the  fee  of 

the    master    of    the    cocks,   two    hundred 

E  2 


52 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


till  the  evening;^  and  the  fatigue  of 
the  chase  was  always  relieved  by  the 
pleasures  of  the  table,  in  which  he 
frequently  indulged  to  excess.^  The 
consequence  was,  that  questions  of 
great  national  importance  were  suf- 
fered to  remain  unnoticed;  and  not 
only  foreign  ambassadors,  but  even 
his  own  ministers,  were  occasionally 
debarred,  during  weeks  together,  from 
all  access  to  the  royal  presence.  On 
their  knees  they  prayed  him  to  give 
more  attention  to  the  public  business; 
anonymous  writers  admonished  him 
of  his  duty  by  letters;  the  players 
held  up  his  foibles  to  ridicule  on  the 
stage;  but  the  king  was  not  to  be 
moved.  He  replied  that  he  did  not 
intend  to  make  himself  a  slave ;  that 
his  health,  which  "was  the  health 
and  welfare  of  them  all,"  required 
exercise  and  relaxation ;  and  that  he 
would  rather  retrace  his  steps  to 
Scotland,  than  consent  to  be  im- 
mured in  his  closet,  or  chained  to 
the  council-table.^ 

His  consort,  Anne  of  Denmark, 
had  brought  with  her  as  her  dower 
the  Shetlands  and  the  Orkneys, 
which  for  the  last  century  had  been 
pawned  to  the  crown  of  Scotland. 
This  princess  could  boast  of  some 
pretensions  to  beauty,  to  which  she 
added  considerable  abilities  and  spirit. 
She  hesitated  not  to  avow  her  con- 
tempt for  the  weakness  of  the  king ; 
frequently  assumed  a  superiority, 
which  made  him  feel  under  con- 
straint in  her  presence ;  and  on 
some  occasions  presumed  even  to 
dispute  the  royal  authority.    James 


pounds  per  annum,  was  equal  to  the  united 
salaries  of  two  secretaries  of  state. — Ab- 
stract of  the  King's  Revenue,  p.  -15,  47. 

'  See  the  letters  in  Winwood,  ii.  46; 
Lodge,  iii.  245,  247,  311,  332,  335,  337  ;  Bo- 
derie,  i.  195.  302,  396;  ii.  101. 

»  Ree  Boderie,  i.  241,  283  ;  iii.  197. 

»  Ibid.  i.  302,  310;  ii.  244,  279,  4W;  iv. 
21.  Winwood,  ii.  54,  217.  The  pin  vers 
represented  him  in  his  passion,  sometimes 
cursing  his  nounds  and  falcons,  sometimes 
striking  hia  scrrantB,  and  drinking  to  in- 


was  believed  to  be  a  faithful  husband 
nor  did  the  voice  of  scandal,  whicl 
had  been  heard  only  to  whisper  ii 
Scotland,  even  dare  to  breathe  upoi 
her  character  in  England.''  The  pubU< 
voice  accused  her  of  favouring  thi 
Spanish  interest,  and  of  nourishini 
in  her  son  Henry  a  contempt  for  tb 
peaceful  disposition  of  his  father ;  bu 
whether  it  were  suggested  by  her  owi 
prudence,  or  required  by  the  Englisl 
council,  from  the  moment  of  he 
arrival  on  this  side  of  the  Tweed 
she  abstained  in  a  great  measur( 
from  political  intrigue,  and  devote( 
her  attention  to  the  amusement 
and  the  pageantries  of  the  court 
pursuits  in  which  she  greatly  ex 
celled.  To  display  to  advantage  thi 
grace  of  her  person  and  the  richnes 
of  her  dress,  to  exact  and  receive  thi 
homage  of  all  around  her,  to  shin' 
the  first  among  her  ladies  in  a  succes 
sion  of  balls  and  masks,  became  he: 
principal  study.  No  expense,  no  de 
coration  was  spared  to  give  splendou 
to  these  entertainments ;  the  firs 
poets  of  the  age  were  employed  t< 
compose  the  speeches,  the  first  artist 
to  frame  the  machinery ;  and  Ann- 
herself,  with  her  favourite  attendants 
surprised  and  delighted  the  court  b; 
appearing  successively  in  the  disguis 
of  a  goddess  or  a  nereid,  of  a  Turkisl 
sultana  or  aa  Indian  princess.  Ther 
was,  however,  one  drawback  from  th' 
pleasure  of  such  exhibitions,  whicl 
will  hardly  be  anticipated  by  th 
reader.  Ebriety  at  this  period  wa 
not  confined  to  the  male  sex,  and  oi 
some  occasions  females  of  the  highes 


toxication  at  least  once  a  day. — Boderie,  iii 
196,  197.  On  one  occasion  the  king's  fa 
vourite  dog  Jowler,  which  had  been  lost 
returned  with  the  followinc  letter  tied  t< 
his  neck.  '*  Good  Mr.  Jowler,  we  pray  yoi 
speak  to  the  king  (for  he  hears  you  ever 
day,  and  so  doth  he  not  us),  that  it  wij 
please  his  majestie  to  go  back  to  London 
for  els  the  contry  wil  be  undoon  :  all  on 
provision  is  spent  already,  and  wo  are  no 
able  to  intertayno  him  longer." — Lo " 
iii.  245.  *  Peyton,  332,  335,  339, ' 


"-Lod^l 
339, 34M 


i.D.  1G07.] 


INSURRECTION. 


53 


distinction,  who  had  spent  weeks  in 
the  study  of  their  respective  parts, 
presented  themselves  to  the  specta- 
tors in  a  state  of  the  most  disgusting 
intoxication.^ 

James  had  scarcely  recovered  from 
the  panic  excited  by  the  gunpowder 
treason,  when  he  was  alarmed  by  an 
insurrection  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
kingdom.  It  was  provoked  by  the 
rapacity  of  the  lords  of  manors,  who 
had  enclosed  for  their  own  use  large 
parcels  of  lands  which  had  hitherto 
been  common,  and  had  thus  dimi- 
nished the  usual  means  of  subsistence 
to  their  poorer  tenants.  The  practice 
was  begun  by  those  who,  having 
obtained  church  lands  during  the 
Reformation,  sought  to  make  the 
most  of  their  new  possessions ;  and 
it  had  been  continued  to  the  reign 
of  James,  in  defiance  of  popular 
tumults,  legislative  enactments,  and 
royal  proclamations.  There  was  no 
grievance  which  the  people  felt  more 
keenly,  or  which  they  were  more 
disposed  to  redress  by  open  violence. 
Of  late  the  individuals,  to  whom  the 
forfeited  lands  of  the  gunpowder 
conspirators  had  been  given,  had 
encroached  on  the  commons  as 
others  had  done  before  them;  the 
sufferers,  being  joined  by  their  neigh- 


^  When  Christian  IV.  of  Denmark  visited 
the  king  in  1606,  Cecil  gave  a  grand  enter- 
tainment and  mask  at  Theobalds,  in  honour 
of  the  royal  stranger.  The  following  extract 
from  a  letter  written  by  one  of  the  guests 
will  amuse  the  reader.  "  Those  whom  I 
never  could  get  to  taste  good  liquor  now 
follow  the  fashion,  and  wallow  in  beastly 
delights.  The  ladies  abandon  sobriety,  and 
are  seen  t*  roll  about  in  intoxication. 
After  dinner  the  representation  of  Solomon 
his  temple,  and  the  coming  of  the  queen  of 
Sheba  was  made,  or  (as  may  I  better  say) 

•was  meant  to  have  been   made The 

lady  who  did  play  the  queen's  part,  did 
carry  most  precious  gifts  to  both  their 
majesties;  but  forgetting  the  steppes  aris- 
ing to  the  canopy,  overset  her  caskets  into 
his  Danish  majesty's  lap,  and  fell  at  his 
feet,  though  I  rather  think  it  was  in  his 
face.  Much  was  the  hurry  and  confusion ; 
cloths  and  napkins  were  at  hand  to  make 
all  clean.      His  majesty  then  got  up  and 


hours  who  could  remember  similar 
provocations,  presented  a  remon- 
strance to  the  council ;  and  finding 
their  complaint  treated  with  neglect, 
assumed  the  right  of  doing  justice  to 
themselves.  Suddenly  lawless  assem- 
blages of  men,  women,  and  children 
were  observed  in  the  three  counties 
of  Northampton,  Warwick,  and  Lei- 
cester. They  seldom  amounted  to 
less  than  one  thousand  men ;  at  Hill 
Norton,  the  former  estate  of  Francis 
Tresham,  they  reached  to  three,  at 
Cottesbich  to  five,  thousand.  They 
appeared  to  be  under  the  guidance 
of  certain  unknown  persons,  who 
were  never  seen  in  public  without 
masks ;  Reynolds,  the  avowed  leader, 
took  the  name  of  Captain  Pouch, 
from  an  enormous  pouch  which  he 
carried  on  one  side.  This  man  was 
an  impostor  or  an  enthusiast,  '  He 
pretended  to  act  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  God,  and  with  the  license  of 
the  king ;  he  pronounced  himself 
invulnerable,  and  declared  that  he 
carried  in  his  pouch  a  spell  which 
would  insure  success  to  his  followers. 
He  strictly  forbade  them  to  use 
profane  words,  to  employ  personal 
violence,  or  to  perform  *ny  illegal 
act,  which  was  not  necessary  for  the 
abatement   of   the   new   enclosures. 


would  dance  with  the  queen  of  Sheba,  but 
he  fell  down  and  humbled  himself  before 
her,  and  was  carried  to  an  inner  chamber, 
and  laid  on  a  bed  of  state,  which  was  not  a 
little  defiled  with  the  presents  of  the  queen 

The   entertainment    and    show   went 

forward,  and  most  of  the  presenters  went 
backward  or  fell  down ;  wine  did  so  occupy 
their  upper  chambers.  jN'ow  did  appear  in 
rich  dress  Hope,  Faith,  and  Charity.  Hope 
did  assay  to  speak,  but  wine  did  render 
her  endeavours  so  feeble  that  she  withdrew. 
Faith,  was  then  all  alone,  for  I  am  certain 
she  was  not  joyned  with  good  works,  and 
left  the  court  in  a  staggering  condition. 
Charity  came  to  the  king's  feet,  and  seemed 
to  cover  the  multitude  of  sins  her  sisters 
had  committed,  in  some    some   sorte    she 

made    obeysance,   and  brought   gifts 

She  then  returned  to  Hope  and  Faith,  who 
were  both  sick  and  spewing  in  the  lower 
hall."— Nugae  Antique,  i.  348,  349,  350, 
edit.  1804. 


54 


ja:mes  I. 


[chap.  II. 


They  faithfully  obeyed  his  orders. 
The  park  walls  were  demolished, 
fences  levelled,  and  dikes  filled  up. 
Wherever  the  rioters  appeared,  the 
inhabitants  received  thein  with  ex- 
pressions of  joy,  and  through  fear  or 
affection,  supplied  them  with  tools 
and  provisions.  .If  any  gentleman 
ventured  to  remonstrate,  he  was  im- 
mediately placed  among  the  labourers, 
and  compelled  to  join  in  the  work  of 
demolition. 

At  the  first  report  of  this  com- 
motion James  knew  not  whether  to 
suspect  the  Catholics  or  the  Puritans : 
the  guards  in  the  palace  were  doubled; 
and  the  lord  mayor  was  instructed  to 
watch  the  motions  of  the  apprentices 
within  the  city.  More  accurate  in- 
formation relieved  his  terrors.  The 
insurgents  were  commanded  by  pro- 
clamation to  disperse ;  but  they  main- 
tained that  their  occupation  was  law- 
ful ;  they  were  employed  in  executing 
the  statute  against  new  enclosures. 
The  lords  Ueutenant  endeavoured  to 
raise  the  counties  ;  but  few  of  the 
inhabitants  were  disposed  to  incur 
the  resentment  of  their  poor  and 
exasperated  neighbours.  At  last  the 
noblemen  who  possessed  lands  in  the 
disturbed  districts  were  ordered  to 
repair  to  their  estates;  and  the  gal- 
lants at  court  received  a  hint  that 
their  services  would  be  more  accept- 
able in  the  field.  Thus  several  bodies 
of  horse  were  gradually  formed :  they 
hastened  to  the  disturbed  districts, 
and  traversed  them  in  every  direction, 
charging,  routing,  and  slaying  the 
insurgents  wherever  they  attempted 
to  make  resistance.  To  the  commis- 
sioners appointed  to  punish  the  guilty, 
James  recommended  moderation  and 
pity.  The  people,  ho  observed,  were 
not  so  much  to  blame.  They  had 
been  oppressed ;  and,  had  not  the 
council   intercepted   their   petitions, 


1  Btowe, 
812. 


889.    Boderie,  ii.  279,  291,  299, 


would  have  found  redress  from  his 
justice.  This  was  the  cause  of  their 
rising.  If  they  had  transgressed  the 
law,  they  had  been  driven  to  it  by 
the  rapacity  of  their  lords  and  the 
neglect  of  the  ministers.  Captain 
Pouch  and  his  chief  associates  suf- 
fered as  traitors,  because  they  had 
appeared  in  arms  against  the  king; 
several  of  his  followers  as  felons, 
because  they  had  not  dispersed  at 
the  reading  of  the  proclamation. 
This  insurrection,  so  slowly  but 
easily  suppressed,  proved  the  weak- 
ness of  the  government ;  but  the 
French  ambassador  must  have  been 
strangely  deceived  by  his  intelligence, 
or  blinded  by  his  prejudices,  when  he 
assured  his  court  that  if  any  noble- 
man of  talent  and  popularity  had 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
rioters,  he  would  have  found  it  no 
difficult  task  to  drive  back  the  Scot- 
tish prince  to  his  native  country.* 

In  the  estimation  of  thinking 
men  the  ministers  were  not  less  cul- 
pable than  their  sovereign.  If  he 
displayed  no  solicitude  to  establish 
himself  in  the  affections  of  his  Eng- 
lish subjects,  they  were  thought  too 
willing  to  indulge  him  in  that  indo- 
lence and  dissipation,  which  trans- 
ferred to  them  in  a  great  measure 
the  government  of  the  kingdom.  The 
chief  among  them  were  Cecil  (who  in 
1604  had  been  created  Viscount 
Cranborne,  and  in  the  next  year  earl 
of  Salisbury)  and  Henry  Howard, 
earl  of  Northampton,  who,  from 
sworn  brothers  and  associates,  had  at 
last  become  rivals  in  the  pursuit  ol 
wealth  and  power.'  Butlt  was  not 
long  before  Salisbury  secured  the 
ascendancy.  His  slow  and  cautious 
policy,  the  fertility  with  which  he 
invented  expedients  to  disguise  hU 
own  projects,  and  the  sagacity  with 
which  he  discovered  the  real  or  ii 


a  Boderie,   ii.    135,   201,   «0; 
iv.  21. 


..D.  1608.]      UNION  OF  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 


55 


rinary  designs  of  foreign  courts,  en- 
ieared  him  to  the  timid  and  suspi- 
;ious  disposition  of  James,  and  the 
amiliar  appellation  of  "  ray  little 
jeagle,"  •  proved  the  high  place  which 
j.e  held  in  the  estimation  of  the 
sporting  monarch.  Northampton  was 
thought  to  lean  towards  the  interest 
of  Spain ;  while  his  more  wary  rival 
flattered  the  secret  though  unavowed 
inclination  of  the  king,  who,  afraid 
of  waging  open  war  against  that 
power,  laboured  by  clandestine  means 
to  support  and  multiply  its  enemies. 
It  chanced,  however,  that  Anne 
quarrelled  with  Northampton :  a 
forced  reconciliation,  procured  by  the 
authority  of  James,  settled  into  a 
rooted  antipathy;  and  Salisbury  im- 
proved the  opportunity  to  secure  to 
himself  the  good  graces  of  a  princess, 
who,  with  her  son,  the  heir  apparent, 
had  hitherto  looked  on  him  as  a 
secret  enemy.  He  resigned  to  her 
the  property  of  his  house  at  Theo- 
balds; and  though  he  received  in 
exchange  more  than  double  the  value, 
had  the  art  to  persuade  the  king  and 
queen  that  he  had  done  them  a 
favour.'  From  the  year  1599  he  had 
been  master  of  the  court  of  wards, 
the  most  lucrative  oflQce  possessed  by 
any  subject  in  Christendom :  ^  now, 
on  the  death  of  the  earl  of  Dorset,  he 
succeeded  him  as  lord  high  treasurer, 
at  the  special  request  of  the  king."* 
This  was  a  grievous  mortification  to 
his  rival,  who  had  openly  solicited 
the  office :  as  a  compensation  James 
bestowed  on  Northampton  that  of 
keeper  of  the  privy  seal,  which  if  it 
were  inferior  in  rank  and  emolument. 


yet  gave  precedence  in  the  council, 
and  brought  with  it  the  allowance  of 
a  plentiful  table  at  court,  and  fees  to 
the  annual  amount  of  five  thousand 
pounds.^ 

Among  the  projects  which  James 
had  formed,  there  was  one  upon 
which  he  had  set  iiis  heart,  but  in 
which  he  was  strongly  opposed  by 
the  prejudices  of  his  subjects  of  both, 
nations.  His  accession  had  given  to 
England  and  Scotland  the  same  head ; 
he  wished  to  unite  them  in  one  body. 
Their  obedience  to  a  common  sove- 
reign had  removed  the  ancient  causes 
of  hostility ;  but  the  king  looked  to  a 
more  perfect  incorporation,  which 
should  communicate  to  all  his  sub- 
jects the  same  rights,  and  should 
make  them  all  amenable  to  the  same 
laws.  It  was  a  magnificent,  but  a 
premature  and  therefore  an  impru- 
dent design.  James  seems  not  to 
have  been  aware  of  the  force  of  na- 
tional prejudice;  that  animosities 
which  have  been  growing  for  ages  are 
not  to  be  eradicated  in  two  or  three 
years;  and  that  the  laws  and  insti- 
tutions of  a  people  cannot  be  changed 
at  once,  unless  by  the  stern  decree  of 
a  conqueror.  The  name  of  union 
was  received  with  horror  by  the 
Scots,  who  associated  with  the  sound 
the  idea  of  national  subjection ;  by 
the  English  with  scorn,  as  an  invi- 
tation given  to  their  poorer  neigh- 
bours to  descend  from  their  moun- 
tains, and  fatten  on  the  good  things 
of  the  land.  The  liberality  of  the 
king  to  his  Scottish  followers  had 
created  a  strong  prejudice  against  any 
measure  which  might  draw  more  of 


1  Lodge,  iii.  272.    Sydney  Papers,  ii.  352. 

2  "  On  lui  bailie  par  ladite  ^change  une 
terre  beaucoup  plus  noble,  en  beaucoup  plus 
belle  assiette,  autant  et  plus  de  domaine  et 
beaucoup  raeilleurs,  et  deux  cens  mille  francs 

jKJur  batir  une  autre  maison neanmoins 

encore  a-t-il  fort  oblige  le  roi  son  maitre." 
— Boderie,  ii.  254. 

3  Winwood,  i.  41.  Boderie  valued  it  at 
one   hundred   thousand    crowns.     In  this 


court  he  disposed  of  the  marriages  of 
widows,  and  leased  out  the  lands  of  minors 
for  one-third  of  the  real  worth.— Aulica 
Coquin.  155. 

*  "  My  master  hath  laid  this  honour  npon 
me  without  suit  and  without  merit."— 
Sydney  Papers,  ii.  326.  But  Boderie  says 
it  was  procured  for  him  by  the  queen 
(iii.  302). 

5  Ibid.  iu.  248,  302.    Winwood,  ii.  399. 


56 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


his  countrymen  into  England;  and 
the  pretensions  of  the  Scottish  nobi- 
Uty  to  take  precedence  according  to 
the  antiquity  of  their  titles,  had 
alarmed  the  pride  of  many  among  the 
English  peers  who  belonged  to  new 
families,  the  descendants  of  men 
ennobled  since  the  E/Cformation.'  By 
the  English  parliament  the  king's 
proposal  was  received  with  coldness, 
by  the  Scottish  with  aversion;  nor 
could  the  prayer  of  James  obtain 
from  the  former,  nor  his  threats  ex- 
tort from  the  latter,  anything  more 
than  the  appointment  of  commis- 
sioners to  meet  and  deliberate  on  the 
question.  These,  after  several  con- 
ferences, agreed  that ,  all  hostile  laws 
between  the  two  kingdoms  ought  to 
be  repealed ;  that  the  border  courts 
and  customs  should  be  abolished;  that 
there  should  be  free  intercourse  of 
trade  throughout  the  king's  dominions, 
and  that  the  subjects  of  each  should 
be  naturalized  in  the  other."-^  Though 
these  propositions  did  not  equal  the 
expectations  of  James,  he  was  con- 
tent to  accept  them  as  a  foundation 
for  the  superstructure  which  he  me- 
ditated, and  therefore  assumed  by 
proclamation  the  new  style  of  King  of 
Great  Britain.^  When,  however,  they 
were  laid  before  the  parhament,  the 
two  first  only  were  adopted.  The 
king  addressed  the  Commons  by 
letter ;  he  harangued  them  in  person ; 
he  detailed  the  advantages  of  the  pro- 
posed measures;   he  answered  their 


objections;  he  assured  them  of  li 
equal  attachment  to  his  subjects 
each  nation,"*  But  his  eloquence  Wa 
poured  in  vain;  it  only  provokee 
angry  discussions,  in  which  his  owe 
conduct  was  not  spared,  and  th€ 
foulest  aspersions  were  thrown  on  tht 
national  character  of  his  country- 
men.^ Such  language  exasperated 
the  pride  of  the  Scots ;  they  scorned 
a  benefit  which  was  grudged  to  them 
by  the  jealousy  of  their  opponents: 
and  the  inflexible  hostility  of  the 
two  people  compelled  the  king  tc 
withdraw  his  favourite  question  from 
the  consideration  of  either  parliar 
ment.^ 

He  had,  however,  the  means  oi 
establishing  the  naturalization  of  all 
his  subjects  in  both  kingdoms  by  a 
decision  in  the  courts  of  law.  Dur- 
ing the  conferences  several  of  the 
judges  had  given  their  opinion  that 
all  persons  born  under  the  king's 
obedience  were  by  that  very  circum- 
stance naturalized  in  all  places  under 
his  dominion  at  the  time  of  their 
birth ;  a  doctrine  most  important  in 
its  consequences;  for,  though  it 
excluded  the  generation  in  existence 
at  his  accession,  yet  it  comprehended 
all  that  followed  it,  and  would  of 
course  confer  in  a  few  years  the  be- 
nefit of  naturalization  on  all  the 
natives  of  both  countries.  James  was 
careful  to  inculcate  this  doctrine  in 
the  proclamation  by  which  he  assumed 
his  new  title ;  and  it  was  supported 


3  Boderie,  i.  425,  440.    Winwood,  iii.  117. 

'■'  Winwood,  ii.  20,  38.  Jouruals  of  Com- 
mons, 318 — 323.  It  is  a  singular  circum- 
stance that  the  commissioners  held  these 
conferences  in  the  very  mansion  which 
Percy  had  hired  for  the  purpose  of  work- 
ing the  mine  under  the  parliament-house ; 
so  that  the  conspirators  were  for  several 
weeks  prevented  from  commencing  their 
work,  3  Bymer,  xvi.  603. 

♦  See  his  speeches  m  the  Journals,  314, 
357,  3fi6;  Somers's  Tracts,  ii.  118;  and  his 
letter  in  Lodge,  iii.  232.  The  chief  oppo- 
sition was  in  the  Commons  :  in  the  Lords  it 
had  been  confined  to  the  earls  of  Arundel, 
Pembroke,  and  Southampton,  and  the  lords 


Mounteagle  and  Burghley.  James  sent  for 
them,  reproached  them  with  ingratitude, 
and  dismissed  them,  after  they  had  pro- 
raised  on  their  knees  to  give  him  their 
votes  in  future. — Boderie,  ii.  200. 

*  For  a  speech  of  this  description  Sir 
Christopher  Pigott  was  dismissed  from  his 
place,  and  sent  to  the  Tower. — Journals, 
333,  335.  The  king  had  said  that  through 
afiection  for  the  English  he  dwelt  in  Eng- 
land :  one  of  the  members  observed,  that 
he  wished  he  would  show  his  affection  to 
the  Scots  by  going  to  reside  among  them, 
for  procul  a  numiue  procul  a  fuhuine. — 
Boderie,  ii.  223. 

6  Boderie,  ii.  142,  148,  303. 


I 


1608.] 


THE  KING'S  EXPENSES. 


67 


jy  ten  out  of  eleven  judges  wlio  were 
consulted  by  the  house  of  lords.  But 
:he  commons  refused  to  submit  to 
their  authority;  and,  to  bring  the 
question  to  an  issue,  two  suits,  one  in 
the  Chancery,  another  in  the  King's 
Bench,  were  instituted  in  the  name 
of  Robert  Calvin,  a  native  of  Scotland, 
born  since  the  death  of  Elizabeth.  It 
was  pleaded  in  aljatement  that  he  was 
an  alien ;  and  a  demurrer  to  the  plea 
brought  the  question  into  the  Exche- 
quer Chamber  for  the  solemn  opinion 
of  the  judges.  Two,  Walmesley  and 
Foster,  pronounced  against  Calvin; 
the  other  twelve,  with  the  lord  chan- 
cellor, in  his  favour.  The  right  of  the 
postnati  was  thus  established ;  though 
the  legahty  of  the  decision  remained 
still  a  question  among  the  most  emi- 
nent lawyers,  many  of  whom  con- 
tended that  the  opinion  of  the  judges 
had  been  influenced  by  the  wishes  of 
the  sovereign.' 

The  incorporation  of  the  two  king- 
doms, and  the  uniformity  of  religious 
worship,  were  the  only  two  questions 
on  which  the  king  distrusted  the 
judgment  of  his  favourite  minister. 
In  regard  to  the  first,  he  suspected 
him  of  national  prejudice;  to  the 
latter,  of  secret  puritanism.  On  all 
other  questions  of  importance  James 


consulted  [him  as  an  oracle,  and  was 
uniformly  governed  by  his  advice.- 
But  Cecil  found  that  his  cares  mul- 
tiplied with  his  honours,  and  that 
his  new  oflBce  of  treasurer,  if  it  in- 
vested him  with  wealth  and  patro- 
nage, also  surrounded  him  with  diffi- 
culties, which,  with  all  his  ingenuity, 
he  was  unable  to  surmount.  la 
Scotland  the  king  had  lived  in  po- 
verty, the  pensioner  of  Elizabeth; 
when  he  ascended  the  Enghsh  throne 
he  fancied  himself  in  possession  of 
riches  which  no  prodigality  could 
exhaust.  His  household,  and  those 
of  his  queen  and  children,  were  cal- 
culated on  the  most  extensive  scale ;  * 
his  entertainments  were  of  the  most 
costly  description;  and  his  presents 
to  his  Scottish  followers  and  to 
foreign  envoys,  to  those  who  claimed 
reward  for  their  services  or  had  the 
good  fortune  to  attract  his  favour, 
were  valuable  and  profuse  beyond 
precedent.^  He  was  not  to  be  de- 
terred by  remonstrance.  To  spend 
was  Us  province,  to  provide  money 
that  of  his  ministers.  The  treasury 
was  drained ;  privy  seals  and  forced 
loans,  the  usual  expedients  of  his 
predecessors,  produced  but  scanty  and 
occasional  supplies ;  and  so  great  was 
the  royal  poverty,  that  sometimes  the 


1  See  Moore's  report  of  the  proceedings 
in  parliament,  Coke's  report  of  Calvin's 
case,  and  the  speeches  of  Bacon  and  Elles- 
mere,  printed  in  the  second  volume  of 
How.ell's  State  Trials,  p.  559—696.  That 
the  dissentients  were  Foster  and  Wal- 
mesley, justices  of  the  court  of  Common 
Pleas,  is  plain  from  the  assertion  of  the 
chancellor  that  their  surnames  were  Thomas. 
There  waa  only  one  other  judge  of  that 
name,  Fleming,  who,  both  in  the  House  of 
Lords  and  in  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  gave 
his  voice  for  the  affirmative. 

2  Boderie,  ii.  356;  iii.  225,  302;  iv.  39. 

3  Even  the  household  of  Henry  and 
Elizabeth,  two  childen,  amounted  to  a 
hundred  and  forty-one  persons,  fifty-six 
above,  and  eighty-five  below  stairs. — Birch's 
Life  of  Prince  Henry,  p.  35.  Lodge,  iii. 
182,  254.  In  1610  that  of  the  prince  alone 
had  increased  to  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  individuals,  of  whom  two  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  were  in  the  receipt  of  salaries, 
besides  the  workmen  employed  under  Inigo 


Jones. — Archseol.  xii.  85. 

*  Lodge,  iii.  180.  Winwood,  ii.  43 ;  iii. 
117.  Thus,  for  example,  at  the  marriage  of 
Sir  Philip  Herbert  with  Lady  Susan  Vero, 
he  made  the  bridegroom  a  present  of  lands 
to  the  yearly  value,  as  some  say,  of  five 
hundred  pounds,  as  others,  of  one  thousand 
two  hundred  pounds.  At  the  marriage  of 
Ramsey,  Viscount  Haddington,  with  Lady 
Ehzabeth  Eatcliff,  he  paid  Ramsey's  debts, 
amounting  to  ten  thousand  pounds,  though 
he  had  already  given  him  one  thousand 
pounds  per  annum  in  land  (Winwood,  ii. 
217),  and  sent  to  the  bride  a  gold  cup,  in 
which  was  a  patent  containing  a  grant  of 
lands  of  six  hundred  pounds  a  year. — Lodge, 
iii.  254,  338.  Boderie,  iii.  129.  From  the 
abstract  of  his  revenue  I  find  that  his  pre- 
sents at  different  times  in  money  to  Lord 
Dunbar  amounted  to  fifteen  thousand  two 
hundred  and  sixty-two  pounds ;  to  the  earl 
of  Mar  to  fifteen  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds  ;  to  Viscount  Haddington  to  thii'ty- 
one  thousand  pounds. 


58 


JAMES  I. 


[chip,  d 


purveyors  refused  provisions  for  the 
king's  table ;  sometimes  the  treasurer 
was  surrounded  in  his  carriage  by 
the  inferior  officers  of  the  court,  cla- 
morously demanding  the  arrears  of 
their  salaries.' 

It  was  fortunate  for  Cecil  that  when 
he  took  his  seat  at  the  treasury  only 
a  portion  of  the  three  subsidies  voted 
in  the  last  parliament  had  found  its 
way  into  the  royal  coffers.  The  re- 
mainder, as  it  came  in,  was  by  his 
direction  put  aside  to  satisfy  the  king's 
creditors ;  to  it  were  added  several 
large  sums  raised  by  the  sale  of  lands 
belonging  to  the  crown;  and  in  the 
course  of  two  years  the  royal  debts 
were  reduced  from  thirteen  to  four 
hundred  thousand  pounds.  At  the 
same  time,  to  cover  the  annual  defi- 
ciency of  the  income,  he  had  recourse 
to  the  feudal  aid  of  twenty  shillings 
from  every  knight's  fee  towards  the 
knighthood  of  the  king's  son,  and  to 
the  imposition  of  additional  duties, 
by  the  sole  power  of  the  crown,  on 
almost  every  article  of  foreign  com- 
merce.2  The  legality  of  this  proceed- 
ing was  indeed  disputed  by  the  coun- 
try ;  but  the  court  of  Exchequer  gave 
judgment  in  favour  of  the  king,  in 
opposition  to  the  general  doctrine 
that,  according  to  law,  no  public 
money  could  be  raised  unless  by 
virtue  of  an  act  of  the  legislature.^ 

For  more  than  two  years  the 
parliament  had  been  successively 
prorogued,  through  the  unwillingness 


1  Boderie,  ii.  16,  413,  -427,  4U);  iii.  70, 
72,  1U3,  189.  Lodge,  iii.  172.  Molino's  re- 
port, MS. 

2  See  Boderie,  iii.  342,  421;  iv.  370. 
"Winwood,  iii.  123.  The  aid  of  twenty  shil- 
lings produced  only  twenty-one  thousand 
eight  hundred  pounds. — Abstract  of  his 
Majesty's  Revenue,  p.  10.  The  new  impo- 
sitions were  laid  at  the  rate  of  five  per 
cent,  on  the  value  of  the  goods,  and  were 
calculated  to  have  produced  five  hundred 
thousand  pounds  more  per  annum. — Bo- 
derie, iii.  342.  At  first  they  must  have  had 
a  contrary  eflfect,  if  it  be  true  that  "the 
customs  of  London  Ml  that  year  twenty- 
four  thousand  pounds,  and  fewer  ships 
arrived  by    three   hundred   and   sLrty."— 


of  James  to  meet  the  men  who  ha« 
presumed  to  question  his  prudence 
and  to  speak  irreverently  of  hi 
pleasures.  In  1610  his  obstinacy  wa 
compelled  to  yield  to  necessity ;  and 
though  he  declined  to  open  the  sessioi 
in  person,  he  consented,  in  order  t 
propitiate  the  Commons,  to  replac 
on  the  commission  of  the  peace  thosi 
members  whom  he*  had  previously 
removed  in  punishment  of  thai 
opposition  to  his  measures.  In  •■ 
conference  of  the  two  houses,  th' 
treasurer  ventured  to  explain  his  nev 
plan  of  finance.  In  the  first  place 
he  demanded  an  immediate  suppl: 
of  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  t< 
relieve  the  existing  wants  of  the  king 
and  secondly,  a  yearly  addition  o 
income  to  the  amount  of  two  hundrec 
thousand  pounds,  to  prevent  theL 
recurrence.  In  return,  he  exhortec 
them  to  make  known  their  grievances 
and  promised  that  the  liberality  o 
the  sovereign  to  his  people  should  b( 
commensurate  with  their  liberaUtj 
to  him.  The  proceedings  which  grev\ 
out  of  this  communication  will  provt 
interesting  to  those  who  study  thf 
constitution  of  their  country.* 

1.  Considerable  rivalry  had  lonf 
existed  between  the  courts  of  com- 
mon and  civil  law ;  the  latter  bitterlj 
complained  of  the  "  prohibitions ' 
issued  by  the  former ;  and  James,  ir 
his  attempts  to  silence  these  disputes 
could  not  conceal  his  predilection  ir 
favour  of  a  code  which  magnified  the 


Winwood,  iii.  155.  It  will  perhaps  appeal 
singular  to  the  reader  that  Cecil  himseL 
should  have  been  the  farmer  of  the  customs 
In  1604  he  had  taken  them  at  an  ad- 
vance of  twenty-eight  thousand  six  hun- 
dred pounds. 

3  In  the  court  of  Exchequer  judgment  was 
given  against  Bates.amerchant.who  had  paid 
the  legal  poundage  of  two  shillings  and  six- 
pence per  •hundred-weight  on  a  cargo  ol 
currants,  but  refused  to  pay  the  impost  oi 
five  shillings  in  addition. — The  speecher  "^ 
the  two  judges,  Clark  and  Fleming,  maj 
seen  in  Uowell's  State  Trials,  ii.  332— 3^* 

♦  Winwood,    iii.    123,    124.    Boderit 
189.    Journaia,  393. 


.D.  1610.1 


IMPOSITIONS  AND  GKIEYANCES. 


59 


1"  ower  and  the  rights  of  the  sovereign. 

^  L  law  dictionary,  entitled  "  The  In- 
erpreter,"  had  been  lately  published 
ly  Dr.  Cowel,  an  eminent  civiUan, 
,t  the  sohcitation,  it  was  supposed, 
)f  the  archbishop,  and  with  the  pri- 
rat«  approbation  of  James.  Under 
;he  heads  of  "king,  subsidy,  parha- 
nent,  and  prerogative,"  Cowel  had 
.aid  down  principles  subversive  Of 
fche  liberties  of  the  subject.  Trans- 
ferring to  the  king  of  England  all 
those  powers  which  had  been  exer- 
cised by  the  emperors  of  Eome,  the 
author  contended  that  he  was  not 
bound  by  the  laws  of  the  realm ;  that 
in  virtue  of  his  prerogative  he  could 
make  laws  without  the  consent  of 
parliament ;  and  that  if  the  two 
houses  were  summoned  to  concur 
in  the  grant  of  subsidies,  it  was  a 
mere  matter  of  favour,  not  of  right. 
The  Commons  were  alarmed ;  they 
claimed  the  aid  of  the  Lords  to  punish 
the  author  of  doctrines  so  new  and 
unconstitutional;  and  James,  unwil- 
ling to  provoke  those  whom  it  was  his 
interest  to  conciliate,  informed  both 
houses  by  message  that  having  sent 
for  the  author,  and  considered  his 
explanation  of  the  objectionable  pas- 
sages, he  had  determined  to  suppress 
the  work,  and  to  look  on  those  who 
should  defend  it  as  his  enemies. 
Cowel  expiated  his  offence  by  a 
short  imprisonment ;  the  sale  of  his 
book  was  forbidden  by  proclamation.' 
2.  A  motion  to  inquire  into  the 
legality  of  the  impositions  had  been 
made  and  entertained  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  James,  in  a  speech 
which  scandalized  the  saints  and 
alarmed  the  patriots,  read  them  a 
long  lecture  on  the  numerous  points 


in  which  kings  were  the  representa- 
tives and  the  images  of  God.  Like 
him  they  could  make  and  unmake, 
exalt  and  debase,  give  life  or  death; 
like  him  they  were  the  judges  of  all, 
but  accountable  to  none;  and  like 
him  they  claimed  both  the  affections 
of  the  souls  and  the  services  of  the 
bodies  of  their  subjects.  If  it  were 
blasphemy  to  deny  the  power  of  God, 
so  it  was  sedition  to  deny  the  power 
of  the  king.  Such  was  he  as  king  in 
the  abstract ;  but,  as  king  of  England, 
it  was,  and  always  would  be,  his  in- 
tention to  govern  according  to  the  law 
of  England.  He  was  always  ready 
"to  make  the  reason  appear  of  his 
doings,"  but  would  never  suffer  any 
question  to  be  made  of  his  power. 
He  therefore  forbade  them  to  dispute 
the  right  of  levying  impositions, 
though  if  they  thought  proper  they 
might  inquire  into  the  exercise  of 
that  right.=^  But  the  prohibition  was 
disregarded;  they  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  search  for  precedents,  and 
the  discussion  occupied  the  house 
during  the  remainder  of  the  session. 
In  favour  of  the  prerogative,  the 
crown  lawyers  appealed  to  the  "re- 
verence of  past  ages,  and  to  the  pos- 
session of  present  times ;"  they  main- 
tained that  the  practice  of  imposing 
duties  on  imports  and  exports  had 
been  in  full  vigour  during  the 
reigns  of  the  three  first  Edwards; 
and  that,  if  it  had  been  interrupted 
from  Eichard  II.  to  Mary  (an  inter- 
val of  two  centuries),  it  had  been 
renewed  by  that  princess,  and  con- 
tinued by  her  sister  Elizabeth.  It 
was  replied  that  none  of  the  more 
ancient  precedents  bore  any  resem- 
blance to  the  late  illegal  measure; 


1  Journals  of  Commons,  400,  409  j  of 
lords,  561,  563,    Coke's  Detection,  59. 

2  James's  Works,  529.  Journals  of  Lords, 
£97 ;  of  Commons,  430.  The  king's  speech 
gave  much  discontent.  He  strained  the 
prerogative  so  hif^h,  that  men  began  to  fear 
**  they  should  not  leave  to  their  successors 


that  freedom  they  received  from  their  fore- 
fathers, nor  make  account  of  any  thing 
they  had,  longer  than  they  listed  that 
governed." — Winwood,  iii.  175.  The  writer 
of  the  letter  hinted,  however,  that  the 
treasurer  would  maintain  his  doings,  know- 
ing that  though  men  storm  ever  80  much, 
yet  vanse  sine  viribus  irje. — Ibid. 


60 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


they  were  licenses  for  the  import 
or  export  of  forbidden  articles,  or 
attempts  to  raise  money  in  times  of 
necessity,  which  had  always  excited 
complaints,  and  had  generally  been 
followed  by  redress  ;  that  the  instance 
alluded  to  in  the  reign  of  Mary, 
though  illegal  in  itself,  was  reason- 
able in  its  motive,  as  it  proved  to  be 
no  more,  in  fact,  than  an  expedient 
to  defeat  an  evasion  of  the  duty 
fixed  by  the  law;'  and  that  to  raise 
money  by  the  sole  authority  of  the 
crown  was  contrary  to  Magna  Charta, 
to  the  statute  De  tallagio  non  con- 
cedendo,  and  to  twelve  other  parha- 
mentary  enactments.  It  is  evident 
that  the  opposition  members  had  the 
better  of  the  argument,  though  they 
had  to  contend  against  the  eloquence 
and  ingenuity  of  Sir  Francis  Bacon, 
the  solicitor-general.'-^ 

3.  To  exonerate  themselves  from 
the  feudal  burthens,  the  Commons 
demanded  the  abolition  of  purvey- 
ance, and  the  exchange  of  every  other 
Mnd  of  tenure  into  that  of  free  and 
common  soccage.  To  the  first  the 
king  made  no  objection;  but  he  ab- 
solutely refused,  as  dishonourable  to 
himself,  and  to  the  gentility  of  Eng- 
land, to  reduce  all  his  subjects,  "noble 
and  base,  rich  and  poor,  to  hold  their 
lands  in  the  same  ignoble  manner." 
It  was  at  length  resolved  that  the 
honours,  rents,  personal  services,  suits 
in  courts,  escheats  and  reliefs,  should 
remain,  while  wardships,   the   mar- 


'  The  exporters  of  wool,  to  evade  the 
high  duty,  manufactured  it  into  a  very 
coarse  kind  of  cloth,  which  paid  only  four 
bhilhnps  and  fourpence.  Mary,  as  a  com- 
pensation, raised  this  duty  to  five  shillings 
and  sixpence. 

=*  Winwood,  iii.  175.  See  Bacon's  argu- 
ment in  his  Works,  ii.  223 ;  the  answers 
of  Hakewell  and  Yelverton  in  Holwell,  ii. 
407-519;  Boderie,  v.  271,  355.  Salisbury, 
to  excuse  his  conduct,  alleged  the  example 
of  the  last  lord  treasurer,  the  assent  of  the 
merchants  which  he  had  obtained,  and  the 
judgment  of  the  barons  of  the  Exchequer. 
"  So  that  if  there  was  a  fault,  he  was  still 
rectus  ia  curia,"  —  Birch's  ^Negotiations, 
p.  330. 


riages  of  infants  and  widows,  anc 
other  onerous  and  oppressive  services 
should  be  done  away.  On  these  term: 
the  Lords  accepted  the  office  of  nego 
tiating  between  the  king  and  th( 
Commons.  James  gradually  reducec 
his  demand  from  three  hundred  thou 
sand  pounds  to  two  hundred  anc 
twenty  thousand  pounds  per  annum 
they  gradually  rose  from  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds  to  one  hundred  anc 
eighty  thousand  pounds.  The  dif 
ference  was  not  great ;  but  eacl 
party  refused  to  advance  another 
step,  till  the  threat  of  a  dissolutior 
prevailed  on  the  Commons  to  make 
a  last  offer  of  two  hundred  thousanc 
pounds,  which  was  gladly  accepted  bj 
Cecil,  as  the  fruit  of  his  address  anc 
perseverance.  Nothing  remained  bui 
to  assign  the  funds  from  which  thii 
new  revenue  was  to  be  raised;  bui 
the  session  had  been  protracted  ink 
the  midst  of  summer ;  it  was  agreec 
to  resume  the  subject  after  the  prO' 
rogation,  and  the  paltry  aid  of  one 
subsidy,  and  one  tenth  and  fifteenth 
was  granted  for  the  support  of  the 
royal  household  during  the  interval.' 
4.  Besides  these  great  objects  ol 
contention,  the  Commons  presentee 
several  petitions  for  the  redress  o; 
particular  grievances,  to  which  the 
king  replied  principally  at  the  end 
of  the  session.  Some  he  granted ;  tc 
others  he  promised  to  give  the  mosi 
serious  attention  ;  a  few  he  unequivo- 
cally refused.-*  Among  them  the  readei 


3  Journals  of  Commons,  410,  4iS,  451 ; 
of  Lords,  6tJ0,  862.  Winwood,  iii.  129,  131. 
145,  153,  155,  193,  201.  Lodge,  iii.  189.  A 
tenth  and  a  fifteenth  were  a  fixed  sum,  thirty- 
six  thousand  five  hundred  pounds ;  a  subsidj 
varied  in  amount.  In  the  beginning  ol 
Elizabeth's  reign  it  is  said  to  have  reached 
to  one  hundred  andtwenty  thousand  pounds: 
at  the  end  to  no  more  than  seveuty-eight 
thousand  pounds. — Journals,  449.  On  this 
occasion,  though  the  three  counties  of  North- 
umberland, Cumberland,  and  Westmore- 
land, were  rated  for  the  first  time,  it  raised 
only  sixty-nine  thousand  six  hundred  and 
sixty-six  pounds. — Abstract  of  his  JSiajestt"*" 
Hevenue,  p.  71. 

*  To  the  complaint  that  some  of 


>f  bis  S 

m 


IGIO.] 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS. 


61 


be  surprised  to  learn  that  there 
one   praying   that,  in   cases  of 
...ecution  for  capital  offences,  the 
risoner  might  be  allowed  to  bring 
)rward  witnesses  in  his  own  defence, 
ames  replied,  that  he  could  not  in 
Dnscience  grant  such  an  indulgence, 
t  would  encourage  and  multiply  per- 
iTj.    Men  were  already  accustomed 
0  forswear  themselves  even  in  civil 
ctions ;  what  less  could  be  expected. 
vhen  the  life  of  a  friend  was  at  stake  ? ' 
During  these  protracted  disputes 
here  was  one  subject  on  which  all 
)arties  were,  as  usual,  unanimous, — 
.he  persecution  of  the  Catholics,    At 
he  petition  of  the  two  houses,  James 
ssued  a  proclamation  against  priests 
md  Jesuits:  an  act  was  passed  praising 
jhe  ability  displayed  by  him  in  his 
X)ntroversy    with    Bellarmine,    and 
)rdering,  under  the  penalty  of  pre- 
3iunire,  that  all  persons  under  the 
ige  of  eighteen  should  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  framed  by  his  majesty, 
and,  "  for  the  reformation  of  married 
women,  popish  recusants,"  it  was  pro- 
vided that  they  should  be  committed 
to  prison,  and  remain  there  till  they 
would  receive  the  sacrament  in  the 
church,   unless  they  should   be  re- 


clamations tended  to  alter  the  law,  others 
to  inflict  punishment  before  trial,  Jatoes 
answered  that  he  would  revise  his  procla- 
mations, reform  them  where  cause  should 
be  found,  and  issue  none  which  were  not 
conformable  to  the  laws,  or  to  the  practice 
of  his  predecessors  in  cases  of  necessity. — 
Lords'  Journals,  659.  Somers's  Tracts,  ii. 
162.  In  consequence  the  judges  were  con- 
flulted  respecting  two  proclamations,  one 
prohibiting  new  buildings  in  and  about 
London,  the  other  the  making  of  starch 
from  wheat.  The  counsellors  urged  that 
every  precedent  must  have  a  beginning ; 
that,  if  there  were  no  precedent  for  such 
things,  it  was  time  to  make  one,  in  order 
to  support  the  royal  prerogative.  But  the 
judges  rephed  that  no  proclamation  could 
make  that  an  offence  which  was  not  one  be- 
fore, because  that  was  to  alter  the  law,  which 
could  only  be  done  by  act  of  parliament. 
Proclamations  were  useful  to  inform  the 
subjects  of  the  penalties  to  which  offenders 
were  hable  by  law,  but  they  could  effect 
nothing  more.— 12  Coke's  Reports,  74. 


deemed  by  their  husbands,  with  the 
payment  of  ten  pounds  per  month.' 
The  loss  of  the  journals  has  deprived 
us  of  the  particulars  of  the  next  ses- 
sion ;  but  we  know  that  the  Commons 
added  to  their  former  demands ;  that 
the  king  pertinaciously  adhered  to 
his  last  offer ;  and  that,  after  repeated 
threats,  he  prorogued  the  parliament 
for  nine  weeks.  This  interval  was 
employed  in  secret  intrigues  to 
weaken  the  ranks  of  the  opposition ; 
but  the  attempt  failed,  and  on  the 
appointed  day  the  parliament  was 
dissolved.'  To  Cecil  the  failure  of 
his  favourite  plan  proved  a  source 
of  the  most  bitter  vexation.*  He  had 
indeed  negotiated  treaties  with  the 
French  monarch  and  the  States- 
general,  both  of  which  powers  pro- 
mised to  pay  by  distant  instalments- 
their  debts  to  the  English  king. 
But  these  offered  at  present  no 
sufficient  resource.  The  treasury  was 
empty ;  the  officers  of  the  crown 
demanded  their  salaries ;  and  the  old 
expedients  were  repeated  of  offering 
a  portion  of  the  crown  lands  for  sale, 
and  of  sending  privy  seals  for  loans 
of  money  into  the  different  counties  ;* 
but  he  lived  not  to  see  the  effect  of 


1  Journal  of  Commons,  451 ;  of  Lords, 
658.     Winwood,  iii.  193.         2  gtat.  iv.  1162. 

2  Journals  of  Lords,  684,  635.  Winwood, 
iii.  12i,  235.     Boderie,  v.  492,  610, 

*  Much  praise  has  been  given  to  him  for 
his  disinterestedness  in  this  attempt,  as  he 
would  have  lost  his  lucrative  office  in  the 
Court  of  Wards — Winwood,  i.  41.  But, 
if  we  may  believe  Boderie,  an  indemnifica- 
tion for  himself  entered  into  his  plan ;  h& 
meant  to  demand  forty  thousand  potxnds  ia 
money,  and  two  hundred  pounds  a  year  in 
land.  —  Boderie,  App.  10,  vol.  v.  p.  189. 
On  the  17th  of  July  he  hinted  his  loss  to  the 
Commons ;  and  on  the  19th  Sir  Maurice 
Berkeley  moved  that  the  house  would  re- 
member the  honour,  the  dignity,  and  the 
profits  of  the  earl,  who  thus  surrendered  sa 
valuable  an  office. — Jouruals,  451,  452. 

5  Winwood,  iii.  235,  239, 301.  «'  The  privy 
seals  are  going  forth,  but  from  a  trembling 
hand,  least  that  sacred  seal  should  be  re- 
fused by  the  desperate  hardness  of  the  pre- 
judiced people." — Ibid.  309.  They  raised, 
however,  one  hundred  and  eleven  thousand 


62 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


these  measures ;  his  constitution  sunk 
under  the  depression  of  his  spirits;* 
the  waters  of  Bath  produced  no  alle- 
viation ;  and  he  expired  at  Marlbo- 
rough on  his  way  back  to  London,^ 

While  Cecil  had  laboured  in  vain 
to  supply  the  wants  of  the  treasury, 
the  king's  attention  had  been  occu- 
pied by  occurrences  within  the  circle 
of  his  own  family.  The  reader  is 
already  acquainted  with  his  cousin- 
german,  Arabella  Stuart.  Her  de- 
scent, hke  his  own,  from  Margaret, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  Henry  VII., 
had  formerly  taught  him  to  look 
upon  her  as  a  rival ;  and  a  suspicion 
haunted  his  mind  that  her  preten- 
sions, if  they  were  suffered  to  survive 
her,  might  prove  dangerous  to  his 
own  posterity.  He  treated  her  in- 
deed as  his  kinswoman,  granting  her 
a  pension  for  her  support,  and  allot- 
ting her  apartments  in  the  palace; 
but  at  the  same  time  he  secretly  con- 
demned her  in  his  own  breast  to  a 
state  of  perpetual  celibacy.  In  her 
childhood  she  had  been  acquainted 
with  "Wilham  Seymour,  son  to  Lord 
Beauchamp ;  their  friendship  as  they 
grew  up  ripened  into  a  more  tender 
passion ;  and  an  officious  courtier  re- 
vealed to  the  king  that  Seymour  had 
made  to  her  a  proposal  of  marriage. 
New  terrors  instantly  sprung  up  in 
the  royal  mind,  for  Seymour  had 
also  pretensions  to  the  crown,  being 
equally  descended  from  Henry  VII., 


and  forty-six  pounds,  which  was  not  repaid 
five  years  later. — Abstract,  p.  11.  There 
was  also  a  silTer-mine  in  Scotland,  which 
excited  great  expectations. — Boderie,  iii. 
128,  162,  189,  421.  It  produced  ore  to  the 
value  of  one  thousand  pounds,  which  in 
working  cost  three  thousand  and  fifty-nine 
pounds. — Abstract,  p.  10,  13. 

1  Winwdbd,  iii.  332.  "  What  is  worst  of 
all,  he  is  melancholy,  and  heavy- spirited ; 
so  it  is  on  all  hands  concluded  that  his 
lordship  must  shortly  leave  this  world,  or 
at  least  disburden  himself  of  a  great  part  of 
hia  affairs"   (338).     February  17. 

*  ••  Your  mHJesty  hath  lost  a  great  subject 
and  a  great  servant.  But,  if  I  should  praise 
him  in  propriety,  I  should  say  that  he  W8« 
a  more  fit  man  to  keep  things  from  getting 


through  Mary,  the  sister  of  Margaret. 
The  lovers  were  twice  summoned  be- 
fore the  council,  reprimanded  for  their 
presumption,  and  forbidden  on  their 
allegiance  to  marry  without  the  royal 
permission.^  They  submitted  till  the 
next  interview:  a  furtive  marriage 
took  place ;  and  Arabella,  when  she 
reflected  on  her  disobedience,  sought 
to  quiet  her  apprehensions  with  the 
recollection  of  a  promise  which  she 
had  recently  extorted  from  James, 
that  he  would  not  oppose  her  union 
with  any  nobleman,  provided  he  were 
one  of  his  own  subjects.  A  few  days 
dissipated  the  illusion.  He  was  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower — she  to  the  cus- 
tody of  Sir  Thomas  Parry,  at  Lam- 
beth.'* Their  fate,  however,  excited 
pity.  Stolen  intervicAvs  were  suffered 
by  the  negligence  or  the  connivance 
of  the  warders ;  and  the  king,  to 
insure  their  separation,  ordered  Ara- 
bella to  be  removed  to  the  city  of 
Durham.  She  refused  to  leave  her 
chamber ;  but  the  officers  carried  her 
in  her  bed  to  the  water-side,  placed 
her  in  a  boat,  and  conveyed  her  to 
the  opposite  bank.  She  had  reached 
Barnet,  when  James,  on  the  report 
of  his  own  physician,  relented,  and 
allowed  her  to  reside  a  month  at 
Highgate,  for  the  recovery  of  her 
he^th.  There  her  apparent  resigna- 
tion to  the  royal  will  deceived  all 
around  her ;  and  on  the  very  day  on 
which  the  bishop  of  Durham  departed 

worse,  but  no  very  fit  man  to  reduce  things 
to  be  much  better.  For  he  loved  to  have 
the  eyes  of  all  Israel  a  little  too  much  on 
himself,  and  to  have  all  business  still  under 
the  hammer,  and  like  clay  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter,  to  mould  it  as  he  thought  good, 
so  that  he  was  more  in  operatione  than  in 
opere." — B«con,  vi.  52. 

3  Winwood,  iii.  117, 119. 

*  Boderie,  v.  357.  Winwood,  iii.  201. 
Melville,  the  Scottish  minister,  who  had 
been  committed  for  a  sarcastic  epigram 
on  the  altar  in  the  royal  chapel,  welcomed 
Seymour  with  the  following  lines  : 

♦•  Communis  tecum  mihi  causa  est  car- 
ceris,  Ara- 
Bella    tibi    causa    est,    araque 
mihi." — Winwood,  ibid. 


ue    saM^j 


jLD.  1615.] 


DEATH  OF  AEABELLA  STUART. 


63 


to  provide  lodgings  for  his  distin- 
guished guest,  she  left  the  house  in 
male  attire,  rode  to  Blackwall,  and, 
descending  the  river,  was  taken  up 
by  a  French  bark  hired  for  the  pur- 
pose.' At  the  same  hour,  Seymour, 
disguised  as  a  physician,  passed  un- 
suspected through  the  western  gate 
of  the  Tower ;  a  boat  was  in  readiness 
to  convey  him  to  the  bark ;  but  the 
French  captain,  agitated  by  his  fears, 
refused  to  wait,  and,  in  opposition  to 
the  entreaties  of  Arabella,  proceeded 
out  to  sea ;  while  Seymour,  uncertain 
of  the  course  taken  by  his  wife,  pre- 
vailed on  a  collier,  for  the  sura  of  forty 
pounds,  to  land  him  on  the  coast  of 
Flanders.  The  intelligence  of  their 
escape  revived  and  confirmed  the  ap- 
prehensions of  James,  who  attributed 
it  to  some  deep  and  unknown  con- 
spiracy to  place  them  on  the  throne. 
But  in  the  course  of  the  day,  the 
French  bark,  which  lay  ofif  the  Nore, 
still  waiting  for  Seymour,  was  taken, 
aftx?r  a  short  action,  by  an  English 
cruiser,  and  the  unfortunate  Arabella 
was  consigned  to  the  Tower.    At  first 


1  "  Disguising  her  selfe  by  drawing  a  pair 
of  great  French-fashioned  hose  over  her 
petticoats,  putting  on  a  man's  doublet,  a 
man-Uke  perruque  with  long  locks  over 
her  hair,  a  blacke  hat,  black  cloake,  russet 
bootes  with  red  tops,  and  a  rapier  by  her 
syde,  walked  forth  between  three  and  four 
of  the  clock  with  Mr.  Markham.  After 
they  had  gone  on  foot  a  mile  and  a  halfe  to 
a  sorry  inne,  where  Crompton  attended 
with  their  horses,  she  grew  very  sicke  and 
fainte,  so  as  the  ostler  that  held  the  styr- 
rop  said  that  gentleman  would  hardly  hold 
out  to  London,  Yet  being  set  on  a  good 
gelding  astryde  in  an  unwonted  fashion,  the 
stirring  of  the  horse  brought  blood  enough 
into  her  face,  and  so  she  rid  on  towards 
BlackwaU."— Winwood,  iii.  279. 

2  Winwood,  iii.  442,  454.  Mr.  D'Israeli 
has  collected  much  interesting  information 
respecting  Arabella  in  his  new  series  of 
the  Curiosities  of  Literature,  i.  256—291. 
Elizabeth  Cavendish,  countess  of  Shrews- 
bury, aunt  to  Arabella,  was  at  the  same 
time  sent  to  the  Tower,  on  a  charge  of 
having  been  her  adviser.  The  latter,  in  the 
presence  of  the   council,    answered    every 

guestion  regarding  herself,  but  begged  to 
e  excused  saying  any  thing  to  the  pre- 


she  bore  her  fate  with  fortitude,  con- 
soling herself  with  the  recollection 
that  her  husband  was  safe;  but  to 
her  petition  for  liberty,  James  replied 
that  "As  she  had  tasted  the  forbidden 
fruit,  she  must  pay  the  forfeit  of  her 
disobedience."  After  some  time  the 
rigour  of  her  confinement  was  in- 
creased in  punishment  of  some  addi- 
tional offence ;  and  her  mind,  yielding 
to  despair,  betrayed  symptoms  of  de- 
rangement. In  the  fourth  year  of  her 
imprisonment  she  expired,  the  victim 
of  an  unfeeling  policy,  which,  to  guard 
against  an  uncertain  and  imaginary- 
danger,  scrupled  not  to  rob  a  female 
relative  of  her  liberty  and  life.*  She 
was  interred  privately  in  the  night 
at  Westminster,  in  the  same  vault 
to  which  the  remains  of  the  unfor- 
tunate Mary  queen  of  Scots  had  been 
removed. 

"While  the  king  thus  punished  the 
marriage  of  his  cousin  Arabella,  he  had 
been  busily  engaged  in  negotiating 
marriages  for  his  son  Henry  and  his 
daughter  Elizabeth.  Henry,  the  heir 
apparent,  had  reached  his  eighteenth 


judice  of  the  countess,  who  resolutely  refused 
to  answer  at  all.  She  had  made,  she  said, 
a  vow  not  to  reveal  any  of  the  particulars, 
and  demanded,  if  there  were  any  charge 
against  her,  to  be  tried  by  her  peers. 
James,  imitating  the  conduct  of  Elizabeth 
in  the  case  of  the  earl  of  Essex,  ordered  her 
to  appear  before  certain  commissioners, 
consisting  of  the  chancellor,  the  archbishop, 
several  lords  of  the  council,  and  four  of  the 
judges.  By  them  it  was  declared,  1.  that 
the  refusal  to  answer  questions  put  by  royal 
authority  was  a  high  contempt  of  the  king, 
whether  the  respondent  were  nobleman  or 
commoner :  2.  that,  as  they  formed  not  a 
court  of  justice,  they  had  no  authority  to 
judge,  but  only  to  admonish  the  countess 
of  the  oifence  and  of  its  consequences  :  and 
3.  that  the  offence,  if  the  cause  had  been, 
brought  before  the  Star-chamber,  would 
have  been  visited  with  a  fine  of  twenty  thou- 
sand pounds,  and  imprisonment  during 
pleasure.— Howell's  State  Trials,  ii.  770 — 
775.  On  this  occasion  Lord  Coke  num- 
bered, among  the  privileges  of  the  peerage, 
exemption  from  torture  in  cases  of  high 
treason. — Ibid.  773.  Lady  Shrewsbury  re- 
mained in  the  Tower  till  the  death  of  Ara- 
bella, when  she  was  discharged. — Truth 
brought  to  Light,  p.  70. 


C4 


JAMES  1. 


[CHAP.  II 


year.  There  existed  but  little  affec- 
tion between  hiin  and  his  father, 
James  looked  on  him  with  feelings 
of  jealousy  and  even  of  awe  ;  and  the 
young  prince,  faithful  to  the  lessons 
which  he  had  formerly  received  from 
his  mother,  openly  ridiculed  the  foi- 
bles of  his  father,  and  boasted  of  the 
conduct  which  he  would  pursue  when 
he  should  succeed  to  the  throne.  In 
the  dreams  of  his  fancy  he  was  already 
another  Henry  V.,  and  the  conqueror 
of  his  hereditary  kingdom  of'France.' 
To  those  who  were  discontented  with 
the  father,  the  abilities  and  the  vir- 
tues of  the  son  became  the  theme  of 
the  most  hyperbolical  praise:  the 
zealots  looked  on  him  as  the  destined 
reformer  of  the  English  church ;  some 
could  even  point  out  the  passage  in 
the  Apocalypse  which  reserved  for 
him  the  glorious  task  of  expelling 
antichrist  from  the  papal  chair.^  With 
the  several  matches  prepared  for  him 
by  his  father,  it  were  idle  to  detain 
the  reader;  his  marriage,  as  well  as 
his  temporal  and  spiritual  conquests, 
was  anticipated  by  an  untimely  death, 
■which  some  writers  have  attributed  to 
poison,  some  to  debauchery,  and  others, 
with  greater  probability,  to  his  own 
turbulence  and  obstinacy.  In  the 
pursuit  of  amusement  he  disregarded 
all  advice.  He  was  accustomed  to 
bathe  for  a  long  time  together  after 
supper,  to  expose  himself  to  the  most 
stormy  weather,  and  to  take  violent 
exercise  during  the  greatest  heats  of 
summer.  *In  the  spring  of  1612  a  con- 


i  Raumer,  ii.  205,  6,  9. 

2  Osborne,  264.  Harrington  tells  ns  that 
the  following  rhyme  waa  common  in  the 
mouths  of  the  people  : — 

"  Henry  the  eighth   pulled  down  the 
abbeys  and  cells. 
But  Henry  the  ninth  shall  pull  down 
bishops  and  bells." 

NugoB  Antiqua;,  ii.  3. 

3  Aulicus  Coquinariae,  239,  241  —  251. 
Hearne's  Otterbourne,  pref.  Somers's 
Tracts,  ii.  231—252.  "  Ex  fcbri  contumaci, 
guae  ubique  a  magnis  et  insulanis  fere  in- 
Bolitis    siccitatibus  ac  ferroribus  orta  per 


siderable  change  was  remarked  botl 
in  his  appearance  and  temper ;  hespen 
the  month  of  September  in  the  coun- 
try in  his  usual  manner,  hunting 
feasting,  and  playing  at  balloon  anc 
tennis,  and  on  his  return  to  Eicl 
mond,  found  himself  so  ill  that  tl 
court  physicians  were  consultea 
His  indisposition,  however,  increased 
and  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight  h( 
expired  to  the  great  sorrow  of  th( 
people,  who  in  their  conjectures  die 
not  spare  even  the  reputation  of  hL 
father.  From  the  journal  of  his  sick- 
ness, and  the  report  of  the  surgeon: 
who  opened  the  body,  it  is  evident 
that  he  died  of  a  malignant  fever.^ 

The  princess  Elizabeth  was  the  onlj 
survivor  of  four  daughters,  and,  aftei 
her  two  brothers,  the  next  heir  to  the 
throne.  She  had  many  suitors,  amonj: 
whom  the  most  distinguished  were  the 
young  king  of  Spain,  the  prince  o) 
Piedmont,  and  Frederic  count  palatine 
of  the  Rhine.  Of  these,  James,  al- 
lured by  the  splendour  of  the  alliance, 
preferred  the  first;  but  to  his  suil 
strong  opposition  was  made  both  by 
the  zealous  Protestants  in  England., 
and  by  the  papal  nuncio  in  Spain.  The 
former  trembled  lest  by  the  marriage 
the  right  to  the  succession  might 
eventually  fall  to  the  Spanish  kings ; 
the  latter  deprecated  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  Protestant  princess  into  a 
family  which  had  been  so  long  dis- 
tinguished by  its  attachment  to  the 
Cathohc  creed.*  Of  the  other  rivals, 
the  pretensions  might  in  many  re- 


aestatem  populariter  grassabatur,  scd  raro 
funere  :  dein  sub  autumno  erat  facta  letha- 
lior." — Bacon,  vi.  60. 

♦  The  objection  was  that,  though  the 
children  would  be  educated  in  the  faith  oi 
the  father,  it  was  very  possible  that  early 
impressions  received  from  the  mother  might 
induce  them  to  leave  it  at  a  later  period  of 
life.  —  SIS.  letter  in  my  possession.  This 
objection  seems  not  to  have  been  ground- 
less. Elizabeth's  brother,  Charles,  married 
a  Catholic  princess ;  and  his  two  sons, 
Charles  II.  and  James  II.,  though  educated 
Protestants,  both  became  Catholics  before 
their  death. 


I 


A.D.  1613.] 


MAEEIAGE  OF  THE  PKINCESS. 


6S 


spectsbe  considered  as  equal;  but  the 
profession  of  the  reformed  faith  by 
Prederic  gave  him  the  preponderance, 
and  as  soon  as  the  articles  of  the  mar- 
riage had  been  signed,  he  came  to 
England  to  receive  his  young  and 
beautiful  bride.  A  long  succession 
of  feasts  and  amusements  had  been 
prepared  to  celebrate  the  event ;  but 
the  unexpected  death  of  Prince  Henry 
threw  a  gloom  over  the  court;  and 
the  mourning  continued  for  twelve 
weeks.  At  Christmas,  James  ordered 
the  court  to  mourn  in  satin ;  two 
days  later,  the  parties  were  solemnly 
affianced  to  each  other  ;^  and  at  last 
on  Valentine's  day  the  marriage  cere- 
mony was  performed.^  Never  had 
the  EngUsh  court  appeared  in  such 
splendour.  The  king,  the  queen,  and 
the  prince,  were  covered  with  the 
jewels  belonging  to  the  crown ;  and  the 
nobility  (no  one  was  admitted  under 
the  rank  of  baron)  vied  with  each 
j  other  in  magnificence  of  dress.  Eli- 
zabeth, who  was  only  in  her  six- 
iteenth  year,  wore  a  white  robe  of 
j  silver  tissue,  with  a  coronet  of  gold 
1  on  her  head,  and  her  long  hair  flowed 
I  in  tresses  on  her  shoulders,  and 
!  reached  as  low  as  her  knees.  She 
was  conducted  by  her  bridemen,  the 
young  prince  her  brother  on  one 
hand,  and  the  aged  earl  of  Northamp- 
ton on  the  other;  and  was  followed 
by  twenty  bridemaids  of  her  own  age, 
dressed  in  white  and  embroidery,  and 


"  The  king  was  present,  brought  in  a 
chaire,  for  he  was  then  so  gowtie  he  could 
not  goe,  and  the  queene,  no  way  affecting 
the  match,  kept  her  chamber.  The  con- 
tract was  read  by  Sir  Tho.  Lake,  the  pals- 
grave, and  the  ladie  Eliz.  placed  in  the 
midst,  which  done,  my  lord  of  Cant,  gave 
them  a  long  and  large  benediction." — MS. 
Letter  of  Mr.  Lewkner. 

*  See  their  first  meeting  and  the  marriage 
in  Winwood,  iii.  403,  434,  435;  Somers's 
Tracts,  iii.  40 ;  Philoxenis,  p.  11 ;  Wilson, 
6i;  and  Balfour,  ii.  45.  Their  espousals  in 
Ellis,  iii.  110,  note.  To  defray  part  of  the 
expense,  the  king  levied  the  feudal  aid  of 
twenty  shillings  on  every  knight's  fee,  and 
on  every  twenty  pounds  of  lands  held  in 
7 


bearing  her  train.^  She  ascended 
the  platform  in  the  royal  chapel  with 
a  lightsome  foot  and  smiling  counte- 
nance; the  palatine  performed  his 
part  with  accuracy  and  gravity,  but 
the  princess,  whether  it  were  from 
joy  or  levity,  disturbed  the  solemnity 
of  the  scene  by  a  low  titter,  which 
soon  burst  into  a  loud  laugh.  The 
ceremony  was  concluded  with  public 
rejoicings ;  but  the  superstitious  con- 
sidered the  conduct  of  the  bride  as 
ominous  of  misfortune;  and  the 
disastrous  consequences  of  the  mar- 
riage were  afterwards  thought  to 
have  verified  their  anticipations.* 

From  the  king's  children  we  may 
pass  to  his  favourites.  From  the 
commencement  of  his  reign,  he  had 
surrounded  himself  with  several  of 
his  countrymen,  on  whom  his  par- 
tiality had  lavished  wealth,  and  offices, 
and  honours ;  but  among  them  there 
was  no  individual,  as  long  as  Salisbury 
lived,  who  seemed  to  possess  exclu- 
sively his  affection,  and  to  monopolize 
the  distibution  of  favours.  The  death 
of  that  powerful  minister  allowed 
James  to  follow  his  own  inclinations  ; 
he  first  selected  Eobert  Carr,  and 
afterwards  George  Villiers,  as  objects 
of  peculiar  attachment;  and  these, 
the  creatures  of  the  royal  caprice  and 
bounty,  soon  acquired  the  govern- 
ment of  the  king  himself,  and  through 
him  of  his  three  kingdoms. 

Carr  owed  his  brilhant  fortune  to 


soccage. — Eymer,  722,  735.  It  produced 
twenty  thousand  five  hundred  pounds. — 
Abstract  of  Eevenue,  p.  11.  The  total 
expense  amounted  to  fifty-three  thousand 
two  hundred  and  ninety -four  pounds,  exclu- 
sive of  her  portion  of  forty  thousand 
pounds. — Ibid.  p.  14. 

3  "The  king's  majestie  was  in  a  most 
sumptuous  black  sute,  the  queen  attired  in 
white  sattin." — Somers's  Tracts,  iii.  40. 

*  See  account  of  the  masks  and  balls  by 
Spifame  in  Eaumer,  ii.  227.  The  "fire- 
works  and  fight  of  ships  above  tho  bridge 
with  castles,  beacons,  and  blockades,"  and 
presents,  are  said,  in  a  letter  of  the  time, 
to  have  cost  an  immense  sum. — MS.  Letter. 
P 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  ir. 


accident.  At  a  tilting-match  the  lord 
Hay  had  appointed  him  his  equerry, 
to  present  his  shield,  according  to  cus- 
tom, to  the  king.  In  the  performance 
of  this  duty,  Carr  was  thrown  from 
his  horse,  and  broke  his  leg  in  the 
fall.  James  ordered  the  young  man 
to  be  carried  into  a  neighbouring 
apartment,  sent  a  surgeon  to  attend 
him,  and  repeatedly  visited  him  in 
person.  He  found  that  Carr,  when 
a  boy,  had  been  his  page  in  Scotland, 
and  was  of  the  family  of  Fernihirst, 
the  son  of  one  who  had  suffered  much 
in  the  cause  of  the  unfortunate  Mary 
Stuart.  The  plea  of  his  services  and 
those  of  his  father  was  aided  by  the 
beauty  of  his  person,'  and  the  ingen- 
uousness of  his  answers.  Pity  in- 
sensibly grew  into  affection;  James 
looked  on  his  patient  as  an  adopted 
child;  he  even  took  the  pains  to 
instruct  him  in  the  Latin  grammar ; 
and,  what  was  more  to  the  purpose, 
in  "the  craft  of  a  courtier." ^  After 
his  recovery  he  was  daily  distinguished 
with  marks  of  the  royal  favour; 
riches  and  honours  poured  upon  him ; 
the  lands  which  escheated  to  the 
crown,  and  the  presents  offered  by 
those  who  solicited  his  mediation  with 
the  sovereign,  gave  him  a  princely 
fortune;  and  he  was  successively 
raised  to  the  honours  of  Baron  Brance- 
peth,  Yiscount  Rochester,  and  knight 
of  the  Garter.  Still  he  affected  to 
take  no  part  in  the  conduct  of  affairs, 
till  the  earl  of  Salisbury  aied,  when 
several  important  offices  became  va- 
cant, and  the  hope  of  obtaining  them, 
or  the  places  of  those  who  might  ob- 
tain them,  filled  the  court  with  a 
multitude  of  candidates.     Of  these 


1  This  fellow  is  straight-limbed,  well- 
faToured,  stron^-shoaldered,  and  smooth- 
faced.—Nugse  Antiqusp,  i.  390. 

*  "  The  prince  leaneth  on  his  arm,  pinches 
his  cheek,  smoothes  his  rufiled  garments. 
The  young  man  doth  much  study  art  and 
device :  he  hath  changed  bis  tailors  and 
tiremen  many  times,  and  all  to  please  the 
prince.  The  king  teachelh  him  Latin  every 
morniog:,  and   I   think  aome   one   ahoold 


many  sought  the  protection  of  the 
two  Howards,  the  earl  of  Suffolk,  lord 
chamberlain  and  the  earl  of  North- 
ampton, lord  privy  seal ;  while  others 
professed  themselves  the  dependents 
of  the  young  favourite,  the  viscount 
Rochester.  The  court  was  agitated 
by  intrigue,  jealousy,  and  enmity;  and 
James,  for  more  than  a  year,  balanced 
between  the  two  parties,  seeking  in 
vain  to  reconcile  their  opposite  pre- 
tensions.^ It  was,  however,  a  fortu- 
nate time  for  Rochester,  who,  though 
he  held  no  official  situation,  trans- 
acted business  as  prime  minister  and 
principal  secretary.*  Unequal  to  the 
task  himself,  he  employed  the  aid  of 
Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  who,  from 
Carr's  first  introduction  to  the  king, 
had  been  his  guide  and  assistant. 
Overbury  was  an  able  and  artful 
counsellor,  but  violent,  capricious, 
and  presuming.  Though  he  had  been 
banished  from  the  court  for  an  insult 
offered  to  the  queen,  he  was  soon 
recalled  at  the  solicitation  of  Roches- 
ter; but  he  could  never  obtain  the 
good-will  of  the  monarch,  who  con- 
tinued to  look  on  him  as  a  rival  in 
the  affections  of  his  favourite,  and  the 
fomenter  of  the  factions  which  divided 
his  ministers.  By  the  public  he  was 
courted  on  account  of  his  influence 
with  his  patron :  valuable  presents 
were  given  to  secure  his  favour;  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  April 
he  boasted  to  Sir  Henry  Wotton 
of  his  good  fortune,  and  of  the 
flattering  prospects  which  lay  before 
him.  Yet  that  very  day,  before 
sunset  he  was  committed  a  close 
prisoner  to  the  Tower.*  The  occa- 
sion of  his  disgrace  was  the  unfor- 


teach  hira  English  ton  :  for  he  is  »  Scotol 
lad,  and  bath  much  need  of  better  lan- 
guage."— Ibid. 

3  "  These  offices  have  in  the  time  of  their 
emptyness  been  the  subject  of  notoriou 
opposition  between  our  great  viscount  a 
the    house    of   Suffolk."  —  Reliq.   Wottuu 
p.  408. 

♦  Birch,  Negotiations,  349,  350. 

5  Keliq.  Wotton,  40S  — 410.     Winwo 


1 


A.D.  1611.] 


IMPEISONMENT  OF  OYERBUEY. 


67 


tunate  passion  of  the  viscount  for  the 
lady  Frances  Howard,  the  daughter 
of  the  lord  chamberlain,  Suffolk.  At 
the  age  of  thirteen  she  had  been  mar- 
ried to  the  earl  of  Essex,  who  was 
only  a  year  older  than  herself.  Im- 
mediately after  the  ceremony,  the 
bridegroom  proceeded  to  the  uni- 
versity, and  thence  to  the  continent ; 
the  bride  was  consigned  to  the  care 
of  her  mother,  who  bestowed  more 
attention  on  the  ornamental  than  the 
moral  education  of  her  daughter.  The 
young  lady  Essex  became  the  boast  of 
the  court ;  and  her  wit,  her  beauty, 
and  her  acquirements,  raised  her 
above  competition :  but  when  her 
husband  returned,  she  received  him 
with  manifest  tokens  of  dislike,  and, 
if  she  occasionally  consented  to  live 
with  him  in  the  country,  it  was  always 
owing  to  the  peremptory  commands 
of  her  father.  The  meetings  between 
them  were  short :  he  complained  of 
the  coldness  of  his  wife;  she  spent 
her  time  in  tears  and  recriminations — 
till  at  last  these  dissensions  produced 
on  the  part  of  each  a  rooted  antipathy 
to  the  other.  At  court  she  had  many 
admirers,  among  whom  were  Prince 
Henry  and  Rochester.  But  the  latter 
was  the  favoured  lover ;  and  in  one  of 
their  furtive  meetings  it  was  proposed 
that  she  should  sue  for  a  divorce 
from  Essex,  and  afterwards  marry  the 
viscount.  Her  father  and  uncle  were 
led  by  political  motives  to  approve  of 
the  project ;  and  the  king,  who  could 
recollect  a  similar  proceeding  whilst 
he  reigned  in  Scotland,  hailed  it  as 
the  means  of  extinguishing  the  rivalry 
between  his  favourite  and  his  two 
ministers;  but  by  Overbury,  though 
he  had  hitherto  been  the  panderer 


to  their  pleasures,  it  was  decidedly 
and  violently  opposed.'  He  foresaw 
the  ruin  of  his  own  hopes  in  the 
reconcilation  of  his  patron  with  his 
enemies ;  he  objected  the  "  baseness 
of  the  woman,"  and  the  infamy  of 
such  a  marriage;  and  he  declared 
that  he  both  could  and  would  throw 
an  insuperable  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
their  union,^  Eochester  had  the 
weakness  to  betray  his  adviser,  and 
Frances,  in  her  fury,  offered  one  thou- 
sand pounds  to  Sir  John  Wood  to 
take  Overbury's  life  in  a  duel:  but 
her  friends  suggested  a  more  inno- 
cent expedient  to  remove  him  from 
court,  by  sending  him  on  an  embassy 
to  France  or  Eussia.  His  inclination 
was  first  sounded  by  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  then  an  order 
that  he  should  accept  the  mission  was 
brought  to  him  by  the  lord  chancellor 
and  the  earl  of  Pembroke.  He  re- 
fused, observing  that  the  king  could 
not  in  law  or  justice  exile  him  from 
his  country.  This  answer  was  pro- 
nounced a  contempt  of  the  royal 
authority,  and  the  delinquent  was 
committed,  with  the  consent  of  his 
patron,  to  the  custody  of  the  lieute- 
nant of  the  Tower .2 

Within  a  few  days  proceedings  for 
a  divorce  between  the  earl  and  the 
countess  of  Essex,  on  the  ground  of 
physical  incapacity,  were  instituted 
before  a  court  of  delegates  appointed 
by  the  king.  All  the  judicial  forms 
usual  on  such  occasions  were  care- 
fully observed ;  but  the  details  are  not 
fit  for  the  eye  of  the  general  reader. 
With  the  public  a  suspicion  existed 
that  both  the  parties  in  the  suit,  and 
the  judges  who  pronounced  in  their 
favour,  acted  in  opposition  to  the  dic- 


iii.  447.    State  Trials,  ii.  993.    Birch.  329, 
340.  '        ' 

^  "You  wonne  her,"  he  says,  "by  my 
letters."— Winwood,  iii.  479. 

f  This  was  repeatedly  asserted  at  the 
trials,  and  acknowledged  by  Rochester  him- 
aelf.    But  what  was  this  obstacle  ?    I  can- 


not conceive  that  he  could  prevent  the 
marriage  in  any  other  way  than  by  revealing 
the  secret  of  their  private  amours  for  the 
last  twelve  months,  and  the  real  object  of 
the  divorce. — See  his  letter  in  •'  Truth 
brought  to  Light,"  47. 

3  Winwood,  iii.  447, 453.   Wotton's  letters 
iu  his  Keliquiaa,  408,  411,  412. 
F  2 


JAMES  1. 


.CHAP.  ir. 


tates  of  their  consciences ;  and  it  was 
reproached  to  James,  that,  instead  of 
remaining  a  silent  spectator,  he  had 
spontaneously  come  forward,  and  ex- 
erted himself  in  the  progress  of  the 
cause  with  the  warmth  and  partiality 
of  an  advocate ;  an  indiscretion  which 
probably  was  prompted  by  affection 
to  his  favourite,  whose  gratitude  or 
poUcy  unexpectedly  relieved  the  im- 
mediate wants  of  his  sovereign  with 
a  present  of  twenty-five  thousand 
pounds.'  However  that  may  be,  the 
king  undertook  to  browbeat  the 
judges;  he  answered  their  argu- 
ments ;^  he  forbade  them  to  take 
additional  examinations ;  he  increased 
their  number;  and  at  last  procured 
a  decision  in  favour  of  the  divorce, 
by  a  majority  of  seven  to  five.^  Over- 
bury  hved  not  to  be  acquainted  with 
this  judgment.  On  the  preceding 
day  he  expired  after  a  confinement  of 
six  months ;  during  which  he  had  not 
been  permitted  to  see  his  friends, 
or  to  communicate  with  them  by 
letter.  The  time,  the  manner  of  his 
death,  the  reported  state  of  the  body, 
and  its  precipitate  interment,  pro- 
voked a  general  suspicion  that  he  had 
perished  by  poison. 

After  a  short  delay,  Frances  Howard 
was  married  in  the  royal  chapel  to 
her  lover,  who,  that  she  might  not 
lose  in  title  by  the  exchange,  had  been 
previously  created  earl  of  Somerset. 
At  the  ceremony  she  had  the  boldness 


1  "  We  being  at  a  dead  lift,  and  at  our 
wits  end  for  want  of  money,  he  sent  for 
some  officers  of  the  receit,  and  delivering 
them  the  key  of  the  chest,  bid  them  take 
what  they  found  there  for  the  king's  use ; 
which  they  say  was  four  or  five  and  twenty 
thousand  pounds  iu  gold." — Winwood,  iii. 
453. 

*  "  If  a  judge  should  have  a  prejudice  in 
respect  of  persons,  it  should  become  you 
rather  to  have  a  kind  of  implicit  faith  in 
my  judgment,  as  well  in  respect  of  some 
Bull  I  have  in  divinity,  as  also  that  I 
hope  no  honest  man  douots  the  uprightness 
of  my  conscience ;  and  the  best  thankfulness 
that  you,  that  are  so  fur  my  creature,  can 
use  towards  me,  is,  to  reverence  and  follow 
zny  judgment,  and  not  to  contradict  it  ex- 


to  appear  with  her  hair  hanging  in 
curls  to  her  waist,  the  appropriate 
distinction  of  a  virgin  bride :  the  king 
and  the  chief  of  the  nobility  honoured 
the  nuptials  with  their  presence,  and 
a  long  succession  of  feasts  and  masks, 
in  which  the  city  strove  to  equal,  if 
not  to  outshine,  the  court,  attested 
the  servility  of  the  men,  who,  to  in- 
gratiate themselves  with  the  royal 
favourite,  could  make  pubhc  re- 
joicings in  celebration  of  a  marriage 
which  in  private  they  stigmatized  as 
adulterous  and  illegal.* 

This  event  sealed  the  treaty  of 
union  which  had  been  negotiated 
between  Somerset  and  his  opponents, 
and  extinguished  the  feuds  which 
had  so  long  distracted  the  royal 
councils.  There  remained  but  one 
source  of  sohcitude,  thatwhich haunted 
the  king  till  his  death,— the  want  of 
money.  The  failure  of  every  tempo- 
rary expedient  proved  that  the  real 
remedy  was  to  be  sought  in  the 
benevolence  of  the  nation ;  but  James 
had  already  suffered  so  many  defeats 
in  parliament,  his  nerves  were  so 
agitated  at  the  idea  of  a  new  contest, 
that,  to  overcome  his  repugnance,  his 
advisers  "undertook  "  (from  the  word 
they  acquired  the  name  of  Under- 
takers) to  secure  a  decided  majority 
in  favour  of  the  court.  In  former 
reigns  it  had  been  found  sufficient  for 
this  purpose,  if  the  chancellor  made 
known  the  wishes  of  the  prince  to  the 


cept  where  you  may  demonstrate  unto  me 
that  I  am  mistaken,  or  wrong  informeci." — 
King's  letter  to  Archbishop  Abbot.  State 
Trials,  ii.  862. 

'  See  the  proceedings  with  a  long  ac- 
count of  the  whole  by  Archbishop  Abbot,  in 
Howell,  ii.  785—862.  That  prelate  con- 
sidered it  a  case  of  witchcraft,  and  recom- 
mended to  the  parties  a  course  of  prayer, 
alms,  and  fasting.  Most  of  the  judges  who 
favoured  the  nmlity  were  rewarded  by  the 
king,  but  severely  censured  by  the  public. 
The  son  of  Bilson,  the  bishop  of  Win- 
chester, was  knighted  in  consequence,  and 
was  always  afterwards  known  by  the  name 
of  Sir  Nullity  Bilson.— Ibid.  829. 

*  Wilson,  72.    Baumur,  ii.  232. 


i..D  1614.] 


NEW  PARLIAMENT. 


sheriff:  in  the  present,  all  the  in- 
fluence of  the  crown,  and  of  the  ser- 
vants of  the  crown,  was  employed; 
and  the  result  demonstrated  that 
there  existed  among  the  people  a 
spirit  decidedly  hostile  to  the  pre- 
vailing system  of  government.  The 
king  opened  the  session  with  a  con- 
ciliatory speech,  which  he  followed  up 
with  a  request  for  pecuniary  aid,  and 
an  offer  to  redress  a  multitude  of 
minor  grievances,  enumerated  in  the 
petitions  of  the  last  parliament. 
But  little  attention  was  paid  to  the 
royal  message.  1.  The  house  re- 
sounded with  complaints  of  the  arro- 
gance of  the  Undertakers,  who  had 
interfered  with  the  liberty  of  election, 
and  had  violated  the  privileges  of  the 
Commons.  The  validity  of  several 
returns  was  debated :  a  question  was 
even  raised,  whether  the  attorney- 
general.  Sir  Francis  Bacon  (he  had 
succeeded  Sir  Edward  Coke,  on  the 
elevation  of  the  latter  to  the  bench, 
in  1613),  could  legally  sit  in  the 
house ;  and,  if  he  was  ultimately  per- 
mitted to  retain  his  seat  for  the  pre- 
sent session,  it  was  only  on  account  of 
some  pretended  necessity  of  state,  and 
with  an  understanding  that  the  in- 
dulgence should  not  be  extended  to 
his  successors  in  ofi&ce.*  2.  Instead  of 
passing  to  the  consideration  of  the 
supply,  the  Commons  devoted  their 
time  to  the  questions  which  had 
already  given  so  much  offence,  the 
claim  of  the  king  to  levy  "impo- 
sitions,"   and    grant  monopolies.    3. 


1  On  searching  for  precedents,  it  was 
admitted  that  members  of  that  house  had 
been  made  attorneys  to  the  king,  vrithout 
vacating  their  seats;  but  no  instance  had 
occurred  in  which  a  person  actually  in- 
vested with  the  office  had  been  returned  a 
member. 

2  Lords'  Journals,  713.  According  to  the 
present  practice,  one  house  is  supposed  to 
be  ignorant  of  what  passes  in  the  other; 
but  the  lords,  instead  of  vindicating  their 
privilege,  merely  hinted  at  it  in  their 
answer :  that  they  had  given  contentment 
to  the  Commons  for  the  better  expediting 
of  his  majesty's  business;  but  " that  here- 


Some  expressions,  attributed  to  the 
bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  the  higher 
house,  set  the  lower  in  a  ferment. 
He  was  reported  to  have  said,  that  to 
dispute  the  right  of  imposition  Avas  to 
lay  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  prero- 
gative ;  and  to  have  hinted  his  appre- 
hensions that,  in  a  projected  con- 
ference, words  might  be  used  of  an 
inflammatory  and  seditious  tendency. 
The  Commons  called  on  the  Lords  to 
punish  the  man  who  had  thus  slan- 
dered their  loyalty,  and  received  for 
answer,  that  the  bishop  had  dis- 
claimed, with  tears  and  protestations, 
all  intention  of  offending  that  house, 
for  which  he  entertained  the  highest 
respect.^ 

This  explanation  did  not  satisfy 
his  enemies;  but  the  patience  of 
James  was  exhausted ;  he  commanded 
the  Commons  to  proceed  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  supply,  and  punished 
their  disobedience  by  a  hasty  dissolu- 
tion. The  next  morning  the  most 
violent  and  refractory  of  the  members 
were  called  before  the  council ;  they 
were  told,  that,  though  the  king  had 
given  them  liberty,  he  had  not  au- 
thorised licentiousness  of  speech ;  and 
five  of  the  number  were  committed 
to  the  Tower.  Neither  could  they 
obtain  their  discharge  before  they 
had  revealed  the  names  of  their 
prompters  and  advisers,  who,  in  their 
turn,  were  called  before  the  council 
and  imprisoned.  In  the  quaint  lan- 
guage of  the  time  this  was  called  the 
Addle  parliament.^ 


after  no  member  of  their  house  ought  to 
be  called  in  question,  when  there  is  no 
other  ground  but  public  and  common  fame." 
-Ibid. 

3  There  were,  1.  Sir  Walter  Chute,  "who, 
to  get  the  opinion  of  a  bold  man  after  he 
had  lost  that  of  a  wise,  fell  one  morning 
into  an  insipid  and  unseasonable  declama- 
tion against  the  times."  2.  John  Hoskins, 
who  "  is  in  for  more  wit,  and  for  licentious- 
ness baptised  freedom.''  3.  Wentworth,  a 
lawyer,  "  whose  fault  was,  the  application 
of  certain  texts  in  Ezekiel  and  Daniel  to 
the  matter  of  impositions;"  and  4.  Chris- 
topher Nevil,  "a  young  gentleman  fresh 


70 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


The  death  of  the  earl  of  North- 
ampton, which  followed  in  the  course 
of  a  week,  occasioned  a  new  distribu- 
tion of  offices  at  court.  Suffolk  was 
made  lord  treasurer;  Somerset  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  office  of  chamber- 
lain, acting  at  the  same  time,  but 
without  any  patent  of  appointment, 
as  lord  privy  seal ;  and  every  inferior 
department  which  was  not  filled  by 
their  relatives  or  dependants,  was  sold 
without  scruple  to  the  highest  bidder.' 
Their  great  solicitude  was  to  discharge 
the  interest,  and  to  prevent  the  in- 
crease of  the  king's  debts ;  and,  with 
this  view,  besides  the  temporary  ex- 
pedients so  often  before  adopted,  they 
had  recourse  to  a  benevolence,  which 
was  at  first  confined  to  persons  in 
office,  but  afterwards  required  from 
others.2  James  himself  suggested 
another  measure,  a  reduction  of  the 
expenses  of  his  household,  to  which 
his  ministers  consented,  but  with  con- 
siderable reluctance,  fearing  probably, 
what  they  afterwards  experienced, 
that  all  who  should  suffer  from  the 
new  system  of  economy  would  hasten 
to  join  the  ranks  of  their  pohtical 
opponents. 

In  the  sale  of  offices,  that  of  cup- 
bearer had  fallen  to  George  Villiers,  a 
younger  son  of  Sir  Edward  Villiers,  of 
Brookesby,  in  Leicestershire.  He 
was  tall  and  well-proportioned ;  his 
features  bespoke  activity  of  mind  and 


from  the  school,  who,  having  gathered 
together  divers  Latine  sentences  against 
kings,  bound  them  up  in  a  long  speech." — 
Reliquiae  Wottoniante,  433.  This  was  the 
first  parliament  in  which  the  Commons,  to 
exclude  Catholics,  made  an  order  that  every 
member  should  puhhcly  receive  the  sacra- 
ment before  he  took  his  seat. — Journals, 
467. 

1  Thus  Lord  Knollys  waa  made  master 
of  the  Court  of  Wards  without  purchase, 
because  he  had  married  a  daughter  of  Lord 
SuflFolk,  while  Sir  Fulk  Greville,  for  the 
chancellorship  of  the  exchequer,  gave  four 
thousand  pounds  to  Lady  Suffolk  and  Lady 
Somerset. — iiirch,  Negotiations,  3H0. 

2  The  benevolence  produced  fifty-two 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  nine  pounds. 
— Abstract  of  his  Majesty's  Kevenue,  p.  12. 


gentleness  of  disposition ;  and  a  short 
residence  in  the  court  of  France  had 
imparted  to  his  manners  that  polisi 
which  James  had  sufficient  taste 
approve  in  others  though  he  coul 
not  acquire  it  himself.  The  new 
cupbearer  immediately  attracted  the 
notice  of  his  sovereign;  his  answers 
to  different  questions  improved  the 
favourable  impression  made  by  his 
external  appearance ;  and  the  warmth 
with  which  the  king  spoke  in  his 
commendation,  suggested  to  the  earls 
of  Bedford,  Pembroke,  and  Hertford, 
the  idea  of  setting  him  up  as  a  rival 
to  Somerset.  The  resolution  was 
taken  at  a  great  political  entertain- 
ment given  at  Baynard's  Castle  ;^  and 
Archbishop  Abbot  was  employed  to 
solicit  the  co-operation  of  the  queen. 
After  many  refusals  she  consented, 
though  her  reply  proved  her  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  character  of 
her  husband :— "  My  lord,  you  know 
not  what  you  desire.  If  Villiers 
gain  the  royal  favour,  we  shall  all  be 
sufferers.  I  shall  not  be  spared  more 
than  others.  The  king  will  t^ach 
him  to  treat  us  all  with  pride  and 
contempt."''  On  St.  George's  feast 
the  cupbearer  was  sworn  a  gentleman 
of  the  privy  chamber,  with  a  yearly 
salary  of  one  thousand  pounds ;  and 
the  next  day,  while  he  was  employed 
in  the  duties  of  his  new  office,  he  re- 
ceived the  honour  of  knighthood. 


1^ 

Id^' 


Mr.  Oliver  St.  John  had  declared  in  a  letter 
that  benevolences  were  against  law,  reason, 
and  rehgion,  and  was  in  consequence  fined 
five  thousand  pounds  in  the  Star-chamber. 
—State  Trials,  ii.  899.  His  doctrine  was 
admitted  in  respect  of  benevolences  ex- 
torted by  threats  or  violence,  but  not  of 
such  as  were  voluntary.  Were  they  ever 
voluntary  ?  s  Aul.  Coq.  261. 

♦  Abbot,  who  himself  tells  the  anecdote, 
observes  that  the  king  "would  never  admit 
any  to  nearness  about  himself,  but  such  as 
the  queen  should  commend  to  him,  that  if 
she  should  complain  afterwards  of  the  dear 
one,  he  might  make  answer,  it  is  long  of 
yourself,  for  you  commended  him  unto  me. 
Our  old  master  took  delight  strangely  in 
things  of  this  nature." — Bushworth,  i.  ^146. 


A.D.  1615.]       INQUIRY  INTO  OVERBUEY'S  PEATH. 


71 


Erom  that  moment  the  influence  of 
Somerset  declined.  The  court  was 
divided  into  two  parties,  anxiously 
bent  on  the  depression  of  each  other, 
and  all  who  had  envied  the  prosperity, 
or  had  suffered  from  the  ascendancy 
of  the  favourite,  attached  themselves 
to  the  rising  fortunes  of  his  compe- 
titor.* The  suspicion  that  Overbury 
had  met  his  death  by  poison  had  been 
kept  alive  by  successive  rumours;  it 
had  even  been  whispered  that  the 
murder  might  be  traced,  through  the 
inferior  agents,  to  Somerset  and  his 
countess ;  and  an  opening  to  the  dis- 
covery was  made  by  an  incautious 
avowal  of  Elwes,  the  lieutenant  of  the 
Tower,  to  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury. 
Secretary  AYinwood,  at  the  instigation 
of  the  archbishop,  and  under  a  pro- 
mise of  protection  from  the  queen, 
ventured  to  communicate  the  circum- 
stance to  James,  who  proposed  cer- 
tain questions  to  Elwes  in  writing, 
and,  from  his  answers,  learned  suffi- 
cient to  doubt  the  innocence,  not  only 
of  Lady  Somerset,  but  also  of  his 
favourite.  Partly  through  a  sense  of 
justice,  and  partly  through  the  fear  of 
infamy,  he  despatched  an  order  to  Sir 
Edward  Coke,  the  lord  chief  justice, 
to  make  out  a  warrant  for  the  com- 
mitment of  the  earl.  Still  he  kept 
him  in  ignorance  of  his  approaching 
fate ;  he  admitted  him  into  his  com- 
pany as  usual ;  and  was  found  by  the 
messenger  at  Eoyston,  embracing  the 
neck,  and  kissing  the  cheeks  of 
Somerset.  That  nobleman  com- 
plained of  his  arrest  in  the  royal 
presence,  as  of  an  insult,  but  was 
silenced  by  the  ominous  exclamation 
of  James.  "  Nay,  man,  if  Coke  sends 


for  me,  I  must  go;"  to  which  was 
added  another  as  soon  as  his  back  was 
turned,  "  The  deil  go  with  thee,  for  I 
will  never  see  thy  face  mair."  In  a 
short  time  Coke  arrived,  to  whom 
James  committed  the  investigation  of 
the  matter,  concluding  with  this  im- 
precation, "  May  God's  curse  be  upon 
you  and  yours,  if  you  spare  any  of 
them;  and  on  me  and  mine,  if  I 
pardon  any."  * 

Coke  executed  the  task  with  more 
than  ordinary  zeal,  stimulated,  per- 
haps, by  the  fear  of  incurring  the 
suspicion  of  partiality,  on  account  of 
his  previous  obligations  to  Somerset. 
After  three  hundred  examinations, 
he  presented  a  report  to  the  king, 
stating  that  Frances,  countess  of 
Essex,  had  been  in  the  habit  of  em- 
ploying sorcery  to  estrange  the  affec- 
tions of  her  husband,  and  to  win 
those  of  Rochester;  that  to  remove 
Overbury,  the  great  impediment  to 
the  projected  marriage  of  the  lovers, 
a  plan  was  concerted  between  them 
and  the  earl  of  Northampton ;  that, 
by  their  joint  contrivance,  Overbury 
was  committed  to  the  Tower,  Wade 
the  lieutenant  removed  to  make  place 
for  Elwes,  and  Weston  recommended 
as  warder  of  the  prisoner;  that  the 
countess  having,  with  the  aid  of  Mrs. 
Turner,  procured  three  kinds  of 
poison  from  Franklin,  an  apothecary, 
intrusted  them  to  the  care  of  Weston; 
that  by  him  they  were  administered 
to  Overbury,  with  the  privacy  of 
Elwes;  and  that  at  last  the  unfor- 
tunate gentleman  perished  in  prison, 
a  victim  to  the  malice  or  the  precau- 
tion of  Rochester  and  his  mistress.^ 

In    this    story  nothing    appeared 


1  Birch,  383,  384. 

2  There  are  several  accounts  of  the  part- 
ing of  James  and  Somerset.  I  have  followed 
that  given  by  Roger  Coke  in  his  Detection. 
—  See  Weldon,  100;  Secret  History  of 
James,  i.  409,  ii.  223,  223;  Howell's  State 
Trials,  ii.  965. 

3  Bacon,  iv,  470.     Keliq.  Wotton.   427. 


It  is  said  that  Coke  having  obtained  pos- 
session of  the  pocket-book  of  Forman,  the 
conjurer,  whom  the  countess  of  Essex  and 
other  court  ladies  used  to  consult,  found  in 
the  first  page  the  name  of  his  own  wife. — 
Weldon,  iii.  There  is  in  a  tract,  entitled 
"  Truth  brought  to  Light,''  p.  7 — 70,  a  long 
account  of  this  affair,  but  so  blended  with 
error,  that  it  deserveB  no  credit. 


-2 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


■wanting  but  a  more  satisfactory  cause 
for  the  murder  of  Overbury.  To 
discover  this  was  no  diflBcult  task  to 
Sir  Edward  Coke,  who  prided  himself 
on  the  facihtywith  which  he  could 
detect  what  was  invisible  to  all  others. 
In  a  letter  from  Overbury  he  found 
mention  of  the  secrets  of  Somerset ; 
these  he  contended  must  be  seditious 
or  treasonable  practices;  and  with 
the  aid  of  a  few  conjectures  he  boldly 
charged  the  earl  with  the  murder  of 
Prince  Henry.'  The  queen  imme- 
diately caught,  or  perhaps  pretended 
to  have  caught,  the  alarm.  She  had 
no  doubt,  she  asserted,  that  a  plan  had 
been  proposed  to  poison  her,  her  son 
Charles,  and  the  prince  palatine,  for 
the  purpose  of  marrying  the  princess 
Ehzabeth  to  Thomas,  the  son  of  the 
earl  of  Suffolk,  and  brother  to  the 
countess.-  But  James  did  not  suffer 
himself  to  be  misled  by  the  terrors  of 
his  wife,  or  the  suspicions  of  the  chief 
justice;  the  only  charge  to  which  he 
gave  countenance  was  that  the  earl 
had  received  money  from  Spain,  and 
had  promised  in  return  to  deliver 
Charles,  the  heir  apparent,  into  the 
hands  of  the  Spanish  monarch.^ 

The  minor  criminals,  "Weston, 
Turner,  Eranklin,  and  Elwes,  were 
first  brought  to  the  bar.  That  they 
had  been  accessory  to  the  murder 
seems  plain  from  the  report  of  their 


1  This  letter  has  been  published  from 
the  original. — Winwood,  iii.  478.  There  is 
no  reason  to  conclude  from  it  that  the 
secrets  were  of  importance  to  the  public. 
Overbury  says  nothing  of  revealing  them  to 
the  government,  but  that  he  had  written  a 
history  of  the  whole  acquaintance  between 
him  and  Somerset,  from  which  his  friends, 
to  whom  he  should  send  copies,  might  be 
convinced  of  the  earl's  ingratitude. 

2  The  French  ambassador,  in  his  des- 
patch of  Dec.  22,  apud  Carte,  iv.  33. 

3  Bacon,  iv.  90. 

*  Sir  J.  HoUis,  Sir  J.  Wentworth.  Sir 
Thomas  Vavasour,  Sir  Ilenry  Vane,  and 
Mr.  Sackville  rode  up  to  the  gallows,  and 
called  on  Weston  to  confess  the  fact,  if  ho 
were  guilty.  '•  Fact  or  no  fact,"  he  replied, 
"I  die  worthily."     The    gentlemen    were 


trials;  yet  many  at  the  time  attr 
buted  their  conviction  toa  conspirai 
against  Somerset,  and  ihis  opinio: 
derived  confirmation  from  the  ambi- 
guous language  of  some  of  the  suffer- 
ers at  the  place  of  execution.*  Sir 
Thomas  Monson  was  next  arraigned ; 
he  had  recommended  Weston  to  be  the 
warder  of  Overbury,  and  was  exhorted 
by  Coke  to  confess  his  guilt,  and  throw 
himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  king. 
But  he  rejected  the  suggestion  with 
scorn,  and  to  the  surprise  of  the 
public  was  taken  from  the  bar  to  the 
Tower,  but  in  a  short  time  recovered 
his  liberty,^ 

The  remaining  trials  were  deferred 
till  the  arrival  of  Digby,  the  ambas- 
sador at  the  court  of  Spain,  to  whom 
orders  had  been  transmitted  to  repair 
to  England;  but  from  him  nothing 
could  be  learnt  to  impeach  the  loyalty 
of  Somerset.*'  The  affection  of  James 
began  to  revive.  His  reputation 
required  that  he  should  bring  his 
ancient  favourite  to  trial;  but  he 
proposed  to  save  him  from  punish- 
ment by  withdrawing  him  from  the 
bar  as  soon  as  the  verdict  should  be 
returned ;  and  when  he  was  informed 
that  according  to  law,  judgment  must 
follow,  he  announced  his  determi- 
nation to  grant  him  a  pardon,  and 
with  this  view  forbade  the  attorney- 
general  to  exaggerate  the  offence,  that 


charged  in  the  Star-chamber  with  an  at- 
tempt "  to  slander  the  king's  justice  ;  "  and 
Hollis  and  Wentworth  were  condemned  to 
suffer  a  year's  imprisonment,  and  to  pajr  a 
fine  of  one  thousand  pounds. — Bacon,  iv. 
4.47.  Weston  suffered  en  Oct.  23,  Turner 
on  Nov.  9,  Elwes  on  Nov.  16,  and  Franklin 
on  Dec.  9. 

5  Wilson  says,  that  on  this  occasion  Coke's 
wings  were  dipt,  and  Monson  set  at  liberty 
because  the  chief  justice  alluded  to  the 
death  of  Prince  Henry.— Wilson,  702. 
Coke's  wings,  as  the  reader  will  see,  were 
cHpt  for  another  cause,  and  Monson  was 
reserved  till  Digby's  return  home  from 
Spain  to  be  examined  about  the  Spanish 
treason.  Had  he  been  previouslv  convicted, 
his  confession  on  that  head  could  not  have 
been  admitted  as  evidence. 

0  Bacon,  vi.  89,  90.    Birch,  392. 


.D.  1616.1 


CONDUCT  OP  SOMEESET. 


le  prisoner  might  not  appear  iin- 
orthy  of  mercy.  The  earl  -^as 
jpeatedly  advised  to  confess  himself 
ailty,  and  assured  that  the  king 
ould  grant  him  his  life  and  fortune. 
Life  and  fortune "  he  indignantly 
jpUed, "  are  not  worth  the  acceptance, 
hen  honour  is  gone." '  To  escape 
le  disgrace  of  a  trial,  he  earnestly 
jhcited  admission  to  the  royal  pre- 
;nce,  or  at  least  to  be  permitted  to 
rite  a  private  letter  to  the  king, 
rhen  this  was  refused,  he  assumed  a 
alder  tone,  and  endeavoured  to  work 
a  the  fears  of  James,  by  declaring 
lat  at  the  bar  he  would  take  ample 
engeance  on  the  prince,  who  had 
etrayed  him  into  the  power  of  his 
aemies.  As  the  day  approached,  he 
jserted  that  he  would  not  leave  his 
lamber ;  he  feigned  sickness  or 
isanity;  and  made,  or  pretended  to 
lake,  like  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh,  an 
btempt  on  his  own  life.  But  the 
ing  was  inexorable ;  he  commanded 
le  lieutenant  of  the  Tower  to  em- 
loy  force,  if  it  were  necessary,  and  to 
iform  his  prisoner  that  if  he  indulged 
1  irreverent  language  with  respect 
)   the  sovereign,  he  would  be   re- 


moved from  the  bar  without  any  stay 
of  the  proceedings  on  account  of  his 
absence.  Hence  it  has  been  inferred 
that  Somerset  was  in  possession  of 
some  important  secret,  the  disclosure 
of  which  would  inflict  indelible  dis- 
grace on  the  king.  To  me  this  con- 
clusion appears  questionable.  No 
man  was  better  acquainted  with  the 
royal  disposition  than  the  fallen  favou- 
rite ;  his  obstinacy,  his  menaces,  and 
his  despair,  were  probably  meant  as 
appeals,  sometimes  to  the  timidity, 
sometimes  to  the  feeUngs  of  James ; 
and  to  the  partial  success  of  these 
appeals  may  be  attributed  the  soli- 
citude of  the  king  to  procure  his  con- 
viction without  rendering  him  unde- 
serving of  pardon. 

By  the  exhortations  of  Whiting, 
the  minister  who  had  attended  the 
other  prisoners,  the  countess  had  been 
induced  to  confess  the  murder.  She 
was  therefore  separately  arraigned 
before  the  peers.  She  looked  pale, 
trembled  while  the  clerk  read  the 
indictment,  and  at  the  name  of 
Weston,  covered  her  face  with  her 
fan.  As  soon  as  she  had  pleaded 
guilty,  Bacon,  the  attorney-general, 


1  See  the  artifices  employed  to  draw 
omerset  to  a  confession,  and  the  king's 
ish  on  that  head,  in  Bacon,  \i.  101 ; 
abala,  33—38,  53;  Howell's  State  Trials, 
.962;  Archaeologia,  XTiii.  355.  Many  writers 
ave  attributed  the  anxiety  of  James  to  his 
nowledge  that  Somerset  was  in  possession 
f  some  portentous  secret,  which  he  might 
se  provoked  to  reveal  to  the  ruin  of  the 
jyal  character.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it 
rose  from  affection ,  The  following  extracts 
•cm  the  king's  letters  to  Sir  George  More, 
eatenant  of  the  Tower,  are  highly  interest- 
«g.  "  God  knoweis  it  is  only  a  trikke  of 
is  ydle  braine,  hoaping  thairby  to  shifte 
is  trvall,  but  is  easie  to  bee  seene,  that 
e  wolde  threattin  me,  with  laying  an  as- 
ersion  upon  me  of  being  in  some  sorte 

ocessorie  to   his  cryme if  be  wolde 

'ritte  or  sende  me  any  message  concerning 
bis  poysoning,  it  needis  not  be  private; 
:'  it  be  of  any  other  bussienesse,  that 
tiilcke  I  can  not  now  with  honor  ressave 
rivatUe,  I  may  do  it  after  his  tryall,  and 
erve  the  turne  as  well;  for  excepte  ather 
is  tryall,  or  confession  prsecede,  I  can  not 
eare  a  private  message  from  him  without 
ijing  an  aspersion  upon  my  selfe  of  being 


an  accessorie  to  his  cryme." — Archteol.  355. 
On  the  9th  of  May,  James  sent,  in  great 
secrecy,  Somerset's  former  secretary  with 
such  proposals  that  "  if  thaire  be  a  sponke 
of  grace  lefte  in  him,  I  hoape  thaye  shaU 
worke   a  goode  effecte."  —  Ibid.   356.    On 
the  13th  he  ordered  the  lieutenant  to  repeat 
the  offer,  with  a  promise  that  it  should  be 
enlarged.    "I  meane  not,''  adds  the  king, 
"  that  he  shall  confesse  if  he  be  innocent, 
but  ye  knowe  how  evill  lyklie  that  is......... 

lett  none  living  knowe  of  this :  and  if  it 
take  goode  effecte,  move  him  to  sende  m 
haiste  for  the  commissioners  to  give  thaime 
satisfaction,  but  if  he  remaine  obstinate,  I 
desyre  not  that  ye  shoulde  trouble  me  with 
an  ansoure,  for  it  is  to  no  ende,  and  no 
newis  is  better  than  evill  newis." — Ibid.  356, 
357.  On  the  day  preceding  the  trial,  when 
Somerset  appeared  furious,  the  king  sent 
Lord  Hay  and  Sir  Kobert  Carr  to  him,  and 
ordered  the  lieutenant,  if  Somerset  should 
still  refuse  to  go  to  the  bar,  to  do  his  duty. 
He  concludes  thus,  "  if  he  have  saide  any 
thing  of  moment  to  the  lord  Haye  I  expecte 
to  heare  of  it  with  all  speede.if  otherwayes, 
lette  me  not  be  trublit  with  it  till  the  ti^rall 
be  past." — Ibid.  358. 


74 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


stated  to  the  court  the  evidence  which 
he  should  have  produced,  had  he 
found  it  necessary ;  but  he  had  pre- 
viously the  precaution  to  remove  her 
from  the  bar,  that  she  might  not  in- 
terrupt him  to  maintain  the  innocence 
of  her  husband.  At  the  conclusion  of 
his  si^eech  she  was  recalled,  and  re- 
ceived judgment  of  death.' 

Though  Bacon,  by  this  artifice,  had 
prepared  the  court  to  believe  the 
guilt  of  Somerset,  he  looked  forward 
with  anxiety  to  the  result ;  for  it  was, 
he  observed  to  the  king,  a  different 
thing  to  obtain  a  verdict  from  a  Lon- 
don jury  and  to  convince  the  house 
of  Lords,  The  earl,  contrary  to 
expectation,  appeared  at  the  bar  cool 
and  collected ;  he  never  mentioned  the 
king,  but  he  rejected  every  exhorta- 
tion to  confess,  haughtily  maintaining 
his  innocence,  objecting  to  the  rele- 
vancy of  the  evidence,  and  explaining 
away  circumstances  which  seemed  to 
make  against  him.  After  a  long  trial 
the  peers  found  him  guilty ;  but  by 
many  this  judgment  was  attributed 
more  to  the  power  of  his  enemies 
than  to  the  cogency  of  the  proofs.* 
TViihin  a  few  days  the  countess  re- 
ceived a  pardon ;  the  same  favour  was 
refused  by  the  earl ;  he  was,  he  said, 
an  innocent  and  injured  man,  and 
would  accept  of  nothing  less  than  a 
reversal  of  the  judgment.    But  some 


1  Bacon,  iv.  465;  vi.  103.  Stat©  Trials, 
ii.  951—961.    Carleton'B  Letters,  29. 

'  In  a  letter  to  James,  Somerset  pretends 
that  if  he  could  have  had  access  to  the 
king,  his  crime  would  have  proved  no  crime, 
»nd  that  he  fell,  rather  for  want  of  well  de- 
fending, than  by  the  violence  or  force  of 
any  proofs  ;  for  he  forsook  himself  and  his 
cause.— Cabala,  221.  On  the  envelope  of 
the  king's  letters  to  Sir  G.  More  was  this 
among  other  things.  "  I  have  often  taulked 
vith  Mr.  James,  his  chyfe servant,  whoever 
wase  of  opinion  yt.  my  lord  was  clere,  and 
my  ladie  only  guiltie;  for  one  time  Mrs. 
Toumour  tolde  him  that  litell  did  my  lord 
Imowe  what  she  had  adventured  for  his 
Isdye.  But  the  truth  is,  king  James  wase 
wearre  of  him.  Bnckinghame  bad  supplied 
his  place."— Loseley  MSS.  406,  note. 


years  later,  aware  of  the  malice  of  i 
adversaries,  and  of  the  alienation 
the  prince,  he  sought  that  which 
had  before  rejected,  and  received  w: 
it  a  promise  of  the  restoration  of  : 
property.  Within  four  months,  ho 
ever,  James  died ;  and  Somerset  s( 
cited,  but  in  vain,  the  fulfilment 
the  promise  from  the  pity  or  t 
equity  of  his  successor.  The  count 
died  in  1632;  the  earl  survived  1 
thirteen  years.^* 

The  fall  of  Somerset  was  followed 
the  disgrace  of  the  man  whose  indus 
had  detected  the  murder  of  Ov 
bury,  —  the   celebrated   lawyer, 
Edward  Coke.   In  professional  knc 
ledge  Coke  stood  pre-eminent ;  but 
notions  were  confined  and  illibei 
his  temper  arrogant  and  unfeeli 
He  was  always  ready  to  exalt  the  p 
rogative  at  the  expense  of  popu 
rights;    and   in    state   prosecuti( 
hunted   down    his  victim  with   ' 
eagerness   and   the   sagacity  o! 
bloodhound,   sparing    neither    i. 
nor  falsehood  to  insure  a  convicti 
He  had  crept  slowly  and  cautiou 
through    the    several    gradations 
office,  till  James  advanced  him  to 
chief  seat,  first  in  the  court  of  C< 
mon  Pleas,  and  next  in  that  of 
King's  Bench.    Previously  his  o^ 
had  been  marked  by  the  most  a' 
serviUty ;  but  from  the  momeni 


5  It  is  but  justice  to  Somerset  to  add  \ 
he  says  of  his  own  services  in  a  petitio 
Charles ;  that  during  the  three  years 
was  in  power,  he  opposed  all  suits 
honours  and  reversions  of  offices,  lest 
king  and  his  successors  should  have  noti 
left  to  give  in  reward  to  their  servants  ; 
he  found  a  resolution  taken  after  the  d< 
of  Salisbury  to  disafforest  all  the  royal  p 
and  forests,  and  to  sell  all  the  crown  la 
reserving  only  an  increase  of  rent ;  this 
he  prevented  ;  that  he  never  would  ret 
of  the  king  any  gift  of  crown  lands,  or 
toms  J  and  whatever  he  did  receive, 
such  as  either  took  nothing  from  the  k 
or  brought  with  it  an  increase  to  the 
venue ;  and  that  he  made  himself 
enemies  by  opposing  both  the 
the  ministers  for  the  advantage 
crown.— Archeeologia,  ivii.  288. 


imself  J^J 
!  Buito^Hl 
itage   SI 


1624] 


DISGRACE  OF  COKE 


75 


saw  himself  graced  vdth  the 
line,  the  sycophant  assumed  a 
a  of  independence  and  authority 
ch  surprised  the  king  and  pro- 
ed  the  hostility  of  his  rivals  and 
als.  The  demise  or  resignation  of 
•d  EUesmere,  the  chancellor,  was 
y  expected,  and  Coke  looked  for- 
•d  to  that  high  office  as  due  to 
iself ;  but  his  pretensions  exposed 
1  to  the  malicious  insinuations  of 
3on,  who  also  aspired  to  the  great 
i ;  and  a  secret  compact  seems  to 
■e  existed  between  James  and  his 
jrney-general  to  precipitate  the 
mfall  of  the  chief  justice.    Coke 

some  time  had  acted  as  if  he 
>ught  that  all  other  tribunals  were 
)ordinate  to  his  own.  The  judges 
:he  Admiralty  and  the  High  Com- 
ision  court,  of  the  court  of  Requests 
1  the  duchy  of  Lancaster,  even  the 
isidents  of  the  provincial  councils 
the  North  and  of  Wales,  com- 
ined  that  their  jurisdiction  was 
aded  and  impaired  by  the  prohi- 
ions  which  he  issued  from  the 
ng's  Bench.  The  court  of  Chancery 
iuitors,  counsel,  solicitors,  and  j  udges 
ivas  thrown  into  commotion  by  his 
reat  that  he  would  visit  with  the 
aalties  of  premunire  all  who  sought 


He  founded  tis  opinion  on  the  language 
;  the  spirit  of  the  statute,  which  forbade 
ises  to  be  carried  from  the  king's  courts 
"other  courts."  These  last  words  meant 
5  spiritual  courts ;  but  Coke  included 
o  courts  of  equity  as  distinguished  from 
)3e  of  law. — Bacon,  vi.  84.  Cabala,  31, 
"  Many  principal  men,  who  have  their 
pendence  in  the  court  of  Chancery,  have 
en  indicted  in  the  King's  Bench  of  a  pre- 
mire." — Carleton's  Letters,  45. 

'-  Peacham  had  written  a  defamatory  ser- 
m,  which  was  never  preached,  but  found 
his  study,  complaining  of  the  king's  ei- 
nses  of  keeping  "  divided  courts "  for 
nself,  his  queen,  and  his  son,  of  his  gifts 
r  dances  and  banquets,  of  the  costliness 
his  dress,  of  the  frauds  of  his  officers,  &c. 
lestions  were  framed  to  discover  his  mo- 
es  and  advisers,  and  answers  were  re- 
ired  from  the  old  man  (he  was  above  sixty 
ars  of  age)  "  before  torture,  in  torture, 
tween  torture,  and  after  torture,  by  the 
press  command  of  the  king." — DaJxymple, 


and  all  who  granted  relief  in  equity 
after  judgment  had  been  pronounced 
in  the  King's  Bench  ; '  and  the  court 
of  Star-chamber  itself  began  to  trem- 
ble for  its  claims  when  its  power  to 
levy  damages  was  denied  by  so  high 
an  authority. 

But  there  were  other  causes  of 
offence  which  sunk  more  deeply  into 
the  king's  breast.  In  the  council  he 
opposed  legal  objections  to  almost 
every  intended  exercise  of  the  pre- 
rogative ;  and  in  the  cases  of  Peacham 
and  Owen  had  not  only  dissented 
from  his  colleagues  but  had  even 
opposed  the  infallible  judgment  of 
James  himself.-  His  opinion  that 
the  late  benevolence  was  illegal, 
though  he  was  afterwards  obliged 
to  retract  it  on  his  knees,  and  to  give 
a  contrary  decision  in  the  Star- 
chamber,  had  induced  numbers  to 
withhold  their  money,  and  in  a  case 
of  commendam  he  had  presumed  to 
proceed  with  the  cause  in  defiance  of 
the  royal  prohibition.  By  James  his 
conduct  on  these  occasions  was  felt  as 
a  personal  injury,  and  Bacon  was  care- 
ful to  represent  it  as  proceeding  from 
a  wish  to  gain  popularity  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  prerogative. 

The  archbishop,  the  chancellor,  and 


i.  56 — 58.  James  was  so  incensed,  that  he 
maintained  the  offence  to  be  high  treason 
(ibid.  61)  ;  while  Coke  said  that  it  might  be 
defamation,  but  not  treason,  because  it  did 
not  amount  to  disabling  the  royal  title.  He 
was  tried  and  condemned  in  Somersetshire, 
August  7,  1615,  and  died  in  prison  in  the 
following  spring. — Bacon,  v.  336  ;  vi.  78,  87. 
State  Trials,  ii.  870—879.  Owen's  crime 
was  the  assertion  that  princes  excommu- 
nicated by  the  pope  might  be  put  to  death. 
Owen  pleaded  that  this  was  no  treason, 
because  James  had  not  been  excommuni- 
cated, and  therefore  the  words  could  not 
apply  to  him.  In  opposition  both  to  the 
king  and  to  the  other  judges.  Coke  main- 
tained that  the  answer  was  good.  At  last, 
though  with  reluctance,  the  chief  justice  in 
some  sort  recanted,  by  admitting  that  he 
was  in  error  to  suppose  that  the  king  had 
not  been  excommunicated ;  he  now  be- 
lieved that  he  had,  and  that  of  course 
Owen's  words  were  treasonable. — Bacon, 
iv.  M);  v.  351;  yi.  80,  87.  State  Trials, 
j  ii.  879—883. 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


the  attorney-general,  were  commis- 
sioned to  collect  for  the  royal  informa- 
tion all  the  offences  of  the  chief  justice, 
and  he  received  an  order  to  abstain  in 
the  interval  from  the  council-chamber, 
and,  instead  of  going  the  circuit,  to 
spend  his  time  in  correcting  the  errors 
and  innovations  contained  in  his  book 
of  reports.  James,  however,  declared 
that  he  meant  to  show  him  favour, 
if  he  would  humble  himself  and  con- 
fess his  delinquency;  but  when  his 
answer  was  received,  that  he  had 
discovered  but  five  unimportant  mis- 
takes, the  king,  attributing  it  to  pride 
and  obstinacy,  forbade  him,  in  punish- 
ment of  "his  deceit,  contempt,  and 
slander  of  government,"  to  take  his 
seat  on  the  bench,  and,  a  month  later, 
substituted  Montague,  the  recorder  of 
London,  in  his  place.* 

This  event  gave  new  confidence  to 
the  ambition  of  Bacon.  He  had  freed 
himself  from  his  great  rival,  and  had 
earned  the  esteem  of  the  sovereign  by 
his  fearless  advocacy  of  the  preroga- 
tive. Still  EUesmere,  though  his  age 
and  infirmities  admonished  him  to 
retire,  clung  with  the  most  vexatious 
pertinacity  to  the  emoluments  of 
ofiice;  and,  by  repeatedly  recovering 
vrhen  he  was  thought  on  the  point 
of  death,  exercised  and  irritated  the 
patience  of  the  attorney-general. 
That  officer,  however,  steadily  pur- 
sued his  course,  till  he  obtained  the 
reward  of  his  serviUty.  He  laboured 
to  secure  the  good  services  of  the  new 
favourite,  pretended  on  all  occasions 
the  most  sincere  affection  for  the 
lord  chancellor,  now  created  Viscount 
Brackley,  and  on  every  relapse  of  the 
infirm  old  man,  reminded  James  of 
his  own  merits  and  pretensions.  At 
length  Brackley  felt  the  approach  of 
that  hour  which  within  a  fortnight 
closed  his  mortal  existence;  he  sent 


1  Bacon,  vi.  122—129,  397—410.  Carle- 
ton's  Letters,  75, 

*  Bacon's  patent  was  dated  on  tho  30th  of 
March,  and  on  the  28th  of  May,  John,  the 


to  the  king  his  resignation;  andi 
seals  were  confided  to  Bacon,  w 
the  title  of  lord  keeper,  a  suffici( 
pledge  that  if  he  continued  to  g 
satisfaction  he  would  shortly  be  ; 
vanced  to  the  dignity  to  which  he  1 
so  long  and  so  ardently  aspired." 

Hitherto  in  this  chapter  the  atfe 
tion  of  the  reader  has  been  confii 
to  the  domestic  occurrences  from 
year  1606  to  1617 ;  the  remainder  t 
be  distributed  under  three  hea' 
1.  The  king's  transactions  with  fore 
powers;  2.  His  attempts  to  establ 
episcopacy  in  his  native  kingdo 
and  3.  His  plans  for  the  governm 
and  colonization  of  Ireland. 

I.  In  1607  the  eyes  of  all 
European  nations  were  fixed  on 
negotiation  at  the  Hague.  Afte 
contest  of  forty  years,  both  the  k 
of  Spain  and  the  United  Provin 
had  grown  weary  of  hostilities.  Ph 
had  learned  to  doubt  the  result 
an  attempt  which  originally  appea 
of  easy  execution.  He  even  fea 
that  the  partial  success  which  ] 
lately  thrown  a  lustre  on  his  ai 
might  lead  to  a  consummation  wh 
he  dreaded ;  and  that  his  revol 
subjects,  rather  than  submit  to 
rule  of  their  ancient  masters,  wo 
throw  themselves  at  the  feet  of 
rival,  the  king  of  Prance.  On 
part  of  the  Hollanders,  the  n 
moderate  and  most  able  statesn 
equally  longed  for  peace,  provii 
peace  were  coupled  with  the  reco§ 
tion  of  their  independence.  It  ^ 
indeed  true  that  they  had  hithe 
been  able  to  maintain  the  coni 
against  their  formidable  autagon: 
but  they  knew  that  if  they  had  : 
fallen  in  so  long  and  arduous  a  str 
gle,  it  was  owing  not  to  their  o 
strength,  but  to  the  support  wh 
they  had  received  from  England  i 


son  of  tho  chancellor,  who  died  on  the  3 
of  March,  was  created  earl  of  Bridgewa 
in  consequence  of  a  promise  made  to  Bn 
ley  when  he  resigned. 


J 


1617.] 


TRANSACTIONS  ^"ITH  HOLLAND. 


77 


ace.    Now,  however,  on  the  king 

ngland,  unwilling  from  the  timidity 

is  temper  to  draw  the  sword,  un- 

from  his  poverty  to  supply  their 

ts,  no  reliance  could  be  placed; 

accident  or  policy  might  at  any 

aent  deprive  them  of  the  king  of 

nee,  who  though  he  had  proved  a 

aful,  was  well  known  to  be  an 

;rested,  friend.    In  this  temper  of 

d  the  offer  of  an  armistice,  pre- 

itory  to  a  treaty,  had  been  grate- 

y  accepted  by  the  States :  the  king 

5pain  and  the  archduke  agreed  to 

sider  them  during  the  conferences 

m  independent  government;  and 

b  the  French  king,  afterwards  the 

glish,  sent  their  respective  envoys 

ict  the  part  of  mediators  between 

adverse  powers.    The  progress  of 

'5  important  negotiation  is  foreign 

in  the  plan  of  the  present  history ; 

ivill  be  sufficient  to  observe  that 

3r  many  debates   the   hope  of  a 

■manent  peace  vanished ;  that  in  its 

ce  a  long  truce  was  suggested ;  and 

.t  at  last,  partly  through  the  en- 

aties,  partly  through  the  firmness 

the  mediating  powers,  a  cessation 

hostiUties  was  concluded  for  the 

ice  of  twelve  years. 

Much  occurred   during   the  con- 

ences  to  prove  how  low  the  king 

England  was  sunk  in  the  estima- 

n  of  his  contemporaries.    It  was 

lieved  that  he  had  not  the  spirit 

engage  in  war,  and  that,  however 

rcibly  he  might  advise  the  States 

persevere,  he  would  infallibly  aban- 


'  See  Birch,  Negotiations,  267—296.  Win- 
od,  torn.  i.  ii.  passim.  Jeannin,  torn.  i.  ii. 
xierie,  torn.  i.  ii,  iii.  iv.  passim.  It  may 
observed  that  sach  was  the  general 
^otry  at  this  period,  that,  though  the  king 
Spain  offered  a  most  valuable  eonsidera- 
>n,  and  the  king  of  France  added  his 
mest  prayer,  the  States  would  on  no  ac- 
ant  tolerate  the  Catholic  worship  within 
eir  dominions,  at  a  time  when  the  ma- 
rity  of  the  inhabitants  of  Utrecht,  Fries- 
ad,  Groningen,  Overyssel,  and  Guelder- 
ad,  were  of  that  religion.  The  council  in 
agland  thought  that,  as  little  more  was 
:manded   than    was    already    permitted. 


don  them  in  the  time  of  need.  Prince 
Maurice  had  even  the  boldness  to  tell 
the  English  ministers  to  their  face, 
that  their  master  dared  not  open  his 
mouth  in  contradiction  to  the  king 
of  Spain.  Hence  the  Erench  during 
the  negotiation  assumed  a  superiority 
which  was  impatiently  but  silently 
borne  by  their  allies.  But,  if  James 
derived  little  honour  from  his  media- 
tion, he  had  reason  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  result.  It  secured  for  a  long 
time  at  least,  and  probably  for  ever, 
the  independence  of  the  States;  a 
point  of  paramount  importance,  since 
their  reduction  by  Spain,  or  their 
voluntary  submission  to  Erance,  was 
equally  pregnant  with  danger  to  the 
commerce  and  the  greatness  of  Eng- 
land; and,  what  the  king  probably 
valued  still  more,  he  obtained  the 
partial  relief  of  his  pecuniary  wants, 
by  receiving  from  the  Hollanders  the 
acknowledgment  of  a  debt  of  more 
than  eight  hundred  thousand  pounds, 
with  a  stipulation  that  it  should  be 
discharged  by  instalments  in  the 
course  of  fifteen  years.' 

About  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty 
an  event  happened  which  threatened 
to  rekindle  the  flames  of  war  through- 
out a  great  portion  of  Europe.  The 
death  of  John  duke  of  Cleves,  Juliers, 
and  Berg,  without  children,  exposed 
his  dominions  a  tempting  prey  to 
the  ambition  of  several  competitors. 
The  rightful  heir  appears  to  have  been 
either  the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  or 
the  duke  of  Newburg;  but  a  claim 


'•  some  midways  might  be  found  to  compose 
that  difference." — Win  wood,  ii.  428.  August, 
1608.  But  the  States  were  resolute,  and  the 
truce  was  concluded  without  any  provision 
in  favour  of  toleration. — See  it  iu  Dumont, 
V.  par.  ii.  99.  In  fact  the  English  com- 
missioners were  instructed  not  "to  scan- 
dalize themselves"  in  that  matter;  they 
spoke  *'  with  resolution"  against  toleration, 
and  at  their  departure,  when  the  French 
ambassador  requested  them  not  to  oppose 
so  equitable  a  request,  they  answered  that 
"their  silence  would  betray  their  service  to 
God,  and  their  duty  to  their  king." — Win- 
wood,  ii,  430  :  iii.  59. 


78 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


was  also  advanced  by  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  and  another  by  the  emperor 
Eodolph.  The  pretensions  of  the 
latter  alarmed  all  those  princes  whom 
rehgion  or  pohcy  had  rendered  ene- 
mies to  the  greatness  of  the  house  of 
Austria.  By  their  advice  the  elector 
of  Brandenburg,  a  Protestant,  and 
the  duke  of  Newburgh,  a  Catholic, 
consented  to  govern  the  disputed  ter- 
ritory in  common,  and  a  league  for 
the  expulsion  of  the  Austrian,  vrho 
had  already  taken  possession  of  Juliers, 
was  formed  by  the  kings  of  England 
and  Erance,  the  United  Provinces, 
and  the  Protestant  princes  of  Ger- 
many. The  allies  assembled  a  small 
army ;  but  the  king  of  France  ordered 
no  fewer  than  thirty  thousand  men, 
with  fifty  pieces  of  cannon,  to  march 
towards  Juhers.  So  formidable  a 
force,  compared  with  its  ostensible 
object,  proved  that  Henry  nourished 
in  his  mind  some  secret  purpose  of 
much  greater  importance ;  and  there 
can  be  Uttle  doubt  that  he  now  meant 
to  execute  his  favourite  plan  of  hum- 
bling, by  a  common  union  of  the 
European  powers,  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria, and  of  confining  it  for  the  future 
within  the  Spanish  peninsula.  But 
three  days  before  his  proposed  de- 
parture to  join  the  army  he  received 
a  mortal  wound  as  he  sat  in  his 
carriage,  from  the  hand  of  an  assassin 
named  Eavaillac'  The  murder  of  the 
king  put  an  end  to  his  project;  but 
his  successor  did  not  depart  from  the 
league,  and  ten  thousand  Frenchmen 
having  joined  four  thousand  English 
commanded  by  Sir  Edward  Cecil, 
placed  themselves  under  the  prince 
of  Anhalt,  the  general  in  chief  of  the 
combined  forces.  Juliers  was  soon 
won;  the  elector  and  the  duke  took 
possession  of  the  disputed  territory, 


^  On  this  murder  see  a  dissertation  by 
Griffet  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  volume  of 
Daniel's  Uistoire  de  France,  edition  of 
1756. 


and  the  war  died  away  through  1 
inability  of  the  emperor  to  prolo 
the  contest.- 

If  James  was  unwilling  to  meast 
weapons  with  an  enemy  in  real  w 
he  gloried  to  meet  an  adversary 
the  bloodless  field  of  theological  cc 
troversy.  He  had  opposed  the  Purit 
ministers  at  Hampton  Court ;  he  h 
written  against  Bellarmine,  the  cha 
pion  of  the  Catholics;  and  he  n< 
resolved  to  mingle  in  the  fray  betwe 
the  Arminians  and  Gomarists  in  H' 
land.  The  disputes  which  divided  th( 
theologians  were  not  more  useful,  tL 
were  certainly  less  innocent,  than  t 
subtleties  of  the  ancient  schoolmi 
For  the  subjects  of  their  studies  tb 
had  taken  the  doctrines  of  grace  a 
predestination,  universal  redempti 
and  free  will ;  and  plunging  fearles 
into  the  abyss,  persuaded  themseb 
that  they  had  sounded  the  depth 
mysteries  which  no  human  und< 
standing  can  fathom.  Had  they  i 
deed  confined  themselves  to  specu 
tive  discussion,  the  mischief  woi 
have  been  less;  but  the  heartbui 
ings,  the  excommunications,  the  p< 
secutions  to  which  these  controvers 
gave  birth,  were  evils  of  the  m> 
alarming  magnitude.  In  Holland  t 
first  reformers  had  established  t 
Calvinistic  creed  in  all  its  rigo 
Arminius,  the  pastor  of  the  gr< 
church  at  Amsterdam,  and  aft' 
wards  professor  at  Ley  den,  1 
adopt'Cd  another  system,  which 
deemed  more  conformable  to  \ 
benevolence  of  the  Deity,  and  1 
revolting  to  the  reason  of  man.  ^^ 
was  soon  declared  between  the  p: 
tisans  of  these  opposite  opinior 
each  sought  the  support  of  the  te 
poral  power  ;  and  the  followers 
Arminius  addressed  a  remonstran 


'Bee  the  negotiations  on  this  subject 
the  fifth  volume  of  Boderie,  and  the  " 
of  Winwood. — Dumont.  v.  part  ii.  121 ' 
153, 160. 


1610.] 


THE  EEEOES  OF  VOESTIUS. 


79 


rigid  Calvinists  a  contra-remon- 
nce,  to  the  States  of  Holland, 
itics  often  mingle  with  religious 
ent;  not  that  there  exists  any 
Liral   connection    between   them, 

that  statesmen  are  aware  of  the 
antage  to  be  derived  from  the 
ichment  of  a  religious  party  to 
ir  interests.  The  patriot  Barne- 
i  assumed  the  defence  of  the  re- 
Qstrants,  while  Prince  Maurice  of 
5sau,  his  opponent  in  the  state, 
:ed  himself  at  the  head  of  their 
ersaries.  James,  whose  early  edu- 
ion  had  imprinted  on  his  mind  a 
p  reverence  for  the  speculative 
nions  of  Calvin,  viewed  the  con- 
versy  with  interest,  and  was  not 
ff^in  condemning  the  presumptuous 
orance  of  Arminius.  On  the  death 
;hat  professor,  the  curators  of  the 
iversity  oflFered  the  vacant  chair  to 
rstius,  a  divine  whose  abilities  were 
iversally  admitted,  but  who  had 
lasionally  indulged  in  novel  and 
raordinary  opinions.  His  ortho- 
cy  was  disputed  by  the  contra- 
nonstrants ;  but  he  repelled  the 
irge  before  the  States,  and  took 
^session  of  the  office.  By  James 
3  result  was  considered  as  a  victory 
.ned  by  the  Arminians.  However, 
ring  the  progress,  Archbishop  Ab- 
tt  placed  in  his  way  a  treatise 
•merly  published  by  Vorstius ;  and 
3  king  with  his  pen  culled  out,  in 
8  short  space  of  an  hour,  a  long  list 
heresies.  His  piety  was  shocked ;  he 
termined  to  spread  the  segis  of  his 
fallibility  over  the  cause  of  ortho- 
xy  in  Holland ;  and  Winwood,  the 
abassador,  by  his  orders,  accused 
arstius,  before  the  States,  of  heresy 


I  Winwood,  iii.  293—296,  304,  309.  The 
lowing  were  the  distinguishing  doctrines 
the  remonstrants  :  1.  That  predestina- 
m  was  founded  on  the  merits  of  Christ 
d  the  perseverance  of  man ;  reprobation 
'-  God's  prescience  of  man's  obstinate 
fidelity :  2.  that  Christ,  according  to  the 
!cree  and  will  of  his  Father,  had  paid  the 
ice  of  redemption  for  all  men  without  any 


and  infidelity,  of  denying  or  misrepre- 
senting the  immensity,  spirituality, 
and  omniscience  of  the  Godhead,  and 
of  throwing  out  doubts  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ.  The  Hollanders,  though 
they  answered  with  respect,  resented 
this  interference  of  a  foreign  power 
in  their  domestic  concerns,  and  James 
in  return  sent  them  an  admonition 
under  his  own  hand.  He  was  willing 
that,  "if  the  professor  would  excuse 
his  blasphemies,  he  should  escape  the 
stake,  though  no  heretic  ever  de- 
served it  better;  but  he  could  not 
believe  that,  on  any  defence  or  denial 
which  he  might  make,  they  would 
allow  him  to  retain  his  office.  They 
should  remember  that  the  king  of 
England  was  the  defender  of  the 
faith;  and  it  would  be  his  duty,  if 
such  pestilent  heresies  were  suflfered 
to  nestle  among  them,  to  separate 
from  their  communion,  and  to  seek, 
with  the  aid  of  other  foreign  churches 
in  common  council  assembled,  how  to 
extinguish  and  to  remand  to  hell  such 
abominable  doctrines."  Even  this  ad- 
monition was  without  effect ;  and  the 
ambassador  renewed  his  remonstrance 
in  still  sharper  terms.  He  received 
an  evasive  answer;  and,  after  a  decent 
delay,  protested  in  public  against  the 
errors  of  the  professor,  reminded  the 
States  that  the  alliance  between  Eng- 
land and  Holland  reposed  on  the  basis 
of  purity  of  religion,  and  concluded 
with  a  very  intelligible  hint,  that  they 
must  abandon  the  protection  of  Vor- 
stius, or  forfeit  the  amity  of  James.  ^ 
The  king  at  first  applauded  the  ac- 
tivity and  spirit  of  his  minister ;  he 
pronounced  Winwood  a  man  accord- 
ing to  his  own  heart ;  but  his  minis- 


exception  :  3,  that  there  was  not  in  Crod 
any  secret  will  opposed  to  his  revealed  will, 
by  which  he  testifies  that  he  wills  and  seeks 
the  salvation  of  all  men  :  4.  that  efficacious 
grace  may  be  resisted :  5.  and  that  believers 
often  fall  from  faith,  and  perish  through 
their  own  fault,— Acta  Synod.  Dordr.  126, 
129. 


I 


80 


JAMES  I. 


[chap,  I 


ters  remonstrated;  he  began  to  accuse 
the  ambassador  of  indiscretion ;  and 
in  a  conference  with  the  Dutch  envoy, 
he  laboured  to  mollify  the  asperity 
of  the  protest.*  Still  he  did  not 
recede  from  his  resolution;  he  even 
ventured  to  appeal  to  the  press,  and 
published  a  short  work  in  French, 
entitled  a  declaration  against  Vor- 
stius.2  The  States  saw  the  necessity 
of  appeasing  the  orthodoxy  of  their 
ally.  They  had  already  incurred  his 
resentment;  they  feared  still  more 
the  irritation  which  would  follow  a 
controversy  between  the  two  theolo- 
gians ;  and  Vorstius  was  ordered  not 
only  to  quit  Leydeu,  but  to  purge 
himself  from  the  imputation  of  heresy, 
by  refuting  the  doctrines  with  which 
he  had  been  charged.* 

But  the  removal  of  the  professor 
did  not  restore  tranquillity.  The  re- 
monstrants gradually  acquired  the 
ascendancy  in  the  three  provinces  of 
Holland,  Overyssel,  and  Utrecht,  the 
contra-remonstrants  in  those  of 
Guelderland,  Zealand,  Friesland,  and 
Groningen,  Each  party,  true  to  the 
intolerant  spirit  of  the  age,  was  eager 
to  employ  the  civil  sword  against  its 
theological  opponents,  and  the  re- 
public was  in  danger  of  being  torn 
into  fragments  by  the  violence  of  men 
who  could  not  agree  on  the  specu- 
lative doctrines  of  predestination  and 
reprobation.  James  proposed  to  the 
States  a  national  council,  as  the  only 
remedy  to  the  evil ;  and  the  suggestion 
was  as  eagerly  accepted  by  one  party, 
as  it  was  haughtily  rejected  by  the 
other.  Both  were  supported  in  their 
obstinacy  by  the  political  views  of 
their  leaders,  Barnevelt  and  Prince 
Maurice ;  of  whom  the  first  was 
charged  with  a  design  of  restoring  the 
provinces  to  the  Spanish  crown,  the 


i  Winwood,  iu.  316—320, 331, 

'  His  ambassador  at  the  Hatpe  had 
already  been  commissioned  to  find  out 
"some  smart  Jesuit  with  a  quick  and  nimble 


other  with  a  project  of  raising  himse 
to  the  sovereignty.  After  a  lor 
struggle  the  command  of  the  anr 
gave  the  victory  to  Maurice :  he  SU' 
cessively  changed  the  magistrates  i 
the  towns  of  Overyssel  and  Utrech 
and  then  ventured  to  arrest  his  gre; 
opponent,  Barnevelt,  with  the  tv 
pensioners,  Grotius  and  Hogerbet 
From  that  moment  the  hope  of  tl 
Arminians  vanished ;  the  magistrac 
of  Holland  was  reformed,  and  tl 
synod  was  appointed  to  be  held  : 
Dort.  The  Calvinist  churches 
Geneva  and  the  palatinate  sei 
deputies;  and  James,  who,  as  tl 
original  adviser  of  the  measure,  cou 
not  refuse  his  c-oncurrence,  commi 
sioned  two  bishops  and  two  theol 
gia-ns  to  attend  as  representatives 
the  church  of  England,  and  a  fifth, 
Scotsman  by  birth,  but  a  member 
the  establishment,  as  representatr 
of  the  kirk  of  Scotland.  It  was 
singular  spectacle  to  behold  the^ 
prelates  sitting  as  the  colleagi 
ministers  who  had  not  received 
nation  from  the  hands  of  bishops,| 
voting  with  men  who  held  episc 
to  be  the  invention  of  Satan,  Tht 
attended  the  debates,  moderated  tl 
violence  of  the  disputants,  and  su 
scribed  to  the  canons  ;  but  with  tb 
exception,  that  they  protested  again 
the  article  which  reduced  to  a  lev 
the  different  orders  of  the  hierarcb 
The  decrees  of  the  synod  were  ratifii 
with  the  blood  of  Barnevelt,  wb 
after  a  mock  and  secret  trial,  w 
sacrificed  as  a  traitor  to  the  ambiti( 
of  the  prince,  and  with  the  mo 
moderate  sentence  of  perpetual  h 
prisonment  pronounced  on  Groti 
and  Hogerbets,  To  satisfy  the  kii 
of  England,  the  synod  condemned  t 
works  of  Vorstius ;  and  the  reigi 


b  was 
theji 
guefl 
id(fl 

scofl 


spirit  to  bestow  a  few  lines  against 
atheisms  of  the  wretch." — Ibid.  311. 
appears  that  such  a  one  was  found. — i 
318,323,330. 
3  Ibid.  318.    See  Fuller,  1.  x.  p.  60, 


,D.  1619.] 


THE  CHUECH  OF  SCOTLAND. 


81 


irty  in  the  States,  to  preserve  the 
!cendancy,  resolved  to  extirpate  their 
3ponents,  Seven  hundred  famiUes 
'  Arminians  were  driven  into  exile, 
id  reduced  to  beggary  by  the  poli- 
cal  fanaticism  of  their  brethren  and 
mntrymen.- 

II.  The  reformed  church  of  Scot- 
nd,  when  it  had  obtained  a  legal 
stablishment,  was  in  reality  a  re- 
gions republic,  which  presented  the 
ngular  spectacle  of  a  gradation  of 
ective  judicatures,  composed  partly 
■.  laymen,  partly  of  ministers,  pos- 
issing  and  exercising  with  despotic 
vay  every  species  of  ecclesiastical 
irisdiction.  The  lowest  authority 
as  that  of  the  incumbent  and  the 
y  elders,  who  formed  the  parochial 
;sembly.  A  certain  number  of  these 
•semblies,  classed  together  on  account 
'  their  vicinity,  constituted  the 
resbytery,  which  heard  appeals,  con- 
rmed,  annulled,  or  pronounced  cen- 
tres, and  decided  on  the  admission, 
le  suspension,  or  the  deprivation  of 
linisters.  The  presbytery,  however, 
lough  armed  with  extensive  powers, 
as  subordinate  to  the  provincial 
.nod,  and  this,  in  its  turn,  submitted 
D  the  superior  jurisdiction  of  the 
2neral  assembly,  which  was  supreme 
a  earth,  and  owed  no  allegiance  in 
latters  of  faith  or  discipline  but  to 
hrist,  its  spiritual  sovereign.  That 
ames,  as  head  of  the  church  of 
Ingland,  should  aspire  to  the  same 
re-eminence  in  his  native  kingdom 
f  Scotland,  is  not  surprising ;  but  he 
ad  more  powerful  motives  than  mere 
aibition  to  urge  him  to  the  attempt, 
he  maxim,  "  no  bishop,  no  king," 
as  deeply  impressed  on  his  mind, 
ad  he  saw,  or  thought  he  saw,  danger 
)  the  throne,  in  the  disposition  and 
rinciples    of   the    Scottish   clergy. 


1  See  the  despatches  of  Carleton,  the 
nglish  ambassador,  throughout  the  volume, 
he  controversy  has  been  considered  as  a 
:>nte8t  for  political  power.  It  certainly 
as  so  with  regard  to  Prince  Maurice  and 
7 


They  were  men  of  bold  untamable 
characters;  their  efforts  to  establish 
a  republican  form  of  church  govern- 
ment had  led  them  to  discuss  the  au- 
thority of  the  civil  magistrate,  and  to 
inculcate  principles  of  resistance  to 
unjust  and  despotic  sovereigns ;  and 
the  doctrine  of  predestination,  the 
duty  of  extemporaneous  prayer,  and 
the  habit  of  denouncing  scripture 
judgments  against  sinners,  had  im- 
parted to  their  minds,  and  to  the 
minds  of  their  hearers,  a  tinge  of  the 
most  gloomy,  and,  in  the  royal  esti- 
mation, of  the  most  dangerous  en- 
thusiasm. Hence,  to  overthrow  the 
fabric  raised  by  Knox  and  his  disciples 
became  the  chief  object  of  the  king's 
policy  in  Scotland.  He  made  the 
attempt,  and  was  apparently  success- 
ful. With  the  aid  of  intrigue,  and 
bribery,  and  force,  he  at  length 
imposed  bishops  on  the  kirk ;  but 
the  clergy  and  the  people  remained 
attached  to  the  presbyterian  disci- 
pline; their  loyalty  was  shaken  by 
the  violence  offered  to  their  religious 
prepossessions ;  and  the  very  measure 
by  which  James  sought  to  uphold  his 
own  throne,  aided  to  subvert,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  that  of  his  son 
and  successor. 

He  began  by  nominating  clergy- 
men of  known  and  approved  prin- 
ciples to  the  thirteen  ancient  Scottish 
bishoprics.  This  step  created  little 
alarm.  The  new  prelates  had  neither 
jurisdiction  nor  income;  they  were 
only  parochial  ministers  of  the 
churches  from  which  they  derived 
their  titles.  But  by  progressive  steps, 
every  deficiency  was  supplied.  An 
act  of  parliament  restored  episcopacy ; 
and  an  act  of  the  general  assembly, 
procured  by  the  arts  of  the  minister, 
made  the  bishops  moderators  both  of 


Barnevelt ;  but  James  seems  to  have  in- 
terested himself  in  it  chiefly  from  the  mo- 
tive of  defending,  as  he  calls  them,  the 
ancient  doctrines  of  the  reformed  churches. 


82 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


the  synods  and  of  the  presbyteries 
within  which  they  oliieiated.'  The 
repeal  of  the  statute  annexing  the 
episcopal  lands  to  the  crown  enabled 
the  king  to  endow  their  respective 
sees ;  and  the  erection  of  two  courts 
of  high  commission,  in  virtue  of  the 
prerogative  alone,  invested  them  with 
powers  more  extensive  than  they 
could  have  possessed  by  their  ordinary 
authority.  At  a  convenient  time 
three  of  the  number  repaired  to 
England,  received  the  episcopal  ordi- 
nation from  the  English  bishops,^  and 
after  their  return  imparted  it  to  their 
colleagues.  At  last  it  was  enacted  by 
parhameut  that  all  general  assemblies 
should  be  appointed  by  the  sovereign ; 
that  the  prelates  should  have  the  pre- 
sentation to  benefices,  the  exclusive 
power  of  suspending  or  depriving  in- 
cumbents, and  the  right  of  visitation 
throughout  the  diocese;  and  that 
every  clergyman,  at  his  admission, 
should  take  the  oath  of  supremacy  to 
the  king,  and  of  canonical  obedience 
to  the  bishop. 

If  James  had  thus  accomplished 
his  design,  it  was  owing  to  the  address 
of  Sir  George  Home,  lord  treasurer 


1  Almost  all  the  presbyteries  and  synods 
refused  to  submit. — Calderwood,  565 — 569. 

3  Camden,  Annals  of  James,  643.  Rymer, 
xri.  706.  Wilk.  Con.  iv.  443.  Spotiswood, 
514.    Calderwood,  580. 

*  James  had  ordered  five  of  the  prelates 
and  eight  ministers  to  wait  on  him  in  Eng- 
land. The  latter  refused  to  assent  to  any 
proposal,  on  the  plea  that  they  were  com- 
missioned to  hear,  bat  had  no  power  to 
treat.  He  required  an  answer  to  these 
questions  :  Were  they  willing  to  ask  pardon 
for  their  offence  in  praying  for  the  con- 
demned ministers  ?  had  he  not  the  right  to 
appoint,  suspend,  and  prevent  their  meet- 
ings ?  could  he  not,  in  virtue  of  the  royal 
authority,  call  before  him  all  persons,  eccle- 
siastical as  well  as  civil,  and  punish  them 
for  their  offences  ? — Spotiswood,  497.  But 
the  king  harangued,  the  English  bishops 
preached,  in  vain.  Andrew  Melville  had 
the  presumption  to  ridicule  in  a  Latin 
epigram  the  service  in  the  royal  chapel,  and 
was  imprisoned  in  consequence.  Some 
months  afterwards  he  was  called  before  the 
council,  and  behaved  with  such  freedom  and 
insolence,  within  the  hearing  of  the  king, 
that  he  was  committed  to  the  Tower.  Many 


I  and  earl  of  Dunbar.  That  minister, 
leaving  to  the  theological  talents  ol 
his  master  the  more  difficult  taskol 
convincing  the  understandings  of  the 
Scottish  clergy,^  made  it  his  object  to 
work  on  their  hopes  and  fears,  their 
prejudices  and  passions.  1.  In  de- 
fiance of  the  royal  prohibition,  the 
ministers  from  nine  presbyteries  had 
presumed  to  hold  "  an  assembly "  at 
Aberdeen.  Six  of  the  most  refrac- 
tory objected  to  the  authority  of  the 
council,  and  on  that  pretext  were 
tried  and  condemned  as  traitors.  It 
was  an  act  of  illegal  and  dispropor- 
tionate severity;*  but  the  prisoners 
gladly  exchanged  the  crown  of  mar- 
tyrdom for  a  life  of  banishment ;  and 
their  colleagues  were  taught  that  the 
power  of  the  sovereign  was  not  to  be 
braved  with  impunity.  2.  When  the 
general  assembly  at  length  met  bj 
the  royal  permission,  the  lord  trea- 
surer was  careful  to  purchase  the 
voices  of  some,  and  the  silence  oj 
others,  by  a  dexterous  distribution  ol 
forty  thousand  marks.  It  was  not 
that  these  holy  men  could  be  cor- 
rupted by  bribes;  but  they  felt  nc 
scruple    to    accept    the    arrears   o: 


accounts  have  been  given  of  the  occurrence 
the  foUowing  is  by  the  French  ambassador 
— "  Ledit  Melvin  fat  si  aigre  en  sa  response 
tant  contre  ce  qui  ^toit  du  roi,  que  contH 
la  personne  particuliere  dudit  comte  (d( 
Salisbury),  que  celui-ci  demeura  sans  re 
phque.  A  son  secoiirs  vint  I'archeYeque  d« 
Cantorbery,  puis  le  comte  de  Northampton 
puis  le  trt5sorier,  ausquels  tons  il  lava  1; 
t^te  de  telle  sorte,  nYpargnant  aucuns  d( 
vices  ou  publics  ou  priv^s  dont  chacun  d'ep 
est  taxe  (car  il  ne  sont  point  anges),  qu'il^ 
eussent  voulu  qu'il  eut  6te  encore  en  Ecosse 
Finalement  ne  le  pouvant  induire  en  sort* 
quelconque  a  jurer  la  primatie,  et  ne  S9ach 
ant  comment  autrement  se  venger  de  lui 
ils  I'envoyerent  prisonnier  a  la  Tour."— 
Boderie,  May  8,  1607,  vol.  ii.  208.  In  16i: 
he  was  liberated  and  sent  into  banishmen 
at  the  request  of  the  duke  of  Bouillon.- 
Boderie,  v.  517,  531,  540. 

*  The  charge  was  that  they  had  rejects 
the  authority  of  the  pri^r  council,  grounde* 
on  the  act  of  1584,  "for  maintaining  hi 
majesty's  royal  power  over  all  estates  " 
Spotiswood,  489.  Balfour,  ii.  10.  T""- ' 
was  packed  by  Dunbar.— Dalrympl 
morialfl,  1 — i. 


Theig^ 
ple'a  jH 


A.D.  1617.] 


JAMES'S  VISIT  TO  SCOTLAND. 


former  salaries,  or  a  compensation 
for  their  expenses  during  the  journey.' 
3.  Dunbar  knew  that,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  more  zealous,  the  extir- 
pation of  idolatry  was  paramount  to 
every  other  duty.  To  induce  them 
to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  the  king, 
with  respect  to  the  superiority  of 
bishops,  he  placed  at  their  mercy  the 
persons  and  property  of  the  idola- 
trous papists.  The  compromise  was 
accepted.  The  parliament  enacted 
laws  of  recusancy ;  the  clergy  issued 
sentences  of  excommunication,  and 
every  Catholic  nobleman  was  com- 
pelled to  receive  an  orthodox  minister 
into  his  family,  and  was  forewarned 
that,  unless  he  should  conform  within 
a  given  period,  his  obstinacy  would  be 
punished  with  judgment  of  forfeiture. 
At  the  same  time  the  prisons  were 
filled  with  victims  of  inferior  quality ; 
and  so  severe  was  the  persecution, 
that  according  to  the  statement  of 
the  French  ambassador,  the  fate  of 
the  Scottish  was  still  more  deserving 
of  pity  than  that  of  the  English 
Catholics.- 

At  his  accession  to  the  English 
throne  James  had  promised  to  bless 
his  countrymen  with  the  royal  pre- 
sence at  least  once  in  the  space  of 
three  years.  Fourteen  had  elapsed, 
and  he  had  not  yet  redeemed  his 
pledge.    It  was  not  that  he  was  for- 


1  Calderwood,  556,  565.  Balfour,  ii.  18. 
Spotiswood  (p.  513)  defends  them  :  "  Certain 
or  the  discontented  sort  did  interpret  it  to 
be  a  sort  of  corruption,  giving  out,  that  this 
teas  done  for  obtaining  the  ministers*  voices. 
Howbeit  the  debt  was  known  to  be  just,  and 
that  no  motion  was  made  of  that  business 
before  the  foresaid  conclusions  were  en- 
acted." 

3  Boderie,  ii.  13,  14,  28;  iii.  324,  450; 
iv.  15.  "^^s  Catholiques  en  Ecosse  sont 
encore  pis  qu'en  Angleterre ;  car  outre  le 

Seu  d'amour  que  le  roi  lear  porte,  il  a  tant 
'envie  d'y  ^tablir  la  religion  d' Angleterre, 
et  d'en  etre  reconnu  pour  chef  aussi  bien-la, 
comme  il  est  ici,  que  pour  gagner  les  puri- 
tains  qui  sont  les  seuls  qui  I'y  empechent,  il 
leur  lache  la  bride  a  toutes  sortes  d'oppres- 
BioDS  contre  les  Catholiques"  (iv.  23).  "  Les 
Catholiques  d' Ecosse  continnent  a  y  etre 
beaucoup  plus  travaill^s  qu'ils  ne  sont  par- 


getful  of  the  place  of  his  nativity,  or 
insensible  to  the  pleasure  of  revisit- 
ing the  scenes  endeared  to  him  by  the 
recollections  of  youth.  The  great 
impediment  was  his  poverty.  Lately, 
however,  he  had  restored  to  the 
Dutch  the  cautionary  towns  of  Flush- 
ing and  Brill  for  one-third  of  the  sums 
for  which  they  were  pledged.^  With 
the  money  he  had  satisfied  the  most 
urgent  of  the  demands  on  the  trea- 
sury; and  this  partial  re-establish- 
ment of  his  credit  enabled  him  to 
obtain,  at  an  interest  of  ten  per  cent, 
a  loan  of  ninety-six  thousand  pounds 
as  a  fund  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a 
royal  progress  to  Scotland,  But  be- 
sides pleasure,  he  had  two  important 
objects  in  view,— to  reform  the  admi- 
nistration of  justice,  which  was  per- 
petually impeded  by  the  influence  of 
the  hereditary  sheriffs,  and  to  com- 
plete the  assimilation  of  the  Scottish 
kirk  to  the  Enghsh  church ;  a  work 
which  had  succeeded  so  far  under  his 
servants  during  his  absence,  that  he 
doubted  not  to  accomplish  the  Httle 
which  remained  by  his  presence. 
When  the  parliament  assembled, 
several  deputies,  of  principles  hostile 
to  the  royal  views,  were  excluded  by 
the  sole  authority  of  the  sovereign; 
but  in  return,  the  persons  whom  he 
recommended  for  lords  of  the  articles 
were  rejected  by  the  peers,  who  sus- 


defa"  (iv.  346).  Idem,  372.  "  This,"  says 
Balfour,  was  taken  as  "creame  and  oyle  to 
softin  and  smouthe  the  king's  misterioua 
desainges"  (ii.  18).  The  new  acts  passed 
against  them,  and  the  persecution  of  the 
earls  of  Huntly,  Angus,  and  Errol,  and  of 
others,  may  be  seen  in  Balfour,  ii.  23,  26,  28, 
29,32,  33.  The  Scottish  Catholics  are  said, 
in  Winwood,  iii.  52,  to  amount  to  twenty- 
seven  earls  and  barons,  and  two  hundred 
and  forty  knights  and  gentlemen,  besides 
inferior  people.  See  also  Spotiswood,  502, 
5,  6,  9,  13. 

3  For  two  millions  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  thousand  florins,  instead  of 
eight  millions. — Kymer,  xvi.  783—787.  K 
we  may  believe  Peyton,  for  this  service 
Winwood  received  from  the  States  a  present 
of  twenty-nine  thousand  pounds. — Peyton, 
358.  See  the  reasons  in  Carleton's  Letters, 
28. 

Q  2 


84 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


pected,  and  not  without  reason,  a 
design  to  restore  to  the  church  the 
lands  which  had  been  severed  from  it 
"by  the  reforming  rapacity  of  their 
fathers.  The  king  opened  the  session 
■with  a  speech,  one  passage  of  which 
was  not  calculated  to  flatter  the  pride, 
nor  to  soothe  the  national  antipathies, 
of  his  countrymen.  He  had  nothing, 
he  told  them,  "  more  at  heart  than  to 
reduce  their  barbarity"  (such  was 
his  expression)  "  to  the  sweet  civility 
of  their  neighbours ;  and  if  the  Scots 
would  be  as  docible  to  learn  the  good- 
ness of  the  English,  as  they  were 
teachable  to  limp  after  their  ill,  then 
he  should  not  doubt  of  success ;  for 
they  had  already  learnt  of  the  English 
to  drink  healths,  to  wear  coaches  and 
gay  clothes,  to  take  tobacco,  and  to 
speak  a  language  which  was  neither 
Enghsh  nor  Scottish."  '  But  he  had 
already  seen  enough  to  moderate  the 
expectations  with  which  he  came  to 
Scotland.  Some  acts  were  indeed 
passed  favourable  to  his  purpose ;  one 
appointing  commissioners  to  com- 
pound with  the  hereditary  sheriffs, 
on  the  conversion  of  their  sheriff- 
doms into  annual  offices;  a  second 
granting  chapters  to  the  different 
bishoprics ;  and  a  third  enacting,  that 
whatever  the  king  might  determine 
on  religious  subjects,  with  the  consent 
of  the  bishops  and  of  a  certain  num- 
ber of  clergymen,  should  be  good  in 
law.  But  against  the  last,  before  it 
was  ratified  with  the  touch  of  the 
sceptre,  a  strong  remonstrance  was 
offered.  James  hesitated,  and  to  save 
his  honour,  ordered  it  to  be  withdrawn, 
under  the  pretence  that  it  was  super- 
fluous to  give  him  by  statute  that 
which  was  the  inherent  prerogative 
of  his  crown.""' 

On  the  dissolution  of  the  parlia- 
ment, the  king  proceeded  to  St. 
Andrew's,  where  the  leading  members 


J  See  a  letter  in  Bacon,  tI.  152. 


of  the  clergy  had  assembled.  Simpson, 
Ewart,  and  Calderwood,  three  of  the 
remonstrants,  were  brought  before 
the  court  of  High  Commission  on  a 
charge  of  seditious  behaviour,  and 
were  condemned,  the  two  first  to  sus- 
pension and  imprisonment,  the  other 
to  perpetual  exile.  The  king's  Avill 
was  then  signified  to  their  brethren 
in  the  shape  of  five  articles,  that  the 
eucharist  should  be  received  in  a 
kneeling  and  not  in  a  sitting  posture ; 
that  the  sacrament  should  be  given  to 
the  sick  at  their  own  houses,  as  often 
as  they  were  in  danger  of  death ;  that 
baptism  should  in  similar  cases  be 
administered  in  private  houses ;  that 
the  bishops  should  give  confirmation 
to  youth;  and  that  the  festivals  of 
Christmas,  Good  Friday,  Easter,  As- 
cension-day, and  Whit-Sunday,  should 
be  observed  in  Scotland  after  the  man- 
ner of  England.  These  demands  were 
received  with  manifest  aversion  by 
all  present ;  but  the  fate  of  the  three 
remonstrants  acted  as  a  salutary  warn- 
ing, and,  instead  of  opposing  the 
royal  will,  they  fell  on  their  knees, 
and  solicited  the  king  to  remit  the 
five  articles  to  the  consideration  of  a 
general  assembly.  He  assented,  on 
the  assurance  given  by  Patrick  Gal- 
loway that  no  opposition  would  be 
offered ;  and  soon  afterwards  hastened 
his  departure  to  England. 

It  was  with  difficulty  that  the 
Scottish  ministers  repressed  their 
murmurs  in  the  presence  of  their 
sovereign :  he  was  no  sooner  gone 
than  they  spoke  their  sentiments 
without  reserve.  Their  mode  of  cele- 
brating the  Lord's  Supper  was  con- 
formable to  the  Scripture ;  the  admi- 
nistration of  baptism,  and  the  custom 
of  receiving  the  eucharist  in  private 
houses,  were  the  relics  of  popery ;  the 
festival  of  Christmas  they  considered 
as  the  revival  of  the  pagan  Saturnalia ; 


2  Spotiswood, 
Bacon,  vi.  152. 


533.    Pari.  1617,  ch.  i. 


I 


A.D.  1621.]     EELIGIOUS  DISCONTENT  IN  IRELAND. 


85 


those  of  Easter  and  "VMiitsuntide  of 
the  ceremonial  law  of  the  Jews ;  in  a 
word,  all  the  articles  were  pronounced 
superstitious,  and  without  warrant 
from  the  Scriptures.*  In  this  temper 
of  mind  the  assembly  was  held  at 
St.  Andrew's ;  and  the  only  conces- 
sions made  to  the  king  were,  that  the 
minister  should  distribute  the  ele- 
ments at  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  that 
sick  men  might  communicate  at  their 
own  houses,  provided  they  previously 
took  an  oath  tHat  they  did  not  expect 
to  recover.*  James,  who  had  looked 
for  a  very  different  decision,  consi- 
dered it  as  a  mockery  and  an  insult : 
he  ordered  the  observance  of  the  five 
articles  to  be  enjoined  by  proclama- 
tion ;  the  council  withdrew  the  pro- 
mised augmentation  of  stipend  from 
the  refractory  ministers ;  and  in  the 
next  assembly  at  Perth,  Lord  Bin- 
ning, the  treasurer,  procured  by  his 
address  a  majority  in  favour  of  the 
royal  demands.^  Three  years  later 
he  ventured  to  propose  them  in  par- 
liament; and  an  act  was  passed  to 
enforce  a  discipline  repugnant  to  the 
feehngs  and  prepossessions  of  the 
people."*  The  king  had  promised  to 
content  himself  with  this  concession ; 
he  kept  his  word.  The  history  of  his 
mother  and  grandmother  had  con- 
vinced him  of  the  stern  uncompro- 
mising temper  of  the  Scottish  reli- 
gionists; and  to  his  chaplain,  Dr. 
Laud,  whose  zeal  advised  more  vigo- 
rous measures,  he  replied,  that  it  was 
better  to  preserve  peaceably  what 
had  been  obtained,  than  to  hazard  all 
by  goading  a  whole  nation  into  re- 
beUion.^ 
III.  The  reader  will  recollect  the 


1  Examination  of  the  Articles  of  Perth. 

2  See  Lord  Binning's  Letter  to  the  king, 
Ifovember  28,  in  Dalrymple,  i.  81. 

3  See  another  letter  from  the  same,  ibid. 
87.  After  much  contestation,  instead  of 
putting  the  separate  articles  to  the  vote, 
the  question  was  proposed,  would  they  in 
this  obey  or  disobey  the  king  ?  Eighty-six 
voted  in  the  atfirmative,  forty-one  dissented. 

*  By  a  majority  of  seventy-eight  to  fifty- 


wars  which,  during  the  last  reign, 
desolated  Ireland,  and  distracted  the 
councils  of  Elizabeth.  In  their  origin 
they  were  similar  to  those  which  had 
existed  under  her  predecessors  ;  they 
sprang  from  the  love  of  liberty  and 
the  hatred  of  foreign  domination; 
but  her  defection  from  the  church  of 
Eome,  and  her  attempt  to  impose  a 
new  worship  by  dint  of  authority, 
connected  them  with  religious  feel- 
ings, and  rendered  them  infinitely 
more  dangerous.  Hitherto  the  na- 
tives had  been  taught  to  look  on  the 
pope  as  the  lord  paramount  of  Ire- 
land ;  it  was  a  notion  encouraged  by 
former  kings  and  parliaments,  as  a 
cheap  expedient  to  procure  obe- 
dience;^ but  it  now  re-acted  with 
double  force  against  a  princess  under 
the  sentence  of  excommunication  and 
deposition.  The  champions  of  inde- 
pendence appealed  to  the  protection 
of  the  pontiff  as  their  feudal,  no  less 
than  their  spiritual,  superior.  I  am 
not  aware,  that  this  title  was  ever 
positively  admitted  or  rejected;  but 
the  popes  repeatedly  sent  them  pecu- 
niary and  sometimes  military  aid,  and 
often  by  letters  and  messages  exhorted 
the  Irish  to  throw  off  the  English 
yoke,  and  to  vindicate  their  country 
from  civil  and  religious  thraldom. 
With  many,  these  exhortations  had 
considerable  influence,  but  the  ma- 
jority of  both  races  continued  faith- 
ful to  Elizabeth;  and  though  they 
were  tempted  by  the  papal  envoys, 
though  they  were  upbraided  as  trai- 
tors and  apostates  by  their  revolted 
countrymen,  the  Irish  Catholics 
fought  under  the  English  colours 
against  Desmond,   and   formed  one 


one.  At  the  same  time  he  obtained  a  sub- 
sidy in  aid  of  the  Palatinate  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  Scots,  to  be  paid  by 
instalment  in  that  and  the  three  following 
years. — See  the  letters  of  the  earl  of  Melros, 
which  disclose  the  whole  mystery  of  manag- 
ing a  Scottish  parliament.  Dalrymple,  108 
—139.     Balfour,  ii.  84. 

5  Hacket's  Life  of  Williams,  part  i,  64. 

6  Irish  Stat.  7  Ed.  IV.  c.  ix. 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


half  of  the  loyal  army  which,  under 
Mountjoy,  triumphed  over  the  wiles, 
the  obstinacy,  and  the  despair  of 
Tyrone.' 

But  the  exceptions  made  to  Eli- 
zabeth did  not  apply  to  James. 
Against  him  no  excommunication 
had  been  pronounced,  nor  was  he  a 
prince  exclusively  of  Saxon  or  Nor- 
man origin.  He  claimed  his  descent 
from  Fergus,  the  first  king  of  the 
Scots  in  Albion;  and  Fergus,  as  a 
thousand  genealogies  could  prove,  was 
sprung  from  the  ancient  kings  of 
Erin.  His  accession,  therefore,  was 
hailed  as  a  blessing  by  the  aboriginal 
Irish ;  they  congratulated  each  other 
on  the  event— they  boasted  that  the 
sceptre  of  Ireland  was  restored  to 
the  rightful  line  in  a  descendant  of 
Milespane.^ 

Though  an  act  of  parliament  had 
been  passed  under  Elizabeth  to  abolish 
the  Catholic  worship  in  Ireland,  it 
had  not  been  in  the  power  of  a  hand- 
ful of  Protestants  to  deprive  a  whole 
people  of  their  religious  rites.  If  the 
law  were  at  all  obeyed,  it  was  only 
in  the  garrison  towns,  where  sub- 
mission could  be  enforced  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  and  even  in  these 
the  great  mass  of  the  inhabitants,  the 
chief  burghers  and  the  magistrates, 
secretly  cherished  their  former  at- 
tachment to  the  Catholic  creed.  The 
death  of  Elizabeth  afforded  them  an 
opportunity  of  expressing  their  sen- 
timents with  less  restraint,  and  the 
announcement  of  that  event  was 
immediately  followed  by  the  resto- 
ration of  the  ancient  service  in  Cork, 
Waterford,  Clonmel,  Limerick,  Ca- 
shel,  and  other  places.  To  the  pro- 
hibitory commands  of  the  lord  deputy, 
answers  were  returned  in  a  tone  of 
resolution    and    defiance;    batteries 


1  See  in  O"  Sullivan  a  list  of  the  Catholic 
chieftains  serving  in  the  English  armies 
<iii.  114);  also  Moryson,  112,  256;  Pacata 
Hibernia,  prsef.  and  p.  38,  edit,  of  1820,  and 
O' Neil' 9  proclamation  in  Leland,  ii.  3tt4. 


were  raised  on  the  walls,  and  prepa- 
rations made  for  resistance,  and  at 
Cork  blood  was  shed  in  different 
affrays  between  the  military  and  the 
citizens.  Mountjoy,  the  lord  deputy, 
acted  with  promptitude  and  decision. 
He  collected  a  strong  body  of  troops, 
proceeded  from  town  to  town,  and, 
partly  by  argument,  partly  by  inti- 
midation, prevailed  on  the  inhabi- 
tants to  submit.  Then,  having  pre- 
viously published,  under  the  great 
seal,  an  act  of  "  oblivicfb  and  indem- 
nity," he  left  the  island,  and  took  with 
him  to  England,  as  the  heralds  of  his 
triumph,  the  repentant  chieftains, 
Tyrone  and  O'Donnel,  with  their 
principal  retainers.-' 

But  the  forcible  abolition  of  their 
worship  and  its  consequences,  the 
weekly  fines  for  absence  from  church 
on  the  Sundays,  were  not  the  only 
grievances  of  which  the  Irish  Catho- 
lics complained.  By  law,  the  oath  of 
supremacy  was  required  from  every 
individual  who  sought  to  take  literary- 
honours,  or  to  plead  at  the  bar,  or  to 
hold  the  office  of  magistrate,  or  to 
sue  out  the  livery  of  his  lands.  Often 
it  was  tendered,  and  the  Catholic  was 
reduced  to  the  distressing  dilemma  of 
swearing  against  his  conscience,  or  of 
resigning  all  prospect  of  future  ad- 
vancement in  life ;  often  it  was  with- 
held, yet  he  still  knew  that  he  enjoyed 
this  indulgence  by  sufferance  only, 
and  that  he  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the 
government  and  of  every  malicious 
or  interested  informer.  Much,  in- 
deed, has  been  said  in  praise  of  the 
forbearance  with  which  these  laws 
were  executed  in  Ireland  during  a 
great  part  of  the  present  reign ;  but 
that  forbearance  was  only  occasional, 
and  even  then  it  proceeded  not  from 
any  just   notion  of  toleration,  but 


Lyn 

fenealogies    illustrated    by    Dr, 
'roleg.  i.  122—144. 
3  Moryson,  ii.  330—348. 


See    these 

1 


A.D.  1605.] 


COMMISSION  OF  GEACES. 


87 


solely  from  a  sense  of  weakness,  from 
a  persuasion  that  "the  ripeness  of 
time  was  not  yet  come." ' 

It  was  soon  known  in  Ireland  that 
the  two  chieftains  had  been  graciously 
received  by  the  new  monarch ;  that 
Tyrone  had  recovered  his  former 
,  honours,  and  that  his  companion  had 
been  created  earl  of  Tyrconnel.  En- 
couraged by  the  intelligence,  the  Ca- 
tholics sent  over  a  deputation  to  join 
the  two  earls  in  petitioning  for  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion.  But  James 
treated  the  proposal  as  an  insult.  It 
was,  he  told  them,  contrary  to  his 
conscience ;  as  long  as  he  could  find 
one  hundred  men  to  stand  by  him,  he 
i  would  fight  till  death  against  the  tole- 
I  ration  of  an  idolatrous  worship.  Not 
i  content  with  this  refusal,  he  com- 
mitted four  of  the  deputies  to  the 
Tower,  where  they  remained  during 
three  months,  in  punishment  of  their 
presumption.^ 

Two  years  later  a  proclamation 
was  issued,  commanding  all  Catholic 
priests  to  quit  Ireland  under  the 
penalty  of  death  ;='  and  an  order  was 
sent  to  the  magistrates  and  principal 
citizens  of  Dubhn  to  attend  regularly 
at  the  reformed  service.  By  law 
the  refusal  subjected  the  offenders  to 
a  certain  fine ;  in  this  instance  it  was 
also  visited  with  imprisonment.  The 
great  English  families  within  the  pale 
became  alarmed.  They  remonstrated 
against  the  punishment  as  illegal,  and 


1  These  are  the  words  of  Bacon,  who 
adds,  "  Therefore  my  advice  is,  in  all  hum- 
bleness, that  this  hasardous  course  of  pro- 
ceeding, to  tender  the  oath  to  the  magis- 
trates of  towns,  proceed  not,  but  die  by 
degrees,"— Cabala,  39. 

2  Beaumont,  despatch  of  Aug.  20th,  1603. 
The  reader  will  observe  that  from  that  day 
it  became  the  practice,  whenever  a  petition 
was  presented  from  the  Irish  Catholics,  to 
commit  some  of  the  deputies  to  prison. 

2  Among  those  who  were  apprehended  in 
consequence  was  Lalor,  vicar-apostoMc  in 
the  three  dioceses  of  Dublin,  Xildare,  and 
Perns.  He  was  tried  on  the  second  of 
Ehzabeth,  and  sentenced  to  a  year's  im- 
prisonment, and  the  forfeiture  of  his  per- 


prayed  to  be  indulged  with  freedom 
of  religious  worship ;  but  the  chief 
of  the  petitioners  were  arrested  and 
confined  in  the  castle;  their  spokes- 
man, Sir  Patrick  Barnewall,  was  sent 
to  England  and  incarcerated  in  the 
Tower. 

To  allay  the  discontent  occasioned 
by  this  act  of  oppression,  James  issued 
a  commission  of  graces.  "The  levy 
of  fines  for  absence  from  church, 
and  the  administration  of  the  oath 
on  the  livery  of  lands,  were  sus- 
pended till  further  orders ;  the  esta- 
blished clergy  were  forbidden  to  exact 
undue  fees  from  recusants  for  burials, 
baptisms,  and  marriages ;  and  general 
pardons  under  the  great  seal  were 
offered  to  all  who  would  sue  them  out 
of  the  Chancery."  These  indulgences 
were  meant  to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  king's  favourite  plan  of  assimi- 
lating the  tenure  of  lands  in  his  Irish, 
to  that  which  prevailed  in  his  Eng- 
lish, dominions.  By  a  j  udgment  given 
in  the  court  of  King's  Bench,  the  old 
national  customs  of  tanistry  and  gavel- 
kind were  pronounced  illegal ;  and  a 
royal  proclamation  called  on  the  pos- 
sessors of  lands  to  surrender  their 
defective  titles  to  the  crown,  with  a 
promise  that  they  should  receive  them 
back  in  more  valid  form,  and  on  more 
eligible  conditions.  In  a  country 
where  force  had  for  centuries  usurped 
the  place  of  right,  there  were  few 
titles  which  could  bear  the  scrutiniz- 


sonal  property.  During  his  confinement 
he  was  repeatedly  visited  by  the  lords  of 
the  council,  and  induced  to  acknowledge 
the  king  as  head  in  causes  ecclesiastical. 
That  he  acted  with  duplicity  is  evident. 
When  he  was  reproached  as  an  apostate  by 
the  Catholics,  he  replied  that  he  had  not 
admitted  any  spiritual  authority  in  the  king, 
but  meant  by  causes  ecclesiastical,  those 
causes  which  by  the  existing  laws  were  car- 
ried before  the  ecclesiastical  courts.  In 
punishment  he  was  tried  a  second  time  on 
the  statute  of  premunire,  and  though  it  is 
evident  that  his  offence  could  never  have 
been  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  that 
statute,  he  was  condemned  to  perpetual 
imprisonment. — See  Davis's  Eeport  in  State 
Trials,  ii.  533. 


88 


JAIMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


ing  eye  of  a  legal  practitioner.  The 
boon  was  generally  accepted  ;  but  the 
commissioners,  according  to  their  in- 
structions, carefully  distinguished  be- 
tween the  lands  held  in  demesne,  and 
those  which  had  been  parcelled  out 
to  inferior  tenants.  The  first  were 
returned  by  patent  to  the  original 
owner  as  an  estate  in  fee ;  in  place  of 
the  others,  he  received  only  a  rent- 
charge,  payable  by  the  tenants,  and 
equal  in  value  to  the  services  which 
had  formerly  been  rendered.  It  was 
expected  that  from  this  new  system 
the  most  valuable  benefits  would  be 
derived  both  to  the  king  and  to  the 
people ;  to  the  king,  because,  by  de- 
stroying the  principle  of  hereditary 
clanship,  it  would  take  from  the  chief- 
tains the  power  of  disputing  the  royal 
pleasure;  to  the  people,  because,  by 
giving  to  the  inferior  tenants  with 
the  right  of  freeholders  an  interest  in 
the  soil,  it  would  wean  them  from 
their  habits  of  turbulence  and  idle- 
ness, would  introduce  principles  of 
improvement  and  civilization,  and 
would  teach  them  to  look  up  to  the 
sovereign  as  their  legitimate  pro- 
tector. But  experience  did  not  realize 
these  flattering  predictions.  The 
power  of  the  Irish  lords,  indeed, 
"sodainly  fell  and  vanished,'"  and 
the  mass  of  the  people  was  loosened 
from  all  dependence  on  their  former 
superiors :  but  they  were  not  on  that 
account  more  firmly  attached  to  the 
crown.  Instead  of  obeying  their  own 
hereditary  leaders,  they  found  them- 
selves at  liberty  to  follow  every  inte- 
rested demagogue,  every  unprincipled 
adventurer,  who  was  able  to  inflame 


1  Daris,  259.  "  When  an  Irish  lord  doth 
offer  to  surrender  his  country,  and  hold  it 
of  the  crown,  his  proper  possessions  in 
demesne  are  drawn  into  a  particular,  and 
his  Irish  duties,  as  coshering,  sessings,  rents 
of  butter  and  oatmeale,  and  the  like,  are 
reasonably  valued,  and  reduced  into  certain 
summes  oV  money  to  be  paid  yearly  in  lieu 
thereof.  This  being  done,  the  surrender  is 
accepted,   and  thereupon  a  grant  passed, 


their  passions,  and  goad  them  to  act; 
of  violence. 

Tyrone  and  Tyrconnel  left  the 
English  court  with  expressions  o 
gratitude,  but  with  feelings  of  dis- 
trust. Subsequent  events  confirmee 
their  suspicions ;  and  the  harsh  con- 
duct adopted  towards  the  Catholics 
with  the  attempt  to  divide  the  chief: 
from  their  vassals,  led  them  to  believ( 
that  it  was  resolved  to  reduce  the  power 
and  to  annihilate  the  religion  of  the 
natives.  In  this  temper  of  mind  the? 
accepted  an  invitation  to  meet  Eicharc 
Nugent,  Baron  Delvin,  at  the  castU 
of  Maynooth.  Delvin  was  born  anc 
bred  in  the  Tower,  where  his  mothei 
had  voluntarily  shared  the  confine- 
ment of  her  husband,  a  prisonei 
during  life,  not  because  he  had  op- 
posed, but  because  he  was  thought 
capable  of  opposing,  the  authority  o! 
the  late  queen.  The  three  noblemet 
communicated  to  each  other  then 
resentments  for  past,  and  their  appre 
hensions  of  future  wrongs ;  they  con- 
curred in  opinion,  and  bound  them- 
selves to  each  other  to  defend  theii 
rights  and  their  religion  by  opec 
force.^  That  any  project  of  insurrec- 
tion was  at  that  time  arranged  b 
improbable;  but,  two  years  later, 
secret  information  was  received  by 
James  from  some  person  in  the  court 
and  confidence  of  the  archduke  at 
Brussels,  that  Tyrone  had  sought  to 
renew  his  former  relations  with  the 
king  of  Spain.  His  ruin  was  imme- 
diately determined ;  and  to  decoy  him 
into  England  without  awakening  his 
suspicions,  a  pretended  claim  to  a 
considerable  portion  of  his  lands  was 


not  of  the  whole  country,  as  was  used  in 
former  times,  but  of  those  lands  only 
which  are  found  in  the  lord's  possession, 
&c. ;  but  the  lands  which  are  found  to  be 
possest  by  the  tenants  are  left  unto  them 
respectively  charged  with  those  certain* 
rents  only,  in  lieu  of  all  uncertaine  Irish 
exactions." — Davis,  Discovery,  260. 

*  Lynch,  Alithinologia,  Supplem.  186,  in 
Dr.  0' Conor's  Historical  Address,  ii.  226. 


1.2.  1605.] 


FLIGHT  OF  TYEONE. 


et  up  in  obedience  to  secret  instruc- 
;ioiis  from  the  ministers.'  The  Irish 
government  declined  the  cognizance 
Df  the  cause  as  too  delicate  and  im- 
portant; and  both  parties  received 
notice  to  appear  with  their  titles 
before  the  council  in  England.  But 
Tyrone  was  a  match  for  the  cunning 
of  his  adversaries.  He  sent  to  his 
attorney  full  power  to  act  in  his 
name;  and  when  the  lord  deputy 
informed  him  from  the  king,  that  his 
presence  would  be  necessary  to  defeat 
the  intrigues  of  the  plaintiff,  he  soli- 
cited a  respite  of  thirty  days,  that  he 
might  collect  money,  and  make  pre- 
parations for  the  journey.  The  re- 
quest was  granted;  and  before  the 
expiration  of  the  term,  Tyrone  with 
his  wife,  his  two  younger  sons  and 
nephew;  and  Tyrconnel,  with  his 
son  and  brother,  Lord  Dungannon, 
and  thirty  other  persons,  embarked 
in  a  vessel  which  had  arrived  from 
Dunkirk,  and  landed  in  a  few  days  at 
Quillebecque,  in  Normandy.  James 
at  first  persuaded  himself  that  they 
had  shaped  their  course  to  Spain,  and 
would  return  with  the  armada,  which 
during  the  summer  had  been  collected 
in  the  Spanish  ports :  the  intelligence 
that  they  had  proceeded  through 
France  to  Brussels  gave  him  leisure 
to  breathe.  He  demanded  their  per- 
sons as  traitors;  and  issued  a  long 
proclamation  describing  them  as  men 
of  mean  birth,  who  had  been  ennobled 
only  for  reasons  of  state ;  of  corrupt 
morals,  whom  no  man  would  think  of 
molesting  for  religion ;    of  rapacious 


1  In  Boderie  it  is  said  that  the  plaintifF 
was  a  relation,  in  Carleton  that  he  was 
Montgomery,  archbishop  of  Armagh. 

2  Eymer,  xxr,  664.  The  ambassador  hints 
a  doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  the  charge,  but 
adds  that  the  flight  of  the  earls  by  raising 
feurs  caused  a  relaxation  of  the  severity 
used  towards  the  Cathohcs.  A  report  was 
spread  that  Tyrone  intended  to  massacre  all 
the  Protestants  in  Ireland.  "  La  conspira- 
tion  etoit,  a  ce  qui  se  publie  maintenant 

Earmi  ce  people,  de  faire  des  Tepres  Sici- 
ennes  sur  tous  les  Anglois  qui  sont  en 


dispositions,  who,  though  their  own 
rights  were  not  invaded,  constantly 
sought  to  invade  the  rights  of  others  ; 
and  of  traitorous  intentions,  who  had 
designed  to  raise  a  rebellion,  to  invite 
a  foreign  force  into  the  realm,  and  to 
put  to  death  all  Irishmen  of  Enghsh 
descent.-  But  the  foreign  courts,  in 
defiance  of  his  remonstrances,  per- 
sisted in  treating  them  as  exiles  for 
their  rights  and  religion.  Most  of 
them  were  admitted  into  the  Spanish 
army  in  Brabant ;  Tyrone  proceeded 
to  Eome,  where  he  received  a  monthly 
pension  of  one  hundred  crowns  from 
the  pope,  and  of  six  hundred  from 
the  king  of  Spain.^ 

As  soon  as  the  alarm  had  subsided, 
search  was  made  for  the  real  or  sup- 
posed associates  of  the  fugitives.  Many 
of  their  friends  suffered  in  Ulster ; 
several  were  sent  for  examination  to 
England;  and  three  gentlemen.  Sir 
Christopher  St.  Lawrence,  the  eldest 
son  of  Tyrone,  and  Lord  Delvin,  were 
secured  in  the  castle  of  Dublin.  The 
last  was  tried  and  condemned;  but, 
on  the  morning  appointed  for  his 
execution,  his  warder  found  the  cell 
empty.  With  the  aid  of  a  cord  he 
had  escaped  out  of  a  window  on  the 
preceding  evening,  and  mounting  on 
horseback,  had  reached  in  safety  the 
castle  of  Clochnacter.  Proclamations 
were  dispersed,  rewards  offered,  and 
pursuivants  despatched  in  all  direc- 
tions; but  so  trusty  were  his  con- 
fidants, so  secret  his  motions,  that  no 
trace  of  his  flight  could  be  discovered ; 
and  the  first  time  the  fugitive  appeared 


Irlande,  et  puis  y  retablir  la  religion  Catho- 
lique.  Je  ne  S9ais  si  le  principal  but  dudit 
Comte  eut  et^  de  profiter  a  la  religion  ;  mais 
quoi  qu'il  en  soit,  ce  qu'il  a  fait  n'y  a  point 
d^ja  ete  nuisible.  Car  la  verite  est  que 
depuis  cela,  on  n'a  pas  si  severement  pour- 
suivi  les  Catholiques,  comme  on  faiaoit 
auparavant."— Boderie,  Dec.  20,  1607,  ii. 
488. 

^  There  are  several  accounts  of  the 
causes  leading  to  the  flight  of  the  earls  :  I 
have  preferred  that  which  was  sent  to  the 
king  of  France  by  his  ambassador. — Boderie, 
ii.  387,  390. 


90 


JA^IES  I. 


[chap. 


in  his  real  character,  he  was  seen  at 
court  on  his  knees  before  the  king, 
soliciting  mercy,  and  holding  in  his 
hand  a  long  history  of  the  wrongs  done 
to  his  father  and  to  himself.  J  ames 
was  moved  to  pity:  he  admitted  as 
an  apology  the  provocations  which 
had  been  received ;  and  not  only  par- 
doned the  offence,  but  raised  the  sup- 
pliant to  the  higher  dignity  of  earl  of 
Westmeath.  The  subsequent  services 
of  Nugent  repaid  and  justified  the  cle- 
mency of  his  sovereign.' 

Whether  O'Dogherty,  chieftain  of 
Innishowen,  had  been  privy  to  the 
designs  of  Tyrone,  may  be  doubted- 
it  is  certain  that  he  had  formerly 
received  a  blow  from  the  hand  of 
Paulet,  the  governor  of  Derry,  and 
that  he  burned  to  wash  away  the  insult 
with  the  blood  of  his  enemy.  A  mar- 
riage banquet  furnished  the  oppor- 
tunity :  the  party  was  surprised  at 
table;  and  Paulet,  with  five  others, 
fell  the  victims  of  revenge.  Hart,  the 
governor  of  Culmore,  was  made  pri- 
soner. O'Dogherty  led  his  captive  to 
the  gate  of  the  fortress,  demanded  to 
parley  with  the  wife  of  Hart,  and 
allowed  her  a  short  time  to  choose 
between  the  death  of  her  husband,  or 
the  surrender  of  the  place.  Her 
tears  and  entreaties  prevailed  on  the 
pity  or  cowardice  of  the  garrison; 
Culmore  supplied  the  chieftain  with 
artillery,  arms  and  ammunition ;  and 
Derry,  with  its  castle,  submitted  to 
his  power.  This  unexpected  event 
excited  new  hopes  and  fears.  Mes- 
sengers from  the  exiles  exhorted 
O'Dogherty  to  persevere,  till  they 
should  come  to  his  support;  the 
council  strained  every  nerve  to  sup- 
press the  insurrection,  before  the 
arrival  of  foreign  aid.  The  two  first 
attempts  ended  in  the  discomfiture 
of  the  royalists,  who  lost  three  or  four 
hundred  men ;  but  on  the  approach  of 


i  Ljncb,  ubi  supra. 

'  Boderio,  iii.  268,  289,  322,  341.    O'Sulli- 


Wingfield,  marshal  of  the  camp,  t 
chieftain  dismantled  the  two  fc 
tresses,  and  retired  among  the  bo 
and  mountains.  For  two  months 
kept  his  enemies  at  bay;  but  o 
morning,  exposing  himself  inca 
tiously,  he  was  slain  by  a  randc 
shot,  and  the  voluntary  dispersion 
his  followers  put  an  end  to  t 
rebellion.^ 

These  occurrences  opened  to  t 
king  a  fair  field  for  the  display  of  1 
proficiency  in  the  art  of  legislatic 
which  he  valued  no  less  highly  th 
his  theological  knowledge.  By  t 
outlawry  of  the  fugitives,  and  + 
revolt  of  O'Dogherty,  it  was  ■- 
mated  that  two  millions  of  atr 
almost  the  whole  of  the  six  northe 
counties  of  Cavan,  Fermanagh,  .A 
magh,  Derry,  Tyrone,  and  Tyrconn 
had  escheated  to  the  crown.  Jam 
was  aware  that  the  endeavours 
colonize  Ulster  under  Elizabeth  h 
proved  unsuccessful ;  but  he  inquir 
into  the  causes  of  the  failure,  calli 
to  his  aid  the  local  knowledge  of  t 
lord  deputy  Chichester,  and  aft 
long  deliberation  determined  to  ma 
another  trial  on  a  new  and  u 
proved  plan.  By  it  the  lands  to 
planted  were  separated  into  fo 
portions,  of  which  two  were  subc 
vided  into  lots  of  one  thousand, 
third  into  lots  of  one  thousand  fi 
hundred,  and  a  fourth  into  lots 
two  thousand  acres.  The  larger  Ic 
were  reserved  for  "undertakers  ai 
servitors,"  that  is,  adventurers 
known  capital  from  England  ai 
Scotland,  and  the  military  and  ci' 
officers  of  the  crown;  the  small 
were  distributed  indiscriminate 
among  these  and  the  natives  of  t: 
province.  It  was,  however,  dete 
mined  that  the  latter  should  recei 
their  allotments  in  the  plains  ai 
more  open  country  ;  the  undertake 


van,  210.    This  writer  bitterly  lamen' 
the  force  under  Wingfield  waa  co 
cbieily  of  Catholics. 


1 


-OS.] 


PARLIAMENT  IN  IRELAND. 


91 


a  servitors  on  the  hills  and  in  posi- 

ns  of  strength ;  that  from  the  first 

thing  more  should  be  required  than 

;rown-rent  of  a  mark  for  every  sixty 

res,  but  that  the  latter  should  be 

und  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy, 

d  to  admit  no  tenant  who  was  not 

British  origin.    Such  was  the  plan, 

it  in  the  execution  it  suffered  nu- 

erous  modifications.    Of  the  whole 

strict,  in  many  parts  mountainous 

id  uncultivated,  a  large  portion  was 

iver  divided  at  all ;  and  several  of 

le  native  chieftains,  under  the  plea 

'  loyalty,  or  by  the  influence   of 

•esents,   procured   grants   of  their 

rmer  possessions.    Yet  some  hun- 

•ed  thousand   acres  were  planted; 

id  the  vigour  of  the  measure,  joined 

)  the  intermixture  of  a  new  race  of 

ihabitants,  served  to  keep  in  awe 

lose  turbulent  spirits  that  had  so 

'ten  defied  the  authority  and  arms  of 

le  English  government.^ 

The  supposed  necessity  of  a  military 

)rce  for  the  protection  of  the  colo- 

ists,  suggested  to  Sir  Antony  Shirley 

project  of  raising  money  for  the  use 

f  the  king.^    He  proposed  the  crea- 

ion  of  a  new  title  of  honour,  that  of 

aronet,  intermediate  between  those 

f  baron  and  knight :  that  it  should 

•e  conferred  by  patent,   at  a  fixed 

)rice,  for  the  support  of  the  army  in 

Jlster :  that  it  should  descend  to  heirs 


1  The  project,  orders,  and  survey,  may 
)e  seen  in  Harris.  Dr.  O'Conor  observes 
hat  the  account  given  by  Cox  should  be 
•orrected  by  the  statements  in  the  Desider- 
ita  curiosa  Hiberniae,  Address,  ii.  296.  But 
f  we  may  believe  Lord  Wentworth  in  the 
leit  reign,  no  faith  is  to  be  given  to  the 
neasurements.  He  found  that  most  of  the 
indertakers  had  obtained  ten  times  as  much 
and  as  waa  stated  in  their  patents,  and  at 
:he  same  time  neglected  to  fulfil  their  con- 
tracts.—Staiforde  Papers,  i.  132,  405. 

2  Selden,  part  ii.  p.  821,  906,  910.  "  My 
Father,"  says  Thomas  Shirley  to  the  king, 
"being  a  man  of  excellent  and  working 
wit,  did  find  out  the  device  of  making 
baronets,  which  brought  to  your  majesty's 
cofi'ers  well  nigh  lOO.OOOZ.,  for  which  he  was 
promised  by  the  late  Lord  SaUsbury,  lord 
treasurer,  a  good  recompence,  wtuch 
neter  had."— Dalrymple,  i.  69. 


male,  and  be  confined  to  two  hundred 
individuals,  gentlemen  of  three  de- 
scents and  in  the  actual  possession  of 
lands  to  the  yearly  value  of  one 
thousand  pounds.  James  approved 
of  the  scheme:  the  patents  were 
offered  at  the  price  of  one  thousand 
and  ninety-five  pounds,  the  estimated 
amount  of  the  charge  of  thirty  soldiers 
during  three  years;  and  purchasers 
were  found,  though  in  smaller  num- 
bers than  had  been  expected.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  add  that  the  money 
never  found  its  way  to  Ireland.^ 

The  tranquillity  of  the  island  en- 
couraged the  lord  deputy  to  announce 
his  intention  of  now  holding  a  parlia- 
ment after  an  interval  of  seven  and 
twenty  years.  His  avowed  object  was 
to  enact  new  laws,  and  to  obtain  a 
supply  for  the  king ;  but  the  Catholics 
suspected  a  further  design  of  impo- 
sing on  their  necks  that  penal  code 
which  weighed  so  heavily  on  their 
brethren  in  England.  Their  fears 
were  first  awakened  by  successive  pro- 
clamations enforcing  the  penalties  of 
reelisancy;  they  were  confirmed  by 
the  copy  of  a  real  or  pretended  act 
transmitted  from  the  council  in 
England  to  that  in  Ireland  ;"*  and  an 
additional  alarm  was  excited  by  the 
extraordinary  exertions  of  the  lord 
deputy  to  secure  a  majority  in  the 
house  of  Commons. 


3  In  the  six  years  ninety-three  patents 
were  sold,  raising  in  all  one  hundred  and 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five 
pounds. — See  Abstract  of  the  King's  Re- 
venue, 36—38.  It  was  promised  in  the 
patents  that  no  new  title  of  honour  should 
ever  be  created  between  barons  and  ba- 
ronets, and  that  when  the  number  of  two 
hundred  had  been  filled  up,  no  more  should 
ever  afterwards  be  added. — Somers's  Tracts, 
ii.  254. 

*  By  it  the  punishment  of  high  treason 
was  to  be  enacted  against  aU  priests  who 
should  remain  in  the  kingdom  after  the 
term  of  forty  days  from  the  conclusion  of 
the  parliament ;  and  every  person  harbour- 
ing or  aiding  a  priest,  was  for  the  first 
oSence  to  pay  forty  pounds,  for  the  second 
to  incur  a  praemunire,  for  the  third  to  suffer 
death.— See  it  in  Hibemia  Dominicana, 
619. 


92 


JAMES  I. 


[CHAI 


Since  the  last  parliament  seventeen 
new  counties  had  been  formed,  and 
forty  new  boroughs  had  been  incor- 
porated, though  most  of  the  latter 
consisted  only  of  a  few  scattered 
houses  built  by  the  undertakers  in 
Ulster.  The  lords  of  the  pale  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  council,  re- 
monstrating in  strong  though  re- 
spectful language  against  these  illegal 
incorporations,  and  demanding  that 
all  laws  which  had  for  their  object  to 
force  consciences  should  be  repealed.  • 
"What  answer  was  returned  is  un- 
known ;  but  the  parliament  met.  On 
a  division  respecting  the  choice  of  a 
speaker,  it  appeared  that  the  Pro- 
testants had  a  majority  of  more  than 
twenty  members;  but  their  adversaries 
objected  to  many  of  the  returns,  they 
seceded  from  the  house,  and  so  spe- 
cious was  their  cause,  so  menacing 
their  appearance,  that  the  lord  deputy 
did  not  venture  to  proceed.  He  pro- 
rogued the  parliament,  and  the  two 
parties  appealed  to  the  justice  of  the 
king. 

During  the  contest  the  Catholics 
had  presented  a  remonstrance  con- 
taining the  catalogue  of  their  religious 
grievances.  They  complained  that 
obsolete  statutes  had  been  of  late  re- 
vived and  carried  into  execution ; 
that  their  children  were  not  allowed 
to  study  in  foreign  universities ;  that 
all  the  Cathohcs  of  noble  birth  were 


1  The  Catholics,  in  the  petition  presented 
by  their  deputies,  complained  that  they,  the 
ancient  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  pale, 
were  "  vilipended,  set  at  nought,  and  dis- 
graced by  men  newly  raised  to  place  and 
power  ;  that  the  new  boroughs  were  incor- 
porated with  the  most  shameful  partiality ;" 
and  that  their  representatives  were  attor- 
neys* clerks  and  servants :  they  requested 
the  king  to  weigh  the  discontent  created 
by  such  measures,  and  the  danger  to  be 
feared  from  the  "  ovU-afTected,  which  were 
numbers,  by  reason  of  the  already  settled 
and  intended  plantations;"  and  to  pacify 
the  nation,  lest  a  civil  war,  fomented, 
perhaps,  by  some  foreign  power,  should  be 
the  consequence.— See  it  in  Leland,  ii.  450. 

2  O'SuUivan,  iy.  ; 


excluded  from  offices  and  hone  i 
and  even  from  the  magistracy  in  t 
respective    counties;    that    Cat' 
citizens  and  burgesses  were  rer.. 
from  all  situations  of  power  or  \) 
in  the    different  corporations; 
Catholic  barristers  were  not  perm^ 
to  plead  in  the  courts  of  law : 
that  the  inferior  classes  were  bur;  , 
with   fines,    excommunication^, 
other   punishments,  which   reu 
them  to  the  lowest  degree  of  pove  , 
In  conclusion  they  prayed  that,  si  i 
persecution    could   not   wean    1' 
from  their  religion,  the  king  ■\-. 
adopt  a  more  moderate  course,  \\i. 
might  restore  tranquillity,  and  j  | 
vide,  at  the  same  time,  for  his  c  i 
interests  and  those  of  his  people. 

After  the    prorogation    they  s  i 
the   lords    Gormanstown  and  Dt  •: 
boyne  in  the  name  of  the  Cath'  : 
peers,  and  two  knights  and  two  t  i 
risters  in  the  name  of  the  commc  i 
to  lay  their  petition  at  the  foot  of 
throne.     To  defray  the  expense 
this  mission  a  general  collection  \ 
made  throughout  the  kingdom,  i  i 
all  classes  contributed  their  port  > 
in  the   face   of    a   prohibitory   i  i 
menacing  proclamation.^    By  Jar  i 
the  deputies  were  graciously  receiv( 
but  his  itch  of  talking  soon  chant 
him   from  a   judge  to  a  party; 
answered  their  arguments  and  refu 
their  claims.^    A  commission  of 


caaa,  625. 


247.    Hibernia  Domini- 


3  The  English  council  sought  to  intimid 
the  petitioners  (Winwood,  iii,  463,  4( 
and,  as  usual,  committed  two  of  the  de 
ties,  Luttrel  to  the  Fleet,  and  Talbot  to 
Tower.  The  Jesuit  Suarez  had  lal 
asserted  the  deposing  power.  Several 
tracts  from  his  work  were  laid  before  Tall 
with  an  order  to  give  his  opinion  of  tl 
truth  or  falsehood.  He  sought  to  ev: 
the  task  by  declaring,  that  on  points 
faith  he  thought  with  the  Catholic  chur. 
in  point  of  loyalty,  he  acknowledged  Jai 
to  be  lawful  and  undoubted  king  of  E 
land,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  to  him 
would  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  dur 
his  life.  This  answer  was  pronouncet 
great  offence;  and  after  several  other 
swers,  to  which  more  or  less  objection  ^ 
made,  Talbot  was  brought  before  the  8t 


1614] 


KING'S  POLICY  IN  IRELAND. 


93 


ry  was,  however,  granted ;  and  the 

g,  having  received  the  report,  pro- 

inced  his  approval  of  the  conduct 

:he  lord  deputy,  while  he  left  that 

the  inferior  officers  of  the  govern- 

at  open  to  further  investigation. 

Chester  himself,  with  the  earl  of 

Dmond,  Denhani  the  chief  justice, 

I   St.  John,    the    master   of  the 

nance,  attended  in  England;  the 

iplaints  of  the  recusants  were  re- 

tedly  debated  during  two  months ; 

I  it  was  conceded  that  two  of  the 

arns  to  parliament  were  illegal,  and 

t  the  representatives  of  boroughs 

orporated   after    the   writs  were 

led,  had  no  right  to  sit  during  the 

iion.    To  the  remaining  complaints 

particular  answer  was  returned; 

.  James,  sending  for  the  deputies, 

I  several  Irish  lords  and  gentlemen 

3  had  joined  them,  pronounced  a 

ere  reprimand,  and  was  proceeding 

tax  them  with  disloyalty  on  the 

und  of  religion,  when  Lord  Delvin, 

ing  on  his  knees,  protested  that  he 

;  and  always  would  be  faithful  to 

king,  but  that  no  consideration 

iuld  ever  induce  him  to  abjure  the 

i  rship  of  his  fathers ;  wherefore,  if 

i  vas  supposed  that  the  profession  of 

I !  Catholic  faith  could  not  be  recon- 

I  ;d  with  the  loyalty  of  a  good  sub- 

i  t,  he  begged  permission  to  retire  to 

I  ae  foreign  country,  where  he  might 

I  ve  his  God  without  constraint  to 

conscience  or  offence  to  his  sove- 

i  gn.    The  king  was  disconcerted  by 

Is    interruption;    but    recovering 

I  nself,  he  said  it  was  not  to  Delvin, 

t  to  the  others  that  his  words  had 

m  directed,  who,  by  their  resistance 

his  deputy,  had  incurred  his  high 

pleasure  ;  but  that  he  would  allow 

im  to  return  to  Ireland,  in  the 


imber.    The  result  we  know  not.    But  it 

i  confessed  that  his  last  answer  had  given 

satisfaction,   and  he  was  probably  dis- 

ised  with  an  admonition. — Bacon,  iv.  420. 

Hibernia  Dominicana,  626—628.  Plow- 
1,  i.  App.  xvii. 

In  the  convocation  the  clergy  adopted  a 


hope  that  their  future  submission 
would  justify  his  present  lenity.^ 

The  appearance  of  another  procla- 
mation, leaving  to  the  Catholic  clergy 
of  Ireland  the  option  between  self- 
banishment  or  death,  taught  the  pub- 
lic to  believe  that  the  lord  deputy  had 
gained  a  complete  victory  over  his 
opponents.  But,  however  anxious 
James  might  feel  to  strengthen  the 
Protestant  interest  in  the  island, 
he  saw  that  additional  persecution, 
without  a  larger  force  than  he  could 
maintain,  would  only  provoke  a 
general  and  perhaps  successful  re- 
bellion. He  sent  Chichester  back 
with  instructions  to  soothe  rather 
than  irritate ;  the  recusants  received 
private  assurances  of  forbearance  and 
indulgence ;  and  when  the  parliament 
met  again,  both  parties  appeared  to 
be  animated  with  the  spirit  of  recon- 
ciliation and  harmony.  Every  attempt 
to  revive  the  late  controversy  was 
silenced ;  and  the  two  houses  joined 
in  a  petition  that  Catholic  barristers 
might  be  permitted  to  plead,  in 
defiance  of  the  law.  With  similar 
unanimity,  an  act  was  passed  recog- 
nizing the  right  of  James  to  the 
crown;  the  attainder  of  Tyrone, 
Tyrconnel,  and  O'Dogherty,  with 
their  accomplices,  and  the  plantation 
of  Ulster  were  confirmed  by  law; 
all  statutes  establishing  distinctions 
between  Irishmen  of  the  two  races 
were  abolished,  and  a  liberal  subsidy 
was  cheerfully  granted  to  the  crown.^ 

Chichester  was  succeeded  in  the 
office  of  deputy  by  Oliver  St.  John, 
and  St.  John  by  Carey,  Viscount 
Falkland.  Under  the  former  an  at- 
tempt was  made,  by  order  of  the 
English  council,  to  enforce  the  legal 
fine  for  absence  from  church,  and  the 


code  of  doctrinal  articles  for  the  use  of  the 
Irish  church,  compiled  chiefly  by  the  cele- 
brated Ussher.  They  amount  in  number  to 
one  hundred  and  four,  and  lean  much  more 
to  the  opinions  of  Calvin  than  the  thirty- 
nine  articles  of  the  church  of  England. — 
See  them  in  Wilkins,  iv.  445 — 454. 


94 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


judges  were  instructed  to  begin  by  re- 
porting the  names  of  a  few  Catholics 
in  each  county,  hkely  from  the 
timidity  of  their  disposition  to  sub- 
mit, and  from  the  influence  of  their 
station  to  find  imitators  among  the 
people.  By  Falkland  a  most  menacing 
proclamation  was  published,  com- 
manding every  Catholic  clergyman 
to  quit  the  kingdom  within  fifty  days, 
under  the  peril  of  incurring  the  royal 
indignation,  and  of  suffering  the 
severest  penalty  enjoined  by  the  law. 
But  the  policy  of  such  measures  was 
very  questionable.  They  could  pro- 
duce no  benefit,  because  it  was  im- 
possible to  carry  them  into  execution  ; 
and  they  served  to  irritate,  because 
they  proved  the  hostile  and  intolerant 
disposition  of  the  government.' 

James  himself  was  convinced  that 
before  he  could  extirpate  the  Cathohc 
worship,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
colonize  the  other  provinces  after  the 
example  of  Ulster.  New  inquiries 
into  defective  titles  were  instituted, 
and  by  the  most  iniquitous  proceed- 
ings it  was  made  out  that  almost  every 
foot  of  land  possessed  by  the  natives 
belonged  to  the  crown.-  First  the 
sea  coast  between  Dublin  and  AVater- 
ford  was  planted ;  then  came  the 
counties  of  Leitrim  and  Longford; 
next  followed  King's  County,  Queen's 
County,  and  Westmeath.  James  had 
required   that   three-fourths  of  the 


lands  should  be  restored  to  the  origi 
occupiers,  but  his  orders  were  t 
regarded;  the  native  was  fortun 
who  could  recover  so  much  as  oi 
fourth ;  many  were  stripped  of  ev( 
acre  which  they  had  inherited  fr 
their  fathers,  and  several  septs  w 
transplanted  from  the  soil  that  g: 
them  birth,  to  the  remotest  part' 
the  island.^  From  Leinster  the  p 
jectors  travelled  westward,  and  clain 
for  the  king  the  whole  province 
Connaught,  and  the  adjoining  coui 
of  Clare,  as  having  formerly  belong 
to  the  earl  of  Ulster.  In  the  reign 
Elizabeth  it  had  been  agreed  that ' 
occupiers  of  this  extensive  disti 
should  surrender  all  their  lands,  a 
receive  them  back  on  certain  r 
ditions.  The  agreement  was 
formed  by  the  inhabitants;  but 
patents,  for  some  unknown  reas 
were  not  dehvered.  To  supply  1 
defect,  in  the  thirteenth  of  Jan 
they  made  a  second  surrender, 
ceived  the  patents,  and  paid  tk 
thousand  pounds  as  the  price  of  < 
rolment  in  Chancery.  Within  fc 
years  it  was  discovered  that,  throi 
the  malice  or  neglect  of  the  office 
the  enrolment  had  not  been  mat 
and  James  was  advised  to  t: 
advantage  of  the  omission,  and 
reassert  his  right  to  the  whole  count 
But  the  firm  and  menacing  languj 
of  the  occupiers  alarmed  the  mine 


i  Hibernia  Dominicana,  636,  G37. 

«  Carte's  Ormond,  1.  26.  "Where  no 
grant  appeared,  or  no  descent  or  convey- 
ance in  pursuance  of  it  could  be  proved,  the 
land  was  immediately  adjudged  to  belong 
to  the  crown.  All  grants  taken  from  the 
crown  since  1  Edward  II.  till  10  Henry  VII. 
had  been  resumed  by  parliament,  and  the 
lands  of  all  absentees  and  of  all  that  were 
driven  out  by  the   Irish,  were   by  various 

acts  vested  again  in  the  crown Nordid 

even  later  grants  afford  a  full  security  ;  for 
if  there  was  any  former  grant  in  being  at 

the  time  that  they  were  made, or  if 

the  patents  passed  in  Ireland  were  not 
exactly  agreeable  to  the  fiat,  and  both  of 
these  to  the  king's  original  warrant  trans- 
mitted from  England  ;  in  short,  if  there  was 
any  defect  in  expressing  the  tenure,  any 


mistake  in  point  of  form,  any  advantagi 
be  taken  from  general  savings  and  clai  ■ 
in  the  patents,  or  any  exceptions  to 
made  in  law  (which  is  fruitful  enough 
affording  them),  there  was  an  end  of 
grant  and  of  the  estate  that  was  claii 
under  it." 

3  No  fewer  than  seven  septs  were  remo 
from  Queen's  County  to  Kerry,  and  for 
den  to    return    under    martial  law. 
seigno^  of  Torbert  was  given  by  the  1 
to  Sir  Patrick  Crosby,  on  condition  that 
should  lease  out    one-fourth  to    the    i 
comers  on  reasonable  rates.    A  few,  i  { 
only  a  few  leases  were  made. — See  ^Hl 
forde's  Despatches,  i.  69.     See  anoth^HI 
in  Carte,  which,  he  says,  for  injustii^Hl 
cruelty  is  scarcely  to  be  paralleled  m     I 
history  of  any  age  or  country  (i.  27—32} 


J 


.D.  1623.] 


GENEEAL  STATE  OF  lEELAND. 


95 


he  king ;  they  protested  against  the 
Qjustice  of  the  measure,  and  hinted 
,  resolution  to  keep  by  the  sword  what 
hey  had  rightly  inherited  from  their 
ncestors.  A  composition  was  pro- 
)Osed.  James  renewed  the  patents 
or  a  double  annual  rent,  and  a  fine  of 
en  thousand  pounds ;  and  the  inha- 
)itants  congratulated  themselves  on 
heir  fortunate  escape  from  the  rapa- 
ity  of  the  projectors  and  of  the 
overeign.* 

Such  was  the  state  of  Ireland  at  the 
leath  of  the  king.  Civil  injury  had 
)een  added  to  religious  oppression. 
Che  natives,  whom  the  new  system 
lad  despoiled  of  their  property,  or 
Iriven  from  the  place  of  their  birth, 


1  Carte,  i.  22—27. 


retained  a  deep  sense  of  the  wrongs 
which  they  suffered;  and  those  who 
had  hitherto  eluded  the  grasp  of  the 
servitors  and  undertakers  pitied  the 
fate  of  their  countrymen,  and  exe- 
crated a  government  from  which  they 
expected  in  a  few  years  a  similar 
treatment.  There  was  indeed  a  false 
and  treacherous  appearance  of  tran- 
quillity; and  James  flattered  his 
vanity  with  the  persuasion  that  he 
had  established  a  new  order  of  things, 
the  necessary  prelude  to  improvement 
and  civilization.  In  a  short  time  his 
error  became  manifest.  He  had  sown 
the  seeds  of  antipathy  and  distrust,  of 
irritation  and  revenge ;  his  successor 
reaped  the  harvest,  in  the  feuds,  re- 
bellions, and  massacres  which  for  years 
convulsed  and  depopulated  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  III. 


PERSECrxiON    OP   THE   CATHOLICS,    PURITANS,    AND    UXITARIANS — BACON — BCCKING- 

HAM THE      FAMILY     OF      THE      LAKES SIR      WALTER      RALEIGH THE      PALATINE 

ELECTED  KING  OF  BOHEMIA PROCEEDINGS  OF  PARLIAMENT IMPEACHMENTS- 
DISGRACE  OF  BACON WILLIAMS  MADE  LORD  KEEPER — HOM  CIDE  BY  ARCH- 
BISHOP  ABBOT' DISSENSION    BETWEEN    THE    KING    AND  THE  COMMONS MARRIAGE 

TREATY     WITH     SPAIN THE     PRINCE     AT     MADRID THE     MATCH     BROKEN     OFF 

PARLIAMENT SUPPLY IMPEACHMENT     OF     THE     LORD     TREASURER INTRIGUE 

AGAINST      BUCKINGHAM PREPARATIONS      FOR      WAR      WITH      SPAIN MARRIAGE 

TREATY   WITH   FRANCE — DEATH    OF   THE    KING. 


TJndee  archbishop  Bancroft  the 
church  had  been  "purged"  of  the 
non-conformist  ministers.  Fines  and 
imprisonment  and  deprivation  had 
taught  a  wholesome  lesson,  and  the 
less  obstinate  persuaded  themselves 
that  it  was  lawful  to  submit  in  silence 
to  that  which,  though  they  might 
condemn,  they  could  not  prevent. 
At  the  death  of  Bancroft  the  pre- 
lates recommended  for  his  successor 
Andrews,  bishop  of  Ely ;  James  pre- 
ferred Abbot,  bishop  of  London,  not 
however,  as  he  told  him,  in  reward 
of  his  own  merit,  but  of  that  of  his 


patron,  the  earl  of  Dunbar.^  Abbot 
did  not  inherit  that  stern  spirit  of 
orthodoxy  which  distinguished  his 
predecessor;  though  he  approved  of 
the  established  discipline  himself,  he 
respected  the  scruples,  and  connived 
at  the  disobedience  of  others  ;  and 
his  moderation,  as  it  was  called  by 
his  friends,  though  his  enemies  termed 
it  a  culpable  and  treacherous  indif- 
ference, encouraged  some  of  the  Puri- 
tan preachers  to  establish  separate 
and    independent    congregations   on 


Birch,  Negotiations,  338. 


96 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


the  following  basis:  1.  That  it  was 
unlawful  to  adopt  in  the  worship  of 
God  any  form  or  ceremony  not  ex- 
pressly warranted  in  scripture ;  2, 
that  each  congregation  is  a  distinct 
church,  independent  of  all  others; 
3.  that  the  pastor  of  every  such  con- 
gregation is  supreme  under  Christ, 
and  exempt  from  the  control  or  cen- 
sure of  any  other  minister.' 

In  proportion  as  the  metropolitan 
inclined  towards  puritanism,  he  dis- 
played the  most  active  antipathy 
against  the  professors  of  the  ancient 
faith.  But  his  vehemence  was  checked 
by  the  moderation  of  James,  who, 
less  prodigal  of  human  blood  than  his 
female  predecessor,  less  willing  to  pass 
in  the  estimation  of  foreign  princes 
for  a  sanguinary  persecutor,  preferred 
more  lenient  punishments  to  that 
of  death.  Though  the  prisons  were 
crowded  with  priests,^  yet  during  the 
long  lapse  of  eleven  years,  from  1607 
to  1618,  the  number  of  those  who 
suffered  as  traitors  for  the  exercise 
of  their  functions  amounted  only  to 
sixteen ;  a  most  lamentable  falling  off 
in  the  estimation  of  men  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  feast  their  zeal 
with  an  equal  number  of  similar 
executions  in  the  course  of  twelve 
months.' 

The  lay  Catholics  were  still  liable 
to  the  fines  of  recusancy,  from  which 
the  king,  according  to  his  own  ac- 
count, received  a  net  income  of  thirty- 


1  Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  part  ii. 
ch.  i. 

2  They  were  four  hundred  in  1622.— Ellis, 
Original  Letters,  iii.  128. 

3  Challoner,  ii.  16-120. 

*  Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  446. 

5  Neal,  part  ii.  c.  2.  Of  the  intolerant 
principles  which  prevailed  at  this  time,  the 
reader  may  form  a  notion  from  tho  following 
instance.  On  the  7th  of  May,  1613,  several 
persons  were  arraigned  in  the  Star-chamber 
on  a  charge  of  having  defamed  the  earl  of 
Northampton  and  sir  other  lords  of  the 
council,  by  asserting  that  they  had  solicited 
the  king  to  grant  toleration  to  the  Catholics, 
but  had  been  successfully  opposed  by  Arch- 
bishop Abbot  and  the  lord  Zouch.    When 


six  thousand  pounds  per  annum.* 
But  the  statute  of  1606  had  severely 
aggravated  their  sufferings.  They 
were  repeatedly  summoned  to  take 
the  new  and  disputed  oath  of  alle- 
giance. Non-attendance  at  church 
was  visited  with  excommunication., 
and  the  civil  consequences  of  that 
ecclesiastical  sentence  ;  and  the  re- 
fusal of  the  oath  subjected  them  to 
perpetual  imprisonment  and  the 
penalties  of  premunire.  When  the 
king  in  1616,  preparatory  to  the 
Spanish  match,  granted  liberty  to 
the  Catholics  confined  under  the 
penal  laws,  four  thousand  prisoners 
obtained  their  discharge.  Such  at 
least  was  the  number  according  to 
the  Puritan  writers,  whose  zeal  most 
bitterly  laments  that  so  many  idola<- 
ters  should  be  let  loose  to  pollute  a 
soil,  purified  by  the  true  doctrines  of 
the  gospel.^ 

Another  grievance  arose  from  the 
illegal  extortions  of  the  pursuivants. 
Armed  with  warrants  from  the  ma- 
gistrates or  the  under-sheriff,  they 
selected  a  particular  district,  and 
visited  every  Catholic  family,  under 
the  pretext  of  enforcing  the  law. 
From  the  poor  they  generally  exacted 
the  sacrifice  of  their  furniture  or  their 
cattle ;  to  the  more  wealthy  they  re- 
peatedly sold  their  forbearance  for 
large  sums  of  money.  Experience 
proved  that  it  was  most  prudent  to 
submit.    The  very  show  of  resistance 


the  lords  delivered  their  opinions,  Sir  Ed- 
ward Coke  asserted  that  the  conduct  attri- 
buted to  Lord  Northampton  was  httle  short 
of  high  treason,  because  to  advise  toleration 
was  to  advise  the  king  against  the  rights 
and   dignity  of  his  crown;    the  bishop   of 
London  and  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury  prayed 
that  they  might  never  live  to  see  the  day 
when  toleration  should  be  granted  ;  and  the 
archbishop  said,  he  would  fearlessly  decl«r'~ 
that  in  such  case  the  king  would  cease  to  1 
thedefender,and  would  become  the  betray  r 
of  the  faith.     In  conclusion  the  delinqueir 
were  severally  adjudged  to  lose  one  ear,  ' 
pay  a  large  fine,  and  to  auifer  perpetu 
imprisonment.  —  Extract    from    a   privat 
letter   in    my  possession,    dated    London, 
May  9,  1813. 


II 


L.D.  1623.] 


EXECUTIONS  EOS  HERESY. 


97 


generally  provoked  a  forced  search, 
in  which  plate,  jewels,  and  the  most 
valuable  effects  were  carried  off  as 
superstitious  articles,  and  the  owner 
was  conducted  to  prison,  unless  he 
would  redeem  himself  by  the  pay- 
ment of  a  large  bribe.'  These  excesses 
attracted  the  notice  of  parliament ;  a 
promise  of  redress  was  given;  and  a 
royal  proclamation  proved,  but  did  not 
abolish,  the  prevalence  of  the  evil.- 

Besides  the  Catholics  and  Puritans 
there  was  a  third  class  of  religionists 
obnoxious  to  the  law,— the  Unitarians, 
few  in  number,  but  equally  unwilling 
to  abjure  their  peculiar  doctrines. 
One  of  these,  by  name  Bartholomew 
Legat,  was  convented  before  the  epis- 
copal court  in  St.  Paul's,  and  charged 
with  a  denial  of  the  Trinity.  His 
obstinacy  was  proof  against  the  argu- 
ments of  the  prelate  ;  it  resisted  even 
±e  theology  of  the  king.  The  bishop 
lelivered  him  over  to  the  secular 
power,  and  James  ordered  him  to  be 
burnt  in  Smithfield.  Three  weeks 
ater,  Edward  Wrightman,  who  to 
-he  denial  of  the  Trinity  added  the 
iasertion  that  he  was  himself  the  holy 
spirit  promised  in  the  scriptures,  suf- 
ered  a  similar  fate  at  Norwich.^ 
'God,"  observes  Puller,  "may  seem 
.veil  pleased  with  this  seasonable 
severity;  for  the  fire  thus  kindled 
luickly  went  out  for  want  of  fewell." 
i'et  another  Unitarian  was  dis- 
x)vered  and  condemned  to  expiate 
jis  errors  at  the  stake ;  but  James, 
nformed  by  the  murmurs  uttered  by 
;he  spectators  at  the  former  execu- 

ions,  prudently  saved  him  from  the 
lames,  and  immured  him  in  a  dun- 


^  From  private  letters  in  my  possession. 
'Neither  pot  nor  pan,  nor  bedding  nor 
•Jnge,  nor  jewella,  nor  anie  thing  escapeth 
;heir  hands." 

'  "  Under  colour  of  certain  general  dor- 
mant warrants  they  have  committed  many 
)Utrages,  abuses,  and  misdemeanors,  as 
veil  in  searching  the  houses  of  divers  our 
lonest  and  well-affected  subjects  without 
nst  cause  of  suspicion,  and  taking  and 
ieizing  goods,  plate,  and  jewels,  no  way 
7 


geon  for  life.''  In  this  conduct  he 
persevered  to  the  end  of  his  reign, 
and  the  fire  went  out,  not  through 
want  of  fuel,  but  through  the  policy 
or  the  humanity  of  the  sovereign. 

Prom  these  instances  of  rehgious 
intolerance  we  may  turn  to  the  civil 
transactions  which  filled  up  the  residue 
of  James's  reign.  While  the  king  was 
in  Scotland,  Bacon  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  his  office.  The  vanity  of  the 
new  lord  keeper,  the  state  which  he 
displayed,  and  the  consequence  which 
he  assumed,  excited  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt. But  his  preferment  was  an 
instructive  lesson  to  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  to  whom  the  favourite  had 
offered  his  protection,  as  soon  as  he 
would  consent  to  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  (a  rich  heiress)  with  Buck- 
ingham's brother.  Sir  John  Yilliers. 
Coke  at  first  had  refused ;  he  now 
signified  his  acquiescence  through  his 
friend  Winwood  the  secretary.  The 
jealousy  of  Bacon  was  alarmed.  He 
wrote  to  dissuade  the  king  from  giving 
his  consent,  and  encouraged  the  oppo- 
sition of  Lady  Hatton,  the  wife  of 
Coke,  whose  pride  it  was  to  mortify 
her  husband.  The  two  ladies,  the 
mother  and  daughter,  disappeared, 
and  were  secreted  first  at  the  house 
of  Sir  Edmund  Withipole,  near  Oat- 
lands,  and  next  in  that  of  Lord 
Argyle,  at  Hampton  Court,  Coke's 
application  for  a  search  warrant  was 
refused  by  Bacon,  but  granted  by 
Winwood;  and  the  father,  with,  the 
aid  of  twelve  armed  men,  brought 
away  his  daughter  from  her  retreat. 
In  the  search  some  acts  of  violence 
had  occurred,  strictly  lawful  in  the 


leading  to  superstitious  uses,  yet  pretending 
them  to  be  the  goods  of  Jesuits  and  others, 
and  also  in  discharging,  and  wilfully  suffer- 
ing sundry  Jesuits  and  other  popish  priests 
and  dangerous  and  evQ-affected  persons  to 
escape  for  bribes  and  rewards  underhand 
given  to  them."— Bymer,  ixii.  213.  Also 
Bacon's  Works,  vi.  210. 

3  See  the  writs  for  their  execution  in 
Howell,  ii.  731,  736,  and  at  the  end  of  Truth 
brought  to  Light.     *  Fuller,  1.  x.  p.  62—64. 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II] 


opinion  of  Coke,  breaches  of  the  peace 
in  that  of  Bacon.  The  former  was 
called  to  answer  for  bis  conduct  be- 
fore the  council,  and  threatened  with 
a  prosecution  in  the  Star-chamber; 
but  the  king  undertook  his  defence, 
and  the  pride  of  Bacon  was  soon  hum- 
bled in  the  dust.  James  \\Tote  to  him 
a  letter  of  reprimand,  Buckingham 
one  of  reproach,  with  a  very  significant 
hint  that  he  who  had  made,  could  also 
unmake  him  at  pleasure.  The  answer 
of  the  lord  keeper  was  submissive  and 
deprecatory ;  but  it  unfortunately 
contained  an  expression  which  was 
deemed  insulting  both  to  the  monarch 
and  the  favourite,  a  dark  insinuation 
that,  as  Buckingham  was  running  the 
same  course,  he  might  meet  with  the 
same  fate,  as  Somerset.'  This  second 
affront  called  for  additional  punish- 
ment, which  Bacon  only  escaped  by 
acts  of  degradation  and  protestations 
of  repentance.  On  the  king's  return 
he  solicited,  and  was  refused,  access 
to  the  royal  presence.  He  waited  on 
Buckingham,  was  detained  several 
hours  in  the  ante-chamber,  and  was 
then  dismissed  without  any  apology. 
He  returned  the  next  day :  his  ser- 
vility softened  the  resentment  of  his 
patron;  and  the  lord  keeper,  falling 
at  the  feet  of  the  young  favourite, 
most  piteously  implored  forgiveness. 
A  reconciliation  of  all  the  parties 
followed:  Coke  was  again  sworn  of 
the  privy  council;  Villiers  received 
the  hand  of  his  wealthy  but  reluctant 
bride ;  and  Bacon,  as  the  reward  of 
his  repentance,  obtained  the  appoint- 


i  See  the  letter  in  Bacon's  Works :  "  I 
know  him  to  be  naturally  a  wise  man,  of 
a  sound  and  staid  wit;  and  again  I  know 
he  hath  the  best  tutor  in  Europe.  Yet  I 
was  afaid  that  the  height  of  his  fortune 
might  make  him  too  secure  ;  and,  as  the 
proverb  is,  a  looker-on  sometimes  sees  more 
than  the  gamester."  —  Bacon's  Works,  vi. 
168.  The  king's  answer  may  be  seen, 
p.  162.  Buckingham  took  no  notice  of  the 
above,  but  announced  his  displeasure  thus  : 
•'  In  this  business  of  my  brotner's  I  under- 
stand you  have  carried  yourself  with  much 
■com  and  neglect  towards  myself  and  my 


ment  of  lord  chancellor,  with  a  pen 
sion  of  one  thousand  two  hundre 
pounds  a  year,  besides  the  emolu 
ments  of  his  office,*  and  the  title  c 
Lord  Verulam. 

Buckingham  now  reigned  withou 
control.   He  had  rapidly  obtained  th 
dignities  of  baron,  viscount,  earl,  an 
marquess;  had  been  made  privy  cour 
cillor  and  knight  of  the  Garter ;  an 
had  succeeded  to  the  place  of  master  ( 
the  horse  on  the  removal  of  the  earl  ( 
Worcester,  which  he  afterwards  ej 
changed  for  that  of  lord  high  admira 
on  the  forced  resignation  of  the  earl( 
Nottingham.    Peerages  were  createc 
offices  distributed,  and  ecclesiastic! 
prel'erments  conferred  at  his  pleasure 
his  influence  extended  into  the  cour' 
of  law,  and  every  department  of  g( 
vernment;  and  crowds  of  applican 
for  his  favour,— peers,  prelates,  an 
commoners,  were  all  careful  to  pu] 
chase  it  by  large  presents  of  mone; 
or  the  grant  of  an  annuity  on  the 
salaries  and  emoluments.    James  ai 
peared  to  rejoice  in  the  wealth  an 
authority  of  his  favourite,  was  nev( 
happy  but  in  his  company,  and  mac 
him  both  the  depository  of  his  secrc 
and  the  arbiter  of  his  pleasures,  Undt 
the  auspices  of  Buckingham,  the  cou]  i 
assumed  a  gayer  appearance  than    j 
had  worn  of  late  years ;  balls,  an  } 
masks,  and  festivities,  hastily  followc  i 
each  other ;  and  with  them  were  i 
termixed,  to  gratify  the  taste  of  i 
monarch,  the  most  quaint  conceii 
low  buffoonery,  and  ridiculous  dece] 
tions.3  James  had  already  scandalize 


friends;  for  which,  if  it  proved  true, 
blame  not  you,  but  myself,  who  tca»  yoi 
assured  friend.  G.  Buckingham."  —  Ibi  > 
165.  On  their  reconciliation,  the  earl  a 
sured  him  that  he  was  obliged  to  go  < 
his  knees  and  conjure  the  king  not  to  p 
any  public  disgrace  upon  him  (172).  8' 
Bacon's  Works,  yI.  167—173,  and  Weldo 
127,  132. 

*  The  chancellorship  was  worth  two  the 
sand  seven  hundred  and  ninety  pounds^ 
annum. — Secret  History  of  James,  i. 
note. 

»  Weldon  91.    Aal.  Coq.  263.     Wil 


,D.  1518.J 


TRIAL  OF  THE  LAKES. 


99 


le  Puritans  by  the  allowance  of  cer- 
lin  pastimes  on  Sundays:'  this  round 
f  dissipation  at  Whitehall  filled  them 
ith  pain  and  horror.  They  declaimed 
gainst  the  libertinism  of  the  court, 
saggerated  the  danger  to  which 
imale  virtue  was  exposed  amidst  a 
:owd  of  licentious  gallants,  and 
penly  accused  the  king  of  knowing 
id  abetting  the  flagrant  immorali- 
es  of  his  favourite.^ 
Buckingham  had  soon  weeded  out 
le  friends  and  dependants  of  the 
lUen  Somerset;  he  now  ventured 
)  attack  his  father-in-law,  the  earl 
r  Suflblk,  lord  treasurer,  charging 
im  with  peculation  in  the  discharge 
r  his  high  office.  James  expressed  an 
ichnation  to  spare  the  earl  a  trial  on 
is  submission ;  but  Suflblk  stood  on 
is  innocence,  and  was  condemhed  in 
16  Star-chamber  to  imprisonment  in 
le  Tower,  and  a  fine  of  thirty  thou- 
.nd  pounds.  In  a  short  time  the  fine 
as  moderated,  and  the  prisoner  re- 
lined  his  liberty,  but  with  an  inti- 
lation  that  the  king  expected  his  two 
ms  to  resign  their  places  in  his 
ousehold,  which  he  meant  to  bestow 
1  the  dependants  of  the  favourite, 
ut  the  earl  had  too  much  spirit  to 
ibmit,  and  he  forbade  his  sons, 
hatever  might  be  the  consequence 
)  himself,  to  part  with  their  offices 
nless  by  absolute  force.^ 
Another  trial,  singular  in  all  its 
rcumstances,  occupied  at  the  same 
me  the  attention  of  the  king. 
Tilliam   Cecil,  called    in    right    of 


;,  104.  It  was  probably  in  allusion  to  some 
■  these  sports  that  in  the  correspondence 
;tween  James,  the  queen,  and  Bueking- 
im,  the  king  was  frequently  addressed 
ith  the  title  of  "  your  sowship.'' 
1  Collier,  ii.  711.  During  his  return  from 
jotland  he  publicly  declared  his  pleasure 
that  after  the  end  of  divine  service  the 
jople  should  not  be  letted  from  any  law- 
1  recreation  on  Sundays,  such  as  dancing 
ther  of  men  or  women,  archery  for  men, 
lolting  or  any  other  such  lawful  recreation, 
jr  from  having  May-games,  Whitsun-ales, 
id  Morris-dances,  and  the  setting  up  of 
!ajy-poles,  and  other  sports  therewith  used, 
id  that  women  should  have  leave  to  carry 


his  mother  Lord  lloos,  had  married 
the  daughter  of  secretary  Lake ;  and 
the  next  year,  quitting  the  kingdom 
without  leave,  sent  a  challenge  from 
Calais  to  her  brother.  It  was  at  first 
given  out  that  his  departure  had  been 
caused  by  a  dispute  respecting  the 
settlement  on  his  wife ;  afterwards  it 
was  attributed  to  her  detection  of  an 
incestuous  commerce  between  him 
and  Frances,  the  second  wife  of  his 
grandfather,  the  earl  of  Exeter.  That 
lady  was  indignant  at  a  report  so 
injurious  to  her  honour;  she  traced 
it  to  the  Lady  Lake  and  her  daughter, 
and  immediately  appealed  for  justice 
to  the  court  of  the  Star-chamber. 
The  defendants  produced  in  their 
favour  a  written  instrument,  pur- 
porting to  be  a  confession  of  guilt 
in  the  handwriting  of  the  countess 
herself;  asserted  that  she  had  deli- 
vered it  to  them  in  the  presence  of 
Lord  Eoos  and  his  Spanish  servant 
Diego,  standing  at  the  great  window 
in  the  long  room  at  Wimbledon  ; 
and  brought  forward  Sarah  Swarton, 
the  chambermaid,  who  swore  that, 
being  concealed  behind  the  hangings 
at  the  opposite  end,  she  had  seen 
and  heard  all  that  passed.  James, 
who  prided  himself  on  his  sagacity 
in  the  detection  of  forgery  and  im- 
posture, determined  to  unravel  this 
mystery.  He  privately  despatched  a 
messenger  to  Lord  Eoos  in  Italy, 
who  with  Diego  took  his  oath  on 
the  sacrament  that  the  whole  tale 
was  a  fabrication."*   With  this  ground 


rushes  to  the  church  for  the  decoring  of  it 
according  to  their  old  custom."  This  per- 
mission, however,  was  not  to  extend  to 
recusants,  nor  even  to  conformists,  if  they 
had  not  on  the  same  day  attended  divine 
service.  May  20,  1618.— Somers's  Tracts, 
ii.  55. 

2  "  There  is  cot  a  lobby  or  chamber  (if  it 
could  speak)  but  would  verify  this." — Pey- 
ton, 369,  also  354,  355.    Wilson,  728. 

3  See  two  spirited  letters  from  him  to 
the  king  and  to  Buckingham,  in  Cabala, 
362. 

*  He  died  very  soon  afterwards ;  and,  if 
report  deserve  credit,  of  poison. 


100 


JAMES  I. 


[CHJlP.  II 


for  suspicion,  the  king  compared  tlie 
■\ATitten  document  with  the  letters  of 
the  countess,  and  discovered  a  dis- 
crepancy in  the  hands ;  and  then 
riding  unexpectedly  to  AVimbledon, 
convinced  himself  from  actual  in- 
spection of  the  locality,  that  Swarton 
could  not  have  been  concealed  behind 
the  hangings,  nor  have  heard  what 
was  said  at  the  Avindow.  The  British 
Solomon  now  took  his  seat  among  the 
judges  in  the  Star-chamber ;  five  days 
were  occupied  with  the  pleadings ; 
on  the  sixth  day  Lady  Eoos  acknow- 
ledged that  the  instrument  had  been 
forged  with  the  privity  of  her  father 
and  mother ;  and  judgment  was  pro- 
nounced that,  in  consideration  of  her 
repentance  and  confession,  she  should 
only  suffer  confinement  during  the 
royal  pleasure,  that  Swarton  should 
be  whipped  at  a  cart's  tail,  and  do 
penance  at  the  church  of  St.  Martin, 
and  that  Sir  Thomas  and  Lady  Lake 
should  pay  a  fine  of  ten  thousand 
pounds  to  the  king,  and  damages  to 
the  amount  of  five  thousand  pounds 
to  the  countess,  and  should  also  be 
imprisoned  till  they  made  their  sub- 
mission.' It  is  probable  that  the  court 
came  to  a  correct  decision  with  respect 
to  the  guilt  of  the  parties ;  but, 
whether  it  did  or  not,  the  case  taken 
in  all  its  bearings  will  leave  a  very 
unfavourable  notion  of  the  morality 
of  the  age ;  and,  if  we  couple  it  with 
the  scene  of  iniquity  disclosed  by  the 
history  and  trials  of  the  •  earl  and 
countess  of  Somerset,  will  convince 
us  that  at  this  period  the  most 
shameful  and  degrading  vices  were 
not  uncommon  among  persons  of 
the  first  rank  and  consideration  in 
the  state.' 


»  Carleton's  letters,  169,  170,  192,  Au- 
licus  Co^uin.  in  the  Secret  History  of 
Jamea,  ii.  190—197.  Camden,  aniiis  1617, 
1618,  1619.     Bacon's  Works,  vi.  233. 

"  The  Spanish  ambassador  interceded  in 
farour  of  Lady  Lake.  But  James  replied 
that  she  was,  he  dared  to  say,  guilty  of  tho 
•eTen  deadly  sins,  and  that  to  grant  her 
any  indulgence  at  that  time  would  be  to 


About  the  same  time  a  more  int< 
resting,  but  more  distressing  seen 
was  opened  to  the  public  by  the  la 
adventures  and  the  subsequent  fal 
of  the  gallant  but  unprincipled  S 
Walter  Ealeigh.  After  his  convi* 
tion  in  1G03,  he  had  remained  thirtee 
years  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower ;  bi 
the  earl  of  Northumberland,  the  M( 
c»nas  of  the  age,  had  converted  tb; 
abode  of  misery  into  a  temple  of  tl 
muses.  Ealeigh  was  gradually  ii 
spired  by  the  genius  of  the  place;  : 
first  he  endeavoured  to  solace  tl 
tedium  of  confinement  by  the  stm 
of  chemistry;  thence  he  proceed( 
to  different  branches  of  literal  un 
and  two  years  before  his  enlargen.v 
published  his  celebrated  History 
the  World.  The  appearance  of  ii; 
work  turned  every  eye  once  mo 
upon  him.  Men  had  hitherto  coi 
sidered  him  as  an  adventurer  and 
courtier ;  they  now  stood  in  astonisl 
ment  at  his  multifarious  acquir 
ments,  his  deep  research,  his  chr 
nological  knowledge,  and  his  vario 
acquamtance  with  the  Grecian  ai 
rabbinical  writers ;  though  in  reaU 
that  acquaintance  appears  to  ha 
been  derived  from  versions  in  t^ 
Latin  language.  Admiration  for  1 
talents  begot  pity  for  his  fate;  a 
Prince  Henry  was  heard  to  say,  1 
no  man  besides  his  father  would  k>^ 
such  a  bird  in  a  cage.^ 

For  a  long  time  his  confineme 
was  attributed  to  the  influence  of  i 
political  enemy,  the  earl  of  Salisbur 
But  James  appeared  equally  incN 
rable  after  the  death  of  that  minis i 
his  resolution  was  proof  against 
intercession  of  his  son,  of  his  qu( 
and  of  his  brother-in-law  the  kin- 


acknowledge  his  judgment  nnjui 
ise  to  Lady  Jii 


ust,  an  i 
break    his    promise  to  Lady  Jixeter   it 
matter  of  justice.— Ellis,  Original  Lette     j 
iii.  120.  J 

8  His  History  of  the  World  was  publi^ 
in  1614.     It  commences  with  the         ^^ 
reviews  the  three  first  monarchies,  i 
about  a  century  and  a  half  before  i 
of  Christ. 


9  creaM 
s,  and^l 
»the  S 


..D.  lol9.]       EELEASE  OF  SIR  WALTER  EALEIGH. 


101 


Denmark ;  it  yielded  only  to  tlie  soli- 
itations  of  his  favourite,  Avliose  ser- 
ices  had  been  purchased  by  the  pri- 
oner,  ou  the  condition  that  he  should 
lay  one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds 
0  Buckingham's  uncles,  Sir  William 
?t.  John  and  Sir  Edward  Yilliers. 
Jtill  Ealeigh  remained  under  sentence 
if  death.  James  gave  him  liberty, 
)ut  refused  him  pardon ;  and  fear- 
ul  of  his  talents,  mistrustful  of  his 
oyalty,  he  sought-  to  contain  him 
vithin  the  bounds  of  duty,  by  remind- 
Qg  him  that  his  fate  still  depended 
>n  the  mere  pleasure  of  his  sove- 
eign. 
In  1584,  Ealeigh  had  obtained  from 
^ueen  Elizabeth  a  patent,  the^opy  of 
me  previously  granted  to  his  uterine 
)rother  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and 
)robably  drawn  after  the  papal  grants 
)f  former  ages.  It  gave  to  him,  his 
leirs  and  assigns,  full  power  to  dis- 
:over  and  subdue  foreign  and  heathen 
ands  not  in  the  possession  of  any 
christian  prince,  nor  inhabited  by 
my  Christian  people;  to  hold  them 
)f  the  English  crown  by  the  pay- 
nent  of  one- fifth  of  all  the  gold  and 
silver  ore  that  might  be  extracted ; 
;o  resist  and  expel  by  force  of  arms 
dl  persons  who  should  attempt  to 
settle  within  two  hundred  leagues  of 
:he  place  where  he  or  his  dependants 
Jiight  fix  their  habitation  within  the 
>ix  following  years;  and  to  surprise 
and  capture  all  ships  which  should 
attempt  to  trade  in  the  rivers  or  on 
the  coasts  within  the  limits  afore- 
said.' In  consequence  of  this  most 
imple  grant,  Ealeigh  sent  to  the 
shores  of  North  America  several 
expeditions,   which    proved    ruinous 


1  Haklnyt,  iii.  243. 

2  He  shall  be  heard  in  rindication  of  this 
conduct.  "  To  be  revenged  of  the  former 
wrong  [it  was  said  that  on  some  former 
expedition  to  Trinidad,  Bereo  had  made 
prisoners  of  eipht  Englishmen  under  a 
Captain  Whiddon],  as  also  considering  that 
to  enter  Guiana  by  boats,  to  depart  four 
or  live  hundred  miles  from  my  ships,  and 


to  the  projector,  though  beneficial  to 
the  country,  inasmuch  as  they  led  to 
the  colonization  of  Virginia.  In  1595, 
he  sailed  in  person,  but  his  object 
was  of  a  different  nature, — the  disco- 
very of  the  fabulous  empire  of  Guiana, 
its  incalculable  riches,  and  its  golden 
city  of  Manoa,  called  by  the  Spanish 
adventurers.El  Dorado.  At  Trinidad 
he  was  received  by  the  Spaniards,  as 
on  his  voyage  to  Virginia,  and  ex- 
changes in  the  way  of  trade  were  ami- 
cably made  betweeii  the  strangers 
and  the  garrison ;  but  Ealeigh  watch- 
ing his  opportunity,  surprised  and 
massacred  the  guard,  reduced  to  ashes 
the  town  of  St.  Joseph,  and  carried 
away  Bereo,  the  governor,  who  had 
previously  made  an  establishment  in 
Guiana."'^ 

With  this  officer  for  a  guide,  and 
without  apprehension  of  an  enemy  to 
intercept  his  return,  he  sailed  fear- 
lessly to  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco,  and 
advanced  in  boats  above  a  hundred 
miles  up  the  river,  giving  out  to  the  na- 
tives that  he  was  their  friend  and  pro- 
tector, who  had  come  in  search  of  the 
Spaniards,  the  common  enemy  of  both. 
Pour  weeks  were  spent  in  the  survey 
of  the  country  and  in  communications 
with  the  inhabitants,  when  the  waters 
suddenly  rose,  the  boats  could  no 
longer  stem  the  rapidity  of  the  cur- 
rent, and  the  adventurers,  abandoning 
themselves  to  the  stream,  were  carried 
back  through  a  thousand  perils  to 
their  vessels.  The  discoveries  which 
he^  had  made  rather  irritated  than 
satisfied  the  curiosity  of  Ealeigh.  He 
had  gained  little  to  indemnify  him  for 
the  expense  of  the  voyage,  but  he  had 
seen  enough  to  quicken  his  hopes, 


to  leave  a  garrison  in  my  back  interested 
in  the  same  enterprise,  who  also  expected 
daily  supplies  out  of  Spain,  I  should  have 
savoured  very  much  of  the  ass :  therefore 
taking  a  time  of  most  advantage,  I  set  upon 
the  corps  de  garde,"  &c.  That  he  might 
not  savour  of  an  ass,  he  became  a  mur- 
derer I 


102 


JAMES  I. 


[chap,  n  I 


and  to  stimulate  him  to  further 
exertions. 

The  account  which  he  published 
after  his  return  proves  him  to  have 
been  a  master  in  the  art  of  puffing.' 
The  riches  of  the  natives,  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  and  the  salubrity  of  the 
climate,  were  painted  in  the  most 
seductive  colours;  numbers  offered 
to  share  with  him  the  charges  of 
another  expedition  ;  and  several  ships 
successively  sailed  to  Guiana,  and 
returned  to  England,  but  without 
forming  any  settlement,  or  making 
any  additional  discovery.  These  fail- 
ures Ealeigh  attributed  to  the  inex- 
perience or  misconduct  of  the  leaders ; 
Ae  was  acquainted  with  the  natives, 
and  the  situation  of  their  mines ;  were 
Tie  permitted  to  go  out,  he  would 
make  Guiana  to  England  what  Peru 
had  been  to  Spain.  It  was  a  bold  and 
hazardous  boast;  for  his  own  narra- 
tive shows  that  of  the  gold-mines  he 
knew  nothing  more  than  what  he 
conjectured  from  the  appearance  of 
the  surface,  and  what  he  inferred  from 
the  casual  assertion  of  a  native,  the 
guide  of  Captain  Keymis.  But  he 
continued  to  press  the  subject  on  the 
attention  of  secretary  "Winwood,  till 
that  minister,  dazzled  by  the  prospect, 
presented  his  petition  to  the  king,  and 
obtained  for  him  the  permission  which 
he  sought. 

Gondomar,  the  Spanish  ambassador. 


1  "The  common  soldier  shall  here  fight 
for  gold,  and  pay  himself,  instead  of  pence, 
with  plates  of  half  a  foot  broad,  wner%aj3 
he  breaks  his  bones  in  other  wars  for  pro- 
rant  and  penury.  Those  commanders  and 
chieftains  that  shoot  at  honour  and  abund- 
ance, shall  find  here  more  rich  and  beau- 
tiful cities,  more  temples  adorned  with 
golden  images,  more  sepulchres  filled  with 
treasure,  than  either  Cortez  found  in  Mexico, 
or  Pizarro  in  Peru." — See  "  The  Discovery 
of  the  large,  rich,  and  beautiful  Empire  of 
Guiana,  with  relation  of  the  great  and  nolden 
city  Manao,"  &c.  London,  -Ito.  1696,  in 
Halei^h's  Works,  by  Birch,  ii.  137. 

2  Rymer,  ivi.  789.  Haleigh'u  Works,  by 
Birch,  ii.  385. 

3  James  has  been  severely  censured  for 
allowing  Gondomar  to  see  this  paper.    The 


was  supposed  to  have  acquired  com 
derable  influence  over  the  royal  min 
by  the  adroitness  of  his  flattery  ar 
the  brilUancy  of  his  wit.  He  was  n 
slow  to  discover  the  design  of  Ealeig 
and  complained  to  the  king  that  1 
had  authorized  that  which  was  ; 
reality  a  piratical  expedition  again 
the  Spanish  settlements  in  Son 
America.  James  sent  for  the  pater 
revised  and  corrected  it  with  his  ov( 
hand.  While  he  gave  to  the  adve: 
turers  the  power  of  trading  and  d 
fending  themselves,  he  refused  th 
of  invading  or  subduing  others.'  I 
even  limited  their  trade  to  countri 
inhabited  by  savage  and  infidel  n 
tions ;  €iot  content  with  this,  he  e 
pressly  forbade  Ealeigh  to  offer  ai 
offence  to  the  subjects  of  his  allic 
particularly  to  those  of  the  king 
Spain;  and  for  greater  security  r 
quired  from  him  a  statement 
writing  of  the  place  where  he  i 
posed  to  trade,  and  of  the  force  whi. 
he  intended  to  take  out.  Gondoma 
by  means  with  which  we  are  una 
quainted,  obtained  a  sight  of  tl 
paper ;  and  a  copy  of  it,  with  a  reii 
fbrcement  of  soldiers,  was  forward( 
to  his  brother,  the  governor  of  £ 
Thomas.3 

While  Raleigh's  ship,  the 
tiny,"  of  thirty-six  guns,  lay  in 
river,  he  received  some  visits 
Desmaretz,  the  French  ambassad( 


)f  £j 

I 

id* 


ambassador  may  have  procured  it  fifo 
others  ;  but  if  it  were  from  James,  tl 
king  may  still  be  without  blame.  It 
manifest,  from  the  very  words  of  Raleie 
that  throughout  the  negotiation  he  O 
ceived  his  sovereign.  •'  I  acquainted  l 
majesty  with  my  intention  to  land 
Guiana,  yet  I  never  made  it  known  to  b 
majesty  that  the  Spaniards  had  any  footii 
there.  Neither  had  I  any  authority  fro 
my  patent  to  remove  them  from  theoc 
Therefore  his  majesty  had  no  interests 
the  attempt  of  St.  Thomas  by  any  &p 
knowledge  in  his  majesty." — Addrefl 
Lord  Carew.  See  Cayley  s  correct 
ii.  138. 

♦  It  was  about  this  time  fApril  24) 
Coucini,  mar^cbal  d'Ancre,  the  favourite 
the  queen  regent  of  France,  who  appear 


I 


I 


.D.  1617.]      EALEIGH'S  UNFORTUNATE  FAILUEE. 


103 


'hey  may  have  originated  in  curiosity, 
ut  they  attracted  the  notice  of  James, 
nd  awakened  unfavourable  suspicions 
1  his  breast.  The  expedition,  con- 
isting  of  fourteen  sail,  was  compelled 
3  put  into  Cork,  whence,  after  a  long 
nd  tedious  voyage  of  four  months, 
uring  which  the  elements  seemed  to 
lave  conspired  against  the  adven- 
urers,  it  reached  the  coast  of  Guiana. 
i?wo  ships  were  missing;  a  consider- 
,ble  number  of  men  had  died  of  a 
«ntagious  disease ;  and  more,  among 
vhom  was  the  commander-in-chief, 
rare  reduced  by  sickness  to  the  last 
;tate  of  debility.  To  add  to  their  dis- 
tress they  learned  that  a  Spanish 
leet  was  cruising  to  intercept  them 
n  the  neighbouring  seas.  Under 
uhese  circumstances  it  was  determined 
that  the  fleet  should  remain  at  an- 
3hor,  while  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men  in  boats,  under  the  guidance  of 
Keymis,  and  the  command  of  Ra- 
leigh's nephew,  should  proceed  up  the 
Orinoco,  and  take  possession  of  the 
supposed  mine.  They  landed  near 
the  settlement  of  St.  Thomas ;  a  battle 
ensued;  the  governor  was  killed,  and 
the  town  was  occupied  by  the  con- 
querors.' But  to  cross  a  branch  of 
the  river,  and  to  advance  to  the  moun- 
tains in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  was  an 


togovernbothher  and  the  kingdom,  was  mur- 
dered in  cold  blood  by  Vitry,  captain  of  the 
body-guard,  with  the  permission  of  the 
king,  who  was  only  in  his  sixteenth  year, 
and  at  the  instigation  of  Albert  de  Luysnes. 
The  following  letter  on  the  subject  will 
show  how  apt  men  are  to  measure  the 
morality  of  actions  by  their  own  partiali- 
ties. "  Those  who  condemn  this  action  as 
most  impious  and  inhuman,  do  not  con- 
sider that  it  was  at  the  choice  of  the  king 
(Louis  XIII.)  whether  he  would  neglect 
the  safety  of  his  person  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  crown,  both  which  must  have 
fallen  if  Anere  had  stood,  or  proceed,  as  he 
did,  sine  forma  et  figura  judicii,  by  martial 
law  against  the  usurper  of  his  crown  and 
state.    But   what    opinion    soever   private 

men have  of  this  action,  his  majesty 

(James)  is  pleased  to  approve  of  it ;  which 
doth  appear  not  only  by  the  outward  de- 
monstration of  his  exceeding  joy  and  con- 
tentment, when  he  first  received  the  news 
thereof,  but  also  by  letters  which  with  his 


enterprise  of  great  difficulty  and  dan- 
ger; and,  after  a  short  consultation, 
the  adventurers  set  fire  to  the  town, 
and  repairing  to  their  boats,  hastened 
to  rejoin  their  countrymen  at  Tri- 
nidad. 

Their  return  plunged  the  un- 
fortunate Raleigh  into  the  deepest 
distress.  His  son  had  fallen  in 
the  attack  of  the  town;  the  mine, 
on  the  existence  of  which  he  had 
staked  his  head,  had  not  been 
even  discovered ;  and  the  plunder  of 
the  settlement  was  too  inconsiderable 
to  atone  for  his  disobedience  to  the 
royal  command.  In  the  anguish  of 
his  heart  he  poured  out  a  torrent  of 
invective  against  Keymis,  who,  having 
endeavoured  in  vain  to  pacify  his 
commander,  retired  to  his  cabin  and 
put  an  end  to  his  life.  Raleigh's  only 
remaining  hope  was  to  redeem  his 
character  by  some  desperate  enter- 
prise, and  to  return  to  England  with 
sufficient  spoil  to  purchase  his  par- 
don. But  with  the  loss  of  his  good 
fortune  he  had  forfeited  the  con- 
fidence of  his  followers;  ship  after 
ship  abandoned  his  flag;  the  men 
under  his  immediate  command  muti- 
nied and  split  into  parties ;  and,  after 
an  unsuecessful  attempt  to  slink  away 
on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  he  returned 


own  hand  he  hath  written  to  the  French 
king.  Besides,  Mr.  Comptroller  hath  ex- 
press order  to  congratulate  with  Vitry,  that 
by  his  hands  the  king  his  master  was  de- 
livered out  of  captivity,  and  mis  hors  de 
page." — Secretary  Winwood  to  Dudley 
Carleton;  Carleton's  Letters,  128.  Buck- 
ingham also  wrote  to  the  ambassador  at 
Paris  to  let  Vitry  know  "  how  glad  King 
James  was  that  he  had  been  the  instrument 
to  do  his  master  so  good  service." — Birch, 
402.  Little  did  Buckingham  think,  while 
he  thus  congratulated  the  murderer,  that 
he  was  doomed  to  meet  a  fate  similar  to 
that  of  d'Ancre. 

1  In  their  defence  it  was  alleged  that  they 
were  attacked  by  the  Spaniards,  as  they 
were  peaceably  proceeding  in  search  of 
the  mine.  This  is  doubtful  :  but  were  it 
true,  it  makes  little  diiference.  To  land 
and  march  through  the  country  in  martial 
array,  and  without  permission,  was  cer- 
tainly an  act  of  aggression. 


104 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


to  the  harbour  of  Plymouth;  but 
whether  by  choice  or  compulsion  is 
uncertain.* 

Here  misfortune  seemed  to  have 
subdued  his  courage  and  perplexed 
his  understanding.  He  hesitated  be- 
tween the  different  expedients  which 
suggested  themselves  to  his  mind,  till 
he  precipitated  himself  into  the  snare 
which  had  been  prepared  by  his  ene- 
roies.  He  was  certain  of  an  asylum 
in  Trance,  and  a  bark  lay  ready  to 
convey  him  across  the  Channel.  He 
proceeded  towards  it,  turned  back, 
fixed  another  evening  for  the  attempt, 
and  then  refused  to  keep  his  ap- 
pointment. In  a  short  time,  he 
was  arrested  by  his  kinsman  Stuke- 
ley,  vice-admiral  of  Devon,  who  had 
been  commissioned  to  conduct  him 
to  London.  The  horrors  of  the  Tower 
immediately  rushed  on  his  imagina- 
tion :  from  Manourie,  a  Erench  em- 
piric, his  warder,  he  purchased  drugs 
that  provoked  the  most  violent  retch- 
ings, and  aqua  fortis,  with  which  he 
produced  pimples  and  blisters  on  his 
forehead,  nose,  breast,  arms,  and  legs ; 
he  was  found  in  his  shirt  on  all-fours 
on  the  ground,  gnawing  the  rushes, 
and  personating  madness ;  and  three 
physicians  whom  Stukeley  consulted 
agreed  in  pronouncing  him  in  great 
though  not  immediate  danger.  He 
was  then  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Salisbury.  James  lay  in  that  city, 
and  unwilling  to  introduce  a  prisoner 
under  an  infectious  disease  into  the 
Tower,  the  king  assented  to  the  peti- 
tion of  his  friends  that  he  might  be 
confined  for  a  short  time  to  his  own 
house.  This  was  his  real  object. 
Captain  King  was  instantly  despatched 
to  provide  a  ship  for  his  escape ;  but 
Manourie,  to  whom  he  had  confided 
the  secret,  betrayed  it  to  Stukeley ; 
and  lialeigh,  observing  that  he  was 


more  closely  watched,  purchased  tl 
promise  of  connivance  from  his  kin; 
man  with  the  present  of  a  vaiuah  ' 
jewel,  and  a  bond  for  the  payment  < 
one  thousand  pounds.    But  Stukele 
was  a  traitor,  acting  under  instruc 
tions  to  procure,  by  every  device  i 
his  power,  evidence  of  Ealeigh's  cor 
nection  witli  France,  and  daily  advei 
tising  the  council  of  every  transactio 
regarding  his  prisoner.     At  Breni 
'  ford,  Ealeigh  received  a  visit  froi 
De  Chesne,  secretary  of  Le  Clerc,  th 
Erench  resident ;  in  London  he  ha 
a  private  interview  with  that  ministe  ^ 
himself,  who  offered  him  the  use  of  i 
Erench  bark  in  the  river,  with  a  lette  ^ 
addressed  to  the  governor  of  Calais.  H  ^ 
preferred,  however,  the  ship  providet 
for  him  by  Captain  King,  and  at  th< 
appointed  time  disguised  himself,  am  i 
being  accompanied  by  King,  Stukeley 
and  Stukeley's  sou,  took  a  boat  to  sai 
down  the   river   to  Gravesend.     I 
wherry  which  appeared  to  follow  then 
excited  his  apprehensions :   the  tid« 
failing,  they  were  obliged  to  land  aiii 
Greenwich ;  and  Stukeley,  as  soon  ati 
he  was  joined  by  the  men  from  th* 
wherry,  arrested  King,  and  conductec^ 
Ealeigh  to   a   neighbouring  tavenu 
The  next  day  the  fugitive  was  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower;  Le  Clerc  was 
forbidden  the  court,  and  soon  after- 
wards sent  out  of  the  kingdom.^ 

On  the  first  receipt  of  the  intelli- 
gence from  America,  Gondomar  had 
repaired  to  James,  exclaiming,  "  Ei- 
ratas,  piratas,  piratas."  His  sense  ol 
the  insult  offered  to  his  sovereign  was 
quickened  by  resentment  for  the 
blood  of  his  brother ;  nor  did  he  cease 
to  demand  satisfaction  till  he  was 
recalled  to  Spain,  with  an  intimation 
that  this  was  the  last  appeal  which 
his  master  would  make  to  the  justice 
of  the  king  of  Great  Britain.^*    But 


1  See  his  letter  to  Winwood,  his  apolouy 
to  the  king,  and  "the  declaration  of  the 
demeanour  and  carriage  of  Sir  Walter 
Kaleigh,"  &c.  in  the  second  volume  of  Cay- 


ley,  106,  115,  App.  82.  1  ; 

"  Cayley,    ii.    App.    94  —  104.     Somera'Pi 
Tracts,  ii.  431—436.    Eauraer,  ii.  235.         -l 

2  Bacon's  Works,  vi.  205.  j 


D.  1618.J      TELiL  AND  EXECUTION  OF  EALEIGH. 


105 


le  anger  of  James  required  no  incite- 
.ent  from  others.  In  his  estimation, 
16  conduct  of  Ealeigh  amounted  to 
personal  injury.  That  adventurer 
ad  invaded  the  territory  of  a  friendly 
3wer,  and  endangered  the  amity 
3tween  Spain  and  England,  in  de- 
mce  of  the  prohibition  of  James 
imself,  and  with  the  knowledge  that 
le  royal  word  had  been  pledged  for 
is  peaceable  demeanour.  With  this 
eling,  the  king  offered  to  the  choice 
'  Philip,  to  send  the  offenders  at 
ice  to  Spain,  or  to  inflict  on  them 
rompt  and  exemplary  punishment 
I  England.  Eive  weeks  elapsed  be- 
Te  the  answer  was  received,  and 
aring  that  interval  Ealeigh  was 
irassed  in  the  Tower  with  repeated 
caminations  before  a  committee  of 
dvy  councillors,  and  subjected  to 
le  perfidious  friendship  of  his 
aeper.  Sir  Thomas  Wilson,  who  had 
iceived  the  usual  instructions,  to 
orm  himself  into  the  confidence 
his  prisoner,  to  note  down  every 
nguarded  expression  which  fell  from 
is  lips,  and  to  draw  from  him,  by 
:tful  questions  or  suggestions,  such 
7owa]s  as  might  justify  the  fate  to 
hich  he  was  already  doomed.  But 
le  caution  of  Ealeigh  balked  the 
igenuity  of  the  spy ;  and  in  his  an- 
vers  to  the  commissioners,  though 
e  admitted  the  deceit  which  he  had 
ractised  on  the  king  by  feigning 
okness,  he  maintained  the  upright- 
ess  of  his  intentions,  and  explained 
^vay  the  most  questionable  parts  of 
is  conduct. I  At  length  arrived  the 
iswer  of  Philip,  that  in  his  opinion 
le  punishment  ought  to  be  inflicted 
here  the  engagement  was  originally 
5ntracted.  James  then  consulted 
16  judges,  who  replied,  that  Ealeigh, 
jmaining  under  sentence  of  death, 
ad  all  along  been  dead  in  law;  he 
3uld  not,  therefore,  be  brought  to 
•ial  for  any  subsequent  oflence,  but, 


1  Jardine,  486—496. 

*  Howell's  State  Trials,  ii,  33. 


in  contemplation  of  his  more  recent 
conduct  in  sacking  and  burning  the 
town  of  St.  Thomas,  the  judgment 
passed  on  him  in  the  first  year  of  the 
king,  might  with  justice  be  carried 
into  execution.  Pour  days  later  he 
was  placed  at  the  bar  of  the  King's 
Bench:  he  pleaded  that  his  com- 
mission, by  giving  him  power  of  life 
and  death  over  others,  was  equivalent 
to  a  pardon ;  but  the  chief  justice 
interrupted  him,  saying,  that  in  cases 
of  treason  pardon  could  not  be  im- 
plied, but  must  be  expressed ;  and 
after  a  suitable  exhortation  conceived 
in  terms  of  respect  unusual  on  such 
occasions,  ended  with  these  words, 
"  execution  is  granted."^  Ealeigh, 
from  the  moment  he  despaired  of 
saving  his  life,  displayed  a  fortitude 
worthy  of  his  character.  "  He  was," 
says  the  divine  who  attended  him,. 
"  the  most  fearless  of  death  that  was 
ever  known,  and  the  most  resolute 
and  confident ;  yet  with  reverence 
and  conscience.  When  I  began  to 
encourage  him  against  the  fear  of 
death,  he  made  so  slight  of  it  that  I 
wondered  at  him.  When  I  told  him 
that  the  dear  servants  of  God,  in 
better  causes  than  his,  had  shrunk 
back  and  trembled  a  little,  he  denied 
not,  but  gave  God  thanks  he  never 
feared  death,  and  much  less  then; 
for  it  was  but  an  opinion  and  ima- 
gination :  and  the  manner  of  death, 
though  to  others  it  might  seem  grie- 
vous, yet  he  had  rather  die  so  than 
of  a  burning  fever."  ^ 

His  cheerfulness  on  the  scaffold 
proved  that  these  were  not  idle  vaunts. 
Holding  his  notes  in  his  hands,  he  enu- 
merated and  refuted  several  charges 
which  had  been  made  against  him; 
that  he  had  received  a  commission 
from  the  king  of  Prance,  had  spoken 
disrespectfully  of  his  own  sovereign, 
had  accused  the  lords  Doncaster  and 
Carew  of  advising  him  to  escape,  and 


Hearne's  Hemingford,  i.  App.  clrxxr. 


106 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.] 


had  formerly,  at  the  execution  of 
Essex,  openly  rejoiced  at  the  fall  of 
his  enemy.  But  his  speech  disap- 
pointed the  curiosity  of  his  hearers. 
He  made  no  allusion  to  the  treason 
for  which  he  had  been  originally  con- 
demned, nor  sought  to  justify  the 
conduct  which  had  brought  him  to 
the  scaffold.*  Having  taken  his  leave 
of  the  lords  who  were  present,  he 
asked  for  the  axe,  and,  feeling  the 
edge,  observed  with  a  smile,  that  it 
was  a  sharp  medicine,  but  a  physician 
for  all  diseases.  He  then  laid  his 
head  on  the  block,  and  gave  the 
signal ;  bub  the  slowness  of  the  exe- 
cutioner provoked  him  to  exclaim, 
"  Why  dost  thou  not  strike  ?  Strike, 
man ! "  At  the  second  blow  his  head 
was  severed  from  his  body. 

The  fate  of  Ealeigh  excited  much 
commiseration.  There  was  a  general 
behef  that  he  had  been  unjustly  con- 
demned in  the  first  instance,  and  the 
national  antipathy  to  Spain  made 
light  of  his  more  recent  offence.  The 
king  was  accused  of  having  sacrificed 
to  the  interested  representations  of 
Gondomar  one  of  the  most  gallant 
officers  and  most  enlightened  men 
among  his  subjects.  Yet,  if  we  im- 
partially consider  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  expedition  origin- 
ated, and  the  illegal  manner  in  which 
it  had  been  conducted,  we  must  con- 
fess that  the  provocation  was  great, 
and  the  punishment  not  undeserved. 


1  His  speech  in  Cayley,  ii,  168.  Somers's 
Tracts,  ii.  438.  Tounson's  Letter  in  He- 
xningford. 

»  Cayley,  ii.  166.  Wilson,  719.  Dal- 
rymple,  i.  78.  Balfour,  ii.  72.  Perhaps  I 
ought  here  to  mention  the  arrival  in  Eng- 
land of  that  distinguished  convert  Marco 
Antonio  de  Dominis.  Educated  by  the 
Jesuits,  and  employed  by  them  aa  public 
professor  at  Verona  and  Padua,  he  was 
quickly  preferred  to  the  bishopric  of  Segna, 
and  thence  translated  to  the  archbishopric 
of  Spalatro.  During  the  contest  between 
the  i)ope  and  the  republic  of  Venice,  he 
took  part  with  the  latter.  The  displeasure 
of  Paul  V.  and  the  danger  of  a  prosecution 


Raleigh  indeed  alleged  that  the  S] 
nish  town  was  built  on  the  king's  o 
land,  of  which  he  had  taken  poss 
sion  for  the  English  crown  in  15 
But  this  plea  could  not  be  maintain' 
If  discovery  gave  right,  the  Spaniai 
were  the  first  discoverers ;  if  pos»  i 
sion,  they  had  been  in  possession  i;  \ 
wards  of  twenty  years. 

Among  those  who  took  an  inter*  i 
in  the  fate  of  Raleigh  was  the  que(  i 
Her  passion  for  public  amusemei  i 
had  long  ago  ceased;  and  the  latl  ( 
part  of  her  life  was  passed  in  priva 
at  Greenwich  and  Hampton  Co 
Of  her  history  after  the  death  of 
eldest  son  we  know  httle  more  t 
that  she  recommended  Yilhers  tc 
king,  and  afterwards  requested  1: 
in  return  to  intercede  for  the  life 
Raleigh.     She  was  even  then  suff»  ? 
ing    under    a    dropsical    complai;  t 
which  in  a  few  months  consigned  1 
to   the   grave.    By  the   vulgar 
death  was  supposed  to  have  been 
nounced    by   the   appearance   of 
comet    in    the   preceding   autum  i 
while  the  more  learned,  with  eqi  ( 
credulity,  considered  that  phenoa  i 
non  as  the  harbinger  of  the  events  . 
which  I  must  now  call  the  attentl 
of  the  reader.* 

During  sixteen  years  James   h  : 
wielded  the  sceptre  in  peace :  befo 
the  close  of  his  reign  he  was  relu 
tantly  dragged    into  a  war   by  tl 
ambition  of  his  son-in-law  and  tl 


for  heresy,  induced  him  "  to  take  the  win 
of  a  dove,"  and  seek  an  asylum  in  Engla 
in  1617.  (His  declaration,  Somers's  Trac 
ii.  19.)  He  was  graciously  received,  co 
formed  to  the  established  church,  and  w 
made  dean  of  Windsor,  and  master  of  t 
Savoy.  After  a  few  years  he  solicited  pi 
don  from  the  pope,  Gregory  XV.,  return 
to  Italy,  and  publicly  abjured  the  Pr 
testant  creed  in  1622.  The  next  year 
died  :  but  his  language  had  given  occa8i( 
to  doubt  his  orthodoxy ;  judgment  was  pr 
nounced  against  him  by  the  Inquisitioi 
and  the  dead  body  was  burnt  in  the  piaz 
di  campo  di  Fiori. — See  Somers's  Tract 
ii.  30;  Dalrymple,  i.  140—148;  Fuller,  1. 
p.  93. 


D.  1619.] 


APFAIES  OF  BOHEMIA. 


107 


itiiusiasin  of  his  people.    The  cause 
•iginated  in   a  distant  dime,  in  a 
larrel  respecting  the  site  of  churches 
aid  the  mountains  of  Bohemia ;  but 
lat    quarrel   was    connected   with 
)ligion;    and   in  an  age  mad  with 
3ligious  fanaticism,  the  most  trifling 
revocation  was  sufficient  to  array  one 
alf  of  Europe  in  battle  against  the 
ther.    The  fifth  article  of  the  edict 
f  peace  published  by  the  Emperor 
Lodolph  had  established  freedom  of 
eligion  in  Bohemia:   by  an  agree- 
lent    between    the    communicants 
nder  one  kind  and  the  communi- 
ants  under  both  kinds  (so  they  were 
istinguished),  it  was  stipulated  that 
he  latter  should  have  liberty  to  erect 
hurches  on  the  royal  demesnes ;  and 
ome  years   later  certain  Calvinists, 
retending   that   the   church   lands 
ame  under  this  denomination,  began 
o  build  on  the  property  of  the  arch- 
)ishop  of  Prague,  and  on  that  of  the 
bbot  of  Brunow.    The  two  prelates 
ppealed  to  the  Emperor  Matthias, 
vho  decided  in  their  favour ;  but  the 
jhiefs  of  the  Calvinists  were  dissa- 
isfied:   in  defiance  of  the  imperial 
prohibition,  they  assembled   in   the 
Darolin  college,  spent  the  next  day 
in  fasting  and  prayer,   and   on  the 
third  day  entered  the  castle  of  Prague 
in  arms,  threw  the  leading  members 
of  the  council  of  state  out  of  the 
windows,  and  took  forcible  possession 
of  the  capital.    At  the  same  moment, 
as  if  by  a  simultaneous   movement, 
their  partisans  rose  in  different  dis- 
tricts.  Two  armies  were  formed ;  and 
most  of  the  strongholds  fell  into  their 
hands.    This  movement  was  confined 
to  the  Calvinists :  both  Catholics  and 
Lutherans,  though  they  did  not  ofier 
any    opposition,   remained    loyal   to 
their  sovereign.' 

It  was  in  vain  that  Matthias,  an 
aged  and  infirm  prince,  sought  to 
suppress  the  insurrection  by  the  ofier 


^  Belli  Laurea  Austriaca,  36,   37.     Loti- 
chius,  12—15.    Cluveri  Epitome,  652. 


of  an  amnesty  on  certain  conditions ; 
that  he  proposed  to  refer  every  sub- 
ject in  dispute  to  the  judgment  of 
four  arbitrators,  the  two  Catholic 
electors  of  Mentz  and  Bavaria,  and 
the  two  Protestant  electors  of  Saxony 
and  the  Palatinate;  and  that  he 
finally  solicited  an  armistice  prepa- 
ratory to  a  general  pacification.  Mat- 
thias died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
cousin,  Perdinand  of  Gratz,  who, 
about  two  years  before,  had  been, 
with  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
States,  crowned  king  of  Bohemia. 
Ferdinand  notified  his  accession  to 
the  insurgents  with  a  ratification  of 
their  privileges,  and  a  declaration  of 
liberty  of  conscience.  But  they 
treated  the  message  with  scorn,  and 
offered  the  Bohemian  crown  first  to 
John  George,  elector  of  Saxony,  and 
then  to  Frederic,  the  elector  Palatine, 
who  had  married  the  princess  of 
England.  The  first  had  the  prudence 
to  decline  the  dangerous  present; 
the  second,  covering  his  ambition 
with  the  mask  of  hypocrisy,  declared 
that  he  saw  the  finger  of  God  in  his 
election,  and  dared  not  oppose  the 
will  of  the  Almighty.  He  hastened 
with  his  family  to  Prague,  and  was 
solemnly  crowned  by  the  insurgents 
king  of  Bohemia.^ 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  deli- 
rium of  joy  which  the  intelligence 
excited  in  England,  Archbishop  Ab- 
bot pointed  out  the  very  text  of  the 
Apocalypse  in  which  this  important 
revolution  had  been  foretold;  the 
preachers  from  the  pulpit  (an  engine 
of  no  less  political  influence  in  those 
days  than  the  press  is  found  to  be  in 
the  present)  inflamed  the  passions 
of  their  hearers ;  and  the  whole 
nation  called  on  the  king  to  support 
the  interests  of  his  son-in-law,  which 
were,  in  their  opinion,  the  interests 
of  God.  In  this  general  ferment 
James  was  cool  and  collected.    He 


2  Belli  Laurea,  199,  211.    Lotichius,  72, 
82—88,  93, 


108 


JAMES  I. 


ICU±-P.  Ill 


saw  that  to  engage  in  the  war  was  to 
espouse  a  cause  evidently  unjust,  to 
sanction  the  principle  that  subjects 
mi^it  lawfully  depose  their  sovereign 
for  difference  of  religion,  and  to  plunge 
himself  into  an  abyss  of  expense, 
without  any  human  probability  of 
success ;  for  it  was  idle  to  expect  that 
the  Palatine,  with  the  aid  which  he 
might  receive  from  England,  could 
permanently  make  head  against  the 
power  of  Ferdinand,  assisted,  as  he 
would  be,  by  the  princes  of  his 
family,  and  the  Catholic  and  Lutheran 
feudatories  of  the  empire.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  was  asked,  could  he 
in  decency  abandon  his  son-in-law, 
and  sit  a  silent  spectator  of  the  war, 
which  would  probably  strip  him  of 
his  hereditary  dominions?  or  was  it 
even  safe  for  himself  to  resist  the  cla- 
mour of  his  subjects,  and,  by  his  appa- 
rent apathy,  teach  them  to  doubt  his 
sincerity  in  religion  ?  Between  these 
conflicting  motives  the  wisdom  of  the 
British  Solomon  was  completely  at 
fault.  No  one  could  conjecture,  he 
himself  seemed  to  have  no  notion, 
what  his  ultimate  resolution  might 
be.  One  hour  he  condemned,  the 
next  he  excused,  the  conduct  of  the 
Palsgrave.  To  the  opponents  of  Fre- 
deric he  affirmed  that  he  would  aban- 
don him  to  his  fate ;  to  his  friends 
that  he  would  take  him  under  the 
protection  of  the  British  crown. • 
After  much  hesitation  he  discovered 
and  adopted  a  middle  course,  by 
which,  without  sinning  against  the 
divine  right  of  kings,  he  might  pre- 
serve for  his  innocent  grandchildren 
the  inheritance  of  their  guilty  parent. 
He  refused  every  application  in 
favour  of  Frederic's  pretensions  to 
the  crown  of  Bohemia,  but  granted 
the  aid  of  an  army  and  a  supply 
of  money  for  the  protection  of  his 
patrimonial  possessions.    Four  thou- 


sand men  were  despatched  as  volur 
teers,  under  the  command  of  the  ear 
of  Essex  and  Oxford  ;  but  this  bod 
even  when  it  had  joined  the  ar): 
"  of  the  Protestant  union,"  the  Gt  - 
man  allies  of  the  Palatine,  was   n 
match  for  the  more  numerous  fore 
of  the  imperialists,  led  by  the  cele- 
brated Spinola.    By  the  commence- 
ment of  autumn  the  lower  Palatinate 
was  lost ;  about  the  same  time  Lu- 
satia   submitted    to   the   elector   o) 
Saxony,  who  had  been  charged  with 
the  execution  of  the  ban  of  the  empire 
against  the  ambitious  but  unfortunate 
Frederic ;  and  the  victory  of  Prague, 
won  by  the  duke  of  Bavaria,  against 
the    prince    of  Anhalt,    drove   the 
ephemeral    king   from    his    newly- 
acquired    throne.      The    Bohemian 
states  solicited  and  obtained  the  par- 
don of  their  sovereign ;  and  Frederic 
wandered  with  his  family  through  the 
north  of  Germany,  an   exile  and  a 
suppliant,  till  he  reached  the  Hague, 
where  he  obtained  a  pension  from  the 
pity  or  the  policy  of  the  States.- 

A  voluntary  subscription,  and  a 
loan  at  a  high  rate  of  interest,  had 
enabled  the  king  to  fit  out  the  ex- 
pedition to  the  Palatinate  ;  but  the 
late  disaster  of  his  son-in-law  called 
for  more  powerful  aid,  and  the  zeal 
of  the  people  clamorously  demanded 
a  crusade  for  the  support  of  the  Pro- 
testant interest.  The  ministers  ad- 
vised him  to  avail  himself  of  their 
enthusiasm.  Let  him  convoke  a  par- 
liament. That  assembly  could  not 
refuse  those  supplies,  without  which 
it  was  impossible  to  negotiate  with 
dignity,  or  to  wield  the  sword  with 
success.  Under  this  impression  James 
gave  his  consent,  but  with  reluctance 
and  misgiving.  He  knew  the  re- 
forming temper,  the  daring  spirit  of 
the  popular  leaders.  The  time  n_o_ 
longer   existed  when   the  threat 


1  Tillieres,  in  Raumer,  ii.  237—215.  The 
ViBcoant  Dowcastle,  so  often  mentioned 
in  Eaumer,  was  Hay,  Viscount  Doncaster. 


*  Lotichius,  209—211.    Cluveri  Epit<3 
655,  656. 


•D.  1620.] 


PAELIAMENTAET  AFFAIRS. 


109 


royal  displeasure  used  to  appal 
stoutest  hearts;  nor  did  the  crown 
-OSS  that  extensive  patronage  which 
rwards  enabled  it  to  secure  a 
:ority  in  both  houses.  Many  con- 
sultations were  held ;  and  it  was 
!  termined,  as  the  most  eligible  ex- 
ient,  to  soothe  the  country  party 
concessions,  and  to  bribe  them  to 
c^upply  the  wants  of  the  exchequer, 
by  the  spontaneous  offer  of  those 
benefits,  for  which  former  parlia- 
ments had  petitioned  in  vain.' 

The  session  was  opened  with  a 
conciliatory,  speech  from  the  throne. 
But  James  exhorted  and  supplicated 
in  vain.  The  first  care  of  the  Com- 
mons was  to  gratify  the  call  of  reli- 
gious animosity,  to  make  the  Catholics 
at  home  suffer  for  the  success  which 
had  attended  the  arms  of  the  Catho- 
lics abroad.  With  the  concurrence 
of  the  Lords,  they  petitioned  the  king 
to  banish  all  recusants  to  the  distance 
of  ten  miles  from  London,  to  restrain 
them  from  attending  at  mass  in  their 
own  houses,  or  in  the  private  chapels 
of  ambassadors,  and  to  carry  all  the 
penal  laws,  which  had  been  enacted 
against  them,  into  execution.  In 
addition,  that  they  might  perform 
their  own  part,  they  prepared  a  bill 
in  aid  of  the  former  statute,  which 
gave  to  the  crown  two-thirds  of  the 
property  of  popish  recusants. 

From  religion  they  turned  to  the 
consideration  of  their  privileges.  Four 
members,  they  complained,  had  been 
imprisoned  at  the  close  of  the  last 
parliament  for  their  conduct  in  that 
house.  Precedents  might,  indeed,  be 
alleged  in  vindication  of  the  king; 
but  all  such  precedents  were  the  ille- 
gal acts  of  arbitrary  power;  to  the 
house  itself  belonged   the   right  of 


1  Bacon,  V.  531,532. 

s  Journals,  522.  The  next  day,  to  prove 
their  power  of  punishing  their  own  mem- 
bers, they  expelled  Shepherd  from  the 
house,  because  in  a  speech  against  the  bill 
for  restraining  abuses  of  the  Sabbath  day,  he 
had  contended  that  the  Sabbath  was  the 


judging  and  punishing  every  breach 
of  decorum  committed  within  its 
walls ;  were  that  right  to  reside  else- 
where, freedom  of  speech  would  be 
a  dream  or  a  fiction.  The  subject 
was  pursued  with  a  warmth  which 
alarmed  the  ministers;  they  con- 
tended that  the  apprehensions  of  the 
house  were  unfounded ;  and  the  fer- 
ment was  at  length  allayed  by  a 
solemn  assurance  from  James  that, 
as  he  had  already  granted,  so  it  was 
his  intention  to  maintain,  that  liberty 
of  speech  which  was  demanded  by  his 
faithful  commons.^ 

Hitherto  the  question  of  supply 
had  been  held  in  suspense ;  on  the 
receipt  of  this  message,  they  voted 
two  subsidies,  but  without  tenths  and 
fifteenths.  It  was  a  trifling  sum,  con- 
fessedly inadequate  to  the  object  for 
which  it  was  given  ;  but  they  deemed 
it  politic  to  keep  the  king  dependent 
on  their  bounty,  that  he  might  the 
more  readily  submit  to  their  demands. 
James  himself  concealed  his  feelings. 
Affecting  to  look  on  the  vote  as  a 
pledge  of  reviving  confidence,  he 
returned  them  thanks  in  the  most 
grateful  terms,  exhorted  them  to 
attend  to  the  redress  of  the  national 
grievances,  and  assured  them  that 
they  would  always  find  him  ready  "  to 
do  more  than  meet  half  way."^ 

It  was  not  long  before  his  sincerity 
was  put  to  the  test.  A  committee 
of  inquiry  had  already  been  esta- 
blished :  witnesses  were  now  sum- 
moned and  examined ;  and  the  con- 
duct of  the  officers  of  the  crown,  of 
the  judges  and  of  their  dependants, 
was  subjected  to  the  most  minute  and 
jealous  investigation.  All  the  popular 
members  entered  into  the  inquiry 
with  warmth ;  but   no   one  took  a 


Saturday,  not  the  Sunday;  that  the  bill 
was  contrary  to  Scripture,  which  recom- 
mended dancing  as  a  part  of  the  divine 
worship.  It  was  maintained  that  the  mover 
of  the  bill,  by  opposing  the  king's  ordi- 
nances on  the  subject,  was  a  perturber  of 
the  peace.— Ibid.  523—525.    3  Journals,  523. 


110 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


more  decided  part  than  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  whose  long  experience  and 
great  legal  knowledge  gave  weight 
to  his  authority ;  though  it  was 
whispered  by  his  enemies  that  his 
zeal  for  the  public  good  was  sharp- 
ened by  the  recollection  of  the 
treatment  which  he  had  received 
from  the  court.  But  whatever  were 
the  motives  of  the  reformers,  it  must 
be  confessed  that  their  exertions  were 
useful.  They  contributed  to  eradicate 
abuses  which  had  long  crippled  the 
freedom  of  trade,  and  polluted  the 
administration  of  justice;  and  they 
revived  in  the  Commons  the  exercise 
of  an  invaluable  privilege,  which  had 
lain  dormant  for  centuries,  that  of 
impeaching  public  offenders  before 
the  house  of  Lords,  as  the  highest 
tribunal  in  the  kingdom. 

The  first  abuse  to  which  the  Com- 
mons turned  their  attention,  was  that 
of  monopolies  granted  by  patent. 
Many,  indeed,  had  been  abated  at 
the  remonstrances  of  preceding  par- 
liaments; but  so  ingenious  was  the 
avarice  of  the  projectors,  so  powerful 
the  influence  of  their  patrons,  that 
in  the  place  of  one  which  was  eradi- 
cated several  sprung  up,  equally  use- 
less to  the  prince,  and  equally  in- 
jurious to  the  subject.  Patents,  which 
secure  to  the  authors  of  improvements 
the  profits  of  their  own  ingenuity, 
act  as  a  stimulus  to  industry  and 
talent ;  but  these  patents  had  for  their 
object  the  private  emolument  of  cer- 
tain favoured  individuals,  to  whom 
they  gave,  under  the  pretence  of 
pubUc  utility,  the  control  of  some 
particular  branch  of  trade,  with 
authority  to  frame  regulations,  and 
to  enforce  obedience  by  fines  and 
imprisonment. 

The  committee  began  with  three 
patents,  the  one  for  the  licensing  of 
ale-houses,  another  for  the  inspection 
of  inns  and  hostelries,  and  a  third  for 
the  exclusive  manufacture  of  gold 
and  silver  thread ;  and  the  investiga- 


tion disclosed  a  scene  of  fraud  an 
oppression,  which   is   seldom  to  I 
found  under  the  most  despotic  g( 
vernments.'    All  three  were  declare 
national    grievances ;    and    the    pt 
tentees,  Sir   Giles   Mompesson   an  i 
Sir  Erancis  Mitchell,  were  denounce 
as  criminals  in  a  conference  with  th 
Lords.    They  fled  for  shelter  to  th 
protection  of  the  favourite:  he  ha 
received  their  money  for  his  service 
in  procuring  the  patents  ;    and  1/ 
half-brother,    Sir    Edward   Villit- 
had  been  a  partner  in  the  prolii. 
To  save  them,  it  was  at   first   de 
termined  to  dissolve  the  parhament 
but  the  imprudence  of  such  a  mea 
sure  was  demonstrated  in  a  writtei 
memorial  by  Williams,  dean  of  "West 
minster,  whose  ambition  sought  t< 
earn,  by  this  appearance  of  zeal,  thi 
good-will  both  of  the  monarch  anc 
his  favourite.    Under  the  guidance  o 
his  new  adviser,  Buckingham  aban- 
doned his  friends  to  their  fate,  and 
affecting  the  stoicism  of  a   patriot 
expressed  a  hope,  that  if  his  brothei 
had  shared  in  their  guilt,  he  mighl 
also  share  in  their  punishment.    Bu1 
Villiers  was  already  beyond  the  sea 
in  the  employment  of  government 
and   could   not   reasonably  be  con- 
demned without  the  opportunity  oJ 
making  his  defence.    Even  Mompes- 
son, probably  through  the  influence 
of  his  patron,  found  the  means  to 
escape  from  the  custody  of  the  ser- 
jeant-at-arms.   The  Lords,  however, 
passed  judgment  both  on  the  fugitive 
and  on  Mitchell,  his  colleague,  that 
they  should  suffer  imprisonment,  pay 
fines,   and    be   degraded    from    the 
honour   of    knighthood.     The   king 
now  came  forward   to   complain  of 
the  deceit  which  had  been  practised 
on  his  credulity ;  and,  as  a  proof  of 
his  indignation  against  the  men  whom 
he   had   secretly   laboured   to   save, 
commuted,  by  his  own  authority,  the 


1  See  JournalA,  530,  638,  540,  511,  617. 


-.21.]     IMPEACHMENT  OF  THE  CHANCELLOE. 


Ill 


sonment  of  Mompesson  into  per- 
il banishment.' 

^  the  patentees  were  compara- 
ignoble  game ;  the  lord  chan- 
,  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  offered  a 
r  and  more  reputable  quarry. 
re  had  designed  him  to  rule  a 
■r  spirit  in  the  world  of  letters ; 
anbition  led  him  to  crouch  at 
s  ,uit  in  search  of  wealth  and  pre- 
irment.    Neither  did  he  fail  in  his 
bject:  industry  and  perseverance  had 
Qabled  him  to  overcome  the  jealousy 
f  Elizabeth,  the  favouritism  of  James, 
Qd  the  intrigues  of  his  competitors. 
[e  was  not  only  in  possession  of  the 
reat  seal ;  in  addition  to  the  rank  of 
aron,  he  had  recently  obtained,  as 
new  proof  of  the  royal  favour,  the 
itle  of  Yiscount  St.  Alban's.    But, 
'  he  found  the  ascent  to  greatness 
low  and  toilsome,  his  fall  was  sudden 
nd  instantaneous.  He  had  not  borne 
is  honours  with  meekness.    Yanity 
3d  him  into  great  and  useless  ex- 
penses ;   his   extravagance  was  sup- 
ported by  rapacity;  and  the  suitors 
a  his    court,   even    the    successful 
uitors,   complained  that  they  were 
mpoverished  by  the  venality  of  the 
r  udge.    His  enemies  echoed  and  ex- 
j  ggerated   the   charge ;   and    report 
;  aade  the  value  of  presents  which  he 
lad  received  during  the  three  years 
»f  his  chancellorship  amount  to  one 
mndred  thousand  pounds.'    James, 
vho,  while  he  admired  the  minister, 
elt  no  esteem  for  the  man,  indirectly 
lastened   his    fall    by   assuring   the 
liords    that,   while    he   hoped   that 
he   chancellor    might    be    able    to 
Drove  his  innocence,  he  was  deter- 
nined  to  inflict  on  him  the  severest 
mnishment,  if  it  were  shown  that  he 
f^as  guilty .3 


1  Hacket's  Life  of  Williams,  49,  50.  Jour- 
aals  of  Lords,  72,  73. 

*  He  thus  notices  the  report  in  a  letter  to 
Buckingham  : — *•  It  is  an  abominable  false- 
hood. I  never  took  penny  for  any  benefice 
or  ecclesiastical  living :  I  never  took  penny 
for  releasing  any  tmng  I  stopped  at  the 


It  was  not  pretended  that  Bacon  had 
been  the  first  of  these  high  officers  to 
accept  presents  from  the  suitors  in 
his  court.  The  abuse  was  of  long 
standing ;  it  had  been  known  and 
sanctioned  by  the  last  sovereign.  But 
it  was  truly  observed,  that  no  succes- 
sion of  precedents  could  justify  a 
practice  illegal  in  itself,  and  destruc- 
tive of  impartiality,  one  of  the  first 
qualifications  in  a  judge.  The  Com- 
mons presented  their  bill  of  impeach- 
ment, charging  the  Yiscount  St. 
Alban's  with  bribery  and  corruption 
in  two-and-twenty  instances  himself, 
and  with  allowing  acts  of  bribery  and 
corruption  in  his  officers.  This  stroke 
unnerved  him:  after  an  unsatisfactory 
interview  with  the  king,  he  shrunk 
from  the  eyes  of  his  accusers,  and, 
under  the  pretence  of  sickness,  re- 
tired to  his  bed ;  whence  he  wrote  to 
the  house  a  letter  acknowledging  the 
enormity  of  his  offences,  and  soliciting 
mercy  for  the  repenting  sinner.  The 
Lords  required  a  distinct  answer  to 
every  separate  charge.  He  obeyed, 
confessing  that  each  was  substantially 
true,  but  alleging  in  extenuation  that 
few  of  the  presents  were  received  be- 
fore the  decision  of  the  cause,  and  that 
the  larger  sums  were  taken  as  loans 
of  money  to  be  9,fterwards  repaid. 
He  was  spared  the  mortification  of 
kneeling  as  a  criminal  at  the  bar  of 
that  house  where  he  had  so  long  pre- 
sided as  chancellor ;  but  the  judgment 
pronounced  against  him  was  suffi- 
ciently severe  to  deter  his  successors 
from  a  repetition  of  the  offence.  It 
bore,  that  he  should  pay  to  the  king 
a  fine  of  forty  thousand  pounds, 
should  be  imprisoned  during  the 
royal  pleasure,  and  should  be  inca- 
pacitated for  life  from  coming  within 


seal :  I  never  took  penny  for  any  commis> 
sions  or  things  of  that  nature :  I  never 
shared  with  any  servant  for  any  second  or 
inferior  profit.  My  ofiences  I  have  myself 
recorded,  wherein  I  studied  as  a  good  con- 
fessant  guiltiness  and  not  excuse.'" — Bacon, 
vi.  391.  3  Journals,  563. 


112 


JAMES  I. 


[CHAP.  I 


the  verge  of  the  court,  from  sitting 
in  parliament,  and  from  serving  his 
country  in  any  office  of  dignity  or 
emolument.* 

I  may  be  allowed  to  pursue  through 
a  few  lines  the  history  of  this  extra- 
ordinary man.  Of  his  guilt  there  was 
no  doabt ;  but,  had  he  submitted  with 
patience  to  his  fate,  had  he  devoted 
to  literary  pursuits  those  intellectual 
powers  winch  made  him  the  prodigy 
of  the  age,  he  might  have  redeemed 
his  character,  and  have  conferred 
immortal  benefits  on  mankind.  He 
revised,  indeed,  his  former  works,  he 
procured  them  to  be  translated  into 
the  Latin  language,  and  he  wrote  a 
life  of  Henry  VII. ;  but  these  were 
unwelcome  tasks,  suggested  to  him 
from  authority,  and  performed  with 
reluctance.  He  still  looked  back  to 
the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt,  the  favours 
of  the  court ;  and,  in  addition  to  the 
restoration  to  liberty  and  the  remis- 
sion of  his  fine,  boons  which  were 
granted,  he  solicited  with  unceasing 
importunity  both  a  pension  and  em- 


plojment.    "With  this  view  he  c 
tinned  to  harass  the  king,  the  pri: 
and  the  favourite,  with  letters; 
pleaded  his  former  services,  he  soi; 
to  move  pity  by  prayers  the  in 
abject,  and  to  win  favour  by  flatte 
the  most  blasphemous.    Eut  his  pe  1 
tions  were  received  with  coldness,  ai 
treated  with  contempt ;  the  repeat 
failure  of  his  hopes  soured  his  temp  '• 
and  impaired  his  health ;  and  he  die 
the  victim  of  mistaken  and  disa 
pointed  ambition,  in  the  fifth  ye 
after  his  disgrace.^ 

Four  other  impeachments  were  ca  • 
ried    before  the  Lords   during   ti  : 
session.    Sir  John  Bennet,  judge    : 
the  Prerogative  Court  of  Canterbui  i 
was  charged  with  having  granted  f 
money  the   administration   of  wi  - 
contrary  to   law;   Field,   bishop 
Landafi",   with  brocage    of   briber, 
Sir  John  Yelverton,  attorney-gener; 
with  having  aided  the  patentees,  Moi 
pesson  and  MitcheU,  in  their  illeg 
proceedings;^  and  Floyd,  a  Catho) 
barrister  and  prisoner  in  the  Fle( 


1  Lords'  Journals,  53,  75,  84,  98,  106.  In 
a  letter  to  the  Lords,  9  March,  1C20,  he 
says  that  as  chancellor  he  vras  accastomed 
to  make  two  thousand  decrees  and  orders 
in  a  year. — ElUs,  2nd  ser.  iii.  237. 

-  This  meanness  of  Bacon,  so  unworthy 
of  his  talents  and  acquirements,  appears 
from  the  whole  tenour  of  his  letters  written 
between  his  disgrace  and  his  death. — Bacon, 
tI.  280—391.  On  one  occasion  he  enter- 
tained a  design  of  maintaining  that  the 
judgment  against  him  was  not  valid  :  1.  Be- 
cause it  passed  in  a  session  in  which  the 
royal  assent  was  not  given  to  any  bill  except 
that  of  the  subsidy ;  whence  he  inferred 
that  all  tbo  proceedings  were  only  "  in- 
choate and  not  complete."  2.  Because  it 
had  not  been  entered  on  record,  and  was 
only  to  be  found  in  the  journals  written  by 
the  clerk,  lie  consulted  the  learned  Selden, 
who  replied  that  he  thought  with  him  on 
the  second  point,  but  differed  from  him  on 
the  first  (vi.  30S— 310).  He  is  said  to  have 
died  poor.  The  numerous  and  valuable 
legacies  in  his  will,  dated  only  a  few  weeks 
before  his  death,  would  prove'the  contrary, 
were  it  not  that  his  executors  refused  to 
act,  which  may  induce  a  suspicion  that  he 
left  not  wherewith  to  pay  them.  —  Ibid. 
411—419. 

*  1.  Bennet  eluded  his  accusers  by  de- 
manding  time    to    prepare    his    defence. 


Before  it  expired  the  parliament  was  pr 
rogued,  and  in  the  next  session  the  char 
and  the  punishment  were  forgotten.  Soi 
afterwards  Bennet  was  fined  twenty  the 
sand  pounds  in  the  Star-chamber,  b 
obtained  a  pardon  from  the  king. — Baco 
vi.  383.  2.  Field  had  bound  a  suitor 
chancery,  under  the  penalty  of  ten  tho 
sand  pounds,  to  place  six  thousand  pounds 
his  disposal,  provided  a  favourable  decre 
should  be  obtained  from  the  lord  cha 
cellor,  through  the  influence  of  his  patr* 
the  marquess  of  Buckingham.  But  t 
auger  of  the  house  was  disarmed  by  tl 
entreaties  of  the  archbishop;  and,  as 
could  not  be  proved  that  ha  was  to  recei 
a  share  of  the  money,  the  prelate  was  1< 
to  the  censure  of  his  ecclesiastical  superi 
in  the  upper  house  of  convocation.  3.  Y( 
verton  defended  hiraself  with  spirit,  ai 
hinted  that  ho  should  not  have  been 
prisoner,  had  it  not  been  for  the  enmity 
Buckingham,  and  his  influence  with  tl 
king.  James  instantly  demanded  justi 
for  this  double  slander  :  the  original  char; 
against  the  attorney  was  forgotten,  and  f 
his  recent  offence  he  was  condemned  to  p. 
a  fine  to  the  king,  another  to  the  favourit 
and  to  be  imprisoned  at  tho  royal  plcasur 
The  fines  were  i-emitted.  From  the  stran; 
account  of  this  matter,  in  the  despatches 
the  French  ambassador  Tillieres  (Uaumc 


J 


.D.  1621.] 


PUNISHMENT  OF  PLOYD. 


113 


.  ith  having  expressed  his  satisfaction 
that  goodman  Palsgrave  and  good- 
/ife  Palsgrave  "  (the  Palatine  and  his 
onsort)  had  been  driven  from  the 
ity  of  Prague.  The  three  first  cases 
lay  be  dismissed  as  of  minor  im- 
•ortance;  but  the  last  demands  the 
tt^ntion  of  the  reader,  as  it  served 
o  discriminate  the  respective  duties 
f  the  two  houses,  to  confirm  to  the 
jords  their  judicial  rights,  and  to 
onfine  to  the  Commons  the  mere 
tower  of  impeachment.  Floyd's  of- 
ence  was  not  one  of  the  first  magni- 
ude,  but  it  awakened  the  spirit  of 
eligious  vengeance.  As  soon  as  it  was 
aentioned,  the  Commons  resolved  to 
)unish  the  papist  who  had  sacri- 
egiously  presumed  to  rejoice  at  the 
dsasters  of  Protestant  princes;  the 
)illory,  whipping,  nailing  of  his  ears, 
.nd  boring  of  his  tongue,  were  moved 
)y  different  speakers ;  and  he  was  at 
ast  condemned  by  the  house  to  pay 
.  fine  of  one  thousand  pounds,  to 
tand  in  the  pillory  in  three  different 
)laces  two  hours  each  time,  and  to  be 
rarried  from  place  to  place  on  liorse- 
)ack  with  his  face  to  the  horse's  tail.' 
?loyd  immediately  appealed  to  the 
dng,  who  the  next  morning  sent  to 
aquire  on  what  precedents  the  Com- 
nons  grounded  their  claim  to  judge 
)ffence3  which  did  not  concern  their 
jrivileges ;  and  by  what  reasoning  it 
»uld  be  shown  that  a  court  which 
lid  not  receive  evidence  upon  oath 
x)uld  justly  condemn  a  prisoner  who 
lenied  the  offence  with  which  he  was 
;harged.    The  message  disconcerted 


:55),  I  cannot  form  a  very  faTourable 
lotion  of  the  judgment  or  accuracy  of  that 
'nvoy. 

1  journals  of  Commons,  599,  602.  There 
•Tas  often  something  ridiculous  in  the 
punishment  inflicted  by  the  house  of  Com- 
mons. Thus  they  adjudged  Moore  and 
Lock,  two  officers,  to  "  ride  upon  one  horse, 
barebacked,  buck  to  back,  from  West- 
minster to  the  Exchange,  with  papers  on 
their  breasts  with  this  inscription,  For 
arresting  a  servant  to  a  member  of  the 
Commons  house  of  parliament." — Ibid.  633. 

7 


the  popular  leaders:  to  proceed  was 
to  encounter  the  opposition  of  the 
king  and  of  the  Lords ;  and  to  retrace 
their  steps  was  to  confess  that  they 
had  exceeded  their  powers.  Several 
days  passed  away  in  unavailing  de- 
bate ;  and  at  last,  in  a  conference  of 
the  two  houses,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
accused  should  be  arraigned  before 
the  Lords  ;  and  that  a  declaration 
should  be  entered  on  the  journals, 
that  his  trial  before  the  Commons 
should  not  prejudice  the  just  rights 
of  either  house.^  But,  if  their  defeat 
was  .evident,  their  vengeful  feelings 
were  abundantly  gratified.  The  Lords 
added  to  the  severity  of  the  first  judg- 
ment, and  besides  the  pillory,  a  fine 
of  five  thousand  pounds,  and  impri- 
sonment for  life,  they  degraded  Floyd 
from  the  estate  of  a  gentleman,  de- 
clared him  infamous,  and  condemned 
him  to  be  whipped  at  the  cart's  tail 
from  the  Fleet  prison  to  Westminster 
Hall.  A  punishment  so  enormously 
disproportionate  to  the  offence,  if  it 
were  any  offence  at  all,  did  not 
pass  without  animadversion :  the  next 
morning,  on  the  motion  of  the  prince, 
it  was  agreed  that  the  whipping  should 
not  be  inflicted,  and,  as  an  atonement 
for  the  precipitancy  of  the  house,  an 
order  was  made,  that  in  future,  judg- 
ment should  not  be  pronounced  on 
the  same  day  on  which  it  was  voted.^ 
By  this  time  the  patience  of  James 
was  exhausted.  The  parliament  had 
continued  four  months ;  but  what 
with  impeachments  and  inquiries  into 
grievances,  and   the   preparation  of 


2  The  Commons  maintained  that  their 
house  was  a  court  of  record,  could  admi- 
nister an  oath,  and  consequently  give  judg- 
ment :  the  Lords  would  not  enter  into  tbese^ 
questions,  but  denied  that  the  case  of 
Floyd  was  within  their  cognizance.  By  the 
Lords  it  was  understood  that  at  last  the 
judgment  of  Floyd  was  referred  to  them : 
but  this  the  Commons  would  not  admit; 
they  had  judged  Floyd;  they  hoped  the 
Lords  would  judge  him  also. — Journals, 
610,  619,  624. 

3  Lords'  Journals,  143. 


114 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


bills  of  grace  and  reform,  no  further 
notice  had  been  taken  of  the  royal 
wants,  no  attention  had  been  given  to 
the  king's  request  of  a  second  and 
more  liberal  supply.  It  was  thought 
that  the  country  party  looked  on  the 
sovereign  as  reduced  by  his  distress 
for  money  to  a  dependence  on  their 
pleasure ;  to  their  astonishment  and 
dismay  a  message  announced  his  in- 
tention to  adjourn  the  parliament  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  week.  Several 
violent  and  querulous  debates  ensued ; 
the  Commons  resolved  to  petition  for 
a  longer  time  ;  and  then,  when  a  fort- 
night was  oflfered,  with  the  petulance 
of  children  (to  use  the  king's  ex- 
pression) they  refused  the  favour. 
On  the  appointed  day  the  parliament 
was  adjourned  to  November  by  com- 
mission ;  and  immediately  each  house 
adjourned  itself.' 

In  this  session,  or  convention,  as 
the  king  affected  to  call  it,  much  had 
been  done  which  might  claim  the 
gratitude  of  the  nation.  The  prose- 
cutions for  bribery  alone  conferred 
on  the  people  an  invaluable  benefit, 
by  introducing  into  the  ecclesiastical 
courts  and  the  courts  of  equity  that 
pure  administration  of  justice  which 
was  acknowledged  to  prevail  in  the 
courts  of  common  law.  Yet  the 
members  of  the  lower  house  were 
ashamed  to  return  to  their  consti- 
tuents. They  seemed  to  have  forgot- 
ten the  great  object  for  which  they  had 
been  sent  to  parliament,  and  which 
interested  so  warmly  the  religious 
feelings  of  the  people.  That  they 
might,  however,  seem  to  do  something, 
a  few  minutes  before  the  adjourn- 
ment a  member  proposed  a  declaration 
that  unless  the  troubles  in  Germany 


1  It  was  held,  as  appears  from  the  jour- 
nals, that  there  was  this  difference  between 
adjournment  and  prorogation :  that  to  ad- 
journ was  only  to  suspend,  to  prorogue  was 
to  terminate  the  session :  in  the  one  case 
the  business  before  the  committees,  and 
the  bills  in  progress  or  awaiting  the  royal 
assent,  remained  in  statu  quo ;  in  the  other 


were  satisfactorily  arranged  by  treat 
during  the  recess,  they  would,  o 
their  return  to  the  house,  be  ready  t 
sacrifice  their  fortunes  and  their  liv< 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Prin( 
Palatine,  and  the  support  of  the  tn 
religion.  It  was  voted  by  acclam; 
tion ;  and  to  confirm  it  with  tl 
solemnity  of  religious  worship,  S 
Edward  Coke,  falling  on  his  knee 
recited,  with  great  emphasis  ar 
many  tears,  the  collect  for  the  kh 
and  royal  family  from  the  Book 
Common  Prayer.' 

The  king's  first  soUcitude  after  tl 
adjournment  was  to  appoint  a  su 
cesser  to  Bacon.    There  were  thr< 
candidates  ;  Ley  and  Hobart,  the  tv 
chief  justices,  and  Sir  Lionel  Cra: 
field,  a  merchant  from  the  city,  wl 
by  marrying   a  relative,   had    pu 
chased  the  favour,  of  Buckinghai 
Williams,  dean  of  Westminster,  if  ^ 
may  believe  his  biographer,  secret 
aspired  to  the  place,  but  openly  su 
ported  the  pretensions  of  Cranfiel 
under  the  expectation  that  the  incoi 
petency  of  the  latter  might  indu  ■ 
the  king  and  the  favourite  to  tu 
their   thoughts    on    himself.      '\ 
policy  succeeded ;  when  the  seal  ^ 
oflfered  to  him  he  pretended  surin 
modestly  objected  his  inexperienc 
matters  of  law,  and  acquiesced,  w 
apparent  reluctance,  on  condition  tl 
two  judges  should  sit  with  him 
assistants,  and  that  he  should  not 
considered  as  in  actual  possession,  i 
only  upon  trial,  for  eighteen  mont 
James  first  named  him  to  the  vaca 
bishopric  of  Lincoln,  and  then  gave 
him  the  custody  of  the  great  seal,  w: 
the  title  of  lord  keeper.    It  was  lo 
since  a  churchman  had  presided 


everything  was  quashed,  and  all  past  p  ' 
ceedings  rendered  of  no  effect.  The  ki 
therefore,  preferred  an  adjournment,  t 
the  parliament  at  the  next  meeting  mi; 
take  up  the  business  in  the  state  in  wb 
it  had  been  left  at  this. 

*  Journals,    639.    Cobb.    Pari.    Hi 
1294. 


I  WB    I 

1 


.p.  1621.] 


HOMICIDE  BY  THE  AECHBISHOP. 


115 


""hancery  ;  the  lawyers  looked  on 
vlevation  with  displeasure,  and 
r-ated  him  with  contempt.  But 
lieir  reluctance  yielded  to  considera- 
ions  of  interest ;  and  in  a  short  time 
hey  submitted  to  plead  before  him 
ifter  the  usual  manner.' 

"Williams  had  scarcely  accepted  his 
)ffice,  when  an  occurrence  took  place 
vhich  threw  the  whole  church  into 
jonfusion,  and  even  perplexed  the 
heological  abilities  of  the  king. 
\jchbishop  Abbot  had  joined  the 
ord  Zouch  on  a  hunting  party  at 
3ramshill  Park  in  Hampshire.  One 
noming,  having  singled  out  a  buck, 
md  warned  the  company  to  be  on 
iieir  guard,  he  took  his  aim,  and 
,hrough  mistake  or  want  of  skill,  shot 
he  keeper  of  the  park,  who  was  acci- 
lentally  passing  on  horseback.  The 
M)roner's  inquest  returned  a  verdict 
)f  unintentional  homicide ;  but  it  was 
till  contended  that  by  the  canon  law 
he  archbishop  had  become  irregular, 
md  consequently  incapable  of  holding 
my  ecclesiastical  preferment,  or  of 
ixercising  any  ecclesiastical  function. 
Che  solution  of  this  question  de- 
)ended  on  another;  whether  the 
imusement  which  led  to  the  accident 
vere  allowable  in  a  person  of  his  rank 
■md  character.  By  his  friends  it  was 
Jleged  that  the  canons  permitted 
!lergymen  to  hunt,  provided  it  were 
lone  with  moderation,  and  for  the 
•ake  of  health ;  and  that  the  laws  of 
.he  land  ratified  the  custom  by  giving 
o  bishops  parks  and  free  warrens. 


1  Such  is  the  account  given  by  Hacket, 
lis  biographer;  but  WilBams  himself  as- 
erts  that  he  had  no  expectation  of  the 
iffice  when  it  was  conferred  upon  him. — 
iymer,  xvii.  297.  "  It  was  rumoured  every 
luher  that  has  too  grate  familiaritey  with 
luckinghame's  mother  procured  him  thesse 
prate  favors  and  preferments  one  a  sud- 
laine."— Balfour,  ii.  93. 

^  See  the  apology  for  Abbot  and  the 
inswer  in  Howell's  State  Trials,  11. 

'  I  give  little  credit  to  the  story  told  by 
lacket  (i.  63)  of  the  unwillingness  of  James 


His  opponents  replied,  that  the 
same  canons  expressly  prohibited  all 
hunting  in  which  deadly  weapons 
were  employed ;  and  that,  if  the  law 
secured  to  the  prelates  the  right  of 
the  chase,  it  was  an  appendage  to 
their  secular  baronies,  and  to  be  exer- 
cised, like  all  other  secular  rights,  not 
by  themselves  in  person,  but  by  their 
lay  servants  and  deputies.* 

It  chanced  that  at  this  very  time 
there  were  four  bishops  elect,  all  of 
whom  refused  to  receive  consecration 
from  the  hands  of  the  metropolitan  as 
long  as  this  question  remained  undeter- 
mined. They  founded  their  objection 
on  scruples  of  conscience ;  though  it 
was  maliciously  whispered  that  two 
at  least  of  the  number,  Williams, 
lord  keeper,  and  Laud,  bishop  of 
St.  David's,  cherished  a  stronger 
motive,  —  the  hope  of  succeeding 
Abbot  in  the  archiepiscopal  dignity, 
if  he  were  pronounced  incapable  of 
executing  its  duties.^  James  ap- 
pointed a  commission  of  prelates  and 
canonists,  but  tbey  could  not  agree  in 
opinion,  and  proposed  that  Abbot 
should  be  absolved  from  all  irregu- 
larity ad  majorem  cautelam.  But 
where  was  the  ecclesiastical  superior 
to  absolve  the  metropolitan  ?  In  this 
unprecedented  case  it  was  answered 
that  the  king,  as  head  of  the  church, 
possessed  that  plenitude  of  power 
which  in  Catholic  countries  was  held 
to  reside  in  the  pope.  James,  there- 
fore, having  fi.rst  granted  him  a 
pardon  in  law,  issued  his  commands 


to  give  a  bishopric  to  Laud.  He  had  long 
been  the  king's  chaplain ;  he  was  also  con- 
fessor to  Buckingham ;  he  had  been  chosen 
to  accompany  them  both  into  Scotland,  and 
only  three  weeks  before  his  appointment, 
James  had  accused  himself  of  neglect,  and 
had  promised  him  preferment.  —  Laud's 
Diary,  p.  4.  By  the  statutes  of  St.  John's 
College,  of  which  he  was  president,  he  could 
no  longer  hold  that  office.  James  absolved 
him  from  the  oath  by  which  he  was  bound 
to  observe  the  statut^es  (Rymer,  xvii.  328) ; 
but  Laud  scrupled  to  avail  himself  of  the 
absolution  and  resigned. — Diary,  p.  4. 
12 


IIG 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II] 


to  eight  bishops,  who,  assuming  for  j 
the  ground  of  their  proceedings  that  ■ 
the  "hunting  aforesaid  was  decent,  I 
modest,  and  peaceable,  and  that  every  | 
possible    precaution   had   been   em- 
ployed to  prevent  accident,"  absolved 
the  metropolitan  from  all  those  cen- 
sures which  he  might  have  incurred, 
and  for  greater  security  restored  to 
him  the  offices  and  rights  which  he 
before  held.'    But  Abbot  had  never 
been  a  favourite.    He  now  appeared 
before   the   king   marked  with   the 
stigma  of  homicide ;    his  facility  in 
licensing  books  which  bore  hard  on 
the  ceremonies  and  discipline  of  the 
church,  gave  continual  offence;  and 
towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  never 
appeared  at  court  except  on  occasions 
of  parade  and  ceremony. 

But  the  chief  anxiety  of  the  king 
was  to  prepare  for  the  approaching 
session  of  parliament.  That  he  might 
silence  the  complaints  of  the  popular 
leaders,  and  prevent  their  intended 
attacks  upon  his  prerogative,  he 
adopted  the  advice  of  Williams,  abo- 
lished by  proclamation  six-and-thirty 
of  the  most  obnoxious  patents,  ap- 
pointed commissioners  to  inquire  into 
the  causes  which  led  to  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  gold  coin,  and  framed 
regulations  for  the  increase  of  trade 
in  the  principal  outports.  On  the 
continent  his  ambassadors  were  seen 
posting  to  almost  every  court  of 
Europe,  where  they  employed  argu- 
ments,   bribes,  and  supplications  in 


1  Laud's  Diary  aud  Wilk.  Con.  ii.  462. 
Eymer,  xvii,  340. 

*  For  some  years  the  Turkish  pirates  from 
the  Mediterranean  had  occasionally  made 
prizes  in  the  Channel,  and  repeatedly  carried 
oflthe  inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  Ireland  into 
slavery.  To  punish  their  insolence,  the  kinp 
proposed  a  joint  expedition  at  the  expense 
of  the  different  Christian  powers;  and  the 
last  summer  he  had  been  persuaded  to  send 
out  a  squadron  under  the  command  of  the 
vice-admiral  Sir  Kobert  Mansell,  with  in- 
structions to  burn  the  piratical  vessels 
within  the  harbour  of  Algiers.  The  attempt 
was  made  with  that  bravery  which  always 
distiuguiflheB  JJritish  seamen  (lt):il,  May  24), 


favour  of  the  Palatine.    But  all  th 
efforts  of  the  king  were  frustrated  b; 
the  stubbornness  of  that  prince,  th 
uncontrollable   temper   of  his  chi£ 
partisan,  Count  Mansfield,  aud  th 
ambition  of  the  duke  of  Bavaria,  wh 
sought  to  annex  the  Palatinate  to  h: 
own  dominions.    James  could,  ho\^ 
ever,  boast  that,  if  Heidelberg,  Mar 
heim,  Frankendale,  and  Worms  sti 
acknowledged  the  sway  of  their  nativ 
sovereign,  it  was  owing  to  his  exei 
tions   in   maintaining    within   thai 
walls  five  thousand  men  under  Si 
Horace  Yere,  and  in  having  prevente 
the  defection  of  Mansfield's  sixtee 
thousand  mercenaries  by  a  seasonab 
present    of  forty  thousand   pound  ■ 
Under   these   circumstances  he  ii 
dulged  a  hope   that  his  concessioi  ^ 
would  mollify  the  obstinacy  of  tl  ' 
Commons,  and  that  his  remittanc"  ; 
to   the    Palatinate   would   convin<  i 
them  of  his  attachment  to  the  Pn 
testant  interest  in  Germany,  and    « 
his  sincere  desire  to  preserve  the  d-  - 
minions  of  the  unfortunate  Frederic 

When  the  parliament  re-assemble  I 
the  royal  commissioners  (the  king  ]■ 
indisposed  atNewmarket)  called  u- 
the  lower  house  to  redeem  the  pk 
which  had  been  given  at  the  closi 
the  last  session,  and  to  enable 
sovereign  to  interpose  with  weig 
and  efficacy  in  favour  of  the  Palatii 
But  they  spoke  to   dissatisfied  u 
irritated  minds.    Among  the  popr 
orators  in  former  debates,  no  per> 


but  the  assailants  had  no  sooner  reti: 
than   the    inhabitants,    aided    by   a   heo 
shower  of   rain,   extinguished  the  flam 
and  the  whole  loss  of  the  Turks  amount 
only  to  two  vessels  which  had  been  c 
sumed.     The  booms  which  they  now  tl: 
across  the  harbour,  and  the  additional  ' 
teries  which  thev  mounted  on  the  nii     ■ 
deterred  Mansell  from  a  second  attem    ' 
The  pirates  in  the  course  of  the  year 

i)aired  their  loss  by  the  capture  of  thir 
Ive  English  merchantmen ;  and  the  wh 
kingdom  rung  with  complaints  of  an  ei; 
dition  which  served  only  to  injure  the  tr" 
and  to  bring  disgrace  on  the  charact 
the  nation.— Cabala,  323.  Kushworth 
Camden,  G54,  65S. 


tt^ 


1621.] 


DISSOLUTION  OF  PARLIAMENT. 


117 


distinguished  themselves  more 
1  Sir  Edward  Coke  and  Sir 
vin  Sands.  But,  1.  the  riches 
h  Coke  had  amassed  while 
emained  in  office,  had  awakened 
icions  of  his  integrity;  and  his 
iiperate  language  and  over- 
iug  carriage  had  created  him 
lerous  enemies.  At  the  instiga- 
of  Bacon  and  Lady  Hatton,  in- 
•:es  had  been  made  into  his  con- 
as  judge,  and  during  the  recess 
'secution  was  commenced  against 
1  on  a  charge  of  misdemeanor 
under  eleven  heads.  2.  Sir  Edwin 
Sands  had  uttered  several  hold  and 
violent  speeches  during  the  lastsession, 
and  to  screen  himself  from  the  royal 
indignation,  had  obtained  from  the 
house,  before  the  adjournment,  a  de- 
claration that  he  had  only  done  his 
duty,  and  had  never  transgressed  the 
bounds  of  decorum.'  He  was,  how- 
ever, arrested,  \vith  Selden  his  legal 
adviser,  examined  on  some  secret 
charge  before  the  council,  and  after  a 
detention  of  a  month,  restored  to 
liberty.  Their  friends  did  not  con- 
ceal their  suspicions.  They  repre- 
sented Coke  and  Sands  as  martyrs  in 
the  cause  of  the  people,  and  declaimed 
with  bitterness  against  the  mean  and 
despotic  vengeance  of  the  court.  The 
Commons  took  up  the  question  with 
extraordinary  warmth.  They  ordered 
the  accusers  of  Coke  to  be  taken 
into  custody  by  the  serjeant-at-arms, 
appointed  a  committee  to  examine 
witnesses,  and  made  an  attempt  to 
establish  the  fact  of  a  conspiracy 
against  him,  originating  in  motives  of 
hostility  to  his  political  conduct. 
Sands  at  the  opening  of  the  session 
was  confined  by  sickness  to  his  bed ; 
but  his  case  was  brought  forward  by 
his  friends ;  and,  though  the  secretary 
of  state  declared  that  his  arrest  had 
no  connection  with  his  behaviour  in 
that  house,  two  members  were  ap- 


1  Journals,  ( 


pointed  to  visit  him,  and  to  solicit 
from  him  a  disclosure  of  the  truth.^ 

While  the  Commons  remained  in 
this  temper  of  mind,  it  was  easy  to 
spur  them  on  to  a  quarrel  with  the 
sovereign.  They  had  evinced  some 
disposition  to  grant  the  king  a  single 
subsidy,  but  resolved  to  present  pre- 
viously, and  according  to  their  cus- 
tom, a  petition  against  the  pretended 
growth  of  popery.  It  asserted  that 
the  pope  aspired  to  universal  dominion 
in  spirituals,  the  king  of  Spain  in 
temporals ;  that  to  these  two  powers 
the  English  papists  looked  for  the 
support  of  their  religion ;  that  their 
hopes  had  been  elevated  by  the  dis- 
asters of  the  Palatine,  and  the  report 
of  an  intended  marriage  between  the 
prince  of  Wales  and  the  infanta  of 
Spain ;  that  they  resorted  in  crowds 
to  mass  in  the  chapels  of  foreign 
ambassadors,  sent  their  children  to  be 
educated  in  foreign  parts,  and  were 
allowed  to  compound  for  their  for- 
feitures on  easy  terms ;  whence  it  was 
to  be  feared  that  connivance  would 
beget  toleration,  toleration  would  be 
followed  by  equality,  and  equality 
would  soon  be  improved  into  as- 
cendancy. On  these  accounts  the 
house  prayed  that  the  king  would 
enter  vigorously  into  the  war  in  Ger- 
many, would  order  an  expedition  to 
be  sent  again*  some  part  of  the 
Spanish  territory,  would  marry  his 
son  to  a  Protestant  princess,  would 
appoint  a  commission  to  put  in 
force  all  laws  made  and  to  be  made 
against  papists,  would  recall  the  sons 
of  noblemen  and  gentlemen  from 
parts  beyond  the  sea,  would  order  all 
children,  whose  fathers  and  mothers 
were  Catholics,  to  be  taken  from  their 
parents  and  brought  up  Protestants, 
and  would  annul,  if  it  could  be  done 
by  law,  all  inadequate  compositions 
hitherto  made  for  the  forfeitures  of 
recusants. 


2  Ibid.  643,  644,  662. 


118 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  hi. 


James  furtively  received  a  copy  of 
this  petition  almost  as  soon  as  it  was 
draAvn.  It  threw  him  into  a  pa- 
roxysm of  rage.  To  complain  of  the 
growth  of  popery  was  not  uncommon, 
but  to  embody  in  it  insinuations 
against  the  honour  of  his  ally  the 
king  of  Spain,  to  advise  the  invasion 
of  the  territories  of  a  prince  who  had 
given  no  cause  of  offence,  to  dictate 
to  the  sovereign  in  what  manner  he 
was  to  dispose  of  the  prince  in  mar- 
riage, were,  in  his  opinion,  instances 
of  presumption  which  had  no  pre- 
cedent, invasions  of  his  prerogative 
which  demanded  the  most  prompt 
and  energetic  resistance.  He  wrote 
immediately  to  the  speaker,  com- 
plaining of  the  influence  possessed  by 
certain  "  fiery,  popular,  and  turbulent 
spirits  "in  the  lower  house,  forbidding 
them  to  inquire  into  the  mysteries  of 
state,  or  to  concern  themselves  about 
the  marriage  of  his  son,  or  to  touch 
the  character  of  any  prince  his  friend 
or  ally,  or  to  intermeddle  with  causes 
which  were  submitted  to  the  decision 
of  the  courts  of  law,  or  even  to  send 
to  him  their  petition,  if  they  wished 
him  to  hear  or  answer  it.  As  for 
Sands,  they  should  know  that  his 
public  conduct  was  not  the  cause 
of  his  commitment,  but  at  the  same 
time  should  recollect  that  the  crown 
possessed  and  wouM  exercise  the 
right  of  punishing  the  misbehaviour 
of  the  members  both  in  and  out  of 
parliament. 

From  the  angry  tone  and  menacing 
language  of  this  letter,  the  popu- 
lar leaders  might  have  inferred,  that 
not  only  the  rights  which  they 
claimed,  but  their  personal  safety, 
were  at  stake.  But  they  knew  the 
weak  and  vacillating  disposition  of 
the  king.  If  he  were  passionate,  he 
was  also  timid ;  if  prompt  to  threaten, 
yet  slow  to  execute.  In  strong  but 
respectful  terms  they  presented  to 
faim  a  justification  of  their  conduct ; 
and  James,  instead  of  replying  with 


the  brevity  and  dignity  of  a  sovereign, 
returned  a  long  and  laboured,  though 
bitter  and  sarcastic,  answer.  A  war 
of  petitions  and  remonstrances,  mes- 
sages and  recriminations,  was  com- 
menced; one  controversy  begot  an- 
other; the  Commons  termed  their 
claims  the  birthright  of  the  nation, 
the  king  pronounced  them  favours 
conceded  by  the  indulgence  partly  of 
his  predecessors,  and  partly  of  himself. 
Yet,  as  had  been  foreseen,  his  warmth 
began  to  cool;  he  lowered  the  lofty 
tone  which  he  had  assumed ;  he  even 
sought  by  a  conciliatory  message  to 
waive  every  existing  subject  of  debate. 
But  his  opponents  were  of  a  more 
unyielding  character.  That  very  day, 
the  eve  of  the  Christmas  recess,  they 
entered  a  protestation  on  their  jour- 
nals, that  "  the  liberties  and  juris- 
dictions of  parhament  are  the  ancient 
and  undoubted  birthright  and  inhe- 
ritance of  the  subjects  of  England; 
that  arduous  and  urgent  affairs  con- 
cerning the  king,  the  state,  and  de- 
fence of  the  realm,  and  the  church  of 
England,  the  making  and  maintenance 
of  laws,  and  the  redress  of  grievances, 
are  proper  subjects  of  counsel  and 
debate  in  parhament;  that  in  the 
handling  of  these  businesses  every 
member  hath  and  ought  to  have  free- 
dom of  speech ;  that  the  Commons  in 
parliament  have  like  liberty  to  treat 
of  these  matters  in  such  order  as 
they  think  proper ;  that  every  mem- 
ber hath  like  freedom  from  all  im- 
peachment, imprisonment,  and  mo- 
lestation (other  than  by  the  censure 
of  the  house  itself)  concerning  any 
bill,  speaking  or  reasoning  touching 
parliament  matters  ;  and  that  if  any 
be  complained  of  for  anything  said  or 
done  in  pai'liament,  the  same  is  to  b' 
showed  to  the  king  by  assent  of  tl 
Commons,  before  the  king  give  cr| 
dence  to  any  private  iuformatioi 
This  measure  revived  the  former  j^ 
lousy  and  irritation  in  the  breast 
James.    Sending  for  the  journals, 


PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  MEMBERS. 


119 


out  -with  his  own  hand  the  ob- 
nis  protestation  in  the  presence  of 
^ancil,  and  a  few  days  later  dis- 
l  the  parliament.' 
v"  of  the  popular  leaders  escaped 
log's  resentment.    The  earls   of 
rd  and  Southampton  from  the 
r  house,  and  Coke,  Philips,  Pym, 
Mallory,  from  the  lower,  were 
uoned  before   the  council,   and 
.lilted,  some  to  the  Tower,  some 
e  Fleet,  and  others  to  the  custody 
'ivate  individuals.    The  cause  of 
•    committal,    though   manifest, 
act  avowed ;   and  the  pretended 
ces  brought  forward  by  the  mi- 
listers,  showed  that  they  dared  not 
)penly  oppose  the  liberties,  the  exer- 
;ise  of  which  they  laboured  covertly 
/O  suppress.    There  were  four  other 
nembers  of    the    Commons,  Diggs, 
Drew,  Eich,  and  Perrot,  equally  ob- 
loxious  to   the   court   and   equally 
narked  out  for  vengeance.   But  their 
previous  conduct  defied  the  scrutiny 
3f  their  adversaries ;  who,  unable  to 
charge     them    with     any    criminal 
jflfence,  resolved  to  send  them  into 
3xile  under  the  pretext  of  an  honour- 
able   employment.      They    received 
orders  to  proceed  to  Ireland,  and  were 
joined  in  a  commission  with  certain 
persons  resident  in  that  kingdom,  to 
inquire  into  the  state  of  the  army,  the 
church,  and  places  of  public  educa- 
tion ;  into  abuses  in  the  collection  of 
the  revenue;  into  illegal  and  injurious 
patents;    and    into    the    numerous 
frauds  committed  by  the  undertakers 
of  the  new  plantations.    It  was  in 


1  Ru3hworth,  i.  40—56.  Journals,  200. 
On  the  19th,  parliament  was  adjourned  by- 
royal  commission  in  the  house  of  Lords. 
The  Commons  were  not  present ;  and  when 
the  fact  was  announced,  replied  that  they 
would  adjourn  themselves. — Ibid.  "The 
same  day  his  majestie  rode  by  coach  to 
Theobalds  to  dinner,  not  intending,  as  the 
speech  is,  to  returne  till  towards  Easter. 
A&er  dinner,  ryding  on  horseback  abroad, 
his  horse  stumbled  and  cast  his  majestie 
into  the  New  River,  where  the  ice  brake  : 
he  fell  in,  so  that  nothing  but  his  boots 
were  scene :   Sir  Eicbard  Yong  was  next, 


vain  to  remonstrate ;  they  were  told 
that  the  king  had  a  right  to  employ 
the  services  of  his  subjects  in  any 
manner  which  he  thought  proper; 
and  these  men,  however  bold  they 
had  felt  themselves  in  the  company 
of  their  colleagues  in  parliament,  dared 
not  as  private  individuals  engage  in  a 
contest  against  the  crown.  They  sub- 
mitted to  their  punishment,  and 
Coke,  to  mollify  the  displeasure  of  his 
sovereign,  offered  to  accompany  them 
on  their  mission,  and  to  aid  them  with 
his  advice.  The  offer  was  refused; 
but  he,  as  well  as  the  other  pri- 
soners, regained  his  liberty  after  a 
short  confinement  and  a  suitable 
submission.2 

"While  James  condemned  as  a  sove- 
reign the  ambition  of  the  Palatine, 
he  felt  as  a  parent  for  the  misfor- 
tunes of  his  daughter  and  her  children. 
Hitherto  all  his  efforts  in  their  favour 
had  proved  unsuccessful;  the  late 
quarrel  with  his  parliament  had  added 
to  his  embarrassment,  and  he  rested 
his  last  hope  on  the  friendship  and 
mediation  of  the  king  of  Spain.  Se- 
veral years  ago  he  had  sought  to  con- 
nect himself  with  France  by  soliciting 
the  hand  of  the  princess  Christine  for 
his  eldest  son  Henry,  and  on  the 
death  of  Henry,  for  his  next  sur- 
viving son  Charles.^  But  Christine 
was  already  contracted  in  private  to 
Philip,  prince  of  Spain,  whom  she 
afterwards  married  on  the  same  day 
on  which  her  brother  Louis  married 
Anne  of  Austria,  the  sister  of  Philip. 
But  besides  Anne  there  was  another 


who  alighted,  went  into  the  water,  and 
lifted  him  out.  There  came  much  water 
out  of  his  mouth  and  body.  His  majestie 
rid  back  to  Theobalds,  went  into  a  warme 
bed,  and,  as  we  heare,  is  well,  which  God 
continue."— Ellis,  Original  Letters,  iii.  117. 

2  Rushworth,  i.  55. 

3  Henry  died  on  the  6th  of  November; 
on  the  9th  Charles  was  offered  to  the 
princess  in  his  place ;  so  eager  was  James 
for  the  alliance,  and  so  little  did  he  appear 
to  feel  for  the  death  of  his  son.— Birch, 
372. 


120 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  II 


infanta,  Donna  Mana,  and  her  the 
Spanish  minister,  the  duke  of  Lerma, 
offered  to  Prince  Charles  in  the  place 
of  Christine,  though  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  he  had  no  intention  to 
conclude  the  match,  and  threw  out  the 
project  merely  as  a  bait  to  seduce  the 
English  king  from  his  near  connection 
with  the  French  court.  By  James, 
however,  the  proposal  was  cheerfully 
entertained,  under  the  idea  that  the 
riches  of  the  father  would  supply  a 
large  portion  with  the  princess,  and 
his  superior  power  would  render  him 
a  more  valuable  ally.  His  views  were 
eagerly  seconded  in  England  by  Gon- 
domar,  the  Spanish,  and  in  Spain  by 
Digby,theEnglish  ambassador;  both  of 
whom  considered  the  accomplishment 
of  the  marriage  as  a  certain  pledge  of 
their  future  aggrandizement.  Ey 
their  exertions  the  chief  difficulty,— 
difference  of  religion,  was  apparently 
surmounted:  twenty  articles,  secur- 
ing to  the  princess  the  free  exercise 
of  the  Catholic  worship  in  England,^ 
received  the  approbation  of  the  two* 
monarchs ;  and  James  was  induced  to 
promise  that  he  would  never  more 
suffer  Catholic  priests  to  be  executed 
for  the  sole  exercise  of  their  func- 
tions, and  that  he  would  grant  to  the 
Catholic  recusants  every  indulgence 
in  his  power.'  Though  the  nego- 
tiation was  kept  secret,  its  general 
tendency  transpired;  the  clergy  and 
the  more  zealous  of  their  hearers 
maintained  that  religion  was  in  danger 
from  the  restoration  of  popery ;  and 
the  result  was  that  petition  of  the 
Commons  which  provoked  the  disso- 
lution of  the  late  parliament. 

The  misfortunes  of  the  Palatine 
added  a  new  stimulus  to  the  exertions 
of  James,  who  saw  in  a  family  alliance 
with  Spain  the  only  probable  means 
of  preserving  the  patrimonial  domi- 
nions of  his  son-in-law.  But  his  eager- 


ness was  most  vexatiously  checkc 
by  the  proverbial  tardiness  of  tl; 
Spanish  cabinet,  and  by  the  relu' 
tance  of  Philip  to  trust  his  daughte 
a  child  only  twelve  years  old,  in 
court  where  she  might  perhaps  l 
seduced  from  the  religion  of  he 
fathers.  But  Philip  died;  and  th 
accession  of  his  son,  the  fourth  of  th 
same  name,  revived  the  hopes  of  th 
British  monarch.  Both  James  an 
Charles  wrote  to  the  new  king  an 
his  favourite  Olivarez;  Gondoma 
was  persuaded  to  return  to  Spain 
Digby,  now  earl  of  Bristol,  foUowe 
to  accelerate  the  negotiation;  an 
a  favourable  answer  was  returnee 
stating  the  earnest  desire  of  Phili 
to  concluded  the  marriage  of  his  siste) 
and  his  willingness,  at  the  request  c 
James,  to  interpose  his  good  offices  i: 
behalf  of  the  Palatine.* 

As  a  preparatory  step,  a  dispen 
sation  was  solicited  from  the  pop 
by  the  Spanish  king,  through  th 
agency  of  his  ambassador,  the  duke  c 
Albuquerque,  and  of  the  Padr 
Maestro,  the  chief  clergyman  attache( 
to  the  Spanish  legation  in  England 
It  had  been  agreed  that  James  shoulc 
not  appear  in  the  negotiation;  bu 
such  was  his  impatience,  that  he  de 
spatched  George  Gage,  a  Catholi 
gentleman,  to  Rome,  with  letters  t< 
the  pope,  and  to  the  cardinals  Ludo 
visio  and  Bandini,  while  his  favourite 
Buckingham,  employed  for  the  sam< 
purpose  Bennet,  a  Catholic  priest,  th" 
agent  for  the  secular  clergy.^'  To  th» 
request  of  these  envoys  the  pontil 
replied,  that  he  could  not  dispens' 
with  the  canons,  unless  it  were  fo 
the  benefit  of  the  church :  that  thougl 
James  had  i)romised  much  to  the  latt 
king  of  Spain,  he  had  yet  performet 
nothing;  but  let  him,  as  he  hac 
offered,  relieve  the  Catholics  from  th( 
pressure  of  the  penal  laws,  and  then ; 


1  See   the   letter    in    Prynne's    Hidden 
Works  of  Darkness,  p.  8. 


»  Enshworth,  i.  56, 
s  See  Appendix,  KKK. 


022.]       PROGRESS  OF  TREATY  WITH  SPAIN. 


121 


ont  ground  would  be  laid   for 
ispeusation.* 

is  suggestion  was  not  lost  on  the 

-h  monarch.    He  ordered   the 

keeper  to  issue,  under  the  great 

pardons   for  recusancy  to   all 

ilics  who  should  apply  for  them 

e  course  of  five  years,  and  in- 

_ed  the  judges  to  discharge  from 

1,  during  their  circuits,   every 

lut  able  and  willing  to  give  secu- 

i_  I)    for  his  subsequent  appearance. 

his  indulgence  awakened  the  fears 

:'  the  zealots;  and  Williams,  to  silence 

leir  complaints,  alleged,  1.  that  some 

lodification  of  these  severities  had 

ecome  necessary  to  satisfy  the  Ca- 

lolic    princes,   who    threatened   to 

nact  against  the  Protestants  in  their 

ominions,    laws    similar    to   those 

nder  which  the  Catholics  groaned 

1  England ;  3.  that  it  was  in  reality 

very  trifling  relief;  for  if  the  recu- 

mts  were  no  longer  in  prison,  "  they 

ad   still   the  shackles    about  their 

eels,"  and  might   be  remanded   at 

leasure ;  and  2.  that  it  could  create 

0  danger  to  the  Protestant  ascen- 

.ancy,  as  it  did  not  extend  to  any 

•risoner  confined  for  those  religious 

xjts  which  the  law   had  converted 

nto  capital  ofiences.     But,   though 

US  arguments   might    appease   the 

?rotestants,  they  alarmed  the  Catho- 

ics ;    a  suspicion  was  provoked  that 

fames  acted  with  his  former  dupli- 

ity;  and,  if   Gondomar  boasted  in 

■jpain  that  four  thousand  Catholics 

ladbeen  released  from  confinement. 


1  MS.  letter  from  Bennet  in  my  posses- 
lion.  Prynne,  p.  8.  It  appears  from  the 
3ardwicke  Papers,  that  during  these  nego- 
iations  the  king  wrote  two  letters  to  dif- 
erent  popes.  The  greatest  secrecy  was 
ibserved.  Of  their  contents  the  only  thing 
nentioned  is  a  request  that  the  pontiff 
.vould  withdraw  the  Jesuits  out  of  the 
British  dominions. — Hard.  Papers,  i.  458, 
169. 

2  Dodd,  ii.  439.  Cabala,  293—295.  Kush- 
(vorth,  i.  63.    Prynne,  13,  14,  15. 

^  To  this  despatch,  however,  was  added  a 
private  note,  forbidding  Bristol  to  come 


it  was  replied,  that  "  they  had  still 
the  shackles  about  their  heels,"  and 
would  enjoy  their  liberty  no  longer 
than  might  suit  the  royal  conve- 
nience.' 

While  the  king  was  negotiating  in 
favour  of  the  Palatine,  the  enemies 
of  that  prince  had  taken  the  field. 
Heidelberg  surrendered:  Manheim 
was  threatened ;  and  there  was  every 
appearance  that,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  weeks,  the  last  remnant  of  his 
patrimony  would  be  torn  from  him 
for  ever.  The  news  aroused  the  spirit 
of  James,  who  complained  that  he  had 
reason  to  expect  a  very  different  result 
from  the  interposition  of  the  Spanish 
court,  and  ordered  Bristol  to  return 
to  England,  unless  he  should  receive 
a  satisfactory  answer  within  ten  days.^ 
But  Philip  was  able  to  show  that  the 
blame  ought  not  to  be  imputed  ta 
him;  he  ordered  his  forces  in  the 
Palatinate  to  co-operate  with  those 
of  James,  and  the  treaty  of  marriage 
proceeded  rapidly  towards  its  conclu- 
sion. The  religious'  articles  respect- 
ing the  infanta,  with  several  correc- 
tions made  in  Rome,  were  subscribed 
by  James  and  his  son ;  who,  more- 
over, promised,  on  the  word  of  a  king^ 
and  a  prince,  that  the  English  Catho- 
lics should  no  longer  suffer  persecu- 
tion or  restraint,  provided  they  con- 
fined to  private  houses  the  exercise  of 
their  worship.*  It  was  agreed  that 
the  dower  of  the  princess  should 
be  fixed  at  two  millions  of  ducats ; 
that  the  espousals  should   be  cele- 


away  without  additional  orders,  "  though,*' 
says  James,  "publiquely  and  outwardly 
you  give  out  the  contrary,  that  we  may 
malre  use  thereof  with  our  people  in  par- 
liament, as  we  shall  hold  best  for  our  ser- 
vice."— Prynne,  20. 

*  These  articles  and  corrections  are  pub- 
lished in  the  Mercure  Fran9ois,  ix,  517,  and 
in  Du  Mont,  Corps  Diplomatique,  v.  partie 
ii.  p.  432;  but  more  correctly  by  Prynne, 
p.  4,  where  the  first  column  contains  the 
articles  agreed  upon  by  James  and  Phi- 
lip III.,  the  second  the  same,  corrected  by 
Gregory  XV.— See  also  Clarendon  Papers, 
1.4—7. 


122 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  I 


brated  •within  forty  days  after  the 
receipt  of  the  dispensation  ;  and  that 
the  departure  of  the  princess,  under 
the  care  of  Don  Duartre  of  Portugal, 
should  follow  in  the  course  of  three 
weeks.  Even  the  two  last  points  in 
debate,  the  time  for  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  marriage,  which  the  Spa- 
niards sought  to  delay  for  a  few 
months,  and  the  intervals  between 
the  several  payments  of  the  portion, 
which  one  party  wished  to  prolong, 
the  other  to  contract,  were,  after 
some  dispute,  amicably  arranged; 
and  Bristol  and  his  colleague  Aston, 
the  resident  ambassador,  congratu- 
lated themselves  that  they  had  brought 
this  long  and  difficult  negotiation  to 
a  successful  issue.' 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  two 
strangers,  calling  themselves  John 
and  Thomas  Smith,  arrived  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening  at  the  house  of 
the  earl  of  Bristol,  in  Madrid.  They 
were  the  prince  of  Wales  and  the 
marquess  of  Buckingham,  who  had 
left  England  without  the  privity  of 
any  other  person  than  the  king,  and 
had  travelled  in  disguise,  with  three 
attendants,  to  the  capital  of  Spain.^ 
The  project  of  this  extraordinary 
journey  had  originated  with  Gondo- 
mar,  during  his  embassy  in  the  pre- 
ceding summer ;  its  execution  had 
been  hastened  by  despatches  received 
from  him  in  the  preceding  month. 
To  the  youthful  mind  of  Charles  it 
presented  a  romantic,  and  therefore 
welcome  adventure,  far  superior  in 
point  of  gallantry  to  the  celebrated 
voyage  of  his  father  in  quest  of  Anne 


1  Hardwicke  Papers,  400,  404,  496—498. 
Prynne,  14  —  25.  Clarendon  Papers,  i. 
App.  ixx. 

^  Sir  Francis  Cottington,  Endymion  Por- 
ter, and  Sir  Richard  Graham. 

»  Howell's  Letters,  tenth  edition,  p.  132. 
Ellis,  Original  Letters,  iii.  134.  The  earl  of 
Bristol  asserted  before  the  Lords  that  the 
journey  was  planned  between  Buckingham 
and  Gondomar,  and  that  he  would  prove  it 
to  their  conviction.  — Journals,  686,  640. 
Buckingham,  however,  told  Gerbier,  that 
it  originated  with  himself.    He  hoped  by  it 


of  Denmark ;  to  Buckingham  it  j  > 
mised  something  more  than  plea.-i 
the  glory  of  completing  a  treaty  wh; 
for  seven  years,  had  held  the  nan 
in  suspense,  and  the  opportunii, 
establishing  a  powerful  interest, 
only  in  the  heart  of  the  prince,  : 
also  of  his  expected  bride.^ 

Bristol  received  his  distinguish 
guests  with  the  respect  due  to  tli 
rank,  but  without  any  expression, 
surprise.    From  the  conversation 
Gondomar  he  had  previously  collect 
sufficient  to  infer  that  such  a  jouru 
was  in  contemplation;  and,  to  preve:  t 
it,  had  recently  despatched  a  me  < 
senger,    who   passed    the    travelle  ■ 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bayonne.^    Bt  J 
though  he  assumed  an  air  of  satisfa  > 
tion,  he  felt  the  keenest  disappoin  ^ 
ment.    Buckingham  had  interpost  \ 
between  him  and  the  completion  <  » 
his  labours ;  and  he  foresaw  that, 
the  arrogance  and  licentiousness 
the  favourite  did  not  interrupt  tl 
treaty,    his    rapacity   and   ambitic 
would  reap  all  the  benefit  and  mon< 
polize  the  glory. 

The  king,  the  nobility,  and  tl: 
population  of  Madrid  seemed  at 
loss  to  testify  their  joy  at  this  une2 
pected  event.  The  prince  was  r< 
ceived  with  every  complimentar  ; 
honour*,  which  Spanish  ingenuit 
could  devise;  the  prisons  were  throw 
open;  the  disposal  of  favours  w? 
placed  in  his  hands;  he  was  mat! 
to  take  precedence  of  the  king  bin 
self;  and  two  keys  of  gold  gave  hh 
admission,  at  all  hours,  into  the  roy; 
apartments.*  His  visit  was  considere 


to  procure  the  Palatinate,  or  at  least  t 
bring  the  sincerity  of  the  Spaniards  to  th 
test.— D'Israeli,  iii.  442,  from  Sloane  MS; 
4181. 

♦  The  prince  stopped  him,  and  opene 
his  despatches ;  but  being  unable  to  d< 
cipher  them,  suffered  him  to  procee^ 
Uardwicke  Papers,  i.  403. 

5  Ellis,  iii.  142.    James  observes  oi 
subject :— "  The  newis  of  youre  glor 
reception  thaii-e,  makes  me  afrayed  that^ 
will  both  miskenne  your  olde  JDade  here 
after"  (p.  139). 


to  d< 
:ee^^ 

M 


I 


23.] 


NEW  NEGOTIATIONS. 


123 


Illy  as  a  proof  of  his  reliance  on 
ish  honour,  an   earnest  of  his 
iinent  to  the  Spanish  princess, 
ilso  as  a  prelude  to  his  conver- 
^  0  the  Catholic  faith.  Such  hopes 
already  been  held  out  by  Gon- 
■■:,  and,  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
.itirely  without  foundation.  From 
utradictory  assertions  of  Buck- 
:giiam  and  Bristol,  who  afterwards 
larged  each  other  with  having  ad- 
ised  that  measure,  it  may  be  difficult 
)  ehcit  the  truth;  but  the  two  travel- 
ers, in  the  first  letter  which  they 
espatched  to  the  king  to  announce 
leir  arrival,  requested  to  know  how 
ir  he  could  be  induced  to  acknow- 
Kige    the   authority   of    the   pope. 
Whatever   might   have    been   their 
bject  in  putting  this  extraordinary 
uestion,  it  was  marred  by  the  reso- 
ite  answer  of  James.  ^  Still  the  prince 
esitated  not,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from 
he  pontiff,  to  promise  that  he  would 
bstain  from   every  act  of  hostility 
0  the  Eoman  Cathohc  religion,  and 
v'ould  seek  every  opportunity  of  ac- 
omplishing  a  reunion  between  the 
wo  churches.^ 


1  "If  the  pope  will  not  grant  the  dispen- 
lation,  then  we  would  gladly  have  your 
iirections  how  far  we  may  engage  you  in 
he  acknowledgment  of  the  pope's  special 
jower  ;  for  we  almost  find,  if  you  wiU  be 
;ontented  to  acknowledge  the  pope  chief 
aead  under  Christ,  the  match  will  be  made 
irithout  him."  March  19.  On  the  25th 
Tames  replies  that  he  knows  not  what  the^ 
mean  by  acknowledging  the  pope's  spi- 
ritual supremacy.  He  is  sure  they  would 
not  have  him  renounce  his  religion  for  all 
the  world.  Perhaps  they  allude  to  a  pas- 
sage in  his  book,  where  he  says,  that  if 
the  pope  would  quit  his  godhead  and  usurp- 
ing over  kings,  he  would  acknowledge  him 
for  chief  bishop,  to  whom  all  appeals  of 
churchmen  ought  to  lie  en  dernier  ressort. 
That  is  the  furthest  his  conscience  will 
permit  him  to  go.  He  is  not  a  monsieur, 
who  can  shift  his  rehgion  as  easily  as  he 
can  shift  his  shirt  when  he  cometh  from 
tennis. — Hard.  Papers,  ii.  402,  411. 

2  '•  Ab  omni  demum  actu  temperabimus, 
qui,  aliquam  prae  se  speciem  ferat  nos  a 
Komanu  Catholica  religione  abhorrere,  sed 
omnes  potius  captabimus  occasiones,  quo 

in  ecclegiam  unam  unanimiter  coales- 

camus."— Ibid.  i.  453.    "  This  letter,"  says 


In  England  the  sudden  disap- 
pearance of  the  prince  had  excited 
surprise  and  alarm;  the  intelhgence 
of  his  arrival  in  Spain,  though  cele- 
brated at  the  royal  command  with 
bonfires  and  the  ringing  of  bells,  was 
received  with  strong  expressions  of 
disapprobation.  But  James  remained 
faithful  to  his  word.  He  refused  to 
listen  to  those  who  condemned  or  re- 
monstrated ;3  he  forwarded  to  Charles 
officers,  and  chaplains,  and  jewels ; 
and  he  raised  Buckingham  to  the 
higher  title  of  duke,  that  he  might 
equal  in  rank  the  proudest  grandee 
in  the  Spanish  court.  In  addition 
(so  blind  was  the  confidence  of  the 
doating  monarch),  he  assented  to  the 
request  of  the  adventurers  that  their 
proceedings  should  be  concealed  from 
the  knowledge  of  his  council,  and,  by 
a  solemn  promise  in  writing,  engaged 
to  ratify  whatever  they  might  con- 
clude with  the  Spanish  minister.* 
Never  did  sovereign  deceive  himself 
more  miserably.  Baby  Charles  and 
his  dog  Steenie  (such  were  the  elegant 
appellations  which  they  gave  to  them- 
selves in  their  letters)  proved  unequal 


Lord  Clarendon,  "is  by  your  favour  more 
than  a  compliment ;"  and  Urban  VIII.  calls 
it  "  literas  testes  suae  in  Romanos  pontiflcea 
voluntatis.'' — Eushworth,  i.  95. 

3  Among  these  was  Archbishop  Abbot, 
whose  letter  proved  the  bitterness  of  his 
zeal  as  a  divine,  and  the  soundness  of  his 
principles  as  a  statesman.  "  By  your  act," 
he  says  to  the  king,  "you  labour  to  set  up 
that  most  damnable  and  heretical  doctrine 
of  the  church  of  Eome you  show  your- 
self a  patron  of  those  doctrines  which  your 
conscience  tells  yourself  are  superstitious, 
idolatrous,  and  detestable.  Add  to  this 
what  you  have  done  in  sending  your  son 
into  Spain  without  the  consent  of  your 
council  or  the  privity  of  your  people. 
Believe  it,  sir,  howsoever  his  return  may  be 
safe,  yet  the  drawers  of  him  to  that  action 
will  not  pass  away  unquestioned,  un- 
punished. Besides,  this  toleration  which 
you  endeavour  to  set  up  by  proclamation, 
it  cannot  be  done  without  a  parliament, 
unless  your  majesty  will  let  your  subjects 
see,  that  you  will  take  to  yourself  a  Uberty 
to  throw  down  the  laws  of  your  land  at 
pleasure." — Prynne,  40.    Eushworth,  85. 

*  Hardwicke  Papers,  410,  417,  419.  Ca- 
bala, 129.    Ellis,  Original  Letters,  iii.  139. 


12-1 


JAMES  I. 


[cn.iP.  1 


to  the  task  which  they  had  assumed. 
Charles  was  imprudent,  Buckingham 
resentful :  instead  of  accomplishing 
the  marriage,  they  dragged  the  un- 
suspecting king  into  a  war;  and  his 
disappointment  and  vexation  con- 
tributed not  only  to  embitter,  but 
to  shorten  his  days. 

It  was  not  without  reluctance  that 
Olivarez  had  agreed  to  the  conditions 
proposed  by  Bristol  and  Aston.  He 
knew  that  the  clergy  and  nobility  of 
Spain  objected  to  the  match;  the  king 
was  still  a  minor  in  his  twentieth 
year ;  and  the  whole  responsibility 
of  the  measure  rested  on  his  own 
shoulders.'  The  arrival  of  the  royal 
stranger  suggested  the  hope  of  ob- 
taining more  favourable  terms.  His 
inexperience  would  render  him  less 
cautious,  his  ardour  less  stubborn ; 
he  had  rashly  placed  himself  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Spanish  ministry,  and 
must  submit  either  to  purchase  his 
bride  at  any  price,  or  to  incur  the 
disgrace  of  having  passed  the  sea  on  a 
visionary  and  sleeveless  errand. 

In  private  conversation  with  Charles 
and  Buckingham,  Olivarez  insinuated 
that  the  negotiation  with  Bristol  had 
been  more  for  show  than  reality ;  that 
now  was  the  time  to  treat  in  good 
earnest,  when  every  difficulty  might 
be  surmounted  by  the  presence  of 
the  prince  and  the  wisdom  of  his 
adviser.^  The  young  men  suffered 
themselves  to  be  duped  by  the  flattery 
and  cunning  of  the  Spaniard.  In 
defiance  of  the  remonstrances  of  the 
two  ambassadors,  the  discussion  was 
reopened ;  the  articles  already  agreed 
upon  were  reconsidered ;  and  Olivarez 
was  careful  to  supply  new  subjects 
of  debate,  while  Buckingham,  looking 
on  Bristol  as  a  rival,  rejected  his  ad- 


1  Hard.  Papers,  i,  421,  428.  Howell's 
Letters,  124,  125.     Lords'  Journals,  226. 

2  See  in  the  Lords'  Journals  Bucking- 
ham's proofs  that  the  Spaniards  were  insin- 
cere, and  Bristol's  proof's  to  the  contrary, 
221, 22Q,  U63.    It  ia  plain,  that  if  the  former 


vice,  and  treated  him  with  scorn  ; 
neglect. 

The  dispensation  had  been  granit 
but,  at  the  request  of  Olivarez,  it  w 
accompanied  with  two  sets  of  instm 
tions  to  the  nuncio  Massimi,  one 
be  made  public,  the  other  to  be  coi 
municated  to  no  one  but  the  Spani 
minister.  By  the  first  the  nunc 
was  forbidden  to  part  with  the  dispe 
sation  till  he  had  obtained  as  previo 
conditions  promises  of  the  conversl 
of  the  prince  to  the  Catholic  fait 
and  of  the  repeal  of  the  penal  la^ 
against  the  Catholic  worship  :  n 
with  any  expectation  that  such  d 
mands  would  be  granted,  but  th 
the  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  prin 
might  supply  a  pretext  for  keepu 
back  the  dispensation  as  long 
might  suit  the  views  of  the  Spani 
cabinet.  By  the  other  he  was  order. 
to  procure  for  the  British  Catholi 
every  indulgence  in  his  power,  b 
to  deliver  the  dispensation  to  t. 
king  of  Spain  whenever  it  should 
required.^  By  this  artifice  a  new  fie 
was  opened  for  discussion  and  dela 
every  proposal  was  first  debated  b 
tween  the  parties,  then  carried  befo 
the  council,  and  thence  transmitt 
to  a  junta  of  divines,  to  whom, 
the  question  concerned  the  kin^ 
conscience,  Olivarez  contended  th 
the  decision  properly  belonged.  TI 
result  was  a  public  and  a  priva 
treaty.*  The  first,  according  to  t] 
former  agreement,  stipulated  that  tl 
marriage  should  be  celebrated  in  Spa 
and  afterwards  ratified  in  Englau' 
that  the  children  should  remain  t 
the  age  of  ten  years  under  the  ca 
of  their  mother ;  that  the  infanta  ai 
her  servants  should  possess  a  chur( 
and  chapel  for  the  free  exercise 


were  conclusive,  they  refer  chiefly  to  t 
negotiation  under  Philip  III. 

•'*  MS.    despatch   of  Card.    Ludovisio, 
18th  April,  1623,  N.  8. 

♦  Du  Mont,  V.  part  ii.  440.    Pryni 
Clarendon  Papers,  i.  App.  ixiv.— xxvi' 


I 


:C23.] 


BUCKINGHAM'S  CONDUCT. 


125 


•  religion ;  and  that  lier  chaplains  j 
id  be  Spaniards  living  under 
uical  obedience  to  their  bishop. 

private  treaty  contained  four 
:os  :  that  none  of  the  penal  laws 
■ligion  should  be  executed ;  that 

itholic  worship  in  private  houses 
;d  be  tolerated;  that  no  attempt 
Id  be  made  to  seduce  the  princess 

the  faith  of  her  fathers ;  and 

the  king  should  exert  all  his 
juce  to  obtain  the  repeal  of  the 
1  statutes  in  parliament.  Both 
js  and  the  lords  of  the  council 
\^  to  the  observance  of  the  public 
>•  in  the  royal  chapel  at  West- 
ler;'  the  king  alone  to  that  of 
-ecret  treaty,  in  the  house  of  the 
ish  ambassador,  and  in  the  pre- 

•  of  four  witnesses.2 

e  royal  oath  did  not,  however, 
outu'e  satisfaction.  The  conduct 
I  ames  at  a  more  early  period  had 
.mprinted  on  his  character  the  stigma 
3f  insincerity ;  and  the  doubts  of 
Philip  were  nourished  by  the  de- 
spatches of  his  ambassadors.^  He 
proposed  that  the  marriage  should 
be  consummated  in  Spain,  and  that 
both  the  princess  and  the  dower 
should  remain  there  till  the  following 
spring,  as  a  security  that  the  promised 
indulgence  should  in  the  mean  time 
be  actually  granted  to  the  Catholics. 


1  Archbishop  Abbot,  notwithstanding  hia 
letter,  took  the  oath  with  his  colleagues,  a 
condescension  which  delighted  the  king : 
••  Now  I  must  tell  you  miracles  :  our  great 
primate  hath  behaved  himself  wonderfully 
well,"  &c.— Hard.  Papers,  i.  428, 

2  James  previously  protested  that  he  did 
not  mean  to  resign  the  power  of  enforcing 
the  laws  against  the  Catholics,  if  they  should 
embroil  the  government;  that  he  swore 
safely  to  the  repeal  of  the  laws,  because  he 
was  sure  that  he  could  not  effect  it,  and 
that  he  should  not  be  bound  by  his  oath,  if 
the  marriage  did  not  take  effect. — Prynne, 
47.  Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  428—430.  Cla- 
rendon Papers,  i.  10.  He  would  not  have 
sworn  at  all,  had  he  not  promised  to  ratify 
every  agreement  made  by  Charles  at  Madrid. 
— Ellis,  Original  Letters,  ii.  154. 

3  For  this  there  is  some  reason.  When 
the  ambassadors  desired  the  king  to  issue 
&  proclamation  forbidding  all  persecution 


But  by  this  time  the  patience  of  the 
prince  was  exhausted,  and  both  in- 
terest and  pride  induced  his  com- 
panion to  advise  his  return  to  Eng- 
land, 1.  Buckingham  had  learned 
that  his  real  but  secret  enemies  in 
England  were  more  numerous  than 
he  had  supposed.  His  absence  had 
emboldened  them  to  whisper  occasion- 
ally in  the  royal  ear  instances  of  his 
indiscretion  and  abuse  of  power,  and 
the  friends  of  Bristol  were  eager  to 
paint  in  the  most  vivid  colours  the 
insults  offered  to  that  able  minister 
by  the  arrogance  and  presumption  of 
the  favourite.  Aware  also  of  the  easy 
and  credulous  disposition  of  his  mas- 
ter, he  knew  not  what  impression 
might  be  made  by  the  repeated 
charges  of  his  enemies;  and  began 
to  listen  to  the  entreaties  of  his 
dependants,  who  admonished  him, 
as  he  tendered  his  own  greatness, 
to  hasten  back  to  England,  and  to 
resume  his  former  place  near  the 
person  of  his  sovereign,''  2.  To  pro- 
long his  stay  at  Madrid  was  become 
irksome  to  his  feelings,  perhaps 
dangerous  to  his  safety.  His  fre- 
quent quarrels  with  Olivarez,  though 
apparently  suppressed  at  the  com- 
mand of  Philip  and  Charles,  had 
created  a  deadly  enmity  between  the 
two    favourites ;    the   levity    of  his 


of  Catholics  on  the  ground  of  conscience, 
he  replied  that  a  proclamation  was  but  a 
suspension  of  the  law,  which  might  be 
made  void  by  another  proclamation,  and 
did  not  bind  a  successor :  he  would  rather 
grant  them  an  immmunity  from  all  penal- 
ties for  the  time  to  come,  and  forbid  the 
magistrates,  judges,  and  bishops  to  put 
the  laws  in  execution  against  them.  But 
when  this  was  intimated  to  the  lord  keeper, 
he  refused  to  issue  the  prohibition,  as  being 
a  thing  unprecedented  in  the  kingdom. — 
Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  437.  Cabala,  297. 
Eushworth,  101. 

*  See  a  letter  in  Cabala,  128.  "  My  lord 
of  Bristol  hath  a  great  and  more  powerful 
party  in  court  than  you  imagine  ;  insomuch 
that  I  am  confident,  were  the  king  a  neuter, 
he  would  prevail." — Ibid,  129.  Laud  was 
very  active  in  his  correspondence  with  the 
duke,  informing  him  of  the  cabals  against 
him.— Heylin,  105,  113. 


126 


JAMES  I. 


[chap. 


manners,  the  publicity  of  his  amours, 
and  his  unbecoming  familiarity  with 
the  prince,  daily  shocked  the  gravity 
of  the  Spaniards ;  and  the  king  him- 
self had  said,  or  was  reported  to  have 
said,  that  his  sister  never  could  be 
happy  as  a  wife,  if  so  violent  and 
unprincipled  a  man  continued  to 
enjoy  the  confidence  of  her  husband. 
The  duke  knew  that  he  had  forfeited 
the  esteem  of  the  Spanish  court ;  and 
resentment  on  the  one  hand,  interest 
on  the  other,  led  him  at  last  to  oppose 
that  match,  which  it  had  hitherto 
been  his  great  object  to  effect.* 

A  new  cause  of  delay  had  arisen 
from  the  unexpected  death  of  Gre- 
gory XV.  As  no  use  had  been  made 
of  the  dispensation  granted  by  that 
pontiff,  it  was  held  necessary  to  pro- 
cure another  from  his  successor.  In 
the  meanwhile  another  treaty  was 
concluded  and  signed,  by  which  the 
prince  engaged  to  marry  the  infanta 
at  !Madrid,  on  the  arrival  of  the  an- 
swer from  Eome,  the  king  to  send  her 
to  England  on  the  first  day  of  the 
following  month  of  March.=  Charles, 
however,  had  no  intention  to  be 
bound  by  this  agreement ;  he  assured 
his  father  that  he  would  never  con- 
sent to  any  ceremony  of  marriage, 
unless  with  the  assurance  that  his 
wife  should  accompany  him  home, 
and  to  further  his  project,  he  re- 
quested a  royal  order  for  his  imme- 
diate return.  Its  arrival  rendered  a 
new  arrangement  necessary.  It  was 
stipulated  that  the  espousals  should 


1  "The  truth  is,  that  this  king  and  his 
ministers  are  grown  to  have  a  great  dis- 
like against  my  lord  duke  of  Buckingham, 
— thej' judge  him  to  have  so  much  power 
with  your  majesty  and  the  prince,  to  be  so 

ill  affected  to  them  and  their  affairs 

unless  you  find  some  means  of  reconcilia- 
tion, or  let  them  see  that  it  shall  not  be  in 
his  power  to  make  the  infanta's  life  less 
happy,"  &c.— Bristol  to  the  king,  Uard. 
Papers,  i.  477,  also  479.  Cabala,  ii.  98,  99, 
271,  276,  308,  358.  HoweU'b  Letters,  138. 
Journals,  224. 

*  In  consequence  of  this  agreement,  a 
public  bull-fight,  and  a  most  gorgeous  jeugo 


take  place  before  the  feast  of  Chr 
mas ;  that  at  the  ceremony  the  prii 
should  be  represented  by  Philip 
his  brother  Don  Carlos,  and  tha 
procuration  with  full  powers  to  tl 
effect  should  be  deposited  with  i 
earl  of  Bristol,  and  be  delivered    ' 
that  minister  to  the  king  within 
days  after  the  receipt  of  the  p; 
answer.    These  articles  were  reel; 
cally  confirmed  by  oath ;  the  inf: 
assumed  the  title  of  princess  of  E 
land,  and  a  court  was  formed  for  1 
corresponding   to    her  new  dign 
Phihp  and  Charles  parted  from  < 
other   as  brothers,  with  profess, 
of  the  warmest   attachment ;    th 
favourites  with  the  open  avowal 
their   enmity.     "To   the   king,   t  j 
queen,  and  the  princess,"  said  Buc  1 
ingham,  addressing  Olivarez,  "  I  sh  v 
always  prove  myself  an  humble  st  i 
vant ;  to  you  never."  "I  am  honour 
by  the  compliment,"  was  the  reply 
the  Castilian.3 

Notwithstanding  these  oaths  ai 
appearances,  the  projected  marria 
was  already  broken  off  in  the  dete 
mination  of  Buckingham,  probab 
in  that  of  Charles,  From  SegOT 
Clerk,  a  dependant  of  the  favourii 
returned  to  Madrid,  and  under  tl 
pretext  of  sickness,  was  received  in 
the  house  of  the  earl  of  Bristol.  H 
unexpected  appearance  excited  su 
prise;''  but  he  suffered  not  his  re 
purpose  to  transpire  till,  deceived  I 
an  ambiguous  expression  of  his  hoi 
he  persuaded  himself  that  the  pap; 


de  cannas,  in  which  the  king,  his  brother 
and  nobles,  displayed  all  their  magnificenc 
was  exhibited  at  Madrid. — See  the  descrij 
tion  in  Somers's  Tracts,  ii.  632—540. 

3  Somers's  Tracts,  ii.  645.  Hard.  Paper 
i.  432  —  436,  476,  479,  489.  Cabala,  35 
Rushworth,  103.  Prynne,  49.  Clarendo 
Papers,  i.  App.  ixv. — xiii. 

♦  "  He  is  one  of  the  D.  of  Buckingham 
creattures,  yet  he  lies  at  the  E.  of  Bristol 

house We   fear   that   this   Clerk    hs 

brought  something  to  puzzle  the  business. 
—Howell's  Letters,  148.  Hardwicke  Pi 
pers,i.431.  Lords' Journalfl,  643.  Cabak 
107,  216. 


1623.]        THE  MAEEIAGE  COUNTEEMANDED. 


127 


•ipt  had  been  received.    Imme- 
\y  he   put   into   the   hands  of 
ol  a  letter  from  the  prince  for- 
ug  him  to  deliver  the  procura- 
to  the  king,>  till    security  had 
obtained  that  the  infanta  would 
after  the  marriage  contract,  re- 
into  a  convent.    That  there  was 
:rround  for  such  a  suspicion  we 
not  told;  but  the  real  object  of 
'etter  was  to  prevent  that  mar- 
to  which  Charles   had  bound 
-elf  by  his  oath.    The  mistake  of 
k    afforded   time   to   Bristol   to 
t  the  artifice.    He  demanded  an 
ence  of  the  king,  obtained  from 
nm   every   security  that   could   be 
vished,  and  sent  by  express  the  un- 
Yelcome  intelligence  to  the  British 
X)urt.' 

The  failure  of  this  expedient  sug- 
gested a  second.  James,  at  the  per- 
masion  of  Buckingham,  commanded 
Bristol  to  deliver  the  procuration  at 
Christmas,  "  that  holy  and  joyful  time 
3est  fitting  so  notable  and  blessed  an 
iction  as  the  marriage."  The  earl 
5aw  that  the  credulity  of  his  sovereign 
had  been  deceived,  and  informed  him 
by  express  that  the  powers  conferred 
by  the  deed  would  then  have  expired ; 
that  to  present  it  only  when  it  had 
ceased  to  be  in  force,  would  be  to  add 
insult  to  bad  faith;  that  the  papal 
approbation  was  already  signed  at 
Rome;  and  that,  unless  he  should 
receive  orders  to  the  contrary,  he 
should  deem  himself  bound,  by  the 
treaty  and  by  his  oath,  to  deliver  the 
proxy  at  the  requisition  of  the  king  of 
Spain.  In  the  course  of  a  fortnight 
the  dispensation  arrived  at  Madrid: 
Philip  appointed  the  29th  of  Novem- 
ber for  the  espousals— the  9th  of  the 


1  Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  481.    "The  coun- 
tess of  Olivarez  broke  it  to  the  infanta,  who 


1  to  make  herself  very  merry  that  any 

sncb  doubt  should  be  made ;    and  said  she 

most  confess  she  never  in  all  her  life  had 

any  mind  to  be  a  nun,  and  hardly  thought 

}■  she  should  be  one  now,  only  to  avoid  the 

f  prince  of  Wales."— Clar.  Papers,  i.  App,  six. 


next  month  for  the  marriage :  the 
Spanish  nobility  received  invitations 
to  attend ;  a  platform  covered  with 
tapestry  was  erected  from  the  palace 
to  the  church ;  and  orders  for  public 
rejoicings  were  despatched  to  the 
principal  towns  and  cities.  It  wanted 
but  four  days  to  the  appointed  time, 
when  three  couriers,  pressing  on  the 
heels  of  each  other,  reached  Madrid ; 
and  from  them  Bristol  received  a 
prohibition  to  deliver  the  proxy,  an 
order  to  prepare  for  his  return  to 
England,  and  instructions  to  inform 
Philip  that  James  was  willing  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  marriage  whenever  he 
should  pledge  himself  under  his  own 
hand  to  take  up  arms  in  defence  of 
the  Palatine,  and  fix  a  day  when  his 
mediation  should  cease,  and  hosti- 
lities begin.  The  feelings  of  the 
Spanish  monarch  were  hurt.  He 
replied  that  such  a  demand  at  such  a 
moment  was  dishonourable  both  to 
himself  and  his  sister.  The  treaty 
had  been  signed,  the  oaths  taken. 
Let  the  king  and  the  prince  fulfil 
their  obligations— he  would  faithfully 
perform  his  promises.  The  prepara- 
tions for  the  marriage  were  imme- 
diately countermanded;  the  infanta 
resigned  with  tears  her  short-lived 
title  of  princess  of  England;  and 
Charles  and  Buckingham  triumphed 
in  the  victory  which  they  had  ob- 
tained over  Bristol,  and  the  wound 
which  they  had  inflicted  on  the  pride 
of  Spain.2 

A  short  time  previously  to  their 
departure,  they  had  received  powers 
to  treat  respecting  the  Palatinate; 
but  Philip  had  interrupted  the  dis- 
cussion by  saying  that,  in  contempla- 
tion of  the  marriage,  he  would  give 


2  Hardw.  Papers,  485  —  490,  411,  422. 
Clarendon  Papers,  i.  13.  Cabala,  3,  100, 
107,  263.  Prynne,  55  —  61.-  Lords'  Jour- 
nals, 643.  See  the  attempt  of  Charles  to 
justify  himself,  though  the  instrument  con- 
tained a  clause  disabling  him  from  revoking 
the  procuration. — Journals,  228. 


128 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  : 


the  king  of  England  a  blank  paper, 
and  would  assent  to  any  conditions 
which  Tie  might  prescribe.  Now, 
when  his  anger  was  cooled,  he  listened 
to  the  representations  of  Bristol,  and 
though  he  refused,  as  indecorous,  to 
declare  war  against  his  nephew  the 
emperor  before  he  received  an  answer 
to  his  mediation,  he  pledged  himself 
in  writing  never  to  cease  from  the 
pursuit  till  he  had  procured,  by  arms 
or  negotiation,  the  restitution  of  the 
Palatine's  hereditary  dominions.  The 
ambassadors  deemed  this  assurance 
satisfactory ;  but  nothing  could  satisfy 
men  who  had  already  determined 
to  kindle  a  war  between  the  two 
crowns. 

If  Buckingham  hated,  he  also 
feared,  the  earl  of  Bristol.  He  had 
seen  the  representation  of  his  con- 
duct, which  that  minister,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  prohibition  of  Charles, 
had  sent  to  the  king ;  and  was  aware 
that  the  presence  of  so  able  an  adver- 
sary might  shake  his  authority,  and 
disconcert  the  plans  which  he  had 
formed.  Bristol  received  an  order  to 
discontinue  his  services  in  the  Spanish 
court,  but  to  take  his  leisure  on  his 
way  back  to  England.  Philip  warned 
him  of  the  dangers  which  menaced 
him  at  home,  and  oflFered  to  make  for 
him  the  most  ample  provision  if  he 
chose  to  remain  on  the  continent ; 
but  the  earl  replied  that  he  would 
rather  lose  his  head  with  a  clear  con- 
science in  England,  than  live,  under 
the  imputation  of  treason,  a  duke  of 
Infantado  in  Spain.  He  hastened  his 
return ;  but,  on  his  landing,  received 
an  order  to  repair  to  his  house  in  the 
country,  and  to  consider  himself  a 
prisoner.  All  his  entreaties  were 
fruitless.  James,  though  he  wished 
it,  never  found  the  opportunity  of 
hearing  him,  and  the  disgraced  minis- 
ter was  not  suffered  either  to  visit  the 


1  Cabala,  45,  127,  128.  Lords'  Journals, 
686.  Buckingham  attempted  to  have  him 
sent  to  the  Tower :  but  the  duke  of  Kieh- 


court,  or  to  take  his  seat  in  parliam* 
during  the  remainder  of  this  reign. 

From  a  careful  review  of  all  1 
proceedings  connected  with  i 
Spanish  match,  it  may  be  fairly  . 
f erred,  1.  That,  had  the  treaty  bf 
left  to  the  address  and  perseverai 
of  the  earl  of  Bristol,  it  would  ha 
been  brought  to  the  conclusion  whi 
James  so  earnestly  desired;  2.  tl 
the  Spanish  council  had  ministei 
ample  cause  of  offence  to  the  you 
prince  by  their  vexatious  delays,  a 
their  attempts  to  take  advantage 
his  presence ;  3.  that  he  neverthel 
entered  spontaneously  into  solei 
engagements,  from  which  he  coi 
not  afterwards  recede  without  1 
breach  of  his  word ;  4.  and  that, 
order  to  vindicate  his  conduct  in  1 
eyes  of  the  English  public,  he  v 
compelled  to  employ  misrepresen 
tion  and  falsehood.  But  the  gr< 
misfortune  was  the  baneful  influei 
which  such  proceedings  had  upon  '. 
character.  He  was  taught  to  intrig 
to  dissemble,  to  deceive.  His  si 
jects,  soon  after  he  mounted  t 
throne,  discovered  the  insincerity 
their  prince :  they  lost  all  confidei 
in  his  professions ;  and  to  this  d 
trust  may,  in  a  great  measure, 
ascribed  the  civil  war  which  ensu 
and  the  evils  which  befel  both  t 
nation  and  the  sovereign. 

James   had  received   the  knigl 
errant,  so  he  called  them,  with  cc 
gratulations  on  their  safe  return,  I 
observed   with    grief  the   alterati 
which  had  taken  place  in  their  pc 
tical  opinions.    He  shut  himself 
in  solitude  at  Newmarket,  abstain 
from   his   favourite  amusements 
hunting  and  hawking,  and  refused 
accept  the  usual  compliments  of  t 
courtiers   on  the   first   and  fifth 
November.     Nothing  could  persu 
him  that  hostility  with  Spain  woi 


mond  and  the  earl  of  Pembroke  opposed 
—Ibid.  587. 


i,D.  1623.] 


PARLIAMENT  CALLED. 


129 


procure  the  restoration  of  the  Pala- 
tinate ;  and  under  this  impression  he 
proposed  to  Frederic  a  new  arrange- 
ment, that  he  should  make  his  sub- 
mission to  the  emperor ;  should  offer 
his  eldest  son,  who  was  to  be  educated 
in  the  English  court,. in  marriage  to 
the  daughter  of  that  prince;  should 
receive,  in  quality  of  tutor  or  ad- 
ministrator, possession  of  his  former 
dominions,  and  should  be  content  to 
leave  the  dignity  of  elector  to  the 
duke  of  Bavaria  for  life,  on  condition 
that  it  should  afterwards  revert  to 
himself  and  his  heirs.  Of  the  consent 
of  Erederic  and  Philip  the  king  enter- 
tained no  doubt;  but  the  Palatine, 
encouraged  by  the  known  sentiments 
of  Charles  and  his  adviser,  returned 
an  absolute  refusal.' 

During  the  holidays  at  Christmas 
James  required  the  opinion  of  his 
privy  council  on  the  two  following 
questions:  Had  the  king  of  Spain 
acted  insincerely  in  the  late  treaty,  or 
had  he  given  sufficient  provocation  to 
justify  a  war?  To  both  a  negative 
answer  was  returned  ;  to  the  first  by 
all,  to  the  second  by  a  majority, 
of  those  present.  Buckingham  did 
not  conceal  his  dissatisfaction ;  to 
Williams,  the  lord  keeper,  and  Cran- 
field,  the  lord  treasurer,  he  held  out 
menaces  of  vengeance.  It  was  not 
that  they  had  distinguished  them- 
selves by  the  violence  of  their  hostility, 
but  he  had  been  accustomed  to  con- 
sider them  as  his  creatures,  and  had 
hitherto  found  them  obsequious  to 
his  will.  They  were,  however,  men 
who  had  no  other  conscience  than 
interest.   During  his  absence  in  Spain 


they  began  to  doubt  the  permanence 
of  his  power,  and  from  that  time  their 
fidelity  had  fluctuated  with  the  con- 
tradictory reports  of  the  court.  One 
day  they  ventured  to  oppose  his  views, 
the  next  they  sought  a  reconciliation 
with  tears  and  entreaties.'-' 

The  king  had  cherished  the  hope 
of  relieving  his  pecuniary  embarrass- 
ments from  the  portion  of  the  in- 
fanta ;  the  failure  of  this  resource 
compelled  him  to  summon  a  parlia- 
ment. In  respect  of  Buckingham  it 
might  appear  a  hazardous  experiment ; 
but  his  late  opposition  to  the  match 
had  atoned  in  the  eyes  of  its  adversa- 
ries for  his  temerity  in  conducting  the 
prince  into  Spain;  and  through  the 
agency  of  Preston,  a  Puritan  minister, 
and  chaplain  to  the  prince,  he  had 
formed  a  coalition  with  his  former  ene- 
mies of  the  country  party.  Several  pri- 
vate conferences  were  held  between 
him  and  the  earl  of  Southampton,  the 
lord  Say  and  Sele,  and  other  leaders 
of  the  opposition  in  both  houses; 
former  injuries  were  reciprocally  for- 
given ;  the  duke  secured  impunity  to 
himself  by  surrendering  his  faithless 
dependants  to  the  vengeance  of  his 
new  friends ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  a 
plentiful  supply  should  be  granted  to 
the  king,  on  condition  that  he  put  an 
end  to  the  treaty,  and  declared  war 
against  Philip  of  Spain.^ 

The  reader  must  be  aware  that  in 
ancient  times  the  Commons  enter- 
tained the  most  humble  notions  of 
their  duties  and  abilities.  They  pre- 
sumed not  to  pry  with  unhallowed 
gaze  into  the  mysteries  of  state  ;  and 
if  their  advice  was  occasionally  asked 


-'jsf  rec 


Cabala,  192,  266—269. 

Hacket,  i.  165—169.  Cabala,  274.  See 
•whining  letter  from  'Williams,  excusing 

past  conduct,  and  begging  the  duke  to 
receive  his  soul  in  gage  and  pavra.  Feb.  2, 
1624.— Cabala,  298.  It  is  dated  Feb.  2. 
On  the  sixth  day  they  were  reconciled ;  on 
the  day  before  the  opening  of  parliament 
Williams  made  his  submission  to  Bucking- 
ham.— Laud's  Diary,  10. 

7 


3  Ibid.  170.  This  was  in  conformity  -with 
the  advice  given  to  him  by  Bacon,  to  seek 
friends  by  condescension,  to  remember  that 
*'  a  good  bowler  has  almost  the  knee  on  the 
ground." — Bacon,  vi.  362.  The  calling  of 
parliament  was  taken  as  a  proof  of  Bucking- 
ham's power.  "Kow  there  is  an  end  to 
saying  the  match  must  break  or  his  fortune 
break  :  he  ran  with  the  stream  of  the  king's 
ways  :  now  that  he  goeth  cross-ways,  he 
may  soon  lose  his  own  way." — Ibid.  363, 


130 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  Ill 


by  an  indigent  monarcli,  they  uni- 
formly replied  that  such  matters  were 
far  above  their  capacity.  But  time 
had  levelled  many  of  the  distinctions 
which  had  formerly  marked  society ; 
with  the  diffusion  of  education  poli- 
tical knowledge  had  also  been  dif- 
fused; and  as  the  Commons  could  no 
longer  be  guided  by  the  nod  of  the 
sovereign,  it  became  necessary  to  coax 
them  by  flattering  their  pride,  and 
admitting  their  importance.  It  was, 
however,  with  reluctance  that  James 
submitted  to  the  advice  of  his  son  and 
favourite,  and  consented  to  divide 
vdth  parliament  what  he  deemed  the 
chief  prerogative  of  the  crown.  But, 
worn  out  by  their  prayers  and  remon- 
strances, he  allowed  them  to  lay  the 
state  of  the  negotiation  with  Spain 
before  the  two  houses,  that  after  ma- 
ture deliberation  the  Lords  and  Com- 
mons might  give  him  their  united 
advice. 

He  opened  the  parliament  in  a 
more  humble  tone  than  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  assume.  Eemember- 
ing  former  misunderstandings,  he  had 
brought  with  him,  he  said,  an  earnest 
desire  to  do  his  duty,  and  to  manifest 
his  love  for  his  people.  He  had  been 
long  engaged  in  treaties ;  he  had  sent 
his  son  with  the  man  whom  he  most 
trusted  into  Spain,  to  discover  the  true 
intent  of  that  court ;  he  had  received 
proposals  from  it  since  their  re- 
turn ;  all  that  had  passed  should  be 
submitted  to  their  consideration,  and 
he  should  entreat  their  good  and 
sound  advice  suxier  totam  materiam. 
One  thing  he  must  not  forget.  Let 
them  judge  him  charitably,  as  they 


1  Was  he  not  perjured  then,  when  he 
Bwore  on  the  20th  of  July,  •*  quod  nulla  lex 
particularis  contra  Cathoiicos  Komanos  lata, 
nee  non  leges  generales  sub  quibus  omnes 
ex  aequo  coinprehenduntur,  modo  ejus- 
modi  sint,  qua;  religion!  Romance  repug- 
nant, ullo  unquam  tempore,  ullo  omnino 
modo  aut  casu,  directe  vel  indirecte,  quoad 
dictos  Catholieos  Romanos  executioni  man- 
dabitur?" — Prynne,  44.  Hard.  Papers,  i. 
428,  430.  *  Lords'  Joumala,  209. 


would  wish  to  be  judged.  In  everj 
public  and  private  treaty  he  hac 
always  made  a  reservation  for  th( 
cause  of  religion ;  sometimes,  indeed 
he  had  thought  proper  to  connive  ai 
the  less  rigorous  execution  of  th( 
penal  statutes ;  but  to  dispense  >vitl 
any,  to  forbid  or  alter  any  that  con 
cerned  religion,  he  exclaimed,  "] 
never  promised  or  yielded— I  nevei 
thought  it  with  my  heart,  nor  spoke 
it  with  my  mouth."'  In  conclusion 
he  bade  them  to  beware  of  jealousy 
to  remember  that  time  was  precious 
and  to  avoid  all  impertinent  an( 
irritating  inquiries.* 

Within  a  few  days  a  general  con 
ference  was  held  between  the  tw( 
houses.  Before  them  Buckinghan 
delivered  a  long  and  specious  narra 
tive  of  the  proceedings  with  Spain 
The  prince  (so  early  was  he  initiates 
in  the  art  of  deception)  stood  by  hin 
to  aid  his  memory,  and  to  vouch  fo 
his  accuracy;  and  the  two  Fecretarie 
attended  to  read  a  few  garbled  ex 
tracts  from  despatches  which  tende( 
to  support  his  statement.^  The  onl; 
man  who  could  have  exposed  thi 
fallacy,  the  earl  of  Bristol,  was  b; 
order  of  the  council  confined  to  hi 
house ;  but  the  Spanish  ambassador 
protested  against  the  speech  of  th' 
duke,  as  injurious  to  their  sovereigr 
and  asserted  that,  had  one  of  thei 
countrymen  spoken  in  the  same  man 
ner  of  the  king  of  England  in  Spair 
he  would  have  paid  with  his  head  th 
forfeit  of  his  insolence.  The  tW' 
houses,  however,  defended  the  con 
duct  of  Buckingham  ;  declared  tha 
his  words  regarded  the  acts  of  th' 


3  His  highness  the  prince,  says  the  lor 
keeper,  upon  very  deep   reasons,   doubt 
whether    it    be  safe  to  put  all  upon   th 
parliament,   for    fear    they   should  fall 
examine    particular     despatches,    whcr. 
they  cannot  but  find  many  contradiciii 
He  wishes  to  draw  on  a  breach  wi 
withfout]  ripping  up  of  private  di  - 
—Cabala,  299.     The  despatches  in  tl. 
wicke   Papers  show  the  prudence 
counsel. 


CO  of  ^11 


l624.] 


PEOPOSAL  OF  WAll  WITH  SPAIN. 


131 


^  aiish  ministers,  not  of  the  king ; 
and,  in  an  address  to  the  throne,  pro- 
nounced their  opinion  that  neither  the 
treaty  for  the  marriage,  nor  that  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Palatinate,  could 
be  continued  with  honour  or  safety.' 

James  shuddered  at  the  prospect 
which  opened  before  him,  but  had 
not  the  spirit  to  oppose  the  preci- 
pitate counsels  of  his  son  and  his 
favourite.  After  some  faint  and  inef- 
fectual struggles,  he  submitted  to  his 
fate,  and  suffered  himself  to  be  borne 
along  with  the  current.  In  answer 
to  the  address,  he  observed  that  there 
were  two  points  for  consideration, — 
one,  whether  he  could  with  honour 
and  conscience  engage  in  war,  and 
that  regarded  himself  exclusively ; 
the  other,  whether  he  possessed  the 
means  of  prosecuting  it  with  vigour, 
which  depended  upon  thera.  His 
debts  were  enormous,  his  exchequer 
was  empty,  his  allies  were  impove- 
rished, and  the  repairs  of  the  navy, 
the  charge  of  the  army,  and  the 
defence  of  Ireland,  would  each 
require  considerable  sums.  How- 
ever, if  they  were  to  vote  a  grant  of 
money,  he  promised  that  it  should 
be  placed  under  the  control  of  com- 
missioners appointed  by  themselves, 
and  that  no  end  should  be  put  to  the 
war  till  he  had  previously  taken  their 
advice ;  concessions,  the  reader  will 
observe,  by  which,  for  that  time  at 
least,  he  transferred  to  the  houses  of 
parliament  two  branches  of  the  exe- 
cutive authority  .2 

This  speech  called  forth  a  second 
address,  in  which  both  Lords  and  Com- 
mons offered,  in  general  terms,  to 
support  him  with  their  persons  and 


1  Lords'  Journals,  220— 2-17. 

2  Ibid.  250. 

3  Ibid.  259,  261,  265.  But  had  he  not 
previously  complained  of  the  insincerity  of 
the  Spanish  court  ? — Yaughan,  Stuart  Dyn. 
247.  Certainly  not  in  the  speech  to  which 
the  address  was  an  answer.  It  was  expres 
»ive  of  confidence  rather  than  distrust. 

.  *  Ibid,  275,  278,  282.    Journals  of  Com- 


fortunes.  To  present  it  was  the  lot 
of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury, — 
a  welcome  task  to  one  who,  but 
six  months  before,  had,  with  a  trem- 
bling hand  and  heavy  heart,  sworn  to 
the  religious  articles  of  the  Spanish 
treaty.  But,  when  he  congratulated 
James  on  "  his  having  become  sensible 
of  the  insincerity  of  the  Spaniards," 
— "  Hold ! "  exclaimed  the  monarch, 
"You  insinuate  what  I  have  never 
spoken.  Give  me  leave  to  tell  you, 
that  I  have  not  expressed  myself  to 
be  either  sensible  or  insensible  of 
their  good  or  bad  dealing.  Bucking- 
ham hath  made  you  a  relation  on 
which  you  are  to  judge ;  but  I  never 
yet  declared  my  mind  upon  it."  ^ 

The  king,  in  conclusion,  required  a 
present  aid  of  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds,  to  begin  the  war,  aiid 
an  annual  supply  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  pounds,  towards  the 
liquidation  of  his  debts.  The  amount 
shook  the  resolution  of  the  Commons, 
but  the  prince  and  the  duke  assured 
them  that  a  smaller  sum  would  be 
accepted,  and  they  voted  three  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds,  to  be  raised 
within  the  course  of  twelve  months. 
This  vote  was  coupled  with  another 
address  in  vindication  of  Bucking- 
ham, against  the  complaints  of  the 
Spanish  ambassadors,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  royal  proclamation  an- 
nouncing that  both  the  treaties  with 
Spain  were  at  an  end.* 

The  proceedings  after  the  Easter 
recess  may  be  arranged  under  three 
heads:  1.  A  joint  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  king,  praying  him  to 
enforce  the  penal  statutes  against  Ca- 
tholic priests  and  recusants.^    James 


mons,  770.  The  earl  of  Kutland,  to  the 
general  surprise,  voted  against  the  grant 
of  money  for  the  war. — Compare  Laud's 
Diary,  March  22,  with  the  Journals,  273. 

5  The  constitutional  reader  should  be 
told,  that  the  Commons  had  resolved  to 
petition  the  king  for  a  proclamation,  order- 
ing the  due  execution  of  the  laws  against 
recusants;  but  the  Lords  objected  to  it, 
K  2 


132 


JAMES  I. 


[CHAP.  II 


once  more  called  God  to  witness  that 
he  never  intended  to  dispense  with 
those  laws,  and  promised  that  he 
would  never  permit,  in  any  treaty 
whatsoever,  the"  insertion  of  any 
clause  importing  indulgence  or  tole- 
ration to  the  Catholics.'  A  procla- 
mation was  issued  commanding  all 
missionaries  to  leave  the  kingdom 
against  a  certain  day,  under  the 
penalty  of  death.  The  judges  and 
magistrates  received  orders  to  put  in 
execution  the  laws  as  in  former  times; 
the  lord  mayor  was  admonished  to 
arrest  all  persons  coming  from  mass 
in  the  houses  of  the  foreign  ambas- 
sadors; and  James  asked  the  advice 
of  the  bishops  and  his  council  respect- 
ing the  most  eligible  means  of  edu- 
cating the  children  of  Catholics  in 
the  reformed  doctrines.'-*  But  the 
Commons  were  not  satisfied.  Every 
member  was  called  upon  to  state  the 
names  of  all  persons  holding  office 
in  his  county,  and  known  or  suspected 
to  be  Catholics.  The  list,  after  several 
erasures  and  alterations,  received  the 
approbation  of  the  house,  and  a  peti- 
tion for  the  immediate  removal  of 
these  persons  from  their  situations 
was  unanimously  voted.  But  the 
Lords,  when  it  was  sent  up  to  them, 
returned  for  answer,  that  it  was  the 
custom  of  their  house  to  receive  evi- 
dence upon  oath,  and  to  hear  the 
parties  accused ;  that  to  concur  in  the 
petition  would  be  to  judge  and  con- 
demn without  sufficient  proof;   and 


"  lest  posteritj  should  hereafter  deem  that 
the  execution  of  the  laws  were  slackened 
by  proclamation."  —  Journals,  297.  The 
petition  proposed  by  the  Commons  was,  in 
the  languajre  of  James,  "a  stinging  one  ;" 
but  he  had  suiBcient  influence  with  the 
Lords  to  procure  the  substitution  of  an- 
other more  moderate. — See  Eushworth,  i. 
140. 

1  On  this  occasion  Charles  also  professed, 
and  bound  himself  with  an  oath,  "  that 
whensoever  it  should  please  God  to  bestow 
upon  him  any  lady  that  were  popish,  she 
should  have  no  further  liberty  out  for  her 
own  family,  and  no  advantage  to  the  recu- 
eants  at  home." — Journals  of  Commons,  756. 


therefore  it  was  thought  better  the 
the  prince  should  communicate  : 
privately  to  the  king,  as  a  matter  c 
state  which  deserved  his  most  seriou 
attention.  In  this  they  acquiesced 
the  petition  was  read  to  James  an 
then  forgotten.' 

2.  The  Commons  revived  their  com 
mittee  of  grievances,  and  all  person 
holding  patents  from  the  crown  re 
ceived  orders  to  send  them  in  fo; 
inspection.  After  a  long  and  tediou; 
scrutiny,  some  were  returned  as  inno 
cuous,  several  were  pronounced  ille- 
gal, and  the  remainder  was  reservec 
for  examination  in  the  subsequenl 
session.  TYhen  they  presented  theii 
grievances,  eleven  in  number,  to  the 
king,  he  begged  in  return  to  present 
his  grievances  to  them :— They  had 
encroached  on  his  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority, they  had  condemned  patents 
of  undoubted  utility,  and  in  all  their 
inquiries  they  had  suffered  themselves 
to  be  directed  by  the  lawyers,  who,  he 
would  say  it  to  their  faces,  of  all  the 
people  in  the  kingdom,  were  the 
greatest  grievance  to  his  subjects ;  for 
where  the  case  was  good  to  neither 
of  the  litigants,  they  took  care  that 
it  should  prove  beneficial  to  them- 
selves.'* 

3,  The  leaders  of  the  country  party 
hastened  to  avail  themselves  of  their 
compromise  with  Buckingham,  and 
began  with  the  prosecution  of  Cran- 
field,  earl  of  Middlesex,  lord  treasurer 
and  master  of  the  Court  of  Wards. 


*  Lords'  Journals,  317. 

'  Lords'  Journals,  397.  Journals  of 
Commons,  754,  776,  7S8,  792.  This  list 
was  divided  into  two  parts :  the  first  con- 
tained the  names  "of  popish  jecusants  or 
non-communicants,  that  had  niven  overt 
suspicion  of  their  ill  affection  in  religion, 
or  that  were  reported  or  suspected  to  be 
so  ;  "  it  contained  thirty-three  names  :  the 
other,  of  those  "  that  had  wives,  children, 
or  servants  that  were  recusants  or  non- 
communicants,  or  suspected  or  reported  to 
be  80."  The  names  were  thirty-six. — See 
them  in  the  Journals,  394. 

*  Cobbetfs  Pari.  Hist,  i.  1503. 


A-D.  1624] 


IMPEACHMENT  OP  MIDDLESEX. 


133 


The  reader  will  recollect  that  the 
treasurer  was^orxe  of  the  two  whom 
the  favourite  had  threatened  with  his 
vengeance.  James  wished,  but  had 
not  the  courage,  to  save  him.  He 
admonished  Buckingham  to  beware 
how  he  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
Commons  a  weapon  which  they  might 
one  day  wield  against  himself;^  he 
wrote  to  the  lower  house  that  the 
earl  of  Middlesex,  instead  of  advising, 
as  they  supposed,  the  dissolution  of 
the  last  parliament,  had  on  his  knees 
begged  for  its  continuance;'-^  and  he 
reminded  the  Lords  that  the  trea- 
surer held  an  office  in  which  he  could 
not  be  faithful  to  his  prince  without 
creating  enemies  to  himself;, that  in 
many  things  he  had  no  will  of  his 
own,  but  was  merely  the  minister  of 
the  royal  pleasure ;  and  that  amidst 
a  multiplicity  of  business  it  was  very 
possible  for  the  most  upright  mind 
to  commit  error,  through  want  of 
information  or  fallibility  of  judg- 
ment. But  the  influence  of  Buck- 
ingham was  irresistible.  Petitions 
were  presented  against  Middlesex, 
and  the  Commons  impeached  him 
before  the  Lords  of  bribery,  op- 
pression, and  neglect  of  duty.  On 
his  trial  he  maintained'  his  mnocence, 
repelled  the  charges  with  spirit,  and 
loudly  complained  of  the  inequality 
between  his  prosecutors  and  himself> 
•They  had  been  allowed  three  weeks 
to  prepare  the  charge,  he  but  three 
days  to  prepare  his  defence;  they 
relieved  each  other  in  turn,  he  was 
compelled,  day  after  day  to  stand 
for  eight  hours  at  the  bar  till  his 
strength  was  totally  exhausted ;  they 
had  the  aid  of  the  most  experienced 


1  "  The  king  told  the  duke  that  he  was  a 
fool,  and  was  making  a  rod  for  his  own 
breech,  and  the  prince  that  he  would  live 
to  have  his  belly  full  of  impeachments." — 
Clarendon,  i.  23. 

*  Journals  of  Commons,  768. 

3  Lords'  Journals,  307—383,  418.  The 
king  had  ordered  Sir  Richard  Weston  to 
present  to  him  any  petition  from  the  earl. 
On  the  29th  of  May  that  nobleman  gave 


lawyers,  he  was  left  to  himself  with- 
out the  benefit  of  counsel.  By  many 
he  was  believed  innocent ;  the  Lords 
acquitted  him  on  two,  but  pronounced 
him  guilty  on  four  of  the  charges,  and 
he  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of 
fifty  thousand  pounds,  to  be  impri- 
soned during  pleasure,  and  to  be  for 
ever  excluded  from  parliament  and 
from  the  verge  of  the  court.  How- 
ever,his  complaint  of  hardship,  though 
useless  to  himself,  proved  serviceable 
to  others.  The  Lords,  aware  that  they 
might  hereafter  stand  in  his  place, 
ordered,  that  in  all  subsequent  im- 
peachments, the  accused  should  bo 
furnished  with  copies  of  the  depo- 
sitions in  his  favour  and  against  him, 
and  that,  at  his  demand,  he  should  be 
allowed  the  aid  of  counsel  learned 
in  the  law.^ 

The  other  great  officer  who  had 
been  threatened  was  the  bishop  of 
Lincoln,  lord  keeper;  but  the  peti- 
tions against  him  were  suffered  to  lie 
dormant  till  the  end  of  .the  session, 
when  the  commitee  reported  to  the 
house,  that  of  those  which  had  been 
examined,  some  were  groundless,  and 
the  others  furnished  no  matter  for  a 
criminal  charge.  He  owed,  however, 
his  safety  to  his  own  prudence  and 
humility.  Of  a  less  unbending  dis- 
position than  Cranfield,  he  was  no 
sooner  aware  of  the  danger,  than  he 
sought  a  reconciliation  with  the  duke, 
solicited  the  intercession  of  the  prince, 
made  his  submission  in  person,  and 
received  this  cold  yet  consolatory 
answer,  "  I  will  not  seek  your  ruin, 
though  I  shall  cease  to  study  your 
fortune."  This  was  at  the  commence- 
ment of  parliament ;  during  its  con- 


Weston  a  petition  for  his  enlargement ; 
but  he  dared  not  present  it  till  he  had 
received  instructions  from  Buckingham. — 
See  his  letter  in  Cabala,  403.  He  next 
solicited  the  remission  of  the  fine ;  it  wag 
lowered  to  thirty  thousand  pounds.  So 
small  a  reduction  surprised  him.  (Ibid.  404.) 
He  paid,  however,  twenty  thousand  pounds, 
j  and  the  rest  was  forgiven. — Depdchea  de" 
d'Effiat  spud  Carte,  133. 


134 


JAMES  I. 


[chap.  Ill 


tinuance  chance  threw  in  his  way  the 
opportunity  of  doing  a  service  to 
Buckingham,  which  called  for  the 
gratitude,  though  it  did  not  restore 
the  affection  of  the  oflfended  patron,* 

For  three  months  the  Spanish  am- 
bassadors, the  marquis  Ynoiosa  and 
Don  Carlos  Coloma,  had  sought  a 
private  audience  of  the  king,  but  were 
never  permitted  to  see  him,  unless  in 
the  company  of  the  prince  and  Buck- 
ingham. At  length  Coloma  con- 
trived to  withdraw  their  attention, 
while  Ynoiosa  placed  a  note  in  the 
hands  of  James,  who  immediately 
secreted  it  in  his  pocket.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  the  same  evening 
the  earl  of  Kelly  clandestinely  con- 
ducted to  the  royal  apartment 
Carendolet,  the  secretary  of  the  le- 
gation, who  stated  to  the  king  in  the 
name  of  the  ambassadors,  that  he  was 
a  prisoner  in  his  own  palace,  sur- 
rounded by  spies  and  informers  ;  that 
none  of  his  servants  dared  to  execute 
his  commands,  or  to  give  him  their 
advice  without  the  previous  appro- 
bation of  Buckingham  ;  and  that  the 
kingdom  was  no  longer  governed  by 
its  sovereign,  but  by  a  man  who,  to 
gratify  his  own  revenge,  sought  to 
draw  his  benefactor  into  an  unjust 
and  impolitic  war.  The  king  pro- 
mised secrecy,  but  it  happened  that 
at  this  very  time  the  bishop  of  Lin- 
coln kept  in  his  pay  the  mistress  of 
Carendolet,  from  whom  he  heard  of 
the  furtive  interview  between  her 
lover  and  James,   and   immediately 


transmitted  the  information  to  th' 
prince.*  . 

Three   evenings   later   Carendole 
waited  a  second  time  on  the  king  witl 
a  written  statement,  that  Bucking 
ham    concerted   all    his  proceeding 
with  the  earls  of  Oxford  and  South 
ampton,  and  those  members  of  th 
Commons  who  had  been  punished  fo 
their  insolence  at  the  conclusion  c 
the  last   parliament;   that  for  thi 
purpose  he  was  in  the  habit  of  meet 
ing  them  at  suppers  and  ordinarie 
where  he  revealed  to  them  the  secret 
of  state,  the  king's  private  oath,  an 
the  important  negotiation  respectin 
Holland;^    that  it   had   been    thei 
joint  determination,  if  James  shoul 
oppose  their  designs,  to  confine  hii 
in  a  house  in  the  country,  and  t 
conduct  the  government  under  tb 
name  of  the  prince  as  regent;  an 
that  the  duke,  with  the  hope  of  dra 
ing  the  succession  to  the  crown  i\ 
his  own  family,  proposed  to  ma 
his  daughter  to  the  eldest  son  of  ' 
Palatine,  whose  wife  Avas  next  ht 
after  Charles.    James  frequently  ir 
terrupted  him  with  broken  sentence 
There  was,  he  owned,  something  sui 
picious  in  the  conduct  of  the  duke 
yet  no  one  ha&  hitherto  brought  an 
charge   against  that  nobleman,  nc 
could  he  believe  that  either  his  ?> 
or  his  favourite   sought  to  do  1 
harm,  or  had  sufficient  power  to  re 
his  authority.    His  son,  he  said,  1 
been  formerly  attached  to  Spain,  Iv 
was  now  *'  strangely  carried  away  fc 


^  I  may  here  add  that  in  this  parliament 
an  act  was  passed  lowering  the  rate  of 
interest  from  ten  to  eight  per  cent.,  but 
with  a  proviso  that  "  it  should  not  be  con- 
strued to  allow  the  practice  of  usury  in 
point  of  religion  or  conscience." — Stat.  iv. 
1223. 

^  Buckingham  thus  expresses  his  dis- 
content to  James  :  "  In  obedience  to  your 
commands,  I  will  tell  the  house  of  parlia- 
ment that  you  have  taken  such  a  fierce 
rheum  and  cough,  as  not  knowing  how  you 
•  will  be  this  night,  you  are  not  yet  able  to 
appoint  them  a  day  of  hearing ;  but  I  will 


forbear  to  tell  them  that,  notwithstanJii 
of  your  cold,  you  were  able  to  speak  wi 
the  king  of    Spain's    instruments,  thr>- 
not  with  your  own  subjects." — Hardw 
Papers,  i.  460.     The   hearing  to  whicii 
alludes    was    granted   the    next    day, 
23rd. — Lords*  Journals,  317. 

3  It  is  plain  that  in  contemplation  of 
Spanish  match,  James  had  made  to  Pb; 
through  Buckingham,  a  proposal  respect. 
IloUand,   which   he  was    most    anxious 
conceal  from  the  public. — Hard.  Papers, 
405,  428. 


II 


..D.  1624]         INTRIGUE  AGAINST  BUCKINGHAM. 


135 


ash  and  youthful  conceits,  following 
he  humour  of  Buckingham,  who  had 
le  knew  not  how  many  devils  in 
lim  since  his  return."  The  com- 
iiunication,  however,  made  a  deep 
inpression  on  his  mind.  In  the 
aorning  he  appeared  pensive  and 
aelancholy  ;  though  he  took  Charles 
vith  him  in  his  carriage,  he  refused 
0  admit  the  duke,  and  soon  aft^r- 
vards,  bursting  into  tears,  he  lamented 
hat  in  his  old  age  he  Avas  deserted  by 
hose  on  whom  he .  had  fixed  his 
bndest  aflfections.' 

By  whose  agency  these  feelings  had 
jeen  excited  in  the  king  was  suffi- 
nently  known ;  but  to  unravel  the 
:)lot,  to  discover  the  particulars  of  the 
ntrigue,  was  reserved  for  the  policy 
)f  AVilliams,  "  who  felt  himself 
.oanged,  like  a  woman  in  travail,  till 
iie  should  know  the  truth."  To  pro- 
cure an  interview  with  Carendolet, 
he  ordered  the  arrest  of  a  Catholic 
priest,  the  intimate  acquaintance  of 
the  Spaniard,  who  immediately  came 
to  intercede  for  his  friend,  and  look- 
ing on  the  lord  keeper  as  one  whose 
safety  depended  on  the  ruin  of  Buck- 
ingham, solicited  his  aid  in  support  of 
the  project.  At  such  a  moment  it 
was  not  difficult  for  Williams  to 
worm  the  whole  secret  out  of  Caren- 
dolet. He  transmitted  the  informa- 
tion to  the  prince,  gave  it  as  his 
advice,  that  he  or  the  duke  should 
never  lose  sight  of  the  king,  and  added 
a  written  memorial,  in  which  he  had 
carefully  answered  each  of  the  charges 
advanced  by  the  Spaniards. 


1  See  Cabala,  276.  Buckingham  told  the 
archbishop  of  Embrun,  that  the  poposal  of 
marriage  came  from  the  Palatme,  and  that 
the  king  was  not  averse.  He  saw  that 
Boukinkan  y  penchoitfort. — Relation  d'Em- 
brun,  364.  It  was  to  this  offer  that  the 
Spaniards  attributed  Buckingham's  deter- 
mination to  break  off  the  match  between 
Charles  and  the  infanta.  "  On  the  same 
day  he  received  letters  from  the  most  illus- 
trious princesse  Palatine,  he  caused  the 
procuratorie  to  be  revoked;  and  a  few 
days  after,  on  the  coming  of  the  aforesayd 
pnncesse's  secretary,  and  the  contirmacion 


The  perusal  of  this  paper,  aided  as 
it  was  by  the  remarks  of  Charles, 
shook,  though  it  did  not  entirely  re- 
move, the  suspicions  of  James.  The 
next  Sunday  he  entered  the  council- 
chamber  with  a  bible  in  his  hand, 
swore  all  present  to  speak  the  truth, 
and  commanded  them  to  answer  cer- 
tain questions  which  he  had  prepared 
relative  to  the  supposed  designs  of 
the  duke.-  They  all  assumed  an  air 
of  surprise,  and  pleaded  ignorance. 
Buckingham  complained  of  the  insult 
offered  to  his  loyalty ;  but  such  was 
the  agitation  of  his  mind,  that  he  fell, 
or  pretended  to  fall,  into  a  fever,  and 
was  confined  a  fortnight  to  his  cham- 
ber. The  king  pitied  him,  required 
the  ambassadors  to  produce  the  names 
of  their  informers,  and  took  their  re- 
fusal for  a  complete  justification  of 
his  favourite.  Ynoiosa,  however,  as- 
sumed a  bolder  tone,  he  demanded  an 
audience  of  the  king ;  and,  when  he 
was  told  that  he  must  explain  his 
mind  to  the  ministers,  asked  for  a 
ship  to  leave  the  kingdom.  James 
was  anxious  to  see  him,  but  Charles 
and  Buckingham  objected:  he  de- 
parted without  the  usual  presents, 
and,  on  his  arrival  in  Spain,  found 
that  an  accusation  had  already  been 
lodged  against  him  by  the  English 
ambassador.-^  In  his  justification  he 
maintained  that  Carendolet  had  ad- 
vanced nothing  by  his  orders  but 
what  was  true ;  that  no  credit  ought 
to  be  given  to  those  counsellors  who 
pretended  ignorance,  because  they 
were  accomplices ;  and  that  he  could 


of  his  hope  of  having  his  daughter  maried 
to  her  highnes  Sonne,  all  things  were  utterly 
dashed  to  pieces."  —  Archaeol.  xvii.  282. 
Cabala,  275. 

2  On  this  subject  Charles  wrote  to  Buck- 
ingham, advising  him  to  acquiesce  in  the 
king's  design  of  interrogating  the  counsel- 
lors upon  oath. — Hardwicke  Papers,  453. 

3  "  So  as  to  the  great  joy  and  exultation 
of  all  the  coblers  and  other  bigots  and 
zealous  brethren  of  this  town,  he  this  da}^ 
comes  to  Ely  House,  and  to-morrow  to 
Dover." — Strafford  Papers,fol.  edition,  1.21. 


136 


JAMES  I. 


FCHAP.  Ill 


mention  several  oflQcers  about  the 
court  both  able  and  wiUing  to  prove 
the  guilt  of  Buckingham,  were  they 
not  silenced  by  the  fear  of  his  ven- 
geance and  the  pusillanimity  of  the 
king.  By  the  influence  of  his  cousin 
Olivarez  he  was  restored,  after  a 
restraint  of  a  few  days,  to  the  favour 
of  his  sovereign.' 

The  visible  reluctance  with  which 
James  had  assented  to  the  proceed- 
ings in  the  two  houses,  provoked  a 
general  suspicion  that  the  duke  held 
his  power  by  a  very  precarious  tenure.^ 
Secure,  however,  of  the  support  of 
the  prince,  and  confiding  in  their 
united  influence  over  the  easy  mind 
of  the  king,  he  despised  the  intrigues, 
and  laughed  at  the  predictions  of  his 
enemies.  One  of  his  chief  objects, 
after  the  rising  of  parliament,  was  to 
provide  for  the  recovery  of  the  Pala- 
tinate. Ambassadors  hastened  from 
England  to  one-half  of  the  courts  in 
Europe,  and  arguments,  promises, 
and  presents  were  employed  to  raise 
up  enemies  against  the  house  of 
Austria.  1.  The  long  truce  between 
Spain  and  the  States  had  expired: 
war  was  already  kindled  in  the 
Netherlands ;  and  Buckingham  seized 
the  opportunity  to  conclude  a  de- 
fensive, but  not  ofiiensive  league, 
between  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  Seven  United  Provinces.  It 
was  stipulated  that,  in  the  case  of 
foreign  invasion,  each  of  the  con- 
tracting parties  should  be  bound  to 
aid  the  other,  the  king  with  an  army 
of  six,  the  States  with  one  of  four 
thousand  men ;  and  that,  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war,  the  expenses  of 


^  For  this  sinpular  transaction,  compare 
Hacket's  Narrative,  i.  195—197,  with  the 
letters  in  the  Cabala,  13,  300,  348,  and  the 
despatches  of  Velarezzo,  the  Venetian  am- 
bassador, quoted  by  Carte,  iy.  117. 

2  Strafford  Papers,  i.  20. 

s  Clarendon  Papers,  i.  21—25.  Dumont, 
453.  The  kinp  of  France  aided  them  at  the 
Eame  time  with  money,  one   million  two 


the  auxiliary  force  should  be  defrayec 
by  that  power  which  had  enjoyed  th( 
benefit  of  its  services.  The  news  hat 
just  arrived  of  the  massacre  of  the 
English  factory  at  Amboyna,  and  tht 
nation  resounded  with  complaint 
against  the  avarice  and  the  inhu- 
manity of  the  Dutch;  but,  on  th( 
other  hand,  the  Spaniards  had  alreadj 
formed  the  siege  of  Breda,  and  Charles 
and  Buckingham  longed  to  engage  ir 
hostilities  with  Spain.  The  cry  o 
vengeance  was  therefore  suppressed 
the  treaty  signed,  and  the  aid  c 
six  thousand  men  immediately  fur- 
nished.^ 

2.  To  the  kings  of  Sweden  and 
Denmark,  and  the  Protestant  powers 
in  Germany,  the  English  envoys  sub- 
mitted the  plan  of  a  crusade  for  the 
depression  of  the  Catholic  power  in 
the  empire.  They  made  a  strong 
appeal  to  the  religion  and  the  interest 
of  these  princes ;  and  there  were  few 
who  refused,  on  the  promise  of  a 
liberal  subsidy,  to  subscribe  to  the 
holy  alhance.  3.  Though  the  Catholic 
states  of  France,  Venice,  and  Savoy 
deemed  it  dishonourable  to  enter 
publicly  into  a  Protestant  league 
against  the  professors  of  the  same 
faith  with  themselves,  their  enmity  ta 
the  house  of  Austria  led  them  to  con- 
tribute towards  its  success ;  and  they 
privately  engaged  to  distract,  by  the 
demonstration  of  hostilities,  the  at- 
tention of  Spain,  to  furnish  money 
towards  the  support  of  the  army  of 
the  Palatine,  and  to  allow  auxiliary 
forces  to  be  levied  in  their  own 
dominions.  4.  Count  Mansfield,  the 
celebrated  adventurer,  and  the  chief 


hundred  thousand  livres  for  the  first,  one 
million  for  the  second,  and  the  same  sum 
for  the  third  year,  to  be  repaid  in  equal 
portions  between  the  third  and  ninth  year 
after  the  peace.  Louis  asked  in  return 
that  his  subjects  in  Holland  should  have 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  It  was 
granted  only  within  the  house  of  his  am- 
bassador, and  on  the  condition  that  no 
natives  were  present.— Ibid.  i63. 


TG24.] 


AID  SENT  TO  THE  PALATINATE. 


137 


of  Frederic's  declining  fortune, 
10  England.  Towards  the  pay- 
'  of  his  army  he  obtained  a  pro- 
of twenty  thousand  pounds  per 
h ;  and,  as  a  reinforcement  to 
"rench  and  German  mercenaries, 
■  0  thousand  Englishmen  were 
■d  into  the  service  and  placed 
r  his  command.  Prom  Dover, 
?  their  excesses  could  only  be 
ved  by  summary  executions, 
recruits  sailed  to  Calais,  and 
'0  to  the  island  of  Zeeland.  But 
■rowded  state  of  the  transports, 
iclemency  of  the  season,  and  the 
of  provisions  and  accommo- 
ns  on  shore,  generated  a  conta- 
^  disease,  which  carried  off  five 
;and  men  in  the  course  of  a  few 
s ;  and  Mansfield,  though  he  con- 
d  to  advance  in  defiance  of  every 
'.'le,  found  his  army  when  he 
jlied  the  Ehine  so  weakened  by 
ickness  and  the  casualties  of  his 
aarch,  that  he  was  compelled  to  re- 
aain  on  the  defensive.^ 

Of  these  warlike  preparations  the 
dng  had  remained  a  silent  and  re- 
uctant  spectator ;  but  he  took  a  more 
ively  interest  in  the  new  treaty  of 
narriage,  which  had  been  set  on  foot 
o  console  him  for  the  failure  of  that 
vith  Spain,  When  in  the  preceding 
^ear  Charles  and  Buckingham  passed 
hrough  Prance,  they  had  stopped  a 
lay  in  Paris,  and  had  been  admitted 
n  quality  of  strangers  to  the  Prench 
;ourt,  where  they  saw  the  princess 
Henrietta  ]Maria  at  a  ball.  She  was 
he  youngest   daughter  of  the  last 


1  Secretary  Conway  says,  that  the  12,000 
reretobe  leviedby  "press."— Hard.  Papers, 
.  633.  What  is  extraordinary,  at  the  same 
ime  that  these  12,000,  and  the  other  6,000 
nenwere  raised  in  England  to  be  employed 
igainst  Spain  and  Austria,  1,500  men  were 
il«o  raised  by  the  lord  Vaux  to  be  employed 
n  the  service  of  the  archduchess,  and  con- 
jcquently  in  their  favour. 

*  See  two  descriptions  of  the  princess  by 
Gord  Kensington,  Cabala,  312  j  Ellis,  iii. 
177;  and  Howell's  Letters,  190,  Sir  Simon 
i'Ewes  had  the  curiosity  to  go  to  "White- 
!iall  to  see  her  at  dinner  after  her  marriage. 


king,  in  her  fourteenth  year,  dark  of 
complexion  and  short  of  stature,  but 
distinguished  by  the  beauty  of  her 
features  and  the  elegance  of  her 
shape.^  At  that  time  she  seems  to 
have  made  no  impression  on  the 
heart  of  the  prince;  but  afterwards, 
in  proportion  as  his  aflections  were 
estranged  from  the  infanta,  his 
thoughts  reverted  to  Henrietta  ;  and 
after  his  return  to  England,  the  lord 
Kensington  was  despatched  at  his 
request  to  her  brother's  court.  He 
appeared  there  without  any  official 
character;  but  the  object  of  his  visit 
was  understood,  and  he  received  from 
the  queen  mother  assurance  of  a 
favourable  result.  As  soon  as  James 
had  dissolved  the  treaty  with  Spain,^ 
the  earl  of  Carlisle  joined  Kensington ; 
both  took  the  title  of  ambassadors; 
and  the  proposal  of  marriage  was 
formally  made.  The  pope  Urban 
yill.  and  Philip  of  Spain  made 
several  attempts  to  dissuade  Louis 
from  giving  his  consent;  but  that 
monarch  yielded  to  the  influence  and 
the  reasoning  of  his  mother,  who 
represented  it  as  a  measure  likely 
to  prove  most  beneficial  to  Prance. 
Commissioners  were  appointed,  who, 
aware  that  the  English  king  had  fixed 
his  heart  on  the  match,  and  that  the 
power  of  Buckingham  depended  on 
the  success  of  the  treaty,  gradually 
rose  in  their  demands.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  parties  should  be  married  in 
Prance  after  the  same  manner  in 
which  Henry  IV,  had  been  married 
to  Marguerite  de  Yalois ;  that  on  the 


He  thought  her  "  a  most  absolute  delicate 
creature.  Besides,  her  deportment  amongst 
her  women  was  so  sweete  and  humble,  and 
her  speeche  and  lookes  to  her  other  ser- 
vants so  mild  and  gracious,  as  I  could  not 
abstaine  from  divers  deepe  fetched  sighs, 
to  consider  that  she  wanted  the  knowledge 
of  the  true  religion."— Apud  Hearne,  Chron. 
Dunst.  xiv. 

3  Cabala,  311—319,  Philip,  to  the  annun- 
ciation of  this  measure,  replied,  that  he 
considered  the  treaty  of  marriage  as  still  in 
force  in  consequence  of  a  private  agreement 
between  the  prince  and  himself. 


138 


JAMES  I. 


[chap,  ni 


arrival  of  the  princess  in  England, 
the  contract  should  be  publicly 
ratified  without  any  religious  cere- 
mony; that  she  and  her  servants 
should  be  allowed  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  as  fully  as  had  been 
stipulated  for  the  infanta;  that  the 
children  should  remain  under  her 
<;are  till  they  were  thirteen  years  old ; 
that  her  portion  should  be  eight  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns ;  and  that  she 
should  renounce  for  herself  and  her 
descendants  all  right  of  succession  to 
the  crown  of  Prance.  But,  in  addi- 
tion, the  cardinal  Eichelieu  observed 
that  it  would  be  an  affront  to  his 
sovereign,  if  less  were  conceded  in 
favour  of  a  Erench,  than  had  been 
granted  to  a  Spanish  princess;  and 
on  that  ground  he  required  that  every 
indulgence  promised  to  the  English 
Catholics  by  the  treaty  of  Madrid, 
should  be  secured  by  the  treaty 
pending  at  Paris.  This  unexpected 
demand,  after  the  orders  so  recently 
given  to  the  judges,  the  oath  taken  by 
the  prince,  and  the  promise  made  to 
parliament  by  James,  offered  an  al- 
almost  insuperable  difficulty.  The 
negotiation  was  ^t  a  stand;  different 
expedients  were  suggested,  and  re- 
fused ;  at  last  the  French  cabinet 
acquiesced,  or  seemed  to  acquiesce, 
in  the  following  compromise:  that 
the  king  of  England,  in  a  secret 
engagement,  signed  by  himself,  his 
son,  and  a  secretary  of  stat€,  should 
promise  to  grant  to  his  Catholic  sub- 
jects greater  freedom  of  reUgion  than 
they  could  have  claimed  in  virtue  of 
the  Spanish  match,  without  molesta- 
tion in  their  persons,  or  property,  or 
conscience.' 

After  this  agreement,  both  James 
and  Louis  signed  the  treaty.  They 
bad  even  ratified  it  with  their  oaths. 


1  Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  523—547.  Cla- 
rendon Papers,  ii.  App.  ii.  Lord  Nitha- 
dale,  a  Catholic,  was  employed  to  aid  the 
French  ambassador  in  Kome,  who  solicited 
the  papal  dispensation. — See  a  letter  from 


when  the  French  ministers  raised 
an  unexpected  objection.  The  secret 
promise,  they  said,  was  conceived  in 
general  terms ;  it  bound  the  king  tc 
no  specific  measure  of  relief;  it  left 
him  at  liberty  to  enlarge  or  restrict 
the  indulgence  at  his  pleasure.  By 
the  ambassadors  at  Paris  this  com- 
plaint was  viewed  as  an  attempt  tc 
re-open  a  negotiation  which  had  been 
definitively  closed.  They  expressed 
in  forcible  terms,  their  surprise  and 
indignation  ;  they  advised  Bucking- 
ham to  resist  with  spirit ;  they  even 
ventured  to  foretell  that  the  ErencL 
court  would  recede  from  its  preten- 
sions, rather  than  forfeit  the  benefit 
of  the  marriage.  But  this  to  the  king 
and  his  son  appeared  a  hazardoiu 
experiment ;  they  knew  that  tk 
Spaniards  were  endeavouring  to  se- 
duce, by  the  most  tempting  offers,  the 
fidelity  of  Louis ;  and  they  shruni 
from  the  disgrace  of  a  second  and 
more  vexatious  failure.  Under  si 
apprehensions,  it  was  deemed  besfcj 
submit  to  the  imposition,  and  in 
place  of  the  former  engagement 
substituted  the  three  following 
cles:  that  all  Catholics,  imprisoi 
for  religion  since  the  rising  of  par 
ment,  should  be  discharged ;  that-i 
fines  levied  on  recusants  since 
period  should  be  repaid  ;  and  tl 
for  the  future  they  should  suffer  n( 
molestation  on  account  of  the  private 
and  peaceable  exercise  of  their  wor 
ship.* 

Thus  had  the  king,  after  nine  year 
of  embassies  and  negotiations,  ap 
parently  surmounted  every  obst;u 
to  the  marriage  of  his  son  with 
princess  of  equal  birth  and  powerfu 
kindred.  The  duke  of  Chevreuse  hit 
been  appointed  by  Charles  his  proij 
and  the  duke  of  Buckingham  ha( 

him  to  Buckin^rham  in  Cabala,  332,  an< 
another  from  Buckingham  to  him  in  Ellis 
iii.  179. 

2  Ibid.  517—561.    Cabala,  320.    Prynne 
72.    Euahworth.  L  173. 


J 


DEATH  OF  JAMES. 


,  ed  orders  to  conduct  the  royal 
icie  to  England,  when,  to  the  sur- 
1:^0  and  vexation  of  both  parties, 
uQcio  Spada,  by  order  of  Urban, 
(1  to  deliver  the  papal  dispensa- 
V  ithout  some  better  security  for 
erformance  of  the   three  pro- 
^  in  favour  of  the  English  Catho- 
Che  French  ministers  offered  to 
tute  a  dispensation  by  the  co- 
mical authorities  in  France ;  but 
Her  was  refused  by  James,  on 
,  round   that   in   that   case  the 
.ty  of  the  marriage  might  after- 
^  be  disputed;  and  the  pontiff 
at   last   satisfied  with  an  oath 
■  by  Louis,  by  which  he  bound 
!f  and  his  successors  to  employ 
:    whole  power  of  France  in  com- 
lUng,  should  it  be  necessary,  James 
ud  his  son  to  fulfil  their  engage- 
uents.'    The  dispensation  was  now 
lelivered ;  but  the  English  king  lived 
lot  to  witness  the  celebration  of  the 
narriage.    His  indisposition  was  at 
irst  considered  a  tertian  ague,  after- 
,vards  the  gout  in  the  stomach;  but, 
srhatever  was  its  real  nature,  under 
lis  obstinacy  in   refusing  medicine, 
ind  the   hesitation  or  ignorance  of 
Ilia  physicians,  it  proved  fatal.    On 
the  eleventh   day   he   received   the 
sacrament   in   the   presence   of   his 


MS.    despatches    del    Nunzio    Spada. 
Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  App.  xxi. 

2  •'Being  told  that  men  in  holy  orders 
in  the  church  of  England  doe  challange  a 
power  as  inha;rent  in  their  function,  and 
not  in  their  person,  to  pronounce  and  de- 
clare remission  of  sins  to  such  as  being 
penitent  doe  call  for  the  same ;  he  answered 
suddenly,  I  have  ever  beleeved  there  was 
that  power  in  you  that  be  in  orders  in 
the  church  of  England,  and  therefore  I,  a 
miserable  sinner,  doe  humbly  desire  Al- 
mighty God  to  absolve  me  of  my  sinnes, 
and  you,  that  are  his  servant  in  that  high 
place,  to  affoord  me  this  heavenly  comfort. 
And  after  the  absolution  read  and  pro- 
nounced hee  received  the  sacrament  with 
that  zeale  and  devotion,  as  if  he&  had  not 
been  a  fraile  man,  but  a  cherubin  cloathed 
with  fle>h  and  blood." — His  funeral  sermon 
by  WilUams,  Somers's  Tracts,  ii.  51,  edit. 
1809. 

3  Hardwicke  Papers,  i.  562—566.  Howell, 


son,  his  favourite,  and  his  attendants, 
with  a  serenity  of  mind  and  fervour 
of  devotion  which  drew  tears  from 
the  eyes  of  the  beholders.^  Early  on 
the  fourteenth  he  sent  for  Charles; 
but  before  the  prince  could  reach  the 
chamber,  the  king  had  lost  the  faculty 
of  speech,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours  expired,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year 
of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-third  of 
his  reign.  Of  his  seven  children, 
three  sons  and  four  daughters,  two 
only  survived  him ;  Charles,  his  suc- 
cessor on  the  throne,  and  Elizabeth, 
the  titular  queen  of  Bohemia.^ 

James,  though  an  able  man,  was 
a  weak  monarch.  His  quickness  of 
apprehension  and  soundness  of  judg- 
ment were  marred  by  his  credulity 
and  partialities,  his  childish  fears, 
and  habit  of  vacillation.  Eminently 
qualified  to  advise  as  a  counsellor,  he 
wanted  the  spirit  and  resolution  to 
act  as  a  sovereign.  His  discourse 
teemed  with  maxims  of  political  wis- 
dom, his  conduct  frequently  bore  the 
impress  of  political  imbecihty.  If,  in 
the  language  of  his  flatterers,  he  was 
the  British  Solomon,  in  the  opinion 
of  less  interested  observers  he  merited 
the  appellation  given  to  him  by  the 
duke  of  Sully,  that  of  "  the  wisest  fool 
in  Europe."'' 


173.  Laud's  Diary,  15.  The  prayers  read 
to  James  at  his  death  by  the  bishop  of 
Lincoln,  are  in  Hearne's  Titus  Livius,  221 — 
224. 

*  "He  was  of  a  middle  stature,  more 
corpulent  throghe  his  clothes  than  in  his 
bodey,  zet  fatt  enouch:  his  clothes  euer 
being  made  large  and  easie,  the  doubletts 
quilted  for  steletto  proofe,  his  breeches 
in  grate  pleits,  and  full  stuffed.  He  was 
naturally  of  a  timorous  dispositione,  which 
was  the  gratest  reasone  of  his  quilted 
doubletts.  His  eyes  large,  euer  rouUing 
after  any  stranger  cam  in  his  presence,  ia 
so  much  as  maney  for  shame  have  left  the 
roome,  as  being  out  of  countenance.  His 
beard  was  werey  thin ;  his  toung  too  large 
for  his  mouthe,  and  made  him  drinke  werey 
vncomlie,  as  if  eatting  his  drinke,  wich 
cam  out  into  the  cupe  in  each  syde  of  his 
mouthe.  His  skin  vas  als  softs  as  tafta 
sarsnet,  wich  felt  so  because  he  neuer 
washt  his  hands,  onlie  rubb'd  his  fingers 


140 


JAMES  L 


[chap,  in 


It  was  his  misfortune,  at  tlie  mo- 
ment when  he  took  into  his  hands 
the  reins  of  government  in  Scotland, 
to  fall  into  the  possession  of  worth- 
less and  profligate  favourites,  who, 
by  gratifying  his  inclinations,  sought 
to  perpetuate  their  own  influence; 
and  it  is  to  that  love  of  ease  and 
indulgence  which  he  then  acquired, 
that  we  ought  to  attribute  the  various 
anomalies  in  his  character.  To  this 
we  see  him  continually  sacrificing  his 
duties  and  his  interests,  seeking  in 
his  earlier  years  to  shun  by  every 
expedient  the  tedium  of  public  busi- 
ness, and  shifting  at  a  later  period 
the  burthen  of  government  from  him- 
self to  the  shoulders  of  his  favourites. 
It  taught  him  to  practise,  in  pursuit 
of  his  ends,  duplicity  and  cunning,  to 
break  his  word  ^^•ith  as  much  facility 
as  he  gave  it,  to  swear  and  forswear 
as  best  suited  his  convenience.  It 
plunged  him  into  debt  that  he  might 
spare  himself  the  pain  of  refusing  im- 
portunate suitors,  and  induced  him 
to  sanction  measures  which  he  con- 
demned, that  he  might  escape  from 
the  contradiction  of  his  son  and  his 
favourite.  To  forget  his  cares  in  the 
hurry  of  the  chase,  or  the  exercise  of 


ends  slightly  rith  the  vett  end  of  a  napkin. 
His  legs  wer  verey  weake,  haiiin^  had  (aa 
was  thought)  some  foule  playe  in  his  youthe, 
or  rather  before  he  was  borne,  that  he 
was  not  able  to  stand  at  seuin  zeires  of 
age;  that  weaknes  made  him  ener  leaning 
on  other  men's  shoulders." — Balfour,  ii. 
108. 

1  "He  loved  such  representations  and  dis- 
guises in  their  maskaradoes  as  were  witty 
and  sudden  :  the  more  ridiculous  the  more 
pleasant." — Wilson,  10-1.  Of  the  nature  of 
these  sports  the  reader  may  judge  from  the 
following  instance.  A  sucking  pig,  an 
animal  which  the  king  held  in  the  utmost 
abhorrence,  was  swathed  as  an  infant  about 
to  be  christened  :  the  countess  of  Buckiug- 
ham,  disguised  as  the  midwife,  brought  it 
wrapped  up  in  a  rich  mantle :  the  duke 
attended  as  godfather,  Turpin,  in  lawn 
sleeves,  as  minister;  another  brought  a  silver 
ewer  with  water ;  but  just  as  the  service 
commenced,  the  pretended  child  betrayed 
itself  by  its  cry  ;  and  the  king  turned  aside, 
exclaiming,  "Away,  for  shame."— Wilson, 
218. 


the  golf,  in  carousing   at   table,  O] 
laughing  at  the  buffoonery  and  in 
decencies  practised  by  those  aroum 
him,  seems  to  have  constituted  tl 
chief  pleasure  of  his  life.' 

In  temper  James  was  hasty  anc 
variable,  easily  provoked,  and  easilj 
appeased.  During  his  passion  h< 
would  scream,  and  curse,  and  indulg( 
in  blasphemous  or  indelicate  allu 
sions:  when  his  passion  was  cooled 
he  would  forgive  or  sue  to  be  for 
given.-  Though  he  was  no  admirei 
of  female  beauty,  he  is  chargec 
with  encouraging  the  immoralitiet 
of  Somerset  and  Buckingham;  anc 
the  caresses  which  he  heaped  on  hi; 
favourites,  joined  to  the  indelicacj 
of  his  familiar  correspondence,  hav( 
induced  some  writers  to  hint  i 
suspicion  of  more  degrading  habits 
But  so  odious  a  charge  requires  moR 
substantial  proof  than  an  obscur( 
allusion  in  a  petition,  or  the  dark 
insinuation  of  a  malicious  libel,  or  th( 
reports  which  reached  a  foreign  ant 
discontented  ambassador.^ 

Erom  his  preceptor,  Buchanan 
James  had  imbibed  the  maxim  that 
"a  sovereign  ought  to  be  the  mosi 
learned  clerk  in  his  dominions."    0; 


2  James  demanded  of  Gibb  some  paper.- 
which  had  been  delivered  to  his  care.  Gibb 
on  his  kness,  protested  that  he  had  nevei 
seen  them.  The  king  cursed,  and  ever 
kicked  him,  and  the  indignant  page  lefl 
the  court.  It  was  then  discovered  that  th( 
papers  had  been  intrusted  to  another ;  anc 
James  instantly  sent  to  recall  Gibb,  and 
falling  on  his  knees,  asked  his  pardon.— 
Wilson,  219. 

'  See   the    note   in    Scott's    edition    o: 
Somers'a    Tracts,    ii.    488.     That,  for  the 
amusement  of  the  king,  decency  was  shame- 
fully outraged  in  the  orgies  at  IBuckingham- 
house,  cannot  be  doubted — it  is  confirmee 
by  the  conduct  of  the  favourite  at  Madric 
in  presence  of  the  prince  (Cabala,  276) ;  bn* 
we  may  be  allowed  to  hope  that  the  picti: 
in  the  despatches  of  Tillieres  has  been  J 
highly  coloured   bv  the  prejudices   of  ' 
ambassador,  or  of  his  informant. — Raum 
ii.  259,  266,  269,  274,  276.    The  king's  j 
tiality  for  Spain,  and  the   Spanish  mat. 
was  a  constant  source  of  vexation  to 
minister,  and  prompted  him  to  exagge 
and  misrepresent. 


1 


LD.  1625.] 


CHAEACTER  OF  JAMES. 


141 


lis  intellectual  acquirements  he  has 
eft  numerous  specimens  in  his  works; 
)ut  his  literary  pride  and  self-suffi- 
jiency,  his  habit  of  interrogating 
)thers,  that  he  might  discover  the 
jxt<jnt  of  their  reading,  and  the 
>stentatious  display  which  he  con- 
inually  made  of  his  own  learning, 
though  they  won  the  flattery  of  his 
i  ittendants  and  courtiers,  provoked 
;he  contempt  and  derision  of  real 
'.  scholars.  Theology  he  considered  as 
.  the  first  of  sciences,  on  account  of  its 
Dbject,  and  of  the  highest  importance 
I  :o  himself  in  quality  of  head  of  the 
\  3hurch  and  defender  of  the  faith. 
[  But  though  he  was  always  orthodox, 
lis  belief  was  not  exempt  from 
jhange.  For  many  years  his  opinions 
retained  a  deep  tinge  of  Calvinism ; 
:his  was  imperceptibly  cleared  away 
3y  the  conversation  of  Laud  and 
ilontague,  and  other  high  church- 
nen;  and  before  the  close  of  his  reign 
ae  had  adopted  the  milder,  but  con- 
trary, doctrines  of  Arminius.  To  the 
^t  he  employed  himself  in  theological 
pursuits :  and  to  revise  works  of  reli- 
gious institution,  to  give  directions  to 
preachers,  and  to  confute  the  heresies 
3f  foreign  divines,  were  objects  which 
occupied  the  attention,  and  divided 
the  cares  of  the  sovereign  of  three 
kingdoms.' 

Besides  divinity  there  was  another 
science  with  which  he  was  equally 
conversant,  —  that  of  demonology. 
"With  great  parade  of  learning,  he 


demontrated  the  existence  of  witches 
and  the  mischiefs  of  witchcraft, 
against  the  objections  of  Scot  and 
Wierus;  he  even  discovered  a  satis- 
factory solution  of  that  obscure  but 
interesting  question,  "  Why  the  devil 
did  worke  more  with  auncient  women 
than  others."  But  ancient  women 
had  no  reason  to  congratulate  them- 
selves on  the  sagacity  of  their  sove- 
reign. Witchcraft,  at  his  solicitation, 
was  made  a  capital  offence,  and  from 
the  commencement  of  his  reign  there 
scarcely  passed  a  year  in  which  some 
aged  female  or  other  was  not  con- 
demned to  expiate  on  the  gallows  her 
imaginary  communications  with  the 
evil  spirit. 

Had  the  lot  of  James  been  cast  in 
private  life,  he  might  have  been  a 
respectable  country  gentleman :  the 
elevation  of  the  throne  exposed  his 
foibles  to  the  gaze  of  the  public,  and 
that  at  a  time  when  the  growing  spirit 
of  freedom  and  the  more  general 
diff'usion  of  knowledge  had  rendered 
men  less  willing  to  admit  the  pre- 
tensions, and  more  eager  to  censure 
the  defects,  of  their  superiors.  With 
all  his  learning  and  eloquence  he 
failed  to  acquire  the  love  or  the 
esteem  of  his  subjects ;  and  though  he 
deserved  not  the  reproaches  cast  on 
his  memory  by  the  revolutionary 
writers  of  the  next  and  succeeding 
reigns,  posterity  has  agreed  to  con- 
sider him  as  a  weak  and  prodigal  king, 
and  a  vain  and  loquacious  pedant. 


In  the  autumn  of  1624,  the  archbishop  of 
Embrun  came  to  England  by  order  of  the 
king  of  France,  and  had  several  confer- 
ences with  James  and  Buckingham  respect- 
ing the  treaty  of  marriage.  In  one  of 
these,  the  king  assured  the  prelate  that  he 
had  nothing  more  at  heart  than  to  establish 
liberty  of  conscience  in  his  dominions,  and 
that  for  this  purpose  he  had  devised  a 
meeting  of  English  and  foreign  (probably 
French)  divines  to  be  holdeu  at  Dover  or 


Boulogne,  who  should  issue  a  declaration 
on  which  so  important  a  concession  might 
be  founded.  I  think  this  is  all  that  ca,u  be 
fairly  concluded  from  the  words  of  the 
king,  as  related  by  the  archbishop,  though 
he  certainly  inferred  from  them,  that  James 
wished  to  effect  a  reunion  between  the  two 
churches,  and  to  hold  this  theological  as- 
sembly as  a  preparatory  measure.  —  See 
Relation  de  M.  I'Arch.  d'Embrun,  sub- 
joined to  Deageaut's  Memoirs,  327—377. 


142 


CHAPTER  rV. 
CHAELES  I. 

CONTEMPOEAET  PRINCES. 


Bmperort. 
Ferdinand  II.  .. 
Ferdinand  III. 


1637 


K.  of  France. 

Louis  XIII 1643 

Louis  XIV. 


K.  of  Spain. 
Philip  IV. 


Fopeg. 
Urban  VIII. 
Innocent  X. 


THE      KINGS      MAKRIAGB — HIS      FIRST      PARLIAMENT — UNSX7CCES3FUI.      EXPEDI  i 

AGAINST    CADIZ SECOND     PARLIAMENT IMPEACHMENTS    OF    BRISTOL    AND    lit 

INGHAM WAR    WITH    FRANCE DISGRACEFUL    EXPEDITION    TO    THE    ISLE    OF    : 

THIRD    PARLIAMENT PETITION    OF    RIGHT ASSASSINATION    OF    BUCKINGHA 

MINISTERS LAUD,     BISHOP    OF    LONDON EXPEDIENTS     TO     RAISE     MONEY Pi: 

WITH    FRANCE    AND    SPAIN PROCEEDINGS    IN    FAVOUR    OF    THE    PALATINE. 


Chaeles  was  in  liis  twenty-fifth 
year  when  he  ascended  the  throne. 
His  accession  caused  no  material 
alteration  among  the  members  of  the 
council,  or  in  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment. The  world  had  seldom  seen 
the  same  individual  monopolize  the 
favour  of  two  succeeding  monarchs; 
but  Buckingham  possessed  the  con- 
fidence of  the  son  as  firmly  as  he  had 
enjoyed  that  of  the  father.  The  death 
of  James  was  even  in  his  favour. 
The  old  king  had  begun  to  feel 
uneasy  under  his  control ;  but  Charles 
listened  to  his  counsels  with  the  cre- 
dulity, and  clung  to  his  interests  with 
the  obstinacy  of  youth. 

The  first  question  which  claimed 
the  attention  of  the  new  monarch  was 
the  match  with  France ;  and  on  the 
third  day  after  the  decease  of  his 
father  he  ratified  as  king  the  treaty  to 
which  he  had  formerly  subscribed  as 


1  See  the  French  account  of  the  cere- 
mony in  Somers's  Tracts,  iv.  95,  and  in 
Balfour,  ii.  119-125. 

2  The  queen-mother  had  intended  to 
accompany  her  daughter  to  England.  Her 
health  not  permitting  it,  she  wrote  to 
Charles  from  Amiens  as  follows: — "J'estime 
ma  iille  heoreaze,  puis  qa'elle  sera  le  lien 


prince.  The  duke  of  Chevreuse, 
kinsman  of  the  house  of  Guise,  wr 
second  time  appointed  to  act  as 
proxy:  the  cardinal  of  Eochefo 
cault  performed  the  marriage  cei 
mony  on  a  platform  erected  befc 
the  great  door  of  the  cathedral 
Paris ; '  and  the  duke  of  Buckinghr 
hastened  to  that  capital  with  a  nun 
rous  retinue  to  bring  home  the  ro; 
bride.  Seven  days  were  spent 
rejoicings  for  an  event  which  v 
supposed  to  have  cemented  an  eten 
union  between  the  two  crowns.  Af 
some  delay,  occasioned  by  the  illn 
of  Louis,  the  queens,  Mary  of  Mec 
and  Anne  of  Austria,  accompan 
Henrietta  from  her  brother's  cou: 
At  Dover  she  was  received  by  Char' 
at  the  head  of  the  English  nobiU" 
the  contract  of  marriage  was  pi 
licly  renewed  in  the  great  haJl 
Canterbury ;   and   the  royal   cou 


et  le  cement  pour  I'union  de  ces  deux  c 
ronnes,  et  je  restime  doublement  heurei 
non  seulement  pour  ce  qn'elle  espouse 
grand  roi,  mais  une  personne  come  la  vo 
Je  vous  la  recommende  comme  la  creiU 
du  monde  qui  m'est  aussi  chere,  et  prie 
de  tout  mon  cceur  (ju'il  vous  betusse 
deux." — Rymer,  xviii.  116. 


1625.] 


STATE  OF  PARTIES. 


143 


^paired  to  Whitehall,  and  thence  to 
le  palace  of  Hampton  Court.'  Their 
ilemn  entry  into  the  metropolis  was 
reveuted  by  the  ravages  of  a  con- 
igious  malady,  the  most  destructive, 
)  it  ^vas  asserted,  in  the  memory  of 
um.^ 

Charles  had  little  leisure  to  attend 
)  the  entertainment  of  his  young 
ueeu.  The  day  after  her  arrival  he 
let  his  first  parliament,  and  sub- 
lilted  the  state  of  his  finances  to  its 
snsideration.  The  supply  granted 
)  liis  father  had  not  covered  the 
.oiety  of  those  charges  for  which  it 
ad  been  voted.  James  had  be- 
ueathed  to  his  successor  personal 
ebts  amounting  to  seven  hundred 
lousaud  pounds;  and  the  accession 
ad  marriage  of  the  new  king  had 
ivolved  him  in  extraordinary,  though 
ecessary  expenses.  It  was,  however, 
ith  cheerfulness  and  confidence  that 
e  threw  himself  on  the  bounty  of 
is  subjects.  To  him  those  objec- 
ons  did  not  apply  which  had  always 
een  opposed  to  the  pecuniary  de- 
lands  of  the  late  monarch.  It  could 
ot  be  said  of  him  that  he  had  wan- 
only  plunged  himself  into  debt,  or 
oat  he  had  squandered  among  his 
linions  the  revenues  of  the  crown,  or 
hat  he  had  awakened  the  jealousy  of 
be  people  by  preaching  up  the  claims 
f  the  prerogative.  The  money  which 
e  solicited  was  required  to  carry  into 
xecution  the  vote  of  the  last  par- 
■ament;  those  who  had  advised  the 
^ar  could  not  reasonably  refuse  the 
inds,  \nthout  which  it  was  impos- 
.ble  a  war  should  be  maintained. 

There  was,  however,  much  in  the 
tate  of  the  public  mind  to  damp  the 
rdent  expectations  of  the  king.    In 


1  As  both  Catholics  and  Protestants  con- 
idered  marriage  a  religious  rite,  the  former 
•Quid  have  been  shocked  if  Henrietta  had 
aceived  it  from  a  Protestant,  the  latter  if 
-harlea  had  received  it  from  a  Catholic 
lioister.  The  reader  will  observe  that  by 
he  arrangement  adopted  both  inconve- 
were  avoided. 


the  upper  house  there  did  not,  in- 
deed, exist  any  formal  opposition  to 
the  court;  but  many  of  the  lords 
looked  with  an  evil  eye  on  the  ascen- 
dancy of  Buckingham,  and  were 
ready  to  vote  for  any  measure  which, 
by  embarrassing  the  government, 
might  precipitate  the  fall  of  the  favou- 
rite. Their  real  but  unavowed  head 
was  the  earl  of  Pembroke ;  and  we 
may  perhaps  form  a  pretty  correct 
notion  of  the  strength  of  the  two  par- 
ties by  adverting  to  the  number  of 
proxies  intrusted  to  their  leaders.  If 
Buckingham  had  thirteen,  Pembroke 
could  boast  of  ten.^ 

In  the  Commons  the  saints  or  zeal- 
ots formed  a  most  powerful  phalanx. 
Austere  to  themselves,  intolerant  to 
others,  they  sought  to  reform  both 
church  and  state,  according  to  their 
peculiar  notions  of  scriptural  doctrine 
and  scriptural  practice.  They  deemed 
it  the  first  of  their  duties  to  era- 
dicate popery,  which  like  a  phantom 
haunted  their  imaginations  by  day 
and  night  ;  wherever  they  turned, 
they  saw  it  stalking  before  them; 
they  discovered  it  even  in  the  gaieties 
and  revelries  of  the  court,  the  distinc- 
tion of  rank  in  the  hierarchy,  the 
ceremonies  of  the  church,  and  the 
existence  of  pluralities  among  the 
clergy.  Their  zeal  was  always  active ; 
but  of  late  it  had  been  fanned  into  a 
flame  by  the  publications  of  Dr.  Mon- 
tague, one  of  the  royal  chaplains. 
Montague,  in  a  controversial  argu- 
ment with  a  Catholic  missionary,  had 
disowned  many  of  the  doctrines  im- 
puted to  him  by  his  adversary.  They 
were,  he  said,  the  doctrines  of  Calvin, 
not  those  of  the  established  church. 
The  distinction  gave   great  offence. 


2  In  Mead's  letter  to  Stuteville,  the 
weekly  deaths  in  London  increased  in  an 
alarming  manner,  from  640  to  942,  1222, 
3583,  July  30— EUis,  iii.  203,  205,  207,  209. 
The  number  of  deaths  in  London  and  West- 
minster during  the  year  was  63,001,  of 
which  41,313  of  the  plague. 

3  Journals,  iii.  431. 


144 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


Yates  and  Ward,  two  Puritan  minis- 
ters, prepared  an  information  against 
him  to  be  laid  before  the  parliament, 
and  Montague  '"'appealed  to  Cajsar" 
in  a  tract  dedicated  to  the  king.  This 
proceeding  raised  the  indignation  of 
his  enemies  to  the  highest  pitch; 
they  pronounced  him  a  concealed 
papist,  whose  object  it  was  to  intro- 
duce popery ;  they  suspected  that  he 
was  encouraged  by  promises  of  sup- 
port from  several  of  the  prelates,  per- 
haps from  Charles  himself;  and  they 
sought  his  punishment  with  as  much 
eagerness  and  pertinacity  as  if  on  it 
alone  depended  the  very  existence  of 
the  reformed  faith. 

These  zealots  generally  fought 
under  the  same  banner,  and  on  most 
questions  made  common  cause  with 
the  members  of  the  country  party, 
who,  whatever  might  be  their  reli- 
gious feelings,  professed  to  seek  the 
reformation  of  abuse  in  the  preroga- 
tive, and  the  preservation  of  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  The  perpetual 
conflict  between  authority  and  con- 
science during  the  late  reigns,  aided 
by  the  more  general  communication  of 
political  knowledge,  had  emboldened 
men  to  prefer  principle  to  precedent, 
to  dispute  the  propriety  of  usages, 
which  were  defended  only  because 
they  existed,  and  to  condemn  as  an 
abuse  in  the  crown  .whatever  seemed 
incompatible  with  the  rights  of  the 
people.  The  advocates  of  these  doc- 
trines easily  obtained  seats  in  the 
lower  house ;  and,  as  experience  had 
shown  that  their  real  strength  con- 
sisted in  the  control  of  the  pubhc 
purse,  they  had  come  to  a  resolution 
to  oppose  every  grant  of  money  to  the 
sovereign  which  was  not  coupled  with 
the  abolition  of  some  national  grie- 
vance, or  the  renunciation  of  some 
arbitrary  and  oppressive  claim. 

"NVhat  rendered  the  union  of  the 
two  parties  more  formidable  was  the 
specious  colour  given  to  their  pre- 
tences.   They  combated  for  pure  reli- 


gion and  civil  liberty :  to  oppose  th( 
was  to  court  the  imputation  of  sup' 
station  and  of  slavery.  Hence  t 
very  servants  of  the  crown  dared  r 
meet  them  fairly;  they  gave  th< 
credit  for  the  uprightness  of  th 
motives;  they  professed  to  have 
view  the  attainment  of  the  very  sa: 
objects ;  they  confined  their  oppositi 
to  the  manner  rather  than  the  si 
stance,  and  sought  to  retard  the  p: 
gress  of  the  reformers  by  raising 
collateral  difficulties,  and  predicti 
future  but  imaginary  evils. 

It  is  true  that  Charles  had  acqufa 
the  favour  of  the  last  parliament ;  I 
after  its  prorogation  his  popular 
had  rapidly  declined.  If  he  had 
fused  one  popish  princess,  he  had  si 
stituted  another ;  if  he  swore  to  grj 
nothing  more  to  his  future  wife  th 
the  private  exercise  of  her  religion, 
had  within  a  few  months  violated 
oath  by  promising  in  her  favour  to 
ration  to  all  the  Catholics  in  : 
dominions.  Hence  it  was  conclud 
that  the  king  had  no  settled  notions 
his  own ;  that  he  was  a  mere  tool 
the  hands  of  Buckingham,  who  h 
assumed  the  mask  of  patriot ' 
during  the  last  year  for  the 
purpose  of  gratifying  his  resentmv 
against  Spain. 

The  session  was  opened  with  a  c 
cious  speech  from  the  throne; 
though  it  had  been  customary  to  ;. 
credit  to  the  professions   of  a  n 
sovereign,  nothing  was  heard  amc 
the  Commons  but  the  misbodings 
fanaticism  and  the  murmurs  of  c 
trust.   The  king,  at  the  request  of ' 
two  houses,  had  appointed  a  da^ 
public     humiliation,     fasting, 
prayer ;  they  anticipated  it  by  a  v. 
that  they  might  give  the  examj  : 
the  rest  of  the  nation.    They  a>- 
bled  in  the  church  of  St.  Marga: 
listened  with  the  most  edifying 
tieuce  to  four  long  and  impassioi 
sermons,  and  returned  in  a  body 
next    day  to,. receive  the  sacrau> 


i 


.D.  1625.] 


PAELIAMENTARY  INQUIEIES. 


145 


Che  first  fruit  of  their  devotion  was 

vhat  they  termed  "a  pious  petition,"  in 

vhich  they  conjured  the  king,  as  he 

■  -alued  the  advancement  of  true  reli- 

aon,  a.s  he  disapproved  of  idolatry 

md  superstition,  to  put  into  imme- 

liate  execution  all  the  existing  laws 

Lgainst  Catholic  recusants  and  mis- 

^  ;ionaries.    At  no  time  could  such  an 

f  iddress  have  proved  more  unwelcome 

o  his  feelings.    He  had  just  married 

.  I  Catholic  princess ;   he  had  bound 

:  limself  by  treaty  to  grant  indulgence 

X)  her  brethren  of  the  same  faith,  and 

.  lis  palace  was  crowded  with  Catholic 

;  aoblemen  whom  he  had  invited  from 

France  to  do  honour  to  his  nuptials; 

;  mt  prudence  taught  him  to  subdue 

I!  lis  vexation,  and  he  returned  a  gra- 

nous  and  satisfactory  answer.' 
i  From  the  Catholics  the  Commons 
f  urned  their  attention  to  the  theo- 
ogical  works  of  Dr.  Montague.  In 
;hem  a  committee  discovered,  or  pre- 
«nded  to  discover,  much  that  seemed 
n  opposition  to  the  Articles  and 
Bomilies;  his  "Appeal  to  Csesar" 
ivas  voted  a  contempt  of  the  house, 
md  the  unfortunate  divine  was  or- 
dered to  be  taken  into  custody  by  the 
serjeant-at-arms.  Charles  dared  not 
resent  what  he  deemed  an  encroach- 
ment on  his  ecclesiastical  supremacy  ; 
he  even  condescended  to  request  that, 
since  Montague  was  his  servant,  one 
3f  his  chaplains  in  ordinary,  the 
punishment  of  the  offence  might  be 
referred  to  himself.  But  the  favour 
ivas  refused;  and  the  prisoner  gave 
bail  for  his  appearance  in  the  sum 
jf  two  thousand  pounds.* 
The  third  subject  of  their  consi- 


1  Lords'  Journals,  435,  441,  418,  460; 
Commons',  June  21,  July  6,  8,  9. 

*  Journals,  July  7,  9.  Bibliotheca  Eegia, 
206. 

»  Each  subsidy  was  of  four  shillings  in  the 
pound  on  real  property,  and  two  shillings 
and  eightpence  on  personal  estates  of  three 
pounds  and  upwards.  But  aliens  and  popish 
recusants  convict  were  to  pay  twice  the 
paid  by  others ;  and  Catholics  who 

7 


deration  was  the  state  of  the  king's 
finances.  He  showed  that  the  charges 
for  the  equipment  of  the  navy  alone 
had  amounted  to  three  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds;  they  refused  to  grant 
him  more  than  two  subsidies,  about 
one  half  of  that  sum,  for  the  whole 
expense  of  the  war.-"*  His  predeces- 
sors, ever  since  the  reign  of  Henry  YI., 
had  received  the  duties  of  tonnage  and 
poundage  for  life ;  they  voted  the  same 
to  him,  but  limited  the  duration  to 
the  first  year  of  his  reign.  Charles 
received  the  intelligence  with  sur- 
prise and  indignation  ;  but  it  was  too 
late  to  recall  their  attention  to  the 
subject;  more  than  twelve  hundred 
persons  had  died  of  the  mortality  in 
the  last  week,  and  the  parliament  was 
adjourned  by  commission,  to  meet 
again,  after  a  short  recess,  in  the  city 
of  Oxford. 

At  Oxford  it  sat  but  a  few  days ; 
and  they  were  days  of  angry  debate 
and  mutual  recrimination.  Charges 
of  perfidy  were  exchanged  between 
the  opponents  and  the  advocates  of 
the  court.  The  king,  it  was  said  by 
one  party,  had  promised  to  put  in 
execution  the  penal  laws  against  the 
Catholics,  and  yet,  in  the  face  of  that 
promise,  had  granted  pardon  to  eleven 
priests  under  prosecution  for  capital 
ofi'ences ;''  the  two  houses,  it  was 
retorted  by  the  other,  had  pledged 
their  word  to  support  the  late  mon- 
arch with  their  fortunes,  if  he  would 
break  the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  now 
they  refused  the  supplies  required  by 
their  own  votes.  Charles  asked  at  first 
two  subsidies  and  fifteenths ;  he  de- 
scended to  the  trifling  sum  of  forty 


had  not  received  the  sacrament  in  the 
church  within  the  year,  were  to  pay  a  poll- 
tax  of  eightpence. — Stat.  v.  10. 

*  It  was  replied,  that  the  pardon  had 
been  promised  before,  though  it  was  signed 
after  the  adjournment;  and  as  a  kind  of 
satisfaction,  the  king  ordered  the  petition, 
of  the  two  houses,  with  his  answer  annexed, 
to  be  entered  on  the  rolls  of  parliament. — 

j  Journals,  477, 479. 

I  L 


146 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  1 


thousand  pounds ;  but  the  Commons 
replied  that,  though  they  had  heard 
much  of  the  war,  they  still  remained 
ignorant  who  was  the  enemy  ;  that  to 
grant  subsidies  which  must  be  raised 
in  subsequent  years,  was  to  impose 
upon  others  the  burden  which  they 
ought  to  bear  themselves ;  and  that, 
if  forty  thousand  pounds  would  suffice 
for  the  present  necessity,  the  money 
might  easily  be  raised  by  loan  with- 
out the  aid  of  parliament.  Bucking- 
ham undertook,  in  a  conference  be- 
tween the  two  houses,  to  account  for 
the  demands,  and  to  explain  the  in- 
tentions of  the  king;  but  he  only 
provoked  the  malice  of  his  own  ene- 
mies, who  censured  his  youth  and 
inexperience,  charged  him  with  neg- 
lect of  his  duty  as  lord  admiral,  and 
complained  of  the  ambition  which 
led  him  to  unite  in  his  own  person 
so  many  high  offices,  the  obligations 
of  which  were  incompatible  with  each 
other.  Charles  was  more  alive  to  the 
interests  of  his  favourite  than  to  his 
own.  The  infection  had  introduced 
itself  into  Oxford;  and  to  save  the 
duke  from  impeachment,  he  made 
use  of  that  pretext  to  dissolve  the 
parliament.' 

It  was  not  the  character  of  the 
king  to  be  diverted  from  his  purpose 
by  opposition.  He  had  not  yet  de- 
clared war ;  the  object  of  his  military 
preparations  had  been  kept  secret; 
and,  as  he  could  not  obtain  pecuniary 
aid  from  his  subjects,  he  was  still  free 
to  remain  at  peace  with  his  neigh- 
bours. But  immediately  after  the 
dissolution  Buckingham  repaired  to 
Plymouth  to  hasten  the  expedition, 
while  Charles  assumed  the  task  of 
raising  money  to  defray  the  expense. 
To  this  purpose  he  devoted   every 


1  Journals,  467— 4S9.  Commons,  Ang.  1, 
Aug.  12.  "  Buckiugbam  has  repeatedly  said 
to  me,  the  king  would  place  the  defence  of 
him,  the  duke,  before  nis  own  interest." — 
Duplessis,  in  Kaumer,  ii.  293. 

^  It  was  read  u  £rst  lime  (Journals^  ^33), 


shilling  which  he  could  procure  1 
terror  or  entreaty,  or  retrenchmen 
the  duties  on  merchandise  were  levit 
though  the  bill  had  not  been  pasS' 
by  the  house  of  Lords  ;^  privy  sei 
were  issued  to  the  more  opulent 
the  nobility  and  gentry ;  the  pa 
ment  of  all  fees  and  salaries  w 
suspended;  and  to  such  a  state 
destitution  was  the  royal  househc 
reduced,  that,  to  procure  provisio 
for  his  table,  the  king  was  obliged 
borrow  three  thousand  pounds  of  t 
corporations  of  Salisbury  and  Soul 
ampton,  on  the  joint  security  of  t 
lord  treasurer  and  of  the  chancel 
of  the  exchequer.^ 

At  length,  in  the  month  of  ( 
tober,    this    mysterious    expedi' 
consisting  of  ninety  sail,  and  hn 
on  board  an  army  of  ten  thousti 
men,  left  the  harbour  of  Plymou 
under  Sir  Edward  Cecil,  now  crea 
Viscount  Wimbledon,  a  general 
ficer,  who,  though  he  had  grown  n 
in  the  service  of  the  States  of  1 
land,  was  pronounced  by  the  pi 
voice  unequal  to  so  important  a  c 
mand.     Its   destination   was  Ca 
and   had    it    been   directed    by 
officer   of  more   decisive   charai. 
the  shipping  in  the  harbour  mi 
have   been   surprised.     The   tro- 
however,  were   landed  ;  the  fori 
Puntal   was   taken   by  capitulat 
and  a  rapid  march  was  made  tow: 
the  bridge  of  Suazzo,  to  intercept 
communication  between  the  Isla 
the   continent.     But  the   men 
covering  on  their  march  several 
lars   stored  with  wine,  indulgec 
excess ;  their  insubordination  alar 
the  feeble  mind  of  the  comman' 
and  though  no  enemy  had  appeia 
he  led  them  back  with  precipita  « 


and  then  neglected.  The  king  wai 
willing  to  receive  the  duties  for  a  year 
and  the  lord  keeper  Williams  prevente' 
second  reading. — Hacket,  ii.  17. 

3  Sydney  Papers,  ii.  363.     Eymer, 
181.     RusLworth,  i.  196, 197. 


A.D.  1G25.J 


EXPEDITION  TO  CADIZ. 


147 


to  the  fleet.    By  the  next  article  of 

his  instructions   he  was  ordered  to 

intercept  a  rich  convoy  of  Spanish 

rchantmen  from  the  West  Indies. 

lassed  him  unobserved  during  the 

lit;  and  aft^r  a  fruitless  cruise  of 

:ut€en  days,  he  returned  to  Ply- 

ith,  with  the  loss  of  more  than  a 

iisand  men,  not  from  the  swords 

:lie  enemy  (for  he  had  seen  none), 

from  the  ravages  of  a  pestilential 

ase,  which  did  not  spare  a  single 

)  in  the  fleet.    To  Charles,  who 

1  indulged  in  dreams  of  victory 

and  plunder,  this  disgraceful  result 

was  a  source  of  the  keenest  anguish  ; 

he  ordered  an  inquiry;  the  council 

examined    the    commander-in-chief 

1  his  inferior  ofl&cers  ;  but  their 

oments    were    discordant,    their 

I  uuplaints   reciprocal ;  and,  after  a 

long    investigation,    it  was   deemed 

expedient  to  bury  the  whole  matter 

ill  silence.'- 

U'hile  Buckingham  governed  the 

king,  he  was  governed  in  his  turn  by 

liOrd  Kensington,  lately  created  earl 

<;)f  Holland.    With  this  nobleman  in 

his  company  he  sailed  to  the  Hague, 

taking  with  him  the  crown  plate  and 

jewels,  on  the  security  of  which  it  was 

Iculated  that  he  might  raise  three 

adred  thousand  pounds.'    A  treaty 

■nsive    and   defensive    had    been 

eady  concluded  with  the  States; 

negotiated  a  second  with  the  king 

Denmark,  who  engaged,  on  the 

yment   of  a  monthly  subsidy  by 

.arles,  and  of  another  by  the  United 

ovinces,  to  maintain  in  the  field 

army  of  thirty-six  thousand  men, 

ence  Buckingham  prepared  to  pro- 

<-  j-od  to  Paris,  but  was  deterred  by  an 

unwelcome  message  from  Eichelieu, 


Eushworth,  i.  195.    Howell's   Letters 
Whiteloek,  2.     Wimbledon  sara,  that 


that  his  presence  in  that  capital  would 
not  be  tolerated.  Lord  Holland  and 
Sir  Dudley  Carleton  were  substituted 
in  his  place ;  and  the  tenor  of  their 
instructions  shows  that  the  recent 
marriage  had  not  created  a  very 
friendly  feeling  between  the  two 
courts.  They  received  orders  to  de- 
mand the  restoration  of  certain  ships 
formerly  lent  to  the  French  king, 
and  to  mediate  a  peace  between  him 
and  his  revolted  subjects,  the  French 
Protestants.  If  a  new  alliance  should 
be  proposed,  they  were  neither  to 
accept  nor  refuse  it;  but  in  the 
mean  time  to  hold  secret  commu- 
nication with  the  Protestants  in 
arms ;  to  assure  them  of  protection 
from  England  whenever  it  might  be 
necessary  ;  and  to  inquire  what  forces 
they  could  raise,  if  Charles  were  to 
engage  in  war  on  their  account.  It 
is  plain  that  the  king  already  medi- 
tated hostilities  against  France;  but 
the  design  was  defeated  by  the  policy 
of  Eichelieu,  who  made  peace  with 
the  insurgents,  promised  to  restore 
the  ships  which  had  been  borrowed, 
and  offered  to  send  an  army  into 
Germany,  provided  the  English  mon- 
arch would  do  the  same.=^ 

At  home  the  king  felt  himself  at  a 
loss  how  to  proceed  in  regard  of  his 
Catholic  subjects.  The  secret  treaty 
in  their  favour,  to  which  he  had  sworn 
at  his  marriage,  was  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  his  previous  protesta- 
tions, and  to  his  late  answer  to  the 
parliament,  an  answer  dictated  by 
Buckingham  with  the  hope  of  mol- 
lifying his  enemies  among  the  Puri- 
tans. But  Charles  was  always  influ- 
enced by  present  convenience,  and, 
as  the  lesser  evil,  he  determined  to 


Papers,  i.  28,    Sydney  Papers,  ii.  360.    "  My 
lord  of  Holland  gjoverns  my  lord  of  Buck- 


.,j  accepted  the  command  with  reluctance;  i  ingham,  and  so  the  kinpr-  The  passages  of 
Luat  he  foretold  the  result,  and  that  he  this  place  are  not  fit  for  letters."— Earl  of 
acted  in  opposition  to  his  own  judgment,    ~      -   "-- 


in  obedience   to  that    of  the  king, 
lala,  404—406. 
liymer,     xviii.     236—240.       Strafford 


Pembroke,  ibid.  361, 

-  Clarendon  Papers,  i,  27,    Kymer,  viii. 
256.       Dumont,    v.    478,    482.       Journals, 
April  18,  1626.    Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  6  . 
L  2 


148 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  r 


violate  the  treaty.  The  magistrates 
received  orders  to  watch  over  the 
strict  execution  of  the  penal  laws ;  a 
commission  was  appointed  to  levy  the 
fines  due  by  the  Catholics,  and  to 
apply  them  to  the  charges  of  the  war ; 
and  a  succession  of  proclamations 
enjoined  all  parents  and  guardians 
to  recall  their  children  and  wards 
from  seminaries  beyond  the  sea;  all 
Catholic  priests  to  quit  the  kingdom 
against  a  certain  day;  and  all  recu- 
sants to  deliver  up  their  arms,  and 
confine  themselves  within  the  circuit 
of  five  miles  from  their  respective 
dwellings.  The  king  of  France  re- 
monstrated by  an  extraordinary  am- 
bassador ;  he  insisted  on  the  faithful 
observance  of  the  treaty ;  but  Charles, 
who  had  pledged  his  word  to  call  a 
parlfament  after  Christmas,  dared 
not  face  his  opponents  until  he  had 
carried  into  effect  the  prayer  of  their 
petition ;  and  in  excuse  to  Louis 
alleged,  that  he  had  never  considered 
the  stipulation  in  favour  of  the  Catho- 
lics as  anything  more  than  an  arti- 
fice to  obtain  the  papal  dispensation.' 
As  that  term  approached,  the  king 
laboured  to  break  the  strength  of  the 
opposition  in  both  houses.  The  earl 
of  Pembroke  submitted,  at  the  royal 
command,   to    seek  a   reconciliation 


1  Bym.  xviii.  179,  228,  267.  Sydney 
Papers,  ii.  365.  Strafford  Papers,  i.  28. 
Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  4,  7.  Rushworth, 
196,  198,  202.  See  also  the  letter  from  the 
king  to  the  archbishops,  those  of  the  arch- 
bishops to  the  bishops,  and  their  circulars 
to  the  chancellors  and  archdeacons,  ordering 
them  to  proceed  against  recusants  in  the 
spiritual  courts,  and  return  into  the  Chan- 
cery the  names  of  all  the  recusants  in  each 
diocese. —  Bibliotheca  Kegia,  12 — 16. 

-  Strafford  Papers,  i.  28.  Sydney  Papers, 
ii.  3frl,  365.     Hacket,  ii.  16— 18. 

3  They  were  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Sir  Thomas 
Wentworth,  Sir  Francis  Seymour,  Sir 
Eobert  Phillips,  Sir  Grey  Palmer,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Fleetwood,  and  Edward  Alford.  Coke, 
from  his  legal  knowledge,  gave  the  king 
considerable  trouble.  Ho  refused  to  be 
Bworn,  and  tendered  to  the  judges  four  ex- 
ceptions against  the  sheriff's  oath.  Three 
were  rejected  as  frivolous ;  they  admitted 
the  fourth,  that   the    clause    binding  the 


with  the  favourite;  the  distant  an 
scornful  behaviour  of  the  sovereig 
admonished  the  earl-marshal  of  th 
offence  which  he  had  given ;  and  tb 
lord  keeper  received  an  order  t 
surrender  the  great  seal,  which  wc 
bestowed  on  the  attorney-genera 
Sir  Thomas  Coventry.  It  was  nc 
that  Williams  had  been  wanting  i 
servility  of  demeanour,  or  protesti 
tions  of  attachment;  but  his  forme 
offence  bad  not  been  forgotten;  tb 
merit  of  his  present  services  wf 
balanced  by  the  discovery  of  his  ir 
trigues  with  the  country  party ;  an 
it  was  deemed  best  to  deprive  a  mai 
whose  abilities  were  feared  as  much  i 
they  were  prized,  of  the  power  ( 
doing  harm,  by  removing  him  froi 
oflSce,  and  marking  him  out  for  tl 
object  of  future  vengeance.- 

With  a  similar  view  the  kin 
adopted  an  extraordinary  expedier 
to  withdraw  the  most  formidah 
members  of  the  opposition  from  tl 
house  of  Commons.  When  the  judg< 
presented  to  him  the  list  of  sherii 
for  the  ensuing  year,  he  struck  oi 
several  of  the  names,  and  in  the 
place  substituted  those  of  seven  ind 
viduals  who  had  distinguished  then 
selves  by  their  hostility  to  Buckin; 
ham   in   former  parhaments.^     Tl 


sheriff  '•  to  destroy  and  make  to  cease  i 
heresies,  and  errors,  commonly  called  Ia 
lardies,  within  his  bailwick,"  was  in  opp 
sitiou  to  the  statutes  establishing  the  r 
formed  church,  because  several  of  h 
doctrines  were  the  same  as  those  former 
called  Lollardies.  But  Charles  order, 
the  clause  to  be  struck  out,  and  Col 
took  the  oath.— Eush.  i.  201,  202.  It  w 
next  suggested  that,  though  the  sheri 
could  not  b«  returned  for  places  with 
their  respective  shires,  yet  they  might  i 
as  the  representatives  of  other  counties 
boroughs.  Wentworth  was  unwilling 
adopt  an  expedient  which  might  bring  hi 
ink)  collision  with  the  royal  authorit}'  {Stn 
ford  Papers,  i.  30,  31)  j  but  Coke  was  le 
timid ;  he  accepted  a  seat  for  the  county 
Norfolk,  and  the  question  of  his  eligibdi 
was  repeatedly  discussed  in  the  house 
Commons.    The  weight  of  precedei 

Seared  to  be  against  him;  but  his 
ad  sufficient  iuflueuce  to  prevent 


eceden^^ 
:  his  aM 
vent  (i^H 


..D.  1625.] 


COMPLAINTS  OF  THE  COMMONS. 


149 


rtifice  was  too  gross  to  escape  de- 
ection ;  and  it  served  in  the  result  to 
lasten  that  impeachment  which  the 
;ing  sought  to  avert.  The  new 
heriflfs  could  not  indeed  sit  as  mem- 
)ers;  but  their  friends  looked  on 
Jieir  exclusion  as  an  unpardonable 
ibuse  of  power,  and  longed  for  an 
)pportunity  of  visiting  it  upon  the 
lead  of  the  man  to  whose  counsels  it 
Tas  attributed. 

At  Candlemas  the  king  was 
3rowned,'  and  four  days  later  he 
aiet  the  new  parliament.  The  first 
3are  of  the  Commons  was  to  appoint 
i  committee  of  religion,  a  second  of 
grievances,  and  a  third  of  evils,  causes, 
ind  remedies;  committees,  the  very 
aames  of  which  disclosed  the  temper 
md  aim  of  the  leading  members.  1. 
The  committee  of  reUgion  resumed 
the  subjects  of  popery,  and  of  the 
heterodox  opinions  of  Dr.  Montague. 
Under  the  pretext  that  most  of  the 
calamities  which  oppressed  the  nation 
sprung  from  the  increase  of  popery, 
it  was  resolved  to  enact  laws  of  addi- 
tional severity  against  the  professors 
of  the  ancient  creed:  schoolmasters 
were  summoned  from  the  most  distant 
parts  to  answer  interrogatories  respect- 
ing their  own  sentiments  and  those  of 
their  scholars ;  and  every  member  in 
the  house  was  successively  called  upon 
to  denounce  all  persons  in  authority 
or  office  who  to  his  knowledge  were 
suspected,  or  whose  wives  or  children 
were  suspected,  of  any  secret  leaning 
to  the  CathoUc  worship.-  Against 
Dr.  Montague  a  charge  was  prepared 
to  be  presented  to  the  house  of  Lords. 
He  had  been  guilty  of  the  heinous 


favourable  decision ;  and,  tliough  he  did  not 
take  his  seat,  he  was  suffered  to  enjoy  all 
the  other  privileges  of  a  member. — Jour- 
nals, Feb.  10,  27;  June  9,  1626. 

^  Two  things  were  remarked  on  this  occa- 
sion. When  the  people  were  called  upon 
to  "testify  by  their  general  acclamation 
their  consent  to  have  Charles  for  their  sove- 
reign, they  remained  silent,  till  the  earl- 
marshal  told  them  to  shout;''  and  the 
unction,  that  it  might  not  be  seen,  was  per- 


crimes  of  acknowledging  the  church 
of  Eome  to  be  a  true  church,  and  of 
maintaining  that  the  articles  in  dis- 
pute between  her  and  the  church  of 
England  were  of  minor  importance. 
The  king,  notwithstanding  the  en- 
treaties of  Bishop  Laud,  resolved  to 
leave  the  obnoxious  divine  to  his  fate : 
from  which  he  was  only  saved  by  the 
intervention  of  matters  of  greater  in- 
terest, and  the  sudden  dissolution  of 
the  parliament.^  2.  The  committee 
of  grievances,  after  a  tedious  inves- 
tigation, denounced  to  the  house 
sixteen  abuses,  as  subversive  of  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  Of  these  the 
most  prominent  were,  the  practice 
of  impositions,  which  had  been  so 
warmly  debated  in  the  last  reign; 
that  of  purveyance,  by  which  the  offi- 
cers of  the  household  collected  pro- 
visions at  a  fixed  price  to  the  distance 
of  sixty  miles  from  the  court ;  and  the 
illegal  conduct  of  the  lord  treasurer, 
who  persisted  in  levying  the  duties  of 
tonnage  and  poundage  without  au- 
thority of  parliament.  It  was  urged 
in  his  vindication,  that  for  centuries 
they  had  formed  part  of  the  annual 
income  of  the  crown ;  but  the  oppo- 
site party  replied,  that  if  the  king 
could  impose  one  tax  by  virtue  of  the 
prerogative,  he  might  equally  impose 
others;  the  consent  of  parliament 
would  be  no  longer  requisite,  and 
the  property  of  the  subject  would  be 
placed  at  the  arbitrary  disposal  of  the 
sovereign.'' 

Charles,  who  watched  these  pro- 
ceedings with  impatience,  reminded 
the  house  of  his  wants,  and  received 
in  return  a  promise  of  three  subsidies 


formed  behind  a  traverse  by  Archbishop 
Abbot :  whence,  as  notwithstanding  his 
absolution  by  King  James,  he  was  still 
thought  irregular  by  many,  considerable 
doubts  were  raised  of  the  validity  of  the 
coronation. — See  the  letter  of  D'Ewes,  in 
Ellis,  iii.  214. 

2  Journals,    Feb.  15,    21;    March  7,  Q; 
May  3,  11,  23  ;  June  6,  1626. 

3  Ibid.  March  17,  19,  20 ;  June  14. 

*  Journals,  April  27,  May  24,  June  8. 


150 


CHAllLES  I. 


[chap.  IV 


and  fifteenths,  as  soon  as  lie  should 
give  a  favourable  answer  to  their 
prayer  for  the  redress  of  grievances. 
His  pride  spurned  the  condition.  He 
advised  them  to  hasten  and  augment 
the  supply,  or  "  else  it  would  be  worse 
for  themselves;"  he  repeated  the 
menace,  he  wrote  to  the  speaker,  he 
reprimanded  the  house  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lords,  and  at  last  extorted 
the  vote  of  an  additional  subsidy. 
But  by  this  time  the  committee  of 
evils,  causes,  and  remedies  had  dis- 
covered that,  as  the  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham was  the  real  "cause,"  so  his 
punishment  would  be  the  great  "  re- 
medy "  of  the  national  "  evils ;"  and 
under  this  impression  a  resolution 
was  taken  to  impeach  him  before  the 
upper  house  of  sundry  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors.' 

It  argues  an  unusual  want  of  pru- 
dence, a  dangerous  obstinacy  of  cha- 
racter, in  the  king,  that  while  he  was 
thus  at  open  war  with  the  Commons, 
he  wantonly  provoked,  and  unwisely 
prolonged,  another  and  useless  quarrel 
with  the  house  of  Lords.  The  reader 
is  aware  that  he  was  already  offended 
with  the  conduct  of  the  earl-marshal. 
Lord  Maltravers,  the  son  of  that 
nobleman,  privately  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  duke  of  Lennox.  The  royal 
license  had  not  been  asked ;  the  apo- 
logy of  the  earl,  that  the  match  was 
clandestinely  concerted  between  the 
mothers  of  the  parties,  was  not  ad- 
mitted ;  and  Arundel,  in  virtue  of  a 
royal  warrant,  was  arrested  and  con- 
veyed to  the  Tower.  The  king  attri- 
buted it  to  his  good  fortune  that  he 
was  able  at  this  particular  moment  to 
exclude  from  parliament  a  peer  whose 
hostility  to  the  favourite  was  avowed, 
and  who,  being  intrusted  with  no 
fewer  than  six  proxies,  might  have 


proved  a  most  dangerous  adversarj- 
To  his  surprise  and  confusion  th( 
Lords  voted  the  imprisonment  of  th( 
earl,  pending  the  session,  an  infringe- 
ment of  their  privileges;  and  thej 
presented  address  after  address  soli- 
citing his  immediate  release.  Cliarle: 
returned  evasive  answers;  he  sen 
the  attorney-general  to  plead  u 
favour  of  his  prerogative ;  he  de 
scribed  the  conduct  of  the  earl 
marshal  as  personally  offensive  t( 
himself,  and  dangerous  to  the  state 
But  the  Lords  refused  to  yield :  the; 
passed  a  resolution  to  suspend  al 
other  proceedings  till  their  colleague 
had  again  taken  his  place ;  and,  afte 
a  contest  of  three  months,  the; 
triumphed  over  the  pride  and  re 
luctance  of  the  king.  Arundel  wa 
set  at  liberty,  and  resumed  his  sea 
amidst  the  loud  congratulations  o 
the  house.^ 

But  the  duke  had  another  enem; 
to  fear,  one  who,  though  he  could  no 
boast  of  equal  influence  with  the  earl 
marshal,  had  the  power  of  inflictiu; 
a  deeper  wound  on  his  charactei 
The  reader  will  recollect  the  falla 
cious  statement  by  which  Bucking 
ham,  with  the  prince  standing  at  hi 
side,  had  induced  the  two  houses  t 
break  the  Spanish  treaty.  From  tha 
moment  they  had  lived  in  continue 
terror  of  the  disclosures  which  migh 
some  day  be  made  by  the  earl  c 
Bristol :  the  moment  he  arrived  fror 
Spain  he  had  been  put  under  re 
straint ;  he  was  forbidden  to  appea 
at  court,  or  to  attend  his  duty  in  par 
liament;  and  the  royal  displeasur 
was  extended  to  all  who  ventured  t 
pay  even  a  casual  visit  to  him  in  hi 
retirement  at  Sherburne.^  Bristo 
however,  was  not  of  a  character  t 
bend  to  oppression;   he  refused  t 


1  Ibid.  March  10,  20,  27;  April  13,  20; 
May  2,  8.    Eushworth,  i.  218—230. 

«  Journals,  526,  528,  552, 558,  563. 561, 566, 
580,  581,  594,  630,  646,  650-655.  From  this 
uumber  of  references  the  reader  may  judge 


^*f  the  spirit  and  perseverance  of  the  Lord: 
Tho  privilege  which  they  claimed  was  fre* 
dom  from  arrest,  unless  in  cases  of  felon 
or  treason. 
»  See  Sydney  Papere,  ii.  360,  361. 


.D.  1626.] 


EEISTOL  ACCUSES  THE  DUKE. 


151 


ign  the  submission  proposed  to  him 
y  the  favourite;   he  watched  with 
alienee  the  growing  discontent  of 
c  he  nation ;  and,  when  he  had  ascer- 
i'  ained  the  strength  of  the  opposition 
f  Q  both  houses,  complained  to  the 
|;  leers  that,  in  violation  of  their  com- 
f  aon  privilege,  his  writ  of  summons 
I  0  parliament  had  been  unjustly  with- 
j  leld.     Charles  immediately  ordered 
t'  he  writ  to  be  issued ;  but  with  it 
I  Bristol  received  a  letter   forbidding 
lim  to  avail  himself  of  it,  under  pain 
f  the  royal  displeasure.    This  he  for- 
varded  to  the  house ;  soliciting  advice 
;  n  a  case  which  might  hereafter  be 
hat  of  any  other  peer,  and  demand- 
ng  permission  to  accuse,  in  his  place, 
)f  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  the 
nan  who,  that  he  might  elude  the 
3unishment  which  he  deserved,  had 
or  two  years  deprived  another  of  his 
iberty  and  rights.     This  bold  pro- 
)eeding  alarmed  both  the  king  and 
he   duke:    a    new    expedient   was 
idopted  to  silence  the  accuser;  and 
:he   next   day  the   attorney-general 
iharged  Bristol    himself  with   high 
jreason  at  the  bar  of  the  house.    The 
Lords   perceived  and    defeated   the 
artifice :    they    ordered    that    each 
cause  should  be  heard  in  succession  ; 
and  that  the  charge  against  the  earl 
should  not  be  held  to  prevent,  pre- 
judice, or  impeach  his  testimony.^ 

The  articles  which  he  exhibited 
against  Buckingham,  and  which  he 
pledged  himself  to  prove  by  written 
documents  and  undeniable  testimony, 
affected  the  moral  as  much  as  the 
political  character  of  that  nobleman. 
They  accused  him  of  having  conspired 
with  Gondomar  to  draw  the  prince  by 


1  Journala,  537,  544,  563,  567,  578. 

»  This  is  the  charge  :  "  As  for  the  scandal 

giTen  by  his  personal  behaviour,  as  also  his 

employing  his  power  with  the  king  of  Spain 

for  the  procuring  of  favours   and  offices, 

■  which  he  conferred  on  base  and  unworthy 

•  persons  for  the  recompense  and  hire  of  his 

?  lust,  these  things  as  neither  fit  for  the  earl 

i  of  Bristol  to  speak,  nor  indeed  for  the  house 


false  information  into  Spain,  that 
Charles  might  there  change  his  re- 
ligion before  his  marriage  with 
the  infanta;  of  having,  while  he  re- 
sided in  the  Spanish  court,  disgraced 
himself  and  his  country  by  his  con- 
tempt of  decency  and  the  profligacy 
of  his  amours  ;-  of  having  broken  off 
the  treaty  of  marriage  solely  through 
a  spirit  of  resentment,  because  the 
Spanish  council,  dissatisfied  with  his 
misconduct,  had  refused  to  continue 
the  negotiation  with  so  dissolute  a 
minister ;  and  of  having,  at  his  return 
deceived  both  his  sovereign  and  the 
parliament  by  falsehood  and  misre- 
presentation. What  answer  Buck- 
ingham would  have  made  to  these 
charges  we  know  not :  the  parliament 
was  dissolved  before  he  attempted  to 
defend  himself;  but  that  he  should 
allow  them  to  remain  without  denial 
on  the  journals,  seems  to  argue  a 
consciousness  that  his  conduct  could 
not  bear  investigation.^ 

The  charge  of  treason  brought  by 
the  king  against  Bristol,  when  it  was 
divested  of  the  high-sounding  lan- 
guage in  which  it  had  been  clothed 
by  the  attorney-general,  dwindled 
into  comparative  insignificance.  It 
stated  that  the  earl,  in  violation  of 
his  duty  as  an  ambassador,  had  falsely 
assured  the  late  monarch  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  Spanish  cabinet;  that 
he  had,  indirectly  atf  least,  concurred 
in  the  plan  of  inducing  the  prince  to 
change  his  religion ;  that  he  had 
sought  to  force  the  marriage  upon 
him  by  seeking  to  deliver  the  pro- 
curation to  Philip;  and  that  in  his 
letter  to  the  Lords  he  had  given  the 
lie  to  his  sovereign,  by  terming  that 


to  hear,  he  leaveth  to  your  lordships*  wis- 
doras  how  far  it  will  please  you  to  have  them 
examined." — -Journals,  577'. 

3  Journals,  576,  669.  Bristol  also  ex- 
hibited articles  against  Lord  Conway,  whom 
he  represented  as  the  creature  of  Bucking- 
ham. He  charged  him  with  acts  of  oppres- 
sion ;  Conway  replied,  that  whatever  he  had 
done  was  by  order  of  the  king.— Ibid.  676. 


152 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  1 


statement  false  which  Charles  had 
vouched  to  be  true.  These  charges 
gave  to  Bristol  that  which  he  had  so 
long  sought,  the  opportunity  of  vin- 
dicating his  conduct.  His  answer, 
which  was  entered  on  the  journals, 
appears  full  and  satisfactory.' 

If  Buckingham  neglected  to  notice 
the  articles  exhibited  against  him  by 
the  earl,  he  attributed  the  delay  to 
the  necessity  imposed  on  him  of  an- 
swering a  charge  of  still  greater  im- 
portance. In  defiance  of  the  royal 
prohibition,  the  Commons  had  im- 
peached him  before  the  Lords,  and 
had  comprised  his  offences  under 
thirteen  heads:  that  he  had  purchased 
for  money,  and  had  united  in  his 
own  person,  several  of  the  highest 
ofl&ces  in  the  kingdom ;  had  diverted 
to  his  own  use  the  revenue  of  the 
crown ;  had  raised  his  indigent  kin- 
dred to  wealth  and  honours;  had 
suffered  the  trade  of  the  country  to 
fall  to  ruin  by  his  negligence;  had 
provoked  the  king  of  France  to  make 
reprisals  on  the  merchants,  by  un- 
justly detaining  a  French  ship  for  his 
own  profit ;  had  extorted  ten  thou- 
sand pounds  from  the  East-India 
Company;  had  lent  a  squadron  of 
English  ships  to  be  employed  against 
the  French  Protestants;  and  had 
presumed  to  administer  medicine  to 
the  late  king  without  the  approbation 
of  the  physicians.'  Sir  Dudley  Digges 
opened  the  charge ;  it  was  continued 
by  six  other  members ;  and  Sir  John 
Elliot,  having  compared  Buckingham 
to  Sejanus  in  lust,  rapacity,  and  am- 
bition, concluded  with  this  exclama- 
tion: "My  lords,  you  see  the  man. 
By  him  came  all  these  evils :  in  him 


1  Journals,  582,  633. 

8  This  fact  was  represented  by  the  ene- 
mies of  the  duke  as  the  cause  of  the  king's 
death.  But  if  we  may  believe  him,  it 
passed  in  this  manner.  The  kinp,  under- 
standing that  the  earl  of  Warwick's  phy- 
aieian  had  prescribed  for  Buckingham  "  a 
plaister  ana  a  posset  drink,"  when  he  was 
ill  of  the  ague,  ordered  John  Baker,  one  of 
the  duke's  servantSj  to  procure  the  same  for 


we  find  the  cause ;  on  him  we  expe  i 
the  remedies."  ^  ; 

A  report  had  been  carried  to  Charl  i 
that  the  two  managers,  in  allusion    i 
the  last  of  the  articles,  had  thro\n 
out  a  hint  that  Buckingham  was  h\ 
the  inferior  agent ;  a  more  illustrioi  . 
personage  had  been  the  chief  coi 
spirator  against  the  life  of  the  la 
monarch.    In  a  transport  of  passic 
he  ordered  Digges  and  Elliot  to  1 
committed  to  the  Tower ;  and  hastei 
ing  to  the  house  of  Lords,  called  c 
them  to  vindicate  the  character  ar 
privileges  of  their  sovereign.    He  ha 
borne  in  patience  the  imputations  o 
the  duke,  though  he  could   "be 
witness  to  clear  him  in  every  one  i 
the  articles ;"  but  he  would  suffer  r 
one  to  insinuate  of  himself  with  in 
punity  that  he  had  been  privy  to  tl 
death  of  his  father.    The  Common 
on  the  other  hand,  demanded  justi( 
for   the   imprisonment   of  the   tw 
members,  and  refused  to  proceed  1 
any  business  till  they  should  be  di. 
charged.    In  a  few  days  the  king 
anger  cooled:   he  was  persuaded  1 
yield ;  and  both  houses  declared  thj 
they  had  heard  none  of  the  words,  th 
report  of  which  had  given  such  heinoi 
offence.  ■• 

But  at  the  same  time  the  death  ( 
the  e^l  of  Suffolk  afforded  him  a 
opportunity  of  triumphing  over  tb 
enemies  of  his  favourite.  The  char 
cellorship  of  the  university  of  Can 
bridge  became  vacant;  and  a  roy: 
mandate  named  Buckingham  as  su( 
cesser  to  Suffolk.  The  heads  promise 
obedience ;  the  younger  members  pi 
in  nomination  the  earl  of  Berkshire 
After  a  severe  contest,  the  duke  ol 


him.  They  were  brought  while  Buckinghai 
was  absent.  At  his  return,  James  ordere 
him  to  give  him  the  posset  drink,  which  Y 
did  in  the  presence  of  the  physicians,  wh 
made  no  objections. — Lords'  Journals,  662 

3  Lords'  Journals,  618. 

♦  Ibid.  592,  627;  Commons',  Mav  12,  1' 
15,  16,  17,  19,  20.  Carleton's '  Letter 
xxxvii.— xlr.    Kuahworth,  i.  364. 


..D.  1626.] 


DEFENCE  OF  BUCKINGHAM. 


15S 


ained  the  office  by  the  small  majority 

>f  three.     The  Commons  voted  the 

lectiou  of  a  man  under  impeachment 

9  n  insult  offered  to  their  house ;  they 

\  'esolved  to  inquire  into  the  proceed- 

|ngs;  and  had  prepared  an   answer 

I  0  a  prohibition  from  the  kin*;,  when 

he  dispute  was  suddenly  terminated 

)y  the  disolution  of  parliament.' 

If  Charles  had  allowed  it  to  sit  so 
ong,  his  only  object  was  that  Buck- 
ngham  might  have  leisure  to  prepare 
lis  answer  with  the  assistance  of 
^ir  Nicholas  Hyde.  He  divided  the 
;harges  into  three  classes :  some  he 
Dronounced  to  be  unfounded  in  fact, 
ihe  groundless  calumnies  of  his  oppo- 
lents;  some,  he  affirmed  did  not 
ififect  him ;  they  referred  to  the  per- 
;onal  acts  of  the  last,  or  of  the  present 
sing ;  and  of  others  he  contended 
:hat  a  sufficient  justification  would 
3e  found  in  the  orders  of  the  sove- 
reign, or  the  advice  of  the  judges. 
To  one  he  pleaded  guilty,— the  pur- 
3hase  of  the  wardenship  of  the  Cinq 
Ports,  but  thought  it  might  be  ex- 


cused on  the  ground  of  public  utihty: 
with  respect  to  another,— the  delivery 
of  the  ships  to  the  officers  of  the 
French  king,  he  appeared  to  fklter; 
not  that  he  was  unable  to  prove  the 
innocence  of  his  conduct,  but  that  it 
was  imprudent  to  disclose  the  secrets 
of  the  state.2  This  answer  was  calcu- 
lated to  make  a  strong  impression  on  the 
minds  of  the  Lords.  It  placed  the  con- 
duct of  the  duke  in  a  most  favourable 
light,  and  represented  him  as  a  faithful 
but  injured  servant,  the  victim  of  un- 
merited suspicion  and  calumny.  The 
Commons  announced  their  intention 
of  replying ;  but  the  king  refused  to 
allow  them  the  opportunity.  Aware 
of  his  object,  they  hastily  prepared  a 
long  and  energetic  remonstrance,  re- 
peating their  charges  against  the  fa- 
vourite, and  requesting  that  he  might 
be  removed  from  the  royal  presence. 
But  Charles,  before  it  was  presented, 
signed  a  commission  for  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  parliament,  and  to  the 
prayer  of  the  Lords  for  a  short  delay, 
rephed  with   impatience,  "  No,  not 


1  Ellis,  iii.  228—235.  Jonrnals,  June  5, 
8,7.  Biblioth.  Eegia,  235.  Eushworth,  376. 
*  The  following  is  the  best  account  which 
I  have  been  able  to  collect  respecting  this 
very  extraordinary  transaction  : — The  Spa- 
niards, to  revenge  themselves  on  the  French 
cabinet,  which  had  aided  the  Protestants  of 
the  Low  Countries  against  them,  fcitered, 
ia  October,  1624,  into  a  secret  treaty  with 
the  duke  of  Rohan  and  the  prince  of  Sou- 
Lize,  the  leaders  of  the  French  Protestants, 
against  the  king  of  France.  Soubize,  sailing 
unexpectedly  from  Eochelle,  surprised  the 
isle  of  Ehe,  and  captured  at  Blavet  a  ship  of 
eighty  guns.  Louis  immediately  applied  to 
the  king  of  England  and  the  States  of  the 
United  Provinces,  for  maritime  aid,  and 
both  agreed  to  supply  the  number  of  ships 
to  which  they  were  bound  by  treaty, — the 
king  eight,  the  Hollanders  twenty.  For 
this  purpose  Charles  pressed  seven  mer- 
chantmen into  his  service,  and  placed  them 
under  the  command  of  Pennington,  in  the 
Vanguard,  a  ship  of  war  (May  8,  1625). 
'■  They  were  next  transferred  by  contract  to 
the  service  of  France  ;  but  the  men  under- 
standing at  Dieppe  that  it  was  intended  to 
employ  them  in  an  expedition  against  Eo- 
chelle, refused  to  fight,  and  returned  to  the 
Downs.  They  were  twice  sent  back,  and 
'  Pennington  received  a  warrant  from  the 
king  to  sink  any  ship  that  might  attempt  to 


escape  (July  28).  One,  however,  returned ; 
the  others,  being  manned  by  Frenchmen, 
were  employed,  and  restored  at  the  termi- 
nation of  the  war.  The  offence  said  to  have 
been  committed  by  the  duke  was,  that  he, 
as  high  admiral,  had  lent  English  ships  for 
the  purpose  of  opposing  the  Protestants. 
The  answer  given  by  his  friends,  and  by 
himself,  was,  that  he  and  the  king  had  been 
deceived: — they  knew  not  of  the  intention  of 
the  French  cabinet :  they  supposed  that 
the  ships  would  have  been  employed  against 
Genoa.  That  this  allegation  was  false,  is 
evident  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  trans- 
action,  from  the  unwiUingness  of  the  duko 
to  give  an  explanation,  from  a  passage  ia 
his  letter,  dated  Paris,  May  30,  1625  :  "  The 
peace  with  them  of  the  religion  depends 
upon  the  success  of  that  fleet  they  [the 
French]  had  from  your  majesty  and  the 
Low  Countries"  (Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  Aj)p. 
XXV.) ;  and  from  another  passage  in  the  in- 
structions given  to  him  on  the  17th  of  Octo- 
ber: "We  conceive  that  the  work  which 
was  required  to  be  done  by  them  [the  ships3 
lei7ig  the  suppression  qf  Soubize,  is  accom- 
plished."— EjTn.  xviii.  209.  See  the  treaty 
of  1610,  confirmed  in  1620,  Eym.  xvi.  6m. 
Arehseologia,  xvii.  12.  Prynne,  Hiddeu 
Works  of  Darkness,  85.  Eush.  i.  178. 
Journals,  603—608,  661.  Lord  Nugent's 
Hampden,  i.  385. 


154 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  r 


of  one  minute."  The  earls  of  Arun- 
del and  Bristol  were  immediately 
placed  under  confinement,  the  former 
in  his  own  house,  the  latter  in  the 
Tower.' 

The  proceedings  of  this  session  had 
kept  the  king  in  a  state  of  continual 
irritation :  its  dissolution  left  him  to 
struggle  with  his  pecuniary  diffi- 
culties, which  were  daily  multiplied 
by  the  demands  of  his  Danish  and 
German  allies.  He  had  threatened 
the  Commons  to  pursue  "  new  coun- 
sels:" necessity  compelled  him  to 
execute  his  threat.  1.  Tonnage 
and  poundage,  compriftng  all  the 
duties  levied  on  imports  and  exports, 
formed  the  principal  portion  of  the 
annual  income.  No  bill  authorizing 
these  duties  had  been  passed :  never- 
theless he  ordered  the  officers  of  the 
customs  to  exact  them  in  the  same 
manner  as  had  been  done  in  his 
father's  reign :  not,  indeed,  that  they 
belonged  to  him  of  right,  but  under 
the  pretext  that  they  would  have  been 
granted  to  him  of  course  if  the  par- 
liament had  not  been  prematurely 
dissolved.  2.  A  commission  was  ap- 
pointed to  improve  the  income  arising 
from  the  crown  lands,  with  authority, 
in  consideration  of  the  actual  pay- 
ment of  a  large  fine,  to  grant  long  and 
profitable  leases,  to  extinguish  the 
more  onerous  services  incident  to 
feudal  tenures,  and  to  convert  the 
lands  holden  by  copyright  or  lease 
into  fee  farms  at  certain  annual  rents. 
3.  Other  commissioners  were  invested 
with  powers  to  inquire  into  the  arrears 
of  the  penalties  due  for  religious  de- 
linquency, and  to  secure  the  annual 
payment  for  the  future.  Their  in- 
structions distinguished  between  the 
poor  and  the  more  opulent  recusants. 
Those  of  the  first  class  were  allowed 
to  compound  for  their  fines,  that  they 
might   not  be  reduced  to  absolute 


1  Journals,  592,  655—663,  682. 

*  For  these  particulars  see  Bjm.  xviii. 


beggary;  from  those  of  the  sccoe 
the  commissioners  were  ordered  i 
take  two-thirds  of  their  lands,  and  1 
let  them  on  lease  to  the  highest  bi( 
der,  and  in  that  case  to  the  own( 
himself,  though  it  was  contrary  t 
the  law.  4.  Privy  seals  for  the  loa 
of  money  were  again  issued  to  nobl( 
men,  gentlemen,  and  merchants  < 
reputed  property ;  and  an  immedial 
advance  of  one  hundred  and  twent 
thousand  pounds  was  imperative! 
required  from  the  city  of  Londo] 
5.  Under  pretence  of  the  protectio 
of  commerce  in  the  narrow  seas,  tl 
several  ports  were  compelled  to  pn 
vide  and  maintain,  during  thn 
months,  a  certain  number  of  arme 
vessels,  and  at  the  same  time  tl" 
lords  lieutenants  of  the  diflferei 
counties  received  orders  to  musU 
the  inhabitants,  train  them  to  arm 
and  employ  them  for  the  purpose  ( 
suppressing  civil  tumult,  or  of  repe 
ling  foreign  invasion.- 

While  men  expressed  their  surpri: 
and  indignation  at  these  arbitral 
proceedin  gs,  intelligence  arrived  whic 
spread  a  deep  gloom  over  the  who 
kingdom.  A  great  and  bloody  batt 
had  been  fought  at  Luttem,  betwee 
the  imperialists  under  Count  Till; 
and  the  allies  of  Charles  under  tl 
king  *  Denmark.  The  latter  ho 
fled  beyond  the  Elbe ;  their  artillei 
and  baggage  had  fallen  into  the  han( 
of  the  conquerors;  and  the  who 
circle  of  Lower  Saxony,  abandonc 
without  defence,  lay  at  the  mercy  < 
Eerdinand.  The  cause  of  the  Prin( 
Palatine  was  at  last  pronounced  de 
perate :  the  very  existence  of  Pr( 
teltantism  in  Germany  was  thougl 
to  be  at  stake.  Charles  seized  tl 
favourable  moment  to  execute 
measure  which  he  had  long  m< 
ditated,  but  had  not  dared  1 
attempt.      Ho   resolved   to   raise 


730,  7,  9,  41,  55,  71,  86;  and  Bush.  i. 
421. 


I 


;  ..D.  1626.] 


FORCED  LOAN. 


155 


,  breed  loan  by  his  own  authority ; 
ind  with  this  view  he  appointed  com- 
nissioners  in  every  county,  instructed 
hem  to  take  the  book  of  the  last  sub- 
sidy for  their  guide,  and  empowered 
hem  to  exact  from  each  individual 
lie  advance  of  a  sum  of  money  ac- 
•ording  to  the  former  rate,  in  the 
proportion  of  cent,  per  cent,  on  land, 
;ud  of  a  mark  in  the  pound  on  per- 
gonal property.  This  demand  was  of 
itself  suflQciently  despotic ;  it  was  ren- 
iered  still  more  intolerable  by  the 
inquisitorial  powers  with  which  the 
c-cmmissioners  were  armed.  They  re- 
ceived orders  to  interrogate  the  rc- 
Iractory  upon  oath ;  to  require  from 
them  an  avowal  of  the  motive  of  their 
disobedience,  and  a  disclosure  of  the 

•  names    of  their   advisers;     and   to 

;.  charge  them  on  their  allegiance  to 
keep  their  answers  to  these  questions 

i  secret  from  all  persons  whomsoever.' 
To  induce  submission,  the  king 
published  an  elaborate  proclamation, 
stating  that  he  had  been  driven  to 
this  extraordinary  measure  by  the 
exigence  of  the  moment,  which  did 
not  allow  him  time  to  consult  his 
parliament ;  and  promising  that  every 
farthing  advanced  by  his  loving  sub- 
jects should  be  faithfully  repaid  out 
of  the  next  subsidies  by  their  grateful 
sovereign.  At  the  same  tj,me  he 
wrote  to  the  clergy,  calling  on  them 
to  come  forward  in  support  of  the 
Protestant  interest,  to  preach  unani- 
mity and  obedience,  and  to  impress 
on  the  minds  of  their  parishioners 
the  duty  of  aiding  the  king  in  his 
necessities.^  But  there  were  many 
who  refused  to  listen  either  to  the 
commands  of  the  sovereign  or  to  the 
exhortations  of  their  ministers.  Their 
names  were  returned  by  the  commis- 
sioners ;   the  more  opulent  received 


a  summons  to  appear  before  the  coun- 
cil, and  were  either  committed  to 
prison,  or  confined  in  private  houses 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  their 
homes  and  families;  the  poor,  that 
"  they  might  serve  with  their  bodies 
since  they  refused  to  serve  with  their 
purses,"  were  forcibly  enrolled  in  the 
army  or  navy.^  Charles  refused  to 
show  any  indulgence.  It  had  been 
repeatedly  said  that  he  was  governed 
by  Buckingham;  now,  that  the  fa- 
vourite was  absent,  he  resolved  to 
prove  by  acts  of  vigour,  or  rather  of 
despotism,  that  he  had  a  will  of  his 
own,  and  was  not  of  that  easy  and  duc- 
tile disposition  which  had  been  attri- 
buted to  him  by  his  opponents. 

The  mission  on  which  the  duke  was 
employed  had  for  its  object  to  arm 
the  French  Protestants  against  their 
sovereign,  and  to  make  a  descent  upon 
the  French  coast.  But  what  was  the 
inducement,  or  rather  the  necessity, 
which  led  the  king,  at  a  moment 
when,  in  the  estimation  of  every 
thinking  man,  there  were  only  two 
expedients  by  which  he  could  extri- 
cate himself  from  his  difficulties, — a 
peace  with  Spain,  or  a  reconciliation 
with  his  parliament,  to  neglect  them 
both,  and  in  addition  to  provoke  a 
war  with  the  monarch  whose  alliance 
he  had  courted,  and  whose  sister  he 
had  married  ?  The  motives  for  this 
rash  step  were  never  openly  avowed ; 
they  may  perhaps  be  discovered  by 
attending  to  the  following  incidents. 

1.  When  Buckingham,  two  years 
before,  entered  Paris  as  the  guide 
appointed  by  Charles  to  conduct  the 
French  princess  to  England,  he  dazzled 
every  eye  with  the  splendour  of  his 
dress,  and  the  number  and  magni- 
ficence of  his  retinue.**  Among  the 
ladies  at  court  the  gallant  English- 


1  Ensh.  i.  422.    Eymer,  xviii.  835—842. 

2  Eyraer,   xviii.  764.     I3ibliotheca  Eegia, 
898—305.    Wilkin's  Con.  iv.  471. 

»  Eushworth,  i.  436.     Strafford  Papers, 
L  36-41. 


^  He  took  with  him  "a  rich  white  satin 
uncut  velvet  suit,  set  all  over,  both  suit  and 
cloak,  with  diamonds,  the  value  whereof  is 
thought  to  be  worth  four  score  thousand 
pounds,  besides  a  feather  made  with  great 


156 


CHAHLES  I. 


[chap.  I) 


man  became  the  tlieme  of  general 
admiration;  he  singled  out  for  the 
object  of  his  attentions  the  young 
queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  the  elder 
sister  of  the  Spanish  infanta.  Buck- 
ingham had  the  presumption  to  love, 
and  to  fancy  himself  beloved ;  but  his 
steps  were  watched,  and  a  seasonable 
hint  of  danger  restrained  him  within 
the  limits  of  decorum.  "When  he 
took  leave  of  Anne  on  his  departure 
from  Amiens,  it  was  observed  that 
his  eyes  were  suffused  with  tears ;  and 
the  moment  he  reached  Boulogne, 
leaving  Henrietta  to  the  care  of  her 
servants,  he  returned  to  that  city 
under  the  pretence  of  important  busi- 
ness, and  boldly  intruded,  without 
notice,  into  the  royal  bed-chamber. 
Anne  was  attended  by  two  of  her 
maids  of  honour;  she  heard  with 
apparent  anger  the  protestations  of 
attachment  which  her  lover  addressed 
to  her  on  his  knees ;  and  ordered  him 
to  depart  in  a  tone  of  severity,  the  sin- 
cerity of  which  was  suspected  by  her 
female  biographer.  The  presumption 
of  the  duke  could  not  be  concealed ; 
and  Louis  ordered  several  of  the 
queen's  domestics  to  be  immediately 
discharged.  Buckingham,  after  his 
return  to  England,  continued  to  nou- 
rish this  extravagant  passion,  and  had 
recourse  to  every  expedient  to  pro- 
cure another  invitation  to  the  French 
court.  The  reader  has  seen  that  he 
obtained  the  appointment  of  ambas- 
sador, but  was  refused  admission  by 
the  cardinal  Richelieu ;  his  confidant, 
the  earl  of  Holland,  who  proceeded 
to  Paris,  laboured  in  vain  to  remove 


diamonds,  with  sword,  girdle,  hatband  and 
spurs  with  diamonds  :  which  suit  his  grace 
intends  to  enter  Paris  with."  He  had 
twenty-seven  other  suits,  all  "  rich  sis  in- 
vention could  frame  or  art  fashion." — Hard- 
wicke  Papers,  i.  571.    Ellis,  iii.  189. 

'  Carte  (iv.  132)  has  attempted  to  throw 
discredit  on  this  story,  from  dates  in  the 
Jlercure  Fran9ois.  But  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  is  substantially  true.  It  is 
related  by  Madame  do  Motteville  in  her 
Memoirs  (vol.  i.),  and  is  confirmed  by  the 


the  impediment;  and  the  Prenc 
courtiers  avowed  their  determinatio 
to  shed  the  blood  of  the  foreign  minio 
who  sought  to  defile  the  bed  of  thei 
sovereign.  Still  the  duke  did  nc 
desist.  Two  other  attempts  wer 
made ;  but  no  persuasion,  no  artific* 
could  subdue  the  repugnance  ( 
Louis;  and  the  war  which  followe 
has  been  attributed  by  English  writei 
to  the  resentment  of  the  disappointe 
lover ;  by  the  confidante  of  Anne,  t 
his  hope  of  being  employed  as  amba; 
sador  to  reconcile  the  two  crown 
It  is,  however,  plain  that,  whatev( 
may  have  been  the  secret  motives  < 
Buckingham,  he  must  have  allege 
some  very  different  reason  in  defem 
of  a  measure  which  threatened  1 
prove  so  prejudicial  to  the  interes 
of  his  own  sovereign.' 

2.  When  Henrietta  reached  En; 
land,  she  observed  to  the  king  thi 
she  was  young,  without  experienc 
and  ignorant  of  the  national  custom 
She  might  commit  many  faults,  bi 
she  begged  that  he  would  reprimar 
her  in  private,  and  not  pubhsh  her  mi 
conduct  to  others.    Yet  the  domest 
happiness  which  they  at  first  enjoyc 
was  soon  embittered  by  a  succession . 
petty  and  vexatious  quarrels.     Tl 
king  complained  of  the  caprice  ar  . 
petulance  of  his  wife,  the  queen  of  tl  ; 
morose  and  antigallican  disposition 
her  husband.     He  attributed  the 
disagreement  to  the  discontent  of  h< 
French  attendants;  she  and  her  r 
lations  to  the  interested  suggestioi  \ 
of  Buckingham.^    That  the  servan  i 
of  her  household  met  with  much  '  ( 


testimony  of  Clarendon  (Hist.  i.  38),  by  t)  { 
celebrated  stanzas  of  Voiture  addressed 
Anne  herself  (Motteville,  i.  231),  and 
the    letters    of    Holland    to    Buckiup! 
(Cabala,  253,  253).    To  understand   i! 
letters,  the  reader  should  observe,  th:i! 
the  figure  of  a  crown  is  meant  the  kin 
France,  by  that  of  an  anchor  the  duk- 
Buckingham,  high  admiral,  and  by  tlia! 
a  heart  his  sweetheart,  the  French  queen 
See  also  the  translation  of  the  Memoirs_ 
Cardinal  de  Retz,  ir.  185. 
'  Motteville,  i.    Cabala,  252. 


..D.  1626.]       THE  QUEEN'S  SERVANTS  DISMISSED. 


157 


'xerciso  their  patience,  cannot  be 
loubted ;  they  occupied  the  place  of 
Englishmen,  and  were  consequently 
•xposed  to  the  hostility  of  all  who 
night  profit  by  their  removal:  and 
hat  the  queen  should  undertake  their 
lefence  was  natural:  she  pleaded 
)nly  for  the  strict  observance  of  the 
narriage  treaty.  Charles,  however, 
)efore  the  conclusion  of  six  months, 
lad  resolved  to  send  them  back  to 
France.'  He  sought  to  spare  himself 
he  charge  of  so  expensive  an  esta- 
)lishment,  at  a  time  when  the  trea- 
:ury  was  drained  to  the  last  shiUing ; 
lud  the  number  of  the  chaplains,  the 
3omp  with  which  they  performed  the 
;ervice,  and  their  bold,  perhaps  indis- 
creet, bearing,  amidst  the  vilifiers  of 
heir  religion,  were  thought  to  cause,  or 
it  least  to  strengthen, the  opposition  of 
he  Commons  to  the  measures  of  the 
idministration.  These  were  probably 
;he  real  grounds  of  his  determination ; 
but  v.-hen  he  announced  it  to  the 
French  court,  he  alleged  the  impossi- 
bility of  living  happily  with  his  wife, 
IS  long  as  her  mind  was  daily  harassed 
by  the  complaints  and  discontent  of 
her  French  servants."  The  marquis 
de  Blainville  came  over  to  mediate 
between  the  king  and  his  consort; 
but  Charles  deemed  the  interference 
of  the  ambassador  an  insult,  and  the 
outrages  of  the  mob  placed  his  life  in 
danger.  After  several  delays,  the 
king  executed  his  project.  Taking 
the  queen  by  the  hand,  he  led  her 


into  a  separate  apartment,  and  having 
informed  her  of  his  purpose,  con- 
ducted her  to  his  palace  of  Nonsuch. 
In  the  mean  time,  secretary  Conway 
read  to  her  attendants  the  royal  or- 
der for  their  immediate  removal  to 
Somerset  House ;  and  the  yeomen  of 
the  guard,  with  their  halberts,  com- 
pelled them  to  depart.  Their  wages 
were  paid,  gratuities  were  added,  and 
after  many  objections  and  delays,  the 
whole  body,  amounting  to  sixty, 
partly  by  persuasion,  partly  by  force, 
consented  to  embark,  and  were  safely 
landed  in  Prance.^  Three  native 
priests,  recommended  by  Bucking- 
ham, received  the  appointment  of 
chaplains,  and  six  females,  of  whom 
four  were  Protestants,  that  of  ladies 
of  the  bedchamber  to  the  queen.'* 

But  this  violent  dismissal  of  her 
household  was  resented  as  a  personal 
affront  by  the  king  of  Prance.  He 
refused  to  admit  to  his  presence  secre- 
tary Carleton,  who  had  been  sent  by 
Charles  to  excuse  or  justify  his  con- 
duct ;  he  even  talked  of  doing  himself 
and  his  sister  justice  by  the  sword. 
But  war  was  averted  by  the  policy  of 
Bassompierre,  who  came  to  England 
in  the  quality  of  ambassador  extra- 
ordinary. He  found  the  king  and 
queen  highly  exasperated  against 
each  other;  by  argument  and  en- 
treaty he  induced  them  both  to  yield; 
it  was  arranged  that  a  new  establish- 
ment should  be  formed,  partly  of 
Prench,  but  principally  of  English 


1  Harleian  MSS,  6988.  There  are  two 
letters  to  Buckingham  of  the  same  date, 
Kov.  20 ;  one  has  been  often  quoted  to 
yroTB  that  Charles  was  displeased  with  the 
duke,  because  he  sought  to  dissuade  him 
from  sending  away  the  queen's  servants. 
But  the  other  letter  shows  that  the  first  was 
ft  mere  artifice,  that  Buckingham,  when  he 
arrived  at  Paris,  might  have  something  to 
Bhow  in  his  own  defence  against  the  charges 
of  Henrietta.— Hard.  Papers,  ii.  1,  2.  Ellis, 
ui.  216. 

*  Charles  did  not  adopt  this  reason,  till 
he  had  failed  in  an  attempt  to  prove  that 
they  intended  to  carry  back  the  queen  to 
rrance  clandestinely,  or  were  actually  plot- 
ting with  his  subjects.— His  letter,  ibid.  The 


queen-mother  told  the  nuncio  Spada  that 
her  daughter,  "  ogni  di  scriveva  di  voler 
tornare  iu  Francia,  o  per  lo  meno  vedersi 
con  sua  madre  per  communicarle  dello  par- 
ticolarita  non  communicabile  ne  alia  penna, 
ne  a  terza  persona." — Letter  of  Spada, 
18  Nov.  X.S. 

3  On  July  1,  he  visited  them  at  Somerset 
House,  and  told  them  that  "some  among 
them  had  so  dallied  with  his  patience  that 
he  could  not,  and  would  not,  any  longer 
endure  it."— Bib.  Eeg.  218.  Yet  they  did 
not  depart ;  and  on  the  7th  of  August  he 
wrote  to  Buckingham, — "  Force  them  away, 
dryve  them  away,  lyke  so  manie  wylde 
beastcs ;  and  so  the  devill  goe  with  them." 
—Ellis,  iii.  224.  *  EUis,  iii.  238-247. 


158 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


servants;  a  bishop,  a  confessor  and 
his  companion,  and  ten  priests,  pro- 
vided they  were  neither  Jesuits  nor 
Oratorians,  were  allowed;  and  in  addi- 
tion to  the  chapel  originally  prepared 
for  the  infanta  at  St.  James's,  it  was 
agreed  that  another  should  be  built 
for  tiie  queen's  use  at  Somerset 
House.  This  arrangement  restored 
harmony  between  the  royal  couple. 
Charles  congratulated  himself  on  the 
dutiful  and  afifectionate  behaviour  of 
his  wife ;  and  Henrietta  soon  obtained 
considerable  influence  over  the  heart, 
and  even  the  judgment  of  her  hus- 
band.' 

3.  From  the  removal  of  the  queen's 
servants,  Bassompierre  passed  to  the 
treatment  of  the  English  Cathohcs. 
Charles  had  bound  himself  to  grant 
them  every  indulgence  in  his  power, 
and  yet  he  had  let  loose  the  pur- 
suivants, and  had  enforced  the  penal 
laws  against  them.  Of  this,  as  a 
breach  of  the  treaty,  Louis  had  a 
right  to  complain;  but  the  king, 
whose  pride  refused  to  plead  the 
real  cause,— the  necessity  of  yielding 
to  the  religious  prepossessions  of  his 
subjects,  contended  that  the  treaty 
was  "one  of  state,  not  of  religion," 
and  that  the  promise  of  indulgence 
was  introduced  "simply  as  a  matter 


1  Memoires  de  Bassompierre,  iii.  284—315. 
Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  14.  One  of  the  chief 
charges  against  the  clergy  attending  the 
qaeen  was,  that  they  compelled  her  to  go  in 
procession  to  Tyburn,  and  to  pray  on  the 
spot  where  the  gunpowder  conspirators  had 
been  executed.  Charles  in  his  instructions 
to  Carleton,  merely  says,  "  they  made  her 

fo  to  Tyburn  in  devotion  to  pray." — Bib. 
leg.  219.  The  council  in  their  answer  to 
Bassompierre,  that  "  they  led  her  a  long 
way  on  foot,  to  go  in  devotion  to  a  place 
where  it  has  been  the  custom  to  execute 
criminals."— Memoirs  of  Bassom.  App.  138. 
The  reader  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that 
this  charge,  so  confidently  made,  is  met  bv 
the  ambassador  with  an  absolute  denial, 
and  an  assertion,  moreover,  that  the  lords 
who  made  it  knew  it  to  be  false.  "  Je  scay 
asssurement.  Messieurs,  que  vous  ne  croiez 

{)a8  ce  que  vous  publiez  aux  autres  pour 
eur  faire  croire,"  &c.  The  fact,  he  tells 
them,  was,  that  the  queen,  on  the  evening 


of  form  to  satisfy  the  pope  and 
Catholics  of  France,"  but  wit] 
any  intention  on  either  side  tlu 
must  necessarily  be  carried  into 
cution.  He  was,  however,  willin 
forbid  the  employment  of  the  ] 
suivants  for  the  future,  and  to  del 
into  the  hands  of  Bassompierre 
the  priests,  seventeen  in  nuiii 
who  had  been  committed  to 
prisons  of  the  metropolis.  \\ 
this  concession  the  ambassador  i 
fessed  himself  satisfied ;  but  at 
return  to  France,  he  was  ungracioi 
received  by  the  monarch,  and  loi 
censured  by  the  courtiers.  He 
compromised,  it  was  said,  the  di^' 
of  the  French  crown  by  not  insi^ 
on  the  full  performance  of  the  art: 
of  marriage;  and  hints  were  circul 
that  he  had  been  bought  by  the 
sents  of  Charles,  or  seduced  by 
flatteries  of  Buckingham.  Whe 
the  displeasure  of  Louis  was  re; 
assumed  may  perhaps  be  questioi.' 
he  did  not  disavow  the  proceed; 
of  his  envoy— but  to  the  reque.- 
Bassompierre  that  the  English  u 
might  revisit  the  French  capital,  v. 
a  view  to  a  more  complete  reconc 
tion,  he  returned  a  hasty  and  in 
nant  refusal.^ 
It  is  evident  that  in  these  instai 


of  a  sultry  day,  had  taken,  with  her  ai 
ants,  the  same  walk  through  St.  Ja. 
Park  and  Hyde  Park,  which  she  had 
before  taken  with  the  king.  As  to  the 
cession,  the  approaching  to  the  gal 
the  prayers,  &c.,  they  were  all  tictio! 
vented  by  her  enemies. — SeeBassompii 
answer,  ibid.  145,  146. 

2  Bassompierre,    App.    139,    151. 
xviii.  801.     MS.  letter  of  Spada.     Tho 
excuse    for    the    non-performance    ol 
article  in  favour  of  the  Catholics,  was, 
it  was  signed  merely  for  form  sake,  a- 
impose  on  the  pope.     It  is  true  thar 
was  suggested  in  the  commencement  < 
treaty  of  the  marriage  ;  but  that  befoi 
signature  of   the  king  was  affixed  t 
"  escrit  secret,"  on  the  12th  of  Deccn 
it  was  understood  to  be  binding,  is  evi. 
from  a  letter  of  the  earls  of  Carlisle 
Holland  of  the  6th  of  November  (Clarei 
Papers,  ii.  App.  xv.) ;  and  Charles  hi- 
ratified  it  two  months  after  the  man 


A.D.  1G26.] 


EMBAREASSMENTS  OF  THE  KING. 


159 


the  king  of  Prance  was  the  party 
aggrieved;  for  the  cause  of  the  war 
which  followed,  we  must  discover 
some  provocation  in  which  he  was 
the  real  or  supposed  aggressor.  When 
Charles  first  solicited  the  hand  of 
Henrietta,  he  clearly  foresaw  that 
by  marrying  one  Catholic  princess 
he  and  his  favourite  would  risk  all 
that  popularity  which  they  had 
earned  by  rejecting  the  other;  but 
he  trusted  to  silence  the  adversaries 
of  the  match  by  prevailing  on  Louis 
to  join  with  him  in  opposing  the 
house  of  Austria,  and  procuring  the 
restoration  of  the  Palatinate  to  his 
unfortunate  brother-in-law.  "With  this 
view  the  English  negotiators  had  in- 
sisted that  a  treaty  of  alliance,  de- 
fensive and  offensive,  should  accom- 
pany the  treaty  of  marriage ;  but  they 
were  outwitted  by  the  arts  or  the 
duplicity  of  the  Prench  minister ;  and 
when  the  subject  was  resumed  after 
the  nuptials,  the  proposal  was  at  first 
evaded,  at  last  peremptorily  refused. 
Thus  the  king  found  himself  deprived 
of  the  benefit  Avhich  he  had  antici- 
pated from  the  match ;  and  the  pro- 
.^ooriings  in  parliament  convinced  him 
he  had  entailed  on  himself  and 
lavourite  the  evil  which  he  feared. 
Stung  with  the  disappointment,  and 
eager  to  regain  his  popularity,  he 
determined  to  prove  his  attachment 
to  the  Protestant  interest  by  as- 
suming the  protection  of  the  Prench 
Protestants  in  opposition  to  their 
sovereign.  The  reader  has  seen  that 
this  project  was  at  first  defeated  by 
the  restoration  of  peace  between 
Louis  and  his  revolted  subjects. 
Charles,  however,  came  forward  as 
mediator,  though  the  Prench  cabinet 
disclaimed  his  interference;  still  he 
promised  the  Protestants  to  watch 
over  the  execution  of  the  treaty, 
and   assured    them   that   he   would 


on  the  18th  of  July,  when  there  could  no 
longer  be  any  necessity  of  imposing  on  the 
pope.— Memoirs  of  Bassompierre,  App.133. 


employ  the  whole  force  of  his  king- 
dom in  the  preservation  of  their 
liberties,  which  were  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  interests  of  his  own 
dominions. 

In  the  two  succeeding  years  the 
embarrassments  of  the  king,  as  the 
reader  will  have  noticed,  increased  a 
hundred-fold.  His  pecuniary  wants 
were  multiplied ;  his  parhament  grew 
more  stubborn  ;  his  plans  for  the  re- 
covery of  the  Palatinate  were  defeated 
by  the  reversies  of  his  allies.  The 
original  cause  of  all  these  evils  was,  in 
his  estimation,  to  be  discovered  in  the 
perfidy  of  the  Prench  cabinet.  Their 
refusal  of  the  promised  alliance  had 
deprived  him  of  the  confidence  of 
the  nation,  and  had  compelled  him 
to  sacrifice  more  than  a  million  of 
money,  more  than  ten  thousand  of 
his  subjects,  in  useless  subsidies  and 
expeditions.'  In  this  temper  of  mind 
he  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  interested 
suggestion  of  an  abbe,  the  emissary 
of  the  discontented  party  in  Prance ; 
Devic  and  Montague  were  despatched 
on  a  mission  to  the  Prench  Pro- 
testants; and  Soubize  and  Brancard 
were  received  as  their  accredited 
agents  in  England.  The  result  of 
their  combined  counsels  was,  that 
Charles  should  send  an  army  to 
La  Eochelle,  and  that  Rohan  should 
join  it  with  four  thousand  men  ;  that 
the  king  should  announce  his  de- 
termination to  preserve  the  liberties  of 
the  reformed  churches ;  and  that  the 
duke  should  summon  his  brethren  to 
rally  round  the  standard  of  their  deli- 
verer. Men,  however,  would  not  be- 
lieve that  the  English  monarch  was 
actuated  solely  by  religious  zeal  or 
personal  resentment.  Hints  were 
thrown  out  of  the  establishment  of 
a  Protestant  state  between  the  Loire 
and  the  Garonne;  or  of  the  creation 
of   an    independent   principality  in 


1  See  the  reply  of  the  commissioners  to 
Bassompierre,  in  the  English  Memoirs, 
App.141. 


160 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  IV. 


favour  of  Buckingliam.  That  such 
delusions  might  haunt  the  day- 
dreams of  the  king  and  his  favourite, 
is  possible  ;  but  nothing  more  can 
collected  from  their  correspondence, 
than  that  their  ostensible  \ras  not 
their  principal  object.  There  lay 
something  behind,  the  disclosure  of 
which  might  prove  an  obstacle  to 
its  accomplishment.* 

On  account  of  the  war  with  Spain, 
letters  of  marque  had  been  issued  to 
the  English  cruisers,  and  the  mer- 
chantmen of  every  nation  were  swept 
into  the  English  ports,  under  the  pre- 
tence that  they  might  have  Spanish 
property  on  board.  The  Hanse  Towns, 
the  States  of  Holland,  and  the  king 
of  Denmark,  remonstrated  in  the 
most  forcible  language;  Louis  did 
not  merely  remonstrate ;  to  secure 
indemnification,  he  laid  an  embargo 
on  all  English  ships  in  the  French 
harbours.  A  long  and  tedious  succes- 
sion of  complaints  and  recriminations 
followed ;  promises  were  made  and 
broken  on  both  sides ;  and,  as  often 
as  harmony  seemed  to  be  restored,  it 
was  again  interrupted  by  some  ac- 
cidental seizure,  or  pretended  measure 
of  precaution.  At  last  both  kings,  as 
if  it  had  been  by  mutual  compact, 
signed  orders  for  the  suspension  of 
all  commercial  intercourse  between 
the  two  nations.^ 

From  the  moment  when  Charles 
dismissed  the  queen's  servants,  the 
nuncio  at  Paris  had  not  ceased  to 
inflame  the  resentment  felt  by  Louis 
and  his  mother,  and  to  exhort  them 
to  make  common  cause  with  the  king 
of  Spain  in  revenging  the  insults 
which  had  been  offered  to  both 
crowns.  A  still  more  cogent  motive 
was  supplied  by  the  powerful  arma- 
ment collected  in  the  English  ports. 


1  Charles  had  sent  away  the  Danish  am- 
bassadors well  satisiied,  but  \vtthout  dis- 
covering his  intentions.  "  For,"  he  adds, 
•'  I  think  it  needless,  or  rather  hurtful,  to 
discover  any  main  intent  in  this  business, 
because    divulging  it,  in  my  mind,    must 


of  which  the  command  had  been  re- 
cently given  to  the  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, for  the  purpose,  as  was  givec 
out  in  England,  of  aiding  the  cause 
of  the  Palsgrave,  and  of  chastising 
the  insolence  of  the  Algerines.  But 
these  pretences  obtained  no  credit 
the  only  question  was,  whether  th( 
object  of  the  expedition  might  be  tc 
act  against  Spain,  and  wipe  away  tbt 
disgrace  of  the  late  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt upon  Cadiz;  or  to  act  againsi 
France,  and  light  up  again  the  flame: 
of  reUgious  war  in  the  southerr 
provinces.  Under  this  uncertainty 
Eichelieu  and  Olivarez  listened  U 
the  admonitions  of  the  pontifl",  anc 
a  treaty  of  alliance  was  concluded 
which  provided  that  during  the  cur 
rent  year,  the  Spanish  ships  of  wa; 
should  be  received  in  the  Frencl 
ports,  and  should  in  return  affor( 
protection  to  the  French  navy;  an( 
that  in  the  course  of  the  next  yea 
both  powers  should  unite  their  forces 
and  make  a  descent  on  some  part  o 
the  British  islands.  The  first  par 
was  easily  adjusted,  because  it  offerei 
present  and  reciprocal  benefit ;  th- 
second  was  postponed  to  a  late 
period,  on  account  of  the  distrus 
which  each  cabinet  entertained  of  th 
other.^ 

At  length  Buckingham  sailed.  Hi 
fleet  consisted  of  forty-two  ship 
of  war,  and  thirty-four  transports 
the  land  army  of  seven  regiments  c 
nine  hundred  men  each,  a  squadroi 
of  cavalry,  and  a  numerous  body  c 
French  Protestants.  In  a  few  day 
he  appeared  before  La  Rochelle ;  bu 
the  secrecy  with  which  he  had  veile 
his  destination  marred  his  objec 
The  Eochellois  were  taken  by  sui 
prise.  It  was  in  vain  that  Soubiz 
and  Sir  William  Beecher  argued,  an 


needs  hazard  it."— Hardwicke  Papers, 
18. 

2  Eym.  xviii.  1S8,  222,  259,  802,  825, 
891.     Dumont,  T,  part  ii.  506. 

3  M.S.  Despatches  of  Spada,  15,  26 
19  May. 


I.D.  1627.] 


DESCENT  ON  THE  ISLE  OF  EHE. 


161 


entreated,  and  protested;  the  inha- 
bitants were  alarmed  at  the  sight  of 
so  formidable  an  armament,  and 
feared  that  if  it  were  admitted 
within  the  harbour,  they  should  find 
in  Buckingham  a  master  instead  of 
an  ally.  They  answered  that  they 
could  make  no  demonstration  of  hos- 
tility till  they  had  collected  the  har- 
vest, and  consulted  the  other  churches 
of  the  union. 

During  this  short  negotiation  Buck- 
ingham had  directed  his  attention  to 
the  neighbouring  islands  of  Ehe  and 
Oleron,  the  first  of  which  offered  the 
richer  reward,  the  other  the  more 
easy  conquest.  On  the  return  of  the 
envoys  he  made  his  choice  ;  a  descent 
was  effected  on  the  isle  of  Ehe,  and 
the  enemy  learned  in  a  short  but 
sanguinary  action,  to  respect  the 
courage  of  the  invaders.  The  go- 
vernor Toiras  was  unprepared,  but 
the  English  commander,  whether  it 
was  through  ignorance  or  incapa- 
city, loitered  five  days  on  the  same 
spot,  and  the  Frenchman  improved 
the  delay  to  provision  the  castle  of 
St.  Martin,  his  principal  fortress, 
strongly  situated  on  a  rocky  emi- 
nence at  the  bottom  of  the  bay.  It 
was  resolved  to  besiege  it  in  form; 
trenches  were  dug,  batteries  raised, 
and  a  boom  was  thrown  across  the 
entrance  of  the  harbour.  These  works 
excited  the  disapprobation  and  re- 
monstrance of  Burrough,  a  general 
officer,  who  had  spent  the  better  part 
of  his  life  in  the  wars  of  Flanders ; 
but  his  freedom  was  chastised  with  a 
reprimand  which  silenced  his  more 
obsequious  colleagues  in  the  council. 
Before  the  end  of  the  siege  a  random 
shot  deprived  Burrough  of  life,  and 
liberated  Buckingham  from  the  con- 
trol of  an  able  but  unwelcome  adviser. 
The  news  of  this  unexpected  enter- 
prise created  alarm  and  embarrass- 
ment in  the  States,  in  the   Prince 


Palatine,  and  the  king  of  Denmark. 
They  bitterly  complained  to  Charles 
that  their  hopes  and  resources  were 
extinguished  by  this  unhappy  contest 
between  their  two  most  powerful 
allies ;  nor  would  they  admit  of  the 
validity  of  his  reasonings,  that  honour 
compelled  him  to  take  up  arms  in 
defence  of  the  French  Protestants, 
whose  privileges,  confirmed  to  them 
under  his  mediation,  had  been  re- 
cently infringed.  They  ofiered  their 
good  services  to  restore  the  former 
harmony  between  the  two  crowns; 
he  replied  that,  though  he  should  not 
refuse,  he  would  not  seek  a  recon- 
ciliation. The  ambassadors  of  Den- 
mark hastened  to  Paris  to  sound  the 
disposition  of  the  French  ministry; 
the  Hollanders  deprived  of  their  com- 
missions all  the  English  officers  in  the 
Duteh  service  who  had  joined  the 
expedition.' 

In  the  mean  time  Buckingham  pub- 
lished a  manifesto  in  vindication  of 
his  proceedings.  He  declared  that 
the  king  of  Great  Britain  had  no 
intention  of  conquest;  that  he  had 
taken  up  arms  not  as  a  principal 
in  the  war,  but  as  an  ally  of  the 
churches  of  France.  Charles  had 
mediated  the  peace  between  Louis 
and  his  Protestant  subjects ;  he  had 
guaranteed  to  the  latter  the  faithful 
observance  of  the  articles,  and  the 
grant  of  additional  favours.  Yet  Fort 
Louis,  in  the  vicinity  of  La  Eochelle, 
had  not  been  dismantled;  plots  for 
the  surprise  of  the  town  had  been 
encouraged,  and  a  secret  resolution 
had  been  taken  to  reduce  it  by  open 
force.  In  such  circumstances  the 
king  could  not  sit  a  quiet  spectator 
of  the  ruin  of  his  Protestant  brethren. 
Honour  bound  him  to  vindicate  their 
rights  and  liberties  by  arms;  other- 
wise he  might  have  been  accused  of 
aiding  to  deceive  those  whom  it  was 
his  interest  and  his  duty  to  protect.*-* 


i  Hardwicke   Papers,  ii.  17,   19.    Carle- 
m'a  Letters,  xv. — xix, 

7 


»  Bibliotheca  Eegia,  224—229. 


162 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  ] 


With  this  declaration  in  his  hand, 
a  declaration  of  which  the  grounds 
were  questionable,  the  reasoning  in- 
conclusive, Rohan  visited  the  churches 
in  the  south  of  France.  His  presence 
and  his  harangues  excited  a  general 
enthusiasm  throughout  the  union; 
all  who  refused  to  swear  that  they 
would  live  and  die  with  the  English 
were  pronounced  traitors  to  their 
religion ;  and  Rohan  received  au- 
thority to  raise  forces,  and  to  employ 
them  for  the  benefit  of  the  common 
cause.  The  Rochellois  were  the  last 
who  declared  themselves.  The  me- 
nacing attitude  of  the  army  which 
Richelieu  had  collected  in  their 
neighbourhood  inspired  a  salutary 
terror ;  it  was  with  difficulty  removed 
by  the  combined  assurances  of  Buck- 
ingham and  Rohan ;  and  the  standard 
of  revolt  floated  for  the  last  time  upon 
their  walls.' 

Little  of  interest  occurred  in  the 
isle  of  Rhe  before  the  eleventh  week 
of  the  siege,  when  a  flotilla  of  four- 
teen sail  burst  through  the  boom, 
and  revictualled  the  fortress.  This 
untoward  event  depressed  the  spirits 
of  the  besiegers.  The  colonels  unani- 
mously signed  a  paper,  advising  an 
immediate  retreat;  while  the  deputies 
from  La  Rochelle  conjured  the  duke 
with  tears  not  to  abandon  them  to 
the  vengeance  of  their  sovereign.  He 
■wavered  from  one  project  to  another. 
This  day  he  cannonaded  the  walls;  the 
next  he  dismounted  the  batteries.  He 
received  a  reinforcement  of  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  men ;  the  Rochel- 
lois added  eight  hundred  more ;  a 
general  assault  was  ordered ;  and 
the  failure  of  the  attempt,  with  the 
loss  of  the  assailants,  augmented  the 
despondency  of  the  troops,  and  in- 


1  Supplement  an  Traits  dogmatiqae  et 
liistorique  des  Edits,  507. 

*  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  13—20,  23—51. 
Mercure  Franyois,  liii.  836.  Herbert,  Kx- 
peditio  in  Ream  Insulam.      Isnard,  Arcis 


duced  the  general  to  abandon  t 
enterprise. 

It  was,  however,  no  longer  an  ec 
matter  to  depart.  Marshal  Schoi 
berg,  with  a  numerous  corps,  h 
interposed  between  the  camp  a 
the  place  of  embarkation;  and  t 
army  was  compelled  to  march  ale 
a  narrow  causeway,  which  led  acn 
the  marches  to  the  bridge  connei 
iug  the  small  isle  of  Oie  with  tl 
of  Rhe.  Unfortunately  the  caval: 
which  covered  the  retreat,  was  brok 
by  the  enemy ;  the  confusion  on  t 
causeway  became  irreparable;  andt 
number  of  the  drowned  exceeded  tl: 
of  the  slain.  Buckingham  is  said 
have  lost  one  thousand  two  hundr 
men  and  twenty  pair  of  colours 
that  day.  The  French,  however,  we 
unable  to  force  a  passage  over  t 
bridge,  and  the  remnant  of  the  arc 
embarked  without  molestation.  T 
duke  was  the  last  to  leave  the  beac 
personal  courage  proved  to  be  t 
only  military  qualification  with  t 
absence  of  which  he  was  not  i 
preached  by  his  opponents.^ 

Charles  received  the  unfortunt 
general  with  a  cheerful  countenan 
and  undiminished  affection.  He  h 
even  the  generosity  to  transfer  t 
blame  from  Buckingham  to  himst 
and  to  give  out  that  the  failure  \v 
owing  to  the  want  of  supplies,  whi 
it  was  his  own  duty  to  have  provide 
But  in  a  few  days  he  was  assail 
by  the  complaints  and  entreaties 
the  Rochellois.  At  his  solicitatii 
they  had  risen  in  arms,  he  was  bou: 
in  honour  to  aSbrd  them  prott 
tion;  the  French  army  was  ready 
form  the  siege  of  the  town,  ai 
without  powerful  aid  they  must  l 
come  the  victims  of  their  creduli: 


Sam.  Martinians  Obsidio.  Ellis,  iii.  2 
Strafford  Papers,  i.  41.  Louis  at  the  reqU' 
of  bis  sister  Henrietta,  dismissed  on  tb 
parole  Lord  Mounfjoy,  Colonel  Grej 
the  other  officers  who  bad  been 
Sonera. — Mercure,  xiv.  Nov. 


1^ 


A.D.  1627.] 


A  PARLIAMENT  CALLED. 


163 


Charles  consoled  and  encouraged 
them ;  he  promised  never  to  aban- 
don their  cause  till  the  forts  erected 

i    around  La  Eochelle  were  razed  to 

f  the  ground;  he  bound  himself  by  a 
solemn  instrument  to  enter  into  no 
treaty  to  which  they  were  not  parties, 

,  and  to  accept  of  no  conditions  which 
did  not  secure  to  them  the  enjoyment 

•    of  their  ancient  liberties.' 

I  The  king  now  called  on  his  council 
ito  determine  the  important  question, 
by  what  means  money  might  be  raised 
for  another  expedition,  whether  in 
the  ancient  way,  by  grant  of  parlia- 
ment, or  according  to  the  precedent 
of  the  last  year,  by  \irtue  of  the  pre- 

;  rogative.  From  parliament  Charles 
anticipated  nothing  but  petitions,  re- 
monstrances, and  impeachments;  in  a 
forced  loan  his  advisers  saw  a  strong 

i  provocation  to  resistance  and  rebel- 
lion. He  suffered  himself  to  be  per- 
suaded, and  a  parliament  was  sum- 
moned ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  week 
a  new  plan  obtained  the  royal  appro- 
bation. The  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  thousand  four  hundred 
and  eleven  pounds,  the  charge  for  the 
outfit  of  the  intended  expedition,  was 
apportioned  among  the  several  coun- 
ties ;  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
collect  it  within  the  space  of  three 
weeks ;  and  the  people  were  ad- 
monished that,  if  the  money  were 
dutifully  paid,  the  king  would  meet 
the  parliament ;  if  not,  "  he  would 
think  of  some  more  speedy  way." 
This  attempt  threw  the  whole  nation 
into  a  ferment.  The  expression  of 
the  public  discontent  appalled  the 
boldest  of  the  ministers  ;  and  the 
commission  was  revoked  by  proclama- 
tion, with  a  promise, "  that  the  king 


1  Dumont,  v.  part  ii.  538. 

*  Somers's  Tracts,  iv.  100—104.  Prynne, 
Hidden  Works,  86.  Bib.  Regia,  294.  Rym. 
xriu.  967. 

s  This  sermon  had  been  preached  by  Dr. 
Sibthorpe,  at  the  Lent  assizes  at  North- 
ampton, and  had  for  its  object  to  prove  the 
legality  of  the  forced  loan.     To   give   it 


would  rely  on  the  love  of  his  people 
in  parliament."  Yet  a  fortnight  did 
not  elapse  before  he  imposed  new 
duties  on  merchandise  by  his  own 
authority,  and  then  recalled  them 
on  the  declaration  of  the  judges  that 
they  were  illegal.^  Such  vacillating 
conduct,  the  adoption  and  rejection 
of  such  arbitrary  measures,  served 
only  to  excite  in  the  nation  two 
different  feelings,  both  equally  dan- 
gerous to  the  sovereign, — disaffection 
and  contempt. 

Never  before  had  parliament  assem- 
bled under  auspices  more  favourable 
to  the  cause  of  freedom.  The  sense 
of  the  nation  had  been  loudly  pro- 
claimed by  the  elections,  which  had 
generally  fallen  on  persons  distin- 
guished by  their  recent  opposition  to 
the  court ;  it  was  the  interest  of  the 
Lords  to  co-operate  with  men  who 
sought  the  protection  of  private  pro- 
perty and  personal  liberty;  and  the 
same  necessity  which  had  compelled 
the  king  to  summon  a  parliament, 
placed  him  without  resource  at  the 
mercy  of  his  subjects.  Charles  him- 
self sa,w  the  propriety  of  sacrificing 
his  resentments,  that  he  might  pro- 
pitiate the  pubUc  feeling.  All  the 
gentlemen,  seventy-eight  in  number, 
who,  on  account  of  their  resistance  to 
the  forced  loan,  had  been  put  under  re- 
straint, recovered  their  liberty;  Arch- 
bishop Abbot  (he  lay  under  suspen- 
sion  for  refusing  to  license,  at  the 
king's  command,  a  political  sermon)^ 
was  restored  to  the  exeroise  of  his 
authority ;  and  not  only  Williams, 
whom  Buckingham's  resentment  had 
consigned  to  the  Tower,  but  even 
that  obnoxious  nobleman  the  earl  of 
Bristol,  though  under  an  impeach- 


greater  authority,  it  was  wished  to  have  it 
printed  with  the  license  of  the  metropolitan. 
On  his  refusal,  it  was  licensed  by  Dr.  Laud, 
DOW  made  bishop  of  London,  and  Abbot 
was  suspended  or  sequestered  on  the  9th  of 
October.  See  the  sentence,  with  his  own 
narrative  of  the  proceedings,  in  Rushworth, 
i.  435— 46L 

U  2 


164 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  n 


ment  of  high  treason,  received  per- 
mission to  take  their  seats  in  the 
upper  house.  Yet  the  obstinacy  of 
the  king  was  not  subdued;  though 
he  had  consented  to  make  the  trial 
of  a  new  parliament,  he  was  not  pre- 
pared to  yield  to  its  pretensions ;  and 
his  speech  from  the  throne  was  calcu- 
lated more  to  irritate  than  to  allay 
the  jealousy  of  those  who  trembled 
for  the  liberties  of  their  country.  "  I 
have  called  you  together,"  he  said, 
"judging  a  parUament  to  be  the 
ancient,  speediest,  and  best  way  to 
give  such  supply  as  to  secure  our- 
selves and  save  our  friends  from 
imminent  ruin.  Every  man  must 
now  do  according  to  his  conscience; 
wherefore  if  you  (which  God  forbid) 
should  not  do  your  duties  in  con- 
tributing what  this  state  at  this  time 
needs,  I  must,  in  discharge  of  my 
conscience,  use  those  other  means 
which  God  hath  put  into  my  hands 
to  save  that  which  the  follies  of  other 
men  may  otherwise  hazard  to  lose. 
Take  not  this  as  threatening  (I  scorn 
to  threaten  any  but  my  equals),  but 
as  an  admonition  from  him  that  both 
out  of  nature  and  duty  hath  most 
care  of  your  preservations  and  pros- 
I)erities." ' 

Warned  by  these  words  of  the  tem- 
per of  their  sovereign,  the  leaders  of 
the  country  party  conducted  their 
proceedings  %vith  the  most  consum- 
mate address.  They  advanced  step 
by  step,  first  resolving  to  grant  a 
supply,  then  fixing  it  at  the  tempting 
amount  of  five  subsidies ;  and,  lastly, 
agreeing  that  the  whole  should  be 
paid  within  the  short  space  of  twelve 
months.  But  no  art,  no  entreaty, 
could  prevail  on  them  to  pass  their 
resolution  in  the  shape  of  a  bill.  It 
was  held  out  as  a  lure  to  the  king ; 
it  was  gradually  brought  nearer  and 
nearer  to  his  grasp;  but  they  still 


1  Journals,  687. 

*  Bosbvrortb,  i.  462—466. 


refused  to  surrender  their  hold ;  the;  ' 
required,  as  a  previous  condition,  tha  s 
he  should  give  his  assent  to  thos  < 
liberties  which  they  claimed  as  tb  ■ 
birthright  of  Englishmen. 

In  the  last  year  five  of  the  prisoner  : 
on  account  of  the  loan  had  been,  a 
their  own  request,  brought,  by  wri 
of  habeas  corpus,  before  the  King'  \ 
Bench.  As  the  return,  though  i 
stated  that  they  had  been  committer 
at  the  especial  command  of  the  king 
assigned  no  particular  cause,  thei 
counsel  contended  that  they  ough 
to  be  discharged,  or  at  least  admittet 
to  bail ;  but  the  court  refused  t< 
allow  the  exceptions  taken  in  thei 
favour,  and  remanded  them  to  thei 
respective  prisons.'^  This  subject  wa 
taken  up  in  the  house  of  Commons 
and  the  four  following  resolution: 
were  passed,  without  a  dissenting 
voice,  even  on  the  part  of  tht 
courtiers :— 1.  That  ho  freeman  ough 
to  be  restrained  or  imprisoned,  un 
less  some  lawful  cause  of  such  restrain 
or  imprisonment  be  expressed.  2,  Tha 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ought  to  b< 
granted  to  every  man  imprisoned  o] 
restrained,  though  it  be  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  king  or  of  the  privj 
council,  if  he  pray  for  the  same 
3.  That  when  the  return  expresses 
no  cause  of  commitment  or  restraint 
the  party  ought  to  be  delivered  oi 
bailed.  4.  That  it  is  the  ancient  anc 
undoubted  right  of  every  freeman 
that  he  hath  a  full  and  absolute 
property  in  his  goods  and  estate 
and  that  no  tax,  loan,  or  benevolence 
ought  to  be  levied  by  the  king  or  hi' 
ministers,  without  common  consent 
by  act  of  parliament.^ 

The  power  of  arresting  and  confin- 
ing, without  designment  of  cause  or 
intention  of  trial,  was  an  engine  oi 
such  powerful  efficacy  in  the  hands 
of  government,  that  the  king  deter- 


'  Journals,  April  3 ;  May  8,  26 ;  June  10, 
21. 


I.D.  1628.] 


PETITION  OF  EIGHT. 


165 


mined  not  to  surrender  it  without  a 
truggle;  and  since  it  had  been  fre- 
quently exercised  by  his  predecessors, 
ae  chose  it,  as  the  most  proper  ques- 
tion on  which  he  might  try  his 
trength  in  the  house  of  Lords. 
When  the  resolutions  were  brought 
isefore  them,  the  point  was  argued  by 
the  attorney-general  and  king's  coun- 
el,  on  the  part  of  the  crown,  and  by 
everal  of  the  members  of  the  lower 
tiouse  on  that  of  the  Commons.  The 
controversy  ultimately  resolved  itself 
into  this  question  :  Was  it  requisite, 
in  the  case  of  a  commitment  by  the 
king,  that  the  cause  should  appear 
m  the  face  of  the  warrant?  The 
pleadings  occupied  several  days,  and 
oauch  ingenuity  and  learning  were 
displayed  by  the  contending  advo- 
cates. To  me,  if  a  person  unac- 
luainted  with  the  subtleties  and 
obscurities  of  the  law  may  venture  to 
pronounce  an  opinion,  it  appears  that 
the  weight  of  precedent,  as  well  as  of 
irgument,  lay  in  favour  of  the  reso- 
lutions.' 

It  would  fatigue  the  patience  of  the 
reader  to  detail  the  numerous  expe- 
iients  by  which  Charles,  during  the 
space  of  two  months,  laboured  to  lull 
he  suspicions,  or  exhaust  the  per- 
everance  of  his  opponents.  At  length 
they  solicited  his  assent  to  the  cele- 


1  The  pleadings  occupy  more  than  thirty 
pages  in  the  Journals,  717 — 731,  746 — 763. 
Dne  argument  adduced  in  favour  of  the 
irown  by  the  attorney-general  is  deserving 
)f  notice.  He  told  "the  Lords,  that  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  "  O'Donnel,  an  arch- 
•ebel  in  Ireland,  was  slain,  and  his  sons, 
leing  then  infants,  were  brought  over  to 
England,  committed  to  the  Tower,  and 
ived  there  all  their  lives  after.  Now,"  he 
isks,  "  admit  that  these  were  brought  to 
he  King's  Bench  by  habeas  corpus,  and 
he  cause  returned,  what  cause  could  there 
36  which  would  hold  good  in  law  ?  They 
hemselves  neither  had  done,  nor  could  do, 
my  oiFence.  They  were  brought  over  in 
<heir  infancy ;  yet  would  any  man  say  that 
t  were  safe,  that  it  were  fit,  to  deliver 
mch  persons  ? ''  This  argument  discloses 
in  instance  of  that  cruel  despotism  which 
T»8  occasionally  exercised  by  Elizabeth's 
ninisters:  but  what  will  the  reader  think 


brated  Petition  of  Eight.,  It  began  by 
enumerating  the  following  abuses  of 
the  sovereign  authority:  —  !.  That, 
contrary  to  Magna  Charta  and  several 
other  statutes,  freemen  had  been 
required  to  lend  money  to  the  king, 
and  on  their  refusal  had  been  mo- 
lested with  oaths,  recognizances,  and 
arrests.  2.  That  several  persons  had 
been  committed  to  restraint  by  com- 
mand of  the  king,  and  when  they  were 
brought  before  the  judges  by  writs  of 
habeas  corpus,  had  been  remanded, 
though  no  cause  of  commitment 
were  assigned.  3.  That  in  many 
places  soldiers  had  been  billeted 
in  the  private  houses  of  the  inha- 
bitants, to  their  great  grievance  and 
molestation.  4.  And  that  several  com- 
missions had  been  issued,  empowering 
certain  persons  to  punish,  by  the 
summary  process  of  martial  law,  the 
offences  committed  by  soldiers,  mari- 
ners, and  their  accomplices,  though 
these  offences  ought  to  have  been 
investigated  and  tried  in  the  usual 
courts  of  law.  It  then  prayed,  that 
all  such  proceedings  should  cease, 
and  never  afterwards  be  drawn  into 
precedents,  "as  being  cont»ary  to 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  subject, 
and  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the 
nation."  ^ 
Charles  was  at  a  loss  what  answer 


of  the  unfeeling  bigotry  of  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  who,  in  his  reply  to  the  attorney- 
general,  noticing  this  argument,  says, 
"  O'Donnel's  children  lost  nothing  by  being 
confined  all  their  lives  in  the  Tower.  They 
were  brought  up  Protestants;  had  they 
been  discharged,  they  would  have  been 
Catholics.  Periissent,  nisi  periissent!" — 
Journals,  756,  761. 

2  Commons,  April  28 — June  2.  Lords, 
768 — 835.  At  the  same  time  the  Commons 
prosecuted  Dr.  Manwaring  for  three  poli- 
tical sermons,  two  preached  before  the 
king,  and  the  third  in  the  parish  church  of 
St.  Giles's.  In  these  he  had  represented 
him  not  as  a  limited  but  an  absolute  mon- 
arch. The  Lords  condemned  Manwaring 
to  imprisonment  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
house,  to  a  fine  of  one  thousand  pounds,  to 
make  his  submission  personally  at  the  bars 
of  both  houses,  to  be  suspended  for  three 
years,  and  to  be  deemed  incapable  of  hold- 


166 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  it. 


to  return.  To  refuse  was  to  forfeit 
the  five  subsidies,  and  to  condemn 
himself  to  a  state  of  irremediable 
want ;  and  to  assent  was,in  his  opinion 
to  surrender  his  most  valuable  rights 
—to  throw  away  the  brightest  jewels 
in  his  crown.  He  resolved  to  dis- 
semble ;  and  his  subsequent  conduct 
during  the  session  was  formed  on  a 
studied  plan  of  hypocrisy  and  deceit. 
He  ordered  the  following  answer  to 
be  written  under  the  petition,  in  lieu 
of  the  accustomed  form :  "  The  king 
willeth  that  right  be  done  according 
to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  realm, 
and  the  statutes  be  put  in  due  execu- 
tion ;  that  his  subjects  may  have  no 
cause  to  complain  of  any  wrong  or 
oppression  contrary  to  their  just  rights 
and  liberties,  to  the  preservation 
whereof  he  holds  himself  as  well 
obliged  as  of  his  prerogative." ' 

To  the  patriots,  whose  hopes  had 
been  wound  up  to  the  highest  pitch, 
this  answer,  so  evasive  and  obscure, 
proved  a  cruel  disappointment.  They 
indulged  in  the  most  passionate  in- 
vective. One  saw  in  it  the  hand  of 
God  visibly  chastising  the  sins  of  the 
people ;  ^nother  called  on  the  house 
to  save  the  nation  tottering  on  the 
brink  of  ruin;  a  third  was  on  the 
point  of  naming  a  certain  favourite, 
when  the  speaker,  starting  from  the 
chair,  forbade  him  to  proceed,  because 
the  king  had  commanded  him,  on  his 
allegiance,  to  prevent  such  insinua- 
tions. A  deep  and  mournful  silence 
ensued ;  it  was  broken  by  Sir  Natha- 
niel Rich;  Rich  was  followed  by 
Philips,  Prynne,  and  Coke,  with 
speeches  strongly  expressive  of  their 
feelings,  and  repeatedly  interrupted 
by  their  tears.  The  house  at  length 
ordered  the  doors  to  be  locked,  and  re- 


ing  any  office,  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  or  of 
ever  preaching  again  before  the  court. — 
Journals,  848,  853,  855,  870.  Commons, 
May  il;  June  4,  11,  1-i,  21.  Yet  Charles 
gave  him  an  additional  rectory,  and  seven 
years  later  made  liim  bishop  of  St.  David's. 


solved  itself  into  a  committee,  to  con- 
sult on  the  means  of  saving  the  nation. 
But  the  speaker,  having  obtained  leave 
of  absence,  hastened  to  the  king,  and, 
after  a  conference  of  three  hours, 
returned  with  orders  for  an  imrae- 
drato  adjournment.  Had  he  come  a 
few  minutes  later,  Buckingham  would 
have  been  voted  the  "  grievance  of 
grievances,"  the  chief  cause  of  all 
the  calamities  which  afflicted  the 
kingdom.'^ 

The  next  day  the  debate  was  re- 
sumed; on  the  third  the  house,  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  Lords,  joined  in 
an  address  to  the  king  for  a  more 
explicit  answer  to  their  petition.  The 
danger  of  his  favourite  had  overcome 
his  reluctance.  Taking  his  seat  on 
the  throne,  he  ordered  the  former 
answer  to  be  cut  oflF,  and  the  following 
to  be  subscribed  :  "  Let  right  be  done 
as  is  desired."  "  Now,"  he  added,  "  I 
have  performed  my  part.  If  this 
parliament  have  not  a  happy  conclu- 
sion, the  sin  is  yours.  I  am  free  of 
it."  This  short  speech  was  received 
with  loud  and  grateful  acclamations. 
The  people  partook  of  the  feelings 
of  their  representatives ;  to  the  gloom 
which  had  overspread  the  country 
succeeded  a  delirium  of  joy  and  con- 
gratulation; and  the  two  houses,  to 
testify  their  satisfaction,  hastened  to 
present  to  their  sovereign  the  five 
subsidies  of  the  laity,  and  to  pass  the 
bill  for  five  other  subsidies  granted  by 
the  clergy.^ 

By  moderate  men  it  was  hoped 
that  the  patriot  leaders,  content  with 
this  victory,  would  spare  the  king 
any  additional  mortification.  But 
success  enlarged  their  views  and  in- 
vigorated their  efforts.  After  sevcnJ 
long  debates,  they  presented  to  him  o 


613  —  623.      JounUkb 


1  Journals,  835. 

»  Rushworth,    i 
June  5. 

3  Journals  of  Lords,  843;   of  C 
June  (i.  7,  8,  12, 


;omm^H| 


.D.  1628, 


PARLIAMENT  PROEOGUED. 


167 


emonstrance,  describing  the  evils 
vhich  afflicted,  and  the  dangers  which 
lireat€ned,  the  kingdom.  Religion 
vas  undermined  by  popery  and  Armi- 
lianism;  the  reputation  of  the  coun- 
■••  had  been  tarnished,  and  its  re- 
•es  exhausted  by  a  series  of  unad- 
1  and  inglorious  expeditions ;  the 
iominion  of  the  narrow  seas  was  lost, 
he  shipping  of  the  kingdom  dimi- 
lished,  its  trade  and  commerce  anni- 
lilated.  Of  these  evils,  the  principal 
:ause,  in  their  opinion,  was  the  ex- 
:essive  power  exercised  and  abused 
jy  the  duke  of  Buckingham.  AYhere- 
fore,  they  humbly  submitted  to  the 
:;onsideration  of  his  majesty,  whether 
t  were  consistent  with  his  safety,  or 
the  safety  of  the  realm,  that  the  author 
Df  so  many  calamities  should  continue 
to  hold  office,  or  to  remain  near  his 
•sacred  person.' 

The  country  party  were  fully  aware 
of  the  angry  feehngs  which  such  a 
remonstrance  would  awaken  in  the 
royal  breast ;  but  the  vote  of  tonnage 
and  poundage  had  not  yet  passed; 
and  it  was  supposed  that  Charles 
would  submit  to  any  concession 
rather  than  forfeit  the  most  produc- 
tive branch  of  the  revenue.  They 
soou  learned  their  mistake,  and  hastily 
framed  a  second  address,  to  remind 
him,  that  by  the  petition  of  right  he 
was  precluded  from  levying  duties 
on  merchandise  without  the  previous 
consent  of  parliament.  It  had  just 
been  engrossed,  and  the  clerk  was 
employed  in  reading  it  at  the  table, 
when  at  nine  in  the  morning  they  re- 
ceived a  summons  to  attend  in  the 
other  house. 

Charles  was  seated  on  the  throne. 
Adverting  to  the  purport  of  their 
intended  address,  he  took  occasion  to 
explain  away  all  that  he  had  appeared 
to  concede  in  the  petition  of  right. 
!  '•  Both  houses,"  he  observed,  "  pro- 


1  Rushworth,   i, 
16, 17. 


Journals,  11,  14, 


fessed  that  they  meant  not  to  intrench 
on  my  prerogative.  Therefore,  it 
must  needs  be  conceived,  that  I  have 
granted  no  new,  but  only  confirmed 
the  ancient,  liberties  of  my  subjects. 
Yet  I  do  not  repent,  nor  recede  from 
anything  I  have  promised ;  and  I 
here  declare,  that  those  things  where- 
by men  had  cause  to  suspect  the 
liberty  of  the  subject  to  be  trenched 
upon,  shall  not  hereafter  be  drawn 
into  example  for  your  prejudice.  But, 
as  for  tonnage  and  poundage,  it  is  a 
thing  I  cannot  want,  and  was  never 
intended  by  you  to  ask,  and  never 
meant  (I  am  sure)  by  me  to  grant." 
He  then  gave  the  royal  assent  to  the 
bills  of  subsidy,  and  instantly  pro- 
rogued the  parliament.'-^ 

Thus  ended  this  eventful  session, 
one  of  the  most  memorable  in  our 
history.  The  patriots  may  have  been 
occasionally  intemperate  in  their 
warmth,  and  extravagant  in  their 
predictions;  but  their  labours  have 
entitled  them  to  the  gratitude  of 
posterity.  They  extorted  from  the 
king  the  recognition  of  the  rights 
which  he  had  so  wantonly  violated, 
and  by  depriving  of  force  the  prece- 
dents alleged  in  defence  of  such  vio- 
lation, fixed  on  a  firm  and  permanent 
basis  the  Uberties  of  the  nation.  It  is, 
indeed,  true,  that  these  liberties  were 
subsequently  invaded— that  again  and 
again  they  were  trampled  in  the  dust. 
But  "  the  petition  of  right"  survived, 
to  bear  evidence  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  prerogative.  To  it  the 
people  always  appealed :  to  it  the 
crown  was  ultimately  compelled  to 
submit. 

It  must  not  however  be  forgotten, 
that  these  men,  so  eager  in  the  pursuit 
of  civil,  were  the  fiercest  enemies  of 
religious,  freedom.  "  What  illegal 
proceedings,"  exclaimed  Sir  Robert 
Philips, "  our  estates  and  persons  have 


2  Joiiruals  of  Lords,  879;  of  Commons, 
June  25,  26.    Eusliworth,  i.  610—643. 


16S 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  it 


suffered  under,  my  heart  yearns  to 
think,  my  tongue  falters  to  utter. 
They  have  been  well  represented  by 
divers  worthy  gentlemen  before  me. 
Tet  one  grievance,  and  the  main  one 
as  I  conceive,  hath  not  been  touched, 
which  is  our  religion ;  religion  made 
vendible  by  commission,  and  men 
for  pecuniary  annual  rates  dispensed 
withal,  whereby  papists  may,  without 
fear  of  law,  practise  their  idolatry, 
scoff  at  parhaments,  law  and  all." 
The  result  of  this  and  of  similar 
harangues,  was  a  petition  to  the  king, 
which,  besides  the  accustomed  prayer 
for  the  execution  of  the  penal  laws, 
begged  that  priests  returned  from 
banishment  might  be  put  to  death, 
that  compositions  for  recusancy,  that 
"mystery  of  iniquity  amounting  to  a 
concealed  toleration,"  might  be  abo- 
lished, and  that  "for  the  clear  era- 
dication of  popery,  and  the  raising  up 
of  a  holy  generation,  the  children  of 
recusants  might  be  educated  in  the 
principles  of  Protestantism."  Charles 
returned  a  gracious  answer,  observing, 
that  if  he  had  hitherto  granted  indul- 
gence to  the  Catholics,  it  was  with 
the  hope  that  the  Catholic  pi'mces 
would  extend  similar  indulgence  to 
their  Protestant  subjects;  and  that, 
if  he  did  not  soon  meet  with  such  a 
return,  he  would  even  add  to  the 
severity  of  that  treatment,  which  had 
now  been  recommended  by  the  two 
houses.' 

Before  I  dismiss  the  history  of  this 
session,  it  may  be  proper  to  notice 
two  instances  of  political  apostasy,  of 
that  dereliction  of  principle  for  the 
sake  of  rank  or  office,  which,  since 
this  period,  has  been  so  frequently 
imitated  by  public  men.  In  former 
times  the  crown  disdained  to  pur- 
chase the  services  of  its  opponents : 
it  was  able  to  bear  them  down  to  the 
ground    by  the   sole  weight  of  the 


prerogative.      But    experience    ha 
taught  the  favourite  that  the  tempei 
of  the  times  and  the  power  of  tht 
sovereign  were  changed ;  and,  in  order 
to  break  the  strength  of  his  adver- 
saries, he  sought  to  seduce  the  most 
efficient  members  from  their  ranks 
by  the  lure  of  honours  and  emolu- 
ments.    Sir    John    Savile   and   Sir 
Thomas   Wentworth   were   men  ol 
considerable  property  in  Yorkshire; 
they  had  long  been  rivals,  and  by 
their    influence  divided  the  county 
between  them.     Both  had  tasted  of 
the  royal  favour,  and  both  had  in- 
curred  the   royal   resentment.     At 
the  close  of  the  last  parliament,  Cot- 
tington  had  induced  Savile  to  desert 
his  friends,  and  to  accept  the  rank  of 
privy  councillorj  with  tlje  office  of 
comptroller  of  the  household.   Went- 
worth   had    more   deeply   offended. 
He  had  been    appointed  sheriff,  to 
prevent  his  sitting  in  the  house,  had 
been  deprived  of  the  office  of  custos 
rotulorum,  and  had  been  imprisoned 
for  his  refusal  to  subscribe  to  the 
loan.    Yet   his   patriotism  was   not 
proof  against  the  smile  of  the  sove- 
reign.   He  solicited  a  reconciliation 
with  Buckingham,  and  soon  after  the 
prorogation  it  was  effected,  through 
the  agency  of  Sir  Richard  Weston. 
On   one   day  Savile  ^^as   created  a 
baron,  on  the  next  Wentworth  was 
raised  to  the  same  dignity ;  but  the 
abilities  or  flattery  of  the  latter  gave 
him  the  victory  over  his  competitor ; 
and  by  the  end  of  the  year  he  ob- 
tained, with  the  rank  of  viscount,  the 
office  of  lord  president  of  the  north."-' 

The  contestations  in  which  Charles 
was  engaged  with  his  parliament  did 
not  render  him  unmindful  of  the 
danger  of  La  Rochelle.  The  French 
minister  had  resolved  to  reduce  a 
race  of  men,  who  for  half  a  century 
had  braved  the  authority  of  the  sove- 


Jouruala.  713.  714..  Jtush.  i.  210—212. 


»  Eym,  lix.    34,   35.     Strafford  Papers, 
A£p.  430. 


D.  1628.]         ASSASSINATION  OF  BUCKINGHAM. 


ngn;  and  for  this  purpose  he  had 
)llected  all  the  power  of  France  to 
3ar  at  once  upon  the  devoted  town. 
,ouis  himself,  and  during  the  absence 
*  LouLs,  Eichelieu,  commanded  the 
ege.  Two  armies  were  employed 
)  cut  off  all  communication  with  the 
'rotestants  of  the  interior,  and  a 
lole,  of  stupendous  magnitude,  which 
aily  advanced  from  the  opposite  sides 
iwards  the  middle  of  the  harbour, 
ireatened  in  a  short  time  to  exclude 
le  expected  succours  from  England, 
'he  Rochellois  importuned  the  king 
rith  representations  of  their  present 
lisery,  and  predictions  of  their  ap- 
roaching  ruin ;  shame  and  pity  urged 
im  not  to  abandon  those  who  had 
recipitated  themselves  into  danger 
hrough  confidence  in  his  promises ; 
nd  the  earl  of  Denbigh,  with  a  nume- 
ous  fleet,  sailed  from  Plymouth  to 
heir  relief.  The  merit  of  Denbigh 
onsisted  in  his  marriage  with  a  sister 
f  the  favourite;  perhaps  he  only 
leld  the  command  till  the  proroga- 
ion  would  allow  it  to  be  assumed  by 
Buckingham;  at  least  he  attempted 
lothing,  but  having  remained  seven 
lays  in  presence  of  the  enemy,  re- 
urned  to  England.. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  Buck- 
ngham  had  been  pronounced  the 
•ause  of  the  national  calamities  in 
he  house  of  Commons,  Dr.  Lamb, 
lis  physician  and  dependant,  was 
nurdered  by  a  mob  in  the  streets  of 
London.  Soon  afterwards  a  placard 
.vas  affixed  to  the  walls,  in  these 
Aords :  "  Who  rules  the  kingdom  ?— 
rhe  king.  AVho  rules  the  king?— 
rhe  duke.  Who  rules  the  duke? — 
rhe  devil.    Let  the  duke  look  to  it, 


or  he  will  be  served  as  his  doctor  was 
served."  He  had  too  much  spirit  to 
notice  such  a  menace.  The  fleet  was 
victualled  and  reinforced;  a  more 
numerous  body  of  troops  embarked ; 
and  Buckingham  hastened  to  take 
the  command.* 

But,  notwithstanding  these  prepa- 
rations, his  object  was  not  to  fight, 
but  to  negotiate.  The  continental 
allies  of  the  two  sovereigns  viewed 
with  real  concern  the  prolongation  of 
a  contest,  which  served  to  no  other 
purpose  than  to  confirm  the  Austrian 
ascendancy  in  the  empire.  The  task 
of  commencing  a  reconciliation  was 
intrusted  to  the  Venetian  ambas- 
sadors at  the  two  courts.  They  found 
each  monarch  willing  to  admit,  but 
too  proud  to  propose,  an  accommo- 
dation. Expedients  were  suggested 
to  meet  the  difficulty:  Charles  and 
the  duke  held  repeated  conferences 
with  the  ambassador ;  and  it  was 
agreed  that  Buckingham  should  sail 
with  the  expedition  to  La  Rochelle, 
that  he  should  open  a  correspond- 
ence on  some  irrelevant  subject  with 
Richelieu ;  and  that  this  should  lead, 
by  accident  as  it  were,  to  a  public 
treaty.  His  instructions  were  drawn 
and  delivered  to  secretary  Carleton, 
who  arrived  with  them  at  Ports- 
mouth, just  in  time  to  witness  his 
assassination.  2 

In  the  morning,  after  a  sharp 
debate  with  some  of  the  French  re- 
fugees, the  duke  left  his  dressing-room 
to  proceed  to  his  carriage.  He  had 
entered  the  hall,  when  Colonel  Friar 
whispered  in  his  ear.  He  turned  to 
listen,  and  at  the  moment  received 
a  wound  in  the  left  breast  from  a 


1  Ellis,  iii.  252.  Kennet,  iii.  45.  Rush- 
B-orth,  i.  630. 

*  Carleton's  Letters,  ixi.  I  may  here 
mention  a  most  sinjiular  treaty  recently 
soncluded  between  Buckingham  and  the 
kin^  of  Sweden.  When  the  duke  was  in 
Spun,  he  had  received,  from  a  discontented 
Spanish  secretary,  a  plan  to  seize  the  island 
of  Jamaica,  and  to  discover  certain  gold- 


mines in  the  mountains,  and  on  the  Ame- 
rican continent.  Gustavus  Adolphus  bound 
himself  to  support  Buckingham  in  his  con- 
quest, and  to  acknowledge  him  for  an  inde- 
pendent prince,  on  condition  that  he  and 
his  heirs  for  ever  should  pay  to  the  kings  of 
Sweden  one-tenth  part  of  the  produce  of 
the  mines.  Signed  March  8,  1628.— Cla- 
rendon Papers,  i.  18. 


170 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  it 


knife,  which  was  left  sticking  in  his 
heart.  Exclaiming  the  word  "vil- 
lain," he  plucked  it  out,  staggered 
backwards  a  few  steps,  and,  falling 
against  a  table,  was  caught  in  the 
arms  of  his  attendants.  They  thought 
it  had  been  a  stroke  of  apoplexy,  but 
the  blood  which  gushed  from  his 
mouth  and  from  the  wound  con- 
vinced them  of  their  mistake.  The 
noise  vvas  heard  by  the  duchess  in 
her  bedchamber.  With  his  sister, 
the  countess  of  Anglesea,.  she  ran  into 
the  gallery,  and  saw  her  lord  below, 
weltering  in  his  blood. 

In  the  confusion  which  followed, 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  French 
gentlemen  escaped  the  vengeance  of 
those  who  suspected  them  of  the 
murder.  The  real  assassin  slunk 
away  to  the  kitchen,  where  he  might 
have  remained  unnoticed  in  the 
crowd,  had  he  not  on  a  sudden  alarm 
drawn  his .  sword  and  exclaimed,  "  I 
am  the  man."  He  would  have  met  with 
the  death  which  he  sought,  had  not 
Carleton  and  Marten  saved  his  life, 
that  they  might  inquire  into  his 
motives  and  discover  his  accomplices. 
About  his  person  was  found  a  paper, 
on  which  he  had  written,  "  That  man 
is  Cowardly  base  and  deserveth  not  the 
name  of  a  gentleman  or  Souldier  that 
is  not  willinge  to  sacrifice  his  life  for 
the  honor  of  his  God  his  Kinge  and  his 
Countrie.  Lett  noe  man  commend 
me  for  doeinge  of  it,  but  rather  dis- 
commend themselves,  as  the  cause  of 
it,  for  if  God  had  not  taken  or  harts 
for  or  sinnes,  he  would  not  haue  gone 
so  long  vnpunished. 
Jo  felton." 

He  said  that  his  name  was  Felton  ; 
that  he  was  a  Protestant;   that  he 


had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  armj 
but  had  retired  from  the  service,  be 
cause  on  two  occasions  junior  officer 
had  been  advanced  over  his  head 
and  the  sum  of  eighty  pounds,  th 
arrears  of  his  pay,  had  been  withheld 
and  that  the  remonstrance  of  th 
house  of  Commons  had  convince' 
him,  that  to  deprive  Buckingham  c 
life,  as  the  cause  of  the  national  cala 
mities,  was  to  serve  God,  the  kin^ 
and  the  country.  "VYhen  he  was  tol 
that  the  duke  still  lived,  he  answerec 
with  a  sarcastic  smile,  that  it  coul 
not  be,  the  wound  was  mortal;  t 
those  who  reproached  him  with  th 
guilt  of  murder,  he  replied,  that  "ii 
his  soul  and  conscience  he  believe' 
the  remonstrance  to  be  a  sufficien 
warrant  for  his  conduct ;"  and,  bein; 
asked  who  were  his  instigators  ani 
accomplices,  he  exclaimed  that  th 
merit  and  the  glory  were  exclusivel; 
his  own.  He  had  travelled  sevent; 
miles  to  do  the  deed,  and  by  it  h 
had  saved  his  country.  OtherwLs 
he  felt  no  enmity  to  the  duke.  Evei 
as  he  struck  he  had  prayed  "Ma; 
God  have  mercy  on  thy  soul." ' 

Thus  perished,  at  the  early  age  c 
six-and-thirty,  George  Villiers,  duk 
of  Buckingham,  lord  high  treasure 
of  England.  That,  in  addition  to  ; 
graceful  person,  he  possessed  man; 
fascinating  qualities,  is  evident  fron 
the  hold  which  he  retained  on  th 
affections  of  two  succeeding  mon 
archs,  whose  partiality  was  neve 
satisfied  with  heaping  upon  bin 
wealth,  and  offices,  and  honours.  Bu 
his  abihties  were  not  equal  to  hi 
fortune;  nor  had  he  the  wisdom  t< 
supply  the  deficiency  by  the  aid  o 
an  able  and  disinterested  counsellor 


1  We  have  several  accounts  of  the  duke's 
assassination  by  his  contemporaries. — See 
Clarendon,  i.  27 ;  Howell's  Letters,  203  ; 
"Wotton's  Reliquiae,  112.  I  have  preferred 
that  by  secretary  Carleton,  who  was  pre- 
sent. It  has  been  lately  published  by  Mr. 
Ellis,  in  his  valuable  collection  of  original 
letters,  ill.  256—260.    For  the  correct  copy 


of  Felton's  paper  T  am  indebted  to  Mr 
Upcott,  of  the  London  Institution,  whosi 
valuable  collection  contains  the  origina 
document.  At  the  foot  of  it  is  written,  ii 
another  hand,  but  evidently  at  the  ven 
time,  "  A  note  found  about  fielton  when  ht 
killed  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  23rd 
1833." 


23rd  i|L. 

m 


D.  i62&3 


EXECUTION  or  EELTON. 


171 


-oud  of  the  attachment  of  his  sove- 
igu,  he  scorned  to  seek  a  friend 
long  his  equals;  and  the  advisers 
tiom  he  met  at  the  council-board  and 
his  closet  were  his  own  dependants, 
en   who,  as  they  existed   by  the 
lile,   were   careful    to   flatter   the 
price  of  their  patron.    Hence  he 
;rsevered  in  the  same  course  to  the 
id,  urging  the  king  to  trample  on 
le  liberties,  braving  himself  the  in- 
gnation,  of  the  people.    But  he  had 
ready  passed  the  meridian  of  his 
•eatness  ;  the  Commons   had    pro- 
3unced  him  the  bane  of  his  coun- 
•y;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
Dwer  of  Charles  could  have  screened 
im  from  the  keen  pursuit  of  his  ene- 
des.    If  he  had  escaped  the  knife  of 
le  assassin,  he  would  perhaps  have 
.Hen  by  the  axe  of  the  executioner. 
The   king,  w^ho   lay  at   a  private 
ouse  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ports- 
louth,  received  the  announcement 
f  this  tragic  event  with  a  serenity 
f  countenance  which,  in  those  who 
'ere  unacquainted  with  his  character, 
xcited  a  suspicion  that  he  was  not 
jrry  to  be  freed  from  a  minister  so 
ateful  to  the  majority  of  the  nation. 
Jut  Charles  lamented  his  murdered 
ivourite  with  real  affection.    If  he 
aastered  his  feelings  in  public,  he 
adulged  them  with  greater  freedom 
n  private ;  he  carefully  marked  and 
•emembered  the  conduct  of  all  around 
lim;  he  took  the  widow  and  children 
)f  Buckingham  under  his  special  pro- 
jection ;  he  paid  his  debts,  amounting 
,0   sixty -one   thousand   pounds ;  he 
;tyled  him  the  martyr  of  his  sove- 
reign, and  ordered  his   remains  to 
be   deposited    among   the    ashes  of 
the  illustrious  dead  in  Westminster 
Abbey.' 
The  assassin,  though  repeatedly  in- 


1  Clarendon,  i.  30.  Ellis,  259.  His  body, 
to  prevent  insult,  was  buried  privately  in 
"Westminster  Abbey,  on  September  17th. 
The  next  night,  at  ten,  an  empty  coffin  was 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  six  men  from 
Wallingford  House  to  the  church,  and  fol- 


terrogated,  persisted  in  his  former 
story,  that  he  had  no  associate,  that 
patriotism  had  guided  his  arm,  and 
that  religion  sanctioned  the  stroke. 
When  the  earl  of  Dorset  threatened 
him  with  the  torture,  "  I  am  ready," 
he  replied;  "yet  I  must  tell  you,  by 
the  way,  that  I  will  then  accuse  you, 
my  lord  of  Dorset,  and  no  one  but 
yourself."  Charles  was  desirous  that 
he  should  be  put  on  the  rack,  but  the 
late  proceedings  in  parliament  had 
taught  the  judges  a  salutary  lesson, 
and  they  unanimously  replied  that 
torture  was  not  justifiable,  according 
to  the  law  of  England.  At  the  bar 
Eelton  pleaded  guilty ;  and  stretching 
out  his  arm,  exclaimed,  "  This  is  the- 
instrument  which  did  the  fact— this 
I  desire  may  be  cut  off  before  I 
suffer."  He  was  told  by  the  court 
that  he  should  have  the  law,  and 
must  be  satisfied.  He  underwent 
the  usual  punishment  of  murder, 
confessing  his  delusion,  and  condemn- 
ing his  offence.^ 

The  king  did  not  allow  his  grief  for 
the  death  of  Buckingham  to  with- 
draw his  attention  from  the  danger  of 
La  Eochelle.  The  command  was 
given  to  the  earl  of  Lindsey,  and  with 
him  sailed  Walter  Montague,  on  a 
secret  mission  to  the  king  of  Erance. 
Eor  five  days  the  fleet  manoeuvred 
in  front  of  the  port,  and,  after  two 
ineffectual  attempts  to  force  an  en- 
trance, returned  to  Spithead.  Mon- 
tague had  landed,  was  introduced  to 
Louis,  hastened  back  to  London,  and 
was  preparing  to  return,  when  La 
Bochelle  surrendered  at  discretion. 
To  the  Erench  monarch  the  reduc- 
tion of  this  town  was  a  glorious  and 
beneficial  achievement ;  it  put  an  end 
to  that  kind  of  independent  republic 
which  the  professors  of  the  reformed 


lowed  by  one  hundred  mourners.  The 
whole  way  was  lined  by  the  trained  bands. 
—Ellis,  2U,  265. 

2  Rush.  i.  651,  2, 3.   Howell's  State  Trials, 
ii.  367.    EUis,  266,  267,  278—282. 


172 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  l\ 


creed  had  erected  in  the  heart  of 
Prance,  and  enabled  him  to  consoli- 
date his  extensive  dominions  into  one 
powerful  empire.  To  the  king  of 
England  it  furnished  a  source  of 
regret  and  self-accusation.  If  one  of 
the  strongest  bulwarks  of  the  Pro- 
testant interest  had  fallen,  his  was 
the  blame,  on  him  would  rest  the 
disgrace.' 

The  nation  had  scarcely  recovered 
from  this  shock  when  the  parliament 
re-assembled.  The  king,  by  message, 
ordered  the  Commons  to  take  the  bill 
for  tonnage  and  poundage  into  imme- 
diate consideration ;  but  the  patriots 
demanded  the  precedence  for  griev- 
ances—the saints  for  religion.  The 
last  succeeded;  and  it  was  resolved 
that  the  "  business  of  the  king  of  this 
earth  should  give  place  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  King  of  heaven." 

In  rehgion,  danger  was  appre- 
hended from  two  sources,  popery 
and  Arminianism.  Of  the  growth 
of  popery  an  alarming  instance  had 
recently  appeared.  Out  of  ten  indi- 
viduals arraigned  on  the  charge  of 
having  received  orders  in  the  church 
of  Home,  only  one  had  been  con- 
demned, and  even  his  execution  had 
been  respited.  Two  committees  were 
appointed;  one  to  inquire  on  what 
grounds  the  judges  had  refused  to 
accept  a  portion  of  the  evidence  ten- 
dered at  the  trial,  another  to  interro- 
gate the  attorney-general  by  whose 
authority  he  had  discharged  the  per- 
sons acquitted,  on  producing  bail  for 
their  future  appearance.  It  was  or- 
dered in  addition,  that  each  member 
should  communicate  to  the  house 
every  fact  which  had  come  to  his 
knowledge  respecting  attempts  or 
warrants  to  stay  the  execution  of  the 
laws  against  priests  or  recusants  in 
the  country. 


1  Mercure  Fran9oi8,  liv.  676.  Eush.  i. 
647.  Ellis,  iii.  274.  The  Montague  here 
mentioned  was  Walter,  second  son  of  the  earl 
of  Manchester.  He  afterwards  embraced  the 
Catholic  religion,  was  made  commendatory 


But  Arminianism,  the   spawn  c 
popery  as  it  was  termed,  had  becom 
a    subject   of    greater    alarm  thai 
popery  itself.     It  was  observed  tha 
Arminian    prelates    frequented   th 
court;  that  the  royal  favour  shon 
exclusively  on  Arminian  clergymen 
and  that  Montague,  obnoxious  as  h 
was  on  account  of  the  Arminian  ten 
dency  of  his  works,  had  been  raisei 
to  the  bishopric  of  Chichester.     Ii 
addition,  Charles,  as  supreme  governo 
of  the  church,  had  lately  published  ai   ^ 
authorized  edition  of  the  articles,  con 
taining    the    much-disputed   clause 
"  the  church  hath  power  to  decre 
rites  and  ceremonies,   and  hath  au 
thority  in  matters  of  faith ;"  and  h( 
had  ordered  that  no  doctrine  shoul( 
be  taught  that  differed  from  thost 
articles;   that   all   controversies   re 
specting  outward  policy   should  b 
decided  by  the  convocation,  and  tha 
no  man  should  presume  to  explau 
the    article    respecting  justificatioi 
contrary  to  its  obvious  meaning,  or  t( 
take  it  in  any  other  than  the  litera 
and  grammatical  sense.^    Against  thi 
declaration  Sir  John  Elliot  protestec 
in  the  most   enthusiastic  language 
It  was  an  attempt   to   enslave  th( 
consciences  of  the  people,  to  mak( 
men  dependent  for  their  belief  anc 
worship  on  the  pleasure  of  the  kin^ 
and  the  clergy.     He  called  on  th( 
house  to  record  its  dissent ;  and  at  his 
persuasion  an  entry,  styled  "  a  vow,' 
was  made  on  the  journals,  that  the 
Commons  of  England  "  claimed,  pro- 
fessed, and   avowed  for  truth,  that 
sense  of  the  articles  of  religion  which 
were  established  in  parliaulent  in  the 
thirteenth  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
which,   by  the   public   acts   of  the 
church  of  England,  and  by  the  gene- 
ral  and   current   exposition  of  the 
writers    of   that    church,  had  been 


abbot  of  Pontoise,  and  a  member  of  the 
council  to  the  queen  regent,  Anne  of  Austria. 
He  attended  her  at  her  death. 

«  Bibliotheca  Eegia,  213. 


.D.  1629.]  TUMULTS  IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE. 


173 


eclared  unto  them,  and  that  they 

3jected   the   sense   of  the   Jesuits, 

.rminians,  and  of  all  others,  wherein 

ley  differed  from  it." '    It  is  plain 

lat  the  language  of  this  "  vow  "  left 

le  sense  of  the  articles  just  as  doubt- 

il  as  it  was  before. 

While  the  zealots  laboured  to  in- 

arae  the  religious  prejudices  of  their 

.  Dlleagues,  the  patriots  solicited  the 

ttention  of  the  house  to  the  petition 

f  right.     The   king's  printers  had 

repared   for   sale    fifteen   hundred 

)pies  of  that  important  document; 

ut  Charles  ordered  them  to  be  de- 

;royed,  and  substituted  another  edi- 

on,  in  which  the  royal  assent  was 

•  ippressed,  the  evasive  answer,  which 

',  e  had  been  compelled  to  cancel,  was 

'  reserved,  and  the  sophistical  expla- 

ation  which  he  had  given  at  the 

i  ose  of  the  last  session  was  intro- 

uced.    What  could  prevail  on  the 

ing  to  employ  an  artifice  so   un- 

orthy  of  an  honest  man,  and  yet  so 

isy  of  detection,  is  uncertain.     It 

randed  his  character  with  the  stigma 

r  duplicity :  it  taught  his  subjects  to 

istrust  his  word,  even  in  his  legis- 

tive  capacity.     The  orators  in  the 

ommons  fearlessly  expressed  their 

idignation ;  and  Charles  himself,  re- 

jnting  of  his  folly,  sought  an  oppor- 

mity  of  appeasing  the  storm  which 

is  imprudence  had  raised.     "  The 

)mplaint,"  he  observed,  "  of  staying 

en's  goods  for  tonnage  and  poundage 

ay  have  a  short  and  easy  conclusion, 

y  passing  the  bill,  as  my  ancestors 

ive  had  it,  my  past  actions  will  be 

included,  and  my  future  proceedings 

ithorized,    I  take  not  these  duties 

appertaining  to  my  hereditary  pre- 

igative.    It  ever  was,  and  still  is,  my 

eaning,  by  the  gift  of  my  subjects  to 

ijoy  the  same.    In  my  speech  at  the 

id  of  last  session  I  did  not  challenge 


1  Journals,  Jan.  29.  The  13th  of  Eliza- 
th  was  selected  for  this  reason  :  the  legis- 
ture  had  ordered  the  clergy  to  subscribe 
e    articles,    and  to   read    them   in  the 


them  as  of  right,  but  showed  you  the 
necessity  by  which  I  was  to  take 
them,  till  you  had  granted  them, 
assuring  myself  that  you  wanted  only 
time,  and  not  good  will.  So  make 
good  your  professions,  and  put  an 
end  to  all  questions  arising  from  the 
subject,"  This  concihating  speech 
extorted  a  passing  murmur  of  ap- 
plause. 

But  the  patriots  had  formed  their 
resolution,  and  adhered  to  it  with  the 
most  inflexible  pertinacity.  They  did 
not,  indeed,  refuse  to  vote  the  duties, 
but  they  required,  as  a  previous  con- 
dition, reparation  to  the  merchants, 
whose  goods  had  been  attached  by  the 
officers  of  the  customs.  With  this 
view,  they  sent  a  message  to  the 
chancellor  and  the  barons  of  the 
Exchequer,  who,  to  excuse  the  judg- 
ments which  they  had  given,  replied, 
that  the  parties  aggrieved  were  not 
barred  from  their  remedy  by  due 
course  of  law.  For  the  same  purpose, 
they  summoned  before  them  the 
farmers  of  the  customs ;  but  secretary 
Coke  declared  that  the  king  would 
not  separate  the  obedience  of  his 
servants  from  his  own  acts,  nor  suffer 
them  to  be  punished  for  executing  his 
commands.  At  these  words  loud  cries 
were  heard  from  the  leaders  of  the 
opposition,  and  the  house  immediately 
adjourned. 

At  the  next  meeting.  Sir  John 
Elliot  commenced  a  most  passionate 
invective  against  the  whole  system  of 
government,  but  was  interrupted  by 
the  speaker,  who  informed  the  house 
that  he  had  received  an  order  of 
adjournment  from  the  king.  It  was 
replied,  that  by  delivering  tbe  message 
he  had  performed  his  duty;  and  he 
was  now  called  upon  to  put  to  the 
vote  a  remonstrance  against  the  levy 
of  tonnage  and  poundage  without  the 


churches,  and  yet  neither  the  English  nor 
the  Latin  edition  of  that  year  contained  the 
clause  respecting  the  authority  of  the 
church. 


174 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  I 


consent  of  parliament.  He  refused, 
and  rose  to  depart ;  but  was  forcibly 
held  back  by  Holies  and  Valentine, 
two  members,  who  had  purposely 
placed  themselves  on  each  side  of  the 
chair.  He  made  a  second  attempt; 
the  court  party  hastened  to  his  aid ; 
their  opponents  resisted ;  blows  were 
exchanged,  the  doors  locked,  and  the 
speaker,  notwithstanding  his  tears, 
struggles,  and  entreaties,  was  com- 
pelled to  remain  sitting.  Elliot  re- 
sumed his  harangue,  and  was  followed 
by  Holies,  who  pronounced,  for  the 
approbation  of  the  house,  the  following 
protest:  "1.  Whosoever  shall  seek 
to  bring  in  popery,  Arminianism,  or 
other  opinions  disagreeing  from  the 
true  and  orthodox  church,  shall  be 
reputed  a  capital  enemy  to  this  king- 
dom and  commonwealth.  2.  Whoso- 
ever shall  advise  the  taking  of  tonnage 
and  poundage,  not  being  granted  by 
parliament,  or  shall  be  an  actor  or 
instrument  therein,  shall  be  reputed 
a  capital  enemy  to  this  kingdom  and 
government.  3.  Whatever  merchant 
or  other  person  shall  pay  tonnage  and 
poundage,  not  being  granted  by  par- 
liament, shall  be  reputed  a  betrayer 
of  the  Uberties  of  England,  and  an 
enemy  to  the  same." 

During  this  extraordinary  proceed- 
ing the  king  had  come  to  the  house  of 
Lords.  He  sent  for  the  serjeant-at- 
arms,  who  was  not  permitted  to  obey ; 
he  then  ordered  the  usher  of  the 
black  rod  to  deliver  a  message  from 
Jiis  own  mouth ;  but  that  officer  re- 
:turned  without  obtaining  admission ; 
at  last  he  commanded  the  captain  of 
the  guard  to  break  open  the  door; 
but  at  the  very  moment  the  Commons 
adjourned  to  the  10th  of  March, 
according  to  a  message  previously 
delivered  by  the  speaker.  On  that 
day  the  king  proceeded  to  the  house 
of  Lords,  and  without   sending  for 


^  For  all  the  particulars,  see  the  Journals 
of  both  houses;  Bushworth,  i.  655—672; 
Whitelock,  12,  13. 


the  Commons,  dissolved  the  parh 
ment.^ 

This  conduct  of  the  lower  hou 
provoked  a  most  bitter  controver 
between  its  partisans  and  those  oft! 
crown.    The  first  contended  that  t 
king  possessed  no  right  to  interfe 
with  the  office  of  the  speaker,  or 
prevent  him  from  putting  any  qu< 
tion  from  the  chair  ;  the  others,  tl 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  house  to  si 
pend  ^1  proceedings  the  moment  tb 
the  order  of  adjournment  was  receiv 
from  the  soverei  gn.    It  was  a  questi 
which  had  never  been  determined 
authority ;  for,  though  the  Commc 
had  of  late  years  challenged  an  < 
elusive  right  to  adjourn  themselv 
they  had  been  careful  not  to  bri 
their  claim  into  collision  with  that 
the  crown.    By  Charles  himself  th 
disobedience  was  considered  as  lit 
short  of  treason ;  and  he  pronoun( 
it  the  result  of  a  conspiracy  to  re? 
his  lawful  commands.    By  his  ord 
the   most  violent  of  the  oppositi 
members  were  singled  out  for  puni 
ment,  previously  to  the  dissolutic 
and  Elliot,  Selden,  Holies,  Hok  i 
Hayman,  Coriton,  Long,  Valenti  i 
and  Stroud,  after  a  hasty  examinat:  ■ 
before  the  council,  were  commit' 
some  to  the  Tower,  others  to  ditil 
prisons.    At  their  request  they  \. 
brought  up  by  writ  of  habeas  coi-] 
and  demanded,   in  conformity  ^^ 
the  petition  of  right,  to  be  discha 
or  admitted  to  bail.     The  case 
solemnly  argued ;  and  the  court  m  4 
have   acceded  to  the  prayer  of     I 
prisoners,  had   not  Charles,  on 
evening  before  judgment  was  to 
pronounced,  by  a  most  unwarranta  i 
interference  with  the  course  of  just  i 
placed  them  all  under  the  cust<  i 
of  the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  1  ( 
forbidden  him    to  present  them 
court.*    It  was  now  necessary  to  ti  1 


^  This  now  became  a  common  p: 
with    respect    to   men    committed 
council.    "  When  they)  brought  their 


A.D.  1629.] 


THE  MINISTEES. 


175 


till  the  next  term ;  and  in  the  interval 
his  anger  had  leisure  to  cool.  He 
listened  to  the 'representations  of  the 
judges ;  and  the  nine  prisoners  had 
notice  that  they  might  be  bailed,  on 
giving  security  for  their  good  be- 
haviour. To  this  they  resolutely 
objected.  It  implied  a  previous 
offence ;  it  amounted  to  a  confession 
of  guilt.  In  consequence  of  this 
obstinacy,  ihe  attorney-general  filed 
a  criminal  information  against  Elliot, 
Holies,  and  Valentine ;  they  refused 
to  plead,  on  the  ground  that  the 
court  of  King's  Bench  had  no  right 
to  sit  in  judgment  on  their  conduct  in 
parliament.  But  the  objection  was 
overruled,  with  the  aid  of  this  pitiful 
distinction,  that  the  privilege  of  par- 
liament will  only  cover  parliamentary 
behaviour;  where  the  behaviour  is 
extra-parliamentary,  it  is  liable  to 
lOensure  extra  parliamentum.  The 
iKOUsed  persisted  in  declining  the  au- 
Mfcority  of  the  court,  and  judgment 
'Was  given,  that  all  three  should  be 
imprisoned  during  the  royal  pleasure ; 
that  before  their  discharge  they  should 
make  their  submission ;  and  that  they 
dwuld  pay  fines  to  the  king,  Elliot  in 
tmo  thousand  pounds,  Holies  in  one 
tiliousand  marks,  and  Valentine  in 
five  hundred  pounds.* 

The  unfortunate  result  of  this  last 
OTperiment  had  fixed  the  determina- 
tion of  Charles.  If  his  opponents 
charged  him,  his  ministers  and  judges, 
with  a  design  to  trample  under  foot  the 
liberties  of  the  people,  he  was  as  firmly 
convinced  that  they  had  conspired 
to  despoil  him  of  the  rightful  prero- 
gatives of  the  crown.  It  was  in  par- 
liament alone  that  they  could  hope  to 
succeed;  and  he  resolved  to  extinguish 


BOrptifl,  they  were  removed  from  pursuivant 
to  pursuivant,  and  could  have  no  benefit  of 
Om  law."— Whitelock,  1-4. 

1  Kushworth,  674—680,  689—701.  White- 
look,  14.  Elliot,  who  had  previously  settled 
tHilaa  property  on  his  son,  was  confined  in 
tfce  Tower  :  his  petitions  for  enlargement, 
on  the  ground  of  indisposition,  were  re- 


that  hope,  by  governing  for  the  future 
without  the  intervention  of  parlia- 
ment. Nor  did  he  make  any  secret 
of  his  intention.  He  announced  it 
by  proclamation :  "  We  have  showed," 
he  said,  "by  our  frequent  meeting 
our  people,  our  love  to  the  use  of  par- 
liaments :  yet,  the  late  abuse  having 
for  the  present  driven  us  unwillingly 
out  of  that  course,  we  shall  account  it 
-presumption  for  any  to  prescribe  any 
time  unto  us  for  parliaments,  the 
calling,  continuing,  and  dissolving  of 
which  is  always  in  our  power,  and 
shall  be  more  inclinable  to  meet  in 
parliament  again,  when  our  people 
shall  see  more  clearly  into  our  in- 
terests and  actions.2 

The  king  had  now  no  favourite,  in 
the  established  acceptation  of  the 
word.  He  retained,  indeed,  the  coun- 
sellors whom  Buckingham  had  placed 
around  him  ;  but,  though  he  listened 
to  their  advice,  he  was  careful  to  de- 
termine for  himself.  To  strengthen 
the  administration,  he  had  recourse 
to  the  policy  which  had  already  with- 
drawn Savile  and  Wentworth  from 
the  ranks  of  the  opposition,  and  re- 
solved to  tempt  with  the  offer  of  favour 
and  oflBce  the  most  formidable  of  his 
adversaries  in  the  last  parliament. 
The  patriotism  of  Sir  Dudley  Digges, 
though  it  had  stood  the  test  of  impri- 
sonment in  the  cause  of  the  people, 
dissolved  in  the  sunshine  of  the 
court,  and  his  services  were  secured 
to  the  crown  by  a  patent,  granting 
him  the  mastership  of  the  rolls  in 
reversion.  Noy  and  Littleton,  law- 
yers, who  had  distinguished  them- 
selves by  the  bitterness  of  their  zeal 
and  the  fervour  of  their  eloquence, 
followed  the  precedent  set  them  by 


fused ;  and  this  martyr  for  the  liberties  of 
his  country  died  in  prison  in  1632.  Long^ 
was  prosecuted  in  the  Star-chamber,  "  for 
that  he,  being  sheriff,  and  by  his  oath  to 
reside  within  his  county,  did  come  to  par- 
liament, and  reside  out  of  his  county."  He 
was  fined  two  thousand  marks, — Ibid. 
2  Eym.  xix.  62. 


176 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I 


Diggcs ;  and  the  two  apostates  atoned 
for  their  former  offences  by  the  in- 
dustry and  talent  with  which  they 
supported  the  pretensions  of  the  pre- 
rogative— the  first  in  the  office  of 
attorney,  the  second  in  that  of  soli- 
citor-general.' 

As  secretaries  of  state,  Charles  em- 
ployed Sir  John  Coke  and  Sir  Dud- 
ley Carleton.  Of  the  first,  the  great 
merit  was  industry,  the  chief  failing 
covetousness.  Carleton  had  learning, 
talents  and  activity  ;  but  the  longer 
portion  of  his  life  had  been  spent  in 
employment  abroad,  and  his  ignorance 
of  the  state  of  parties,  and  of  the 
feelings  of  his  countrymen,  led  him 
more  readily  to  adopt  the  more  arbi- 
trary designs  of  his  sovereign. 

Among  the  lords  of  the  council  were 
the  earl-marshal,  of  whom  it  was  said 
that  "  he  resorted  sometimes  to  court, 
because  there  only  was  a  greater  man 
than  himself,  and  went  thither  the 
seldomer,  because  there  was  a  greater 
man  than  himself ;"  the  brother  earls 
of  Pembroke  and  Montgomery,  the 
earl  of  Dorset,'  and  the  earls  of  Carlisle 
and  Holland;'  the  first  a  Scottish 
gentleman,  raised  and  enriched  by 
King  James;  the  second  a  younger 
son  of  Lord  Rich,  and  the  favourite 
of  Buckingham.  Most  of  these  were 
men  of  pleasure  rather  than  of  busi- 
ness, and  attended  in  the  council, 
only  because  it  was  a  duty  attached 
to  the  offices  which  they  held. 

The  great  seal  was  still  possessed  by 
the  lord  Coventry,  a  profound  lawyer, 
who  devoted  himself  almost  exclu- 
sively to  his  duties  as  a  judge.  He 
seldom  spoke  at  the  board,  and,^when 
he  did,  his  opinion  was  usually  unfa- 
Tourable  to  the  illegal  and  despotic 
•  claims  of  the  court.     It  was  not  to 


1  Eym,  xir.  254,  34,7. 

*  He  was  a  person  whose  dnel  with  Lord 
Bruce  forma  tne  subject  of  the  paper  in  the 
Guardian,  No.  129. 

'  Many  extraordinary  stories  are  told  of 
the  prodigality  of  Carlisle,  in  Lodge,  ii.  45 ; 


be  expected  that  a  minister  of  th 
character  should  make  any  advau' 
in  the  esteem  of  his  sovereign ;  y 
Charles  permitted  him  to  retain  tl 
office  till  his  death,  through  the  loi 
lapse  of  sixteen  years. 

The  earl  of  Manchester,  lord  pri\  j 
seal,  was  also  an  able  and  experience 
lawyer.    He  had  succeeded  Coke  ; 
lord  chief  justice,  and  gave  tweni 
thousand  pounds  for  the  office  of  loi 
treasurer,  which,  at  the  end  of  tweb 
months,  Buckingham  compelled  hi 
to  resign  for  the   inferior  and  le  ■ 
lucrative  situation  of  president  of  tl  < 
council,  whence  he  ascended  to  th; 
of  lord  privy  seal.    Poverty  made  hi 
an  obsequious  councillor,  and  his  ai 
thority  served  to  neutralize  in  tl  i 
council  the  more  liberal  opinions  ■  i 
the  lord  keeper. 

It  was  but  a  few  weeks  before  tl  > 
murder  of  Buckingham,  that  the  whi 
staff,  the  idol  of  Manchester's  devotio 
had  been  wrung  from  his  grasp  ar 
transferred  to  the  hands  of  Sir  Richa] 
"Weston,  chancellor  of  the  exchequc  j 
"Weston,  by  his  talents  and  industr 
realized  the  promises  of  his  patn  » 
and  the  expectations  of  his  sovereigi 
success  inspired  him  with  presum  \ 
tion ;  and  he  ventured  to  raise  his  ey  t 
to  that  place  from  which  the  dagg 
of  Felton  had  precipitated   its    la 
possessor.      Charles      checked     1: 
ambition:  he  paid   his  debts  twi(  i 
to   the   amount    of  forty   thousn- 
pounds,  he  gave  to  him  lands, 
created  him  earl  of  Portland,  but 
withheld   that   monopoly   of  pow 
which  had  been  enjoyed  by  Buckin 
ham.    "Weston  had,  however,  stroi 
claims  on  the  gratitude  of  his  sov 
reign.    In  the  collection  of  a  revem 
derived  from  illegal  sources,  he  brave 


WUson,  703,  704,  730;  Weldon,  271.  H 
land  was  a  younger  son  of  Lord  Rich,  »r 
by  marrying  the  heiress  of  Sir  Walter  C 
obtained  possession  of  the  manor  of  1 
sington,  and  of  Holland  House.  1 
them  he  took  his  titles  of  baron  of  1 
siugton  and  earl  of  Holland.' 


A.D.  1628.] 


EISE  or  AECHBISHOP  LAUD. 


177 


for  the  service  of  the  king,  the  hatred 
of  the  people;  and  his  enemies,  to 
render  him  still  more  odious,  added  to 
the  charge  of  injustice  the  still  more 
unpardonable  crime  of  popery.  "I 
denounce  him,"  cried  ElUot,  in  the 
last  session  of  parliament  "  as  the 
great  enebiy  of  the  commonwealth, 
■who  continues  to  build  on  the  foun- 
dation left  by  his  master.  In  him 
are  centered  all  our  evils ;  to  him  are 
to  be  attributed  the  innovations  in 
our  religion,  and  the  infringement  of 
our  liberties."' 

But  the  religious  policy  of  which 
Elliot  complained,  whether  it  were 
an  attempt  to  innovate  or  to  preserve 
from  innovation,  was  the  work  of  a 
very  different  personage,  whose  influ- 
ence and  whose  fate  claim  more  par- 
ticular  notice.  Laud  first  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  public  in  his 
thirty-third  year,  by  an  act  which  he 
deplored  to  the  last  day  of  his  life. 
:He  lent  the  aid  of  his  ministry  to  a 
pretended  marriage  between  Mount- 
joy,  his  patron,  and  the  lady  Eich, 
whose  husband  was  still  living.  This 
offence,  the  result  of  servility  and 
dependence,  was  effaced  by  his  subse- 
quent repentance ;  and  he  made  him- 
self useful  to  Neile,  bishop  of  Eoches- 
ter,  who  introduced  him  to  the  notice 
of  King  James.  At  court  the  obse- 
quious clergyman  crept  slowly  up  the 
ladder  of  preferment ;  at  the  end  of 
twelve  years  his  services  were  re- 
warded with  the  bishopric  of  St.  Da- 
vid's ;  and  the  zeal  of  the  new  prelate 
lindertook  to  withdraw  the  countess  of 
Buckingham  from  her  attachment  to 
ihe  Catholic  worship.  Though  he 
"ailed  of  converting  the  lady,  he  won, 
^hat  to  him  was  of  the  first  import- 
mce,  the  confidence  of  her  son.  The 
'avourite  chose  him  for  his  confessor 


^  See  the  character  of  these  ministers 
Irawn  by  the  pencil  of  Clarendon,  Hist.  i. 
15—65.  The  cause  of  suspicion  against 
iVeston  was,  that  his  wife  and  daughters 
vere  Catholics.  The  Catholics  themselves 
Tere  convincedj  from  the  severity  with 
7 


and  the  depositary  of  his  secrets,  made 
frequent  use  of  his  pen  and  abilities, 
and  derived  from  him  advice  and 
information.  After  the  death  of 
James  he  was  rapidly  translated  from 
St.  David's  to  Bath  and  Wells,  and 
from  thence  to  the  higher  see  of  Lon- 
don, was  introduced  into  the  privy 
council,  and  received  a  promise  of 
Canterbury  on  the  death  of  Arch- 
bishop Abbot.  Even  the  loss  of  his 
patron  proved  to  Laud  an  advantage. 
Charles,  bereft  of  his  favourite,  called  to 
himself  his  favourite's  counsellor.  He 
was  already  acquainted  with  the  sen- 
timents and  intrepidity  of  the  prelate, 
his  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience,  his  zeal  to  enforce  eccle- 
siastical conformity,  and  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  civil  and  religious  prin- 
ciples of  the  Puritans.  He  resigned 
to  Laud  the  government  of  the  church, 
and  Laud  marshalled  the  church  in 
support  of  the  prerogative. 

By  this  time  the  king  had  learned 
to  condemn  the  imprudence  which 
had  wantonly  plunged  him  into  hos- 
tilities with  the  two  great  monarchies 
of  France,  and  Spain.  Fortunately 
his  enemies,  who  dreaded  not  the 
efforts  of  a  prince  engaged  in  per- 
petual contests  with  his  parliament, 
had  treated  him  as  a  froward  child, 
warding  off  his  blows,  but  offering  no 
molestation  in  return.  Philip,  whe- 
ther it  were  through  generosity  or 
contempt,  sent  back  without  ransom 
the  prisoners  made  at  Cadiz— Louis 
those  taken  at  Ehe.  The  return  of 
the  latter  prince  to  his  capital  encou- 
raged the  Venetian  ambassador  to 
resume  the  secret  negotiation,  and  to 
propose  again  a  peace  between  the 
two  crowns.  Pew  difficulties  were 
opposed,  and  these  were  easily  over- 
come.2    Louis  waived  his  demand  of 


which  he  exacted  the  fines  for  recusancy, 
that  he  was  a  most  orthodox  Protestant. — 
Clarendon,  i.  50.  There  is,  however,  reason 
to  believe  that  at  his  death  he  became  a 
Catholic— Strafford  Papers,  i.  389. 
2  One  objection  raised  bv  the  Trench  was, 
N 


178 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  IV. 


the  St.  Esprit,  a  ship  of  war,  of  forty- 
six  guns,  built  at  his  expense  in  the 
Texel,  and  illegally  captured  in  the 
verj'  harbour,  by  Sir  Sackville  Tre- 
vor; and  Charles  contented  himself 
with  a  conditional,  and  therefore  illu- 
sory, promise  in  favour  of  his  allies 
the  French  Protestants.'  By  a  general 
clause  all  conquests  made  on  either 
side  were  restored,  and  the  relations 
of  amity  and  commerce  re-established 
between  England  and  France.* 

The  overtures  for  a  reconciliation 
between  Charles  and  Phihp  passed 
in  the  first  instance  through  the 
hands  of  Grerbier,  late  master  of  the 
horse  to  the  duke  of  Buckingham, 
and  Rubens,  the  celebrated  Flemish 
painter.^  Soon  afterwards  Cottington 
proceeded  as  ambassador  to  Madrid, 
ajid  Coloma  returned  in  the  same 
capacity  to  London.  The  treaty  of 
1604  was  taken  as  the  basis  of  paci- 
fication ;  and  Phihp,  by  a  letter  under 
his  own  hand,  engaged  not  only  to 
restore  to  the  Palatine  such  parts  of 
his  dominion  as  were  in  the  actual 
possession  of  the  Spanish  troops,  but 
never  to  cease  from  his  efforts  till  he 
had  procured  from  the  emperor  terms 


that  Eohan,  though  professing  himself  the 
ally  of  Charles,  would  not  accept  the  paci- 
fication, because  he  was  in  reality  the  pen- 
sioner of  Spain  (Carleton's  Letters,  ixv.)  ; 
80  the  fact  turned  out  to  be.  AVhile  he 
was  solicitiug  the  French  Protestants  to 
join  the  king  of  England  in  defence  of 
their  religion,  he  was  in  reality  following 
the  dictates  of  the  Spanish  council,  from 
which  he  reoeired  forty  thousand  ducats 
per  annum.  His  brother,  Soubize,  had  also 
eight  thousand.  On  the  conclusion  of  the 
peace  between  Charles  and  Louis,  Rohan 
concluded  another  treaty  with  Philip,  by 
which,  iu  consideratiou  of  a  supply  of  three 
hundred  thousand  ducats,  he  engaged  that 
the  French  Protestants  should  continue  the 
war ;  and  that,  if  an  independent  state 
should  ultimately  be  established  ))y  them  in 
anv  part  of  France,  the  Catholics  should 
enjoy  full  toleration  and  equal  rights. — See 
the  treaty  in  Dumont,  v.  part  ii.  582,  583 ; 
Siri,  Meniorie  recondite,  vi.  6i6. 

1  To  the  honour  of  Kicheheu  it  should  bo 
stated  that,  on  the  submission  of  the  Pro- 
testants by  the  treaty  of  Anduze,  he  dis- 
played none  of  that  religious  bigotry  which 
was  so  coospiouoos  in  the  conduct  of  the 


satisfactory  to  the  English  monarch. 
In  return  for  this  concession  was  con- 
cluded a  secret  and  most  important 
contract,  which  had  for  its  object  to 
perfect  the  mysterious  treaty  respect- 
ing Holland,  originally  commenced  by 
Charles  and  Buckingham  during  their 
visit  to  the  Spanish  court ;  that  the 
king  of  England  should  unite  his 
arms  with  those  of  Philip  for  the 
reduction  of  the  Seven  United  Pro- 
vinces, and  that  the  former  should 
receive,  as  the  price  of  his  assistance, 
a  certain  portion  of  those  provinces, 
comprehending  the  island  of  Zealand, 
to  be  held  by  him  in  full  sovereignty. 
It  was  duly  signed  by  the  two  mi- 
nisters, Olivarez  and  Cottington ;  but 
the  king  wisely  hesitated  to  add  hif 
ratification ;  and  by  this  demur  for- 
feited his  right  to  exact  from  Philip 
the  performance  of  the  promise  ir 
favour  of  the  Palatine.  Fortunately 
however,  for  him,  the  whole  transac- 
tion was  kept  secret.  Had  it  tran- 
spired, his  Prot-estant  subjects  woulc 
have  branded  him  as  an  apostate  froir 
his  religious  creed ;  perhaps  hav( 
driven  him  in  their  indignation  fron 
his  throne.'* 


English  patriots.  To  put  down  all  hope  o 
establishing  a  Protestant  republic  in  thi 
south  of  France,  he  abolished  the  consul* 
government  in  the  towns  and  the  ntilitar 
organization  of  the  inhabitants,  orderei 
their  castles  and  fortifications  to  be  raz«d 
and  put  an  end  to  the  general  convention  0 
deputies  from  the  churches  ;  but  heimpos* 
no  restrictions  on  the  Protestant  worship 
no  disabilities  on  the  persons  of  its  prof* 
sors.  They  might  still  remain  orthodo: 
Calvinists,  but  were  compelled  to  bocom 
dutiful  subjects. 

«  Dumont,  580.  Rash.  ii.  24,  Rym.  xn 
60,  87.  In  consequence  of  this  treaty 
Canada  and  Acadia,  which  had  been  ooc 
quered  by  two  brothers,  David  aud  Lewi 
Kirk,  were  restored  to  France. 

'  Gerbier  was  also  a  painter  in  di^tempei 
a  native  of  Antwerp.  He  was  trusted  bOi 
by  lluckiugham  and  the  king,  and,  at  tb 
Kestoratiou,  returned  to  Ki)g!-»nd  wit 
Charles  the  Second.     V'  '     '    ■  Iob 

him  justice  in  his  Anci  !!?t 

♦  Kym.  XI.  219.    Cia  * 

780;  ii.  A-pp.  zxxii.  Carietou  o  LettW* 
xxviii.— xxxii.  Jr. 


A.D.  1630.] 


NEW  SOUECES  OF  EEVENUE. 


179 


A  year  had  scarcely  passed  when 
Charles  betrayed  the  same  want  of 
sincerity  towards  Philip  which  he  had 
lately  manifested  towards  the  Pro- 
testants of  the  Netherlands.  The 
Catholic  states  of  Flanders  and  Bra- 
bant entertained  a  project  of  throw- 
ing off  their  dependence  upon  Spain. 
Both  France  and  Holland  offered 
assistance;  but  the  States  suspected 
the  real  intentions  of  those  powerful 
neighbours,  and  made  application 
through  Gerbierto  the  king  of  Eng- 
land. Charles  replied  that  it  was  not 
consistent  with  his  honour  to  an- 
nounce himself  the  fomenter  of  rebel- 
lion among  the  subjects  of  a  prince 
with  whom  he  was  at  peace ;  but  that, 
if  they  would  previously  proclaim 
themselves  independent,  he  would 
pledge  his  word  to  protect  them 
against  every  enemy.  They  were, 
however,  unwilling  to  hazard  their 
safety  on  the  faith  of  a  general  pro- 
mise ;  and  while  they  sought  to  bind 
the  king  to  specific  conditions,  Philip 
discovered  the  clue  to  the  secret,  and 
was  careful  to  secure  their  wavering 
allegiance  by  the  presence  of  a  nume- 
rous army.  Thus  both  these  nego- 
tiations failed;  but  it  was  proper  to 
notice  them,  as  early  instances  of 
that  spirit  of  intrigue,  and  that  ab- 
sence of  common  honesty,  with  which 
the  king  was  afterwards  reproached 
by  his  enemies  during  the  civil  war.' 

At  home  his  attention  was  chiefly 
occupied  with  the  improvement  of  the 
revenue.  Though  the  grant  of  five 
subsidies  had  enabled  him  to  silence 
the  more  clamorous  of  his  creditors, 
and  the  cessation  of  war  had  closed 
up  one  great  source  of  expense,  yet 
the  patrimony  of  the  crown  had  been 
so  diminished  by  the  prodigality  of 
his  father,  that  he  could  not  support 
the  usual  charges  of  government 
without  additional  aid  from  the  purses 


i  See  the  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  55 — 92. 
2  Rush.  ii.  8, 49, 300.   Eym.  lix.  4, 123, 167. 


of  his  subjects.  1.  On  this  account 
he  not  only  persisted  in  levying  the 
duties  of  tonnage  and  poundage,  but 
augmented  the  rates  on  several  de- 
scriptions of  merchandise,  and  or- 
dered the  goods  of  the  refractory  to 
be  distrained  for  immediate  payment. 

2.  He  empowered  commissioners,  in 
consideration  of  a  certain  fine,  to 
remedy  defective  titles,  and  pardon 
frauds  committed  in  the  sale  of  lands 
formerly   belonging   to   the  crown.- 

3.  He  called  on  all  persons  who  had 
not  obeyed  the  summons  to  receive 
knighthood  at  his  coronation,  to  com- 
pound for  their  neglect.  It  is  certain 
that  in  former  times  such  defaulters 
were  punished  by  fines  levied  on  their 
property  by  the  sheriff ;  nor  could  it 
be  said  that  the  crown  had  resigned 
its  claim ;  for  the  four  last  sovereigns 
had  issued  the  usual  summons,  and 
their  example  had  been  copied  by  the 
present.  Bat  it  had  grown  to  be 
considered  a  mere  form ;  the  sheriff 
often  neglected  to  serve  the  writ,  and 
those  who  received  it  paid  to  it  no 
attention.  Now,  however,  inquiries 
were  instituted;  all  baronet^,  all 
knights  made  since  the  coronation, 
and  all  possessors  of  lands  rated  at 
forty  pounds  per  annum,  were  de- 
clared liable,  and  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  fix  the  amount  of  their 
compositions.  Some  had  the  courage 
to  dispute  the  legality  of  the  demand ; 
but  the  courts  of  law  uniformly  de- 
cided against  them,  and  all  were  ulti- 
mately compelled  to  pay  the  sum 
awarded  by  the  commissioners,  which 
in  no  instance  was  less  than  two  sub- 
sidies and  a  half.  It  was  a  most  impo- 
litic expedient,  by  which  the  king 
forfeited  the  attachment  of  the 
landed  interest,  the  best  and  most 
assured  support  of  his  throne.^  4  He 
contrived  to  raise  a  considerable 
revenue  by  the  revival  of  the  nume- 


3  Kush.  ii.  70,  71,  135,  725.    Eym.  lyiii. 
278 ;  nix.  119, 175.    Bib.  Regia,  337. 
N  2 


180 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  IVa 


rous  monopolies  wliich  had  been 
abated  on  the  successive  remon- 
strances of  parUament.  But  they  were 
formed  on  an  improved  plan.  Instead 
of  being  confined  to  a  few  favoured 
individuals,  they  were  given  to  incor- 
porated companies  of  merchants  and 
tradesmen,  who,  in  consideration  of 
the  exclusive  privilege  of  dealing  in 
certain  articles,  covenanted  to  pay 
into  the  exchequer  a  large  sum  of 
money  in  the  first  instance,  and  a 
fixed  duty  on  the  commodity  which 
they  manufactured  or  exposed  to 
sale.'  As  these  payments  ultimately 
fell  on  the  consumer,  they  were  equi- 
valent to  an  indirect  tax,  imposed  by 
the  sole  authority  of  the  crown.  5.  He 
extorted  fines  for  disobedience  to  pro- 
clamations, even  when  he  knew  that 
such  proclamations  were  illegal.  In 
the  last  reign  James  had  persuaded 
himself  that  the  contagious  maladies 
which  annually  visited  the  metro- 
polis, arose  from  the  increase  of  its 
size  and  the  density  of  its  population ; 
and,  to  check  the  evil,  he  repeatedly 
forbade  the  erection  of  additional 
buildings.  But,  as  the  judges  had 
declared  such  proclamations  contrary 
to  law,  the  prohibition  was  disre- 
garded; new  houses  annually  arose, 
and  the  city  extended  its  boundaries 
in  every  direction.  The  rents  of 
these  buildings  were  calculated  at  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds  per  annum, 
and  Charles  appointed  commissioners 
to  go  through  each  parish,  and  sum- 
mon the  owners  before  them.  Some 
were  amerced  for  their  presumption, 
and  ordered,  under  a  heavy  i)enalty, 
to  demolish  their  houses ;  others  ob- 
tained permission  to  compound   for 


1  Thus,  for  example,  the  corporation  of 
soap-boilers  paid  for  their  patent  ten  thou- 
sand pounds,  and  enfjaged  to  pay  a  duty  of 
eight  pounds  on  every  ton  of  soap. — See 
Bush.  ii.  130,  143,  186;  Rym.  xix.  92,  381. 

'  Thus,  a  Mr.  Moor,  having  erected  forty- 
two  dwelling-houses,  with  stables  and  coacn- 
houaes,  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Martin's  in 
the  Fields,  was  fined  one  thousand  pounds, 
and   ordered   to   pull   them  down   before 


the  offence,  by  the  payment  of  thn 
years'  estimated  rent,  besides 
annual  fine  to  the  crown  for  ever. 
Such  compositions  were  in  reality 
the  chief  object  of  the  severities 
inflicted  under  these  several  pretences. 
All  who  saw  themselves  exposed  to 
similar  punishment  solicited  the  for«4 
bearance  of  the  crown;  the  term# 
became  the  subject  of  negotiation; 
and  numerous  and  heavy  fines  were 
paid  into  the  exchequer.' 

At  the  same  time  Laud  watched 
with  a  vigilant  eye  over  the  interests 
of  the  church.  Of  late  years  a  general 
subscription  had  been  set  on  foot  for 
the  purpose  of  buying  up  lay  impro- 
priations, and  of  employing  them  in 
the  support  of  the  ministry.  The 
plan  bore  the  appearance  of  religious 
zeal ;  the  contributions  were  liberal, 
and  the  moneys  were  vested  in  twelve 
persons,  as  trustees  for  their  appU- 
cation.  They  devoted  one  portion  to 
the  purchase  of  advowsons  and  pre- 
sentations, the  other  to  the  establish- 
ment of  afternoon  lectures  in  boroughs 
and  cities.  But  it  was  suspected,  per- 
haps discovered,  that  the  trustees, 
under  the  pretence  of  supporting, 
were,  in  reality,  undermining  the 
church.  The  lecturers  appointed 
were  nonconforming  ministers ;  and 
these,  as  they  held  their  places  at  the 
will,  were  compelled  to  preach  con- 
formably to  the  commands,  of  their 
employers.  Laud  accused  them  of 
being  placed  in  their  situations  "  to 
blow  the  bellows  of  sedition;"  and 
the  bishops  received  orders  to  watch 
their  conduct,  to  convert,  where  it 
was  possible,  the  afternoon  lecture 
into  the  duty  of  catechizing,  and  to 


Easter,  under  the  penalty  of  another  thou- 
sand pounds.  He  disobeyed,  and  tbe 
sheriiTs  demolished  the  houses,  and  levitd 
the  money  by  distress.  —  See  Strafford 
Papers,  i.  206,  243, 263,  263,  360, 372.  Other 
proprietors  of  houses,  alarmed  at  his  fate^ 
offered  to  compound  ;  and  the  entire  aom 
raised  by  this  species  of  oppression  is 
to  have  amounted  to  one  hundred 
pounds. 


A.D.  1C33.] 


PUNISHMENT  OF  LEIGHTON. 


ISl 


insist,  at  all  events,  that  the  surplice 
should  be  worn,  and  the  service  read 
by  the  lecturer.  The  attorney-general 
compelled  the  feoffees  to  produce 
their  books  and  deeds  in  the  court  of 
the  Exchequer;  and,  after  counsel 
had  been  heard  on  both  sides,  a  de- 
cree "was  made,  that,  as  they  had 
usurped  on  the  prerogative  by  erect- 
ing themselves  into  a  body  corporate, 
and  had  acted  contrary  to  the  trust 
reposed  in  them,  by  not  annexing  the 
impropriations  to  the  livings  of  per- 
petual incumbents,  they  should  ren- 
der an  account  of  all  the  moneys  re- 
ceived, and  of  all  the  impropriations 
and  advowsons  purchased,  and  that 
both  these  should  be  forfeited  to  the 
king,  to  be  employed  by  him  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church,  according  to  the 
original  intention  of  the  subscribers. 
A  hint  was  added,  that  the  feoffees 
^vould,  moreover,  be  called  before 
the  Star-chamber  for  contempt;  but 
that  threat  was  never  put  in  exe- 
cution.' 

Charles  had  been  advised  to  issue 
a  proclamation  forbidding  preachers 
to  treat  in  the  pulpit  any  of  the 
subjects  connected  with  the  Armi- 
■nian  controversy.  The  object  was  to 
.put  an  end  to  the  acrimonious  dis- 
iputes  which  agitated  the  two  parties ; 
'but  the  prohibition  was  repeatedly 
disregarded  by  the  zeal  of  the  pole- 
iinics,  and  the  offenders  on  both 
:sides  were,  with  apparent  impar- 
ttiality,  equally  summoned  to  answer 
!for   their   presumption    before    the 


court  of  High  Commission.  Their 
lot,  however,  was  very  different.  The 
orthodox  divines  usually  confessed 
their  fault,  and  were  dismissed  with 
a  reprimand ;  the  Puritans,  of  a 
more  unbending  character,  suffered 
the  penalties  of  fine,  imprisonment, 
and  deprivation.  The  consequence 
was,  that  many,  both  ministers  and 
laymen,  sought  to  leave  a  land  where 
they  could  not  enjoy  religious  free- 
dom, and,  migrating  to  America,  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  state  of  New 
England.^ 

There  was,  however,  one  minister, 
of  the  name  of  Leighton,  who,  by  his 
ungovernable  zeal,  drew  on  himself 
a  more  severe  visitation.  In  a  book 
entitled  "An  Appeal  to  Parliament, 
or  Sion's  Plea  against  Prelacy,"  he 
maintained  that  God's  children  were 
subjected  to  a  most  cruel  persecution; 
that  the  bishops  were  men  of  blood  ; 
that  the  institution  of  the  prelacy 
was  antichristian  and  satanical ;  that 
the  queen  was  a  daughter  of  Heth ; 
and  that  the  king  was  abused  by  the 
bishops,  to  the  undoing  of  himself  and 
his  people.  Language  so  scurrilous 
and  inflammatory  quickly  attracted 
the  notice  of  Laud.  At  his  instiga- 
tion Leighton  was  brought  before  the 
lords  in  the  Star-chamber ;  his  plea, 
that  he  had  written  through  zeal,  and 
not  through  malice,  was  disregarded ; 
and  the  court  adjudged  him  to  suffer 
a  punishment,  the  severity,  or  rather 
cruelty,  of  which  will  astonish  the 
reader.     The   offending   divine   was 


1  Kush.  ii,  150—152.    Laud's  Diary,  47. 

*  I  may  here  mention  an  occurrence 
which  has  been  often  misrepresented.  The 
Sabbatarian  controversjr  still  divided  the 
■churchmen  and  the  Puritans.  On  the  19th 
of  March,  1632,  the  judges,  Eichardson  and 
iDenham,  made  an  order  at  the  assizes  in 
.'^Somersetshire,  to  be  read  by  the  ministers 
of  the  several  parishes,  forbidding  wakes 
•■and  other  amusements  on  the  Lord's-day. 
(The  king  disapproved  of  the  order,  and 
^sent  his  father's  book  of  sports,  which  has 
!  been  already  mentioned,  to  be  read  in  oppo- 
*mtion  to  it,    This,  it  has  been  contended. 


was  acting  in  the  very  face  of  an  act  of  par- 
liament for  the  better  observance  of  the 
Sabbath;  but  a  reference  to  the  act  will 
show  that  it  was  in  exact  conformity  with  it. 
The  act  distinguished  two  kinds  of  sports, — 
unlawful  sports,  such  as  bear-baiting,  bull- 
baiting,  interludes,  and  common  plays,  all 
which  were  forbidden  without  exception ; 
and  lawful  sports  and  pastimes,  which  were 
allowed  to  all  persons  within  their  own 
parishes,  but  forbidden  to  them  in  other 
parishes,  because  the  meetings  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  different  parishes  frequently 
occasioned  quarrels  and  bloodshed. — See 
both  in  Eibliotheca  Eegia,  233—242. 


182 


CHARLES  I. 


[CHAP.  IV* 


condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten  thou- 
sand pounds,  was  degraded  from  the 
ministry,  was  pubUcly  whipped  in  the 
palace  yard,  was  placed  for  two  hours 
in  the  pillory,  and,  in  conclusion,  had 
an  ear  cut  off,  a  nostril  slit  open, 
and  a  cheek  branded  with  the  letters 
S.  S.  to  denote  a  sower  of  sedition. 
These,  however,  were  but  the  suffer- 
ings of  one  day.  At  the  expiration 
of  a  week  he  underwent  a  second 
whipping,  he  again  stood  in  the  pil- 
lory, he  lost  the  remaining  ear,  he  had 
the  other  nostril  slit,  and  the  other 
cheek  branded.  Neither  was  his 
punishment  yet  terminated.  Marked, 
degraded,  mutilated  as  he  was,  he 
returned  to  prison,  to  be  immured 
there  for  life,  unless  the  king  should 
at  any  subsequent  period  think  him 
a  fit  object  for  mercy;  but  from  Charles 
he  found  no  mercy,  and  it  was  only 
at  the  end  of  ten  years  that  he 
obtained  his  liberty  from  the  parlia- 
ment, then  in  arms  against  the  king.' 
Leighton  was  a  dangerous  fanatic, 
capable,  as  appears  from  his  writings, 
of  inflicting  on  others  the  severities 
which  he  suffered  himself.  But  this 
can  form  no  apology  for  the  judges 
who  awarded  a  punishment  so  dis- 
proportionate to  the  offence.  They 
sought  to  shelter  themselves  under 
the  plea  that  he  might  have  been 
indicted  for  treason,  and  therefore, 
instead  of  complaining  of  the  sen- 
tence, ought  to  have  been  thankful 
for  his  life. 

Both  Charles  and  his  adviser,  Laud, 
were  aware  that  the  Puritans  accused 
them  of  harbouring  a  secret  design 
to  restore  the  ancient  creed  and  wor- 
ship. The  charge  was  groundless. 
It  originated  in  that  intolerant  zeal 
which  mistook  moderation  for  apos- 
tasy, and  was  propagated  by  those 
whom  interest  or  patriotism  had 
rendered  hostile  to  the  measures  of 


j  government.  Charles  conceived  ii 
;  expedient  to  silence  this  murmur^ 
I  by  giving  public  proof  of  his  orthc 
j  doxy.  He  carefully  excluded  all  Eng- 
lish Catholics  from  the  queen's  chape 
at  Somerset  House ;  he  offered  in  su( 
cessive  proclamations  a  reward  of  one 
hundred  pounds  for  the  apprehension^ 
of  Dr.  Smith,  the  Catholic  bishop  j 
and  he  repeatedly  ordered  the  ma 
gistrates,  judges,  and  bishops  to  en- 
force the  penal  laws  against  the  priest 
and  Jesuits.  Many  were  apprehended, 
some  were  convicted.  But  the  king, 
having  ratified  for  the  third  time  the 
articles  of  the  marriage  treaty,  was 
ashamed  to  shed  their  blood  merely 
on  account  of  their  religion.  One 
only  suffered  the  penalties  of  treason, 
through  the  hasty  zeal  of  judgai 
Yelverton ;  of  the  remainder,  some* 
perished  in  prison,  some  were  sent 
into  banishment,  and  others  occa- 
sionally obtained  their  discharge  on 
giving  security  to  appear  at  a  short 
notice.* 

The  same  motive  induced  the  king 
to  act  with  lenity  towards  the  lay 
recusants.  The  law  had  left  it  to 
his  option  to  exact  from  them  the 
fine  of  twenty  pounds  per  lunar 
month,  or  to  take  two-thirds  of  their 
personal  estate ;  but,  in  lieu  of  these 
penalties,  he  allowed  them  to  com- 
pound for  a  fixed  sum  to  be  paid 
annually  into  the  exchequer.  Many 
hastened  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
indulgence.  The  amount  of  the  com- 
position was  determined  at  the  plea- 
sure of  the  commissioners;  and  the 
Catholic,  by  the  sacrifice,  sometimes 
of  one-tenth,  sometimes  of  one-third 
of  his  yearly  income,  purchased  not 
the  liberty  of  serving  God  according 
to  his  conscience  (that  was  still  for- 
bidden under  severe  penalties),  but 
the  permission  to  absent  himself  from 
a  form  of  worship  which  he  disap- 


1  Hush.  ii.  56.    Howell's  State  Trials,  iii. 
33. 
*  Bush.  i.  645;  ii.  11,  13.    Prynne,  Hid- 


den Works,  123.     Clarendon  Papers,  i.  353* 
485.    Challoner,  ii.  123.    Bibliotbeca  Keg 
35—39. 


J 


A.D.  1631.]        DEATH  OF  THE  PRINCE  PALATINE. 


183 


,  proved.  The  exaction  of  such  a  sacri- 
fice was  irreconcilable  with  any  princi- 
V  pie  of  justice  ;  but,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
.  a  mitigation  of  the  severities  inflicted 
:  by  the  law,  the  recusants  looked  upon 
it  as  a  benefit,  the  zealots  stigmatized  it 
as  a  crime  in  a  Protestant  sovereign.' 
*  Before  I  conclude  this  chapter,  I 
-;  may  notice  the  efforts  of  Charles  in 
'i  favour  of  his  sister,  and  her  husband 
the  Prince  Palatine.  The  king  of 
i!  Denmark  had  proclaimed  himself  the 
champion  of  their  cause ;  but  his 
career  was  short,  and  he  was  glad 
to  preserve  by  a  hasty  pacification 
his  hereditary  dominions  from  the 
grasp  of  that  enemy  whom  he  had 
wantonly  provoked.  In  his  place  the 
kings  of  England  and  Prance  en- 
deavoured to  call  forth  a  more  war- 
like and  enterprising  chief,  the  famed 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden. 
By  their  good  offices  a  truce  for  six 
years  was  concluded  between  that 
prince  and  his  enemy  the  king  of 
Poland;  and  Gustavus,  landing  in  the 
north  of  Germany,  astonished  the 
world  by  the  number  and  rapidity 
of  his  conquests.  Nothing  could  resist 
the  impetuosity  of  the  Swedish  hero. 
Armies  were  dissipated,  fortresses 
reduced,  and  whole  nations  subdued. 
Charles  had  agreed  to  aid  Him  with 
a  body  of  six  thousand  infantry ; 
but,  that  he  might  not  offend  the 
emperor  by  too  open  an  avowal  of 
hostihty,  he  prevailed  on  the  mar- 


1  See  Appendix,  LLL. 

a  Bush.  ii.  35,  53,  59,  83-87,  130,  166. 


quess  of  Hamilton  to  levy  the  men, 
and  to  conduct  them  to  Germany, 
as  if  it  were  a  private  adventure, 
undertaken  at  his  personal  risk. 
Gustavus  had  formerly  promised  to 
replace  Prederic  on  the  throne ;  but, 
when  he  saw  himself  in  possession  of 
a  great  part  of  the  Palatinate,  his 
views  changed  with  his  fortune ;  he 
began  to  plan  an  establishment  for 
himself,  and  to  every  application  from 
the  king  and  the  prince  he  returned 
evasive  answers,  or  opposed  conditions 
which  it  would  have  been  difficult  for 
Charles,  disgraceful  to  the  Palatine, 
to  perform.  Yane,  the  English  am- 
bassador, was  recalled,  and  Hamilton 
received  orders  to  contrive  some  pre- 
text for  his  return ;  but  the  prince, 
deluded  by  his  hopes,  still  followed 
the  Swedish  camp,  till  his  protector 
fell  in  the  great  battle  of  Lutzen. 
Prederic  did  not  survive  him  more 
than  a  fortnight,  dying  of  a  contagious 
fever  in  the  city  of  Mentz;  and  all 
the  efforts  of  his  son  Charles  Louis 
proved  as  fruitless  as  those  of  the 
father.  The  imperialists  routed  his 
army  in  Westphalia ;  the  earl  of 
Arundel  returned  with  an  unfavour- 
able answer  from  the  diet  of  Eatis- 
bon ;  and  the  reception  given  to  the 
proposals  made  in  his  favour  by  the 
English  envoy  in  the  congress  of 
Hamburg  served  only  to  demonstrate 
the  utter  hopelessness  of  his  preten- 
sions.^ 


Memoirs  of  Hamilton,  7 — 9,  15 — 25. 
rendon  Papers,  i.  6*2,  678. 


Cla- 


184 


CHAPTER  V. 


THB     KIXG     IK     SCOTLAND  — DISCONTENT     IN     ENGLAND— IN     IRELAND— OPPRESSIVE 

CONDUCT      OF      WENTWORTH — IN      SCOTLAND NEW       SERVICE-BOOK — COVENANT — 

RIOTS — KING    MARCHES    AGAINST    THE    COVENANTERS PACIFICATION    OF    BERWICK 

• — SCOTTISH      AND     ENGLISH     PARLIAMENTS A    SECOND    WAR — SCOTS     OBTAIN    POS- 
SESSION   OF    NORTHUMBERLAND  AND  DURHAM GREAT   COUNCIL  AT  TORK — TREATK 

TRANSFERRED    TO    LONDON. 


Scotland,  at  the  death  of  James, 
enjoyed  a  state  of  unprecedented 
tranquillity ;  but  the  restlessness  and 
imprudence  of  the  new  king  gradually 
provoked  discontent  and  rebellion. 
It  had  been  suggested  that  he  might 
obtain  a  permanent  supply  for  his 
own  wants,  and  at  the  same  time 
provide  a  more  decent  maintenance 
for  the  Scottish  clergy,  if  he  were  to 
resume  the  ecclesiastical  property 
which,  at  the  Beformation,  had  fallen 
to  the  crown,  and  during  the  minority 
of  his  father,  had  been  alienated  by 
the  prodigality  of  the  regents  Murray 
and  Morton.  The  first  attempt  failed, 
from  the  resistance  of  the  possessors ; 
in  the  second  he  proved  more  suc- 
cessful. The  superiorities  and  juris- 
flictions  of  the  church  lands  were 
surrendered,  and  a  certain  rate  was 
fixed,  at  which  the  tithes  might  be 
redeemed  by  the  heritors,  and  the 
feudal  emoluments  be  purchased  by 
the  crown.  Charles  congratulated 
himself  on  the  result ;  but  the  benefit 
was  more  than  balanced  by  the  dis- 
afiection  which  it  created.  The  many 
powerful  families  who  thought  them- 
selves wronged  did  not  forget  the 
injury;  in  a  few  years  they  took  the 
most  ample  revenge.* 

^  Burnet's  Own  Times,  i.  20.  Large  De- 
claration, 1—9.  Balfour,  ii.  128,  139,  151, 
153,  154.    Statutes  of  1633. 

'  It  was  remarked  by  some  that  the  Scots 
would  imitate  the  Jews,  and  that  their 
hosannas  ut  his  entry  would  be  changed 


The  king,  in  imitation  of  his  father 
resolved  to  visit  his  native  country 
He  was  accompanied  by  a  gallani 
train  of  English  noblemen,  and  wa.' 
received  by  the  Scots  with  the  mosi 
enthusiastic  welcome.-  At  his  cora 
nation,  which  was  performed  by  th( 
archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  they  gav( 
equal  demonstrations  of  joy,  thougl 
several  parts  of  the  ceremony  shocke( 
their  religious  feeUngs,  and  the  offi 
cious  interference  of  Laud  woundec 
their  national  pride.' 

The  next  day  Charles  opened  th< 
Scottish  parliament  after  the  ancien 
form.  A  liberal  supply  was  cheerfuU; 
voted  to  the  sovereign— but  on  tW' 
points  he  met  with  the  most  vigorou 
opposition.  "When  it  was  propose" 
to  confirm  the  statutes  respectin 
religion,  and  to  vest  in  the  crow; 
the  power  of  regulating  the  appar( 
of  churchmen,  an  obstinate  stand  wa 
made  by  all  the  members,  who  con 
scientiously  objected  to  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  bishops.  The  king  sternl 
commanded  them  not  to  dispute,  bu 
to  vote ;  and,  pointing  to  a  paper  i 
his  hand,  exclaimed,  "Your  namt 
are  here  !  to-day  I  shall  see  wh 
are  willing  to  serve  me."  The  lor  t 
register  solemnly  affirmed   that  th  - 


into  "  Away  with  him,  crucify  him  ! "  Leahi 
bishop  of  the  Isles,  mentioned  this  at  dinni 
to  Charles,  who  immediately  turned  though 
ful,  and  ate  no  more, — MS.  letter  of  lot 


Sept.  1633. 

3  Balfour,    ii.   195—199. 
181,  182.    Clarendon,  i.  79. 


Eushworth,  i 


LD. 


CONDUCT  OF  AECHBISHOP  LAUD. 


185 


najority  had  given  their  voices  in 
avour  of  the  bills ;  the  contrary  was 
iffcerwards  as  strenuously  asserted  by 
iheir  opponents. '  The  notion  that  the 
dng  entertained  sentiments  favour- 
ible  to  popery  had  been  maliciously 
)irculated  in  Scotland;  the  ceremo- 
lies  at  his  coronation,  and  his  policy 
respecting  the  church  were  deemed 
jonfirmatory  of  the  charge ;  and, 
though  he  surrendered  to  the  im- 
portunity of  petitioners  most  of  the 
money  voted  by  the  parliament,  his 
(dsit  served  neither  to  strengthen  the 
ittachment,  nor  to  dissipate  the  dis- 
trust of  his  countrymen.* 

During  the  six  years  which  followed 
dis  return  from  Scotland,  England 
ippeared  to  enjoy  a  calm,  if  that 
30uld  be  called  a  calm  which  con- 
dnually  gave  indications  of  an  ap- 
proaching storm.  Charles  governed 
ivithout  a  parliament,  but  took  no 
pains  to  allay,  he  rather  inflamed, 
3hat  feverish  irritation  which  the 
llegality  of  his  past  conduct  had 
3xcited  in  the  minds  of  his  subjects. 
Nor  can  it  be  said  in  his  excuse,  that 
tie  was  ignorant  of  their  dissatisfac- 
fcioh.  He  saw  it,  and  despised  it ; 
believing  firmly  in  the  divine  right 
Df  kings,  he  doubted  not  to  bear 
down  the  force  of  public  opinion  by 
the  mere  weight  of  the  royal  preroga- 
tive. 

He  had  scarcely  time  to  repose  from 
the  fatigue  of  his  journey  when  Abbot 
lied,  and  he  gladly  seized  the  oppor- 


1  Charles,  in  his  "Large  Declaration," 
ieelares  this  "  a  calumny  so  foul  and  black 
as  that  they  themselves  did  know  it  to  be 

most    false by   surveying    their    own 

papers  and  the  papers  of  many  hundreds 
present,  who  took  notes  of  the  number  of 
roices." 

«  Balfour,  ii.  199  —  201.  Eushworth,  ii. 
I8a  -187.    Burnet's  Own  Times,  i.  22. 

*  At  this  time  Laud  made  the  following 
entries  in  his  Diary :  "  Aug.  4.  News  came  of 
the  lord  archbishop  of  Canterbury's  death. 
The  king  resolved  presently  to  give  it  to 
me.  That  very  morning  at  Greenwich  there 
came  one  to  me  seriously,  and  that  avowed 
ability  to  perform  it,  and  offered  me  to  be 
»  cardinal.    I  went  presently  to  the  king, 


tunity  to  place  Laud  on  the  archie- 
piscopal  throne.^  The  new  metro- 
politan wielded  the  crozier  with  a  more 
vigorous  grasp  than  his  predecessor. 
He  visited  his  province,  established 
uniformity  of  discipline  in  the  cathe- 
dral churches,  enforced  the  exact 
observance  of  the  rubric,  and  submis- 
sion to  the  different  injunctions  ;  and, 
by  strictly  adhering  to  the  canon 
which  forbade  ordination  without  a 
title,  cut  off  the  supply  of  non-con- 
forming ministers  for  public  lectures 
and  private  chapels.  After  his  ex- 
ample, and  by  his  authority,  the 
churches  were  repaired  and  beau- 
tified ;  at  his  requisition  the  judges 
unanimously  confirmed  the  legality 
of  the  proceedings  in  the  ecclesiastical 
courts ;  and  by  his  advice  the  king,  in 
defiance  of  every  obstacle,  undertook 
to  restore  St.  Paul's  cathedral  to 
its  ancient  splendour.  In  these  pur- 
suits there  was  certainly  much  com- 
mendable in  itself  and  becoming  his 
station;  but  the  jealousy  of  the 
Puritans  had  long  ago  marked  him 
out  as  an  enemy ;  the  most  innocent 
of  his  actions  were  misrepresented 
to  the  public,  and  whatever  he  at- 
tempted was  described  as  an  addi- 
tional step  towards  the  introduction 
of  popery.  A  succession  of  written, 
papers  dropped  in  the  streets,  or 
affixed  to  the  walls,  or  secretly  con- 
veyed into  his  house,  warned  him  of 
the  punishment  which  his  apostasy 
deserved,  and  which  the  orthodoxy  of 


and  acquainted  him  both  with  the  thing  and 
the  person.  Aug.  17.  I  had  a  serious  offer 
made  me  again  to  be  a  cardinal.  I  was 
then  from  court :  but  so  soon  as  I  cam© 
thither  (which  was  Wednesday,  Aug.  21), 
I  acquainted  his  majesty  with  it.  But  my 
answer  again  was,  that  somewhat  dwelt; 
within  me  which  would  not  suffer  that  till 
Rome  were  other  than  it  is.''  That  thia 
answer  does  not  display  any  strong  an- 
tipathy to  the  offered  dignity  may  be  ad- 
mitted ;  but  it  certainly  does  not"  warrant 
the  inference  which  his  enemies  afterwards 
drew  from  it.  See  his  Diary,  49,  and  his 
Troubles,  388.  That,  however,  there  was 
more  in  the  offer  than  is  generally  sup- 
posed, will  appear  from  the  neit  page. 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  •« 


his  opponents  was  already  prepared  to 
inflict.' 

About  this  time  the  jealousy  of  the 
Puritans  was  roused  to  the  highest 
pitch  by  their  knowledge  of  the  fact 
that  an  accredited  agent  from  Rome 
had  received  the  royal  permission  to 
reside  in  London.  Two  motives  had 
induced  the  pope,  Urban  VIII.,  to 
make  this  appointment.  1.  Towards 
the  end  of  August,  1633,  Sir  Robert 
Douglas  arrived  in  Rome  with  the 
character  of  envoy  from  the  queen, 
and  a  letter  of  credence  signed  by  the 
earl  of  Stirling,  secretary  of  state  for 
Scotland.  It  was  soon  discovered  that 
the  real  object  of  his  mission  was  to 
obtain,  through  her  intercession,  the 
dignity  of  cardinal  for  a  British  sub- 
ject, under  the  pretext  that  such  a 
concession  would  go  far  towards  the 
future  conversion  of  the  king.  Urban, 
suspicious  of  some  political  intrigue, 
resolved  to  return  no  answer  till  he 
should  have  ascertained  from  whom 
this  unexpected  project  had  origi- 
nated, and  in  whose  favour  the  hat 
was  solicited ;  and  with  that  view  he 
deemed  it  expedient  to  despatch  an 
envoy  from  Rome,  who  might  com- 
municate personally  with  the  queen. 
2.  Another  motive  was  furnished  by 


^  Land's  Diary,  44,  47.  These  reports 
and  menaces  ur^ed  the  archbishop  to  prove 
himself  a  true  Protestant  by  his  vigilance 
against  the  Catholics.  In  a  letter  to  Lord 
Strafford  we  are  told  that  he  had  lately 
accused  before  the  council  a  schoolmaster 
and  innkeeper  at  Winchester,  for  bringing 
up  Catholic  scholars ;  that  he  had  procured 
an  order  for  the  calling  in  and  burning  of  a 
Catholic  book,  entitled,  "  An  Introduction 
to  a  Devout  Life,"  which  he  had  previously 
licensed,  with  the  change  of  the  word  mtus 
into  "divine  service;"  and  that  Morse,  a 
missionary,  who  had  distinguished  himself 
by  his  attention  to  the  sick  during  the  con- 
tagious fever  in  St.  Giles's,  and  had,  by  his 
charity,  induced  many  to  become  Catholics, 
had  been  tried  and  convicted.— Strafford 
Papers,  ii.  74. 

2  Che  sotto  quaaivoglia  pretesto  non  tra- 
tasse  col  arcivescovo  di  Cantuaria. — Bar- 
beriui's  despatch  of  13  Mar.  1635.  Why 
80  ?    Had  it  then  been  discovered,  at  Borne 


the  controversy  among  the  Englis] 
Catholics  respecting  the  expediene, 
of  appointing  a  bishop  for  the  govern 
ment  of  their  church.  The  secula 
clergy  and  the  regulars,  with  thei 
respective  adherents,  had  taken  op 
posite  sides  on  this  question ;  and  th 
warmth  with  which  it  was  discusse< 
in  England  had  provoked  a  simila 
opposition  between  the  episcopal  bod; 
and  the  monastic  orders  in  France 
an  opposition  so  violent  and  irritatin; 
as  to  threaten  for  some  years  a  schiso 
in  the  French  church.  To  appeas. 
this  storm  was  an  important  objec 
with  Urban:  and,  distrustful  of  th 
representations  of  parties  interests 
in  the  dispute,  he  determined  t 
appoint  a  confidential  minister  t( 
collect  information  on  the  spot.  Th 
first  whom  he  employed  was  Leandei 
an  English  Benedictine  monk,  witl 
whose  proceedings  we  are  very  im 
perfectly  acquainted ;  but  Leanderwa 
soon  followed  by  Panzani,  an  Italiai 
priest,  of  the  congregation  of  th' 
Oratory,  who  was  instructed  to  con 
fine  himself  entirely  to  the  contro 
versy  among  the  Catholics,  and  on  n< 
pretext  whatever  to  allow  himself  t< 
be  drawn  into  communication  witl 
the  new  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 


that  Laud  was  the  man  for  whom  the  dignity 
of  cardinal  had  been  at  first  solicited  ?  I 
is  not  improbable.  Douglas  left  Englan( 
to  make  the  request  about  the  middle  o 
July,  and  reached  Rome  about  a  montl 
later.  Now  the  offer  of  that  dignity  wat 
made  to  Laud  in  England  on  the  4th,  ant 
repeated  on  the  17th  of  August. — Laud'.' 
Diary.  This  coincidence  in  point  of  timt 
furnishes  a  strong  presumption  ;  and  to  i 
may  be  added  that,  in  December,  Du  Per 
ron,  the  chief  clergyman  in  the  queen': 
household,  proceeded  to  Paris,  and  to  Bichi 
the  nuncio,  spoke  highly  in  favour  of  Laud 
with  regard  to  his  religions  principles,  am 
his  wiUingness  to  show  favour  to  the  Catho 
lies. — Despatch  of  Bichi  to  Barberini,  P 
1633.  Hence  I  am  inclined  to  think  i 
the  proposal  of  the  cardinal's  hat  cainu 
the  new  archbishop  from  Queen  Jlenri 
under  the  notion  that  there  might  be  i 
truth  in  the  reports,  which  had  bee| 
long  current,  ol  Laud's  secret  attact" 
to  the  Bonian  Catholic  creed. 


D.  1634.] 


ENVOYS  PROM  THE  POPE. 


187 


mzani  was  graciously  received  by 

e  queen,  and  assured,  through  secre- 
ry  Windebank,  that  he  might  re- 
ain  in  safety.     Prom  his  despatches 

appears  that  among  the  most  zea- 
us  churchmen  there  were  some  who, 
armed  at  the  increasing  numbers 
id  persevering  hostiUty  of  the  Puri- 
ns,  began  to  think  of  a  re-union 
ith  the  see  of  Rome,  as  the  best 
feguard  for  the  church  of  England, 
f  this  number  were  secretary 
'indebank,  Cottington,  Goodman, 
shop  of  Gloucester,  and  Montague, 
shop  of  Chichester.  The  latter  was 
icome  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause, 
^e  conversed  thrice  with  the  Italian 
1  the  subject,  and  assured  him  that 
le  English  clergy  would  not  refuse 

the  pope  a  supremacy  purely  spi- 
tual,  such  as  was  admitted  by  the 
rench  Catholics;  that  among  the 
relates  three  only,  those  of  Durham, 
ilisbury,  and  Exeter,  would  object ; 
id  that  Laud,  though  he  was  too 
mid  and  too  cautious  to  commit 
imself  by  any  open  avowal,  w^as  in 
iality  desirous  of  such  an  union, 
'hough  it  was  plain  that  little  re- 
ance  could  be  placed  on  the  assur- 
Qces  made  by  men  who  had  not 
le  courage  to  communicate  their 
loughts  to  each  other,  much  less  to 
lund  the  disposition  of  their  sove- 
3ign,  Panzani  transmitted  the  in- 
jrmation  to  his  court,  and  received 
)r  answer  that,  on  a  subject  so  deli- 
ate  and  important,  it  was  his  duty 
)  hear  what  was  said,  but  to 
bstain  from  giving  any  pledge  on  the 
art  of  the  pontiflf ;  and  that,  if  these 
vertures  should  subsequently  assume 

more  tangible  shape,  the  negotia- 
ion  would  be  intrusted  to  a  minister 
f  higher  rank  and  more  approved 
xperience.  Panzani  now  applied 
limself  to  the  other  objects  of  his 
Qission.    Charles,  at  his  solicitation. 


It  is  plain  from  the  original  papers  that, 
whatever  hopes  or  designs  might  be  enter- 
aiaed  by  others,  Charles,  in  assenting  to 


put  an  end  to  the  vexations  to  which 
the  Catholics  were  still  subject  from 
the  searches  wantonly  and  maliciously 
made  in  their  houses  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  pursuivants  ;  and  was  induced, 
by  the  hope  of  benefiting  his  nephew 
the  Palatine,  through  the  mediation 
of  Urban,  to  consent  to  the  opening 
of  an  official  intercourse  between  the 
two  courts,  through  accredited  agents, 
who  should,  however,  assume  no  pub- 
lic character,  but  appear  as  private 
individuals.  For  this  purpose  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  the  brother  of 
Lord  Abercorn,  repaired  to  Rome, 
where,  as  gentiluomo  of  the  queen  of 
England,  he  renewed  iu  her  name 
the  request  of  the  purple  for  a  British 
subject.  On  this  occasion,  however, 
that  subject  was  named  :  and  proved 
to  be  Conn,  a  Scottish  clergyman,  the 
favourite  of  Cardinal  Barberini.  But 
H-amilton  was  furnished  also  with 
private  instructions  from  the  king  to 
solicit  the  good  offices  of  the  pope  in 
favour  of  the  king's  nephew,  the  son 
of  the  deceased  Palsgrave ;  to  promote 
the  intended  marriage  of  his  niece, 
the  daughter  of  the  same  prince,  with 
the  king  of  Poland ;  and  to  obtain 
the  papal  approbation  of  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  or  of  some  other  instru- 
ment of  similar  import.  Should  he 
see  a  prospect  of  succeeding  in  any 
one  of  these  demands,  he  was  autho- 
rized to  promise,  what  Charles  had 
hitherto  refused,  the  royal  consent  to 
the  permanent  residence  of  a  Catholic 
bishop  in  England.' 

The  person  selected  in  Rome  to  be 
the  successor  of  Panzani  was  Conn 
himself,  the  queen's  nominee  for  the 
purple.  Prom  Charles  and  Henrietta 
he  met  with  the  most  gracious  recep- 
tion ;  but  with  all  his  efforts  failed  to. 
effect  an  understanding  between  the 
king  and  the  pontiff.  L^rban  con- 
stantly  refused   to    employ  his   in- 


the  mission  of  Hamilton,  had  none  but  poli- 
tical objects  in  view.  See  the  Clarendon 
Papers,  i.  337,  348,  355,  445. 


188 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


fluence  in  favour  of  a  Protestant,  to 
the  prejudice  of  a  Catholic  prince ; 
and  Charles  as  obstinately  refused  to 
admit  of  any  form  of  oath  which  did 
not  include  a  full  and  unequivocal 
disclaimer  of  the  deposing  power. 
Still  the  presence  of  Conn  proved  a 
benefit  to  the  English  Catholics.  He 
was  able,  by  his  remonstrances  on 
different  occasions,  to  check  the  zeal 
of  Archbishop  Laud,  who,  through 
anxiety,  as  it  was  reported,  to  shake 
off  the  imputation  of  popery  cast 
upon  him  by  the  Puritans,  sought  to 
establish  the  belief  of  his  orthodoxy 
by  the  rigorous  enforcement  of  the 
penal  laws.'  Conn  remained  three 
years  in  England ;  introduced  to  the 
king  and  queen,  his  successor,  Count 
Eosetti,  a  young  layman,  of  pleasing 
manners  and  courtly  acquirements ; 
and  then  hastened  to  llome  to  re- 
ceive, as  the  reward  of  his  services, 
the  object  of  his  ambition.  He  died, 
however,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival, 
to  the  grief  of  the  queen  and  of 
Barberini,^' 

The  reception  given  to  these  envoys 
was  a  fatal  error  on  the  part  of  the 
king ;  for  it  provoked  in  the  minds  of 
many  a  doubt  of  his  attachment  to 
the  reformed  faith,  and  enabled  his 
enemies  to  raise  the  cry  that  religion 
was  in  danger,  a  powerful  engine  to 
set  in  motion  the  prejudices  and 
passions  of  the  people.  This  formed 
one  great  cause  of  the  public  discon- 
tent ;  but  to  it  must  be  added  several 
others  of  the  most  irritating  tendency, 
which  were   furnished   by  the   op- 


1  From  a  MS.  abstract  of  Conn's  de- 
spatches in  my  possession. 

2  At  the  end  of  Lord  Nugent's  "  Memo- 
rials of  Hampden"  (ii.  App.  A.)  is  an  ac- 
count of  the  mission  of  Panzani,  Conn,  and 
Eosetti,  taken  from  the  "  Guerre  Civile"  of 
Mayolino  Bisaccioni.  But  the  comparison 
of  that  account  with  the  despatches  of  those 
envoys  shows  that  Bisaccioni  was  as  igno- 
rant of  their  real  history  as  he  was  of  the 

folitics  and  conduct  of  parties  in  England, 
n  addition  the  reader  may  consult  the 
Memoirs  of  Gregorio  Panzani  (131—261), 
edited  by  Eev.  Jos.  Berington,  of  the  au- 


pressive  proceedings  in  the  courts 
justice,  and  the  illegal  expedien 
adopted  by  the  king  to  raise  monc 
without  the  consent  of  parliament. 

I.  The  reader  is  aware  that  tl 
court  of  the  Star-chamber  was  e 
tablished,  or  at  least  moulded  in 
a  new  form,  in  the  third  year 
Henry  VII.,  for  the  purpose  of  checl 
ing  the  presumption  of  those  powerf 
lords  who  at  a  distance  from  tl 
capital  overawed  the  proceedings,  ai 
set  at  defiance  the  authority,  of  tl 
ordinary  courts  of  law.  It  was  ma( 
to  consist  of  two  out  of  three  gre; 
officers  of  state,  a  spiritual  and 
temporal  lord,  members  of  the  pri\ 
council,  and  two  of  the  twelve  judge; 
and  was  authorized  to  examine  o 
fenders,  and  to  punish  them  accorc 
ing  to  the  statutes  of  the  realr 
When  it  had  fallen  almost  into  d' 
suetude,  it  was  restored  in  full  vigou 
and  with  the  most  beneficial  result 
by  Cardinal  Wolsey ;  and  from  th; 
period  continued  through  sever; 
reigns  to  grow  in  importance,  pe: 
petually  adding  to  its  jurisdictioi 
and  making  itself  feared  by  the  sev< 
rity  of  its  judgments.  "Whatever  b 
legal  ingenuity  could  be  tortured  int 
a  contempt  of  the  royal  authorit 
might  be  brought  before  it ;  and  tl 
solemnity  of  the  proceedings,  the  ran 
of  the  judges,  and  the  manner  i 
which  they  delivered  their  opinion 
gave  it  a  superiority  in  the  eyes  < 
the  public  over  every  other  judici; 
tribunal.-' 

But,  in  proportion  as  it  gained  i 


thenticity  of  which  there  can  be"  no  doub 
and  also  Mr.  Butler's  Historical  Memoi 
of  British  Catholics,  3rd  edition,  vol.  ii.  35 
— 369.    It  appears  to  me  plain  that  Charli 
had  no  idea  of    a   re-union  between  tl 
churches ;  and  that,  if  Laud  ever  cherish, 
such  a  project,  he  kept  it  to  himself.     T 
zani  never  saw  him  ;  nor  is  there  any  i 
in  the  correspondence  except  the  assci 
of  Montague,  to  make  it  appear  that  u 
archbishop  was  favourable  to  it. 

'  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Commonwealth  < 
England,  1.  iii.  c.  3.  "It  was  a  glorioi 
sight  on  a  star-day,  when  the  knights  of  tb 


|l  D.  1640.] 


TKIAL  OF  BISHOP  WILLIAMS. 


189 


gnity  and  importance,  it  lost  in 
^putation.  The  judges  (every  privy 
)uncillor  was  now  admitted)  were 
so  in  many  cases  the  prosecutors: 
ley  generally  founded  their  decisions 
a  precedent  rather  than  law  ;  and  it 
as  often  believed  that  the  wish  to 
umble  an  adversary,  the  necessity  of 
applying  the  wants  of  the  exchequer, 
ad  the  hope  of  purchasing  the  royal 
ivour,  induced  them  to  punish  with- 
ut  sufiBcient  proof  of  guilt,  or  be- 
ond  the  real  demerit  of  the  offender. 
)f  such  conduct  one  instance  has 
een  already  mentioned  in  the  fate 
f  Leighton;  a  few  more  may  be 
dded,  which,  from  their  influence  on 
he  subsequent  events,  are  deserving 
f  particular  notice. 
1.  When  Bishop  Williams  resigned 
he  seals,  he  retired,  after  an  ineffec- 
ual  attempt  to  regain  the  royal 
avour,  to  his  diocese  of  Lincoln, 
["here  his  wealth  enabled  him  to  live 
dth  princely  magnificence,  while  his 
esentment  led  him  to  indulge  occa- 
ionally  in  rash  and  indecorous  ex- 
)ressions.  These  were  carefully  con- 
'^eyed  by  the  sycophants  around  him 
io  the  ear  of  his  great  rival  Laud,  and 
)y  Laud  communicated  with  suitable 
comments  to  the  king.'  It  had  been 
idvised  by  Williams,  that  the  Puri- 
;ans  should  be  gained  by  lenity  and 
ndulgence,  instead  of  being  alienated 
3y  severity  and  prosecutions  ;  and,  as 
ihe  counsel  had  been  favourably 
received,  he  hesitated  not  to  repeat  it 
to  two  officers  of  the  High  Commis- 
sion court.  In  a  few  days  an  informa- 
tion was   Sled   against  him  in  the 


garter  appear  with  the  stars  on  their  gar- 
ments, and  the  judges  in  their  scarlet ;  and 
in  that  posture  they  have  sate,  sometimes 
from  nine  in  the  morning  till  five  in  the 
afternoon,  before  everyone  had  done  speak- 
ing their  miuds  in  the  cause  that  was  before 
them.  And  it  was  usual  for  those  that  came 
to  be  auditors  at  the  sentence  given  in 
weighty  causes  to  be  there  by  three  in 
the  morning  to  get  convenient  places  and 
Stn^g."— Boshworth,  ii.  473. 


Star-chamber,  for  publishing  tales  to 
the  scandal  of  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment, and  revealing  secrets  of  state 
contrary  to  his  oath  of  a  privy  coun- 
cillor. He  gave  in  his  answer,  and 
the  prosecution  was  allowed  to  sleep 
during  several  years,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Cottington,  who  began  to 
oppose  Laud.  He  had  even  appeased 
the  king,  and  directions  had  been 
given  to  draw  out  his  pardon,  when 
on  some  new  provocation  the  pro- 
ceedings recommenced,'  and,  an  at- 
tempt having  been  made  to  weaken 
the  credit  of  Pridgeon,  a  witness  for 
Williams,  the  bishop  or  his  agents 
sought  to  support  it  by  inducing  the 
witnesses  against  Pridgeon  to  revoke 
or  amend  their  depositions.  The 
attorney-general  immediately  dropped 
the  first  information,  and  substituted 
a  second,  charging  the  prelate  with 
the  offence  of  tampering  with  the 
king's  witnesses.  After  a  patient 
hearing  of  nine  days,  the  court  ad- 
judged him  to  be  suspended  from  the 
episcopal  office,  to  be  imprisoned  in 
the  Tower  during  the  royal  pleasure, 
and  to  pay  a  fine  of  ten  thousand 
pounds.  Laud,  who  was  one  of  the 
judges,  and  was  considered  by  the 
public  as  the  great  enemy  of  the 
accused,  took  the  opportunity  of  vin- 
dicating his  own  character.  Deliver- 
ing his  judgment,  he  declared  that  he 
had  repeatedly  interceded  for  Wil- 
liams on  his  knees ;  but  that  the  peti- 
tions of  the  bishop  for  favour  were  so 
far  from  expressing  repentance  and 
humility,  that  they  served  rather  to 
offend  than  to  appease  his  sovereign. 


1  Those  who  wish  to  learn  the  dishonest 
artifices  by  which  these  two  prelates  sought 
to  ruin  each  other  in  the  estimation  of  the 
king',  may  consult  Hacket's  Life  of  Wil- 
liams, comparing  it  with  Heylin's  Life  of 
Laud.  That  Laud  dreaded  at  aU  times  the 
influence  of  Williams,  is  evident  from  his 
dreams  respecting  thp.t  prelate,  which  he 
has  recorded  in  his  Diary,  7,  8,  10,  38, 
41,48. 

a  Strafi'ord  Papers,  i.  480,  490,  504,  506, 
516. 


190 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap 


still  the  enemies  of  Williams  were 
not  satisfied.  The  officers  who  took 
possession  of  the  bishop's  effects  found 
among  his  papers  two  lett€rs  from 
Osbaldeston,  a  schoolmaster,  inform- 
ing his  patron,  in  one  passage,  that 
"  the  great  leviathan  (Portland,  the 
late  treasurer)  and  the  little  urchin 
(Archbishop  Laud)  were  in  a  storm," 
and,  in  another,  that  "  there  was 
great  jealousy  between  the  leviathan 
and  the  little  meddUng  hocuspocus," 
This  discovery  gave  rise  to  another 
information  against  Williams,  for 
having  plotted  with  Osbaldeston  to 
divulge  false  news,  to  breed  disturb- 
ance in  the  state,  and  to  excite  dis- 
sension between  two  great  officers  of 
the  crown.  On  the  trial  it  was  held 
that  to  conceal  a  libellous  letter 
respecting  a  private  individual  was 
lawful,  but  to  conceal  one  respecting 
a  public  officer  was  a  high  offence,  and 
the  judgment  of  the  court  was,  that 
the  bishop  of  Lincoln  should  pay  a 
fine  of  five  thousand  pounds  to  the 
king,  damages  to  the  amount  of  three 
thousand  pounds  to  the  archbishop, 
should  make  his  submission,  and 
should  suffer  imprisonment  during 
pleasure.* 

2.  William  Prynne  was  a  barrister 
of  Lincoln's-inn,  a  man  of  a  morose 
and  gloomy  disposition,  deeply  im- 
bued with  the  doctrines  of  Purita- 
nism, and  warmly  animated  against 
the  prevailing  vices  of  the  age.  He 
had  persuaded  himself  that  the  dis- 
solute lives  of  some  young  men  among 
his  acquaintance  originated  in  the 
■habit  of  frequenting  the  theatre  ;  and 
to  warn  the  public  against  that  great 
and  growing  evil— to  prove  that  the 
nation  was  rapidly  lapsing  into  paga- 
nism, he  wrote  a  ponderous  volume 


1  Eushwotth,  ii.  416  — 44»,  803  —  817. 
Howell,  iii.  770—824.  If  we  believe  only 
one  half  of  the  account  of  these  prosecu- 
tions, as  recorded  by  Hacket,  we  must 
admit  that,  to  molest  the  obnoxious  prelate, 
the  king  and  his  adviser  scrupled  not  to 


of  a  thousand  quarto  pages,  entit 
Histriomastix.  He  complained  t  i 
within  the  two  last  years  not  less  tl  i 
forty  thousand  copies  of  plays  i  i 
been  exposed  to  sale ;  that  they  w  i 
printed  on  better  paper  than  m 
Bibles,  and  bought  up  with  grea 
avidity  than  the  choicest  sermoi 
and  that  the  theatres  in  the  capi 
those  chapels  of  the  devil,  had 
creased  to  six,  double  the  num  \ 
which  existed  in  Rome  under  that  ( 
solute  emperor  Nero,  The  players 
represented  as  the  ministers  of  Sat 
and  the  haunters  of  plays  as  runn: 
in  the  broad  road  to  damnation.  ] 
attacks  were  equally  directed  agsu 
the  masks  at  court  and  the  amu 
ments  of  the  common  people.  Da 
ing  was  the  devil's  profession,  s . 
every  pace  in  a  dance  was  a  p; 
towards  hell.  Dancing  made  '■ 
ladies  of  England,  shorn  and  frizz 
madams,  to  lose  their  modesty ;  da: 
ing  had  caused  the  death  of  Nero,  a 
had  led  three  worthy  Romans  to  i 
to  death  the  emperor  Gallienus.  W 
equal  bitterness  he  inveighed  agar 
hunting,  May-poles,  public  festivi 
the  adorning  of  houses  with  green  : 
at  Christmas,  cards,  music,  and  i 
rukes.  Neither  did  the  chui 
escape.  The  silk  and  satin  divin 
with  their  pluralities,  their  bellowi 
chants  in  the  ohurch,  and  their  due 
ing  and  cringing  to  the  altars,  W( 
subjected  to  the  severe  lash  of  t 
satirist.  Prynne  had  long  been 
marked  character ;  Laud  had  alrea 
summoned  him  twice  before  the  Hi 
Commission  court,  and  had  twice  se 
the  victim  snatched  from  his  grasp 
prohibitions  from  Westminster  Ha 
13ut  this  last  publication  subject 
him  to  the  jurisdiction  of  a   mc 


▼iolate  every  principle,  and  even  evf 
accustomed  form  of  justice. — Hacket,  ii, 
—140. 

"  Canterburies    Doome,    607.      Hey] 
155,  173,  230. 


.D.  1632.] 


TRIAL  OF  PRYNNE. 


191 


adependent  court.  The  prelate 
tastened  to  read  to  the  king  the 
assages  which  appeared  to  reflect 
ipon  him  and  the  queen  dancing  at 
curt ;  and  Noy,  the  attorney-general, 
ras  ordered  to  indict  Prynne  in  the 
Itar-chamber,  as  the  author  of  a 
iangerous  and  seditious  libel.  It  was 
Q  vain  that  he  disclaimed  upon  oath 
ny  disloyal  or  factious  intention  — 
ny  design  of  including  the  king  or 
[ueen,  or  lords,  or  virtuous  females, 
vithin  the  indiscriminate  censure  of 
lis  book;  and  that  he  expressed  his 
•egret  for  several  passages,  couched  in 
anguage  which  he  acknowledged  to 
)e  intemperate  and  unjustifiable.  He 
vas  adjudged  by  the  court  to  be  put 
rom  the  bar,  excluded  fromLincol-n's- 
nn,  and  deprived  of  his  degree  in  the 
miversity ;  to  stand  in  the  pillory  in 
iVestminster  and  in  Cheapside ;  to 
ose  an  ear  in  each  place ;  to  have  his 
)ook  burnt  before  his  eyes  by  the 
'ommon  hangman ;  to  pay  a  fine  of 
ive  thousand  pounds ;  and  to  suffer 
)erpetual  imprisonment.  This  pu- 
lishment,  which,  though  the  queen 
nterceded  in  favour  of  the  victim, 
vas  inflicted  in  all  its  rigour,  deserved 
md  incurred  the  reprobation  of  the 
Dublic;  but  when  the  Puritans  in- 
lulged  in  invectives  against  the  court 
3y  which  the  judgment  was  given, 
:hey  should  have  recollected  the  still 
nore  barbarous  judgment  which  they 
aad  pronounced  in  parliament  a  few 
rears  before,  against  Floyd,  the  Ca- 
tholic barrister,  for  a  much  more 
questionable  ofience.' 


1  Eushworth,  ii.  220—241.  Howell,  iii. 
561—586.  Whitelock,  18,  22.  Heylin,  230, 
264.  We  are  told,  in  a  letter  to  the  earl  of 
Strafford,  that  Prynne,  immediately  after 
the  execution,  "  got  hia  ears  sowed  on,  that 
they  mijjht  grow  again  as  before  to  his 
bead."— Strafford  Papers,  i.  266. 

*  These  innovations  were,  the  forbidding 
of  sermons  on  the  last  general  fast,  the 
mppointing  it  on  Wednesday  to  prevent 
tne  Wednesday  lectures,  the  omission  of  a 
collect,  and  of  the  prayer  for  seasonable 
weather,  and  also  of  the  name  of  the  prin- 
cess Elizabeth,  and  of  her  issue,  in  the 


3.  But  persecution  did  not  subdue 
the  spirit  of  Prynne.  From  his  prison, 
in  a  tract  entitled  "  News  from  Ips- 
wich," he  denounced  the  apostasy  of 
the  prelates,  attempted  to  prove  them 
Luciferiau  lords,  devouring  wolves, 
and  execrable  traitors,  and  charged 
them  with  a  long  catalogue  of  inno- 
vations, tending,  in  his  opinion,  to 
overthrow  the  pure  doctrine  of  the 
gospel,  and  to  introduce  the  super- 
stitions of  popery.2  He  found  an  able 
coadjutor  in  Dr.  Bastwick,  a  fellow- 
prisoner.  Bastwick  was  a  physician, 
who  had  written  a  treatise  against  the 
divine  institution  of  bishops,  under 
the  title  of  "Elenchus  papismi  et 
flagellum  episcoporum  LatiaUum." 
It  was  a  fair  subject  of  discussion ; 
but,  in  the  opinion  of  the  churchmen, 
he  had  treated  it  more  like  a  libeller 
than  a  divine ;  and  in  the  High  Com- 
mission court  he  was  excommuni- 
cated, suspended  from  the  practice 
of  his  profession,  and  condemned  to 
pay,  with  the  costs  of  the  suit,  a  fine 
of  one  thousand  pounds  to  the  king, 
to  be  imprisoned  two  years,  and  to 
make  a  recantation.  He  now  wrote 
another  tract,  "  Apologeticus  ad  prse- 
sules  Anglicanos,''  and  followed  this 
up  with  the  "  Letanie  of  John  Bast- 
wick, doctor  of  physic,  being  now  full 
of  devotion,  and  lying  at  this  instant 
in  Limbo  patrum,"— a  strange  and 
incoherent  rhapsody,  intended  to  ex- 
pose the  "faste  and  prophanesse  of 
the  bishops,  and  the  fruitlessnesse 
and  impietie  of  the  service  books."  ^ 
A  third  apostle  was  found  in  Henry 


prayer  for  the  royal  ikmily. — Kushworth,  iii. 
App.  119—122. 

3  As  a  specimen,  I  transcribe  the  follow- 
ing passage,  not  one  of  the  most  offensive  ; 
"  If  wee  looke  upon  the  lives,  actions,  and 
manners  of  the  priests  and  prelates  of  our 
age,  and  see  their  pride,  faste,  impudence, 
immanity,  prophanesse,  unmercifullnesse, 
ungodlinesse,  &c.,  one  would  thinke  that 
hell  were  broke  loose,  and  that  the  devils 
in  surplicea,  in  hoods,  in  copes,  in  rochets, 
and  in  foure  square  c— t — s  upon  their 
heads,  were  come  among  us,  and  had 
b 1  us  all :  pho  !  how  they  stinke ! "  (p.  14) . 


192 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


Burton,  a  clergyman  who  had  been 
chaplain  to  the  king  before  his  jour- 
ney to  Spain,  and  who  had  since  been 
suspended  by  the  High  Commission 
court,  for  two  sermons,  entitled  "God 
and  the  king,"  preached  on  the  5th  of 
l^ovember  in  his  own  church  of  St. 
Matthew,  in  London.  In  his  defence 
he  wrote  an  apology,  calling  on  all 
orders  of  men  to  resist  the  innova- 
tions of  the  prelates,  whom  he  stig- 
matized as  "blind  watchmen,  dumb 
dogs,  ravening  wolves,  antichristian 
mushrooms,  robbers  of  souls,  limbs 
of  the  beast,  and  the  factors  for  anti- 
christ.'" 

It  might  have  been  supposed,  even 
by  the  most  orthodox  churchman, 
that  the  foul  and  scurrilous  language 
in  which  these  tracts  were  composed 
would  prove  a  scuflBcient  antidote  to 
the  poison  which  they  contained. 
But  Laud,  as  appears  from  his  cor- 
respondence with  Strafford,  had  taken 
for  his  motto  the  words  "thorough 
and  thorough."  He  had  convinced 
himself  that  severity  alone  could 
tame  the  obstinate  spirits  of  his 
opponents,  and  he  expected  to  en- 
force submission  by  the  apprehension 
of  punishment.  But  his  conduct  had 
a  very  different  effect.  It  encouraged 
a  notion  that  the  books  asserted  truths 
which  could  not  be  refuted,  and  it 
elevated  the  libellers  to  the  rank  of 
martyrs,  whose  constancy  under  their 
sufferings  increased  the  number  of 
their  disciples.  At  his  suggestion,  a 
criminal  information  was  filed  in  the 
Star-chamber  against  Prynne,  Bast- 
wick,  and  Burton  for  attempting  to 
bring  the  government  in  church  and 
state  into  disrepute,  and  to  excite 
sedition  among  his  majesty's  subjects. 


1  He  jreproached  them  with  having  sub- 
stituted "at"  for  '*in  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  shall  bow :"  with  having  changed 
the  words  "  whose  religion  is  rebellion,''  into 
"who  turn  religion  into  rebellion;"  with 
the  omission  of  the  prater  for  the  navy  on 
the  fast  day,  with  readmg  the  second  ser- 
vice at  the  commanion  table,  with  bowing 


Burton  gave  in  his  answer;  but,  ; 
it  was  of  enormous  length,  and  sti 
more  provoking  than  his  formi 
works,  it  was  expunged  as  impert 
nent,  by  the  advice  of  the  two  chi 
justices.  The  answers  of  Prynne  ar 
Bastwick  were  of  a  similar  natur 
offering  to  show  that  the  prelat 
invaded  the  prerogative,  despised  tl 
Scriptures,  encouraged  popery  ar 
profaneness,  oppressed  loyal  subject 
and  were  the  servants  of  the  dev: 
and  the  enemies  of  God  and  the  kin 
and  of  every  living  thing  that  w; 
good.  But  to  such  libels  it  was  in 
possible  to  procure  the  signatures 
two  counsel,  and  without  that  fo 
mality,  according  to  the  rule  of  tl 
court,  no  answer  could  be  receive 
There  was,  indeed,  an  apparent  har< 
ship  in  thus  refusing  to  listen  to  tl 
defence  of  the  accused ;  yet  the 
defence,  had  it  been  heard,  won 
have  been  deemed  an  aggravation  > 
the  crime,  though  it  could  hard' 
have  added  to  the  severity  of  tl 
punishment.  They  were  condemns 
to  stand  two  hours  in  the  pillory, " 
suffer  the  amputation  of  both  eai 
to  pay  severally  a  fine  of  five  thoi 
sand  pounds  to  the  king,  and  to  1 
imprisoned  for  life.'  Tiie  sentent 
was  executed  in  the  palace  yar 
and  from  their  pillories  the  prisone 
harangued  the  multitude  of  tbe  spe 
tators,  who  admired  their  constanc 
pitied  their  sufferings,  and,  at  tl 
abscission  of  their  ears,  expressed 
general  disapprobation  by  groans  ar 
hisses.  The  proceedings  of  the  di 
excited  alarm  in  the  breast  of  tl 
archbishop;  but  that  alarm,  instea 
of  teaching  him  the  impolicy  of  sue 
cruel  exhibitions,  only  prompted  hii 


when  they  entered  the  church  and  a 
proached  the  table,  with  placing  it  alta 
wise  at  the  upper  end  of  tne  chancel,  ar 
with  having  forged  a  new  article  of  re. 
gion  brought  from  Borne,  that  is,  the  di 
puted  clause  in  the  21st  article. — Kush«f 
App.  122—132. 
2  HoweU's  State  Trials,  iii.  711—770. 


A.D.  1G37.J 


THE  HIGH  COMMISSION  COUET. 


193 


to  employ  additional  severity.  He 
obtained  an  order  to  remove  the 
three  sufferers  from  the  vicinity  of 
their  friends  and  the  sympathy  of 
the  public,  and  to  confine  them  sepa- 
rately in  the  castles  of  Launceston, 
Carnarvon,  and  Lancaster.  To  his 
amazement,  their  departure  from 
London,  and  the  whole  progress  of 
their  journey,  bore  the  appearance  of 
a  triumphal  procession.  The  roads 
were  crowded  with  friends  and  specta- 
tors,' and  men  contended  with  each 
other  for  the  happiness  of  addressing 
and  entertaining  the  martyrs.  Still 
the  zeal  of  the  archbishop  did  not 
relax.  He  ordered  those  who  had  the 
presumption  to  perform  the  duties 
of  hospitality  to  Prynne,  on  his  way 
through  Chester,  to  be  called  before 
the  High  Commission  court  at  York, 
by  which  they  were  condemned  to 
pay  fines,  some  of  five  hundred  pounds, 
5ome  of  three  hundred  pounds,  and 
?ome  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds, 
and  to  make  a  public  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  offence  in  the  cathe- 


1  Laud  mentions  thousands.  —  StraflTord 
Papers,  ii.  99.  Ingram,  the  sub-warden, 
told  the  king  that  there  were  not  less  than 
Mie  hundred  thousand  people  gathered  to- 
gether to  see  Burton  pass  by  betwixt  Smith- 
field  and  two  miles  beyond  Highgate.  His 
wife  went  along  in  a  coach,  having  much 
money  thrown  to  her  as  she  passed.— Ibid. 
114. 

2  See  "A  Few  Discovery  of  the  Prelates' 
Tyranny  in  their  late  Prosecutions,''  1641, 
p.  91,  97.  The  great  impression  made  on 
the  public  mind  by  several  publications, 
describing  the  conduct,  and  relating  the 
speeches  of  Prynne,  Bastwick,  and  Burton, 
at  the  time  of  the  execution  of  the  sentence, 
induced  the  court  of  Star-chamber  to  pub- 
lish an  order  for  the  better  regulation  of 
the  press.  It  forbade,  1.  the  importation 
or  sale  of  books  printed  beyond  the  seas,  to 
the  scandal  of  religion  or  the  church,  or  the 
government,  or  of  the  governors  of  the 
ehurch  or  state,  or  commonwealth,  or  of 
any  corporation,  or  particular  person  or 
persons,  under  the  penalty  of  fine,  impri- 
sonment, or  other  corporal  punishment,  by 
order  of  the  court  of  Star-chamber,  or  of 
the  High  Commission;  2.  the  printing  of 
any  book  whatsoever,  unless  it  were  first 
lawfully  licensed,  upon  pain  that  the  printer 
should  be  disabled  from  exercising  the  mys- 
tery of  printing,  and  receive  such  other 

7 


dral  before  the  congregation,  and  in 
the  tov/n-hall,  before  the  mayor,  al- 
dermen, and  citizens  of  Chester.^  As 
for  the  prisoners,  it  was  determined 
to  banish  them  out  of  England,  but 
still  to  detain  them  in  prison.  ]3ast- 
wick  was  sent  to  the  isle  of  Scilly, 
Burton  to  the  castle  of  Cornet  in 
Guernsey,  and  Prynne  to  that  of 
Mont  Orgueil  in  the  island  of  Jersey. 
II.  The  proceedings  in  the  High 
Commission  court  did  not  produce 
less  discontent  than  those  in  the  Star- 
chamber.  Never  were  the  powers  with 
which  they  were  armed  more  vigor- 
ously exercised,  never  were  the  punish- 
ments which  they  inflicted— fines,  im- 
prisonment, and  costs  of  suits  —  so 
vexatiously  multiplied  as  under  the 
present  metropolitan.  They  professed 
to  take  cognizance  of  all  public 
breaches  of  morality,  of  all  words, 
writings,  or  actions  tending  to  the 
disparagement  either  of  the  religion 
or  of  the  church  established  by  law ; 
and  as  in  the  prosecution  of  these 
duties  they  frequently  came  into  col- 


punishment  as  one  of  the  two  courts  afore- 
said should  inflict.  3.  It  ordered  that  books 
of  law  should  be  licensed  by  one  of  the 
chief  justices,  or  the  chief  baron  ;  books  of 
history  and  state  affairs  by  one  of  the  secre- 
taries of  state ;  books  of  heraldry  by  the 
earl  marshal ;  books  of  divinity,  philosophy, 
physic,  poetry,  and  other  subjects,  by  the 
archbishop,  or  the  bishop  of  London,  or  the 
chancellors  or  vice-chancellors  of  the  uni- 
versities. All  these,  however,  might  ap- 
point other  licensers  under  them.  4.  That 
every  printer  should  affix  his  own  name, 
and  the  name  of  the  author,  to  every  book, 
baDad,  or  portraiture  printed  by  him.  5.  That 
there  should  be  no  more  than  twenty  master 
printers  besides  those  of  his  majesty  and 
the  universities;  that  no  printer  should 
have  more  than  two  presses  or  two  ap- 
prentices, unless  he  were  warden  of  the 
company.  6.  That  if  any  other  person 
presume  to  print,  or  work  at  a  press,  or 
compose  letters,  he  should  bo  set  in  the 
piUory,  be  whipped  through  the  city  of 
London,  and  suiJ'er  other  discretionary  pun- 
ishment. 7.  That  there  should  be  no  more 
than  four  letter-founders  allowed.  July  11, 
1637.— Kushworth,  iii.  App.  306.  A  more 
eifectual  scheme  could  not  be  devised  to 
enslave  the  press  j  but  whence  did  this  court 
derive  the  power  to  make  such  a  regula- 
tion? 

0 


194 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  t 


lision  with  the  courts  at  Westminster, 
the  rivalry  between  the  civil  and 
spiritual  jurisdictions  naturally  begot 
a  hostile  feeling  between  the  church 
and  the  bar.  The  people  lived  in 
continual  dread  of  these  inquisitorial 
tribunals;  and  there  existed  among 
them  a  persuasion,  that  many  of 
the  prosecutions  were  instituted,  not 
through  motives  of  morality  or  reli- 
gion, but  for  the  mere  sake  of  the 
fines,  which  were  set  apart  as  a  fund 
towards  the  repairs  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.'  In  one  respect,  indeed, 
the  High  Commission  court  deserved 
the  praise  of  impartiality;  it  visited 
with  equal  retribution  the  offences 
of  the  rich  and  of  the  poor ;  but  this 
very  circumstance  operated  to  its  pre- 
judice. Individuals  of  rank  and  in- 
fluence, who  had  been  compelled  by 
it  to  do  public  penance  for  inconti- 
nency,  or  some  other  scandalous  vice, 
were  taught  through  revenge,  others 
of  similar  habits  through  fear  of 
similar  punishment,  to  look  with  an 
evil  eye  upon  that  jurisdiction  which 
employed  itself  in  humbling  their 
pride  and  interfering  with  their 
pleasures.  The  rigour  of  the  arch- 
bishop produced  an  effect  contrary 
to  his  expectations ;  and  instead  of 
strengthening  the  prelacy,  he  sur- 
rounded it  with  a  multitude  of  ene- 
mies,   ready   to    join    at    the    first 


1  See  two  commissions  for  the  repairs  of 
St.  Paul  s,  in  Bibliotheca  Regia,  244—268, 
April  10,  1632,  and  December  20,  1634. 

2  See  Clarendon  (i.  94),  and  the  history 
of  several  prosecutions  in  this  court  in 
Prynne  (Canterburies  Doome,  93—102). 
One  of  them  I  shall  notice  on  account  of 
its  singularity.  The  Tiscountess  Purbeck, 
with  whom  the  reader  is  already  acquainted, 
had  been  convicted  of  adultery  with  Sir 
Robert  Howard,  and  adjudged  todo  penance 
barefoot,  and  in  a  sheet,  in  the  Savoy  church. 
She,  however,  contrived  to  escape  in  a 
man's  dress,  joined  her  paramour  at  his 
house  in  the  country,  lived  with  him  some 
years,  and  bore  him  several  children.  In 
1635,  both  ventured  to  return  to  West- 
minster. The  king  mentioned  the  fact  to 
Laud,  who  apprehended  them,  confined  the 
knight  in  the  Kleet,  and  sent  the  lady  to  the 
Gatehouse,  with  an  order  that  she  should 


favourable  moment  in  subverting  th( 
church  from  its  very  foundations.'* 

III.  In  the  council  no  man  more 
fearlessly  opposed  the  policy  of  Laut 
than  the  earl  of  Portland,  lord  trea 
surer.  In  1635,  his  death  freed  th( 
archbishop  from  a  most  formidable 
adversary ;  the  treasury  was  put  int< 
commission ;  and  Laud  himself  tool 
his  place  at  the  head  of  the  board 
With  his  characteristic  impetuosity 
he  plunged  into  an  ocean  of  busines 
with  the  nature  of  which  he  wa 
unacquainted.  He  soon  became  th' 
unsuspecting  tool  of  designing  men 
of  contractors,  who  offered  to  bin 
projects  for  the  improvement  of  th' 
revenue,  while  they  sought  nothin; 
in  reality  but  their  own  interest 
and  he  found  himself  for  month 
together  involved  in  daily  quarrel 
with  his  colleagues,  particularly  wit! 
Lord  Cottington,  the  chancellor  c 
the  exchequer.  At  the  expiration  c 
the  year,  he  advised  the  king  to  dis 
solve  the  commission,  and  to  give  th 
staff  of  lord  treasurer  to  his  forme 
school-fellow.  Dr.  Juxon,  for  whor 
he  had  lately  obtained  the  bishopri 
of  London.  The  appointment  excite 
general  surprise;  its  object  is  disclose  ! 
by  the  remark  of  Laud  in  his  Diary 
"Now  if  the  church  will  not  hoi  ! 
up  themselves  under  God,  I  can  d  ■ 
no  more."  Juxon,  however,  thougli 


perform  her  penance  the  next  Sun. 
Howard,  by  a  irieud,  corrupted  the  fidt 
of  the  warden;  Lady  Purbeck  escapeu 
Guernsey,  and  thence  to  France,  and 
High  Commission  court  condemned 
Robert  to  close  confinement  till  he  sb' 

Eroduce  the  fugitive.    Three  months  la 
e  was  liberated  on  his  bond  of  two  tli 
sand  pounds,  never  more  to  adroit  her  i 
his  presence,  and  of  one  thousand  five  hi 
dred  pounds  on  his  own  security,  and  t 
of  his  brothers,  for  his  appearance  wl. 
ever  he  should  be  called    upon.     In 
Long  Parliament  the  Lords  gave  him  • 
thousand  pounds  damages,— live    bumi: 
pounds  from  the  archbishop,  and  two  hi 
dred   and   fifty  pounds   from    Martin 
Lambe,  the  judges  of  the  court. — Sea 
Stratford  Papers,  i,  390,  423,  426,  434, 1 
Lords'  Journals,  113, 117 :  Laud's  Trou' 
146. 


LJ>.  1635.]       THE  EOYAL  FOEESTS-SHIP-MONEY. 


195 


3ntered  upon  office  under  unfavour- 
ible  circumstances,  though  he  was 
Qot  formed  by  nature  or  education 
to  enforce  illegal  measures,  or  to 
buffet  with  the  turbulence  of  the 
times,  executed  his  trust  with  such 
integrity  and  forbearance,  that  he 
incurred  a  smaller  degree  of  odium 
than  any  other  member  of  the 
idministration.  When  they  were 
respectively  censured  by  the  Long 
Parliament,  he  passed  through  the 
Drdeal  without  a  stain,  and  carried 
with  him  from  office  the  respect  of 
the  very  men  who  suppressed  both 
jthe  order  to  which  he  belonged  in 
the  church,  and  the  party  with  which 
he  was  connected  in  the  state.' 

One  of  the  great  discoveries  made 
by  the  commissioners  of  the  treasury 
regarded  the  royal  forests  and  chases. 
These,  which  were  known  to  have 
Deen  of  enormous  extent  in  the  time 
)f  the  Norman  kings,  had  in  the  lapse 
Df  five  centuries  been  considerably  re- 
iuced ;  nor  was  it  an  easy  matter  to 
ascertain  whether  the  lands  and  rights 
aow  claimed  by  different  individuals, 
svere  originally  derived  from  unau- 
:horized  encroachments,  or  from  the 
i  grants  of  the  sovereign.  The  com- 
nission  took  advantage  of  the  un- 
certainty, and  the  earl  of  Holland 
iccepted  the  office  of  chief  justice  in 
iyre  south  of  the  Trent.  With  the 
lid  of  several  judges  as  assistants,  he 
aeld  his  court  successively  in  the 
iifferent  counties ;  inquiries  were 
made  into  the  original  boundaries 
Df  the  forests;  and  the  landholders 
iwere  summoned  to  prove  their  titles, 
Dr  otherwise  to  answer  for  their 
!  3ncroachments.    The  most  alarming 


1  Clarendon,  i.  98,  99.  Laud's  Diary,  51, 
53.  Strafiord  Papers,  i.  431,  433,  448,  449, 
479.  "  We  begin  to  live  here  in  the  church 
triumphant ;  and  there  wants  but  one  more 
to  keep  the  king's  conscience  to  make  up  a 
triumvirate." — Ibid.  522. 

»  Ibid.  i.  410,  413,  435,  463,  467.  "  Mv 
lord  of  Salisbury  vs^as  fined  20,000^  ;  the 
earl  of  Westmoreland,  19,000^  :  Sir  Chris- 


reports  prevailed,  and  it  was  believed 
that  the  greater  portion  of  every  shire 
in  England,  with  the  exception  of 
Kent,  Surrey,  and  Sussex,  would  be 
claimed  as  belonging  to  the  king. 
Holland's  progress  was  stopped  by 
the  troubles  which  followed,  but  he 
had  previously  brought  immense 
sums  into  the  treasury  by  the  fines 
which  he  levied,  or  the  compositions 
which  he  extorted  from  the  numerous 
individuals  who  were  adjudged  to  have 
trespassed  on  the  lands  or  rights  of 
the  crown.2 

This,  though  an  enormous  abuse, 
affected  individuals  only ;  there  was 
another  grievance  which  soon  ex- 
tended itself  over  the  whole  kingdom. 
Noy,  after  his  defection  from  the 
country  party,  retained  that  raorosity 
of  disposition,  and  that  apparent  inde- 
pendence of  character,  by  which  he 
had  always  been  distinguished.  But 
he  was  easily  led  by  flattery,  and  the 
praises  given  to  his  learning  and 
ingenuity  by  the  ministers  stimulated 
him  to  the  discovery  of  a  new  and 
most  productive  source  of  income. 
He  had  found  among  the  records  in 
the  Tower,  not  only  writs  compelling 
the  ports,  on  certain  occasions,  to  pro- 
vide ships  for  the  use  of  the  king,  but 
others  oWiging  their  neighbours  of 
the  maritime  counties  to  contribute 
to  the  expense.  Hence  he  devised  a 
plan,  by  which  a  powerful  fleet  might 
be  procured  without  any  additional 
charge  to  the  revenue.  It  was  a  time 
when  the  right  of  the  English  crown 
to  the  dominion  of  the  narrow  seas 
was  disputed;^  the  English  fisheries 
were  annually  invaded  by  the  Dutch 
and  French  mariners ;  unlawful  cap- 


topher  Hatton,  12,000?.;  my  Lord  Newport, 
3,000?.;  Sir  Lewis  Watson,  4,0OOZ. ;  Sir 
Eobert  Bannister,  3,000?.,  and  many  others 
smaller  sums,"  for  encroachments  on  the 
forest  of  Rockingham  alone. — Ibid.  ii.  117. 

3  "  The  purpose  and  main  work  of  the 
fleet  is  to  recover  the  dominium  maris." — 
Ibid.  i.  416. 

0  2 


196 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  -v 


tures  were  made  by  the  cruisers  of  the 
diflferent  powers  at  war  with  each 
other,  and  the  Turkish  corsairs,  in 
occasional  descents,  carried  off  slaves 
from  the  coast  of  Ireland.*  To  repel 
such  aggressions  served  as  a  pretext ; 
but  there  was  another  and  secret  ob- 
ject, for  the  accomplishment  of  which 
Charles  required  a  numerous  fleet. 
He  was  engaged  in  a  new  treaty  with 
the  king  of  Spain,  who  offered  to  pro- 
cure the  restoration  of  the  Palatinate, 
on  condition  that  Charles  would  pre- 
viously aid  him  by  sea,  against  the 
United  Provinces,  until  they  should 
consent  to  a  reasonable  peace,'  With 
this  view  writs  were  issued  to  Lon- 
don, and  the  different  ports,  ordering 
them  to  supply  a  certain  number  of 
ships  of  a  specified  tonnage,  sufficiently 
armed  and  manned,  to  rendezvous 
at  Portsmouth  on  the  1st  of  March 
of  the  following  year,  and  to  serve 
during  six  months,  under  an  admiral 
to  be  appointed  by  the  king.^  Noy, 
indeed,  died  before  the  writs  were 
issued;  but  the  experiment  suc- 
ceeded ;  the  imprisonment  of  those 
who  refused  to  pay  their  share  of  the 
expense  enforced  obedience  ;  and  the 
council  resolved  to  extend  the  mea- 
sure from  the  maritime  towns  to  the 
whole  kingdom.  Writs  were  directed 
to  the  sheriffs,  informing  each  that 
his  county  was  assessed  at  a  certain 
number  of  ships  towards  the  fleet  for 
the  ensuing  year;  that  the  charge 
was  estimated  at  a  certain  sum,  and 
that  he  was  required  to  levy  that  sum 
on  the  inhabitants,  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  subsidies  had  been  usually 
raised.  By  this  contrivance,  the  king 
obtained  a  yearly  supply  of  two  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  thousand  five  hun- 
dred   pounds;    and    it    should    be 


1  "  The  pillage  the  Turks  have  done  upon 
the  coast  is  most  insufferable  ;  and  to  have 
our  subjects  ravished  from  us,  and  at  after 
to  be  from  Eochelle  driven  over  land  in 
chains  to  Marseilles,  all  this  tinder  the  sun, 
u  most  infamous  usage  in  a  Christian  king." 


observed,  that  he  carefully  devote' 
it  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  wa 
demanded ;  a  fleet  of  more  than  sixt 
sail  annually  swept  the  narrow  sea: 
and  the  admirals,  first  the  earl  c 
Lindsey,  afterwards  the  earl  of  Nortb 
umberland,  received  orders  to  sin 
every  foreign  ship  which  refused  t 
salute  the  English  flag."* 

He  was,  however,  aware  that  thoug 
he  obtained  the  money,  his  right  t 
levy  it  was  denied    by  many  — Wf 
questioned  by  most  of  his  subject 
On  this  account  it  became  of  import 
ance  to  have  the  legality  of  the  ta 
established  by  the  decisions   of  tb 
courts  of  law.    Sir  Robert  Heath,  tl 
lord  chief  justice  of  the  King's  Bend 
was  removed,  and  in  his  place  w; 
substituted    Sir  John    Finch,    la 
speaker  of  the  house  of  Commons,  . 
judge  of  inferior  learning,  but  mo 
courtly  principles.    Pinch  canvass* 
his  brethren  for  votes ;  he  visited  ea( 
in  private,  and  through  his  solicit 
tions  he  obtained  an  unanimous  res 
lution,  that  "  as,  where  the  benefit  r 
dounded  to  the  ports  and  maritic 
parts,    the  charge  was,  according 
the  precedent  of  former  times, 
fully  laid  upon  them ;  so,  by  parif 
reason,  where  the  good  and  safe 
the  kingdom  in  general  is  concei 
the  charge  ought  to  be  borne  bj 
whole  realm." ^     This,  however,^ 
satisfactory  only,  inasmuch  as  it  k  1 
a  foundation  for  future  proceediu 
In  three  months,  two    other   (i 
tions  were  proposed  to  the  jud 
"1.  Whether  in  cases  of  danger 
the  good  and  safety  of  the  kini: 
in  general,  the  king  could  not  in. 
ship  money  for  its  defence  and  > 
guard,  and  by  law  compel  payui. 
from  those  who  refused:  2.  Whell 


ing 

•X 

1 


—Strafford  Papers,  ii.  25,  also  i.  68. 

3  Clarendon  Papers,  i.  75,  83,  101. 
109,  125,  214,  231.  3  Rushworth,  ii. 

♦  Eushworth,  ii.  257,  259,  335,  313.  .- 
ford  Papers,  337,430,  435,  437,  463,  46S. 

5  Howell'B  State  Trials,  iii.  1201. 


II 


D.  1636.] 


HAMPDEN. 


197 


3  -were  not  the  sole  judge  both  of 
18  danger  and  when  and  how  it  was 
>  be  prevented."  They  assembled  in 
le  hall  of  Serjeants'  Inn ;  ten  de- 
ded  in  favour  of  the  prerogative ; 
id  Croke  and  Hutton,  though  they 
issented  from  their  brethren,  sub- 
'Tibed  their  names  on  the  principle 
lat  the  judgment  of  the  majority 
as  that  of  the  whole  body.' 

By  most  of  the  judges  it  was  sup- 
osed  that  this  opinion  had  been  re- 
uired  for  the  private  satisfaction  of 
le  royal  conscience.  To  their  asto- 
ishment  the  lord  keeper  read  it  to 
he  public  in  the  Star-chamber ;  it 
•as  ordered  to  be  enrolled  in  all  the 
Durts  at  AYestminster ;  and  they 
lemselves  received  instructions  to 
3peat  and  explain  it  at  the  assizes 
uring  their  circuits.  The  council 
as  anxious  to  make  it  universally 
nown,  and  anticipated  from  its  pub- 
cation  the  most  beneficial  results. 
Since  it  is  lawful,"  observes  Lord 
trafford,  "  for  the  king  to  impose  a 
IX  towards  the  equipment  of  the 
avy,  it  must  be  equally  so  for  the 
3vy  of  an  army ;  and  the  same  reason 
rhich  authorizes  him  to  levy  an  army 
D  resist,  will  authorize  him  to  carry 
hat  army  abroad,  that  he  may  pre- 
ent,  invasion.  Moreover,  what  is 
iw  in  England,  is  law  also  in  Scot- 
md  and  Ireland.  This  decision  of 
he  judges  will  therefore  make  the 
ing  absolute  at  home,  and  formidable 
broad.  Let  him  only  abstain  from 
rar  a  few  years,  that  he  may  habi- 
uate  his  subjects  to  the  payment  of 
his  tax,  and  in  the  end  he  will  find 
limself  more  powerful  and  respected 
ban  any  of  his  predecessors."  * 

But  there  still  existed  a  man  who 
■entured  to  dispute  the  pretended 
ight  of  the  crown.  This  was  the 
'.elebrated  John  Hampden,  a  gentle- 
nan   of  Buckinghamshire ;   one   so 


quietj  so  courteous,  so  submissive, 
that  he  seemed  the  last  individual 
in  the  kingdom  to  oppose  the  opinion 
of  the  judges.  But  under  the  appear- 
ance of  humility  and  diffidence,  he 
veiled  a  correct  judgment,  an  invin- 
cible spirit,  and  the  most  consummate 
address.  In  1626,  he  had  suffered 
imprisonment  for  his  refusal  to  pay 
his  assessment  towards  the  forced 
loan';  a  refusal  which  he  justified  by 
the  danger  of  drawing  upon  himself 
the  curse  pronounced  against  the 
violators  of  Magna  Charta;  now  in 
similar  manner,  he  ventured  to  meet 
his  sovereign  in  a  court  of  law,  merely 
as  he  pretended,  to  obtain  a  solemn 
judgment  on  a  very  doubtful  ques- 
tion; though  it  was  plainly  his  real 
object  to  awaken  the  people  from  their 
apathy,  by  the  public  discussion  of  a 
subject  which  so  nearly  concerned 
their  rights  and  liberties.  The  sum 
demanded  amounted  to  twenty  shil- 
lings. Hampden  demurred  to  the 
proceedings  in  the  court  of  Exchequer, 
and  the  question  was  solemnly  argued 
before  the  twelve  judges  during  twelve 
days.  In  favour  of  the  crown  were 
adduced,  1.  thepracticeof  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings,  and  the  annual  tax  of 
Danegelt  towards  the  support  of  the 
navy;  2.  a  multitude  of  precedents,, 
proving  that  former  monarchs  had. 
pressed  ships  into  their  service,  and 
compelled  the  maritime  counties  to 
equip  them  ;  3.  the  reasonableness  of 
the  claim;  for  unless  the  king  pos- 
sessed, in  cases  of  danger,  the  right  of 
calling  on  his  subjects  for  aid,  the 
country  might  receive  incalculable  in- 
jury before  a  parliament  could  be 
assembled.  On  the  other  part  it  was 
contended  that  no  argument  could  be 
founded  on  the  imperfect  hints  in  our 
ancient  writers,  respecting  the  Dane- 
gelt, or  the  naval  armaments  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  kings;    2.    that  out  of 


1  Rnshworth,  ii.  352—358.  Biblioth.  Eegia, 
J48-250. 


3  Strafford  Papers,  ii.  61, 


198 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  "V 


the  multitude  of  precedents  adduced, 
not  one  bore  any  resemblance  to  the 
present  writs,  which  first  ordered  the 
inhabitants  of  the  inland  counties  to 
fit  out  ships,  and  then  to  pay  money 
in  lieu  of  those  ships;  3.  that  no 
urgent  necessity  could  be  pleaded ; 
for  the  writs  had  been  issued  six 
months  before  the  ships  were  wanted, 
and  consequently  there  was  suflficient 
time  in  the  interval  to  assemble  and 
consult  the  parliament ;  4.  that  these 
writs  were  in  opposition  both  to  the 
statutes  and  the  Petition  of  Eight, 
which  provided  that  no  tax  should  be 
levied  on  the  subject  without  the  con- 
sent of  parliament ;  nor  was  it  a  valid 
objection,  that  the  king  could  still 
levy  an  aid  on  the  knighthood  of  his 
son  and  the  marriage  of  his  eldest 
daughter,  for  these  cases  were  ex- 
pressly excepted  in  Magna  Charta, 
and  virtually  in  the  succeeding  sta- 
tutes. The  judges  delivered  their 
opinions  during  the  three  next  terms, 
four  in  each  term.  Seven  pronounced 
in  favour  of  the  prerogative,  and  five 
in  favour  of  Hampden ;  but  of  these, 
two  only,  Hutton  and  Croke,  denied 
the  right  claimed  by  the  crown,  the 
others,  while  they  acknowledged  its 
existence,  availed  themselves  of  some 
technical  informality,  to  decide  against 
its  exercise  in  the  present  instance.' 

The  termination  of  this  great  trial, 
which  had  kept  the  nation  so  long  in 
suspense,  was  hailed  as  an  important 
victory  by  the  court ;  but  it  proved  a 
victory,  which  by  its  consequences 
led  afterwards  to  the  downfall  of  the 
monarchy.  The  reasoning  in  favour 
of  the  prerogative  was  universally 
judged  weak  and  inconclusive;  and 
men  who  had  paid  cheerfully  while 
they  conceived  the  claim  might  be 
good  in  law,  parted  with  their  money 
reluctantly  after  they  had  persuaded 
themselves  that  it  was  illegal.    The 


1  Kush.  480—600.    Howell's  State  Trials, 
iii.  826—1264.  »  Clarendon,  i.  69. 


authority  of  the  judges  had  little  in 
fluence  on  the  public  opinion ;  th 
merit  of  their  determination  reste^ 
on  their  arguments ;  and  the  weaknes 
of  these  induced  men  to  believe  tha 
they  pronounced  according  to  th 
dictates  of  interest  rather  than  c 
conscience.^ 

But  Charles  was  not  satisfied  wit 
sowing  the  seeds   of  disaffection  i 
England;  the  same  arbitrary  swaj 
the  same  disregard  of  the  royal  wor( 
the  same  violation  of  private  right: 
marked  his  government  of  the  peopl 
of  Ireland.    Fearing  that  the  exped 
tion  against  Cadiz  might  provoke  tb 
Spaniards  to  make  a  descent  on  tb 
island,  he  had  ordered  the  Irish  arm 
to  be  increased  to  the  number  of  fiv 
thousand  foot  and  five  hundred  hors' 
To  raise  the  men  presented  no  diff 
culty,  but  to  provide  for  their  suppo) 
was  a  problem  which  Lord  Ealklam 
the  deputy,  knew  not  how  to  solv( 
He  called  together  the  principal  pr( 
prietors;   they  consented  to  offer  1 
the  king  a  large  sum  of  money  i 
return  for  certain  concessions;   an 
their  delegates  proceeded  to  Londo 
to  arrange  with  the  English  counc 
the  particulars  of  the  contract.    .  i 
report  was  immediately  spread  th: 
they  had  been  instructed  to  solic 
certain  indulgences  in  favour  of  tl  : 
Catholic  recusants,  who  formed  tw< 
thirds    of  the   meeting.     The  vei  < 
sound   of    the   word   "  indulgence  * 
alarmed  the  zeal  of  Usher,  archbisht  ( 
of  Armagh,  who  called  to  him  elevt  ! 
other  prelates ;  and  the  declaration  ■  i 
the  synod  was  solemnly  promulgat(  ' 
before  the  chief  governor,  in  Chri 
Church,  Dublin,  by  Downham,  bish« 
of  Derry :  1.  That  to  permit  the  fr 
exercise  of  the  Catholic  worship  wou 
be  a  grievous  sin,  because  it  woi 
make  the  government    a  party  i. 
only  to  the  superstition,  idolatry,  ai 
heresy  of  that  worship,  but  also  to  tl 
perdition  of  the  seduced  people, 
would  perish  in  the  deluge  of 


^.j).  1638.] 


PEOCEEDINGS  IN  lEELAND. 


199 


holic  aspostasy;  2.  that,  to  grant 
nich  toleration  for  the  sake  of  money 

0  be  contributed  by  the  recusants, 
Aas  to  set  rehgion  to  sale,  and  with 
,t  the  souls  of  the  people  whom  Christ 
lad  redeemed  with  his  blood.*  This 
loctrine  was  undoubtedly  in  unison 
ivith  the  intolerant  maxims  of  the 
lime;  but  Charles  did  not  balance 
between  his  orthodoxy  and  his  in- 
terest ;  he  gladly  accepted  the  offer  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
pounds,  a  larger  sum  than  had  ever 
been  given  to  his  predecessors,  to  be 
paid  by  equal  instalments  in  the 
course  of  three  years ;  and  in  return 
he  granted,  under  his  own  hand,  one- 
and-fifty  graces  (so  they  were  termed), 
by  which,  in  addition  to  the  removal 
of  many  minor  grievances,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  the  recusants  should  be 
allowed  to  practise  in  the  courts  of 
law,  and  to  sue  the  livery  of  their 
lands  out  of  the  Court  of  Wards,  on 
taking   an    oath    of  civil  allegiance 


1  Cyp.  Anglic.  206, 

a  For  the  Court  of  Wards  Ireland  was 
indebted  to  the  kingcraft  of  the  late  mo- 
narch, James  I.  In  the  fourteenth  of  his 
reign  he  established  it  there  of  his  own 
authority,  that  is,  not  by  act  of  parliament, 
but  by  act  of  the  Irish  council.  The  osten- 
sible motiTC  was  the  better  collection  of  his 
revenue  from  the  wards  of  the  crown  ;  but 
the  British  Solomon  had  a  deeper  and  most 
imnortant  object  in  view,  the  prevention  of 
the  growth  of  popery.  According  to  the 
regulations,  which  formed  the  constitution 
of  this  new  court,  all  heirs  to  lands  holden 
of  the  crown — and  at  the  accession  of  James 
there  was  scarcely  an  acre  in  Ireland  which 
was  not  so  holden — wei-e  obliged  to  sue  out 
the  livery  of  their  lands  in  the  Court  of 
Wards,  which  court  was  forbidden  to  grant 
such  livery  to  any  one  who  had  not  pre- 
viously taken  the  oath  of  supremacy  enacted 
in  the  first  of  Elizabeth,  and  also  an  oath 
of  abjuration  of  several  articles  of  the  Catho- 
lic creed.  Thus  he  had  no  alternative  but 
to  forswear  his  religion  or  forfeit  his  pro- 
perty. If,  however,  the  heir  were  a  minor, 
it  was  reserved  to  the  same  court  to  grant 
the  wardship  at  discretion,  but  to  obHge 
the  grantee,  by  a  clause  inserted  in  his 
patent,  to  "  maintain  and  educate  his  ward 
in  the  English  religion  and  habits  in  Trinity 
College,  Dublin." — Note  by  Mr.  Hardiman 
in  O' Flaherty's  West  Connaught,  p.  420.  It 
is  plain,  that  if  these  regulations  had  been 


in  lieu  of  the  oath  of  supremacy;'' 
that  the  undertakers  in  the  several 
plantations  should  have  time  allowed 
them  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  their 
leases ;  that  the  claims  of  the  crown 
should  be  confined  to  the  last  sixty 
years;  that  the  inhabitants  of  Con- 
naught  should  be  permitted  to  make 
a  new  enrolment  of  their  estates ;  and 
that  a  parliament  should  be  holden 
to  confirm  these  graces,  and  to  esta- 
blish every  man  in  the  undisturbed 
possession  of  his  lands,^ 

The  delegates  returned  to  Ireland 
with  instructions  to  the  lord  deputy, 
who  hastened  to  summon  a  parlia- 
ment before  he  had  complied  with  the 
conditions  required  by  Poyning's  sta- 
tute. Hence  the  writs  were  un- 
doubtedly illegal,  but  the  error, 
whether  it  were  intentional  or  not, 
might  have  been  remedied  by  the 
issue  of  other  writs  in  a  inore  legal 
form.  Nothing,  however,  was  done. 
The  Irish,  though  surprised,  waited 


strictly  carried  into  execution,  every  land-, 
owner  in  Ireland,  whether  he  were  suc- 
cessor to  an  English  undertaker,  or  to  a 
lord  of  the  pale,  or  to  an  Irish  chieftain  of 
Milesian  lineage,  must  in  due  course  of  time 
have  become  a  sworn  Protestant.  But 
James's  plan  was  frequently  defeated  by 
enfeoffments  of  the  land  to  secret  trusts 
and  uses,  which  withdrew  the  next  heir 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  and 
allowed  him  to  succeed  to  his  inheritance 
without  molestation  on  the  ground  of  his 
religion.  Now  the  fifteenth  of  the  graces 
mentioned  in  the  text  prayed  for  the  abo- 
lition, not  of  I  he  court  itself, — for  that  would 
have  trenched  too  deeply  on  the  king's  in- 
come,— but  of  the  oaths  which  the  court 
was  accustomed  to  administer.  In  place  of 
them  it  was  proposed  to  substitute  an  oath 
of  civil  allegiance  without  any  reference  to 
religious  doctrine  or  private  opinion.  By 
it  the  suitor  was  made  to  acknowledge  the 
king's  right  to  the  crown ;  to  engage  to 
bear  true  allegiance  to  him  and  his  suc- 
cessors, and  to  promise  to  reveal  every  trai- 
torous conspiracy  that  should  come  to  his 
knowledge, "  which  recognition  and  acknow- 
ledgment he  made  heartily,  willingly,  and 
truly  upon  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian." — 
Strafford  Papers,  i.  317.  To  this  proposal 
Charles,  with  the  advice  of  his  English  coun- 
cil, fully  assented. — Ibid. 

3  See  the  graces  at  length  in  the  Straf- 
ford Papers,  i.  312. 


200 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  t 


with  patient  reliance  on  the  honour 
of  their  sovereign;  nor  did  the  sus- 
picion enter  into  their  minds  that  he 
meant  to  receive  their  money,  and 
refuse  to  redeem  his  pledge. 

But  the  lord  Falkland  was  not  the 
man  to  carry  into  execution  the  dis- 
honest projects  of  thp  English  coun- 
cil. Ee  was  recalled  to  make  place 
for  the  viscount  Wentworth,  who, 
without  resigning  his  office  of  lord 
president  of  the  north,  accepted  that 
of  chief  governor  of  Ireland.  Went- 
worth  brought  with  him  to  the  ser- 
vice of  his  sovereign  that  austerity  of 
disposition,  and  that  obstinacy  of  pur- 
pose, which  had  formerly  earned  for 
him  the  hostility  of  the  king  and  of 
his  favourite.  He  had  once  been  the 
zealous  champion  of  the  rights  of  the 
people:  he  now  knew  no  rights  but 
those  of  the  crown.  Ireland,  he  main- 
tained, was  a  conquered  country; 
whatever  the  inhabitants  possessed, 
they  derived  from  the  indulgence  of 
the  conqueror;  and  the  imprudent 
grants  of  preceding  kings  might  be 
resumed  or  modified  by  the  reigning 
monarch.  "With  these  principles  he 
proceeded  to  Dublin,  assured  of  the 
protection  of  Charles,  and  strength- 
ened by  the  influence  of  his  friend, 
Archbishop  Laud.  His  very  arrival 
formed  a  new  era  in  the  government 
of  the  island.  He  ordered  the  cere- 
monial of  the  British  court  to  be  ob- 
served within  the  castle;  a  guard, 
an  institution  unknown  under  former 
deputies,  was  established;  and  the 
proudest  of  the  Irish  lords  were 
taught  to  feel  the  immense  distance 


1  Strafford  Papers,  i.  96,  112,  134, 

2  Ibid.  i.  71,  7-i,  76,  134. 

3  Ibid.  186,  187,  246,  259.  Charles  writes 
to  the  deputy,  "  it  will  not  be  worse  for  my 
service,  though  their  obstinacy  make  you 
break  them  ;  for  I  fear  that  they  have  some 
ground  to  demand  more  than  it  is  fit  for 
me  to  give"  (p.  233). 

♦  In  former  times,  a  subsidy  in  Ireland 
meant  a  decennial  tax  of  a  mark  on  every 
plough-Jand  which  had  been   manured— a 


which  separated  them  from  the  repre 
sentative  of  their  sovereign.* 

Wentworth  had  engaged  to  rais 
for  the  king  a  permanent  revenue 
which  should  free  him  from  al 
dependence  on  the  bounty  of  th: 
people.  But  this,  he  gbserved,  raus 
be  the  work  of  time ;  and  in  the  in 
t«rval,  after  he  had  first  cajoled  th; 
Catholics  and  terrified  the  Protestant 
into  a  continuation  of  thevoluntar; 
assessment,^  he  ventured  to  summoi 
a  parhament.  Charles  expressed  hi 
alarm ;  but  the  deputy  had  taken  thi 
most  eflfectual  measures  to  insur. 
success.  With  the  writs  he  issued  ; 
hundred  letters  of  recommendation 
in  favour  of  particular  candidates,  ai: 
procured  a  royal  order  to  the  absei 
peers  to  forward  blank  proxies  to  th. 
council,  that  they  might  be  filled  u] 
with  such  names  as  he  should  direct 
Their  number  was  considerable.  The: 
were  for  the  most  part  natives  o 
England  or  Scotland,  who  had  n/ 
other  connection  with  Ireland  thai 
the  titles  which  they  had  solicitec 
or  purchased  from  Charles  or  hi 
father.3 

When  the  parliament  was  opene 
the  lord  deputy  announced  his  inten- 
tions of  holding  two  sessions,  one  for 
the  benefit  of  the  king,  the  other  foi 
that  of  the  people.    In  the  first  h(  -■ 
obtained  six  subsidies  of  larger  amoun"  * 
than  had  ever  been  granted  before 
but  the  Commons  voted  them  cheer- 
fully, under  the  persuasion  that  ir  : 
the  next  session  they  should  obtain 
the  confirmation  of  the  graces.*    Thej 
were  grievously  disappointed.   In  thai 


condition  which  opened  a  way  to  innume- 
rable frauds  in  the  collection.  On  this  oc- 
casion the  subsidy  was  changed  into  the 
Kayment  of  four  shillings  in  the  pound  on 
ind,  and  of  two  shillings  and  eight-pence 
on  goods,  after  the  manner  of  England. 
This  from  the  Commons  amounted  to  forty 
thousand  pounds.  The  subsidy  of  the  Lords 
was  rated  at  four  per  cent,  on  their  rents, 
and  produced  six  thousand  pounds. — Ibid. 
400.    Carte's  Ormond,  i.  62. 


.D.  1634.] 


lEISH  CONVOCATION. 


201 


session  he  infonned  them,  that  of 
hese  favours  so  long  promised,  and 
50  anxiously  expected,  some  were  fit 
:o  be  passed  into  laws,  and  some  would 
3e  carried  into  execution  by  the  order 
Df  government ;  but  that  the  others 
bore  so  hard  on  the  royal  claims,  that 
he  king  could  not  in  justice,  or 
honour,  or  conseience,  suffer  them 
to  be  established.  From  that  moment 
harmony  was  succeeded  by  dissension. 
Wentworth,  with  the  aid  of  promises 
ind  threats,  obtained  a  majority  of 
sixteen  voices;  the  opposition  was 
compelled  to  yield,  and  though  several 
laws  of  great  utility  were  passed,  the 
most  important  of  the  concessions 
which  had  been  promised,  as  part  of 
the  contract  in  1628,  were  peremptorily 
refused.^ 

From  the  convocation  "Wentworth 
obtained  eight  subsidies  of  three 
thousand  pounds  each.  But  this 
ample  grant  could  not  save  the  Irish 
clergy  from  the  mortification  which 
had  been  prepared  for  them  by  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  who  deemed  it  an 
object  of  the  first  importance  to  unite 
the  Protestant  churches  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland  in  the  pro- 
fession of  the  same  doctrine,  and  the 
observance  of  the  same  discipline. 
The  Irish  prelates  demurred.  Theirs, 
they  contended,  was  a  distinct  and 
independent  church;  they  owed  no 
obedience  to  the  archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury: they  were  satisfied  of  the 
truth  of  the  Irish  articles,  erroneous 
they  might  appear  to  the  ene- 
mies of  Calvin  and  the  admirers  of 
Arminius.  The  deputy  sought  at  first 
to  soothe  their  feelings.  He  assured 
them  that  no  claim  of  superiority  was 
set  up  by  the  English  metropolitan ; 
he  was  willing  that  the  Irish  articles, 
the  idols  of  their  adoration,  should  be 
suflFered  to  die  away  without  censure 


1  StraflFord  Papers,  280,  312,  350,  414. 
The  artifices  employed  to  take  from  the 
king  the  odium  of  breaking  his  word,  and 
to  attribute  the  refusal  of  the  graces  to  the 


or  notice ;  he  even  granted  them  per- 
mission to  compose  a  new  code  of 
ecclesiastical  discipline.  But  at  the 
same  time  he  required  that  this  code, 
how  much  soever  it  might  differ  in 
form,  should  not  depart  in  substance 
from  that  of  the  English  church,  and 
that  one  of  its  canons  should  include 
an  unlimited  admission  of  the  thirty- 
nine  articles.  To  his  surprise  he  was 
informed  that,  in  defiance  of  his  com- 
mand, the  divines  intrusted  with  the 
compilation  had  introduced  a  canon 
enjoining  the  admission  of  the  Irish 
articles,  under  the  penalty  of  excom- 
munication. He  sent  for  the  arch- 
bishop and  the  committee,  took  the 
minutes  into  his  own  possession,  re- 
proached the  chairman  with  having 
acted  the  part  of  Arminius,  and  for- 
bade him  to  make  any  report  of  the 
proceedings  to  the  convocation.  He 
then  imposed  on  Usher  the  task  of 
framing  a  canon  authorizing  the 
English  articles;  but  the  labour  of 
the  primate  did  not  give  satisfac- 
tion; AVentworth  drew  one  himself, 
and  sent  it  to  the  house,  with 
orders  that  no  debate  should  be  per- 
mitted, and  that  the  names  of  those 
who  voted  against  it  should  be  re- 
ported to  him.  One  man  only  was 
found  who  dared  to  dissent ;  the  rest 
submitted  with  feelings  of  indignation 
and  shame.- 

When  the  lord  deputy  reviewed  the 
proceedings  of  the  convocation  and 
the  parliament,  he  hastened  to  ex- 
press his  satisfaction  to  his  friend  the 
archbishop.  He  had  assimilated  the 
Irish  to  the  English  church ;  he  had 
eluded  the  confirmation  of  the  graces ; 
he  had  obtained  a  supply  which  would 
not  only  pay  off  the  debts  of  the 
crown,  but  defray  for  some  years  the 
extraordinary  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment.   "  Now,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  can 


advice  of  the  council,  may  be  seen,  ibid. 
280,  317,  320. 

3  Strafford  Papers,  i.  298,  329,  342,  381. 
Wilkins,  Con.  iv.  496,  516. 


CHAELES  I. 


[CHAP. 


say  that  the  king  is  as  absolute  here 
as  any  prince  in  the  whole  world  can 
be,  and  may  be  still,  if  it  be  not 
spoiled  on  that  side."'  His  success 
stimulated  him  to  carry  into  execu- 
tion the  other  plans  which  he  had 
formed  for  the  improvement  of  Ire- 
land. Of  these  the  most  important 
in  his  judgment  was  the  extinction  of 
the  ancient  worship,  a  work  not  to 
be  precipitated  by  violence,  but  to  be 
silently  effected  by  the  gradual  opera- 
tion of  the  law.  Under  the  notion 
that  the  attachment  of  the  lower 
orders  to  the  Catholic  faith  sprung 
out  of  their  aptitude  to  imitate  the 
conduct  of  their  chiefs,  he  had  per- 
suaded himself  that,  if  the  principal 
landholders  could  be  induced  to  con- 
form, the  great  mass  of  the  people 
would  spontaneously  follow  their  ex- 
ample. "With  this  view  he  restored 
to  full  activity  the  oppressive  powers 
of  the  Court  of  Wards.  The  Catholic 
heir,  if  he  were  a  minor,  was  educated 
by  order  of  the  deputy  in  the  Pro- 
testant faith ;  if  of  age,  he  was  refused 
the  livery  of  his  lands  till  he  had 
abjured  his  religion  by  taking  the 
oath  of  supremacy.  The  abolition  of 
this  grievance  had  been  solemnly  pro- 
mised by  Charles  in  the  contract  of 
1628;  but  Wentworth,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  careful  to  prevent  the  con- 
firmation of  that  contract.  He  went 
even  farther.  To  elude  the  claim  of 
the  crown  to  the  wardships,  and  to 
prevent  the  necessity  of  suing  out  the 
livery  of  lands,  the  Catholics  had  been 
accustomed  to  alter  the  property  of 
their  estates,  by  long  leases  of  some 


1  Strafford  Papers,  i.  344.  On  this  ac- 
connt  he  wished  to  prorogue,  and  not  to 
dissolve,  the  parliament ;  because  he  might 
find  it  useful  to  assemble  it  again.  But 
Charles  insisted  on  a  dissolution.  "  My 
experience  shows  they  are  of  the  nature  of 
oats,  that  they  grow  crusty  with  age  ;  so 
that  if  ve  will  have  good  of  them,  put  them 
off  handsomely  when  they  come  of  any  age, 
for  young  ones  ever  are  most  tractable." — 
■^Ibid.  365,  Jan.  22. 

'  This,  he  observes,  "  was  a  mighty  con- 


hundred  years,  and  feoffments  to  sc 
cret  trusts  and  uses.  But  such  expt 
dients  were  now  rendered  unavailabl 
by  an  act  passed  at  the  suggestion  c 
the  lord  deputy,  which  provided  th£ 
all  persons,  for  whose  use  others  wer 
seized  of  lands,  should  be  deemed  i: 
actual  possession  thereof,  and  that  n 
conveyance  of  any  estate  of  inhf 
ritance  should  be  valid,  unless  it  wer 
by  writing,  and  enrolled  in  the  prope 
court.=^ 

The  reader  will  have  observed  i 
the  history  of  the  last  reign,  that  on 
of  the  chief  grievances  in  Ireland  wt 
the   insecurity  of  landed   property 
arising  from  the  dormant  and  ur 
suspected  pretensions  of  the  crowi 
By  the  contract  of  1628,  Charles  ha 
consented  to  confirm  by  act  of  parlii 
ment  the  titles  of  the  existing  posses 
sors;  but  he  was  seduced  from  the  pei 
formance  of  his  word  by  the  promis( 
held  out  to  him  by  the  lord  deput; 
who  had  already  arranged   a  mof 
extensive  plan  of  spoliation,  and  ii 
tended  to  claim  the  whole  province  ( 
Connaught  in  right  of  the  sovereigi 
He  pretended  that  Henry  III.,  r( 
serving  only  five  cantreds  to  himsel 
had  given  the  remainder  to  Eichar 
de  Burgo,  to  be  holden  by  him  an 
his  heirs  of  the  crown;  that  the  righ  i 
of  Eichard  had  passed  by  marriage  1  : 
the  duke  of  York,  the  grandfatht  i 
of  Edward  IV.,  and  that  they  ha 
descended   from  that  prince  to  h  ■ 
legitimate  successor,  the  reigning  m( 
narch.   In  the  county  of  Eoscommo)  . 
a  jury  of  freeholders,  intimidated  I  | 
his  menaces  and  presence,  returned  i 


sideration,  for  formerly  by  means  of  the 
feoffees  in  trust,  their  persons  almost  nev( 
came  in  ward,  and  so  still  bred  from  fath< 
to  son  in  a  contrary  religion,  which  no\ 
as  they  fall  in  ward,  may  be  stopped  ac 
prevented." — Strafford  Papers,  i.  341 ;  alt 
192,  312,  317.  "  Its  consequence  appeal 
in  the  person  of  the  earl  of  Ormona,  wh' 
if  bred  under  the  wings  of  his  own  parent 
had  been  of  the  same  affections  and  reJ 
gion  his  brothers  and  sisters  are  :  where< 
now  he  is  a  firm  Protestant"  (11, 18). 


J 


A..D.  1635.] 


PEOSECUTIONS  IN  IRELAND. 


208 


verdict  in  favour  of  the  crown;  the 
same  was  the  result  in  those  of  Mayo, 
SUgo,  Clare,  and  Limerick;  but  the 
men  of  Galway  refused  to  surrender 
the  inheritance  of  their  fathers ;  they 
pleaded  that  the  grant  of  Henry  was 
confined  to  the  royalties,  and  did  not 
affect  the  lands ;  and  they  contended 
that  the  descent  of  Edward  IV.  from 
Richard  de  Burgo  could  not  be  proved; 
that  one  important  link  in  the  chain 
was  wanting.  They  were  all  Catholics, 
and  Wentworth  had  already  expressed 
a  hope  that  their  obstinacy  would 
afford  him  a  pretext  to  mulct  them 
more  severely  than  the  inhabitants 
i  of  the  other  counties.  He  was  grati- 
I  fied  ;  the  jury  found  for  the  free- 
1  holders  ;  and  he  immediately  fined 
I  the  sheriff  one  thousand  pounds  for 
I  returning  such  an  inquest,  and  sent 
i  the  members  before  the  Castle- 
I  chamber  in  Dublin,  where  they  were 
severally  fined  four  thousand  pounds, 
and  consigned  to  prison  during  his 
pleasure.  "Wentworth  now  issued  a 
proclamation,  offering  the  royal  fa- 
vour to  all  who  would  voluntarily 
surrender  their  lands,  and  threatening 
actions  in  the  court  of  Exchequer 
against  the  refractory.  Instead  of 
submitting,  they  appealed  to  the 
equity  of  the  king,  first  contending 
that  the  evidence  given  on  the  trial 
was  in  their  favour,  then  proposing 
that  the  question  should  be  submitted 
to  the  decision  of  the  English  judges, 
and  lastly  offering  to  pay  a  fine  of 
eight  thousand  pounds  for  the  con- 
firmation of  the  composition  which 
their  fathers  had  made  with  the 
crown  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 
But  Charles  acted  by  the  directions 
of  the  deputy.  The  delegates  were 
arrested  by  his  orders,  and  sent  pri- 
soners to  Dublin;  and  the  freeholders, 
deprived  of  all  hopes  of  obtaining 
justice,  successively  made  their  sub- 
mission. According  to  the  original 
plan,  it  had  been  intended  to  return 
three-fourths  of  the  lands  to  the  pos- 


sessors, and  to  reserve  the  remaining 
fourth,  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  acres,  for  the  crown, 
to  be  planted  with  Englishmen,  on 
conditions  which  would  bring  a  con- 
siderable yearly  revenue  into  the 
exchequer ;  it  was  now  proposed  that 
the  men  of  Galway  should  forfeit  a 
larger  portion,  a  full  half,  in  punish- 
ment of  their  obstinacy.  Wentworth, 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  design,  had 
ordered  the  necessary  admeasurements 
to  be  made ;  but  he  was  prevented 
from  proceeding  by  the  events  which 
soon  afterwards  deprived  him  of  life. 
Enough,  however,  had  been  done  to 
awaken  a  general  feeling  of  discon- 
tent, and  to  alienate  the  affections  of 
the  natives  from  a  government  which 
treated  them  with  so  much  deceit  and 
oppression.' 

The  personal  enmities  of  the  lord 
deputy  formed  an  additional  cause 
of  complaint.  He  was  of  a  temper 
jealous,  haughty,  and  impatient  of 
contradiction.  The  slightest  resist- 
ance to  his  will,  the  semblance  of 
contempt  of  his  authority,  was  suf- 
ficient to  kindle  his  resentment ;  and 
from  that  moment  the  unfortunate 
offender  was  marked  out  for  ruin.  He 
adopted  the  same  motto  with  Arch- 
bishop Laud  :  the  word  "  thorough  '* 
was  echoed  back  from  one  to  the 
other  in  their  private  correspondence; 
and  the  subject  of  their  mutual  ex- 
hortations was  the  rejection  of  half 
measures,  and  the  necessity  of  en- 
forcing obedience  by  the  terror  of 
punishment.  In  conformity  with 
these  maxims,  "Wentworth  spared 
no  man  whom  he  thought  hostile 
to  his  views ;  and  his  resentment  fell 
with  peculiar  severity  on  almost  every 
individual  whom  he  found  in  the  pos- 
session of  office  at  his  arrival.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  they  were 
not    immaculate    characters ;    in    a 


1  Strafford  Papers,  i.  421,  442,  450,  464i 
476,  494,  521 ;  ii.  36,  76,  82,  93,  98. 


204 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  v. 


government  like  that  of  Ireland, 
where  fortunes  were  continually  made 
at  the  expense  of  the  crown  or  of  the 
people,  few  public  men  could  bear 
a  close  investigation  into  their  con- 
duct ; '  but  their  real  offence  consisted 
not  in  their  previous  peculations,  it 
was  their  want  of  zeal  to  concur  with 
the  deputy,  their  unguarded  disappro- 
bation of  his  measures,  which  entitled 
them  to  his  enmity. 

It  happened  one  day  that  Annesley, 
a  lieutenant  in  the  army,  who  had 
once  been  caned  by  Wentworth  in  a 
paroxysm  of  passion,  placed  a  stool  on 
the  foot  of  the  lord  deputy  when  he 
was  suffering  from  the  gout.  The 
circumstance  was  casually  mentioned 
at  the  table  of  the  lord  chancellor, 
and  Lord  Mountnorris,  the  vice-trea- 
surer, exclaimed,  "Annesley  has  a 
brother  who  would  not  have  taken 
such  a  revenge."  These  words  were 
reported  to  Wentworth,  who  was  dis- 
satisfied, and  perhaps  justly,  with  the 
conduct  of  Mountnorris  in  his  office. 
He  dissembled  for  a  time,  but  six 
months  later  the  vice-treasurer  (he 
bore  a  captain's  commission)  was  sum- 
moned before  a  court-martial,  on  a 
charge  of  mutiny,  founded  on  this 
very  expression.  The  deputy  appeared 
both  as  prosecutor  and  president;  and, 
though  he  took  no  part  in  the  deli- 
beration of  the  court,  pronounced  the 
judgment,  that  the  prisoner  had  been 
guilty  of  a  breach  of  the  thirteenth 
article  of  war,  and  should  therefore 
suffer  death.  He  did  not,  however, 
carry  it  into  execution.  He  had  suf- 
ficiently humbled  Mountnorris;  and 
now  that  his  pride  had  been  gratified, 


1  Of  Balfour  in  particular,  we  are  told 
by  Wentworth,  that  "he  had  done  aa  many 
outrages  and  grievous  misdemeanours  as 
«ver  vizier  basha  had  done  under  the  grand 
seignior.  There  was  not  such  a  tyrant  in 
the  king's  dominions,  who,  utterly  drunk 
with  the  vice  of  violence,  had  with  unequal 
and  tottering  paces  trod  down  his  majesty's 
people  on  every  side.'' — Strafford  Papers,  ii. 
245. 

'  Strafford  Papers,  i.  392,  448,  497—501, 


he  joined  with  the  court  iu  recom- 
mending him  to  the  king  as  a  fit 
object  of  mercy .'^ 

Men  had  long  complained  of  Went- 
worth's  despotism ;  this  last  act  of 
oppression  seemed  to  unite  every  voice 
against  him.  Though  Charles  assured 
him  of  his  protection,  he  deemed  it 
expedient  to  answer  his  accusers  in 
person  ;  and  having  obtained  permis- 
sion to  visit  his  estates  in  Yorkshire, 
improved  the  opportunity  to  pro- 
nounce before  the  king  and  council 
an  elaborate,  and,  in  many  respects, 
a  plausible,  defence  of  his  administra- 
tion. He  had  bettered,  he  observed, 
the  condition  of  the  clergy,  had  dis- 
ciplined the  army,  had  improved  the 
revenue,  had  purified  the  courts  oi 
justice,  had  cleared  the  seats  of  the 
pirates,  and  had  encouraged  the 
growth  of  flax  and  the  manufacture 
of  linens.^  Insinuations  had,  indeed, 
been  thrown  out,  as  if  he  had  treated 
with  undue  severity  the  most  faithful 
officers  of  the  crown.  But  it  should 
be -recollected  that  Ireland  was  not, 
as  England,  a  country  where  men 
had  been  taught  by  habit  obedience 
to  the  laws.  There  the  authority  of 
the  king  had  been  perpetually  con- 
trolled by  the  influence  of  his  servants. 
To  re-establish  order  it  was  necessary 
to  make  the  highest  subjects  feel  that 
they  were  amenable  to  the  law ;  and 
to  teach  all,  by  the  punishment  of  a 
few,  that  under  a  wise  and  righteous 
monarch,  no  rank,  no  wealth,  no  con- 
nections, could  screen  the  guilty  from 
the  retribution  due  to  their  trans- 
gressions. Charles  applauded  the 
vigour  of  his   deputy;   and  Went- 


508,  509,  512,  514,  519.    Clarendon  Papers, 
i.  419,  543,  594. 

3  He  had  spent  one  thousand  pounds  in 
the  purchase  of  flax-seed,  and  had  pro- 
cured workmen  from  Flanders ;  but  at  the 
same  time  he  endeavoured  to  root  out  the 
manufacture  of  wool,  that  the  Irish  might 
not  be  able  to  compete  with  the  Enghsh, 
but  should  be  obliged  to  depend  on  them 
for  clothing.— Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  19. 


A.D.  1G34.] 


DISAFFECTION  IN  SCOTLAND. 


205 


worth  returned  in  triumph  to  Ire- 
land.' If  we  consider  him  merely  as 
a  servant,  with  no  other  duty  to 
perform  than  to  seek  the  immediate 
profit  of  his  master,  he  was  certainly 
deserving  of  the  praise  and  gratitude 
of  the  king ;  but  he  had  broken 
the  royal  word  to  the  natives,  had 
harassed  them  by  fines,  compositions, 
and  plantations,  and  had  incurred 
the  hatred  of  all  ranks  of  people, 
whatever  was  their  origin  or  what- 
ever their  religion. 

Much,  however,  as  the  people  of 
Ireland  and  England  were  aggrieved, 
they  betrayed  no  disposition  to  oppose 
open  force  to  the  unjust  pretensions 
of  their  sovereign :  it  was  in  Scotland 
that  the  flame  was  kindled,  which 
gradually  spread,  till  it  involved  the 
three  kingdoms  in  one  common  con- 
flagration. When  Charles  returned 
from  his  native  country  in  1633,  he 
brought  back  with  him  strong  feel- 
ings of  resentment  against  the  lords 
who  had  ventured  to  oppose  his 
favourite  measures  in  parliament. 
Among  these,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished for  his  patriotism  or  obsti- 
nacy was  the  Lord  Balmerino,  who 
was  soon  made  to  learn  that  the 
pleasure  of  the  sovereign  could  not 
be  resisted  with  impunity.  During 
the  parliament  a  petition  in  favour 
of  the  dissidents  had  been  prepared, 
though  on  consideration  it  was  deemed 
prudent  not  to  present  it.  It  was 
drawn  in  language  which  must  have 
proved  ungrateful  to  the  royal  ear, 
and  abounded  in  offensive  insinua- 
tions, which  it  is  acknowledged  were 
incapable  of  proof.  Some  copies  of 
this  instrument  crept  afterwards  into 
circulation,  and  one  of  them  was 
traced  to  Balmerino,  who  had  in 
confidence,  and  under  a  promise  of 
secrecy,  communicated  it  to  a  friend. 
He  was  committed  to  prison,  Spotis- 
wood,    archbishop    of   St.  Andrew's, 


1  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  16—21, 


hastened  to  London,  and  it  was  re- 
resolved  to  prosecute  the  obnoxious 
nobleman  on  two  statutes  passed  in 
the  late  reign,  by  one  of  which,  to 
utter  slander  against  the  king's  per- 
son, estate,  or  government,  by  the 
other  not  to  apprehend  or  reveal  the 
known  author  of  such  slander,  were 
made  crimes  punishable  with  death. 
The  exceptions  taken  against  the 
dittay  or  indictment  were  repelled 
by  the  court;  and  the  fact  of  Bal- 
merino's  guilt  as  to  the  concealment 
of  the  author  was  affirmed  by  a 
majority  of  eight  jurors  against  seven. 
But  judgment  of  death  was  not  pro- 
nounced ;  the  people  assembled  in 
crowds;  and  plans  were  arranged  to 
massacre  both  the  jurors  who  had 
given  the  verdict  and  the  judges  who 
had  presided  at  the  trial.  Traquair, 
the  lord  treasurer,  hastened  to  pro- 
cure a  respite.  The  dissatisfaction  of 
the  people,  the  novelty  of  the  prose- 
cution, and  the  cruelty  of  inflicting 
capital  punishment  where  opinion 
was  so  divided  as  to  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  the  prisoner,  Avere  re- 
peatedly suggested  to  the  royal  con- 
sideration ;  and  Charles,  after  a  delay 
of  some  months,  ungraciously  and 
reluctantly  signed  a  pardon.  That 
resentment  had  some  share  in  this 
most  odious  prosecution  cannot  be 
doubted;  but  the  king  failed  in  his 
principal  object ;  he  sought  to  intimi- 
date, to  tame  the  stubborn  spirit  of 
his  countrymen,  and  to  bend  their 
necks  to  that  yoke  which  was  already 
prepared  for  them  by  Archbishop 
Laud  and  a  junto  of  Scottish  pre- 
lates. But  the  danger  of  Balmerino 
produced  an  opposite  effect.  People 
could  not  be  persuaded  that  he  had 
been  guilty  of  any  other  offence  than 
his  previous  advocacy  of  their  rights 
and  religion ;  warned  by  his  example, 
they  resolved  to  stand  by  each  other ; 
they  watched  with  jealousy  every 
proceeding  of  the  court;  and  were 
ready,  on  the   first  provocation,  to 


206 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


unite  as  one  man  in  the  defence  of 
their  liberties  and  of  their  kirk.' 

The  king's  father  in  1616  had  ex- 
torted from  the  General  Assembly  an 
act  authorizing  the  composition  of  a 
book  of  common  prayer,  and  a  code 
of  ecclesiastical  law,  two  concessions 
most  hateful  to  the  feelings  of  ortho- 
dox Scotsmen,  because  the  one  tended 
to  abolish  the  use  of  extemporary 
prayer,  the  other  to  subject  the  con- 
duct of  ministers  to  the  control  of 
the  bishops.  A  liturgy,  however,  was 
compiled;  it  received  several  correc- 
tions from  the  pen  of  the  royal  divine, 
and  was  sent  back  to  Scotland  for  the 
further  consideration  of  the  prelates. 
But  the  disrepute  in  which  the  As- 
sembly of  1616  was  held,  and  the 
resistance  which  had  been  made  to 
the  five  articles  of  Perth,  damped 
the  zeal  both  of  James  and  of  the 
bishops ;  and  the  project  seemed  to 
have  died  away,  when  it  was  after- 
wards revived  in  1629  by  the  piety 
or  policy  of  Charles.^  Laud,  indeed, 
laboured  strenuously  to  establish  at 
once  the  English  hturgy;  but  his 
reasoning  and  influence  were  com- 
pelled to  yield  to  the  obstinacy  of 
the  Scottish  bishops,  who  deemed  it 
a  disgrace  to  their  country  to  owe 
either  the  service  or  the  discipline 
of  their  church  to  their  English 
neighbours.  To  four  of  the  prelates, 
whose  principles  or  subserviency  had 
lately  raised  them  to  the  episcopal 
dignity,  the  king  assigned  the  task 


'  Howell's  state  Trials,  iii.  591  —  712. 
Balfour,  ii.  216—220.  Burnet's  Own  Times, 
i.  25.  Laud's  Troubles,  94.  1  he  justice- 
general  "  found  and  declared  that  fialme- 
rino  had  incurred  the  pain  of  death  con- 
tained in  the  acts  of  parliament"  (State 
Trials,  712),  "  but  the  sentence  pronouncing 
against  him  was  delayed,  sore  against  the 
bishope's  will  (quho  raped  lyke  a  tempes- 
tuous sea  therat)  wntil  his  majestie  should 
be  adwertissed." — Half.  ii.  219. 

*  Though  the  Covenanters  attribute  this 
*'  novation  "  to  Laud,  ho  eolemnly  declares 
in  the  History  of  his  Troubles,  that  be 
received  the  first  notice  of  it  from  the 
king  during  his  sickness  in  1629.— Laud's 
Trouble*,  168. 


[  of  compiling  the  new  code  of  eccl 
I  siastical  law,  and  the  new  form 
:  public  worship,  but  with  instructio 
j  that  the  first  should  combine  a  sele 
j  tion  from  the  acts  of  the  Scolti: 
j  assemblies,  together  with  the  mo 
;  ancient  canons,  and  that  the  secoi 
j  should  carefully  preserve  the  su 
;  stance,  though  it  might  recede  in 
i  few  unimportant  particulars  from  tl 
^  English  liturgy.  Each,  as  soon  as 
I  was  completed,  was  submitted  to  tl 
j  revision  of  the  prelates  of  Canterbur 
London,  and  Norwich ;  several  co 
rections  and  improvements  were  su 
gested  and  admitted;  and  the  amend* 
copies  received  the  royal  approbatic 
Charles  ordered  both  to  be  publish* 
and  observed ;  but  the  canons  ma( 
their  appearance  nearly  a  year  befo 
the  service.^ 

It  was  certainly  a  bold  and  chiva 
rous  attempt.  Charles  had  no  rig] 
to  impose  on  the  nation  a  new  form 
worship,  or  new  rules  of  condu 
abhorrent  from  its  religious  habi 
and  persuasion.  He  was  not  by  la 
the  head  of  the  Scottish  church ;  1 
had  not  obtained  the  sanction  of  tl 
Assembly  or  of  the  parliament ;  n* 
could  he  expect  that  the  clergy  wou 
resign,  at  the  mere  pleasure  of  tl 
sovereign,  their  legislative  power,  < 
the  use  of  extemporary  prayei 
They  cherished  these  privileges 
belonging  to  them  of  divine  righ 
they  boasted  that  they  were  not, 
the    ministers    in    other    churche 


3  Bibliotheca  Regia,  125—138.  The  four 
canon  of  chapter  viii.  provides  that  "  as  ) 
reformation  in  doctrine  or  discipline  can  1 
made  perfect  at  once,  it  shall  be  lawful  f 
the  kirk  at  any  time  to  make  remonstranc 
to  his  majesty,"  &c.  The  Scottish  bisho 
deemed  this  canon  of  great  importance,  ai 
begged  it  might  not  be  altt-red.  Lai 
approved  of  it,  but  expressed  his  satisfa 
tion  that  its  true  meaning  remained  st 
under  the  curtain." —Dalrymple,  ii.  1 
Laud's  Troubles,  101. 

♦  The    king   enjoined  both  the  book 
canons  and  the  new  service  by  •'  his  autb 
rity  royal."— Bib.  Kegia,  136, 138.    Ba 
ii.  224 


I 


.D.  1637.] 


EELIGIOUS  RIOT  IN  SCOTLAND. 


207 


ettered  and  shackled  with  forms  and 
ubrics;  they  claimed  the  right  of 
Qtroducing  all  subjects  of  local  or 
lational  interest  into  their  addresses 
0  heaven,  and  of  kindling  the  pas- 
ions  of  their  hearers  by  the  solemnity 
f  their  appeals  to  the  knowledge  and 
ustice  of  the  Almighty.  The  publica- 
ion  of  the  book  of  canons  had  put 
hem  on  their  guard;  and  the  moment 
he  liturgy  was  announced,  woes  and 
urses  were  showered  from  every  pul- 
it  on  the  heads  of  the  men,  who 
Dught  "  to  gag  the  spirit  of  God,  and 
0  depose  Christ  from  his  throne,  by 
etraying  to  the  civil  magistrate  the 
uthority  of  the  kirk.^'  These  de- 
unciations  created  a  spirit  of  the 
oldest  fanaticism ;  but  while  re- 
Lstance  was  threatened  and  prepared, 
lie  leaders,  with  a  degree  of  caution 
'hich  seldom  accompanies  religious 
ttthusiasm,  contrived  to  eschew  dan- 
er  to  themselves  by  transferring  the 
Lous  task  "to  the  Christian  valyancie 
f  the  godly  women." 
On  the  appointed  day  the  bishop 
ad  dean  of  Edinburgh,  accompanied 
y  the  lords  of  the  council,  the  judges, 
ad  the  magistrates,  proceeded  to  the 
[igh  Church,  which  had  been  se- 
icted  for  the  cathedral.'  It  was 
[ready  crowded,  and  chiefly  with 
males.  From  the  moment  the  dean 
jmmenced  the  service,  nothing  was 
)  be  heard  but  groans,  hisses,  and 
aprecations.  The  women  of  all 
mks  began  to  exclaim  that  "  the 
lass  was  entered,  that  Baal  was  in 
le  church;"  they  upbraided  the 
ijnister  with  the  most  injurious 
ames  and  epithets ;  he  was  "  a  thief, 
devil's  gett,  and  of  a  witche's  breed- 


^  That  part,  which  has  since  been  turned 
ito  a  police-ofiice  :  the  east  end  was  under 
spair. 

*  "  Ane  godly  woman  when  sche  hard  a 
Dung  man  behind  sounding  forth  amen  to 
lat  new  composed  comedie,  sche  quicklie 
irned  her  about,  and  after  sche  had 
armed  both  his  cheeks  with  the  weight  of 
er  hands,  sche  thus  shot  against  him  the 


ing : "  Janet  Geddes  threw  the  stool 
on  which  she  had  been  sitting,  at  his 
head ;  and  other  stools  with  a  shower 
of  clasp-bibles  followed.^  The  dean, 
alarmed  at  the  danger,  resigned  the 
post  of  honour  to  his  superior  in  dig- 
nity and  courage,  the  bishop ;  but  no 
sooner  had  that  prelate  opened  his 
mouth,  than  his  voice  was  drowned 
amidst  cries  of  "  fox,  wolf,  and  belly- 
god  "  (an  allusion  to  his  corpulency), 
and  in  a  few  moments  a  stool,  which, 
flung  from  a  strong  arm,  whizzed 
close  by  his  ear,  admonished  him  to 
make  a  precipitate  retreat.  In  this 
stage  the  magistrates  by  their  exer- 
tions succeeded  in  excluding  the  most 
riotous  from  the  church;  the  doors 
were  locked,  and  the  service  proceeded 
amidst  repeated  interruptions  from 
showers  of  stones  which  demolished 
the  windows,  and  from  loud  cries 
from  the  people  without,  of "  A  pape, 
a  pape,  anti-christ,  stane  him,  pull 
him  down."  At  the  conclusion  the 
prelate  departed  in  haste  to  his  lodg- 
ing in  the  High-street,  but  was  over- 
taken by  a  crowd  of  female  saints ;  and 
though  he  at  first  disengaged  himself, 
and  reached  the  door,  was  again 
seized,  dragged  down  the  stair,  thrown 
on  the  ground,  and  rolled  in  the  mire.^ 
In  the  afternoon  precautions  were 
taken,  and  the  service  was  read  with 
little  interruption  to  a  small  and 
select  auditory,  from  which  all  the 
"weifles"  were  excluded;  but  the 
bishop,  on  his  appearance  in  the 
street,  found  himself  in  greater  danger 
than  before;  and  would  have  met 
with  the  fate  of  St.  Stephen,  had  not 
the  earl  of  Roxburgh  snatched  him 
from  martyrdom,  and  afforded  him 


thunderbolt  of  her  zeal :  '  False  thief,'  said 
sche,  *  is  there  na  uther  pairt  of  the  church© 
to  sing  mess  in  but  thou  must  sing  it  at  my 
lugge  ? '  "—Balfour,  Stonie  Field  Day. 

^  "  Neither,"  says  Sir  James  Balfour, 
"  could  that  lubberly  monster  with  his 
satine  gown  defend  himself  by  his  swollen 
hands  and  greasy  belly,  bot  he  had  half  a 
dissenneck  fishes  to  a  reckoning." 


208 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


an  asylum  in  his  carriage.  The  I 
women,  however,  followed,  shouting 
and  hurling  stones,  till  the  gates  of 
Holyrood-house  closed  upon  him,  and 
disappointed  the  vengeance  of  his 
pursuers,* 

Such  an  outrage  under  a  vigorous 
government  would  have  been  met  with 
prompt  and  adequate  punishment; 
but  the  ministers  of  the  crown  in 
Scotland  were  slow  to  engage  in  a 
contest  in  which  they  felt  no  interest, 
and  the  issue  of  which  seemed  more 
than  doubtful.  They  saw  that  the 
strongest  prejudice  against  episcopacy 
existed  among  their  countrymen; 
that  the  restoration  of  the  order  was 
connected  in  the  minds  of  the  nobi- 
lity with  the  probable  loss  of  the 
church  lands  still  in  their  possession ; 
and  that  the  introduction  of  eight 
prelates  into  the  council,  the  appoint- 
ment of  one  to  be  chancellor,  and  the 
power  assigned  to  them  of  choosing 
the  lords  of  the  articles  in  the  last 
parliament,  had  excited  jealousies  and 
apprehensions  in  the  higher  as  well  as 
in  the  lower  classes.'^  Under  such  dis- 
couraging circumstances  they  shrunk 
from  the  contest,  and  left  the  execu- 
tion of  the  royal  will  to  the  earl  of 
Traquair,  the  treasurer;  an  unwel- 
come and  invidious  task,  which  drew 
on  him  the  resentment  of  his  coun- 
trymen, without  securing  to  him  the 
gratitude  of  his  sovereign.  The  failure 
of  every  measure  prescribed  by 
Charles  induced  the  prelatic  party  to 
accuse  Traquair   of    treachery;    his 


best  justification  will  be  found  in  t 
conduct  of  his  opponents,  who  pi 
sued  him  with  unrelenting  hatn 
as  their  most  vigilant  and  most  da 
gerous  opponent. 

It  will  be  easy  to  conceive  the  ves 
tion  of  Charles  when  he  became 
quainted  with  the  late  proceeding 
Edinburgh ;  but  to  recede  wa.s,  in 
estimation,  to  subject  the  royal  au;, 
rity  to  the  will  of  the  multitude,  a 
to  prepare  the  way  for  similar  oi 
rages  on  the  part  of  the  English  Pu 
tans.  At  the  request  of  four  ministe 
the  Scottish  council  had  suspend 
the  letters  of  horning  decreed  agair 
them,  till  the  pleasure  of  the  ki 
could  be  ascertained.     A  messei 
arrived ;  the  lords  were  reproved 
their  backwardness,  and  the  order  i 
the  use  of  the  new  service-book  yi 
renewed.    But  by  this  time  the  nu: 
ber  of  the  petitioners  had  multiplic 
strangers  of  all  ranks  had  crowded 
Edinburgh  to  their  support ;  solei 
fasts  had  been  observed  to  implc 
the  protection  of  Heaven,  and   1 
most     spirit-stirring     appeals    W( 
made   to    the  people  in    favour 
the    kirk.      A     second     suspensi 
followed,  and   the  supplications 
the   multitude   were    forwarded 
the  court.    Charles  returned  a  sii 
lar    answer;   the   public  discont< 
increased ;  and  a  riot  nearly  confer] 
the  crown  of  martyrdom  on  the  1< 
treasurer  and  two  of  the  prelates.  1 
council,  by  the  king's  order  leav: 
the  capital,  repaired  to  the  palace 


1  Compare  Nelson,  i.  6—8 ;  Guthrie,  23 ; 
Baillie,  5 ;  Clarendon,  i.  109,  with  seTcral 
original  passages  collected  by  the  industry 
of  Mr.  Brodie,  ii.  452.  It  appears  that  the 
•women  in  all  places  were  put  in  the  front 
of  the  rioters.  In  the  synod  of  Glasgow 
AVilliam  Annan  had,  in  a  sermon,  spoken 
favourably  of  "  the  buke."  •'  At  the  out- 
going of  the  church  about  thirty  or  forty  of 
our  honestest  women,  in  one  voice  before 
the  bishops  and  magistrates,  fell  a  railing, 
cursing,    scolding,   with  clamours    on    Mr. 

Annan He  is  no  sooner  in  the  street 

«t  nine  o'clock,  in  a  dark  night,  with  three 
or  four  mimsters  with  him,  but  some  hun- 


dreds of  enraged  women  of  all  qualities 
about  him  with  neaves,  staves,  and  pe 
but  no  stones.  They  beat  him  sore, 
cloak,  ruff,  and  hat  were  rent.  Howevei 
escaped  all  bloody  wounds,  yet  he  wa; 
great  danger  even  of  killing." — Baillie,  8 

2  "I  find  this  the  prime  reason  of 
nobility's  proceedings — eight  of  the  bisb 
being  lords  of  the  articles,  who  had 
power  to  chuse  other  eight  of  the  nobi! 
whom  they  knew  most  addicted  to  his 
jesty,  and  these  sixteen  the  rest,  so  i 
all  depended  upon  them,  and  they  u 
his  majesty."— Dalrymple's  Memorials, 


A.D.  1637.] 


PETITIONS. 


209 


Dalkeith,  and  soon  afterwards  assented 
to  a  proposal  that  the  petitioners 
should  be  represented  by  a  deputation 
permanently  resident  in  Edinburgh. 
The  object  of  the  king's  ministers  was 
to  induce  the  crowds  of  strangers  to 
withdraw  to  their  homes ;  their  oppo- 
nents had  a  more  important  object  in 
view.  The  nobles,  the  gentry  of  the 
counties,  the  clergy  of  the  presby- 
teries, and  the  "  indwellers "  of  the 
burghs,  severally  chose  a  "  table  "  or 
i  board  of  four  representatives ;  and 
I  each  of  these  boards  selected  one  from 
i  their  number  to  form  a  committee  of 
j  superintendence  and  government, 
i  with  power  to  collect  the  opinions  of 
the  others,  and  to  decide  on  all  ques- 
tions in  the  last  [resort.  With  these 
five  boards  in  the  capital  corresponded 
others  in  the  country;  their  orders 
were  received  with  respect,  and  exe- 
cuted with  promptitude;  and  in  a 
few  weeks  the  Tables  possessed  and 
exercised  an  uncontrolled  authority 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  Scot- 
land. The  contrivers  of  this  plan, 
and  the  leading  members  of  the  com- 
mittees, were  the  earl  of  Eothes,  Bal- 
merino,  Lindsay,  Lothian,  Loudon, 
Yester,  and  Cranston.' 

As  the  petitioners  grew  in  numbers, 
they  advanced  in  their  demands. 
They  required  the  formal  revocation 
of  the  liturgy,  of  the  book  of  canons, 
and  of  the  court  of  High  Commission. 
They  accused  the  bishops  of  being  the 
authors  of  the  troubles  which  agi- 
tated Scotland :  they  "  declined"  their 
mthority;  they  protested  against 
jvery  act  of  council  to  which  any  of 
ihe  prelates  should  be  parties.  At  the 
expiration  of  seven  weeks,  Traquair 
Nas  ordered  to  pubhsh  a  proclamation 
n  Edinburgh  and  Stirling,  declaring 


1  BailUe,  9,  10,  15,  23,  25.  Eusliworth, 
1.  304.  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  96,  103. 
Burnet,  Memoirs  of  Hamiltons,  53.  Nal- 
5on,  i.  16 — 18,  It  is  plain  that  the  conse- 
juences  of  his  obstinacy  were  pointed  out 
:o  the  king  by  the  council  in  Edinburgh.— 
7 


the  Tables  unlawful,  pardoning  all 
who  should  peaceably  return  to  their 
homes,  and  commanding  all  strangers 
to  depart  under  the  penalty  of  trea- 
son. But  the  petitioners  were  pre- 
viously acquainted  with  this  order; 
they  met  in  considerable  numbers 
both  in  Stirling  and  Edinburgh ;  and, 
as  soon  as  the  herald  had  performed 
his  office,  read  and  afl&xed  to  the 
market-cross  a  counter  protestation. 
This  extraordinary  procedure  was 
held  a  sufficient  ground  to  disobey  the 
royal  command.'' 

But  the  leaders  of  the  anti-episcopal 
party  adopted  another  and  more  effi- 
cient expedient.  Under  the  auspices 
of  Eothes,  Balmerino,  and  Loudon, 
with  the  aid  of  Johnston  of  Warris- 
ton,  the  advocate,  and  of  Henderson, 
the  preacher,  a  form  of  covenant  was 
devised  with  the  view  of  uniting  the 
whole  nation  into  one  dissenting 
body.  To  blind  the  ignorant  and  the 
unwary,  it  began  with  the  recital  of 
one  of  more  ancient  date,  containing 
a  general  profession  of  faith,  and  a 
minute  abjuration  of  the  doctrines  and 
practices  attributed  to  the  church  of 
Eome ;  to  this  was  appended  an  enu- 
meration of  all  the  acts  of  parliament 
which  confirmed  the  tenets  and  disci- 
pline of  the  kirk,  and  inflicted  punish- 
ment on  its  opponents;  and  then 
followed  the  vow,  in  which  the  sub- 
scribers bound  themselves  "  by  the 
great  name  of  the  Lord  their  God,"  to 
defend  the  true  religion,  to  resist  all 
contrary  errors  and  corruptions,  and 
to  stand  to  the  defence  of  the  king, 
his  person  and  authority,  in  preserva- 
tion of  the  religion,  liberties,  and  laws 
of  the  kingdom,  and  to  the  defence  of 
each  other  in  the  same  cause,  so  that 
whatsoever   should  be   done  to  the 


Hard.  Papers,  ii.  95—100.    Balfour,  ii.  229 
—238. 

2  Baillie,  18,  28,  29,  di,  42-44.  Large 
Declaration,  48.  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii. 
97—101.  Eushworth,  ii.  406.  Nalson,  i. 
20—27.    Balfour,  ii.  240-249. 


210 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  t, 


least  of  the  subscribers  on  that  account 
"  should  be  taken  as  done  to  ail  in 
general,  and  to  every  one  in  parti- 
cular ;"  clauses  which,  by  limiting  the 
obedience  of  the  subject,  were  con- 
strued to  authorize  rebellion,  when- 
ever the  measures  pursued  by  the 
sovereign  should  be  represented  by 
the  Tables  as  contrary  to  the  laws,  or 
liberties,  or  rehgion  of  Scotland.  By 
orders  from  the  committees,  every 
Scotsman  who  valued  the  pure  faith 
and  disciphne  of  the  kirk,  was  sum- 
moned to  the  capital  to  observe  a 
solemn  fast,  as  a  preparation  for  the 
renewal  of  the  covenant  between 
Israel  and  God ;  and  on  the  appointed 
day  zealots  of  each  sex,  and  of  every 
rank  and  profession,  from  the  High- 
lands as  well  as  the  Lowlands,  crowded 
to  the  church  of  the  Grey  Friars. 
The  service  began  with  a  fervent 
prayer  from  Henderson,  the  minister, 
and  an  exciting  speech  from  Lord 
Loudon,  the  best  of  their  orators :  the 
congregation  rose ;  and  all  with  arms 
outstretched  to  heaven  swore  to  the 
contents  of  the  covenant.  They 
shouted,  wept,  and  embraced  each 
other ;  God  was  appeased ;  their  back- 
sliding and  apostasy  were  forgiven. 
From  the  capital  the  enthusiasm 
quickly  diffused  itself  to  the  extre- 
mities of  the  kingdom ;  where  good- 
will was  wanting,  intimidation  was 
applied;  and  the  covenanters,  in 
every  county  but  that  of  Aberdeen, 
outnumbered  their  opponents  n  the 
proportion  of  a  hundred  to  one.'  The 
royal  authority,  though  still  acknow- 
ledged, was  no  longer  obeyed;  and 


A  Baillie,  35.  Eushworth,  ii.  764  —  778. 
Guthrie,  34,  35.  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  103, 
107.  "  If  you  knew  what  odd,  uncouth, 
insolent,  and  ridiculous  courses  they  use  to 
draw  in  silly  i^jnorant  fools,  fearful  fasards, 
women  and  boys,  I  can  hardly  say  whether 
it  would  afford  his  majesty  more  occasion  of 

laughter  or  anger "tou  could  not  have 

chused  but  laugh  to  have  seen  pipers  and 
candle-makers  in  our  town  committed  to 
the  town-jail  by  our  zealous  Mr.  Mayor; 


the  government  was  in  fact  exercised 
by  "  the  Tables." 

James,  on  his  accession  to  the  Eng- 
lish throne,  had  established  a  privj 
council  of  Scotsmen,  charged  exclu- 
sively with  the  affairs  of  their  native 
country.  By  the  advice  of  this  coun- 
cil, after  three  months  had  been  speni 
in  deliberation,  Charles  resolved,  ir 
opposition  to  the  remonstrances  o 
his  council  in  Scotland,  to  suppres; 
the  covenant  by  open  force ;  and  ii 
the  interval,  while  he  made  prepara 
tions  for  the  contest,  to  send  th* 
marquess  of  Hamilton,  as  his  com 
missioner,  to  Scotland.  Hamiitoi 
was  instructed  to  promise  that  "  thi 
practice  of  the  liturgy  and  the  canon 
should  never  be  pressed  in  any  othe 
than  a  fair  and  legal  way,  and  tha 
the  High  Commission  should  be  s< 
rectified  as  never  to  impugn  the  lawt 
or  to  be  a  just  grievance  to  loyal  sub 
jects ;"  and  that  the  king,  instead  o 
punishing  those  who  had  lately  take) 
an  illegal  covenant,  would  pardon  th 
offence,  on  condition  that  they  shoul< 
immediately  renounce  it,  and  delive 
up  the  bond  to  the  commissionei 
He  had  invited  the  nobility  to  mee 
him  at  Haddington,  but  not  a  singl 
Covenanter  appeared.  Offended  ap 
mortified,  he  continued  his  rout^ 
Dalkeith,  where  he  received  a  vii 
from  Eothes,  and  was  induced  by 

to  proceed  to  Edinburgh  and  re 

at  Holyrood  House.     In  the  me«  ' 
time  a  national  fast  had  been  prr 
claimed;    crowds  hastened  from 
parts  to  Edinburgh  ;  and,  on  the  (i 
appointed  for  his  removal,  t^ie  tvu 


■M 


and  herdmen  and  hiremen  laid  in  the  stod 
up  and  down  the  country,  and  all  for  r 
fusing  to  put  their  hand  to  the  pen,  as 
thousand  have  done,  who  cannot  \ 
deed ;    and   yet  you  would    hav.^ 
better  to  have  seen  the  wives  in  J 

80  many  of  them  as  could  not    su 

scribe hold  all  up  their  hands  wh< 

the  covenant was  read,  as  soldierB" 

when  they  pass  a  muster."  — '. 
ii.  25. 


Dalryoaki 


A.D.  1638.] 


CHARLES  MAKES  CONCESSIONS. 


211 


along  which  he  had  to  pass,  from 
Musselburgh  to  Leith,  and  from 
Leith  to  the  capital,  was  lined  by  a 
multitude  of  Covenanters,  perhaps 
fifty  thousand  men,  carefully  ar- 
ranged in  several  divisions,  among 
which  the  most  conspicuous  was  that 
of  the  clergy,  amounting  to  five,  some 
say  seven,  hundred  ministers.  The 
pretence  was  to  do  him  honour ;  the 
object,  to  make  before  him  a  display 
of  their  union,  and  numbers,  and 
power. 

The  commissioner,  whether,  as  some 
thought,  he  secretly  favoured  the 
cause  of  the  Covenanters,  or,  as  is 
more  probable,  he  despaired  of  sub- 
duing or  mollifying  their  obstinacy, 
suspended  the  execution  of  his  in- 
structions; made  two  successive  jour- 
neys to  London,  to  convey  informa- 
tion, and  to  receive  the  commands  of 
his  sovereign ;  and  on  his  second  re- 
turn published  a  proclamation  "  dis- 
charging" the  service-book,  the  book 
of  canons,  and  the  High  Commission 
court,  dispensing  with  the  five  arti- 
cles of  the  assembly  of  Perth,  excusing 
the  intrants  into  the  ministry  from 
the  oath  of  supremacy  and  of  canonical 
obedience,  commanding  all  persons 
to  lay  aside  the  new  covenant,  and  to 
take  that  which  had  been  published 
by  the  king's  father  in  1580,  and  sum- 
moning a  free  assembly  of  the  kirk 
against  the  month  of  November,  and 
a  parliament  against  that  of  May  in 
the  following  year.' 

These  were  concessions  which,  at 
an  earlier  period,  would  have  been 


1  Baillie,  60,  79.  Balfour,  ii.  264—288. 
Eushworth,  ii,  752,  754,  787.  Burnet's 
Hamiltons,  82,  88.  Nalson,  i.  32— 57.  That 
Charles  meant  only  to  temporize,  appears 
from  the  Strafford  Papers,  ii.  181,  184—186, 
188,  and  his  letters  to  Hamilton:  "Your 
chief  end  being:  now  to  win  time  ;  that 
they  may  commit  public  foUies,  until  I  be 
ready  to  suppress  them." — Burnet's  Hamil- 
tons, 55,  56,  57,  59,  60,  "Volendo  il  re 
pigliar  tempo  col  negozio  finche  fosse  in 
ordine  di  opprimere  i  sedizioai  a  salvamano." 
—Conn,  30  Luglio,  1638. 


accepted  with  gratitude.  But  it  was 
the  misfortune  of  Charles  not  only  to 
act  with  insincerity  himself,  but  to  be 
surrounded  by  counsellors  equally 
insincere,  who,  while  they  sought  to 
obtain  his  favour  by  conforming  their 
advice  to  his  wishes,  were  careful  at 
the  same  time  to  purchase  the  good 
opinion  of  his  adversaries  by  perfi- 
diously communicating  to  them  his 
real  intentions.  The  Scottish  leaders 
received  information  that  no  rehance 
was  to  be  placed  on  this  apparent 
change  of  disposition  in  the  monarch ; 
that  his  object  was  to  lull  them  into 
a  fatal  secui-ity,  till  he  had  completed 
his  preparations  for  war ;  and  that  in 
a  few  months  he  would  enforce  what- 
ever he  had  now  withdrawn,  at  the 
head  of  a  numerous  and  well-ap- 
pointed army.  They  determined  to 
persist  in  their  union;  and  opposed 
to  the  royal  proclamation  a  formal 
protest,  showing  by  sixteen  reasons 
that  to  assent  to  the  demands  of  the 
king  would  be  to  betray  the  cause  of 
God,  and  to  act  against  the  dictates 
of  conscience.'^ 

It  was  expected  that  Charles  would 
forbid  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly;  but  he  ordered  the  com- 
missioner to  attend,  hoping  that  the 
violence  of  the  members  would  pro- 
voke him  to  dissolve  it,  and  would 
justify,  in  the  opinion  of  his  English 
subjects,  his  intended  appeal  to  arms. 
The  Tables  were  masters  of  the  elec- 
tions ;  they  procured  one  lay  elder 
and  four  lay  assessors  to  be  returned 
from    every    presbytery;   and   thus, 


2  Eushworth,  772—780.  Nalson,  i.  64. 
Balfour,  293.  There  is  in  Dalrymple  a 
curious  letter  of  information  from  some 
friend  to  the  Covenanters,  which  shows 
that  many  Englishmen  wished  success  to 
the  Scots,  with  the  view  of  emigrating  to 
Scotland,  that  they  might  not  be  compelled 
to  conform  by  the  prelates  in  England.  The 
writer  therefore  begs,  that,  whenever  they 
agree  to  a  pacification,  one  article  may  be 
that  the  subjects  of  each  kingdom  may 
freely  dwell  in  the  other  (ii,  42). 

f2 


212 


CHAELES  I. 


[CHAP.  Y. 


with  the  aid  of  their  friends,  became 
sufficiently  numerous  to  control  the 
few  among  the  clergy  who  hesitated 
to  approve  of  their  proceedings.  The 
Assembly  met  at  Glasgow,  and  a  week 
was  spent  in  violent  and  irritating 
debates.  The  commissioner  protested 
against  the  part  taken  by  the  Tables 
in  the  elections,  against  the  intro- 
duction of  the  lay  elders,  a  practice 
discontinued  since  the  beginning  of 
the  last  reign,  and  against  the  authen- 
ticity of  certain  written  volumes  which 
were  produced,  as  containing  the 
acts  of  more  ancient  assemblies,  acts 
hitherto  supposed  to  have  been  lost, 
but  now  most  providentially  disco- 
vered. On  every  subject  he  was  over- 
powered by  numbers ;  and  when 
Henderson,  the  moderator,  prepared 
to  put  the  question  respecting  the 
declinator  of  the  bishops,'  he  con- 
ceived that  the  moment  described  in 
his  instructions  was  come,  and  sud- 
denly rising  dissolved  the  Assembly. 
His  manner,  his  tears,  and  his  lan- 
guage, persuaded  the  members  that, 
if  his  voice  was  against,  yet  his  heart 
was  with  them ;  but,  if  we  may  believe 
his  letter  to  the  king,  his  distress 
arose  from  the  calamities  which  he 
saw  ready  to  burst  on  his  country. 
He  blamed  both  parties ;  the  presump- 
tion and  disobedience  of  the  Cove- 
nanters, the  illegal  proceedings,  the 
ambition,  and  the  immorality  of  seve- 
ral among  the  bishops;  and  conceiv- 
ing his  life  in  danger,  bequeathed  his 
children  to  the  care  of  his  sovereign, 
that  the  sons  might  be  bred,  and  the 
daughters  married,  in  England.  He 
added,  that  from  Scotland  he  wished 
to  be  divorced  for  ever.' 

But  the  Assembly  was  not  inclined 
to  dissolve  itself  at  the  mere  mandate 
of  the  sovereign.    The  earl  of  Argyle, 


1  The  declinator  was  a  protestation  against 
the  authority  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  in 
JS^alson,  i.  249. 

•  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  113—121.  Baillie, 


though  he  was  not  a  member,  and 
had  hitherto  disguised  his  real  senti- 
ments, came  forward  to  countenance 
their  meetings,  and  bear  witness  to 
the  "  righteousness  of  their  proceed- 
ings," Encouraged  by  his  presence, 
they  passed  a  resolution  that  in  spi- 
ritual matters  the  kirk  was  inde- 
pendent of  the  civil  power,  and  that 
the  dissolution  of  the  Assembly  by  the 
royal  commissioner  was  illegal  and 
void.  The  three  next  weeks  were  em- 
ployed in  the  revision  of  every  ecclesias- 
tical regulation  introduced  since  the 
accession  of  James  to  the  crovra  of 
England.  The  liturgy,  ordinal,  book 
of  canons,  and  court  of  High  Com- 
mission, were  condemned ;  episcopacy 
was  abohshed ;  and  the  bishops  them- 
selves, with  the  ministers,  the  known 
fautors  of  the  bishops,  were  excom- 
municated or  deprived.  Charles  by 
proclamation  annulled  these  proceed- 
ings; the  Scots  received  them  with 
transports  of  joy,  and  celebrated  a 
day  of  national  thanksgiving  for  their 
delivery  from  prelacy  and  popery.^ 

While  the  Covenanters  thus  steadily 
pursued  the  abolition  of  episcopacy, 
they  were  not  inattentive  to  the  dan- 
ger which  threatened  them  from  Eng- 
land. Their  preparations  for  war 
kept  pace  with  those  of  their  sovereign. 
In  military  matters  they  had  recourse 
to  the  experience  of  Alexander  Leslie, 
an  adventurer  who  had  served  under 
the  king  of  Sweden  in  the  wars  of 
Germany,  had  risen  to  the  rank  of 
field-marshal,  and  had  returned  lately 
with  considerable  wealth  to  his  native 
country.  In  conformity  with  his 
advice,  the  supreme  committee  in 
Edinburgh  issued  its  commands  to 
the  inferior  boards  in  the  several  pres- 
byteries, and  religious  enthusism  in- 
sured obedience.    Every  man  capable 


96—115.    Enshworth,  ii.  840— 857.   Balfour, 
301—303. 

3  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  124.    Baillie,  115 
—149.     Kushworth,  ii,  872,  876—881. 
son,  i.  97—120.    Balfour,  303—315. 


$81.    IS^ 

J 


A.D.  1638.] 


SCOTS  AIDED  BY  EICHELIEU. 


213 


of  bearing  arms  was  regularly  trained ; 
oflBcers  who  had  grown  old  in  actual 
service  hastened  from  the  Swedish 
and  Dutch  armies  to  animate  and 
exercise  their  countrymen ;  and  arms 
and  ammunition  were  furnished  by 
the  Scottish  merchants  in  Holland. 
Money  was  the  principal  desideratum. 
A  scanty  supply  was  obtained  from 
some  of  the  rich  citizens  in  Edin- 
burgh ;  many  of  the  nobility  sent 
their  plate  to  be  coined  at  the  Mint ; 
and  a  liberal  present  was  received,  in 
the  name  of  the  French  monarch, 
from  a  secret  and  unexpected  friend, 
the  cardinal  Eichelieu. 
J  It  may  appear  strange  that  Eiche- 
lieu should  voluntarily  offer  assistance 
to  the  disaffected  subjects  of  a  prince 
in  amity  with  his  own  sovereign,  and 
married  to  a  daughter  of  Erance. 
That  minister  was  actuated  by  mo- 
tives of  public  and  personal  interest. 
Charles  had  formerly  excited  rebellion 
in  France,  by  sending  the  expedition 
under  Buckingham  to  take  possession 
of  the  isle  of  Ehe:  he  had  by  his 
opposition  and  menaces  defeated  the 
cardinal's  plan  of  partitioning  the 
Spanish  Netherlands  between  France 
and  the  States  according  to  the  treaty 
of  Paris;  and  had,  during  the  war 
against  the  house  of  Austria,  be- 
trayed a  secret  leaning  to  the  cause 
of  Spain,  through  the  hope  of  obtain- 


^  As  Charles  coiild  not  foresee  the  issue 
of  the  contest,  he  negotiated  with  each  in 
favour  of  his  nephew.  Richelieu  would  pro- 
mise nothing,  unless  the  English  king  should 
openly  join  in  the  war.  At  first  he  would 
only  allow  an  auxiliary  force  of  six  thousand 
men  to  be  raised  in  England,  and  the  co- 
operation of  an  English  fleet.  By  degrees 
he  was  drawn  much  further;  but  the  car- 
dinal contrived  to  spin  out  the  negotiation 
for  three  years,  till  the  troubles  in  Scot- 
land relieved  him  from  all  apprehension  on 
the  part  of  Charles.  (See  the  Sydney  Pa- 
pers, ii.  37 i— 660.)  It  served  admirably  the 
cardinal's  purpose  of  procrastination,  that 
the  earl  of  Leicester,  the  ambassador,  was 
forbidden  to  meet  the  cardinal  in  person, 
that  the  latter  might  not  claim  the  prece- 
dence.—Ibid.  384,  383. 

2  Ibid.  517—521,  569.  573. 

3  Dalrymple,    ii.    47.     Ifouvelles    Lett. 


ing  the  Palatinate  for  his  nephew.* 
In  these  instances  he  opposed  the  ge- 
neral policy  of  Eichelieu;  in  another  he 
offered  him  a  personal  offence,  by  open- 
ing in  his  dominions  an  honourable 
asylum  to  Mary  of  Medicis,  the  queen 
mother,  once  the  cardinal's  patroness, 
but  of  late  years  his  most  dangerous 
enemy.'  On  these  accounts  Eiche- 
lieu instructed  the  French  ambassador 
to  open  a  clandestine  intercourse  with 
the  insurgents ;  despatched  Chambers, 
his  almoner,  and  a  Scotsman,  to  in- 
quire into  the  origin  and  progress  of 
the  troubles  in  Scotland ;  procured 
the  release  of  six  thousand  stand  of 
arms  which  had  been  bought  for  the 
Covenanters  and  seized  by  the  States 
of  Holland ;  and  ordered  the  French 
ambassador  in  London  to  pay  one 
hundred  thousand  crowns  to  General 
Leslie,  who  was  appointed  com- 
mander-in-chief.3  But  the  last  trans- 
action was  kept  a  profound  secret  by 
the  Scottish  leaders.  Had  it  been 
known  to  the  ministers,  their  bigotry 
would  have  pronounced  it  a  sacri- 
legious violation  of  their  covenant 
with  the  Almighty.  Already,  when 
it  was  proposed  to  solicit  assistance 
from  the  Lutheran  princes  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  Catholic  kings  of 
France  and  Spain,  they  had  replied 
that  the  Lutherans  were  heretics,  the 
Catholics  idolaters ;  and  that  to  have 


d|Estrades,  i;  8.  Temple,  ii.  545.  Some 
hints  of  this  intrigue  had  been  received  by 
government  in  July.— Sydney  Papers,  ii. 
562.  It  was  discovered  by  Hamilton  in 
March  of  the  nest  year.  Conn  to  Bar- 
berini,  18  March,  JN'.S.  The  following  letter 
from  Eichelieu  to  d'Estrades  proves  his  re- 
sentment against  both  the  king  and  queen  : 
— "Je  profiterai  de  I'avis  que  vous  me 
donnez  pour  I'Ecosse,  et  ferai  partir  I'abbe 
Chambre,  mon  aumonier,  qui  est  Ecossais 
de  nation,  pour  aller  a  Edinbourg  attendre 
les  deux  personnes  que  vous  me  nommez, 
pour  lier  quelque  negoeiation  avec  elles. 
L'acn^e  ne  se  passera  pas  que  le  roi  et  la 
reine  d'Angleterre  ne  se  repentent  d'avoir 
refuse  les  oiFres  que  vous  leur  avez  faits  do 
la  part  du  roi."  Of  the  Scottish  agents  he 
says,  "Vous  avez  rendu  un  grand  service 
au  roi  d'avoir  decouvert  ces  deux  hommes. 
Assurez  les  de  mon  affection  et  de  ma  protec- 


214 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  v. 


recourse  to  either  would  be  to  refuse 
the  protection  of  God,  and  to  lean  to 
the  broken  reed  of  Egypt.' 

It  was  not  till  after  the  first  return 
of  the  marquess  of  Hamilton  from 
Scotland  that  Charles  deigned  to  ask 
the  advice  of  his  English  counsellors.'^ 
Laud,  whether  it  was  through  a  sense 
of  duty,  or  through  apprehension  of 
the  result,  surprised  his  colleagues  by 
the  earnestness  with  which  he  argued 
in  favour  of  peace.  But  his  opposition 
served  only  to  procure  a  short  delay, 
The  king  had  long  ago  taken  his  reso- 
lution ;  the  archbishop  was  repri- 
manded for  his  pusillanimity;  and 
the  majority  of  the  council  hastened 
to  determine  in  conformity  with  the 
pleasure  of  the  sovereign.  In  the 
beginning  of  December  the  captains 
were  named,  and  the  general  officers 
were  appointed :  the  lords  lieutenant 
received  orders  to  muster  the  trained 
bands  of  the  several  counties,  and 
the  lord  keeper  sent  a  summons  to 
each  peer  to  wait  on  the  king  at  York, 
with  a  retinue  suitable  to  his  rank. 
To  procure  money,  loans  were  made, 
the  payment  of  pensions  was  sus- 
pended, the  clergy,  judges,  and  law- 
yers were  called  upon  to  contribute 
with  their  purses  in  lieu  of  their 
personal  services;  and  the  queen 
employed  all  her  influence  with  the 
leaders  of  the  Catholics  to  obtain 
from  them  a  liberal  subscription  in 
return  for  the  indulgence  which  they 


tion.    Ruel,  2  D^cembre,  1637."— Lettres 
d'Estrades,  i.  10,  i  BailUe,  i.  154. 

2  It  has  been  believed,  on  the  credit  of 
the  charges  against  Laud  and  Strafford, 
that  they  were  the  real  authors  of  the  war. 
It  will,  however,  appear,  from  a  careful 
examination  of  their  private  letters  and 
other  contemporary  documents,  that  Laud 
dissuaded  hostilities,  and  that  Strafford's 
advice  was  not  asked.  The  king  inquired 
what  aid  he  might  expect  from  Ireland ; 
and  Strafford,  in  answer  to  a  second  letter, 
promised  to  send  five  hundred  men.  He 
acknowledged,  indeed,  that  the  presump- 
tion of  the  Scots  ought  to  be  checked,  but 
advised  a  middle  course,  so  as  neither  to 
submit  to  their  will,  nor  to  make  a  rash  and 


had  experienced  from  their  sove- 
reign.3 

Charles,  however,  could  not  but 
remark  the  visible  indifference  of  his 
English  subjects.  To  the  majority, 
discontented  with  the  illegal  tenor 
of  his  government,  it  was  a  matter  of 
little  concern,  perhaps  of  real  satis- 
faction, that  the  Scots  refused  sub- 
mission to  his  mandates ;  the  Puritans 
openly  condemned  the  war  as  an 
impious  crusade  against  the  servants 
of  God ;  and  the  only  persons  who 
seemed  to  interest  themselves  in  the 
cause  were  the  more  orthodox  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  few  men  of  wealth  and 
importance  who  depended  on  the 
favour  of  the  court.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  king  by  different  proclama- 
tions pronounced  the  Covenanters 
rebels,  that  he  accused  them  of  aiming 
at  the  separation  of  the  Scottish  from 
the  English  crown,  and  that  he  attri- 
buted to  them  the  design  of  invading 
and  plundering  the  northern  counties. 
To  such  charges  were  successfully  op- 
posed the  printed  declarations  of  the 
Tables,  who  called  on  God  to  witness 
their  loyalty,  and  protested  that,  if 
they  had  taken  up  arms,  it  was  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  conscience  : 
let  the  king  only  cease  from  his  re- 
ligious innovations,  and  he  would 
find  them  the  most  dutiful  of  his 
subjects.* 

But  these  professions  of  obedience 
did  not  prevent  them  from  being  the 


sudden  declaration  of  war.  —  See  Land's 
Troubles,  76,  168;  Sydney  Papers,  iii.  579; 
Strafford  Papers,  ii.  187,  190,  228,  233,  264. 

3  Rushworth,  ii.  791—797,  818,  820—826. 
Sydney  Papers,  ii.  579.  Strafford  Papers, 
350,  351.  Charles  made  an  attempt  to  pro- 
cure, through  the  agency  of  Colonel  Gage, 
a  foreign  army  of  six  thousand  foot  and 
four  hundred  horse  from  the  archduke,  in 
return  for  permission  to  raise  a  certain 
number  of  recruits  for  the  Spanish  army 
yearly  in  Ireland.  It  failed,  because  this 
archduke  could  not  spare  so  large  a  forttl^ 
of  veterans  at  that  moment. — Clarendc 
Papers,  ii.  16—29,  50. 

*  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  798—802, 


uD.  1639.] 


PEEPAEATIONS  POE  WAR. 


215 


irst  to  commit  hostilities.  On  a 
Friday  in  March  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burgh was  surprised  by  Leslie,  at  the 
lead  of  one  thousand  musketeers; 
m  the  Saturday  the  womanish  ap- 
Drehensions  or  wavering  fidelity  of 
Traquair  surrendered  the  strong 
louse  of  Dalkeith,  and  with  it  the 
•egalia  of  Scotland ;  and  on  the  next 
lay  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath  and  the 
observance  of  a  solemn  fast  were  vio- 
.ated  to  obtain  possession  of  the  castle 
)f  Dumbarton.  The  governor,  with 
part  of  his  garrison,  having  left  the 
Aurch  after  the  second  sermon,  was 
?urrounded  by  a  party  of  armed  men, 
md  compelled,  under  a  menace  of  im- 
mediate death,  to  send  for  the  keys, 
md  deliver  them  to  the  provost  of  the 
sown.'  Thus,  as  Stirling  was  already 
secured  by  the  earl  of  Marr,  who  had 
:aken  the  covenant,  of  all  the  royal 
'ortresses  one  only,  and  that  the 
i.east  important,  Carlaverock,  on  the 
ivestern  border,  remained  to  the  king. 
Every  day  brought  him  intelligence 
I  Df  some  new  disaster  or  disappoint- 
aaent.  The  earl  of  Antrim,  who, 
from  Ireland  menaced  the  possessions 
3f  Argyle,  was  unable  to  fulfil  his  en- 
gagement ;  Huntly,  who  had  raised 
the  royal  standard  in  the  north,  was, 
ifter  a  private  conference,  treache- 
;rously  detained  by  the  Covenanters 

I  under  Montrose,  and  then  conducted 

I I  prisoner  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  Hamil- 
ton, who  entered  the  Prith  with  a 

;  Qumerous  fleet,  instead  of  occupying 
^Leith  according  to  his  instructions, 
spent  a  whole  month  in  useless  and 
suspicious  conference  with  the  in- 
surgents, and  made  no  attempt  to  land 
on  any  part  of  the  coast.  Charles 
himself  had  repaired  to  York,  where 
he  proposed  to  the  lords  who  accom- 
panied him  an  oath  of  allegiance, 
binding  them  to  oppose  all  seditions. 


conspiracies,  and  covenants  against 
his  person  and  dignity,  even  if  "  they 
came  veiled  under  pretence  of  reli- 
gion." To  his  surprise  and  indig- 
nation it  was  refused  by  the  lords 
Brooke  and  Say,  who,  to  the  interro- 
gatories put  to  them,  replied  that, 
though  they  could  not  be  compelled 
by  law,  they  were  willing  through 
afiection,  to  accompany  their  sove- 
reign; but  that  they  were  ignorant 
of  the  laws  and  customs  of  Scotland, 
and  therefore  unable  to  say  whether 
the  Covenanters  were  rebels,  or  the 
war  against  them  was  just.  The  king 
ordered  them  to  be  confined,  con- 
sulted the  attorney  and  solicitor  ge- 
neral, and  learned  with  vexation  that 
there  existed  no  ground  for  criminal 
proceedings  against  the  prisoners. 
After  some  days  they  were  dis- 
charged.2 

Prom  York  Charles  advanced  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Berwick ;  Leslie 
had  fixed  his  head-quarters  at 
Dunglass.  That  general  called  for 
every  fourth  man  from  each  presby- 
tery ;  and,  though  the  call  was  not 
exactly  obeyed,  twelve  thousand 
volunteers  crowded  to  his  standard. 
He  demanded  reinforcements;  the 
ministers  in  the  camp  added  written 
exhortations;  and  the  instructions 
delivered  to  the  messengers  served  to 
display  the  policy  of  the  leaders  and 
the  feelings  of  the  people.  One  was 
directed  to  call  on  every  true  Scots- 
man in  the  name  of  God  and  the 
country  to  hasten  to  the  aid  of  his 
countrymen,  with  them  to  extort  a 
reasonable  peace  from  the  king,  or  to 
seek  in  battle  their  common  enemies, 
the  prelates  and  papists  of  England. 
Another  followed,  denouncing  the 
ourse  of  Meroz  against  all  who  came 
not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord ;  and  he 
was   succeeded  by  a   third,  who,  in 


1  Balfour,  ii.  320—323.     Baillie,  i.  158, 
159.    Nalson,  i.  212. 
B     »  Bibliotheca  Eegia,  371  —  373.    Claren- 
':  don  Papers,  ii.  38,  41,  45.    The  lords  who 


had  taken  the  oath  signed  a  paper  declaring 
the  sense  in  which  they  had  taken  it.  The 
king  was  displeased,  and  the  oath  laid  aside. 
— Straflord  Papers,  ii,  351. 


216 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  t 


bitter  and  sarcastic  language,  sum- 
moned the  loiterers  to  attend  the 
burial  of  the  saints,  whom  they  had 
abandoned  to  the  swords  of  the  idola- 
ters. Such  invitations  produced  im- 
pressions on  minds  deeply  imbued 
with  religious  fanaticism ;  and  Leslie's 
army  gradually  swelled  to  more  than 
twenty  thousand  combatants,  all  en- 
thusiasts in  the  cause,  and  ready  to 
shed  their  blood  for  the  Lord  of 
Hosts.  On  the  tent  of  every  captain 
waved  a  new  ensign,  bearing  a  figure 
of  the  Scottish  arms,  with  this  motto  : 
"  For  Christ's  cro^vn  and  the  cove- 
nant." Each  morning  and  evening 
the  men  were  summoned  by  sound  of 
drum  to  perform  their  devotions 
under  the  canopy  of  heaven;  two 
sermons  were  preached  daily  to  con- 
vince them  of  the  righteousness  of 
their  cause  and  the  protection  of  the 
Almighty ;  and  of  the  remainder  of 
their  time  whatever  portion  was  not 
spent  in  martial  exercises  was  devoted 
to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  the 
singing  of  psalms,  mutual  exhortation, 
and  extemporary  prayer.* 

To  this  army,  thus  animated  by  the 
most  powerful  motives  that  can  in- 
fluence the  human  breast,  Charles 
could  oppose  an  equal,  perhaps  supe- 
rior, number  of  men ;  but  men  who  felt 
no  interest  in  the  cause  for  which  they 
were  destined  to  fight,  who  disap- 
proved of  the  arbitrary  proceedings 
of  their  sovereign,  and  who  had  been 
warned  that  the  suppression  of  the 
Scottish  covenanters  could  only  serve 
to  rivet  those  chains  which  had  been 
forged  for  themselves.  The  earl  of 
Holland  appeared  before  Kelso  with 
a  numerous  detachment  of  horse  and 
foot;  but  at  the  sight  of  the  Scots 
they  turned  their  backs,  and  Leslie, 


1  BaiUie,  170,  175,  176.  "  Had  you  lent 
yonr  ear,  and  heard  in  the  tents  the  sound 
of  some  singing  psalms,  some  praying,  some 
reading  scripture,    you  would   have   been 

refreshed For  myself  I  never  found 

ray  mind  in  better  temper  than  it  was.    I 


who  considered  procrastination  equi 
valent  to  defeat,  announced  his  inten 
tion  of  marching  against  the  roya 
army,  and  advanced  to  Dunse-law 
opposite  to  the  royal  camp  at  tht 
Birks.  Charles,  who  had  hitherU 
aflfected  to  despise  the  enemy,  felt  ! 
sudden  alarm;  works  were  imme 
diately  constructed  on  the  banks  o 
the  Tweed;  and  a  page,  who  ha( 
obtained  permission  to  visit  his  Scot 
tish  friends,  received  instructions  t( 
suggest  the  possibility  of  an  accom 
modation.  His  meaning  was  un 
derstood ;  passports  were  solicited 
and  commissioners  proceeded  to  th 
English  camp.  They  were  receive< 
in  the  tent  of  the  earl  of  Arundel 
but  Charles  took  the  negotiation  oi 
himself;  and  for  several  days  debate* 
every  point  with  an  earnestness  o 
argument  and  a  tone  of  superioritj 
which  seem  to  have  imposed  on  hi 
hearers  of  both  nations.  By  his  las 
answer,  though  he  refused  to  acknow 
ledge  the  assembly  of  Glasgow,  h 
consented  to  ratify  the  concession 
made  by  his  commissioner,  and  t 
intrust  the  decision  of  all  ecclesiasticE 
questions  to  a  general  assembly,  tha 
of  civil  matters  to  the  parliameni 
and  to  summon  both  to  meet  in  th 
month  of  August.  This  answer  wa 
far  from  giving  complete  satisfaction 
it  made  no  mention  of  the  abolition 
of  episcopacy,  and  it  affected  to  regar 
the  proceedings  at  Glasgow  as  of  n 
validity;  but,  on  the  other  han( 
many  of  the  Covenanters,  parti  - 
from  religious  scruples,  partly  froE  i 
the  fear  of  irritating  the  people  c  ' 
England,  refused  to  cross  the  border 
Reports  were  daily  circulated  of 
descent  from  Ireland;  and  the  issu  i 
of  a  rising  of  the  royalists  in  the  nortl 


was  as  a  man  who  had  taken  leave  from  th 
world,  and  was  resolved  to  die  in  that  sei 
vice  without  return.  I  found  the  favour  ( 
God  shining  upon  me,  and  a  sweet,  meel 
humble,  yet  strong  and  vehement  spir 
leading  me  all  along." — Id.  178, 


1 


.D.  1639.] 


PACIFICATION  OF  BERWICK. 


217 


mder  the  lord  Aboyne,  son  to  the 
arl  of  Huntly,  was  still  uncertain. 
Jnder  these  circumstances  the  chiefs 
esolved  to  accept  the  declaration, 
,nd  engaged  on  their  part  to  disband 
he  army,  and  to  restore  the  royal 
ortresses.  By  the  more  zealous  of 
he  Covenanters  they  were  reproached 
jritb  apostasy  from  the  cause  of  God 
,nd  the  kirk ;  and  to  vindicate  them- 
elves  they  published  an  apology, 
vhich  was  afterwards  condemned  by 
he  English  council  as  a  false  and 
editions  libel,  and  ordered  to  be 
)urnt  by  the  hands  of  the  common 
langman.* 

Charles  had  promised  and  intended 
io  proceed  to  Edinburgh,  to  hold  the 
)arliament  in  person.  He  was  deter- 
■ed  by  new  instances  of  "  valyancie  " 
)n  the  part  of  "  the  godly  females," 
vho  insulted  with  impunity  his 
riends,  even  the  first  oflScers  of  state, 
.vhenever  they  appeared  in  public.^ 
To  gain  the  more  moderate,  and  to 
iiscover  the  real  views  of  the  more 
dolent  among  his  opponents,  he  sum- 
[noned  fourteen  of  their  number  to 
fittend  him  at  Berwick;  but  distrust 
|Df  the  king,  or  consciousness  of  guilt, 
toduced  the  majority  to  disobey ;  and 
'only  three  commoners  and  three 
;  lords,  Montrose,  Loudon,  and  Lothian, 
,  ventured  to  wait  on  their  sovereign. 
;0f  the  lords,  Montrose  was  made  a 
,  convert,  Loudon  and  Lothian  were 
mollified  by  the  condescension  and 
I  protestations  of  Charles ;  while  Hamil- 
jton  by  his  dissimulation  (he  had  pre- 
viously received  for  that  purpose  a 
I  royal  warrant  and  pardon)  drew  from 
jthe  others   many  of  the  secrets  of 


1  Eushworth,  ii.  945,  1023.  Hardwicke 
Papers,  ii.  130—141.  Ellis,  2nd  series,  iii. 
290.  Sydney  Papers,  ii,  601.  Biblioth. 
Eegia,  181.  Burnet's  Hamiltons,  140.  Nal- 
son,  i.  232—240,  251.  Balfour,  ii.  324—329. 
Balfour  says  that  the  paper  burnt  contained 
three  or  four  articles  signed  by  the  king, 
bat  to  be  kept  secret,  that  his  honour 
might  not  be  impaired  (ii.  328).  Yet  in  all  the 
subsequent  disputes  we  hear  only  of  verbal 
promises,  which  the  king  was  said  to  have 
made,  and  which  some  of  the  lords  xeduced 


the  party.^  Before  his  departure  for 
London  the  king  appointed  Traquair 
to  hold  both  the  assembly  and  the  par- 
liament ;  imposing  on  him  a  task  ta 
which  no  human  abilities  were  equal, 
— to  guide  the  zeal  and  moderate  the 
language  of  religious  enthusiasts.  He 
was,  indeed,  willing  to  tolerate  what 
he  had  not  the  power  to  prevent ;  and 
with  the  resolution  of  afterwards  re- 
voking whatever  necessity  should  now 
compel  him  to  grant,  he  allowed  the 
commissioner  to  consent  to  the  abo- 
lition of  episcopacy,  of  the  service  and 
the  canons,  of  the  articles  of  Perth, 
and  of  the  High  Commission  court  j 
but  on  no  account  to  admit  of  ex- 
pressions which  should  designate  these 
institutions  and  doctrines  as  unlawful 
in  themselves,  or  contrary  to  the  word 
of  God.  The  assembly  was  first  held : 
every  deputy,  before  his  departure 
from  his  presbytery,  had  been  com- 
pelled to  testify  upon  oath  his  adhe- 
sion, to  the  late  obnoxious  assembly  at- 
Glasgow;  and  in  the  preamble  to 
their  acts  they  were  careful  to  em- 
ploy all  those  opprobrious  and  damna- 
tory epithets  which  the  king  regarded 
with  so  much  horror.  All  that  the 
commissioner  could  obtain  was,  that 
they  should  not  be  introduced  into 
the  clause  of  abolition  itself,  and  that 
to  the  covenant  should  be  added  a 
more  express  declaration  of  allegiance 
to  the  sovereign.  Traquair,  though 
with  reluctance,  gave  the  royal  assent 
to  these  proceedings,  and  the  success- 
ful conclusion  of  the  assembly  was 
hailed  by  the  people  with  shouts  of 
triumph  and  prayers  of  thanksgiving.'* 
In  parliament  the  Covenanters  dis- 


to  writing,  that  they  might  not  be  forgotten 
(336,  340,  341).  One  of  these  was,  that  the 
clergy  should  not  be  comprehended  in  the- 
article  which  restored  to  all  the  king's  Scot- 
tish subjects  the  goods  of  which  they  had 
been  deprived. — Laud's  Troubles,  170,  171. 

2  BaiUie,    i.    184.    Rushworth,    ii,    1024. 
Burnet's  Hamiltons,  144. 

3  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  141.    Eushworth, 
ii.  955,  956,  1021. 

*  Eushworth,  ii.  948,  953—965, 1024.  Bur- 
net's Hamiltons,  149—154,  155.    Ualson,  i. 


218 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  y 


played  equal  firmness  and  obstinacy. 
Their  object  was  twofold,— to  supply 
the  place  of  the  spiritual  lords, 
the  bishops,  who,  after  the  act 
of  assembly,  no  longer  existed  in 
Scotland,  and  to  abridge  the  power 
which  the  crown  had  hitherto  pos- 
sessed of  selecting  the  questions  for 
discussion,  and  of  influencing  the 
voters  in  parliament.  They  permitted 
the  commissioner  for  once  to  select  the 
lords  of  the  articles,  but  only  as  a 
matter  of  grace,  and  not  of  right; 
and  proposed  that  the  lesser  barons, 
the  commissioners  of  the  shires, 
should  for  the  future  occupy  the 
place  of  the  bishops ;  that  each  estate 
should  freely  choose  out  of  its  own 
body  a  portion  of  the  lords  of  the 
articles;  that  patents  of  peerage 
should  be  restricted  to  persons  in 
actual  possession  of  land-rents  within 
the  country  to  the  yearly  amount  of 
ten  thousand  marks ;  that  no  proxies 
should  ever  more  be  admitted;  that 
the  castles  of  Edinburgh,  Dunbarton, 
and  Stirling  should  be  intrusted  to 
the  custody  of  none  but  Scotsmen; 
and  that  all  acts  in  favour  of  episco- 
pacy should  be  repealed.  Traquair 
felt  himself  too  weak  to  stem  the 
torrent;  he  prorogued  the  parliament 
during  a  few  days,  and  Charles,  ap- 
proving his  conduct,  continued  the 
prorogation  for  six  months.  This 
proceeding  was  met  as  usual  with  a 
protest  against  its  legality,  but  accom- 
panied with  a  promise  that  the  States 
would  obey,  not  because  they  were 
obliged  by  law,  but  that  they  might 
prove  their  deference  and  attachment 
to  their  sovereign.' 
The  king  was  fully  convinced  that. 


246.  Balfour,  ii.  351—353.  Though  Charles 
had  resolved  to  make  concessions  with  the 
design  of  revoking  them  afterwards  ("  col. 
beneficio  del  tempo,  ed  in  congiunture  piu 
opportune."— Rosetti,  23rd  Sept.  1639),  he 
was  nevertheless  greatly  dissatisfied  with 
the  conduct  of  Traquair.  His  great  ob- 
jection was  to  the  condemnation  of  epis- 
copacy, as  "  unlawful  in  this  kirk  of  Scot- 


though  religion  might  influence  th( 
multitude,  the  depression  of  the  roya 
authority  was  the  real  object  of  the 
leaders.  To  reduce  them  to  obe- 
dience he  knew  of  no  other  methoc 
but  force ;  and,  while  he  revolved  ir 
his  mind  expedients  to  raise  funds  foi 
a  second  expedition,  fortune,  as  h( 
persuaded  himself,  placed  a  new  re- 
source within  his  grasp.  A  Spanisl 
fleet  of  galleons  and  transports 
amounting  to  seventy  sail,  undei 
Oquendo,  had  been  discovered  in  th( 
Channel  by  the  Dutch  squadron  com- 
manded by  De  Wit.  A  pursuit  com- 
menced ;  De  Wit  was  joined  by  Vac 
Tromp,  and  Oquendo  sought  an  asy- 
lum in  the  Downs.  He  had  lost  thre< 
ships,  his  pursuers  two ;  but  the  lattei 
entered  the  road  with  him,  and  re 
peated  arrivals  from  Holland  aug 
mented  their  force  to  the  number  o 
one  hundred  sail,  besides  fireships 
It  was  the  general  opinion  that  th< 
Spanish  fleet  could  not  escape  de- 
struction, when  Charles  made  ai 
offer,  in  consideration  of  one  hundrec 
and  fifty  thousand  pounds  in  readj 
money,  to  take  it  under  his  protection 
and  to  convey  it  to  its  destination  oi 
the  coast  of  Flanders,  and  thence  fa 
some  port  in  Spain.  The  proposa 
was  cheerfully  entertained  by  th( 
court  of  Brussels ;  an  order,  it  is  said 
had  even  been  issued  for  the  paymeni 
of  part  of  the  sum,  when  the  States,  un- 
willing to  lose  their  prey,  ordered  th( 
two  admirals  to  attack  the  Spaniards 
Though  Pennington  was  present  witl 
an  English  fleet,  under  orders  to  pre- 
vent any  aggression  on  either  side,  h( 
remained  a  quiet  spectator  of  th( 
combat.    Twenty-three  Spanish  ships 


land : ''  he  would  have  admitted,  "  contraCT 
to  the  constitution  of  the  kirk  of  Scotland, ' 
but  disliked  the  word  "  unlawful,"  throagb 
fear  that  it  might  be  abused  by  innovaton 
in  other  countries. — Nalson,  i.  255.  It  wM 
a  mere  quibble. 

1  Balfour,  ii.  351—362.    Nalson,  i.  266- 
271. 


ENGLISH  PAELIAMENT. 


n  shore  ;  of  thirty  which  put  out 

a,  ten  only  reached  the  harbour 

mkirk.    The   rest  were   either 

,  oyed  or  captured.     The  cardinal 

iiaut,  governor  of  the  Netherlands, 

ilied  on  the  king  to  revenge  this 

:  t  on  his  authority ;  hut  Charles, 

ly  as  he  felt  the  disappointment 

;  I  disgrace,  was  content  to  complain, 

id  gladly  accepted  the  apology  which 

as  made  by  ambassadors  specially 

)mmissioned  for  that  purpose.' 

T;;e  king,  after  his  return,  had  sub- 

1  the  aflfairs  of  Scotland  to  the 

'deration  of  a  committee,  con- 

^iiug  of  Archbishop  Laud,  the  mar- 

aess  of  Hamilton,  and  Wentworth, 

bo  had  been  ordered  to  attend  the 

Dirlish  court.    Laud  assures  us  that 

arefully  abstained  from  all  lan- 

■  which  might  add  to  the  royal 

. .  cition,  or  lead  to  an  offensive  war ; 

It  he  was  silenced  by  the  eagerness 

the  lord  deputy  and  the  known 

utiments  of  the  king.     The  bishop 

'  London,  lord  treasurer,  the  earl  of 

orthumberland,  lord  admiral,  Cot- 

I  :,'ton,  Windebank,  and  Vane,  were 
nv  added  to  their  number,  with  in- 
ructions  to  provide  funds,  and  to 
range  the  preparations  for  the  cam- 
lign.  They  issued  writs  for  ship- 
oiiey  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred 
ousand  pounds, and  advised  the  king 
summon  a  parliament,  as  the  most 

;:ral  manner  of  procuring  a  more 
undant  supply.    Charles  ordered  a 

II  council  to  be  called ;  and,  when 
'  found  them  unanimous  in  the 
me  advice,  put  to  them  this  per- 
ient  question :  "  If  this  parliament 
ould  prove  as  untoward  as  some 


'  See  Nalson,  i.  258 ;  the  despatches  of 
indebank  in  the  Clarendon  Papers,  ii. 
—80 ;  Warwick's  Memoirs,  119 ;  D'Es- 
tdes,  29;  Whitelock,  31;  and  Sydney 
ipers,  ii.  612,  620. 

~  Sydney  Papers,  ii.  614,  615,  616,  624. 
arendon  Papers,  ii.  81,  82.  Laud's  Trou- 
es,  171.  3  gee  Appendix,  MMM. 

*  Eymer,  xx.  359.  Strafford  Papers,  390 
404.  It  has  been  asked  why  the  Enghsh 
riiament  was  summoned  for  so  late  a  day 


have  lately  been,  will  you  then  assist 
me  in  such  extraordinary  ways  as  in 
that  extremity  should  be  thought 
fit  ?"  They  replied  in  the  affirmative, 
and  the  king  reluctantly  gave  his 
assent.^ 

By  the  advice  of  "Wentworth  it  was 
resolved  to  apply  in  the  first  instance 
to  the  liberality  of  the  Irish  parlia- 
ment. Before  his  departure,  to  re- 
ward his  past  services,  and  to  give 
greater  weight  to  his  efforts,  he  was 
created  earl  of  Strafford,  and  appointed 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland.  There  no 
man  dared  openly  to  oppose  his  plea- 
sure; the  two  houses  voted  a  grant 
of  four  subsidies;  and  at  his  command 
added  a  promise  of  two  more,  if  they 
should  be  found  necessary.  This  vote, 
it  was  fondly  hoped,  would  prove  a 
lesson  and  a  precedent  to  the  Eng- 
lish members;  the  king  immediately 
ordered  his  friends  in  Scotland  to 
prepare  for  the  approaching  conflict; 
and  Strafford  returned  to  assist  at 
the  councils  of  his  sovereign,  having 
left  orders  for  the  immediate  levy  of 
an  army  of  eight  thousand  men.* 

In  England  the  meeting  of  a  par- 
liament, after  an  interruption  of  so 
many  years,  was  hailed  with  expres- 
sions of  joy,  and  the  people  expected 
from  its  labours  the  redress  of  those 
grievances  under  which  they  had 
laboured,  and  the  vindication  of  those 
liberties  which  had  been  violated. 
Charles  met  the  two  houses  without 
any  sanguine  expectations  of  success ; 
but  he  called  upon  them  to  grant  him 
an  ample  and  speedy  supply,  and,  to 
demonstrate  to  them  the  justice  of 
his  cause,  exhibited  an  intercepted 


as  the  13th  of  April,  if  the  king's  wants 
were  so  urgent  ?  Windebank  informed  the 
ambassador  at  Madrid  that  itw  as  to  give 
time  for  the  meeting  of  the  Irish  parha- 
ment  before  the  commencement  of  that  in 
England.— Clarendon  Papers, ii.  82.  Kosetti, 
in  his  letter  of  March  23rd,  hints,  as  an 
additional  reason,  that  the  king  was  raising 
an  army  of  fifteen  thousand  foot  and  four 
thousand  horse,  which  might  serve  "per 
tener  a  freno  il  parliamento." 


220 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap 


letter,  subscribed  by  seven  of  the 
principal  Covenanters,  and  soliciting 
the  aid  of  the  king  of  France.  The 
result,  however,  proved  that  the  Com- 
mons had  inherited  the  sentiments 
and  policy  of  their  predecessors.  They 
took  no  notice  of  the  prayers  or  the 
wants  of  the  sovereign;  but  gave 
their  whole  attention  to  the  national 
grievances,  which,  by  the  advice  of 
Pym,  they  divided  into  three  heads- 
innovations  in  religion,  invasions  of 
private  property,  and  breaches  of  the 
privileges  of  parliament.  1.  Under 
the  first  they  enumerated  all  the 
charges  made  by  the  Puritans  against 
the  archbishop,  and  complained  of 
the  authority  recently  given  to  the 
convocation  to  make  new  and  amend 
the  old  constitutions,  an  authority 
necessarily  affecting  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  laity.    2.  The  second 


1  Loudon,  one  of  the  subscribers,  had 
come  to  London  in  quality  of  a  commis- 
sioner, and  was  committed  to  the  Tower. 
In  his  own  justification  he  alleged  that  the 
letter  was  written  in  May  of  the  last  year, 
before  the  king  came  to  Berwick ;  and  that 
he  did  not  understand  French,  but  supposed 
that  its  sole  object  was  to  solicit  the  media- 
tion of  the  king  of  France;  that  it  did  not 
please,  and  therefore  was  not  sent,  nor 
intended  to  be  sent ;  and  that  whatever 
offence  he  had  committed  by  signing  it  was 
covered  by  the  pacification  of  Berwick  and 
the  act  of  oblivion. —  Journals,  April  16. 
Whitelock,  33.  May.  Keprint  of  1812. 
These  allegations  were  undoubtedly  false. 
The  intentioa  of  the  Scots  had  been  be- 
trayed to  the  marquess  of  Hamilton,  by 
whose  means  both  Colvil  the  envoy,  and  the 
letter  had  been  secured  (Rosetti,  18th 
March,  N.S.) ;  but  another  envoy  conveyed 
copies  both  of  the  letter  and  of  Colvil's 
instructions  to  Paris,  where  they  were 
Bafely  transmitted  through  an  officer  named 
Erstone  to  Bellievre,  and  by  Bellievre  to 
Eichelieu.  Tlie  letter  was  merely  of  cre- 
dence in  favour  of  Colvil:  by  his  instruc- 
tions he  was  ordered  to  state  to  the  king 
and  the  cardinal  the  miserable  condition  of 
Scotland,  through  the  encroachments  of 
the  royal  authority  not  only  on  the  religion, 
but  chiefly  on  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
kingdom  ;  to  complain  that  the  king  had 
■violated  the  late  pacification  at  Berwick  by 
dissolving  the  parliament  in  opposition  to 
the  will  of  the  States,  and  contrary  to  all 
ancient  precedents ;  to  beg  the  mediation 
of  the  French  king  between  them  and  their 


comprised  the  monopolies  granted 
the  crown,  the  levy  of  ship-moi 
during  so  many  years,  the  enlar 
ment  of  the  royal  forests,  the  char 
laid  on  the  counties  during  the  1 
campaign,  and  the  vexatious  prose< 
tions  on  account  of  the  refusal 
pay  unwarrantable  taxes,  and  of 
sistance  to  unlawful  monopolies. 
They  reckoned  as  breaches  of  pri 
lege  the  command  given  by  the  ki  ■ 
to  the  late  speaker  to  adjourn  1 
house  without  its  consent,  and  1 
attempts  of  the   courts   of  law 
punish   the   members  for  their 
haviour  in  parliament.    On  all  tht  - 
subjects   it   was   resolved  to    soli 
the  opinion  and  co-operation  of  1 
Lords.'-* 

Charles  viewed  the  apathy  of  1 
Commons  at  first  with  impatien  ■ 
afterwards   with   alarm.    It  was 


ere  s 

m 


sovereign,  a  mediation  which  they  wo  ^ 
have  solicited  before,  had  they  not  relied 
long  on  the  justice  of  their  own  king ;  ; 
to  remind  Louis  that,  if  Charles  were  ; 
fered  to  tread    the    liberties  of   Scol" 
under  foot,  he  would  throw  the  pov 
his  three  kingdoms  into  the  scale  in  :    _^ 
of   Spain    against    France.     (See   Maz" 
iii.    406.)     Leicester,    the    ambassador 
France,  received  a  copy  of  the  letter  v 
orders  to  read  it  to  Louis.     He  demai. 
audience  at  Chantilly  (April  25).     In 
ante-chamber  Bullion   requested  to   J> 
the  object  of  his  visit,  which  he  refu.-^ 
disclose.     The  king  took  the  letter,  re 
more  than  once,  and  replied  that  he  1; 
nothing  of   it;    but  that   he  would  i; 
assist  rebels  against  their  sovereign,  r. 
too  who  made  religion  a  cover  for   i 
malice.  —  Sydney    Papers,    ii.    647. 
Louis  been  instructed  to  dissemble,  c 
Eichelieu  act  on  such  occasions  desigiu 
without  consulting  his  sovereign  ?     On 
very  day  he  gave  instructions  to  Belli 
to  draw  out  an  answer  to  the  Scots,  li 
terms  so  guarded  that,  whilst  it  would  • 
courage  their  hopes,  it  might  not,  if  int 
cepted,    compromise    either    the    Frer 
court  or  the  leaders  of  the  insurgent' 
Mazure,  iii.  412.    Leicester  at    the 
time  demanded  the  arrest  of  William  C 
on  suspicion  ;  but  an  answer  was  given  i. 
he  was  innocent,  and  that,  if  he  were  n 
Louis  would  not  give  him  up  any  more  th 
Charles  had  given  up  to  him  the  Free 
traitors  in  England.— Ibid.  413.      Sydi 
Papers,  ii.  646. 
2  Journals,  April  17,  20,  22,  23, 24. 


1640.] 


PAELIAMENT  DISSOLVED. 


221 


lin  that  he  endeavoured  to  quicken 
aeir  proceedings  by  an  earnest  and 
)uciliatory  speech  at  Whitehall ;  and 
is  request  to  the  Lords,  that  they 
ould  not  listen  to  the  grievances  of 
le  Commons  till  the  royal  wants  had 
3en  supplied,  was  productive  of  a 
ital  dispute  between  the  two  houses, 
Q  the  first  conference  the  Lords  ex- 
ressed  their  opinion  that  the  supply 
ught  to  have  the  precedence  of  every 
fcher  question ;  in  the  second,  the 
ommons  complained  that  such  in- 
mation  was  an  infringement  of  their 
rivileges.'  The  Lords  replied,  that 
ley  claimed  no  right  to  originate 
ills  of  supply,  or  to  point  out  their 
mount,  or  the  manner  in  which  the 
loney  was  to  be  raised ;  but  that 
was  competent  for  them  to  com- 
lunicate  to  the  lower  house  their 
ivice  respecting  supplies  in  general, 
ad  to  warn  them  of  the  prejudice 
kely  to  arise  to  the  nation  from 
leir  refusal  or  delay.  In  this  stage 
f  the  quarrel  a  message  from  the 
ing  required  an  immediate  answer 
om  the  Commons  whether  they 
ould  or  would  not  proceed  to  the 
uestion  of  supply.  The  rest  of  that 
ay  and  the  whole  of  the  next  was 
pent  by  them  in  close  and  vehement 
ebate ;  on  the  morning  of  Monday, 
ir  Henry  Vane,  the  secretary,  deli- 
ered  a  message  from  the  king  that, 
".  parliament  would  grant  him  twelve 
ubsidies  (eight  hundred  and  fifty 
housand  pounds),  to  be  paid  in 
hree  years,  he  would  consent  to 
he  abolition  of  ship-money  for  ever. 
I  any  were  tempted  with  the  bait, 
hough  they  objected  to  the  amount ; 
nd  it  became  a  struggle  between  the 
jaders  on  the  opposite  sides  to  secure 


the  votes  of  the  wavering  members. 
Hyde  maintained  that  they  ought  in 
the  first  place  to  come  to  an  under- 
standing among  themselves  with  re- 
spect to  the  grant  of  a  supply,  and 
then  to  determine  its  amount;  Hamp- 
den, that  the  only  question  before  the 
house  was  this,  whether  twelve  sub- 
sidies should  be  voted  or  not.  After 
a  debate  of  nine  hours,  the  house 
adjourned  to  the  next  day;  and  on 
that  morning  the  secretary  assured 
the  king  in  council  of  his  conviction 
that  not  a  penny  would  be  granted 
to  aid  him  in  his  war  against  the 
Scots.  Charles  did  not  hesitate  a 
moment.  Proceeding  to  the  upper 
house,  he  commanded  the  attendance 
of  the  lower,  and,  having  eulogized 
the  dutiful  behaviour  of  the  Lords, 
dissolved  the  parliament.^ 

Charles  had  reason  to  regret  this 
precipitate  measure.  Had  he  waited 
a  day  longer,  and  the  Commons 
returned  a  positive  refusal,  the  pro- 
vocation would  in  the  opinion  of 
many  have  justified  the  dissolution; 
had  they  granted  a  supply,  though 
beneath  the  sum  demanded,  it  would 
have  checked  the  presumption  of  the 
Scots,  and  probably  have  induced 
them  to  stand  on  the  defensive. 
Now  they  believed  that  the  country 
was  with  them.  Their  commissioners 
had  been  in  frequent  though  clandes- 
tine communication  with  the  leaders 
of  the  opposition  in  parliament ;  and 
their  knowledge  of  the  king's  poverty, 
and  of  the  secret  aid  which  they 
might  expect  from  the  discontented 
in  England,  whether  enemies  of  epis- 
copacy or  advocates  of  republicanism 
(we  now  meet  with  the  latter  for  the 
the  first  time^),  encouraged  them  to 


>  It  has  been  said  by  Eushworth  (1149) 
hat  the  two  parties  made  the  trial  of  their 
trength  by  dividing  on  a  motion  for  a 
econd  conference,  which  was  rejected  by 
57  against  148.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  The 
ournals  show  that  the  motion  was  for  a 
ielay  in  the  prosecution  of  Dr.  Beale, 
naster  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge. — 
ournals,  iv.  May  1, 


3  I  have  followed  Laud  (his  Troubles,  78), 
who  was  present  at  the  council,  and  says 
that  two  only,  Northumberland  and  Hol- 
land, voted  against  the  dissolution.  Vane 
had  assured  the  house  that  the  king  would 
accept  nothing  short  of  twelve  subsidies ; 
yet  Dugdale  says  that  Vane  had  "  a  power 
to  stoop  to  eight." — Short  View,  61. 

3  Whitelock,  32. 


CHARLES  I. 


[CHAI 


hasten  their  military  preparations, 
that  they  might  act  on  the  offensive 
on  this  side  of  the  Tweed.  The 
events  which  followed  in  the  capital 
strengthened  their  hopes.  The  feel- 
ings of  the  lord  mayor  and  aldermen 
were  disclosed  by  their  evasive  an- 
swers to  the  royal  application  for  a 
loan  of  money,  whilst  the  lower  classes 
indulged  openly  in  expressions  of  dis- 
content and  menaces  of  vengeance. 
Strafford,  who  was  supposed  to  rule 
in  the  council,  obtained  his  share  of 
public  odium;  but  the  resentment 
of  the  populace  was  chiefly  directed 
against  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
At  first  their  passions  were  roused 
by  the  distribution  of  handbills  and 
defamatory  ballads ;  then  placards 
posted  on  the  Royal  Exchange,  and 
in  the  most  frequented  thoroughfares, 
called  on  the  apprentices  to  meet 
in  St.  George's  Fields,  and  "  hunt 
WilUam  the  fox,  the  breaker  of  the 
parliament ;"  and,  though  the  trained 
bands  kept  the  peace  during  the  day, 
five  hundred  rioters  attempted  at 
night  to  force  their  way  into  the 
archiepiscopal  palace  at  Lambeth. 
They  demolished  the  windows,  but, 
at  the  end  of  two  hours,  were  repulsed 
with  fire-arms.  It  was  fortunate  that, 
during  this  period  of  popular  excite- 
ment, continual  rains  impeded  the 
formation  of  numerous  assemblages; 
yet  the  passions  of  the  people  were 
not  suffered  to  cool,  but  papers  were 
affixed  to  the  walls  of  houses,  and 
even  to  the  gates  of  the  palace,  sum- 
moning every  true  Englishman  to 
come  forward  in  defence  of  his  coun- 
try and  religion,  to  burn  down  the 
popish  chapels,  to  root  out  the  noxious 
•weed  of  episcopacy,  and  to  bring  to 
deserved  pu  nlshment  Laud,  Strafford, 
and  Hamilton,  the  chief  authors  of 
the  public  grievances  in  England  and 
Scotland.    The  king  passed  some  days 


1  VFhitelock,  33.  Laud's  Diary,  58  ;  his 
Troubles,  79.  Hush.  ii.  1173-9.  I  have 
added  several  interesting  particulars  from 


in  the  deepest  anxiety,  looking  v 
impatience  for  the  arrival  of  trc 
from  the  army ;  and  beholding,  ev 
ing  after  evening,  from  his  pal; 
the  illegal  proceedings  of  the  n 
and  the  conflagration  of  houses 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  river, 
last  he  found  himself  at  the  heac 
six  thousand  men.  ,His  first  care ' 
to  remove  the  queen  (she  was  in 
last  stage  of  pregnancy)  to  Greenw: 
where  she  remained  under  the  j 
tection  of  a  strong  guard,  with  sixt 
pieces  of  artillery ;  liis  next  to  rest 
tranquillity  by  the  exhibition  of 
overwhelming  force,  and  the  puni 
ment  of  the  guilty.  Most,  howe-s 
of  those  whom  the  trained  bands  1 
apprehended  had  been  freed  fr 
prison  by  their  associates;  two  o 
received  judgment  of  death.  Tl 
were  put  to  the  torture  before  e; 
cution;  but  either  did  not  know, 
had  the  resolution  to  conceal  i 
names  of  the  men  who  had  been  1 
principal  instigators  of  the  ri( 
Both  suffered,  not  as  felons,  but 
traitors;  for  the  judges,  following i 
precedents  set  them  in  the  reign 
EUzabeth,  had  pronounced  the  offei 
to  be  that  of  levying  war  against  1 
king,  because  the  rioters  had  marcl 
in  martial  array  to  the  sound  of  1 
drum.* 

According  to  ancient  custom,  1 
convocation  ought  to  have  been  6 
solved  with  the  parliament.    But 
that  case  the  king  would  have  1 
a  grant  of   six   subsidies   from  1 
clergy,   which   had   not   been   co 
pleted;  and  the  archbishop  must  hi 
sacrificed  his  new  code  of  constii 
tions,  adapted,  as  he  contended,  to  t 
exigency  of  the   times.    To    silei 
the    scruples    of    the    member-^ 
written  opinion  was  obtained 
Finch,  an  obsequious  lawyer,  i 
made  lord-keeper,  and  from  some 


Rosetti's    Despatches    of  25   Maggio   » 
1  Giugno,  N.S. 


A.D.  1640.] 


NEW  CODE  OF  CANONS. 


the  judges,  that  the  convocation  could 
legally  continue  its  sittings;  and  a  new 
commission — the  last  had  evidently 
expired'— was  issued,  empowering  it 
to  alter  and  improve  the  laws  of  the 
church.  Amidst  the  alarms  and  mis- 
givings of  the  more  timid,  and  under 
the  protection  of  a  numerous  guard, 
the  work  rapidly  proceeded ;  and 
seventeen  new  canons,  approved  by 
the  members,  received  the  royal 
assent.  It  was  ordered  that  every 
clergyman  four  times  in  the  year 
should  instruct  his  parishioners  in 
the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the 
;  damnable  sin  of  resistance  to  autho- 
I  rity ;  several  constitutions  followed,  of 
i  the  most  intolerant  tendency,  against 
I  Catholics,  Socinians,  and  Separatists ; 
I  an  oath  of  adhesion  to  the  doctrine 
and  government  of  the  church  of 
England,  in  opposition  to  popish 
tenets  and  presbyterian  discipline, 
was  appointed  to  be  taken  by  all 
clergymen  and  all  graduates  in  the 
universities;  and  a  declaration  was 
added  respecting  the  lawfulness  of  the 
ceremonies  used  in  the  established 
church.  These  ecclesiastical  enact- 
ments added  to  the  general  excite- 
ment. The  right  of  the  convocation 
to  sit  after  the  dissolution  of  parlia- 
ment, and  of  the  king  to  authorize  it 
to  make  laws  which  might  affect  the 
interests  of  laymen,  was  called  in 
(question  ;  exceptions  were  taken  and 
petitions  presented  against  the  form 
3f  oath  imposed  upon  the  clergy  ; 
ind  religionists  of  every  description, 
with  the  exception  of  churchmen, 
complained  of  several  of  the  canons 
IS  highly  oppressive  and  unjust.^ 

On  Laud  devolved  the  task  of 
publishing  these  canons ;  and  he  im- 
xoved  the  opportunity  to  propitiate 


1  The  first  had  the  words  "during  the 
Marliameot;"  the  second  "during  our 
aleasure." 

"  »  Wilk.  Con.  iv.  538—553.  Nalson,  i.  351 
—876.  Eush.  i.  1205—9.  Laud's  Troubles, 
79,  80. 

•  From  Q  long   despatch  of  Kosetti  of 


his  enemies  among  the  Puritans  by 
an  officious  display  of  his  antipathy 
to  popery.  To  the  publication  he 
appended  a  letter  subscribed  by  him- 
self and  the  bishop  of  Rochester,  in 
quality  of  judges  of  the  High  Com- 
mission court,  directing  that  not  only- 
Catholic  priests  and  the  harbourers  of 
priests,  but  all  persons  in  possession 
of  papistical  or  heretical  books,  all 
who  had  been,  or  were  suspected  of 
having  been,  present  at  the  cele- 
bration of  mass,  all  whose  children 
had  been  baptized  or  were  taught  by 
popish  priests,  or  had  been,  or  were 
about  to  be  sent  to  popish  seminaries, 
should  be  apprehended  and  brought 
before  his  majesty's  commissioners 
for  ecclesiastical  matters.  Alarmed, 
at  the  publication  of  this  threatening 
letter,  the  Catholics  applied  to  the 
queen,  who,  taking  Windebank  with 
her,  reminded  Charles  of  the  present 
of  fourteen  thousand  pounds,  which 
he  had  lately  received  from  the  Catho- 
lic body  in  relief  of  his  urgent  wants, 
and  of  the  additional  pecuniary  aid 
which  he  had  solicited  from  them  to- 
wards his  war  with  the  Covenanters. 
Gratitude  or  policy  prevailed;  sending 
for  the  archbishop,  he  reproved  him 
for  his  officiousness,  and  ordered  him 
to  desist  from  measures  which,  in  the 
existing  circumstances,  might  tend  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  crown.^ 

In  the  meanwhile  the  time  for  the 
meeting  of  the  Scottish  parliament 
had  arrived.  A  second  prorogation 
by  the  king  was  eluded  under  the 
pretence  of  an  informality  in  the 
warrant ;  the  members  took  their 
seats;  elected  a  president,  an  officer 
hitherto  unknown ;  passed  all  the  acts 
which  had  been  prepared  before  the 
prorogation ;  voted  a  tax  for  the  sup- 


Luglio  27,  N.S.  When  the  High  Commis- 
sion Court  assembled,  it  was  attacked  by 
the  mob  (Oct.  22).  Several  of  the  members 
were  wounded  with  stones,  and  the  arch- 
bishoo  escaped  with  difficulty.  —  Laud's 
Diary,  59.    Rosetti,  Nov.  9,  N.S. 


224 


CHARLES  I. 


[CHAP.l 


port  of  the  war,  of  ten  per  cent,  on 
the  rents  of  land,  and  five  per  cent, 
■on  the  interest  of  money ;  and  for  the 
government  of  the  kingdom,  till  the 
next  meeting  of  parliament,  appointed 
a  committee  of  estates,  of  whom  one 
half  was  to  reside  permanently  in 
Edinburgh,  the  other  half  to  follow 
the  motions  of  the  army.  It  was  in 
vain  that  Charles  warned  them  of 
the  treasonable  tendency  of  such  pro- 
ceedings, and  that  he  released  Loudon, 
and  sent  him  to  Scotland  under  an 
engagement  to  further  his  interests; 
the  Covenanters  were  not  to  be 
diverted  from  their  purpose ;  and, 
though  for  want  of  the  royal  assent 
they  could  not  give  to  their  votes  the 
denomination  of  laws,  they  imparted 
to  them  equal  force  by  entering  into 
bonds  which  obhged  the  subscribers 
to  carry  them  into  execution.- 

The  king  had  originally  proposed 
to  assail  his  opponents  from  three 
different  quarters  at  the  same  time, 
with  twenty  thousand  men  from  Eng- 
land under  his  own  command,  with 
ten  thousand  from  Ireland,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  lord  lieutenant,  and 
with  an  equal  number  from  the 
Highlands  led  by  the  marquess  of 
Hamilton.  But  this  magnificent  plan 
was  defeated  by  his  poverty  and  the 
decision  of  the  Covenanters.  He 
dared  not  commence  his  levies  till  he 
had  the  prospect  of  funds  for  their 


1  Nalson,  i.  502—508.  Rush.  ii.  1210. 
Balfour,  ii.  373—379.  These  acts,  says 
Salfour,  caused  "  the  reall  grattest  change 
«t  one  blow,  that  ever  hapned  to  this  church 
and  staite  these  600  years.  It  overturned 
not  onlie  the  antient  staite  government, 
but  fettered  monarchie  with  chynes,  and 
sett  new  limits  and  marcks  to  the  same, 
bezond  which  it  was  not  legally  to  proceide." 

2  He  had  recourse  to  the  most  extra- 
ordinary schemes  to  raise  money.  He  ob- 
tained a  large  sum  by  the  purchase  of 
pepper  on  credit,  and  the  immediate  sale  of 
it  at  a  low  price,  and  extorted  a  loan  of 
forty  thousand  pounds  from  the  foreign 
merchants  by  the  seizure  of  their  bullion  at 
the  Mint ;  but  failed  in  several  other  at- 
tempts.—See  Kushworth,  1181,  1203,  1216; 
Sydney  Papers,  ii.  656,  7,  8 :  Baumer,  iii. 
317,  320. 


support ;  on  the  dissolution  of  parlis 
ment,  the  Lords,  according  to  thei 
promise,  relieved  his  wants  by 
voluntary  loan  of  two  hundred  thot 
sand  pounds,  and  immediately  wrii 
were  issued  to  each  county  to  suppl 
a  certain  proportion  of  men.''  But  i 
some  instances  the  commissionei 
neglected  their  duty;  in  others  tt 
recruits  mutinied,  murdered  the: 
officers,  rifled  the  churches,  and  live 
at  free  quarters  on  the  inhabitant 
In  Scotland,  on  the  contrar}-,  tl 
Covenanters  acted  with  unanimit 
and  enthusiasm.  They  had  bee 
careful  to  keep  in  full  pay  the  office] 
whom  in  the  last  campaign  they  ha 
invited  from  Germany;  the  me 
who  had  been  disbanded  after  tl 
pacification  of  Berwick  cheerful 
returned  to  their  colours ;  and  mar 
individuals,  on  the  security  of  nobl 
men  and  merchants,  sent  their  pla 
to  the  Mint  that  they  might  supp 
money  for  the  weekly  pay  of  tl 
soldiers.  When  Charles  comment 
his  preparations,  his  enemies  we: 
ready  to  act.  Leslie  collected  his  am 
at  Chouseley  Wood,  near  Dunsi 
during  three  weeks  the  men  we; 
daily  trained  to  martial  exercises,  ar 
encouraged  by  sermons  and  prayer: 
and  on  the  20th  of  August  he  cross( 
the  Tweed  with  twenty-three  thoi 
sand  infantry  and  tbree  thousan 
cavalry.^    As  soon  as  the  army  w; 


'  A  letter  is  said  to  have  been  forged  1 
Lord  Savile,  and  sent  to  the  Scots,  invitii   i 
them  to  enter  England,  in  the  names  of  tl   : 
earls  of  Bedford,  Warwick,  and  Essex,  ai   '. 
the  lords  Mandeville,   Say  and    Sele,  si   ■ 
Brooke,  and  of  Henry  Darley.    The  asse 
tion  rested  on  very  questionable  authority 
but  Locke,  in  his  journal,  at  the  date 
28th  December,  16S0,    repeats   it  on    : 
authority  of   A.  E.  S.   (probably  Antli 
earl    of  Shaftesbury),    adding    that    " 
letter  was  sent  by   the  hamls  of  Mr. 
Darley,  who  remained  as  agent  from 
said  English  lords  until  he  had  brought 

Scots  in at  last  my  lord  Savile,  bi 

reconciled  to  the  court,  confessed  to 
king  the  whole  matter." — Locke's  Life, 
Lord  King,  i.  222.    That  they  were  euc. 
raged  to  pass  the  borders  by  the  ad\ice 
their  Jjigliah  firiends,  cannot  be  doubte 


J 


A.D.  1640.]         EETREAT  OF  THE  ENGLISH  AEMY. 


225 


on  English  ground,  the  ministers 
claimed  the  honour  of  forming  the 
vanguard  with  their  bibles  in  their 
hands ;  the  soldiers,  in  token  of  their 
pacific  intentions  towards  the  inha- 
bitants, followed  with  arms  reversed ; 
and  a  declaration  was  published  that 
the  Scots  had  undertaken  this  expe- 
dition at  the  call  of  the  same  divine 
Providence  which  had  hitherto  guided 
their  steps :  that  they  marched  not 
against  the  people  of  England,  but 
against  the  Canterburian  faction  of 
papists,  atheists,  Arminians,  and  pre- 
lates; and  that  God  and  their  con- 
science bore  them  testimony  that 
their  object  was  the  peace  of  both 
kingdoms  by  punishing  the  troublers 
of  Israel,  the  firebrands  of  hell,  the 
Korahs,  the  Balaams,  the  Doegs,  the 
Eabshakahs,  the  Hamans,  the  To- 
biahs,  and  Sandballats  of  the  times, 
after  which  they  would  return  with 
satisfaction  and  pride  to  their  native 
country.^ 

The  lord  Conway  had  arrived  in 
Northumberland  to  take  the  com- 
mand with  the  rank  of  general  of  the 
horse.  He  dared  not  oppose  an  in- 
ferior and  undisciplined  force  to  the 
advance  of  the  enemy ;  but  received  a 
peremptory  order  from  the  earl  of 
Strafford,  the  commander-in-chief 
under  the  king,-  to  dispute  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Tyne.  The  works  which 
he  hastily  erected  in  Stella-haugh 
were  demolished  by  the  Scottish  artil- 


"  The  earls  of  Essex,  Bedford,  Holland,  the 
lord  Say,  Hampden,  Pym,  and  divers  other 
lords  and  gentlemen  of  great  interest  and 
quality,  were  deep  in  with  them." — White- 
lock,  32.  See  also  the  Hardwicke  Papers, 
li.  187;  Nalson,  i.  508;  Sydney  Papers,  ii. 
360;  Laud's  Troubles,  83. 

1  Eushworth,  ii.  1226.    Nalwn,  i.  412. 

'  The  earl  of  Northumberland  had  been 
named  to  the  command;  but  he  was,  as 
appears  from  his  letters,  ill-affected  to  the 
^aose,  and  therefore  declined  the  office, 
ander  pretence  of  indisposition.  Strafford 
succeeded  him.— Warwick,  147. 
I  »  Compare  Conway's  narrative  (Dal- 
^  7mple,    ii.    82—107),    and   Vane's   letter 

7 


lery ;  a  division  led  by  Leslie's  guard 
passed  at  Newburn  ford,  and  was 
speedily  driven  back  into  the  river 
by  a  charge  of  six  troops  of  horse ;  but 
these  in  their  turn  were  checked  by 
the  fire  from  a  battery;  the  Scots  a 
second  time  formed  on  the  right 
bank,  and  the  whole  English  army 
retired,  the  horse  towards  Durham, 
the  infantry,  four  thousand  in  num- 
ber, to  Newcastle.  Thence  they 
hastened  by  forced  marches  to  the 
borders  of  Yorkshire,  and  the  two 
northern  counties  remained  in  tha 
undisputed  possession  of  the  con- 
querors,^ 

Here  the  leaders  of  the  Scots  be- 
gan to  hesitate.*  The  road  to  the 
northern  metropohs  lay  open  before 
them,  but  the  cries  of  enthusiasm 
were  checked  by  the  suggestions  of 
prudence.  It  was  not  their  interest 
to  awaken  the  jealousy,  to  arouse  the 
spirit  of  the  English  nation,  and  they 
wisely  resolved,  surrounded  as  they 
were  with  the  splendour  of  victory, 
to  humble  themselves  in  the  guise  of 
petitioners  at  the  feet  of  the  sove- 
reign. Charles,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  harassed  with  feelings  of  shame 
and  disappointment  for  the  past,  and 
with  the  most  gloomy  anticipations 
of  the  future.  He  saw  himself,  in- 
deed, at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand 
men,  with  sixty  pieces  of  cannon; 
but  their  attachment  was  doubtful, 
their    inexperience    certain ;      and. 


(Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  163),  with  the  ac- 
count in  Guthrie  (p.  82),  and  in  Eushworth 
(ii.  1237),  and  the  official  despatch  iu 
Baillie,  i.  211,  Had  they  not  succeeded  in 
passing  the  river,  and  obtaining  possession 
of  Newcastle,  they  were  in  hazard  of  beint: 
compelled  to  disband  through  want  of  pro- 
visions (Baillie,  i,  207),  and  the  desertion  of 
their  followers  in  whole  companies. — Bal- 
four, ii.  180.  Such  as  were  discovered  were 
brought  back,  and  every  tenth  man  was 
hanged. — Ibid. 

*  Baillie's  remark  is  characteristic  of  the 
man  :  "  ^^"o  knew  not  what  to  do  next :  yet 
this  is  no  new  thing  to  us  :  for  many  a  time 
from  the  beginning  we  have  been  at  a  non- 
plus, but  God  helped  us  ever"  (204). 
Q 


CHARLES  I. 


CHAP,  T 


though  Strafford  affected  to  speak  in 
public  with  contempt  of  the  enemj', 
he  assured  the  king  in  private  that 
two  months  must  elapse  before  his 
army  could  be  in  a  condition  to  take 
the  field.'  Under  these  circum- 
stances, the  wish  of  the  Covenanters, 
intimated  through  the  earl  of  Lanark, 
the  Scottish  secretary,  was  graciously 
received;  the  king,  that  he  might 
gain  time,  required  to  be  put  in  pos- 
session of  their  demands ;  and  on  the 
return  of  their  answer,  promised  to 
lay  it  before  the  great  council  of 
English  peers,  which  he  had  sum- 
moned to  meet  him  at  York  on  the 
24th  of  September. 

Some  centuries  had  elapsed  since 
England  had  witnessed  such  an 
assembly  ;  but  Charles  was  driven  to 
the  most  unusual  expedients ;  and,  as 
the  Commons  had  always  proved  the 
more  refractory  of  the  two  houses,  he 
preferred  a  meeting  of  the  Lords  to  a 
full  parliament.  He  could  not,  how- 
ever, avert  what  he  so  much  appre- 
hended. Twelve  peers  subscribed 
their  names  to  a  petition,  stating  the 
grievances  of  the  nation,  and  pointing 
out  a  parliament  as  the  only  remedy  ;* 
this  was  followed  by  another,  signed 
by  ten  thousand  inhabitants  of  Lon- 
don ;  and  his  counsellors  at  York,  as 
well  as  those  in  the  south,  repeatedly 
conjured  him  to  acquiesce.  It  cost 
him  a  long  struggle  before  he  would 
submit ;  even  after  he  had  formed  his 
resolution,  he  kept  it  secret  till  the 


1  Hume  represents  him  as  advising  the 
king  "to  put  all  to  the  hazard;  to  attack 
the  Scots,  and  brine  the  affair  to  a  quick 
decision.  To  show  how  easy  this  would  be, 
he  ordered  an  assault  on  some  quarters  of 
the  Scots,  and  gained  an  advantage  over 
them."  The  whole  of  this  is  fiction.  It  is 
certain,  both  from  Lord  Conway  (Dal- 
rymplc,  ii.  93)  and  the  minutes  of  the 
council  of  peers  (Haruwicke  Papers,  ii. 
^11),  that  he  dissuaded  the  king  from 
fighting.  The  assault  to  which  the  historian 
alludes  was  made  by  the  Scots  under  Sir  A. 
Douglas,  who,  without  orders,  plundered 
the  house  of  Mr.  Pudsey,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Tees,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  Sir 
John  Digby,  with   thirty-six  of  his  men, 


lords  held  their  first  meeting  on  the 
appointed  day,  and  then  he  an- 
nounced that  he  had  ordered  writs  tc 
be  issued  for  a  new  parliament  on  the 
3rd  of  November. 

To  the  great  council  two  questions 
were  submitted:    How   might    th( 
king  be  enabled  to  support  his  armj 
during  the  next  three  months  ?    Ii 
what  manner  was  he  to  proceed  witl 
the  Covenanters  who  had  invaded  hi 
English  dominions?    1.  They  sent  { 
deputation  of  six  lords  to  London 
who,  on  the  security  of  their  bond? 
raised  a  loan  of  two  hundred  thousan( 
pounds.    2.  They  named  sixteen  peer 
to  proceed  to  E/ipon,  and  to  open  i 
negotiation  with  eight  commissoner 
appointed  by  the  Covenanters  ;  -  bu 
at   the   very  outset  a   demand  wa 
made  which  startled  and  perplexes 
the  king  and  his  counsellors.    Whei 
the  Scots  first  entered  England  the; 
had  displayed  the  most  edifying  for 
bearance.    Then  the  saints  deemed  i 
unlawful    to   plunder   any  but  th 
idolatrous  papists.'*    Their   scruple; 
however,  were  speedily  silenced.    Th 
retreat   of  the    royalists  placed  th 
counties     of    Northumberland    an 
Durham  at  their  mercy;  and  froi 
that  moment   they   had   exacted 
weekly  contribution  of  five  thoi 
six  hundred  pounds  from  the 
bitants;  had  confiscated  all  the 
perty  of  the  Catholics,  with  the  tit' 
and  rents  of  the    clergy ;    and    1 
taken  at  discretion  coals  and  for 


1 


having  lost  twenty-three  in  the  action 
See  Baillie,  i.  209,  and  secretary  Vani 
letter  in  the  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  183. 

2  See  it  in  the  Lords'  Journals,  iv.  1' 
subscribed  by  Hutlaud,  Bedford,  i 
Essex,    Exeter,    Warwicke,     Bo! 
Mulgrave,  Saye,  Mandeville,  Bn 
Howard. 

3  The  Engh'sh  commissioners  were  t 
earls  of  Bedford,  Hertford,  Essex,  Si.liabni 
Warwick,  Bristol,  Holland,  Berkshire,  T 
count  Mandeville,  the  lords  Wharton,  Pag. 
Brooke,  Pawlet,  Howard,  Savile,  and  Dim 
more  :  the  Scottish,  Dunfermline,  Loi 
Sir  Patrick  Hepburn,  Sir  William  Do 
Smith,  W'edderDurn,  Henderson,  and 
son.  ♦  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii. 


um  1 


A.D.  IWO.] 


THE  TEEATY  CONCLUDED. 


for  their  own  consumption.  But 
these  resources  began  to  fail;  and 
under  the  pretence  that  the  negotia- 
tion would  prevent  them  from  seek- 
ing more  abundant  quarters,  they 
boldly  demanded  a  monthly  subsidy 
of  forty  thousand  pounds. 

It  was  plain  to  the  commissioners 
that  the  king  must  ultimately  yield ; 
their  great  object  was  to  reduce  the 
amount,  and  to  modify  the  manner 
of  payment.  By  industry  and  perse- 
verance they  overcame  every  diffi- 
culty, and  concluded  separate  bar- 
gains, one  with  the  gentlemen  of  the 
north,  who,  on  the  faith  of  a  solemn 
promise  that  they  should  be  reim- 
bursed out  of  the  first  supply  granted 


-  For  these  transactions  consult  the  let- 
ters and  minutes  in  the  Hardwicke  collec- 
tion, ii.  168 — 298  ;  the  papers  in  Rushworth, 
1254—1310  ;  and  Nalson,  i.  447— -465. 

2  Baillio  was  one  of  the  number.  In  an 
entertaining  letter  to  his  wife  he  gives  an 
account  of  bis   journey.      "  inone  in  our 


by  parliament,  consented  to  raise  the 
weekly  sum  of  five  thousand  six  hun- 
dred pounds,  by  county  rates  on  the 
inhabitants  of  Northumberland,  Cum- 
berland, AVestmoreland,  and  Durham; 
and  another  with  the  Scots,  who 
engaged,  as  long  as  that  subsidy  were 
paid,  to  abstain  from  all  acts  of  hos- 
tility, and  from  every  species  of  com- 
pulsory demand.'  The  treaty  was 
immediately  transferred  to  London; 
the  king  and  the  lords  hastened 
thither,  that  they  might  arrive  in 
time  for  the  opening  of  parliament, 
and  the  Scottish  commissioners  fol- 
lowed at  their  leisure,  bringing  with 
them  a  deputation  of  the  most  learned 
and  zealous  of  their  ministers.^ 


company  held  out  better  than  I  and  my 
man  and  our  little  noble  nags.  From  Kil- 
winning to  London  I  did  not  so  much  as 
tumble.  This  is  the  fruit  of  your  prayers. 
We  were  by  the  way  at  great  expenses  ; 
their  inns  are  like  palaces  ;  no  marvel  they 
extortion  their  guests"  (216). 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PROCEEDIlfGS     IK     PARLIAMENT IMPEACHMENTS    OF    STRAFFORD     AND     LAUD VOTE 

AGAINST     THE     LEGISLATIVE     AND     JUDICIAL     POWERS     OF      BISHOPS TRIAL      AND 

EXECUTION      OF      STRAFFORD TRIENNIAL      PARLIAMENTS — THE      KING      HOLDS      A 

PARLIAMENT     IN     SCOTLAND REBELLION     IN     IRFLAND — REMONSTRANCE     OF    THE 

COMMONS — PROTEST    AND    IMPEACHMENT    OF    TWELVE     BISHOPS KING    IMPEACHES 

SIX     MEMBERS BISHOPS     DEPRIVED     OF     SEATS      IN      PARLIAMENT PROGRESS      OF 

THE      REBELLION      IN      IRELAND KING      RETIRES      TO      YORK HE       13       REFUSED 

ENTRANCE     INTO     HULL THE     HOUSES     LEVY    AN     ARMY CHARLES     SETS     UP     HIS 

STANDARD    AT    NOTTINGHAM. 


Chaeles  met  his  parliament  with 
the  most  lively  apprehensions.  He 
felt  the  dependent  situation  to  which 
the  late  occurrences  had  reduced  him  ; 
he  saw  the  lives  of  his  advisers  and 
the  prerogatives  of  his  crown  lying  at 
the  mercy  of  the  two  houses ;  and 
he  recollected  the  talents,  the  vio- 
lence, and  the  pertinacity  which  had 
hitherto  distinguished  his  opponents 
of  the  country  party.    The  terrors  of 


his  counsellors  added  to  his  distress. 
He  shunned  the  public  gaze,  and,  in- 
stead of  opening  the  session  with  the 
usual  pomp,  proceeded  to  Westmin- 
ster by  water.  His  speech  from  the 
throne  was  short  but  concihatory. 
Three  subjects  he  recommended  to 
the  attention  of  the  two  houses — the 
removal  of  the  rebels,  the  payment 
of  the  army,  and  the  redress  of 
grievances.  But  the  word  "  rebels  " 
Q  2 


228 


CHAHLES  I. 


TCHAP.  YI. 


gave  offence;  he  condescended  to 
apologize.  Such  in  his  opinion  was 
the  appropriate  term  for  subjects  in 
arms  against  their  sovereign,  but 
they  were  also  his  subjects  of  Scot- 
land, and  he  had  already  given  them 
that  denomination  under  the  great 
seal.' 

For  the  office  of  speaker  in  the 
lower  house  the  king  had  fixed  on 
Gardiner,  recorder  of  London ;  but 
Gardiner  had  lost  his  election ;  and  in 
his  place  was  chosen  Lenthal,  a  bar- 
rister of  reputation,  but  without 
energy,  and  without  experience.  The 
returns  proved  that,  notwithstanding 
every  exertion  on  the  part  of  the 
ministers,  the  king  could  not  com- 
mand the  votes  of  one-third  of  the 
members.  The  task  of  leading  the 
opposition  was  assumed  by  Pym, 
Hampden,  and  St.  John ;  of  whom 
the  first  claimed  the  distinction  as 
due  to  his  services  in  former  parlia- 
ments, the  other  two  had  earned  it 
by  their  courage  and  perseverance  in 
the  celebrated  case  of  the  ship-money. 
They  were  ably  supported  by  the 
abilities  of  Denzil  Holies,  second  son 
to  the  earl  of  Clare,  and  formerly  one 
of  the  prosecutors  of  Buckingham,  of 
the  lords  Falkland  and  Digby,  of 
Nathaniel  Fiennes,  second  son  to  the 
lord  Say,  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  son  to 
the  secretary,  both  enthusiasts  in 
religion  as  well  as  politics  :'^  and 
of  Hyde,  Selden,  Eudyard,  and  se- 
veral others,  men  of  the  most  distin- 
guished talents,  and  anxious  by  the 
redress  of  grievances  to  effect  a  tho- 
rough reformation  in  the  disorders  of 
the  state.  All  these  were  at  first 
bound  together  by  one  common  ob- 
ject; but  insensibly  their  union  was 


1  Baillie,  i.  218.    Nalson,  i.  481. 

2  Vane  was  a  younu  man  of  four-and- 
twenty,  the  disciple  of  Pym  and  Sir  Natha- 
niel hich,  of  considerable  talents  and  equal 
fanaticism.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  that, 
according  to  the  sarcastic  narrative  of 
Garrard,  "he  might  enjoy  the  liberty  of 
receiving  the  sacrament  standing,"  he  re- 


dissolved  by  difference  of  opinion  on 
subjects  of  the  first  importance ;  some 
adhering  to  the  monarch  through  all 
his  difficulties,  others  persuadin  g  them- 
selves that  liberty  could  be  secured 
only  by  the  establishment  of  a  com- 
monwealth. 

Among  the  Lords  the  king  could 
reckon  a  greater  number  of  friends. 
All  the  bishops,  and  one-half  of  the 
temporal  peers,  owed  their  honours 
to  him  or  to  his  father.  But  the 
former  were  silent  through  fear ;  and 
the  others  suffered  their  gratitude 
to  be  overbalanced  by  policy,  or  pa- 
triotism, or  resentment.  The  earls  of 
Bedford  and  Essex,  the  lords  Say  and 
Kimbolton,  took  the  lead ;  their  opi- 
nions were  echoed  and  supported  by 
the  earls  of  Warwick  and  Hertford, 
and  the  lords  Brooke,  Wharton,  Paget, 
and  Howard ;  and  the  friends  of  the 
king,  awed  by  the  combination  which 
existed  between  them  and  the  ruling 
party  in  the  other  house,  instead  of 
a  manly  resistance,  tamely  acquiesced 
in  measures  fraught  with  danger  both 
to  the  crown  and  to  themselves. 

The  distress  of  the  country,  the 
attacks  which  had  been  made  on  itj 
liberties,    and    the    dangers    which 
threatened  its  religion,  furnished  the 
orators  in  both  houses  with  ample 
scope  for  lamentation  and  invective 
and   their   complaints,  printed   ant 
distributed  through  the  nation,  were 
quickly  echoed  back  in  petitions  sub 
scribed  by  many  thousands  from  ever 
county,  and  from  the  more  populoi 
boroughs.    Supported  by  the  voice  v 
the  people,  the  Commons  neglectet 
the  royal    recommendation,   dividet 
themselves  into  committees  and  sub 
committees,  and  for  several  mouth: 


E' 

Papers,  i.   463.      In  1636    he  was  chosei 

ffovernor    of   Massachusetts,     but,    haviii; 
ost  his  election  in  the  next  year  in  cob" 
quence  of  a  religious  dispute,  he  retur 
to    England,    and  was   made  treasurer 
the  navy  in  conjunction  with  Sir  Wil" 
Bussel. 


1 


JLD.  1640.] 


PROCEEDINGS  OE  PARLIAMENT. 


devoted  their  attention  to  three  great 
subjects, — the  investigation  of  abuses, 
the  adoption  of  remedies,  and  the 
punishment  of  deUnquents, 

1,  The  Catholics,  according  to  cus- 
tom, were  the  first  to  feel  their  en- 
mity. The  cry  that  religion  was  in 
danger  from  the  machinations  of 
popery  was  revived.  That  no  fear 
could  be  more  groundless,  is  certain  ; 
but  in  times  of  general  ferment  the 
public  credulity  readily  accepts  of 
assertions  in  place  of  proofs,  of  ap- 
pearances instead  of  realities.  It  was 
complained  that  the  king  had  com- 
pounded with  the  recusants ;  that  he 
had  discharged  some  priests  before 
trial,  and  others  after  conviction ; 
that  an  agent  from  Eome  resided 
near  the  queen  ;  that  the  more  opu- 
lent Catholics  had,  at  the  request  of 
that  princess,  subscribed  ten  thousand 
pounds  in  aid  of  the  northern  expe- 
dition ;  that  Catholics  held  commis- 
sions in  the  English  army ;  and  that 
they  composed  the  force  which  Straf- 
ford had  levied  in  Ireland.  Charles, 
harassed  with  petitions,  to  relieve  his 
Protestant  subjects  from  their  ter- 
rors, gave  orders  that  all  Catholics 
should  quit  the  court,  and  be  expelled 
from  the  army  ;  that  the  houses  of 
recusants   should    be    searched    for 


1  Journals,  Nov.  9,  23,  30  ;  Dec.  3,  7,  24 ; 
Feb.  11,  26;  March  15,  25;  April  27; 
May  7.  I  may  here  relate  a  singular  occur- 
rence respecting  Goodman,  a  priest,  -who 
had  received  judgment  of  death  for  having 
taken  orders  in  the  church  of  Eome.  The 
Commons  prevailed  on  the  Lords  to  join  in 
a  petition  for  his  execution.  Charles  replied 
that  he  would  banish  or  imprison  him  for 
life,  but  that  he  did  not  wish  to  shed  blood 
for  the  sole  cause  of  religion.  They  re- 
newed the  petition :  the  king  returned  for 
answer,  that  he  left  the  case  in  their  hands ; 
they  might  act  as  they  thought  proper ;  but 
at  the  same  time  he  sent  them  a  petition 
which  he  had  received  from  Goodman,  in 
the  following  words :  "  These  are  humbly 
to  beseech  your  majesty  rather  to  remit 
your  petitioner  to  their  mercy  than  to  let 
him  live  the  subject  of  so  great  discontent 

in  your  people  against  your  majesty 

This  is,  most  sacred  sovereign,  the  petition 
of  him  who  would  esteem  his  blood  well 


arms ;  and  that  the  priests  should  be 
banished  from  the  realm  within  thirty 
days.'  But  he  laboured  in  vain  to 
appease  that  jealousy  which  it  was 
the  policy  of  his  opponents  to  irri- 
tate ;  and  the  charge  of  encouraging 
popery  was  so  confidently  and  inces- 
santly urged  against  the  monarch, 
that  at  length  it  obtained  credit  with 
the  majority  of  his  subjects. 

2.  The  Commons  undertook  to 
"  purge  the  church."  On  the  petition 
of  the  sufferers  and  their  friends,  they 
restored  to  their  livings  all  such  cler- 
gymen as  had  been  deprived  on  the 
ground  of  nonconformity  by  the 
bishops  or  by  the  court  of  High  Com- 
mission. On  the  other  hand,  they 
called  to  the  bar  of  the  house  all 
ministers  denounced  as  scandalous ; 
under  which  epithet  were  comprised 
two  classes  of  men — those  who  had 
disgraced  themselves  by  public  immo- 
rality, and  those  who  had  incurred 
the  charge  of  superstition  by  their 
zeal  to  enforce  the  observance  of  the 
ceremonies.  Eoth  met  with  different 
degrees  of  punishment,  according  to 
the  temper  of  the  house :  some  were 
reprimanded  by  the  speaker,  some 
thrown  into  prison,  and  others  bound 
to  good  behaviour.^ 

3.  In    like   manner   they   revised 


shed  to  cement  the  breach  between  your 
majesty  and  your  subjects  on  this  occasion. 
Ita  testor.  John  Goodman."  From  that 
moment,  whether  they  were  moved  by  the 
magnanimous  sentiments  of  the  prisoner, 
or  unwilling  to  entail  on  themselves  the 
responsibility  which  they  wished  to  fix  on 
the  sovereign,  they  desisted  from  the  pur- 
suit of  Goodman's  life,  who  made  his  escape 
out  of  Newgate  in  the  following  year  (see 
Eosetti,  April  12,  1641),  but  was  retaken, 
and  died  in  prison  in  1645.  Bailhe  gives  a 
very  improbable  reason  for  their  inter- 
ference ;  that  they  meant  to  deny  the  king's 
power  to  pardon  during  the  session  of  par- 
liament, and  feared  that,  if  it  were  admitted 
in  the  case  of  Goodman,  it  might  form  a 
precedent  for  that  of  Strafford.— See  Jour- 
nals of  Commons,  Jan.  23,  25,  27 ;  of  Lords, 
140,  141,  142,  146,  150,  151;  Nalson,  i.  738  : 
Bailhe,  i.  238. 
2  Journals,  Dec.  19 ;  March  20  :  June  1. 


230 


CHARLES  I. 


[CHAP.  TI. 


those  proceedings  in  the  Star-cham- 
ber which  had  given  offence  by  their 
severity.  Prynne,  Burton,  and  Bast- 
•wick  were  recalled  from  their  several 
places  of  confinement,  that  they  might 
pursue  their  own  cause  in  person. 
They  entered  London  on  different 
days  in  triumphant  procession,  at- 
tended by  hundreds  of  carriages  and 
thousands  of  horsemen,  amidst  mul- 
titudes on  foot,  all  wearing  bay  and 
rosemary  in  their  hats.  Their  sen- 
tences were  reversed,  and  damages  to 
the  amount  of  five  thousand  pounds 
were  awarded  to  each  against  his 
judges.' 

4.  Both  houses  concurred  in  pro- 
nouncing the  commissions  for  the 
levy  of  ship-money,  and  all  the  pro- 
ceedings consequent  on  those  com- 
missions, to  be  illegal.  The  Commons 
resolved  that  the  earl  marshal's  court, 
and  that  of  the  council  at  York,  were 
grievances  ;  appointed  committees  to 
inquire  into  the  origin  and  consti- 
tution of  the  Stannary  court,  and  that 
of  the  marches  of  Wales  ;  to  ascertain 
the  legality  or  illegality  of  enforcing 
escuage,  and  exacting  fines  for  neglect 
to  receive  the  order  of  knighthood ; 
and  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  all 
the  lords  lieutenants  and  their  officers 
who  had  levied  coat  and  conduct 
money  during  the  late  expedition.'' 

5.  Among  the  king's  advisers  there 
was  no  man  more  feared  for  his  abi- 
lities, more  hated  for  his  advocacy  of 
despotism,  than  the  earl  of  Stratford, 
"the  great  apostate,"  as  he  was 
termed,  "  from  the  cause  of  the  peo- 
ple." His  friends  wished  him  to  de- 
cline the  approaching  storm,  either 
by  remaining  in  Yorkshire  at  the  head 
of  the  army,  or  by  repairing  to  his 


1  Jonrnala,  Dec.  7,  9,  80 ;  Feb.  22,  25 ; 
March  2,  12,  24;  April  20;  May  20.  BaiUie, 
i.  222. 

2  Ibid.  Nov.  23,  21,  27;  Dec.  7,  19,  23, 
24;  March  20;  May  13,  14;  JuJy  1,  14. 
Lords'  Jourimls,  iv.  136,  156,  173. 

3  Bee  BaiUie,  217,  and  the  Lords'  Jour- 


government  of  Ireland.  B  ut  to  a  man 
of  his  stern  and  fearless  mind  such 
counsel  savoured  of  cowardice;  and 
when  the  king,  assuring  him  of  pro- 
tection, requested  his  presence,  he 
lost  not  a  moment  in  repairing  to  the 
metropolis.  His  unexpected  arrival 
surprised  and  disconcerted  his  ene- 
mies, who  knew  his  influence  over 
the  judgment  of  their  sovereign,  and 
who  feared  that  he  might  anticipate 
the  charge  against  himself,  by  accusing 
them  of  a  treasonable  correspondence 
with  the  Scots.  A  day  was  spent  in 
arranging  their  plan  ;  the  next  morn- 
ing the  Commons  debated  with  closed 
doors ;  and  when  these  were  opened, 
the  majority  of  the  members  pro- 
ceeded to  the  bar  of  the  Lords,  where 
Pym,.in  their  name,  impeached  the 
earl  of  Strafford  of  high  treason. 
That  nobleman  was,  at  the  moment, 
in  close  consultation  with  the  king ; 
he  hastened  to  the  house,  and  was 
proceeding  to  his  place,  when  a  num- 
ber of  voices  called  on  him  to 
withdraw.  On  his  re-admission  he 
was  ordered  to  kneel  at  the  bar,  and 
was  informed  by  the  lord  keeper  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  impeachmeni 
by  the  Commons,  the  house  had  or- 
dered him  into  the  custody  of  thf 
black  rod  till  he  should  clear  himsel 
from  the  charge.  He  began  to  speak 
but  was  immediately  silenced,  and  de 
parted  in  the  charge  of  Maxwell,  th( 
usher.^ 

The  next  minister  doomed  to  fee 
the  severity  of  the  lower  house  wa; 
secretary  Windebank.  In  the  exe 
cution  of  his  office  he  had  signei 
several  warrants  for  the  protection  o 
recusants,  and  others  for  the  dia 
charge  of  priests  from  prison.    In  al 


nals,  88,  89.  This  w&s  only  a  genen 
charge,  without  specifying  any  particular 
it  waa  not  till  the  2-lth  that  the  houso  cooli 
agree  on  the  scTeral  articles.— J ournait 
Nov.  11,24.  Yet  Strafford  had  no  right  t 
complain  ;  he  had  formerly  advised  a  similft 

Erocceding   against   the   duke   of  Buokaip 
am. — Wunvick's  Memoirs,  111.  " 


J 


.D.  1640.] 


IMPEACHMENT  OF  LAUD 


231 


these  instances  he  had  acted  by  the 
order  of  the  king,  and,  for  greater 
security,  had  obtained  a  pardon  under 
the  royal  signature.  Charles,  how- 
ever, was  unwilling  to  have  his  name 
implicated  in  the  question  ;  nor  were 
the  patriots  eager  to  shed  the  blood 
of  the  secretary.  He  availed  himself 
of  their  delay  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  case,  obtained  a  passport  from  the 
king,  and  saved  his  head  by  a  timely 
flight  into  France.* 

To  prepare  the  way  for  the  im> 
peachment  of  Archbishop  Laud,  the 
Commons  resolved  that  the  convo- 
cation had  no  authority  to  bind  either 
laity  or  clergy  without  the  consent  of 
parliament;  that  the  benevolence 
which  it  had  lately  granted  to  the 
king  was  illegal;  that  the  consti- 
tutions which  had  been  enacted  were 
prejudicial  to  the  authority  of  the 
crown,  to  the  rights  of  parliament, 
and  to  the  liberties  of  the  subject; 
and  that  an  inquiry  should  be  insti- 
tuted into  the  conduct  of  the  me- 
tropolitan, who  was  supposed  to  be 
the  real  author  not  only  of  these 
measures,  but  of  other  attempts  to 
subvert  the  laws  and  religion  of 
the  nation.  Two  days  later  Holies 
charged  him  at  the  bar  of  the  upper 
house  with  the  crime  of  high  treason. 
He  rose  with  his  usual  warmth,  pro- 
tested his  innocence,  and  was  pro- 
ceeding to  arraign  the  conduct  of  his 
accusers,  when  the  earl  of  Essex  and 
the  lord  Say  sharply  called  him  to 
order;  and  the  house,  refusing  to 
hear  his  explanation,  placed  him  un- 
der the  custody  of  the  black  rod.  Six 
weeks  later  the  arjhbishop  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Tower.2 

Finch,  the  lord-keeper,  who,  when 
he  was  chief  justice,  had  distinguished 


1  Journals  of  Commons,  26,33,  44,45.  See 
Lis  letters  in  Prynne's  Hidden  Works. 
*•  Neverthelesse  rather  than  his  majesty  or 
his  affairs  should  suffer,  I  desire  the  whole 
burden  may  be  laid  upon  me :  and,  though 
I  have  his  majesty's  hand  for  most  of  them, 
and  his  commandment  for  all,  yet  I  will 


himself  by  the  zeal  with  which  he 
contended  for  the  legality  of  ship- 
money,  was  previously  admonished  by 
the  resolutions  of  the  two  houses  of 
the  fate  which  he  had  to  expect.  He 
solicited  permission  to  plead  his  cause 
before  the  Commons;  and  his  elo- 
quence and  tears  awakened  the  com- 
passion of  many  among  the  members ; 
but  such  feelings  were  condemned  as 
a  criminal  weakness  by  the  more 
sturdy  patriots ;  and  Finch  the  same 
afternoon  was  impeached  before  the 
Lords  of  high  treason.  But  he  had 
already  absconded ;  no  trace  of  his 
retreat  could  be  discovered ;  and  in  a 
few  days  it  was  understood  that  he 
had  sought  and  obtained  an  asylum 
in  Holland.  That  his  brethren,  the 
other  judges,  who  had  concurred  with 
him  in  opinion,  might  not  imitate 
him  in  his  flight,  each  was  bound, 
at  the  request  of  the  Commons,  to 
make  his  appearance  when  called 
upon,  in  the  sum  of  ten  thousand 
pounds.^ 

The  king,  though  the  prerogatives 
which  he  considered  the  firmest  sup- 
ports of  his  throne  were  crumbling 
beneath  him ;  though  his  friends  and 
advisers  were  harassed  with  impeach- 
ments, fines,  imprisonment,  and  death, 
appeared  to  make  no  effort  in  his  own 
favour,  but  to  resign  himself  with, 
indiflerence  to  his  fate.  The  fact  was, 
that  he  felt  unequal  to  a  contest  with 
the  two  nations  at  the  same  time,  and 
waited  impatiently  for  the  moment 
when  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty, 
and  the  disbanding  of  the  Scottish 
army,  would  permit  him  to  reassume 
the  ascendancy.  But  he  had  to  deal 
with  men  as  artful  as  himself.  The 
commissioners  from  the  Tables  had 
been  received  as  friends  and  deliverers 


rather  perish  than  produce  them,  either  to 
his  prejudice,  or  without  his  permission." — 
From  Calais,  Dec.  6,  p.  127. 

2  Journals  of  Commons,  51,  54;  of  Lords, 
112.     Laud's  Troubles,  75. 

3  Journals  of  Commons,  55:    of  Lords, 
114,  115. 


232 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  VI 


by  the  leaders  of  the  country  party. 
The  strictest  uniou  was  quickly  ce- 
mented betw'een  them ;  both  pro- 
fessed to  believe  that  their  cause  was 
the  same,  that  they  must  stand  or  fall 
together ;  and,  while  the  patriots  en- 
gaged to  support  the  Scottish  army 
during  its  stay,  and  to  supply  it  with 
a  handsome  gratuity  at  its  departure, 
the  Covenanters  stipulated  to  prolong 
the  treaty,  and  to  detain  their  forces  in 
England,  till  the  projected  reform  in 
church  and  state  should  be  fully  ac- 
complished.' 

Charles,  in  his  eagerness  to  conclude 
the  negotiation,  was  induced  to  con- 
cede many  points  which  he  would 
otherwise  have  refused.  To  the  three 
first  demands  of  the  Scots,  that  the 
acts  of  their  late  parliament  should  be 
confirmed ;  that  natives  alone  should 
be  appointed  to  the  government  of 
the  royal  castles ;  and  that  their  coun- 
trymen should  not  be  harassed  either 
in  England  or  Ireland  with  unusual 
oaths,^  after  a  few  objections,  he  con- 
sented ;  but  he  made  a  resolute  stand 
against  the  fourth,  that  the  punish- 
ment of  the  incendiaries  should  be 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  two 
parliaments.  It  was,  he  argued,  to 
require  that  he  should  dishonour 
himself.  Those  whom  they  called  in- 
cendiaries were  men  who  had  in- 
curred their  displeasure  by  obeying 
Ids  commands,  and  whom,  on  that 
account,  he  was  bound  to  protect. 
He  pleaded  particularly  in  favour  of 
Traquair,  and  claimed  the  right 
of  judging  that  nobleman  himself, 
because  he  had  acted  as  royal  com- 


1  This  is  plain  from  almost  every  page  of 
Baillie's  correspondence  during  the  six 
months  that  the  negotiation  continued. 
"VVhen  they  came  in  February  to  the  last 
demand,  Baillie  writes,  "  This  we  will  make 
long  or  short,  according  as  the  necessities 
of  our  good  friends  in  England  require  :  for 
they  are  still  in  that  fray,  that  if  we  and 
our  army  were  gone,  yet  were  they  undone" 
<p.240). 

2  Strafford  had  compelled  the  Scots  in 
Ireland  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance,  by 
vrhioh  they  renounced   all  contrary  cove- 


missioner.  But  Traquair,  falling  oi 
his  knees,  earnestly  prayed  that  th( 
life  of  an  humble  individual  like  him 
self  might  not  stand  in  the  way  of  { 
reconcihation  between  the  king  anc 
his  people;  the  Scots  threatened  tc 
solicit  the  advice  and  interposition  o: 
the  English  parliament ;  and  Charles 
though  it  evidently  cost  him  a  painfu. 
struggle,  signified  his  acquiescence 
Their  next  claim,  the  restoration  o; 
captured  ships  and  merchandise,  was 
quickly  adjusted;  and  that  of  in- 
demnification, as  a  pecuniary  ques- 
tion, the  king  referred  to  the  house 
of  Commons,  who  voted  two  sums, 
one  of  one  hundred  and  twenty -five 
thousand  pounds  for  the  charges  oi 
the  Scottish  army  during  five  months, 
and  another  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds,  under  the  denomination 
of  "  a  friendly  relief  for  the  losses  and 
necessities  of  their  brethren  in  Scot- 
land."^ At  length  the  commissioners 
came  to  their  last  demand,  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  solid  peace  between  the 
two  nations.  The  king  anticipated  a 
speedy  conclusion  of  this  most  vexa- 
tious treaty,  but  he  soon  found  him- 
self disappointed.  Under  this  head 
they  presented  to  him  only  two  ar- 
ticles, reserving  to  themselves  a  dis- 
cretionary power  of  adding  others, 
when  and  in  what  manner  they  might 
deem  expedient.* 

It  soon  appeared  that  the  Scottish 
deputies  acted  not  only  in  a  poUtical, 
but  also  in  a  religious  character. 
While  they  openly  negotiated  with 
the  king,  they  were  secretly  but 
actively  intriguing  with  their  friends 


nants,  and  promised  never  to  enter  into  any 
covenant  against  any  other  person  without 
the  king's  authority. — See  it  in  liushworth, 
viii.  494. 

3  "300,000^.  sterling,"  exclaims  Baillie, 
•'  5,400,000  merks  Scots,  is  a  pretty  sum  in 
our  land."— Baillie,  i.  240. 

*  Journals,  Jan.  22,  Feb.  3.  Lords' Jour- 
nals, iv.  151.  Baillie,  i.  221,  223,  228,  233» 
240.     '•  It  was  not  (to  give  in  all  the  pro- 

Sositions  at  once)  possible  for  us,  nor  con- 
ucive  for  the  ends   of  the   English,  who 
required  no  such  haste."— Ibid.  243. 


D.  1G41.] 


CHANGE  0¥  MINISTEES. 


233 


'  the  country  party,  to  procure  in 
ngland  the  alDohtion  of  the  epis- 
tpal,   and   the   substitution  of  the 
•esbyterian,  form  of  church  govern- 
ent.    This  they  seemed  to  consider 
I  the  chief  object  of  their  mission, 
id  this  they  pursued  with  the  most 
lifying  perseverance  and  industry, 
ut  it  was  a  question  on  which  great 
titude  of  opinion  prevailed.    In  the 
ty  the   Presbyterians   composed  a 
jry  considerable  party ;  but  among 
le   reformers  in  parliament  there 
ere  many  who,  willing  as  they  might 
3  to  reduce  the  wealth,  the  power, 
ad  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops, 
?solutely  opposed  the  extinction  of 
16  order;  while  others,  under  the 
mners  of  the  lords  Say,  Wharton, 
ad  Brooke,  looked  with  equal  abhor- 
jnce  on  episcopacy  and  presbyterian- 
m,  and  laboured  to  introduce  the 
lore    equal    system   of    the   Inde- 
endents.    The  Scots,  however,  with 
le  aid  of  their  English  friends,  pro- 
ared  petitions  to  be  presented  from 
jveral  of  the  counties,  from  fifteen 
lousand  inhabitants  of  the  metro- 
olis,  and  from  one  thousand  eight 
undred  ministers,  all  praying  for  the 
3tal  abolition  of  the  hierarchy.  They 
ere  strenuously  opposed  by  the  lords 
)igby  and  Falkland,  by  Selden  and 
ludyard :  Lord  Digby  compared  the 
etition  from  liondon,  called  the  E-oot 
ad  Branch  petition,  to  a  comet  with 
.3  tail  pointing  to  the  north,  and 
ortending  nothing  but  confusion  and 
Qarchy;  Lord  Falkland  was  willing 
)  relieve   the   bishops    from  those 
icular    offices   and   dignities  which 
endered  them  less  efficient  as  minis- 
jrs  of  the   gospel,    and  from  that 
ortion  of  secular  wealth  which  was 
ttendant  on  such'  offices   and  dig- 
ities ;  but  he  would  oppose  with  all 


his  influence  every  attempt  to  abolish 
the  episcopal  order  and  episcopal 
jurisdiction.  After  a  debate  of  two 
days,  and  a  division  in  which  the  anti- 
episcopalians  obtained  a  majority  of 
thirty-two,  the  petitions  were  referred 
to  a  committee.'  This  success,  though 
it  encouraged  their  hopes,  was  far 
from  assuring  them  of  the  victory. 
The  king  informed  the  parliament 
that  his  conscience  would  never  allow 
him  to  assent  to  the  destruction  of  an 
order  which  he  deemed  essential  to 
Christianity;  while  the  Scots  on 
the  contrary  reasoned  and  solicited, 
prayed  and  preached,  in  favour  of 
the  Presbyterian  kirk.  Curiosity  and 
devotion  led  numbers  to  their  service ; 
the  church  allotted  for  their  use  was 
crowded  from  morning  to  night ;  and 
the  lessons  inculcated  by  their  divines 
were  zealously  diffused  by  the  au- 
ditory throughout  the  city.  They 
were  taught  the  "  knot  of  the  ques- 
tion could  only  be  cut  by  the  axe 
of  prayer;"  and  fasts  were  solemnly 
observed  by  the  godly,  that  "  the  Lord 
might  join  the  breath  of  his  nostrils 
with  the  endeavours  of  weak  men,  to 
blow  up  a  wicked  and  anti-scriptural 
church."^ 

The  marquess  of  Hamilton  had 
suggested  to  Charles  the  policy  of 
disarming  the  hostility  of  the  re- 
formers, by  admitting  them  to  his 
counsels.  The  king  heard  him  with 
expressions  of  displeasure ;  but  the 
desire  to  save  the  lives  of  his  friends, 
and  to  retain  episcopacy  in  the  church» 
subdued  his  repugnance ;  and  Bristol, 
Essex,  Bedford,  Hertford,  Mandeville, 
Savile,  and  Say,  were,  by  his  com- 
mand, sworn  of  the  privy  council.  At 
first  the  appointment  gave  general 
satisfaction ;  but  in  a  few  days  it  was 
remarked  that  the  language  of  the 


^  "They  contested  on  together  from 
ight  in  the  morning  to  six  at  night.  All 
hat  night  our  party  solicited  as  hard  as 
^ey  could.  To-morrow  some  thousands  of 
iie  citizens,  but  in  a  very  peaceable  way 


came  down  to  Westminster  Hall  to  coun- 
tenance their  petition." — Baillie,  244. 

2  Baillie,  222,  224,  227,  230,  231,  236,  244» 
250.    Journals  of  Commons,  72,  91, 101. 


234 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  \ 


new  counsellors  had  become  more 
courtly,  their  zeal  less  bitter.  They 
were  charged  with  apostasy ;  the  sus- 
picion was  extended  to  the  Scottish 
commissioners ;  and  the  city  rung 
with  complaints  against  the  selfish- 
ness and  perfidy  of  pubhc  men.  In 
their  own  defence,  the  Scots  published 
a  most  intemperate  paper  against 
Strafibrd  and  Laud,  and  the  whole 
bench  of  bishops.  It  offended  not 
only  the  king,  but  their  own  friends 
in  both  houses ;  it  was  taken  as  an 
attempt  on  their  part  to  dictate  to  the 
parhament  of  England.  They  had 
again  recourse  to  fasting  and  prayer, 
and  printed  an  explanation  of  their 
sentiments  in  more  conciliatory  lan- 
guage; but  they  had  already  lost  so 
many  votes,  that  their  aUies  in  the 
lower  house  dared  not,  as  had  been 
intended,  to  brins;  forward  a  motion 
for  the  abolition  of  episcopacy ;  and 
substituted  in  its  place  a  resolution 
that  "  the  legislative  and  judicial 
powers  of  the  bishops  in  the  house  of 
Lords  were  a  hindrance  to  the  dis- 
charge of  their  functions,  prejudicial 
to  the  commonwealth,  and  fit  to  be 
taken  away." ' 

It  was,  however,  of  benefit  to  the 
cause  of  episcopacy  that  at  this  mo- 
ment the  minds  of  its  adversaries 
were  occupied  with  a  subject  of  more 
absorbing  interest— the  trial  and  fate 
of  Strafford.  That  the  king  was 
strictly  bound  in  honour  to  protect 
the  life  of  that  obnoxious  and  unfor- 
tunate nobleman,  cannot  be  doubted. 
Of  this  he  was  sensible  himself;  to  this 
he  was  urged  by  the  representations  of 
the  queen.  But  how  or  where  was 
Charles,  in  his  present  condition,  to 
discover  the  means  of  shielding  Straf- 
ford from  the  vengeance  of  his  ene- 


^  Jonmals,  March  10.  Baillie's  account 
of  the  offence  taken  at  the  paper  published 
by  the  Scottish  commissioners  is  amusiuR. 
He  concludes  thus  :  "  We  were  fallen  half 

asleep    in    a    deep    Becurity By    this 

blast  God  wakened  us.     W©  iled  to  our 


mies  ?  The  presence  of  the  ScottL 
army  forbade  any  military  movemer 
and  the  necessity  of  providing  for  i 
subsistence  insured  the  permanen 
of  the  parliament ;  the  recent  pros 
cutions  had  silenced  the  friends 
the  crown  in  both  houses;  and  tl 
king's  indigence  had  compelled  hi 
to  pawn  his  jewels  to  obtain  provisio 
for  his  table.  In  these  circumstanc 
Charles  pursued  that  line  of  condu 
which  is  always  pursued  by  men 
irresolute  habits ;  he  waited  to  av. 
himself  of  the  first  favourable  accide 
which  the  course  of  events  mig 
offer,  and  in  the  meanwhile  amus' 
himself  with  different  attempts 
procure  assistance  from  foreii 
powers.  1.  He  saw  that  it  was  tir 
to  abandon  the  design  which  he  h. 
cherished  of  marrying  his  son  Char] 
to  an  infanta,  and  his  daughter  Ma 
to  the  infant  of  Spain.  Two  Pr 
testant  suitors  for  the  hand  of  Ma 
were  now  before  him,  his  nephew  t 
Prince  Palatine,  and  William,  thesi 
of  Frederick,  prince  of  Orange,  ai 
at  that  time  commander-in-chief 
all  the  forces  of  the  States-general 
sea  and  land.  The  Palatine  was  t 
favourite  with  the  popular  leadei 
Charles  preferred  the  Dutch  prim 
on  account  of  the  influence  of  1 
father  with  the  States,  and  of  the  pi 
mises  which  he  made  of  attachme 
and  assistance.  A  royal  message  n 
nounced  the  intended  marria^r 
parhament ;  and  the  espousals  . 
lowed  in  the  beginning  of  May ;  h 
the  princess  (she  was  only  in  her  ten 
year)  was  permitted  to  remain 
England  till  she  should  have  co) 
pleted  her  twelfth;  and  Frederi 
immediately,  to  prove  his  gratitu< 
transmitted   to  the   king  a  sum 


wonted  refuge,  to  draw  near  to  God. 
godly  in  the  city,  in  divers  private  sc  ' 
ran  to  fasting  and  prayer.     By  the 
old  and  best  weapons,   we    are    beg 
to   prevail,    Prai&e  be  to  his  holy 
(p.  219). 


^1.] 


CHARGES  AGAINST  STEAPEOED. 


235 


1  oney  amounting  to  several  thousand 
i  )unds.' 

i  2.  Henrietta  had  persuaded  herself 
,  lat  by  personal  application  she 
ight  work  on  the  feelings  of  her 
•other,  the  king  of  France ;  and, 
king  advantage  of  a  slight  indis- 
>sition,  she  gave  out  that  a  visit  to 
;  3r  native  country  was  necessary  for 
1 16  re-establishment  of  her  health. 
'  he  pretext  was  too  flimsy  to  blind 
16  eyes  of  the  popular  party ;  and 
16  earl  of*  Holland,  whose  services 
ad  been  already  secured  by  Cardinal 
l^ichelieu,  was  careful  to  acquaint 
lat  minister  with  her  real  object. 
;,ichelieu  had  no  intention  that  the 
aughter  of  his  inveterate  enemy, 
le  queen-mother  of  France,  should 
Qjoy  the  opportunity  of  instilling 
er  opinions  into  the  private  ear  of 
is  sovereign ;  and  when  Henrietta 
slicited  the  assent  of  the  king  her 
rother,  declaring  that  without  his 
id  she  saw  nothing  before  her  but 
aevitable  ruin,  she  received  an  an- 
wer  dictated  by  the  cardinal,  that, 
hough  Louis  would  be  always  happy 
o  receive  his  sister,  he  was  convinced 
hat  her  absence  from  England  at 
hat  moment  would  accelerate  the 
•uin  which  she  feared.^  3.  The  queen 
;aw  from  whom  this  refusal  pro- 
ceeded, and  was  not  slow  to  make 
cnown  her  vexation  and  disappoint- 
nent;  at  the  same  time"  she  derived 
•ome  consolation  from  the  partial 
access  of  an  application  which  she 
had  made  to  the  pope,  asking  for  a 
zraut  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
?and  crowns  from  the  treasure  depo- 
sited in  the  castle  of  San  Angelo,  and 
offering  in  return  the  king's  promise 
to  abolish  the  penal  laws  against 
Catholics,  in  Ireland  immediately,  in 


1  Rosetti  to  Barberini,  17  Maggio,  N.S. 
'  Mazure,  iii,  Notes,  414 — 422. 

*  MS.  correspondence  of  Barberini  and 
Eosetti,  Jan.  26:  Peb.  9,  16:  April  12: 
MaylO,  N.S. 

*  Carte's  Ormond,  i,  109—115.    Journals, 


England  as  soon  as  he  should  have 
recovered  the  full  exercise  of  his  au- 
thority. But  experience  had  taught 
Urban  to  put  little  faith  in  the  royal 
promise;  and  he  replied  that  the 
money  in  question  was  not  his  own, 
but  a  conscientious  trust,  of  which  he 
could  dispose  to  none  but  Catholic 
princes,  and  to  them  only  for  religious 
purposes.  His  nephew  Barberini, 
however,  to  soften  the  refusal,  made 
to  her  a  present  of  35,000  crowns  out 
of  his  own  purse— a  temporary  and 
inadequate  supply,  but  which  was 
accepted  with  joy  and  gratitude.'' 

Thus  it  happened  that  Strafford 
had  to  contend  singly  with  a  multi- 
tude of  foes.  The  population  of  the 
three  kingdoms  was  arrayed  against 
him.  The  Scottish  commissioners 
pronounced  him  an  incendiary,  and 
loudly  called  for  the  blood  of  the  man 
who  had  urged  their  king  to  make 
war  on  his  faithful  subjects.  The 
Irish  parliament  had  proved  its  dis- 
satisfaction from  the  moment  he 
ceased  to  awe  it  by  his  presence. 
Last  year  the  Commons  had  torn 
from  their  journals  the  eulogium 
which  they  formerly  voted  on  his 
administration,  and,  by  cutting  doAvn 
the  subsidies  to  their  original  amount, 
had  prevented  the  Irish  expedition 
from  sailing  in  aid  of  the  English 
army.  Now  they  sent  deputies  to 
present  to  the  king  a  remonstrance, 
detailing  under  sixteen  heads  the 
grievances  which  they  suffered  Trom 
the  despotism  of  the  lord  lieutenant, 
and  at  the  same  time  solicited  the 
English  house  of  Commons  to  join 
with  theirs  in  procuring  justice  for  an 
oppressed  and  impoverished  people.** 
But  the  severest  blow  which  he  re- 
ceived was   an   order  made  by  the 


Nov.  30.  Eushworth,  iv.  53,  67.  This  has 
often  been  described  as  a  petition  from  the 
Irish  parliament ;  but  in  the  Journals  it  is 
denominated  "the  petition  of  several 
knights,  citizens,  and  burgesses  of  the 
Commons  house  of  parliament  in  Ireland, 
whose  names  are  undencritteii." 


236 


CHARLES  I. 


rciT 


Lords,  and  admitted  by  the  king,  that 
the  privy  counsellors  should  be  ex- 
amined upon  oath,  respecting  the 
advice  given  by  Strafford  atthe  board ; 
a  precedent  of  lasting  prejudice  to 
the  royal  interest ;  for  who  after  this 
would  give  his  opinion  freely,  when 
he  knew  that  such  opinion  might  be 
made  the  matter  of  impeachment 
against  him  at  the  pleasure  of  his 
enemies  ? 

Westminster  Hall  had  been  fitted 
up  for  the  trial.  On  each  side  of  the 
Lords  sat  the  Commons  on  elevated 
benches,  as  a  committee  of  their  house, 
and  near  them  the  Scottish  commis- 
sioners with  the  Irish  deputies,  the 
bearers  of  the  remonstrance.  Two 
private  boxes  behind  the  throne  were 
prepared  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  king  and  queen,  whose  presence, 
it  was  hoped,  would  act  as  a  check  on 
the  forwardness  of  the  witnesses  and 
the  violence  of  the  managers.  Near 
them  a  gallery  had  been  erected, 
which  was  daily  crowded  with  ladies 
of  the  highest  rank.  They  paid  high 
prices  for  admission;  many  took 
notes ;  and  all  appeared  to  watch  the 
proceedings  with  the  most  intense 
interest.  A  bar,  stretching  across  the 
hall,  left  one-third  for  the  use  of  the 
public' 

Each  morning  at  nine  the  prisoner 
was  introduced.  He  made  three 
obeisances  to  the  earl  of  Arundel,  the 
high  steward,  knelt  at  the  bar,  then 
rose,  and  bowed  to  the  lords  on  his 
right  and  left,  of  whom  a  part  only 
returned  the  comphment.  The  ma- 
nagers were  thirteen  in  number ;  each 


]  successively  opened   the  proc 
}  of  the  day  with  a  speech  rela 
some   particular   charge;    the-; 
nesses    were    examined   and 
examined  upon  oath ;  and  the 
adjourned  for   thirty  minutes,    , 
Strafford  might  have  time  to  a  \ 
with  his  counsel,  who  sat  behind  J 
When  the  court  resumed,  Strj 
spoke  in  his  own  defence,  and 
duced  his  witnesses,  who,  how 
according  to  the  practice  of  th( 
were  not  examined  upon  oath, 
managers   then   spoke   to    evid 
and  the  prisoner  was  remanded  t 
Tower.2 

Thus  the  proceedings  were 
ducted  during  thirteen  days.  Tl 
tides  against  him  amounted  to  e 
and-twenty,  three  of  which  ch£ 
him  with  treason,  the  others  with 
and  words,  which  though  perhap; 
treasonable  separately,  might  in 
aggregate  be  called  accumulative 
son,  because  they  proved  in  hi 
fixed  endeavour  to  subvert  the  1 
ties  of  the  country.  The  foi 
stated  that  in  Ireland  he  had  bill 
soldiers  on  peaceable  inhabitant.'- 
he  compelled  them  to  submit  t< 
illegal  commands  ;  that  he  had  n 
an  army  in  Ireland,  and  advisee 
king  to  employ  it  in  bringing 
kingdom  into  subjection ;  and  th: 
his  own  authority  he  had  impose 
tax  on  the  people  of  Yorkshire  for 
maintenance  of  the  trained  ba 
The  latter  accused  him  of  hasty, 
perious,  and  unjustifiable  express 
indicative  of  his  temper  and  vi' 
and  of  illegal  proceedings,  bysom 


1  Kushworth,  viii.  pref.  Baillie,  i.  257. 
Whitelock,  41. 

2  Principal  Baillie  has  given  an  interesting 
account  of  the  trial  ia  his  letters  to  the 
presbytery  of  Irvine.  •'  Westminster  Hall," 
he  informs  them,  "  is  a  room  as  long  [and] 
as  broad,  if  not  more,  than  the  outer  house 
of  the  High  Church  at  Glasgow,  supposing 

the  pillars  were  removed We  always 

behoved  to  be  there  a  little  after  Ave  in  the 
morning.  The  house  was  daily  full  befnre 
seven.  The  tirlies  that  made  them  [the 
king  and  queen]  to  be    secret,  the  £ing 


brake  down  with  his  own  hands ;  so 
sat  in  the  eyes  of  all,  but  little  more 
garded  than  if  they  had  been  absent... 
It  was  daily  the  most  glorious  assembly 
isle  could  afford ;  yet  the  gravity  not ; 

as  I  expected After  ten  much  pi 

eating,  not  only  of  confections,  but  of  1 
and  bread,  bottles  of  beer  and  wine  g< 
thick  from  mouth  to  mouth  without  c 

and  all  this  in  the  king's  eye Tl 

was  no  outgoing  to  return ;  and  oft 
sitting  was  tiU  two,  three,  or  four  o'cloc 
night"  (p.  257—259). 


41. 


TRIAL  OF  STEArFOEJ). 


237 


jicli  he  benefited  his  own  fortune, 
'  others  he  had  injured  the  king's 
bjects  in  their  liberties  and  pro- 
■rty.  StrafiFord  rephed  with  a  teni- 
•r  and  eloquence  which  extorted 
•aige  even  from  his  adversaries.  To 
me  of  the  charges  he  opposed  war- 
nts  from  the  king,  some  he  peremp- 
rily  denied,  and  others  he  sought  to 
ude,  by  urging  in  his  own  favour 
:e  constant  practice  of  the  deputies 
ho  preceded  him  in  Ireland.  Against 
le  new  principle  of  accumulative 
eason  he  protested  with  spirit, 
diculing  with  felicity  the  argu- 
ents  in  its  support,  and  appealing 
r  protection  to  the  statute  law,  which 
as,  he  maintained,  the  safeguard 
preserve  the  liberties,  and  the 
jacon  to  guide  the  conduct,  of  the 
ibject. 

As  the  trial  proceeded,  whether  it 
ere  owing  to  his  eloquence,  or  the 
olence  of  his  prosecutors,  or  his 
equent  appeals  to  the  pity  of  the 
idience,  it  was  plain  that  the  num- 
3r  of  his  friends  daily  increased, 
he  ladies  in  the  galleries  had  long 
?o  proclaimed  themselves  his  advo- 
xtes ;  on  the  thirteenth  day  it  ap- 
eared  that  the  Lords,  who  had  for- 
lerly  treated  him  so  harshly,  were  won 
ver  to  his  cause.  At  the  very  com- 
lencement  of  the  prosecution.  Sir 
lenry  Yane,  the  younger,  had  pur- 
)ined  from  the  cabinet  of  his  father, 
he  secretary,  a  very  important  docu- 
lent,  containing  short  notes  taken 
y  that  minister  of  a  debate  at  the 
ouncil-table  on  the  morning  of  the 
ay  on  which  the  last  parliament  was 
issolved.  In  it  Strafford  was  made 
0  say,  "  Your  majesty,  having  tried 
he  affection  of  your  people,  are  ab- 
olved  and  loosed  from  all  rule  of 
;overnment,and  to  do  what  power  will 
.dmit.  Having  tried  all  ways,  and 
)eing  refused,  you  shall  be  acquitted 
)efore  God  and  man ;  and  you  have 


BaUlie,  283.    Clarendon,  i.  230. 


an  army  in  Ireland,  that  you  may 
employ  to  reduce  this  kingdom  to  obe- 
dience :  for  I  am  confident  that  the 
Scots  cannot  hold  out  five  months." 
Vane  communicated  the  discovery  to 
Pym  ;  the  contents  of  the  paper  were 
moulded  into  the  form  of  a  charge, 
though  the  source  from  which  the 
information  had  been  derived  was 
carefully  concealed ;  and,  to  procure 
evidence  in  its  support,  each  of  the 
privy  counsellors  was  examined,  not 
only  by  written  interrogatories,  but 
also  viva  voce  before  the  committee 
of  impeachment.  Of  the  most  im- 
portant passage,  the  advice  to  employ 
the  Irish  army  "  to  reduce  this  king- 
dom," meaning  by  the  pronoun  "  this" 
the  kingdom  of  England,  none  of 
them  had  any  recollection :  even  the 
secretary  himself,  on  the  first  exa- 
mination, replied  that  "  he  could  not 
charge  Strafford  with  that,"  and,  on 
the  second,  that  "he  could  say  nothing 
to  that;"  but,  on  the  third  (pro- 
bably his  memory  had  been  aided  by 
the  inspection  of  a  copy  formerly 
taken  by  Pym '  before  the  original 
note  was  burnt),  he  recollected  the 
very  words,  and  deposed  that  they 
were  uttered  by  the  lord  lieutenant.- 
At  the  trial,itself  he  repeated  the  same 
evidence,  but,  on  cross-examination, 
knew  not  whether  by  "  this  king- 
dom" was  meant  England  or  Scotland. 
In  opposition  to  him,  Strafford  pro- 
duced all  the  members  of  the  council 
excepting  Windebank,  an  exile  in 
Prance,  and  Laud,  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower,  who  declared  that  they  had 
no  recollection  of  the  words ;  that  the 
debate  regarded  the  means  of  reduc- 
ing Scotland,  not  England;  and  that 
they  never  heard  the  slightest  hint 
of  employing  the  Irish  army  any- 
where but  in  the  former  kingdom.  It 
was  evident  that  in  this  charge  the 
managers  had  failed;  they  deter- 
mined, as  their  only  resource,  to  bring 


3  Kushworth,  yiii.  52. 


238 


CHAELES  I. 


[CHJLP. 


forward  the  written  note ;  and,  with 
this  view,  on  the  morning  on  which 
the  prisoner  was  to  enter  on  the  reca- 
pitulation of  his  defence,  they  de- 
manded leave  to  produce  additional 
evidence.  The  Lords  adjourned  twice 
to  their  own  house:  they  required 
the  advice  of  the  judges,  and,  after  a 
long  debate,  resolved,  with  only  one 
dissenting  voice,  that,  whatever  favour 
was  granted  to  the  accusers,  the  same 
should  be  extended  to  the  accused. 
This  answer  was  received  with  a  deep 
murmur  of  disapprobation.  Suddenly 
was  heard  a  cry  of  "  Withdraw,  with- 
draw," and  the  Commons,  hastily  re- 
tiring to  their  own  house,  deliberated 
with  closed  doors." 

It  is  singular  that  these  ardent 
champions  in  the  cause  of  freedom 
should  have  selected  for  their  pattern 
Henry  VIII.,  the  most  arbitrary  of 
our  monarchs.  They  even  improved 
on  the  iniquity  of  the  precedents 
which  he  had  left  them;  for  the 
moment  that  the  result  became  doubt- 
ful, they  abandoned  the  impeachment 
which  they  had  originated  them- 
selves, and,  to  insure  the  fate  of  their 
victim,  proceeded  by  bill  of  attainder. 
They  saw,  in  fact,  that  during  the 
fifteen  days  of  public  trial,  Strafford 
had  won  many  friends  by  the  mo- 
desty of  his  demeanour  and  the  elo- 
quence of  his  answers ;  and  they  had 
ground  to  fear  that,  if  they  proceeded 
to  argue  in  Westminster  Hall  the 
weakest  part  of  their  case,  the  question 
whether  any  or  all  the  charges 
amounted  to  the  legal  guilt  of  high 


J  Bailiie,  i.  28S,  239.  Rushworth,  viii.  552 
— 571.  Clarendon,  i.  229.  Lords'  Journals, 
207.  Nalson,  ii.  206.  State  Trials,  iii.  1158. 
Cobb.  Pari.  Hist.  ii.  744.  While  Whitelock 
was  chairman  of  the  committee,  this  im- 
portant paper  had  disappeared.  Every 
member  solemnly  protested  that  he  did  not 
take  it  away,  nor  know  what  had  become 
of  it.  Copies,  however,  were  given  to  the 
king  and  to  Strafford.  That  in  the  posses- 
Bion  of  Charles  was  afterwards  found  to  be 
in  the  handwriting  of  Lord  Digby,  whence 
it  was  inferred  that  he  was^the  thief.  The 
proof  is  not  conclusive.— Whitelock,  43,  44.  I 


treason,  the  defection  from  tl 
ranks  would  be  daily  augmem 
They  had  moreover  received  hint- 
some  secret  intrigue  against  th 
among  the  officers  of  the  army,'  i 
were  not  ignorant  of  the  contin 
exertions  of  the  king  and  queen,  v 
spared  neither  prayers  nor  prom 
to  influence  the  opinions  and  incli 
tion  of  the  Lords.  Hence  they  c 
eluded  that  the  time  was  come 
execute  the  plan  which  had  b< 
discussed  among  them  long  befor- 
Pym  read,  for  the  first  time,  his  o 
of  the  notes  of  Secretary  Vane  to 
house;  and  immediately  a  bill  ^ 
introduced  to  attaint  the  earl 
Strafford,  for  endeavouring  to  s 
vert  the  liberties  of  the  country, 
met  with  strong  opposition  in  ev 
stage,  particularly  from  Lord  Dig 
son  to  the  earl  of  Bristol,  one  of 
most  eloquent,  and  hitherto  m 
popular  members.*  But  it  was 
in  his  power  to  stem  the  torrent : 
the  eleventh  day  the  bill  was  rea< 
third  time  and  passed ;  and  the  n 
morning  the  names  of  fifty-four  mi 
bers  who  had  the  courage  to  v 
against  it,  were  placarded  in 
streets,  under  the  designation 
"  Straffordians,  who,  to  save  a  trai" 
were  willing  to  betray  their  countr 
In  the  mean  time  the  Lords  ] 
proceeded  as  if  they  were  ignor 
of  the  bill  pending  in  the  lower  hoi 
Strafford  made  his  defence  bel 
them.  He  repeated  in  short 
observations  which  he  had  previoi 
made;   contended  that  nothing 


-  As   early  as  the  3rd  of  March. — I 
rymple,  ii.  114,  119. 

*  Wariaton,  in  his  letter  of  April  2,  s 
"if  they  see  that  the  king  gains  man 
the  upper  house  not  to  condemn  him,  ' 
will  make  a  bill  of  teinture." — Dairy 
ii.  117.  This  passage  appears  to  i 
solve  the  question  which  is  sometimes^ 
why  the   popular    leaders    abandor 


course   on   which   they  had   entere 
to  pr 
*  S^e  his  speech  in  Rushworth,  viii;<< 


chose  to  proceed  by  b 


ey  ha 
ill  of 


53;    Nalson,   ii.   157—160. 
decisive  on  this  charge. 


It  is,   I  tb 


ii 

viii;<»  ' 

I  tb 


1G41.J 


STEAFFOED'S  DEFENCE. 


239 


ected  to  him  could  amount  to  the 
jrime  of  treason,  and  derided  the  new 
notion  of  accumulative  treason,  as 
i  entity  could  be  produced  from  an 
iggregation  of  nonentities.  In  con- 
jlusion  he  appealed  to  his  peers  in 
'Atese  words: — "My  lords,  it  is  my 
present  misfortune,  it  may  hereafter 
36  yours.  Except  your  lordships  pro- 
Tide  for  it,  the  shedding  of  my  blood 
irill  make  way  for  the  shedding  of 
fours;  you,  your  estates,  your  pos- 
•iserities  be  at  stake.  If  such  learned 
f^fflitiemen  as  these,  whose  tongues 
ire  well  acquainted  Avith  such  pro- 
aeedings,  shall  be  started  out  against 
you;  if  your  friends,  your  counsel, 
shall  be  denied  access  to  you ;  if  your 
professed  enemies  shall  be  admitted 
witnesses  against  you ;  if  every  word, 
intention,  or  circumstance,  be  sifted 
and  alleged  as  treasonable,  not  be- 
;3ause  of  any  statute,  but  because  of 
a  consequence  or  construction  pieced 
ap  in  a  high  rhetorical  strain,  I  leave 
it  to  your  lordships'  consideration  to 
foresee  what  may  be  the  issue  of  such 
a  dangerous  and  recent  precedent. 

"These  gentlemen  tell  me  they 
speak  in  defence  of  the  common- 
wealth against  my  arbitrary  laws; 
give  me  leave  to  say  it,  I  speak  in 
defence  of  the  commonwealth  against 
their  arbitrary  treason.  This,  my 
lords,  regards  you  and  your  posterity. 
For  myself,  were  it  not  for  your  in- 
terest, and  for  the  interest  of  a  saint 
in  heaven,  who  hath  left  me  here  two 
pledges  upon  earth "  (at  these  words 
his  breath  appeared  to  stop,  and  tears 
ran  down  his  cheeks  ;  but,  after  a 
pause  he  resumed) :  "  were  it  not  for 
this,  I  should  never  take  the  pains  to 


»  State  Trials,  1462—1469.  «'At  the  end 
he  made  such  a  pathetic  oration  for  half  an 
hour  as  ever  comedian  did  on  the  stage. 
The  matter  and  expression  was  exceeding 
bWive.  Doubtless,  if  he  had  grace  and  civil 
goodness,  he  is  a  most  eloquent  man.  One 
passage  is  most  spoken  of:  his  breaking  off 
in  weeping  and  sUence,  when  he  spoke  of 
his  first  wife.  Some  took  it  for  a  true  defect 


keep  up  this  ruinous  ojttage  of  mine. 
I  could  never  leave  the  world  at  a 
fitter  time,  Avhen  I  hope  the  better 
part  of  the  world  think  that,  by  this 
my  misfortune,  I  have  given  testi- 
mony of  my  integrity  to  my  God, 
my  king,  and  my  country.  My  lords  ! 
something  more  I  had  to  say,  but 
my  voice  and  my  spirits  fail  me. 
Only  in  all  submission  I  crave  that 
I  may  be  a  Pharos  to  keep  you  from 
shipwreck.  Bo  not  put  rocks  in  your 
way  which  no  prudence,  no  circum- 
spection can  eschew.  Whatever  your 
judgment  may  be,  shall  be  righteous 
in  my  eyes.  In  te  Domine  "  (looking 
towards  heaven)  "  confido :  non  con- 
fundar  in  seternum."  • 

The  king,  as  soon  as  the  bill  of 
attainder  passed  the  lower  house,  was 
careful  to  console  his  friend  with  the 
assurance  that,  though  he  might  deem 
it  expedient  to  make  some  sacrifice  to 
the  violence  of  the  times,  he  would 
never  consent  that  one  who  had 
served  the  cro^vn  with  such  fidelity 
should  suffer  in  his  life,  or  fortune, 
or  honours.  Perhaps,  when  he  made 
this  promise,  he  relied  on  his  own 
constancy,  perhaps  on  the  success  of 
some  one  of  the  projects  in  which  he 
was  engaged.  1.  It  had  been  sug- 
gested to  him  to  secure  the  Tower, 
which  had  no  other  guard  than  the 
servants  of  the  lieutenant,  by  the 
introduction  of  a  company  of  one 
hundred  trusty  soldiers;  or  to  order 
the  removal  of  Strafford  to  another 
prison,  so  that  he  might  be  rescued 
on  the  way.  But  Balfour,  the  lieu- 
tenant, was  true  to  the  cause  of  his 
countrymen.  He  refused  obedience 
to  the  royal  warrant,  and  spurned 


in  his  memory ;  others  for  a  notable  part  of 
his  rhetoric  :  some  that  true  grief  and  re- 
morse at  that  remembrance  had  stopt  his 
mouth ;  for  they  say  that  his  first  lady, 
being  with  child,  and  finding  one  of  his 
mistress's  letters,  brought  it  to  him,  and, 
chiding  him  therefore,  be  struck  her  on  th© 
breast,  whereof  she  shortly  died."— Baillie, 
291. 


240 


CHAELES  I. 


[CHAF. 


the  offer  made  to  him  by  his  prisoner 
of  a  bribe  of  twenty-two  thousand 
pounds,  and  a  desirable  match  for  his 
daughter.  2.  The  preference  which 
the  Commons  had  shown  for  the 
Scottish  army,  their  care  to  supply 
the  invaders  with  money,  while  the 
pay  of  the  English  force  in  York- 
shire was  allowed  to  accumulate  in 
arrear,  had  created  jealousy  and  dis- 
content in  the  latter.  Hence  occasion 
was  taken  to  sound  the  disposition  of 
the  officers,  and  to  propose  several 
plans  by  which  the  army  might  be 
brought  into  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  capital,  to  overawe  the  parlia- 
ment, and  to  give  the  ascendancy 
to  the  royalists.  That  the  king  was 
privy  and  assenting  to  these  projects 
is  certain ;  they  were  defeated  by  the 
disagreements  among  the  officers,  and 
the  resentment  of  Colonel  Goring, 
who  had  aspired  to  the  rank  of  a 
principal  commander,  and  who,  to 
gratify  his  disappointed  ambition,  be- 
trayed the  substance  of  the  project  to 
the  earl  of  Newport,  by  whom  it  was 
revealed  to  the  leaders  of  the  party.* 
3.  The  king  had  offered  to  leave  the 
disposal  of  all  the  great  offices  of  state 
to  the  earl  of  Bedford,  in  return  for 
the  life  of  Strafford.  The  condition 
was  accepted ;  and  that  nobleman 
communicated  it  to  his  friends,  who, 
with  the  exception  of  the  earl  of 
Essex,  cheerfully  acquiesced.  Unfor- 
tunately, in  the  course  of  a  few  days 
Bedford  died,  and  the  lord  Say  was 
employed  in  his  place.  By  the  advice 
of  this  new  counsellor,  Charles  sent  for 
the  two  houses,  and  informed  them 
in  a  short  speech  that,  had  they  pro- 


1  Whitelock,  46.  Nalson,  ii.  272.  War- 
wick, 178.  See  the  evidence  in  Euahworth, 
iv.  252—257;  and  Husband's  Collection, 
1643.  It  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  the  real 
history  of  the  intrigue,  as  all  the  witnesses 
evidently  strove  to  secure  themselves  from 
blame  both  with  the  king  and  the  parlia- 
ment ;  but  it  is  plain,  from  the  despatches 
of  Rosetti,  that  the  king  attempted  to  gain 
the  army  through  the  chief  officers,  and  that 
be  had  ordered  the  fortifications  of  Ports- 


ceeded  according  to  law,  he  wo 
have  allowed  the  law  to  have 
course;  but,  by  adopting  the  waj 
attainder,  they  had  forced  him  to 
in  quality  of  a  j  udge.  He  would  the 
fore  tell  them  that  neither  Straff 
nor  any  other  of  his  counsellors  ] 
ever  advised  him  to  employ  the  Ir 
army  in  England,  or  to  alter  the  h 
of  the  kingdom,  or  to  look  upon 
English  subjects  as  disloyal  or  c 
affected.  With  this  knowledge  it  ^ 
impossible  that  he  should  conde] 
the  earl  of  treason,  or  pass  the  > 
of  attainder  if  it  were  presented 
him  for  his  assent.  That  Straffc 
had  been  guilty  of  misdemeanors  a 
evident;  and  he  was  willing  to  pun 
him  by  exclusion  from  office  duri 
his  life ;  but  further  he  could  not  { 
wherefore  he  conjured  the  Lords 
discover  some  middle  way,  by  wh: 
they  might  satisfy  public  justice  wi  i 
out  offering  violence  to  the  consciei  < 
of  their  sovereign.* 

This  well-meant  but  ill-timed  spc 
sealed  the  doom  of  the  unfortuu 
prisoner.    The  Commons  resented 
as  a  most  flagrant  violation  of  1 
privileges  of  parhament;  the  minis' 
employed  the  following  day  (it 
the  Sabbath)  in  stimulating  from 
pulpit  the  passions  and  fanaticisn 
their  hearers;  and  on  the  Mon. 
crowds  of  men  were  seen  in  ev 
direction,  crying  out  "Justice,  j 
tice,"  and  declaring  that  they  woi 
have  the  head  of  Strafford  or  tl 
of  the   king.    They  paraded  bef< 
Whitehall ;  they  proceeded  to  AVc 
minster,   and,   taking    post    in    t 
Palace-yard,  insulted   and   menac 


mouth  to  be  strengthened,  and  had  gi> 
the  command  to  Colonel  Goring,  for  t 
purposes, — that  he  might  have  a  place 
retreat,  if  he  were  forced  to  quit  Lond' 
and  a  post  for  the  disembarkation  of  troo 
which  might  come  to  his  aid  from  Hollf 
and  France.  —  Eosetti,  12th  April,  1 
May,  N.8. 

2  Journals,   231,    232.     Euahworth,    \ 
734.    Laud's  Troubles,  176. 


A.D.  1641.] 


PUBLIC  EXCITEMENT. 


241 


every  member  who  was  supposed  to 
be  friendly  to  the  object  of  their  ven- 
geance.   Pym  seized  the  opportunity 
to  detail  and  exaggerate  to  the  house 
the  dangers  of  the  country,  the  real 
or  imaginary  plots  to  bring  forward 
l:he  army,  to  gain  possession  of  the 
Tower,    and   to    procure    aid    from 
France ;  and,  while  their  minds  were 
igitated  with  terror  and  resentment, 
proposed,  in  imitation  of  the  Scottish 
covenant,  a   protestation,   by  which 
;hey   bound    themselves    to   defend 
heir  religion  against   popery,  their 
iberties  against  despotism,  and  their 
ing   against    the    enemies    of    the 
lation.    It  was   taken  with   enthu- 
iasm,  and  transmitted  to  the  Lords, 
vho  ordered  it  to  be  subscribed  by 
very  member  of  their  house.    The 
ntelligence   was   communicated    by 
)r.  Bargess,   a   favourite   preacher, 
0  the  populace,  who  expressed  their 
atisfaction   by   cheers,   and,  at   his 
ommand,    peaceably    withdrew    to 
heir  habitations.' 
Care  was  taken  to  keep  alive  the 
ublic    excitement   by  a  variety  of 
umours;  but  what  chiefly  inflamed 
he  passions  of  the  populace  was,  first 
report   that   a  French  army  was 
eady  to   come   to   the    aid  of  the 
ing,  then  that  it  had  taken  posses- 
ion of  Guernsey  and   Jersey,  and 
istly  that  it  was  actually  landed  at 
'ortsmouth.    That  there  was  some 
round    for  jealousy   is   plain  ;   for 
lontague,  a  favourite  of  the  queen, 
ad   been   received   at   the   French 
Durt,  an  army  was  actually  assembled 
1   Flanders,  and  a  fleet  had   been 
Dllected  on  the  coast  of  Bretagne. 
lut  Montreuil,  the  French  envoy, 
ad  little  difficulty  in  convincing  the 
opular  leaders,  through  the  earl  of 


I  Journals  of  Lords,  232 ;  of  Commons, 
tay  3.  "  They  caused  a  multitude  of 
unmltuous  persons  to  come  down  to  West- 
liiister  armed  with  swords  and  staves,  to 

II  both  the  palace-yards  and  all  the  ap- 
roaches    to    both  houses    with  fury  and 

7 


Holland,  that  the  army  was  destined 
for  the  war  in  the  Netherlands,  and 
the  fleet  for  the  protection  of  Por- 
tugal ;  and  that  Richelieu  had  no 
thought  of  afibrding  aid  to  a  prince 
whom  he  considered  a  personal 
enemy.  Still  the  irritation  of  the 
populace  rose  to  such  a  height  that 
the  envoy  was  repeatedly  advised  to 
save  his  life  by  concealment,  and  the 
queen  in  alarm  actually  ordered  her 
carriages  to  Whitehall,  that  she  might 
seek  an  asylum  at  Portsmouth.  Had 
she  left  the  court,  her  life  would  have 
been  in  danger;  but  her  flight  was 
prevented  by  a  remonstrance  from 
the  Lords  to  the  king,  and  two  hours 
later  it  became  known  that  Colonel 
Goring  had  revealed  the  secrets  with 
which  he  was  intrusted  to  the  popular 
party.^ 

In  the  meanwhile  the  enemies  of 
Strafford  proceeded  steadily  towards 
the  accomplishment  of  their  object. 
His  avowed  friends  were  kept  away 
from  the  house  of  Lords  by  the 
threats  of  the  rabble:  the  Catholic 
peers  were  excluded  by  their  refusal 
to  subscribe  the  protestation ;  and 
though  eighty  peers  had  attended  the 
trial  in  Westminster  Hall,  not  half 
that  number  assembled  to  discuss  the 
bill  of  attainder.  The  majority  voted 
that  two  of  the  charges  had  been 
proved,  the  fifteenth  and  nineteenth, 
importing  that  Strafford  had  quar- 
tered soldiers  on  the  peaceable  inha- 
bitants without  lawful  cause,  and  had 
imposed  of  his  own  authority  an 
illegal  oath  on  all  Scotsmen  dwelling 
in  Ireland.  The  judges  were  then 
called  in;  and  to  a  question  from 
the  house  replied  that,  taking  the 
case  as  it  had  been  proposed  to  them, 
Strafford  had  deserved  to  undergo  the 


clamour,  and  to  require  justice,  speedy  jus- 
tice, against  the  earle.'' — Stat,  of  Eeubn,  y. 
424. 

2  Journals,  236.     Mazure,  iii.  421 — 428, 
Kosetti,  24  Maggio,  N.S. 


2A2 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  v; 


pains  and  forfeitures  of  treason.  The 
next  morning  the  bill  was  read  a 
fourth  time  and  passed  without 
amendment,  and  a  deputation  was 
appointed  to  soHcit  in  the  name  of 
both  houses  the  roj^al  assent  and  the 
speedy  execution  of  the  delinquent.' 
All  that  day  the  court  presented  a 
scene  of  the  utmost  terror  and  dis- 
tress. Every  hour  intelligence  was 
brought  of  the  excitement  of  the 
people,  of  the  crowds  assembled  in 
the  Palace-yard,  of  their  tumultuous 
cries  and  threats  of  vengeance ;  and 
a  general  persuasion  existed  that  the 
king's  refusal  would  be  followed  by 
a  forcible  irruption  of  the  rabble  into 
Whitehall,  the  captivity  of  his  person 
and  that  of  the  queen,  and  the  mas- 
sacre of  their  servants.  A  little  after 
four  the  deputation  arrived  at  the 
palace,  and  was  admitted ;  the  crowd 
which  accompanied  them,  two  thou- 
sand men,  most  of  them  with  arms, 
remained  at  the  gate.  "What  passed 
within  we  know  not,  but  after  some 
delay  a  minister — probably  the  same 
Dr.  Burgess— appeared  at  a  window, 
and  announced  that  the  king  had 
promised  to  go  on  Monday  morning 
to  the  house  of  Lords  and  give  the 
royal  assent.  The  people  immediately 
dispersed  with  shouts  of  triumph.^ 

Strafford  had  already  written  to 
Charles  a  most  eloquent  and  affecting 
letter.  He  again  asserted  his  inno- 
cence of  the  capital  charge,  and 
appealed  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
king  for  the  proof  of  his  assertion ; 
still  he  was  ready,  he  was  anxious, 
to  sacrifice  his  life  as  the  price  of 


1  Journals,  239 — 241.  The  original  pas- 
sage has  been  eraerd  from  the  Lords' 
Journals ;  but  Whitelock,  who  could  not 
be  ignorHTit,  as  he  was  one  of  the  mana- 
gers, informs  us  that  the  articles  found 
to  be  proved  were  the  fifteentli  and  nine- 
teenth.— Whitelock,  45.  Kadoliffe  says  that 
the  fli'teenth,  the  twenty-third,  respecting 
the  advice  to  employ  the  Irish  army  in 
England,  and  perhaps  one  more,  were  voted 
to  be  proved ;  but,  as  his  memory  might  bo 
deceived,  he  refers  to  the  journals.     He 


reconciliation  between  the  sovereig 
and  his  people.    He  would  therefor 
set  the  royal  conscient^  at  liberty  b 
soliciting  him  to  give  his  assent  t 
the  bill  of  attainder.    "My  consen 
sir,"  he  proceeded,  "shall  more  acqui 
you  herein  to  God,  than  all  the  worl 
can  do  besides.    To  a  willing   ma 
there  is  no  injury  done;  and,  as  b 
God's  grace  1  forgive  all  the  worl 
so,  sir,  to  you  I  can  give  the  life  < 
this  world  with  all  the  cheer fulne 
imaginable,  in  the  just  acknowled; 
ment  of  your  exceeding  favours,  an 
only  beg  that  in  your  goodness  yc 
would  vouchsafe  to  cast  your  gracioi 
regard  upon  my  poor  son  and   h 
three  sisters,  less  or  more,  and  r 
otherwise  than  as  their  unibrtuna 
father  may  appear  hereafter  more  < 
less  guilty  of  this  death."    It  ma  ■. 
however,  be  questioned,  whether  1 
really  felt  the   magnanimous   sent  ; 
ments  which  he  so  forcibly  expresse 
He  knew  that  within  three  mont 
a  similar  offer  had  saved  the  life 
Goodman ;  and  afterwards,  when 
heard  that  the  king  had  complied, 
is  said  to  have  started  Avitli  surpri 
from  his  chair,  exclaiming,  "  Put  n  - 
your  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  the  ?<" 
of  men,  for  in  them  there  is  no  sal 
tion."3 

The  king  pa.ssed  the  Sunday  i: 
state  of  the  most  poignant  disti\ 
Which  was  he  to  do,  to  break  ; 
word  to  the  two  houses,  or  to  mo 
himself  accessory  to  the  murder  < 
faithful  servant  ?  In  this  dilen: 
he  sent  for  the  judges,  and  inquir  j 
the  grounds  of  the  answer  given 


adds  that  the  numbers  on  the  division  w» 
twenty-two  against  sixteen. — StraiFord  1 
pers,  ii.  432.  Buf,  whatever  the  artk 
were,  the  biU  was  passed  in  the  same  shs 
in  which  it  came  from  the  Commons.— «£: 
it  in  Hushworth,  viii.  756. 

2  Journals,    243.      Eosetti,    24    M« 
Rosetti  went  by  the  meadow  to  Whit 
and  found   the    queen  afflittissiina, 
faceudosi  in  pianto. 

3  Eushworth,  viii.  743. 


UD.  1G41.J 


EXECUTION  OF  STRAFFORD. 


243 


hem  to  tlie  Lords ;  he  sent  for  the 
)ishops,  and  exposed  to  them  the  mis- 
givings of  his  own  conscience.  One, 
fuxon  of  London,  honestly  advised 
lim  not  to  shed  the  blood  of  a  man 
.vhorn  he  believed  to  be  innocent; 
Williams,  and  with  him  were  three 
)thers,  replied  that,  whatever  might 
36  his  individual  opinion  as  Charles 
stuart,  he  was  bound  in  his  political 
capacity  as  king  to  concur  with  the 
"jWO  houses  of  parliament.  At  the 
>ame  time  he  was  reminded  of  the 
iangers  which  threatened  both  him- 
self and  his  family ;  that  the  public 
jiind  in  the  capital  was  kept  in  a 
jtate  of  alarming  agitation ;  that  re- 
ports of  plots  the  most  improbable 
ivere  circulated  and  believed;  and 
:hat  a  refusal  on  his  part  would  infal- 
ibly  provoke  a  tumult,  the  con- 
iequence  of  which  could  not  be 
X)ntemplated  without  horror.  Late 
n  the  evening  he  yielded,  and  sub- 
scribed with  tears  a  commission  to  give 
lis  assent  to  the  bill.' 

As  a  last  effort  to  save  the  life  of  a 
servant  whom  he  so  highly  prized, 
Charles  descended  from  his  throne 
and  appeared  before  his  subjects  in 
the  guise  of  a  suppliant.  By  the 
hands  of  the  young  f)rince  of  Wales 
he  sent  a  letter  to  the  Lords,  request- 


1  Strafford  Papers,  ii.  432.  Clarendon,  i. 
257.    Laud'3  Troubles,  177. 

2  Lords'  Journals,  iv.  245.  Burnet  teUs 
03,  from  Holies,  whose  sister  Strafford  had 
married,  that  Holies  advised  the  following 
plan  to  save  the  earls  life  :— That  Strafford 
should  petition  for  a  short  respite  to  settle 
his  affairs,  the  king  with  the  petition  in  his 
hand  should  solicit  the  houses  to  be  con- 
tent with  a  minor  punishment,  and  Holies 
should  persuade  his  friends  to  accede  to  the 
proposal,  on  the  ground  that  Strafford  would 
revert  to  his  first  principles,  and  become 
wholly  theirs.  The  queen,  however,  being 
told  that  Strafford  would  in  that  case  ac- 
cuse her,  advised  her  husband  to  send  the 
letter,  "  which  would  have  done  as  well," 
had  she  not  persuaded  him  to  add  the  post- 
script, "  if  he  must  die,  it  were  charity  to 
reprieve  him  till  Saturday;"  which,  he  ob- 
serves, was  a  very  unhandsome  giving  up  of 
thewholemessage.— Burnet's  OwnTimeB,32. 


ing  that,  for  his  sake,  the  two  houses 
would  be  willing  that  he  should  com- 
mute the  punishment  of  death  into 
that  of  perpetual  imprisonment.  But 
the  vultures  that  thirsted  for  the 
blood  of  Strafford  were  inexorable ; 
they  even  refused  the  king's  request 
for  a  reprieve  till  Saturday,  that  the 
earl  might  have  time  to  settle  his 
temporal  affairs.^  The  next  morning 
the  unfortunate  nobleman  was  led  to 
execution.  He  had  requested  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  also  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower,  to  impart  to  him  his  blessing 
from  the  window  of  his  cell.  The 
prelate  appeared  ;  he  raised  his  hand, 
but  grief  prevented  his  utterance,  and 
he  fell  senseless  on  the  floor.  On  the 
scaffold  the  earl  behaved  with  com- 
posure and  dignity.  He  expressed 
his  satisfaction  that  the  king  did  not 
think  him  deserving  so  severe  a 
punishment ;  protested  before  God 
that  he  was  not  guilty,  as  far  as  he 
could  understand,  of  the  great  crime 
laid  to  his  charge ;  and  declared  that 
he  forgave  all  his  enemies  not  merely 
in  words,  but  from  his  heart.  At  the 
first  stroke  his  head  was  severed  from 
the  body.  The  spectators,  said  to 
have  amounted  to  one  hundred  thou- 
sand persons,  behaved  with  decency ; 
but  in  the  evening  the  people  dis- 


This  is  told  very  incorrectly.  That  Straf- 
ford petitioned  for  a  respite  till  Saturday, 
and  that  Holies  promised  him  his  life,  if  he 
would  employ  his  credit  with  the  king  to 
procure  the  abolition  of  episcopaev,  we 
learn  from  Laud  ;  but  he  adds,  on  the 
authority  of  the  earl's  assertion  to  Arch- 
bishop Usher,  that  Strafford  refused  the 
condition— Laud's  Troubles,  177.  Neither 
did  the  king  give  up  the  request  by  the 
conditional  postscript ;  for  the  same  con- 
dition runs  through  the  whole  letter : 
"  If  it  may  be  done  without  discontent- 
ment to  my  people'' — "If  no  less  than 
death  can  satisfy  my  people,  fiat  justitia." 
— Journals,  245.  The  fact  was,  as  Essex 
told  Hyde,  no  minor  punishment  would 
satisfy  the  earl's  enemies,  who  were  per- 
suaded that,  if  his  life  should  be  spared, 
the  king  would,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
parliament,  grant  him  a  pardon,  and  place 
him  again  over  their  heads.  His  death,  was 
their  security. — Clarendon,  i.  242. 
K  2 


244 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  V 


played  their  joy  by  bonfires,  and  de- 
molished the  windows  of  those  who 
refused  to  illuminate.' 

Thus  after  a  long  struggle,  perished 
the  earl  of  Straflford,  the  most  able 
and  devoted  champion  of  the  claims 
of  the  crown,  and  the  most  active  and 
formidable  enemy  to  the  liberties  of 
the  people.  By  nature  he  was  stern 
and  imperious,  choleric  and  vindic- 
tive. In  authority  he  indulged  these 
passions  without  regard  to  the  pro- 
visions of  law  or  the  forms  of  justice ; 
and,  from  the  moment  that  he  at- 
tached himself  to  the  court,  he  la- 
boured (his  own  letters  prove  it)  to 
exalt  the  power  of  the  throne  on  the 
ruin  of  those  rights  of  which  he  once 
had  been  the  most  strenuous  advo- 
cate. As  president  of  the  north,  he 
first  displayed  his  temper  and  pre- 
tensions; in  Ireland  he  trampled 
with  greater  freedom  on  the  liberties 
of  the  people ;  and  after  the  rupture 
with  the  Scots  he  ceased  not  to  incul- 
cate in  the  council  that  the  king  had 
a  right  to  take  what  the  parliament 
had  undutifully  refused  to  grant. 
Yet,  numerous  and  acknowledged  as 
his  offences  were,  the  propriety  of  his 
punishment  has  been  justly  ques- 
tioned. His  friends  maintained  that, 
where  the  penalties  are  so  severe,  the 
nature  of  the  ofience  ought  to  be 
clearly  defined,  to  enable  the  subject 
to  know  and  eschew  the  danger  ;  that 
Strafford  could  not  possibly  suspect 
that  he  was  committing  treason,  while 
he  acted  after  ancient  precedents, 
and  on  the  recent  decision  of  the 
judges  in  the  case  of  ship-money: 
that  the  doctrine  of  constructive  and 
accumulative  treason  on  which  the 
Commons  relied,  was  new  and  un- 
known to  the  law  ;  that  it  was  unjust 
in  his  prosecutors,  after  they  had 
impeached  him  before  the  Lords,  to 
interrupt  the  trial  because  they  anti- 


1  Different  copies  of  bis  speech  may  be 
Been  in  Somers's  Tracts,  iv.  254—205. 


cipated  his  acquittal;  and  that  tfc 
introduction  of  the  bill  of  attainde 
the  employment  of  force  to  intim 
date  the  Lords,  and  the  violent  meai 
adopted  to  extort  the  assent  of  tk 
king,  sufficiently  proved  that  ver 
geance  as  much  as  justice  was  tl 
object  of  his  adversaries.  On  the 
side  it  has  been  contended  that  tl" 
man  who  seeks  to  subvert  the  nation: 
liberties  is  not  to  escape  with  in 
punity  because  his  offence  has  n( 
been  accurately  described  in  the  st; 
tute-book;  that  the  case,  whenev( 
it  occurs,  is  one  which  ought  to  I 
submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  who' 
legislature ;  that  no  danger  to  tl 
subject  can  be  apprehended  from  sue 
proceeding,  because  the  ordinal 
courts  of  law  do  not  make  to  then 
selves  precedents  from  the  condu< 
of  parliament ;  and  that  the  attaind( 
of  Strafford  was  necessary  to  dett 
subsequent  ministers  from  imitatin 
his  example.  Perhaps  it  may  I 
difficult  to  decide  between  these  cor 
flicting  arguments ;  but  to  me  thei 
appears  little  doubt  that,  in  a  wel 
regulated  state,  it  is  better  to  allow  i 
offenders  any  benefit  which  they  ma 
derive  from  the  deficiency  of  the  lav 
than  to  bring  them  to  punishmer 
by  a  departure  from  the  sacred  forn; 
of  justice. 

The  Commons,  however,  were  m 
satisfied  with  the  blood  of  Straffor( 
They  announced  their  intention  ( 
proceeding  with  £he  charge  again^ 
Archbishop  Laud,  and  impeached  si 
of  the  judges  of  treason  or  misdt 
meanors.  Wren,  bishop  of  Ely,  of  a 
attempt  to  subvert  religion  by  th 
introduction  of  superstition  and  ido 
atry  ;  and  thirteen  of  the  prelates,  c 
illegal  proceedings  in  the  late  convc 
cation.  But,  though  they  threatene< 
they  were  slow  to  strike.  Tl 
attention  was  distracted  by  a  m ; 
plicity  of  business,  and  their  progix. 
was  arrested  at  each  step  by  th 
intervention  of  new  subjects  of  dt 


LD.  lG-11.] 


TERROR  OF  THE  QUEEN. 


Date.  The  issue  of  several  of  these 
arosecutions  will  be  noticed  at  a  later 
period. 

But  a  more  exalted  personage  than 
my  of  these,  the  queen  herself,  be- 
lan  to  tremble  for  her  safety.    She 
.vas  a  Catholic;  she  had  been  edu- 
cated  in    the   court    of  a   despotic 
nonarch ;  and  she  was  known  to  pos- 
ess  the  attachment  and  confidence 
)f  her  husband, — circumstances,  any 
me  of  them,  sufficient  to  excite  the 
ealousy  of  the  patriots,  and  to  expose 
he  princess  to  the  misrepresentations 
>f  men  who,  with  all  their  pretensions 
0  religion,  sedulously  practised  the 
loctrine  that  the  end  sanctifies  the 
neans.'    They  described  her  to  the 
leople  as  the  head  of  a  faction  whose 
"bject  it  was  to  estabUsh  despotism 
nd  popery ;  and  tales  were  daily  cir- 
ulated,  and  defamatory  libels  pub- 
ished,  in   proof  of  that  pernicious 
nfluence  which  she  was  supposed  to 
xercise  over  the  uxorious  mind  of 
er  husband.    It  is  indeed  true  that, 
ince    the    death    of    Buckingham, 
!^harles  had  refused  to  have  any  other 
ivourite  than  his  wife  ;  that  he  con- 
ded  to  her  his  cares,  and  fears,  and 
esigns;  that  he  wished  those  who 
'jlicited  favours  to  employ  her  me- 
iation,  that  she  might  have  the  merit 
f  serving   them ;    and  that  he  oc- 
asionally  transmitted,  through  her 
gency,  orders    to    his   confidential 
lends.    But  the  sequel  of  this  his- 
)ry  will  demonstrate  that  she  had 
ot  his  judgment   in  her   keeping; 
lere  were  many  points  on  which  he 
jquired  her  to  submit  implicitly  to 
is  pleasure  ;  and,  when  once  he  had 


Clarendon,  in  his  character  of  Lord 
igby,  mentions  "  the  foul  arts  they  could 
ve  themselves  leave  to  use,  to  compass 
lything  they  proposed  to  do ;  as  in  truth 
.eJr  method  was,  first  to  consider  what 
as  necessary  to  be  done  for  some  public 
id,  and  which  might  reasonably  be  wished 
r  that  public  end,  and  then  to  make  no 
mple  of  doing  auything  which  might  pro- 
tbly  bring  the  other  to  pass,  let  it  be  of 
iutt  nature  it  would,  and  never  so  much 


taken  his  resolution,  it  was  not  in 
her  power,  by  reasoning  or  importu- 
nity, to  divert  him  from  his  purpose.- 
Her  mother,  driven  from  Prance  by 
the  enmity  of  Richelieu,  had  found, 
during  the  two  last  years,  an  asylum 
in  England ;  but  the  unpopularity  of 
her  daughter  extended  itself  to  the 
fugitive :  she  solicited  a  guard  to  pro- 
tect her  from  the  insults  of  the 
mob,  and  was  induced  by  the  ad- 
vice of  Charles  to  return  to  the  con- 
tinent. Henrietta,  terrified  by  the 
threats  of  her  enemies,  announced 
her  intention  of  accompanying  her 
mother,  but  the  Commons  interposed ; 
at  their  solicitation,  the  Lords  joined 
in  a  petition  requesting  her  to  re- 
main ;  and  the  queen,  in  a  gracious 
speech  pronounced  in  English,  not 
only  gave  her  assent,  but  expressed 
her  readiness  to  make  every  sacrifice 
that  might  be  agreeable  to  the  na- 
tion.3 

Hitherto  on  most  subjects  the  two 
houses  had  cheerfully  concurred. 
Both  had  voted  that  the  court  of 
presidency  of  York  was  contrary  to 
law;  that  the  convocation  had  no 
power  to  make  regulations  binding 
either  clergy  or  laity,  without  the 
consent  of  parliament,  and  that  bishops 
and  clergymen  ought  not  to  hold  se- 
cular offices,  or  be  judges  or  magis- 
trates ;  they  had  passed  several  bills 
successively,  some  giving  tonnage  and 
poundage  to  the  crown,  but  only  for 
short  periods,  that  the  repetition  of 
the  grant  might  more  forcibly  esta- 
blish their  right,  and  others  abolish- 
ing the  courts  of  Star-chamber  and 
High  Commission,  forbidding  the  levy 


concern  the  honour  or  interest  of  any  per- 
son who  they  thought  did  not  or  would  not 
favour  their  design." — Clarendon  Papers, 
iii.  Supplement,  liii.  Clarendon  was  an 
adversary,  but  this  assertion  seems  to  be 
fully  supported  by  the  facts. 

2  See  instances  of  this  in  his  letters  to 
her  from  Newcastle,  in  the  Clarendon  Pa- 
pers, ii.  295,  et  seq. 

3  Journals,  iv.  314,  317. 


24G 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  VI 


of  ship-raoney,  taking  away  all  vexa- 
tious procceedings  respecting  knight- 
hood, and  establishing  the  boundaries 
of  the  royal  forests ;  they  had,  more- 
over, obtained  the  king's  assent  to  two 
most  important  acts, — one  appointing 
triennial  parliaments  to  be  holden  of 
course,  and  even  without  the  royal 
summons,^  and  another  investing 
themselves  with  paramount  authority, 
since  it  prohibited  the  dissolution, 
prorogation,  or  adjournment  of  the 
present  parliament  without  the  pre- 
vious consent  of  the  two  houses. - 
But  the  pretensions  set  up,  and  the 
power  exercised  by  the  Commons, 
began  to  provoke  the  jealousy  of  the 
Lords.  Many  of  the  latter  professed 
a  determination  to  withstand  every 
additional  attempt  to  subvert  the 
ancient  constitution  of  the  legislature, 
or  the  undoubted  rights  of  the  crown ; 
and  the  king,  that  he  might  gain  the 
services,  or  at  least  mollify  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  leading  peers,  gave  the 
several  offices  of  governor  to  the 
prince,  lord  chamberlain,  lieutenant 
of  Ireland,  and  master  of  the  wards, 
to  the  earls  of  Hertford,  Essex,  Lei- 
cester, and  the  lord  Say.  A  new 
spirit  seemed  to  be  infused  into  the 
upper  house,  which  successively  re- 
jected, as  invasive  of  their  rights,  two 
bills  sent  from  the  lower  house,  one 
to  exclude  the  bishops,  and  persons 
in  holy  orders,  from  intermeddling 


1  The  summons  was  to  be  issued  in  the 
royal  name  by  the  chancellor  or  keeper  of 
the  great  seal,  and  to  this  he  was  bound  by 
oath;  in  his  default,  by  any  twelve  peers 
assembled  at  Westminster ;  and,  if  no  peers 
assembled,  then  on  a  certain  day  the  sherilFs, 
mayors,  constables,  &c,,  were,  without  fur- 
ther notice,  to  proceed  to  the  elections  of 
representatives  under  very  severe  penal- 
ties. 

2  Charles  gave  his  assent  to  this  bill  on 
the  very  day  on  which  he  consented  to  the 
death  of  Strafford,  probably  that  he  might 
mollify  the  enemies  of  that  nobleman. 

3  Journals,  iv.  257,  259,  269,  273,  281, 
286,  298,  311,  333,  349,  357.  To  pay  the 
English  and  Scottish  armies,  a  poll-tax  was 
voted,  in  which  dukes  were  rated  at  one 
hundred  pounds,  marquesses  at  eighty 
pounds,   earls    at   sixty  pound."*,  viscounts 


in  secular  affairs,  the  other  to  provide 
security  for  true  rehgion.  The  Lord: 
were  willing  that  bishops  should  no 
sit  in  the  privy  council,  nor  the  Star- 
chamber,  nor  courts  of  justice,  no: 
on  secular  commissions,  but  refusec 
to  deprive  them  of  their  seats  in  th* 
legislature ;  and  with  respect  to  th( 
second  bill,  which  proposed  to  sub 
stitute  for  episcopal  government  tba 
by  presbyters  with  a  superintendent 
they  threw  it  out  on  the  secou' 
reading.^ 

These  sjTnptoms  of  misunderstand 
ing  between  the  Lords  and  Common 
awakened  the  most  pleasing  antici 
pations  in  the  mind  of  the  king,  wh 
still  cherished  the  hope  of  being  abl  . 
to  give  the  law  to  his  opponents,  an  J 
with  this  view  sought  once  more  t  i 
interest   the   army   in   his    quarrc 
With   his    approbation,    and   undc 
his  signature,  the  form  of  a  petitioi 
to  be  subscribed  by  the  officers,  w; 
forwarded  to  Sir  Jacob  Astley,  •\\  ■ 
acted  in  place  of  the  earl  of  Holla: 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  fore 
in  Yorkshire.     It  stated  the  mar 
and  valuable  concessions  which  tl 
king  had  made  to  his  people,  advert« 
to  the  riotous  assemblages  which  h; 
lately  attempted  to  control  both  t] 
sovereign  and  the  two  houses,  ai 
prayed    permission   that    the   arn 
might  march  to  London  for  the  pu 
pose  of  protecting  the  royal  pers' 


and  barons   at  fifty  pounds,  baronets  a 
knights  of  the  Bath  at  thirty  pounds,  knig; 
at  twenty  pounds,  esquires  at  ten  poun 
gentlemen    of    one    hundred    pounds    ] 
annum   at  five   pounds,   and    recusants 
pay  double :   the  scale  descended  throi 
every  rank  and  profession,  to  each  per; 
above  sixteen  years  of  age  and  not  receiv 
alms.     For  these  the  lowest  rate  was  f 
pence. — Somers's  Tracts,  iv.  299.    This 
raised  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousj 
and  sixty-one  pounds,  sixteen  shillings,  r 
eleven  pence  three  farthings. — Ibid.  p.  c 
The  reader  is  aware  that  in  ancient  tii 
the  three   estates  taxed  themselves  se 
rately,  and  so  much  of  the  old  custom 
retained,  that    the    Lords    still    appoic 
receivers    for    themselves,     and    for    s 
dowagers  as  had  the  privilege  of  the  pi    , 
age  (258,  297). 


d 


A.D.  1641.] 


THE  KING'S  VISIT  TO  SCOTLAND. 


247 


and  the  parliament.  But  the  vigi- 
lance of  the  patriots  detected,  and 
their  promptitude  defeated,  the  pro- 
ject.' Soon,  however,  a  new  source 
of  disquietude  was  opened.  The  king 
unexpectedly  announced  his  inten- 
tion of  meeting  in  person  the  Scottish 
parliament  on  the  15th  of  July;  a 
measure  which  offered  an  enigma  of 
no  easy  solution  either  to  his  freinds 
or  foes  in  the  two  houses.  The  jea- 
lousy of  the  latter  was  again  alarmed. 
They  became  less  eager  for  the  con- 
clusion of  the  treaty  with  the  Cove- 
nanters: they  daily  interposed  new 
difficulties :  they  brought  forward 
other  subjects  for  discussion.  But 
Charles  was  not  to  be  moved  from 
his  resolution :  to  accommodate  them, 
he  put  off  his  departure  for  a  fort- 
night, but  refused  to  wait  a  day 
longer ;  and,  having  given  his  assent 
to  the  bill  of  pacification  between  the 
two  kingdoms,  hastily  quitted  Lon- 
don ;2  traversed,  without  stopping, 
the  quarters  of  the  English  army  in 
Yorkshire;  accepted  with  apparent 
cheerfulness  an  invitation  to  dine 
with  Leslie  at  Newcastle;  and  was 
received  with  honour  by  a  deputation 
from  the  estates  at  his  entrance  into 
the  capital  of  Scotland.  The  houses 
at  Westminster  continued  to  sit  after 
his  departure ;  but  their  measures 
were  limited  to  the  making  of  pre- 
parations for  the  disbandment  of  the 
army,  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
from  each  house  to  sit  during  the 
adjournment,  and  the  nomination  of 
commissioners  to  attend  on  the  king 
in  Scotland,  under  the  pretence  of 
doing  him  honour,  but  in  reality  to 


1  See  the  examinations  of  Legge,  Astley, 
Coniera,  Hunks,  Lucas,  and  O'Neil,  in  Hus- 
band's Collection,  and  the  Journals. — Lords' 
Journals,  441.  Commons'  Journals,  Nov.  17. 

2  Charles  left  a  commission  to  give  the 
royal  assent  to  certain  biUs,  when  they 
should  have  passed  the  houses.  The  Com- 
mons brought  in  a  bill  to  extend  the  powers 
of  the  commissioners  to  all  the  bills  which 
should  pass.  The  Lords,  at  their  request, 
sat  for  this  purpose  on  the  Sunday,  but  they 


watch  his  conduct,  and  to  correspond 
with  the  committee  in  London.  They 
then  adjourned  to  the  middle  of 
October.^ 

Charles  was  aware  that  in  Scotland 
a  reaction  had  long  been  working  in 
the  minds  of  moderate  men,  who, 
satisfied  with  the  concessions  already 
made  by  the  sovereign,  began  to  look 
with  suspicion  on  the  obstinacy  and 
pretensions  of  the  popular  leaders. 
A  party  had  some  time  before  been 
secretly  formed  under  the  auspices  of 
the  earl  of  Montrose ;  and  nineteen 
noblemen  had  been  induced  to  sub- 
scribe a  bond,  by  which  they  pledged 
themselves  to  oppose  "  the  particular 
and  indirect  practices  of  a  few,  and  to 
study  all  public  ends  which  might 
tend  to  the  safety  of  religion,  laws, 
and  liberties."  The  language  of  this 
instrument,  whatever  might  be  the 
views  of  its  authors,  was  evidently  in 
accord  with  that  of  the  covenant ;  but 
the  moment  it  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  committee  of  estates,  they  pro- 
nounced it  a  breach  of  that  clause 
which  prohibited  all  attempts  to 
divide  the  true  worshippers  of  God; 
and  Montrose  and  his  friends  having 
disclaimed  "all  evil  and  divisive  in- 
tentions," gave  up  the  bond  to  be 
burnt.'*  By  their  submission  they 
hoped  to  disarm  the  resentment  o!"' 
their  enemies ;  but,  still  persisting  in 
their  design,  they  opened  a  cor- 
respondence with  the  king,  and  as- 
sured him  of  the  victory  over  the 
covenanting  leaders,  if  he  would  only 
honour  the  parliament  with  his  pre- 
sence, confirm  all  his  previous  con'- 
cessions,  and  judiciously  withhold  the 


designedly  raised  so  many  objections,  that 
it  was  not  ready  on  the  Monday  morning, 
and  Charles,  refusing  to  wait  any  longer, 
began  his  journey.— Journals,  iv.  294,  349 — 
357. 

3  Charles  refused  to  sign  the  commission, 
though  he  consented  to  receive  the  commis- 
sioners.—Lords'  Journals,  382,  383. 

*  See  the  bond  and  subsequent  declara- 
tion  in  Mr.  Napier's  "Montrose  and  the 
Covenanters,"  i.  325,  326. 


248 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  y: 


distribution  of  honours  and  offices  to 
the  end  of  the  session,  Charles  was 
persuaded ;  but  it  had  long  been  his 
misfortune  to  be  surrounded  by  men 
who  abused  his  confidence.  Advice 
of  the  interchange  of  messages  was 
sent  to  the  committee  of  estates; 
and,  by  their  order,  Walter  Stewart 
was  seized  near  Haddington,  the 
bearer  of  a  letter  from  the  king  to 
Montrose,  secreted  in  the  pummel  of 
his  saddle.  To  correspond  with  the 
sovereign  could  not  be  a  legal  offence ; 
but  the  concealment  of  the  letter 
offered  ground  of  suspicion ;  other 
papers  of  a  mysterious  character  were 
found  on  the  messenger,  and  a  few 
days  later  Montrose,  the  lord  Napier, 
Sir  George  Stirling,  and  Sir  Archibald 
Stewart,  were,  after  a  short  examina- 
tion, conducted  with  great  parade 
through  the  capital,  and  committed 
prisoners  to  the  castle,' 

The  intelligence,  though  most  mor- 
tifying to  the  king,  confirmed  him  in 
his  design  of  visiting  Scotland.  He 
had  now  to  save  not  only  Traquair 
and  the  other  four,  who,  under  the 
name  of  incendiaries,  had  been  ex- 
cepted from  pardon,  but  also  Mon- 
trose and  the  "  banders  and  plotters," 
as  they  were  called,  whose  lives  w^ere 
now  placed  in  equal  danger.  Should 
he  suffer  these,  as  he  had  suffered 
Strafford,  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  ven- 
geance of  his  enemies,  where  could  he 
look  for  men  who  would  afterwards 
devote  their  services  to  the  cause  of 
royalty?  With  this  resolution  he 
met  the  Scottish  parliament,  though 
there  was  little  to  cheer  his  hopes  in 
the  previous  conduct  of  the  house. 
The  submission  presented  by  Tra- 
quair, backed   by   the   king's   most 


1  Napier,  i.  440—468. 

*  Balfour,  iii.  3, 14,  24,  28,  30,  36. 

3  Ibid.  5S,  64,  66,  68,  72,  78,  85.  After 
the  kinc's  arrival,  Montrose  demanded  a 
trial.  It  is  plain  that  his  opponents,  tliouph 
they  had  condemned  ana  executed  John 
Stewart  for  leasing-making,  because  he  had 
falsely  charged  Argyle    with   having   said 


earnest  recommendation  in  its  favoui 
had  been  contemptuously  rejected 
and  numerous  examinations  ha 
taken  place  preparatory  to  the  trif 
of  Montrose  and  his  fellow-prisoners 
Charles  sought  to  ingratiate  himse". 
by  flattering  their  religious  prepo? 
sessions.  He  appointed  Henderso: 
his  chaplain,  listened  with  patienc 
to  the  interminable  sermons  of  th 
ministers,  and  attended  assiduously  a 
the  service  of  the  kirk.  He  hastens 
to  confirm  all  the  concessions  whia 
he  had  previously  made:  he  con 
sented,  in  all  appointments  of  im 
portance,  to  be  guided  by  their  advice 
and  he  submitted  for  their  approba 
tion  a  list  of  forty -two  counsellor 
and  of  nine  great  officers  of  stat< 
Here  the  struggle  began;  and  te: 
days  elapsed  before  the  house  woul 
consent  to  the  appointment  of  th 
lord  Loudon  to  the  office  of  chan 
cellor.^  The  treasuryship  came  next 
an  office  of  great  emolument,  to  whic; 
Argyle  is  said  to  have  aspired.  Charle 
named  the  lord  Amond ;  but  his  re 
commendation,  and  the  arguments  o 
his  friends,  were  useless.  For  twelv 
days  the  appointment  was  kept  ii 
suspense,  till  the  attention  of  botl 
parties  was  unexpectedly  averted  t 
a  new  subject,  that  occurrence  whicl 
in  Scottish  history  is  known  by  th 
name  of  the  "  Incident."  * 

The  reader  is  aware  that  the  mar 
quess  of  Hamilton  had  long  beei 
loved  and  trusted  by  the  king ;  yel 
whether  it  was  his  crime  or  his  mis 
fortune,  he  enjoyed  not  the  confi 
dence  of  the  royalists,  many  of  whon 
looked  upon  him  as  a  hypocrite  ani 
a  traitor.  At  the  present  day  it  mus 
be  difficult  for  us  to  judge;  for  hi 


that  the  kinj?  might  be  dethroned  (Napier 
i.  475.  Balfour,  iii.  11,17,  19),  could  prov 
nothing  against  him  ;  for,  instead  of  a  trial 
they  offered  to  accept  his  submission  0 
accommodation.  This  he  refused,  and  re 
peated  his  demand  of  a  legal  trial,  whicl 
was  put  off  to  the  end  of  the  session. — Balf 
49,  50,  51,  52.  ♦  Balfour,  87,  88, 


1 


i.D.  1641.]        CONDUCT  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  LOEDS. 


iilatory  and  temporizing  conduct  may 
oossibly  have  originated  from  the  in- 
iecision  of  his  character,  from  his  wish 
;o  stand  well  in  the  estimation  of  each 
party,  and  his  unwillingness  to  urge 
natters  to  extremities  between  the 
king  and  his  subjects.  Certain,  how- 
3ver,  it  is,  that  no  enterprise  had  suc- 
3eeded  under  his  management,  and 
fchat  his  successive  failures  were  attri- 
buted by  men  of  more  stirring  zeal 
DO  a  secret  understanding  between 
aim  and  the  Covenanters.  Long  ago 
m  offer  to  establish  proof  of  his 
perfidy,  "  by  the  testimony  of  as  good 
men  as  were  to  be  found  in  Scotland," 
had  been  made  to  Strafford  and  Laud, 
who  declined  to  listen  to  a  charge 
which  in  the  result  might  entail 
9nmity  and  disgrace  on  themselves.' 
Hints  of  the  same  tendency  had  been 
often  given  to  the  king,  on  whose  mind 
they  began  to  make  impression.  One 
day  in  parliament,— at  whose  sugges- 
tion is  unknown, — the  young  lord 
Kerr  sent  to  the  marquess,  by  the 
earl  of  Crawford,  a  challenge  of  trea- 
son. Hamilton  appealed  to  the  house, 
au  act  was  passed  in  vindication  of 
his  loyalty;  and  the  challenger  was 
compelled  to  ofier  an  apology,  and 
make  his  submission.^  About  the 
same   time,   William    Murray,    the 


favourite  groom  of  the  bedchamber ,3 
obtained  several  interviews  with 
Montrose  in  the  castle,  and  brought 
from  him  messages  to  the  king,  of 
which  the  general  object  seems  to 
have  been  to  manifest  the  disloyalty 
of  Argyle  and  the  perfidy  of  Hamil- 
ton, and  to  advise  the  adoption  of 
some  spirited  and  decisive  measure 
against  both  those  noblemen.  On  the 
morning  of  Oct.  11th,  Murray  had 
brought  a  letter  from  Montrose;  in 
the  evening  Hamilton,  under  the 
pretence  of  presenting  a  petition  to 
the  king,  requested  leave  to  withdraw 
into  the  country,  and  spoke,  but  in 
enigmatical  and  even  discourteous 
terms,  of  the  queen's  prejudices 
against  him,  and  of  reports  circulated 
to  his  dishonour.  The  following 
morning  Charles  found  that  the  mar- 
quess, taking  with  him  his  brother 
Lanark  and  the  earl  of  Argyle,  had 
fled  to  his  house  of  Kinneil  during 
the  night;  that  the  cause  of  their 
departure  was  said  to  be  the  disco- 
very of  a  plot  on  the  part  of  the  king 
to  deprive  the  three  noblemen  of  their 
liberty  or  their  lives ;  and  that  the 
burghers  of  Edinburgh,  in  their 
alarm,  had  closed  the  gates,  and 
armed  themselves  for  the  protection 
of  the  parliament.''    Hastening  to  the 


^  Warwick,  Memoirs,  140. 

2  Balfour,  82,  86. 

3  He  had  been  playmate  and  whipping- 
boy  to  the  ting  in  his  younger  days. 

♦  According  to  general  report,  it  was  in- 
tended to  send  for  the  three  lords  to  the 
king's  bedchamber,  where  they  should  be 
apprehended  by  the  earl  of  Crawford,  and 
taken  thence  on  board  a  ship  in  the  Firth, 
or  be  put  to  death  in  case  of  resistance. 
This  was  to  be  done  in  the  night-time. — 
Baillie,  i.  330.  From  documents  still  in 
existence,  and  the  testimony  of  Clarendon, 
who  had  his  information  both  from  the 
king  and  Montrose,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  Murray  had  been  the  bearer  of  letters 
and  messages  between  them  both ;  that 
some  resolution  had  been  taken,  or  was  on 
the  point  of  being  taken,  against  Hamilton 
and  Argj'le,  and  that  such  resolution,  what- 
ever it  may  have  been,  was  revealed  to  the 
marquess  by  the  perfidy  of  Murray.    How 


far  their  liberty  or  their  lives  might  be  in 
danger  we  know  not ;  but,  after  the  failure 
of  the  recent  attempt  of  Lord  Kerr  to  im- 
peach Hamilton  in  parliament,  I  see  no 
improbability  in  the  supposition  that  violent 
counsels  were  suggested  by  Montrose,  and 
also  countenanced  by  Charles.  Clarendon, 
in  his  original  narrative  (Hist,  of  Rebel,  ii., 
App.  B.  Oxford,  1826),  says  that  he  left  it 
to  the  accusers  to  bring  forward  the  charge 
at  their  own  peril ;  but  in  a  subsequent 
account,  which  was  substituted  for  the  first 
by  his  editors  (Hist.  i.  298,  Oxford,  1720), 
he  says  that  Montrose  came  privately  by 
the  introduction  of  Murray  to  the  king,  and 
ofi"ered  to  make  proof  of  treason  against 
Hamilton  and  Argyle,  but  rather  desired  to 
kill  them  both;  a  statement  which  it  is 
difficult  to  believe,  for  Montrose  was  then 
a  close  prisoner  in  the  castle  under  the 
custody  of  his  enemies,  without  whose  con- 
nivance he  could  not  have  visited  the  king 
at  Holyrood  House. 


250 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


house,  he  complained  in  vehement 
language  of  the  insult  which  had  been 
offered  to  him  by  the  sudden  flight  of 
the  three  lords,  and  insisted  that  an 
inquiry  into  the  whole  matter  should 
be  immediately  instituted.  His  de- 
mand could  not  with  decency  be  re- 
fused ;  but  to  his  surprise  he  soon 
found  a  powerful  opposition  mar- 
shalled against  him.  The  charge  was 
public;  he  claimed  a  public  inyesti- 
gation  as  his  right;  his  opponents 
would  consent  to  nothing  more  than 
a  private  inquiry  before  a  committee. 
He  debated  the  question  with  them 
during  ten  successive  days ;  their  ob- 
stinacy was  not  to  be  subdued;  at 
length  he  yielded,  and  even  submitted 
to  the  inspection  of  the  committee 
the  last  letter  which  Murray  had 
brought  to  him  from  Montrose.  In 
it  was  an  assurance  that  the  earl 
could  "  acquaint  his  majesty  with  a 
bussines  which  not  onlie  did  conceme 
his  honour  in  a  heigh  degree,  hot  the 
standing  and  falling  of  his  croune 
lykwayes."  On  this  passage  Montrose 
was  repeatedly  examined,  but  per- 
sisted in  returning  the  same  answer, 
that  by  "business"  he  meant  what, 
in  his  opinion,  "  concerned  the  peace 
and  quiet  of  the  public,"  and  that 
"  he  would  never  wrong,  nor  did  he 
intend  to  accuse,  any  individual 
whatsomever."  *  The  earl  of  Craw- 
ford, Murray,  and  others,  were  also 
arrested  and  interrogated,  but  nothing 
of  moment  was  extracted  from  their 
incoherent  and  often  discordant  an- 
swers. Thus  the  time  was  spent  to 
no  purpose ;  the  council  at  West- 
minster, in  the  most  urgent  terms, 
required  the  king's  presence  in 
England,  and  Charles,  after  a  long 
struggle,  was  compelled  to  forego  the 
vindication  of  his  character,  and  to 


consent  to  what  was  called  "  an  a^ 
commodation,"  the  arrangement  ( 
which  occupied  a  whole  fortnigh 
By  it  a  great  portion  of  the  bishop 
lands  were  distributed  among  h: 
opponents;  eight  new  names  wer 
substituted  in  his  list  of  privy  cour 
sellers  for  eight  to  which  objectior 
had  been  made ;  the  treasury  was  pi; 
into  commission,  with  Argyle  at  th 
head ;  and  that  nobleman  was  create 
a  marquess,  and  General  Leslie  raise 
to  the  rank  of  earl,  with  the  title  c 
Leven.  On  the  other  hand,  to  gratif 
the  king,  Hamilton  declared  in  writ 
ing  that  nothing  in  that  unhapp 
business,  "  the  Incident,"  reflected  o; 
his  majesty's  honour;  and  both  th 
incendiaries  and  the  plotters  wer 
discharged  from  prison,  under  th 
obligation  of  surrendering  fchemselve 
to  the  committee  of  parliament  i: 
January,  but  with  this  understanding 
that,  if  any  trial  took  place,  the  judg 
ment  should  still  be  reserved  to  th 
king.-  Having  thus  extricated  hi 
friends  from  actual  confinement  au' 
immediate  danger,  the  king  gave  ai 
entertainment  to  the  estates,  and  th 
next  morning  departed  for  England. 
That  which  had  rendered  Charle 
so  impatient  to  be  gone  was  the  alarm 
ing  intelligence  which  he  had  receive 
from  Dublin.  The  proceedings  of  tb 
English  parliament,  and  the  succe^ 
of  the  Scottish  Covenanters,  ha 
created  a  deep  and  general  sensatio; 
in  Ireland.  Could  that  be  blamabl 
in  Irishmen  which  was  so  meritoriou 
in  others?  Had  not  they  an  equa 
claim  to  extort  the  redress  of  griev 
ances,  and  to  repel  rehgious  persecu 
tion  ?  These  questions  were  asked  i^ 
every  company ;  and  in  reply  it  wa 
observed  that  new  shackles  had  beei 
forged  for  the  national  rights,  ne^ 


1  Balfour,  i.  134.     Napier,  ii.  95. 

3  for  the  Incident  consult  Balfour,  iii. 
94—164;  Hardwicke  Papers,  ii.  229;  Eve- 
lyn's Memoirs,  ii.  App.  525,  529 ;  and  Bail- 
lie,    i.    330—332.     The    plotters    were    re- 


peatedly examined  by  the  committee  i 
January  and  February,  and  the  proceeding 
forwarded  to  Charles  ;  bnt  there  the  matte 
ended.  No  mention  was  afterwards  mad 
of  it  by  either  party 


A.D.  1641.J 


THE  IRISH  llEBELLION. 


251 


dangers  prepared  for  the  national 
faith;  that  the  EngUsh  parharaent 
had  advanced  pretensions  to  legislate 
for  Ireland,  and  that  the  leader.^,  both 
in  England  and  Scotland,  in  all  their 
speeches,  publications,  and  remon- 
strances, displayed  the  most  hostile 
feelings  towards  the  Catholic  worship, 
and  a  fixed  determination  to  abolish 
it,  wherever  their  influence  should 
extend.  Why,  then,  should  not 
Irishmen  unite  in  their  own  defence  ? 
Why  not  assert  their  rights,  and  es- 
tablish their  religion,  while  their  ene- 
mies were  occupied  at  home  by  the 
disputes  which  divided  them  and  their 
sovereign  ? ' 

Among  the  gentlemen  of  Kildare 
was  Roger  Moore,  of  Eallynagh,  of 
ancient  desc^ent,  of  insinuating  man- 
ners, and  considerable  eloquence.  He 
retained  but  a  scanty  portion  of  that 
ample  domain  which  had  once  been 
the  patrimony  of  his  ancestors,  but 
was  now  parcelled  out  among  English 
planters  ;  and  the  hope  of  recovering 
that  which  he  believed  to  have  been 
unjustly  torn  from  his  possession,  led 
him  into  diflerent  parts  of  Ireland, 
where  he  exhorted  the  natives  to  take 
up  arms,  and  to  vindicate  their  own 
rights.  He  had  sounded  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  lords  of  the  pale,  and 
from  them  he  proceeded  to  excite  the 
more  inflammable  passions  of  the 
ancient  Irish. 

Though  the  two  races  were  inter- 
mixed by  marriages,  though  they  pro- 
fessed, in  opposition  to  the  law,  the 
same  religion,  there  still  remained  a 
marked  difference  in  their  habits  and 
feelings,  which  prevented  any  cordial 
co-operation  beween  them.    The  an- 


1  Nabon,  543.  Borlase,  App.  128.  "The 
Irish,"  says  Laud,  "pretended  the  Scots 
example,  and  hoped  they  should  get  their 
liberties  and  the  freedom  of  their  religion 
as  well  as  they." — Laud's  Troubles,  184. 
"  They  demand,"  says  the  earl  of  Clanri- 
carde,  "  why  it  might  not  be  more  lawful, 
and  much  more  pardonable,  to  snter  into  a 
covenant  for  the  preservation  of  their  reli- 
gion, your  majesty's  rights   and  preioga- 


cient  Irish  had  suffered  more  grievous 
wrongs  from  the  English  government 
by  the  transfer  of  their  property  to 
foreign  planters ;  the  modern,  though 
they  complained  of  fines  and  inqui- 
sitions, had  hitherto  been  treated 
with  greater  indulgence.  The  former 
longed  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Catholic  church  in  its  ancient  splen- 
dour; the  latter,  who  had  obtained 
their  share  of  ecclesiastical  plunder, 
felt  no  desire  of  a  revolution  which 
might  compel  them  to  restore  their 
late  acquisitions.  The  one  had  always 
been  in  the  habit  of  seeking  the  pro- 
tection of  foreign  princes,  the  other 
had  constantly  adhered  to  the  sove- 
reign, even  in  wars  against  their 
countrymen  of  the  same  religion.* 
Hence  the  Irish  chieftains  of  Ulster, 
particularly  Cornelius  jMacguire,  baron 
of  Inniskillen,  and  Sir  Phelim  O'Neil, 
who,  after  the  death  of  the  ^on  of 
Tyrone,  became  chieftain  of  that 
powerful  sept,  listened  with  pleasure 
to  the  suggestions  of  Moore.  It  was 
agreed  among  them  to  consult  their 
countrymen  abroad,  and  to  prepare 
for  a  rising  in  the  following  autumn.^ 
The  gentlemen  of  the  pale  adopted 
a  very  different  plan.  By  their  influ- 
ence in  the  two  houses  they  per- 
suaded the  Irish  to  imitate  the  con- 
duct of  the  Enghsh  parliament.  In- 
quiries were  instituted  into  the  abuses 
of  government,  and  commissioners 
were  sent  to  London  to  demand  from 
the  justice  of  Charles  those  graces, 
the  purchase-money  of  which  he  had 
received  thirteen  years  before.  It 
was  plainly  his  interest  to  conciliate 
his  Irish  subjects.  He  gave  them  a 
most  flattering  reception,    bestowed 


tives,  and  the  just  liberties  of  the  subject, 
than  for  others  to  enter  into  one  that  hath 
been  an  occasion  to  lessen  and  impair  your 
majesty's  lawful  power  and  interests."— 
Clanricarde,  p.  61. 

2  Rinuccini's    Manuscript    Narrative,  in 
initio. 

3  Nalson,  544,  555.    Carte,  iii.  30.    Cla- 
rendon Papers,  ii.  69,  80, 134. 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  ti. 


particular  marks  of  attention  on 
Lord  Gormanstown,  the  bead  of  the 
deputation,  and  bade  them  hope  for 
full  redress  from  his  equity  and  affec- 
tion. But  he  had  a  more  important 
object  in  view.  Strafford  had  fre- 
quently assured  him  of  the  devotion 
and  efficiency  of  the  eight  thousand 
men  lately  raised  in  Ireland;  and 
Charles,  as  he  foresaw  that  the  quar- 
rel between  him  and  his  opponents 
would  ultimately  be  decided  by  the 
sword,  had  sent  private  instructions 
to  the  earls  of  Ormond  and  Antrim 
to  secure  them  for  his  service,  to  aug- 
ment their  number  under  different 
pretexts,  and  to  surprise  the  castle  of 
Dublin,  where  they  would  find  arms 
for  twelve  thousand  men.  But  it  was 
well  known  that  these  levies  consisted 
principally  of  Catholics,  a  circum- 
stance sufficient  to  provoke  the  jea- 
lousy of  the  English  parliament.  The 
houses  petitioned  that  they  should  be 
immediately  disbanded.  Charles  hesi- 
tated; they  renewed  their  petition; 
he  acquiesced ;  but  with  an  order  to 
that  effect  transmitted  a  secret  mes- 
sage to  the  two  earls,  to  prevent  by 
some  expedient  or  other  the  disper- 
sion of  the  men,  which  was  followed 
by  commissions  to  several  officers  to 
enlist  at  first  one  half,  afterwards 
the  whole  number,  for  the  service  of 
Spain.' 

Charles,  on  the  eve  of  his  depar- 
ture for  Scotland,  had  granted  the 
chief  requests  of  the  Irish  deputation, 
and  signed  two  bills  to  be  passed  into 
laws,  one  confirming  the  possession  of 
all  lands  which  had  been  held  with- 
out interruption  for  sixty  years,  and 
another  renouncing  all  claims,  on  the 
part  of  the  crown,  founded  on  the  in- 
quisitions held  under  the  earl  of  Straf- 
ford. Gormanstown  and  his  colleagues 
acquainted  their   countrymen   with 


their  success,  and  hastened  in  triumph 
to  Dublin.  But  the  lords  justices 
Borlase  and  Parsons  were  less  the 
ministers  of  the  king  than  the  asso- 
ciates of  his  opponents.  Aware  that 
the  passing  of  these  bills  would 
attach  the  whole  population  of  Ire- 
land to  the  royal  interest,  they  disap- 
pointed the  hopes  of  the  deputies  by 
proroguing  the  parliament  a  few  days 
before  their  arrival.'* 

Whether  Ormond  attempted  to 
execute  the  royal  orders  is  uncertain. 
Antrim  kept  his  instructions  secret, 
and  endeavoured  to  feel  his  way 
through  the  agency  of  the  officers 
commissioned  to  raise  soldiers  for  the 
Spanish  service.  These,  by  their 
intrigues  with  the  members  of  the 
parliament,  discovered  among  them 
men  to  whom  they  might  safely 
reveal  the  real  secret  of  their  mission ; 
that  they  had  come  not  to  take  away, 
but  to  detain  the  Irish  army  in  the 
island.  Its  services  were  required  by 
the  sovereign.  He  had  received 
many  wrongs  from  his  subjects  in 
England  and  Scotland:  it  remained 
for  Irishmen  to  display  their  attach- 
ment to  his  person,  and,  by  rallying 
in  defence  of  the  throne,  to  prevent 
the  extirpation  of  their  religion.  From 
the  Catholics  of  the  pale  they  turned 
to  the  chieftains  of  Ulster,  whose  pre- 
vious determination  to  unsheath  the 
sword  rendered  such  exhortations 
unnecessary.  To  them  the  intelli- 
gence was  a  subject  of  triumph ;  they 
approved  the  design  of  surprising  the 
castle  of  Dublin,  and  promised  not 
only  to  co-operate  in  the  attempt,  but 
to  attack  on  the  same  day  most  of  the 
English  garrisons  in  the  northern 
counties. 

After  much  private  consultation,  it 
was  determined  by  Antrim  and  his 
confidential  friends  to  postpone  the 


1  See  Antrim's  information  in  the   Ap- 

Sendix  to  Clarendon's  History  of  the  Irish 
;ebellion;  Lords'  Journals,  229,  339,  345; 
Carte's  Ormond,  i.  132;  ui,  31,  33. 


»  Carte's  Ormond,  iii.  139,  140.  Temple, 
15.  Borlase,  17.  Journals  of  Irish  Com. 
210,  639.     Castlehaven's  Memoirs,  40. 


A.D.  1641.] 


A  PLOT  DISCOYEEED. 


253 


rising  to  the  first  day  of  the  meeting 
of  parliament  in  the  month  of  No- 
vember, to  secure  at  the  same  mo- 
ment the  castle  and  the  persons  of 
the  lords  justices,  and  to  issue  a 
declaration  in  the  name  of  the  two 
houses,  that  the  Irish  people  would 
support  the  sovereign  in  the  posses- 
sion of  all  the  legal  rights  of  the 
throne.  But  procrastination  accorded 
not  with  the  more  sanguine  temper 
of  the  ancient  Irish,  whose  impa- 
tience was  stimulated  by  the  exhorta- 
tions of  Moore,  and  who  persuaded 
themselves  that,  if  they  only  began, 
the  Pale  would  follow  their  example. 
It  had  been  previously  understood 
that  the  combined  attempt  should  be 
made  on  the  5th  of  October ;  they  now 
determined  to  make  it  themselves  on 
the  23rd.  On  the  morning  of  the 
22nd  several  of  the  leaders  repaired  to 
Dublin;  but  many  were  wanting; 
and  of  two  hundred  trusty  men 
appointed  to  surprise  the  castle,  eighty 
only  appeared.  They  resolved  to  wait 
till  the  next  afternoon  for  the  arrival 
of  their  associates;  and  during  the 
night  the  plot  was  betrayed  by  Owen 
O'ConoUy  to  Sir  William  Parsons, 
Though  the  gates  of  the  city  were 
instantly  closed,  the  chief  of  the  con- 
spirators, with  the  exception  of  Lord 
Macguire  andMacmahon,  made  their 


Their  associates  in  Ulster,  ignorant 
of  the  discovery  of  the  plot,  rose  on 
the  appointed  day.  Charlemont  and 
Dungannon  were  surprised  by  Sir 
Phelim  O'Neil  at  the  head  of  his 
sept;  Mountjoy  by  O'Quin,  Tan- 
derage  by  O'Hanlan,  and  Newry  by 
Macginnis.     In  the   course   of  the 


1  See  for  most  of  these  particulars,  Mac- 
Loire's  relation  in  Borlase,  App.  9,  and  Nal- 
Bon,  543 — 555,  He  may  perhaps  conceal 
Bome  things,  but  I  have  no  doubt  of  his 
accuracy  as  far  as  he  goes.  What  he  re- 
lates respecting  the  intrigues  of  the  officers 
atrongly  confirms  the  information  of  Lord 
Antrim. 

Consult  also  the  letter  of  the  lords  jus- 


week  all  the  open  country  in  Tyrone, 
Monaghan,  Longford,  Leitrim,  Fer- 
managh, Cavan,  Donegal,  Derry,  and 
part  of  Down,  was  in  their  possession. 
The  natives  of  the  other  planted 
counties  soon  followed  the  example ; 
and  by  degrees,  the  spirit  of  insubor- 
dination and  revolt  insinuated  itself 
into  the  most  loyal  and  peaceable 
districts.  Still  the  insurgents  were 
no  more  than  tumultuary  bodies  of 
robbers,  for  the  most  part  unarmed, 
who  rose  in  a  mass,  plundered  some 
neighbouring  plantation,  and  returned 
home  to  the  division  of  the  spoil. 
AVhenever  they  were  met  by  men  in 
arms,  they  shrunk  from  the  contest, 
or  paid  dearly  for  their  temerity.  No 
quarter  was  given  by  their  enemies; 
and  Sir  Phelim  O'Neil  suffered  dur- 
ing the  month  of  November  several 
severe  losses.^ 

Whether  it  w^as  that  the  lords 
justices  felt  themselves  unequal  to 
the  station  which  they  held,  or  that 
they  allowed  the  insurrection  to  grow 
for  the  sake  of  the  forfeitures  which 
must  follow  its  suppression,  their 
conduct  displayed  no  energy  against 
the  rebels,  and  little  commiseration 
for  the  sufferings  of  the  loyalists. 
They  despatched  information  to  the 
king  and  the  lord  lieutenant,  fortified 
the  city  of  Dublin,  and,  secure  within 
its  walls,  awaited  the  arrival  of  suc- 
cours from  England.  In  the  mean 
time  the  open  country  was  abandoned 
to  the  mercy  of  the  insurgents,  who, 
mindful  of  their  own  wrongs  and 
those  of  their  fathers,  burst  into  the 
English  plantations,  seized  the  arms 
and  the  property  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  restored  the  lands  to  the  former 


tices,  and  Conolly's  testimony  in  the  Lords* 
Journals,  412—416. 

»  See  the  letters  in  Carte's  Ormond,  iii, 
38, 39,  40, 44,  "  The  like  war  was  never  heard 
of.  No  man  makes  head :  one  parish  robs 
another,  go  home  and  share  the  goods,  and 
there  is  an  end  of  it ;  and  this  by  a  company 
of  naked  rogues." — Ibid.  47.  Also,  Clan- 
ricarde's  Memoirs,  6,  35,  36,  38. 


254 


CHAELES  L 


[chap.  T] 


proprietors  or  to  their  descendants. 
The  fugitives  with  their  families 
sought  in  crowds  an  asylum  in  the 
nearest  garrisons,  where  they  lan- 
guished under  that  accumulation  of 
miseries  which  such  a  state  of  sud- 
den destitution  must  invariably  pro- 
duce.' 

In  defence  of  their  proceedings  the 
rebel  chieftains  published  a  declara- 
tion, that  they  had  taken  up  arms  in 
support  of  the  royal  prerogative,  and 
for  the  safety  of  their  religion,  against 
the  machinations  of  a  party  in  the 
English  parliament,  which  had  in- 
vaded the  rights  of  the  crown,  inter- 
cepted the  graces  granted  by  the  king 
to  his  Irish  subjects,  and  solicited 
subscriptions  in  Ireland  to  a  petition 
for  the  total  extirpation  of  the  Pro- 
testant episcopacy  and  of  the  Catholic 
worship.  At  the  same  time,  to  ani- 
mate and  multiply  their  adherents, 
they  exhibited  a  forged  commission 
from  the  king,  authorizing  them  to 
have  recourse  to  arms,  and  a  letter 
from  Scotland,  announcing  the 
speedy  arrival  of  an  army  of  Cove- 
nanters, with  the  Bible  in  one  hand 
and  the  sword  in  the  other,  to  prose- 
lytize or  destroy  the  idolatrous  papists 
of  Ireland.- 

Charles,  having  communicated  this 
intelligence  to  the  Scottish  parlia- 
ment,   and    appointed   the    earl    of 


1  "  The  planted  country  of  Leitrira  are  all 
in  combustion,  and  have  taken  all  the  towns 
but  three  strong  places.  They  have  set  up 
O'Bourke,  being  formerly  O'Bourke's  coun- 
try."— Clanricarde,  17.  "  There  being  no 
nobleman  of  the  kingdom  in  action,  nor 
any  gentleman  of  quality  of  EngUsh  ex- 
traction, and  many  of  the  ancient  Irish  still 
firm,  yet  such  is  the  strange  distrust  and 
jealousy  of  this  time,  and  the  dilatory  pro- 
ceedings thereupon,  that  we  are  all  like  to 
be  destroyed  by  loose  desperate  people, 
having  not  any  manner  of  defence  allowed 
us,  and  many  possest  with  such  panic  fears 
that  strong  places  are  quitted  without  any 
resistance"   (p.  29).    See  Appendix,  NN1< . 

2  Nalson,  ii.  565,  657.  The  pretended 
commission  is  in  Rushworth,  iv.  400.  Its 
authenticity  has  been  denied  by  the  friends, 
and  affurmed  by  the  enemies,  of  Charles.    I 


Ormond  commander  of  the  forces  ii 
Ireland,  repaired  to  England.     Th 
severity   of  the  punishments  latel; 
inflicted  by    parliament    on    delin 
quents,  —  punishments  scarcely   les 
reprehensible  than  those  of  the  Star 
chamber  which  they  had  put  dowi  " 
and  their  neglect  to  repay  the  mone 
which  they  had  borrowed  of  the  citi 
zens,  had  caused  a  powerful  reactio: 
in  his  favour  in  the  capital.    On  hi 
entry  he  was  met  by  the  lord  mayoi  , 
the  sheriflFs,  and  the  principal  citizen  i 
in  procession,  and,  having  dined  i 
public  in  the  Guildhall,  was  hailed,  r 
he  retired  to  his  palace,  with  the  lou 
congratulations    of     the    spectator  - 
This  burst  of  loyalty  taught  him  t 
augur  well  of  the  attachment  of  1 
subjects,  and  to  bear  with  greater  fu 
titude  the  new  mortifications  whic  .. 
had  been  prepared   for  him  by  h:  * 
opponents  in  parliament.    They  ha 
of  late  observed  an  alarming  defectio 
from  the  number  of  their  supporter 
and  saw  that  moderate  men,  satisfie 
with  the  sacrifices  already  made  V 
the    king,   began   to  deprecate   n 
further  encroachment  on   the  re; 
authority.     On  the  other  hand,  t 
Incident  in  Scotland,  the  secret  :; 
vices  from   their    commissioners 
that   kingdom,   and   the  kuowler 
that  Charles  had  acquired   inforn 
tion  respecting  their  clandestine  pr: 


have  no  hesitation  in  pronouncing  it  a  fo    j 
gergy.    It  was  never  appealed  to   by  tl  u 
rebels  in  any  of  their    remonstrances        ' 
apologies,  and  contained  clauses  which  no 
could  have  been  authorized  by  the  king ; 
for  example,  a  warrant  to  the  Catholics 
arrest  and    seize   the    goods,   estates,   ai 
persons  of  all  English  Protestants. — I  m;    ' 
add  here  that  the  king's  absence  in  Sec 
land  afforded  to  the   popular   leaders,  i  < 
opportunity  of  encroaching  on   the  roy  « 
prerogative.     The  houses,  as  if  they  we   - 
now  independent,  issued  orders  on  matte 
on  which  they  ought  to  have  proceeded  1 
petition;  and  into  these  orders  they  30< 
introduced  the  word  ordain,  calling  the 
ordinances,  and  thus  furnishing  preeeden 
for  the  subsequent  enactment  of  laws  wit 

out  the  royal  assent.     The  first  or 

was  for  the  appointment  of  comji. 
to  the  king  in  Scotland,  Aug.  20.— i.    f . 


4..D.  1641.] 


PEOCEEDINGS  IN  PARLIAMENT. 


255 


bices  with  the  invading  army,  con- 
vinced them  that  they  had  gone  too 
far  to  expect  forgiveness,  and  that 
idditional  security  was  necessary  to 
preserve  them  from  the  vengeance 
Df  the  offended  monarch.  To  create 
1  strong  sensation,  and  prepare  the 
pubhc  mind  for  their  next  demands, 
they  resolved  to  present  to  the  king 
1  remonstrance  on  the  state  of  the 
cation.  It  commenced  by  asserting 
the  existence  of  a  coahtion  of  jesuited 
papists,  bishops,  corrupt  clergymen, 
and  interested  courtiers,  whose  com- 
mon object  it  was  to  subvert  the 
liberties  of  England ;  then  followed 
1  long  enumeration  of  every  real  or 
imaginary  grievance  which  had  ex- 
3ited  complaint  since  the  death  of 
lames ;  to  this  succeeded  a  catalogue 
)f  the  several  remedies  which  had 
!3een  already  provided,  or  were  yet 
X)ntemplated,  by  the  wisdom  of  par- 
.iament,  and  the  whole  concluded 
pvith  a  complaint  that  the  efforts  of 
the  Commons  were  generally  ren- 
iered  fruitless  by  the  intrigues  of  the 
malignant  faction  which  surrounded 
bhe  throne,  and  the  combination  of 
the  popish  lords  with  ill-affected 
bishops,  who  formed  so  powerful  a 
party  in  the  upper  house.  This  re- 
monstrance met  with  the  most  spi- 
rited opposition ;  nor  was  it  carried 
till  after  a  debate  of  twelve  hours,  and 
then  by  a  majority  of  eleven  voices 
Dnly.  But  the  patriots  were  careful 
to  pursue  their  victory.  An  order 
was  made  that  it  should  be  presented 
to  the  king  on  his  return,  and  another 
that  it  should  be  printed  for  the  edi- 
fication of  the  people.  Charles,  though 
offended,  was  not  surprised  at  the 
asperity  of  its  language,  or  the  ground- 
lessness of  its  assumptions;  but  he 


1  Eushworth,  iv.  436,  452.  Journals, 
N^ov.  22,  Dec.  2,  3,  Clarendon,  i,  310—335, 
336. 

2  On  the  credit  of  Beale,  a  tailor,  who 
pretended  to  have  heard  some  unknown 
persons  conversing  behind  a  hedge,  the  Com- 
mons gravely  afiected  to  believe  that  more 


felt  the  publication  as  an  insult  of  a 
new  order,  an  appeal  from  the  equity 
of  the  sovereign  to  the  passions  of  the 
subject,  and  he  declared,  in  a  tem- 
perate but  eloquent  answer  from  the 
pen  of  Hyde,  that  he  had  never  re- 
fused the  royal  assent  to  any  one  bill 
presented  to  him  for  the  redress  of 
grievances;  and  that,  as  he  had  se- 
cured for  the  present,  so  he  would 
maintain  for  the  future,  the  just 
rights  of  all  his  subjects.  Evil  coun- 
sellors he  had  no  wish  to  protect; 
but  the  choice  of  his  ministers  was  a 
right  that  he  would  not  resign.  If 
there  were  persons  who  desired  to 
lessen  his  reputation  and  authority, 
and  to  introduce  the  evils  of  anarchy 
and  confusion,  he  trusted  in  God  with 
the  help  of  his  parliament  to  con- 
found their  designs,  and  to  bring 
them  to  punishment.' 

The  rebellion  in  Ireland  had  fur- 
nished the  zealots  with  a  plausible 
pretext  for  indulging  in  invectives, 
and  displaying  their  animosity  against 
the  professors  of  the  ancient  worship.* 
In  August  commissioners  had  been 
appointed  to  disarm  the  recusants  in 
every  part  of  the  kingdom ;  now  the 
Commons  denounced  to  the  peers 
seventy  Catholic  lords  and  gentlemen 
as  dangerous  persons,  who  ought  to 
be  confined  in  close  custody  for  the 
safety  of  the  state.  The  queen's  con- 
fessor was  sent  to  the  Tower,  and 
the  establishment  for  the  service  of 
her  chapel  dissolved ;  pursuivants 
were  appointed  by  the  authority  of 
the  lower  house,  with  the  power  to 
apprehend  priests  and  Jesuits ;  orders 
were  issued  for  the  immediate  trial  of 
all  such  prisoners ;  the  king  was 
importuned  not  to  grant  them  par- 
dons or  reprieves;^  and  a  resolution 


than  a  hundred  members  were  marked  out 
as  victims  to  be  slain  by  popish  assassins. — 
Journals,  Dec.  16,  17,  26,  27.  Evelyn's 
Memoirs,  ii.  App.  73. 

3  If  the  reader  wishes  to  see  the  perti- 
nacity with  which  they  sought  the  death  of 
seven  Catholic  priests,  he  may  consult  the 


S56 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  V 


was  passed  by  both  houses  never  to 
consent  to  the  toleration  of  the  Ca- 
tholic worship  in  Ireland  or  in  any 
other  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions.' 
Charles  gently  chided  their  violence ; 
they  were  making  the  war  in  Ireland 
a  war  of  religion  ;  let  them  rather 
provide  supplies  of  men  and  money 
for  the  protection  of  the  royalists  and 
the  defence  of  his  crown.  But  to 
this  there  was  an  insurmountable 
obstacle.  The  country  party  had  de- 
termined to  possess  themselves  of  the 
command  of  the  army,  and  the  king 
was  resolved  not  to  part  with  that 
which  now  seemed  the  last  support  of 
his  throne.  Before  his  arrival  the 
houses  had  appointed  a  council  of 
war,  had  passed  an  ordinance  autho- 
rizing the  earl  of  Leicester  to  raise 
men  for  the  service  in  Ireland,  and 
had  given  their  approbation  to  the 
officers  whom  he  proposed  to  em- 
ploy. To  hasten  the  levy,  the  Com- 
mons passed  a  bill  for  the  press- 
ing of  soldiers ;  and  at  the  same  time 
complained  in  a  conference  of  the 
slowness  of  the  proceedings  in  the 
other  house.  They  argued  that  the 
Lords  were  only  private  individuals, 
while  the  Commons  were  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  nation ;  and  declared 
that,  if  the  former  refused  to  pass 
the  bills  which  were  necessary  for  the 
public  safety,  they,  taking  with  them 
such  peers  as  did  not  shrink  from  the 
performance  of  their  duty,  would  re- 
present the  matter  to  the  sovereign. 
This  menace  made  little  impression; 
the  Lords  objected  to  the  declaratory 
clause,  which  denied  to  the  king  a 
right  enjoyed  by  all  his  predecessors ; 
but  Charles  unadvisably  interfered, 
and  assured  the  houses  that  he  would 
pass  the  bill,  if  a  proviso  were  added 
saving  his  claim  and  the  liberties  of 


Journals,  Dec.  8,  11,  13,  14,  15,  31; 
March  21 ,  April  9.  Lords'  Journals,  472, 
476,  479,  501. 

1  Journals,   473,    476,    480.    Commons', 
Deo.  8.    Boahwortb,  ir.  446. 


his  people.  Had  the  proposal  com 
as  an  amendment  from  one  of  th 
ministers,  no  objection  could  hav 
been  made;  but  the  personal  intei 
ference  of  the  sovereign  during  tb 
progress  of  a  bill,  was  undoubtedl 
informal,  and  both  houses  remon 
strated  against  it  as  an  infringemen 
of  the  privileges  of  parliament.^ 

I  should  only  fatigue  the  patienc 
of  the  reader,  were  I  to  detail  the  mino 
causes  of  dissension  which  sprung  u 
in  quick  succession  between  the  kin 
and  his  opponents,  or  to  inquire  wh 
were  the  original  aggressors  in  th 
quarrels  which  daily  occurred  be 
tween  their  respective  partisans.  Mob 
of  armed  men  paraded  the  street' 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  prot^ctin 
the  parliament,  and  many  officer 
and  gentlemen  spontaneously  as 
sembled  at  Whitehall,  t€  defend  th 
king  and  the  royal  family  from  insult 
The  two  parties  frequently  came  int^ 
contact  with  each  other ;  and  thougl 
but  one  life  was  lost,  the  most  irri 
tating  language,  and  sometimes  blows 
were  exchanged.^ 

The  remonstrance  had  pointed  th" 
fury  of  the  populace  against  th' 
bishops,  who,  daily,  on  their  way  t( 
the  house,  were  assailed  with  abus< 
and  menaces  by  the  rabble.  On  on^ 
occasion  the  cries  for  vengeance  h 
the  Palace-yard  were  so  loud  am 
alarming,  that  they  remained  afte 
the  other  lords  till  the  darkness  o 
the  night  enabled  them  to  steal  awa; 
to  their  homes.  The  next  day  Wil 
liams,  who  had  made  his  peace  witl 
the  king,  and  had  been  preferred  U 
the  archbishopric  of  York,  prevailec 
on  eleven  other  prelates  to  join  witl 
him  in  a  declaration,  which  was  de 
livered  by  him  without  their  perniis 
sion  to  the  lord-keeper,  and  read  U 


2  Commons'  Journals,  Dec.  3,  16.    Lorde 
Journals,  476.    Clarendon,  ii.  325. 

3  Kuahworth,  iv.  463.    Clarendon,  i.  356 
371,372.    Warwick,  186. 


A.D.  1641.]       COMMITMENT  OF  TWELVE  BISHOPS. 


257 


the  upper  house.  It  stated  that  the 
bishops  could  no  longer,  without 
danger  to  their  lives,  attend  their 
duty  in  parliament,  and  that  they 
therefore  protested  against  the  vali- 
dity of  any  votes  or  resolutions  which 
might  be  passed  during  their  absence. 
This  protest  was  heard  with  surprise 
and  indignation.  To  retire  or  to  re- 
main was  ail  their  option  ;  but  to 
claim  the  power  of  suspending  by 
their  absence  the  proceedings  of  par- 
liament was  deemed  by  their  adver- 
saries an  assumption  of  sovereign 
authority.  The  lower  house,  to  whom 
it  was  communicated  after  a  debate 
with  closed  doors,  impeached  the 
twelve  prelates  of  high  treason.  The 
charge  of  itself  was  ridiculous,  and 
Williams  boldly  professed  his  readi- 
ness to  meet  it;  but  the  others,  in- 
timidated by  the  violence  of  the  times, 
apologized  for  their  conduct.  Ten 
were  committed  from  the  house  to 
the  Tower ;  two,  the  bishops  of  Dur- 
ham and  Lichfield,  on  account  of 
their  age  and  infirmity,  to  the  usher 
of  the  black  rod.' 

Before  the  surprise  excited  by  this 
unexpected  event  had  worn  away, 
the  public  mind  was  agitated  by  an- 
other and  still  more  extraordinary 
proceeding.  Some  hints  had  been 
iropped  by  the  patriots  of  an  im- 
peachment of  the  queen  ;  the  infor- 
mation, probably  through  design,  was 
3onveyed  to  Charles  ;2  and  he,  irri- 
tated and  alarmed,   hastily  adopted 


1  Lords'  Journals,  496 — 499.  Commons' 
Journals,  Dec.  30.  Eushworth,  iv.  466. 
Clarendon,  i.  350.  Thirteen  bishops  had 
jeen  already  (Aug.  13)  impeached  of  high 
•rimes  and  misdemeanors,  on  account  of 
he  canons  framed  in  the  last  convocation 
;  Lords'  Journals,  363) ;  but  as  they  were 
idmitted  to  bail,  they  still  retained  their 
^eats.  Those  who  were  impeached  for  the 
arotest  were  the  prelates  of  York,  Durham, 
N'orwich,  Gloucester,  Lichfield,  St.  Asaph, 
Bath  and  Wells,  Oxford,  Hereford,  Ely, 
Peterborough,  and  Llandaff.  By  com- 
mitting them  the  countiy  party  deprived 
iheir  opponents  of  twelve  votes. 

>  Clarendon,  i.  418. 

7 


the  following  bold  but  hazardous  ex- 
pedient. 

On  the  fourth  day  after  the  com- 
mittal of  the  prelates  the  attorney- 
general  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  in  the  name  of 
the  king  impeached  of  high  treason 
the  lord  Kimbolton,  Holies,  Haslerig, 
Pym,  Hampden,  and  Stroud,  all  dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  country 
party-  He  charged  them  with  having 
conspired  to  alienate  from  the  king 
the  affections  of  his  people,  to  excite 
disobedience  in  the  army,  to  subvert 
the  rights  of  parliament,  and  to  extort 
the  consent  of  the  majority  by  the 
influence  of  mobs  and  terror  ;  and 
with  having  moreover  invited  a 
foreign  force  into  the  kingdom,  and 
actually  levied  war  against  the  sove- 
reign.^ It  was  expected  that  the 
Lords  would  pay  that  deference  to 
the  king  which  they  had  so  lately 
paid  to  the  Commons,  and  would 
order  the  members  impeached,  as 
they  had  ordered  the  prelates,  to  be 
taken  into  custody.  But  the  house 
appointed  a  committee  to  search  for 
precedents;  and  Charles,  indignant 
at  the  delay,  sent  a  serjeant-at-arms 
to  the  Commons  to  demand  the  per- 
sons of  the  five  members.  They 
returned  for  answer,  that  it  was  a 
matter  which  required  serious  deli- 
beration, but  that  the  individuals 
accused  should  be  forthcoming  to 
answer  every  legal  charge.'' 

The  next   day  the  king   himself. 


3  By  the  late  treaty  with  the  Scots,  Charles 
had  stipulated  that  an  act  of  oblivion  should 
be  passed  in  parliament,  "  burying  in  for- 
getfulness  all  acts  of  hostihty  between  the 
king  and  his  subjects,  which  might  arise 
from  the  coming  of  the  Scottish  army  into 
England,  or  any  attempt,  assistance,  coun- 
sel, or  advice  having  relation  thereunto." — 
Rushworth,  iv.  370.  After  the  ratification 
of  this  treaty,  though  the  act  of  oblivion 
had  not  passed,  I  see  not  how  the  king 
could  in  honour  impeach  the  six  members 
on  the  subject  of  their  previous  intrigues 
with  the  Scots. 

♦  Journals  of  Lords,  500—503 ;  of  Com- 
mons,   Jan.   3.    Rushworth,  iv.    473—477. 


258 


CHARLES  I. 


LCHAP.  T 


attended  by  his  guards  and  a  number 
of  officers  with  their  swords,  pro- 
ceeded to  the  House  of  Commons. 
His  purpose  was  to  arrest  the  accused 
members;  but  his  secret  had  been 
betrayed,  and  the  objects  of  his  search 
had  aJ  ready  left  the  house.  The  king, 
having  stationed  his  attendants  at  the 
door,  entered  with  his  nephew  Charles 
by  his  side.  Having  taken  the  chair, 
he  looked  around  him,  and,  not  see- 
ing the  persons  whom  he  sought,  in- 
quired of  the  speaker  if  they  were 
present.*  Lenthal,  falling  on  his 
knees,  replied  that  he  was  merely  the 
organ  of  the  house,  and  that  he  had 
neither  ears  to  hear,  nor  tongue  to 
speak,  but  as  he  was  directed  by  it. 
The  king,  seating  himself,  said  that  in 
cases  of  treason  there  was  no  privi- 
lege ;  that  it  was  not  his  intention  to 
offer  violence,  but  to  proceed  against 
the  accused  by  due  course  of  law; 
that,  if  the  birds  had  not  flown,  he 
would  have  taken  them  himself;  as 
the  case  was,  he  expected  from  the 
loyalty  of  the  house  that  they  would 
send  them  to  him,  or  he  should  have 
recourse  to  other  expedients.  He  was 
heard  in  silence,  and  retired  amidst 
low  but  distinct  murmurs  of  "  Privi- 
lege, privilege."^ 

This  unadvised  and  abortive  at- 
tempt completed  the  degradation  of 
the  unfortunate  monarch.  It  was 
equally  condemned  by  his  friends 
and  enemies ;  and  it  furnished  the 
latter  with  the  means  of  working  on 


Clarendon  attributes  this  bold  but  unfor- 
tunate proceeding  to  the  advice  of  Lord 
Digby,  who,  by  supporting  the  bishops  and 
Stranord,  had  become  so  odious  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  that  he  had  been  called 
up  to  the  Lords. — Clarendon  Papers,  iii. 
Supplement,  Iv.  Hist.  359. 

1  "  His  design  was  betrayed  by  that  busy 
Btateswoman  the  countess  of  Carlble,  who 
had  now  changed  her  gallant  from  Straf- 
ford to  Pym,  and  was  become  such  a  she 
saint,  that  she  frequented  their  sermons, 
and  took  notes." — Warwick,  204.  But  the 
French  ambassador  claims  the  merit  for 
himself:  "J'avois  prt^venu  meg  amu,  et  ils 
8'<5toient  mis  en  suretd."— Mazure,  iii.  429. 


the  passions  of  their  adherents,  an 
of  exciting  them  to  a  state  borde: 
ing  upon  frenzy.    The  Commons  a{ 
journed    for   a   week;    but    durir 
this  recess  a  permanent  committ< 
sat  in  the  city  to  concert    matte 
with  their  partisans,  and  to  arran; 
a  new  triumph  over  the  fallen  ai 
thority    of  the    sovereign.    On  tl 
appointed  day  the  five  accused  mec 
bers  proceeded  by  water  to  the  hous 
They  were  escorted  by  two  thousai 
armed    mariners   in    boats,  and   1 
detachments  of  the  trained  bands  wi' 
eight  pieces  of  cannon  on  each  bai 
of  the  river,  and  were  received  ( 
landing  by  four  thousand  horsemi 
from  Buckinghamshire,  who  had  cor 
to  assert  the  innocence,  and  to  d 
mand   justice  for  the   libel  on  t. 
character  of  Hampden,  their  repi 
sentative.    The  air   resounded  wi 
shouts    of   joy    and   with    milita 
music ;  and,  as  the  procession  pass 
by  Whitehall,  the  populace  indulg 
in  the  most  unseemly  vociferatio 
against  the  misguided  monarch.    B 
Charles  was  no  longer  there.    D 
trusting  the  object,  and  aware  of  t 
power  of  his  opponents,  he  had, 
the  preceding  evening,  fled  with 
family  to  Hampton  Court." 

It  now  became  evident  that 
hope  of  a  reconciliation  was  at 
end.    Both  parties  resolved  to  sti 
the  issue  of  the  contest  on  the  swoi 
and,  if  they  hesitated  to  declare  the 
selves  openly,  it  was  that  they  mi 


2  Commons'  Journals,  Jan.  iv.  L 
worth,  iv.  477.  Whitelock,  52,  53. 
of  the  five  members  made  a  short  sp 
in  his  own  defence :  but  they  appem 
have  evaded  the  charge  of  inviting  a  fore 
enemy  into  the  kingdom,  by  supposing  t 
it  alluded  to  the  vote  by  which  the  C< 
mons  requested  the  aid  of  the  Scots  to 
down  the  Irish  rebellion.  The  spe«c 
are  in  Somers's  Tracts,  iv.  330—340,  wh< 
by  mistake,  that  which  belongs  to  Holta- 
attributed  to  Kimbolton,  who  was  a  mem 
of  the  upper  house. 

3  Eushworth,  iv.   480—484.      Na 
823,    829.     Whitelock,    64.     Clwenc 


ralsofll 
■endHI 


A.D.  1642.]    PRECAUTIONS  TAKEN  BY  PAELIAMENT. 


259 


make  preparations,  and  obtain  an 
opportunity  of  throwing  the  blame  of 
hostilities  on  each  other.  In  the 
mean  time  their  most  secret  coun- 
sels were  reciprocally  betrayed.  The 
king  had  many  devoted  servants  in 
the  house  of  Commons.  Lord  Falk- 
land and  Sir  John  Colepepper,  who 
had  accepted  official  situations,  the 
latter  that  of  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer for  life,  gave  him  every  in- 
formation in  their  power ;  and  Hyde, 
while  lie  cautiously  disguised  his  at- 
tachment from  his  colleagues, repaired 
to  the  king  in  the  night,  acquainted 
him  with  what  passed  in  the  several 
committees,  and  supplied  him  with 
answers  to  the  messages  and  declara- 
tions of  his  opponents,  even  before 
they  were  regularly  submitted  to  the 
sanction  of  the  house.' 

On  the  other  hand,  the  patriots 
had  spies  or  associates  in  the  court, 
and  the  council,  and  even  in  the 
closet  of  the  king.  His  most  secret 
designs  were  immediately  known  and 
prevented.  Hence,  to  his  surprise, 
a  guard  was  established  round  the 
Tower  to  prepare  against  the  danger 
of  a  surprisal.  Goring,  the  governor 
of  Portsmouth,  received  instructions 
to  obey  no  order  which  was  not  com- 
municated through  the  two  houses; 
the  earl  of  Newcastle,  sent  by  Charles 
cm  a  secret  mission  to  Hull,  was  com- 

inded  to  attend  his  duty  as  a  peer. 
and  Sir  John  Hotham,  with  his  son, 
hast^ened  to  secure  that  important 
place  for  the  parhament ;  and  when 
it  was  known  that  the  gentlemen 
who,  as  volunteers,  had  escorted  the 
king  to  Hampton  Court,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Lunsford,  had 
received  a  message  from  him  the  next 


i  Clarendon's  Life,  46,  58.  The  papers 
«re  transmitted  from  Hyde  to  the  king  by 
gentlemen  who  oflFered  their  services,  and 
who,  when  he  was  at  York,  sometimes  per- 
fonned  the  journey  and  brought  back  the 
answer  in  the  short  space  of  thirty-four 
boors.  To  prevent  the  possibility  of  detec- 
tion, the  king  copied  with  his  own  hand  all 


morning  by  the  lord  Digby,  orders 
were  issued  to  the  sheriffs  to  disperse 
all  assemblies  of  armed  men  in  their 
respective  counties;  a  committee  of 
public  safety  was  appointed,  and 
Digby  and  Lunsford  were  impeached 
of  high  treason.^ 

Aware  that,  by  his  irregular  en- 
trance into  the  house  of  Commons, 
he  had  given  the  vantage-ground  to 
his  adversaries,  Charles  attempted  to 
retrace  his  steps  by  apologising  for 
his  conduct,  by  promising  to  proceed 
against  the  five  members  by  due 
course  of  law,  by  abandoning  the  pro- 
secution altogether,  and  proposing 
that  they  should  accept  a  general 
pardon.  But  these  concessions,  in- 
stead of  mollifying,  strengthened  their 
obstinacy.  They  rejected  every  offer, 
and  insisted  that,  to  atone  for  so  fla- 
grant a  breach  of  privilege,  he  should 
deliver  up  the  names  of  his  advisers. 
He  scorned  to  return  an  answer.^ 

To  probe,  however,  the  sincerity  of 
their  declarations,  he  made  to  them  a 
request  that  they  should  lay  before 
him,  in  one  view,  a  summary  of  all 
the  enactments  which  they  required, 
respecting  his  authority  and  revenue, 
their  own  privileges,  the  rights  of  the 
people,  and  the  reformation  of  the 
church,  with  a  promise  that  his  an- 
swer should  prove  him  one  of  the 
most  easy  and  benevolent  of  monarchs. 
To  such  a  proposal  it  would  have  been 
impolitic  to  return  a  direct  refusal. 
But  they  grasped  at  the  opportunity 
to  effect  what  they  had  long  sought, 
and  what  they  had  previously  de- 
manded as  "  a  ground  of  confidence," 
that  the  government  of  the  forts,  and 
the  command  of  the  army  and  navy, 
should  be  entrusted  to  officers  nomi- 


the  papers  sent  by  Hyde,  and  burnt  the 
originals. — Ibid.  55,  59. 

2  Husband,  202.  Whitelock,  64.  Claren- 
don, i.  384,  388,  418.  His  Life,  57.  Claren- 
don Papers,  iii.  App.  liv.  Kushworth,  495, 
496,  565.    Nalson,  li.  845,  863. 

3  Rush  worth,  iv.  490,  491. 

S  2 


260 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap,  v: 


Dated  by  the  two  houses  of  parlia- 
ment. The  king  was  startled  by  this 
answer.  To  assent  to  it  was  to  de- 
prive himself  of  a  power  essential  to 
royalty,  and  to  throw  himself  without 
resource  at  the  feet  of  his  enemies. 
He  resolved  to  refuse ;  but  his  repug- 
nance was  gradually  removed  by  some 
of  his  advisers,  who  maintained  that 
whatever  was  "radically  bad  could 
not  be  healed  by  the  royal  assent;" 
that,  as  a  commission  under  the  great 
seal  was  of  no  effect  if  it  were  contrary 
to  law,  so  an  act  of  parliament  had  no 
power  to  bind,  when  it  was  subversive 
of  the  ancient  constitution  of  the 
realm.  This  reasoning  was  specious ; 
it  reheved  the  king  from  his  present 
difficulties,  by  authorizing  him  to 
resume  at  pleasure  what  he  should 
now  concede  through  necessity ;  and 
he  not  only  passed  the  two  objection- 
able bills  for  pressing  soldiers  and 
depriving  the  bishops  of  their  seats 
and  of  all  temporal  employments,' 
but  offered  to  submit  all  disputes 
respecting  the  liturgy  to  the  consi- 
deration of  parliament;  promised 
never  to  grant  a  pardon  to  a  Catholic 
priest  without  the  previous  consent 
of  the  two  houses ;  requested  to  know 
the  names  of  the  persons  who  might 
be  trusted  with  commands  in  the 
army,  approved  of  the  list,  and  only 
required,  1.  that  their  appointment 
should  be  limited  to  a  certain  time  ; 
and  2.  that  the  extraordinary  powers 


1  Clarendon,  i.  428 — 430.  Colepepper  was 
of  opinion  that  the  king  might  safely  reject 
the  bill  for  the  pressing  of  soldiers,  if  he 
•would  give  his  assent  to  that  respecting  the 
bishops.  But  Charles  refused.  He  then 
went  to  the  queen,  brought  her  over  to  his 
opinion,  and  assured  her  of  the  popular 
favour  if  she  were  known  to  promote  the 
bill.  With  her  aid  he  overcame  the  reluct- 
ance of  the  king.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  story 
told  by  Clarendon  in  the  history  of  his  own 
life  (p.  50,  61).  But  I  doubt  its  accuracy. 
He  seems  to  have  forgotten  that  Charles 
assented  to  both  bills  at  the  same  time.  He 
was  then  at  Canterbury,  accompanying  the 
queen  on  her  way  to  Holland;  a  circum- 
stance which  probably  gave  birth  to  the 
Hory. 


to  be  exercised  by  them  should  pre 
viously  be  conferred  by  statute  o 
himself,  that  they  might  receive  thei 
through  him.  But  his  opponeni 
began  to  distrust  the  facility  wit 
which  he  now  assented  to  their  d( 
mands  ;  they  voted  that  his  last  pre 
posal  was  in  reality  a  denial ;  tht 
those  who  advised  it  were  enemies  t 
the  state,  and  should  be  brought! 
condign  punishment;  and  that 
speedy  remedy  ought  to  be  provide 
by  the  wisdom  of  parliament.  In 
few  days  an  ordinance  was  preparec 
appointing  by  the  authority  of  th 
two  houses  fifty-five  lords  and  con 
moners  lieutenants  of  different  dii 
tricts,  with  power  to  nominate  deputit 
and  officers,  and  to  suppress  insurrec 
tions,  rebellions,  and  invasions.^  A  Ion 
succession  of  declarations  and  answei 
served  to  occupy  the  attention  of  tb 
public  during  several  months.  Bi 
in  this  war  of  words,  these  appeals  ( 
the  contending  parties  to  the  goo 
sense  of  the  people,  the  king  ha 
plainly  the  advantage  over  his  advei 
saries.  Abandoning  the  lofty  pre 
tensions  of  his  predecessors— thoug 
he  did  not  abandon  them  without 
sigh— he  claimed  notliing  more  tha 
the  admitted  rights  of  a  constitution: 
monarch ;  whilst  they,  shrinking  froi 
the  open  avowal  of  their  real  object 
sought  to  justify  themselves  by  mair 
taining  that  there  existed  a  design  t 
bring  in  popery,  that  the  sovereig 


2  Kushworth,  iv.  616—528.  Journals,  i 
625.  When  it  was  objected  that  by  th 
ordinance  the  two  houses  assumed  tl 
power  which  constitutionally  belonged  i 
the  sovereign,  the  oath  of  allegiance  wi 
read  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  a  vo^ 
passed  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  ord 
nance  incompatible  with  the  obligations  ■ 
that  oath.  Sixteen  peers  entered  thi 
protests.— Ibid.  267.  The  pretence  app 
to  hav6  been  that,  in  cases  of  exti 
danger,  it  is  the  duty  of  parliament  to  jv 
serve  the  nation  anS  the  sovereign 
fiance  of  the  sovereign,  and  the  duty 

Eeople  to  obey  the  ordinances  of  thi 
ouses,  as  much  as   to  obey  in  ord 
times  statutes  enacted  in  the  usual  way. 
See  Journ.  vi.  134. 


to  i<r 


I 


A.D.  1642.] 


PEOGEESS  OF  IRISH  REBELLION. 


261 


was  governed  by  a  popish  council, 
and  that  the  papists  were  about  to 
rise  in  England  as  their  brethren  had 
done  in  Ireland;  allegations  calcu- 
lated, indeed,  to  operate  on  tbe  minds 
of  the  ignorant  and  the  prejudiced, 
but  which  from  frequency  of  repe- 
tition without  the  semblance  of  truth, 
began  to  be  looked  upon  by  thinking 
men  as  false  and  chimerical,' 

But  the  real  object  of  Charles  was, 
hke  that  of  his  opponents,  to  prepare 
for  war.  He  had  in  February  sent 
his  queen  to  Holland,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  conducting  his  daughter 
Mary  to  her  husband,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  soliciting  aid  from  foreign 
powers,  of  raising  money  on  the  valu- 
able jewels  which  she  had  carried 
with  her,  and  of  purchasing  arms  and 
ammunition.'^  In  the  mean  time  he 
gradually  withdrew  himself  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  metropolis,  first  to 
Newmarket,  then  into  the  more 
northern  counties,  and  at  last  fixed 
his  residence  in  York.  A  body- 
guard was  raised  for  him  by  the 
neighbouring  gentlemen,  to  form  in 
due  time  the  nucleus  of  a  more  nu- 
merous army. 

Leaving  the  king  at  York,  the 
reader  may  now  revert  to  the  trans- 
actions in  Ireland.  Whatever  pro- 
jects might  have  been  entertained  by 
the  lords  of  the  pale,  to  whom  Antrim 
had  communicated  his  commission 
from  the  sovereign,  they  had  been 
defeated  by  the  premature  insurrec- 
tion of  the  Irish  in  Ulster.  The 
castle  of  Dublin  was  secured  from 
danger  by  the  vigilance  of  its  gover- 
nor, Sir  Francis  Willoughby.     The 


1  See  them  in  Eush worth,  iv.  528—552. 
Of  the  reports  respecting  the  influence  of 
the  papists,  secretary  Nicholas  writes  thus 
to  the  king:  "ye  alarme  of  popishe  plots 
amuse  and  fright  the  people  here  more  then 
any  thing,  and  therefore  that  is  ye  drum 
that  is  80  frequently  beaten  upon  all  occa- 
sions." Oct.  27. — Evelyn's  Memoirs,  ii. 
App.  46.  See  also  the  king's  speeches,  in 
his  "  Workes,"  20,  22,  31,  37. 

'  D'Orleans,    Eevolutions    d'Angleterre, 


parliament  assembled  on  the  ap- 
pointed day,  but  found  itself  con- 
trolled by  a  garrison  of  four  thousand 
men ;  and  another  adjournment,  by 
order  of  the  justices,  prevented  it  from 
interfering  with  the  administration 
of  government.  The  Lords  and  gentry 
of  English  descent  made  a  tender  of 
their  advice  and  support.  Both  were 
unceremoniously  refused;  even  the 
arms  which  they  had  obtained  for 
their  own  defence  were  re-demanded, 
and  an  order  from  the  council  com- 
pelled them  to  leave  the  capital,  and 
to  repair  to  their  houses  in  the  coun- 
try. This  distrust,  though  the  leaders 
must  have  known  that  it  was  not 
unfounded,  provoked  dissatisfaction, 
which  was  considerably  irritated  by 
the  successive  proclamations  of  the 
government,  and  by  military  incur- 
sions, attended  with  pillage  and  blood- 
shed, which  were  occasionally  made 
into  the  districts  in  the  vicinity  of 
Dublin.3 

For  six  weeks  the  insurrection  had 
been  confined  to  the  ancient  Irish. 
In  the  beginning  of  December  the 
lord  Gormanstown  issued,  in  quality 
of  governor  of  Meath,  a  warrant  for 
a  general  meeting  of  the  county  on 
the  Hill  of  Crofty.  It  was  attended 
by  the  lords  Fingal,  Slauy,  Netter- 
ville,  Triraleston,  and  Lowth,  four- 
teen gentlemen,  and  a  thousand  free- 
holders. After  some  time,  Moore^. 
O'Reilly,  Byrne,  and  other  leaders  of 
the  insurgents,  appeared  with  a  guard, 
of  musketeers.  To  the  questions  put 
by  Gormanstown  they  replied  that., 
they  had  taken  up  arms  to  procure 
freedom  of  conscience  to  maintain  the 


91.  Clarendon,  i.  •♦19.  See  an  interesting 
letter  from  the  queen  during  her  stay  at  the 
Hague,  in  Appendix,  000. 

3  Carte's  Ormond,  i.  244—247.  Carte,, 
iii.  49,  52.  Clanricarde,  67.  "Since  the- 
distemper  began,  they  (the  lords  justices), 
have  so  disposed  of  affairs,  as  if  the  desiga 
were  laid  to  put  the  whole  kingdom  in  re-, 
bellion."— Clanricarde  to  the  duke  of  Kiclju* 
mond.    Memoirs,  63. 


262 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  T] 


just  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  and  to 
obtain  for  the  people  of  Ireland  the 
same  privileges  which  were  enjoyed 
by  the  people  of  England.  Of  these 
objects  the  meeting  approved.  A 
national  association  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  them  was  formed,  and  the 
members,  in  imitation  of  the  Scottish 
Covenanters,  bound  themselves  by  a 
common  oath  to  maintain  the  free  and 
public  exercise  of  the  Catholic  wor- 
ship, to  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance 
to  King  Charles,  and  to  defend  him 
against  all  who  should  endeavour  to 
subvert  the  royal  prerogative,  the 
power  of  parliament,  or  the  just  rights 
of  the  subject.  The  example  once 
given  determined  those  who  had 
hitherto  wavered;  and  the  whole 
people  of  Ireland,  with  the  exception 
of  those  who  inhabited  the  fortresses 
in  possession  of  English  garrisons,  and 
of  Galway,  which  was  retained  in 
obedience  by  the  earl  of  Clanricarde, 
agreed  to  draw  the  sword  against  the 
common  enemies  of  their  king,  of  their 
rights,  and  of  their  religion.' 

In  vindication  of  their  conduct 
they  alleged,  1.  That  in  hatred  to 
their  religion  they  were  subjected 
to  numerous  restraints,  and  excluded 
from  offices  under  government,  while 
persons  of  low  birth  and  needy  cir- 
cumstances rose  to  the  highest  ho- 
nours in  the  state  without  any  merit 
of  their  own,  but  because  they  were 
Protestants  and  Englishmen.  2.  That 
the  "graces"  which  they  had  pur- 
chased at  an  enormous  expense  were 
still  withheld  from  them  by  two  suc- 
cessive prorogations  of  parliament, — 
a  proof  that  it  was  the  design  of  their 
enemies  to  deprive  tjjem  of  their  pro- 
perty under  the  pretext  of  defective 
titles.  3.  That  the  parliament  of 
England  had  usurped  the  authority 


1  Temple,  19,  20.  Carte,  iii.  49.  Kush- 
worth,  iv.  415.     Nalsou,  ii.  907. 

2  Rushworth,  iv.  411,  414  Carte,  iii.  47, 
48,  50,  55,  99,  110,  136.  Clanricarde,  70. 
Sorlase,  App.  46.  "Tour  majesty  would 
make  no  worse  construction  of  us  for  what 


of  the  parliament  of  Ireland,  an( 
maintained  that  the  latter  countr; 
was  bound  by  the  orders  and  reso 
lutions  of  the  Enghsh  houses,  when 
ever  it  was  expressly  named.  4.  Tha 
the  men  who  took  the  lead  in  Eng 
land  had  avowed  themselves  the  im 
placable  enemies  of  the  Catholic  reli 
gion,  had  sworn  to  extirpate  it,  hat 
enforced  the  penal  code  against  the  Ca 
tholics  of  England,  and  meant,  in  con 
sequence  of  their  new  pretensions,  tc 
enforce  it  also  in  Ireland.  On  thes( 
accounts  they  resolved  never  to  laj 
down  their  arms  till  they  had  ob- 
tained an  acknowledgment  of  the 
independence  of  the  Irish  on  th( 
English  parliament,  the  repeal  of  al! 
degrading  disquahfications  on  the 
ground  of  religion,  the  free  exercise 
of  the  Catholic  worship,  the  con- 
firmation of  the  graces,  and  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  but  natives  from  civil 
and  military  offices  within  the  king- 
dom. The  Scots,  they  added  in  a 
petition  to  the  king,  whose  grievances 
were  certainly  less  numerous,  and 
whose  church  had  been  less  perse- 
cuted, had  appealed  to  the  sword  in 
defence  of  their  religion  and  liberties ; 
and  their  conduct  had  been  ultimately 
approved  both  by  him  and  the  parlia- 
ment of  England ;  whence  they  inferred 
that  what  was  commendable  in  Scots- 
men could  not,  by  impartial  judges,  be 
considered  as  blaraeable  in  Irishmen.^' 
By  degrees  the  war  in  Ulster  had 
assumed  the  most  ferocious  appear- 
ance. The  natives,  looking  on  the 
planters  as  intruders  and  robbers,  had 
stripped  them  of  their  property,  and 
chased  them  from  their  homes,  and  in 
some  instances  had  taken  their  lives. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  military, 
acting  by  the  orders  of  the  council, 
executed,  where  they  had  the  power, 


we  have  done  than  our  loyalties  and  affec- 
tions to  your  majesty  do  deserve,  and  no 
worse  than  your  majesty  hath  made  of 
others  of  your  subjects,  who  upon  less  or 
the  same  occasions  have  done  the  like" 
(p.  47). 


I 


A.D.  1642.] 


CONDUCT  OF  THE  INSURGENTS. 


martial  law  on  the  insurgents,  laying 
waste  the  country,  and  slaying 
the  fugitives  without  distinction  or 
mercy.'  One  act  of  violence  was  con- 
stantly retaliated  by  another;  the 
thirst  for  revenge  was  reciprocally 
excited  and  gratified;  and  men  on 
both  sides  learned  to  indulge  in  mur- 
der without  remorse,  even  with  feel- 
ings of  triumph.  It  has  been  usual 
for  writers  to  present  to  their  readers 
only  one  half  of  the  picture,  to  paint 
the  atrocities  of  the  natives,  and  to 
conceal  those  of  their  opponents ;  but 
barbarities  too  revolting  to  stain  these 
pages  are  equally  recorded  of  both; 
and,  if  among  the  one  there  were 
monsters  who  thirsted  for  the  blood  of 
their  victims,  there  were  among  the 
others  those  who  had  long  been  ac- 
customed to  deem  the  life  of  a  mere 
Irishman  beneath  their  notice.  Nor 
is  it  easy  for  the  impartial  historian, 
in  this  conflict  of  passion  and  pre- 
judice, amidst  exaggerated  statements, 
bold  recriminations,  and  treacherous 
authorities,  to  strike  the  balance,  and 
allot  to  each  the  due  share  of  inhu- 
manity and  bloodshed.  If  the  Irish- 
man must  blush  when  he  hears  of  a 
hundred  captives  driven  at  the  point 
of  the  pike  into  a  deep  and  rapi^ 
liver ;  the  Englishman  will  read  with 
a  sigh  the  orders  issued  by  the  lords 
of  the  council  to  the  army,  not  only 
to  bum  to  the  ground  every  house, 
but  to  put  to  the  sword  every  male 
inhabitant  capable  of  bearing  arms, 
in  those  districts  in  which  the  rebels 


1  Carte,  iii.  61,  62,  68.  Cox,  App.  viii.  I 
observe  that  in  Ulster,  as  early  as  Octo- 
ber 27th,  the  English  garrisons  began  to 
plunder  the  lands  of  the  Irish  in  that 
province.— Carte,  i.  185,  186. 

*  Carte,  iii.  61.  "To  wound,  kiU,  slay, 
and  destroy  all  the  rebels,  and  their  ad- 
herents and  relievers,  and  burn,  spoil, 
waste,  consume,  destroy,  and  demohsh  all 
the  places,  towns,  and  houses,  where  the 
rebels  were  or  have  been  relieved  or  har- 
boured, and  all  the  corn  and  hay  there,  and 
to  kill  and  destroy  all  the  men  there  inha- 
biting  able    to    bear    arms,"  —  Ibid.     See 


had  been  received  during  the  progress 
of  their  march.^ 

The  lords  justices  had  expected 
prompt  and  abundant  aid  from  Eng- 
land. To  their  disappointment  it 
was  only  on  the  last  day  of  the  year 
that  a  single  regiment  arrived ;  and 
five  months  elapsed  before  they 
had  received  a  reinforcement  of  five 
thousand  men.  The  Scots,  indeed, 
offered  to  send  twice  that  number; 
but  national  jealousy  interfered  to 
refuse  an  army  which  might  hereafter 
claim  the  island  as  a  dependency  on 
the  Scottish  crown.  The  king  signed 
a  proclamation  declaring  the  insur- 
gents traitors,^  and  published  his  in- 
tention of  raising  ten  thousand  volun- 
teers, of  putting  himself  at  their  head, 
and  of  chastising  in  person  the  pre- 
sumption of  the  rebels.  But  the  two 
houses  would  not  listen  to  a  project 
calculated  to  furnish  the  prince  whom 
they  had  offended  with  a  military 
force ;  and  they  preferred  to  vote  sup- 
plies of  men,  of  money,  and  of  pro- 
visions ;  though,  anxious  at  the  same 
time  to  husband  their  resources  for 
the  contest  which  they  anticipated  at 
home,  they  took  little  care  to  put 
such  votes  in  execution.  The  project 
which  they  chiefly  urged,  and  to 
which  they  obtained  the  reluctant 
consent  of  the  king,  was  to  raise  a 
large  fund  on  the  security  of  the  lands 
which  the  insurgents  were  supposed 
to  have  already  forfeited  by  their  re- 
bellion. For  this  purpose  two  million 
five   hundred  thousand  acres   were 


Appendix,  NNN. 

3  Carte,  iii.  53.  Eushworth,  iv.  472,  473. 
The  lords  justices  requested  the  king  to 
sign  several  copies  of  this  proclamation, 
that  they  might  "send  them  into  different 
counties,  and  prove  their  authenticity  by 
his  signature.  For  the  sake  of  expedition, 
forty  copies  were  printed,  and  signed  by 
him.  Yet  this  was  afterwards  converted 
into  a  charge  against  him,  as  if,  by  limiting 
the  number  to  forty,  he  wished  the  procla- 
mation to  be  but  httle  known ;  whereas,  it 
was  in  reality  a  greater  number  than  bad 
been  asked  for  with  his  signature. 


2G-i 


CHAKLES  I. 


[chap.  '• 


reserved  by  act  of  parliament;  and 
the  public  credit  was  pledged  to 
the  subscribers  that,  for  every  sum 
of  money  advanced,  they  should  re- 
ceive a  proportionate  return  of  for- 
feited property.  This  plan  succeeded ; 
but  if  it  relieved  the  poverty 
of  the  treasury,  it  served  also  to 
cement  the  union,  and  to  invigorate 
the  efforts  of  the  insurgents.  The 
former  vote,  never  to  suffer  the  public 
exercise  of  the  Catholic  worship,  had 
shown  that  their  religion,  this  proved 
that  their  property,  was  also  at  stake. 
They  were  reduced  to  the  alternative 
that  they  must  either  conquer  or 
abandon  the  worship,  and  forfeit  the 
inheritance  of  their  fathers.* 

At  York  the  king  was  no  longer 
controlled  by  the  vicinity  of  the  two 
houses.  Instead  of  daily  insults  from 
mobs,  he  received  loyal  addresses  from 
different  bodies  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  his  court  was  frequented  by  the 
most  distinguished  famihes  in  the 
neighbourhood.  But  in  one  of  the 
principal  objects  of  his  journey  he 
completely  failed.  He  had  been  in- 
formed that  Sir  John  Hotham  felt 
little  attachment  to  the  popular  cause, 
and  that  it  required  no  more  than 
the  royal  presence  to  obtain  from  him 
the  surrender  of  the  magazine  at  Hull. 
Confiding  his  secret  to  three  or  four 
confidential  servants,  Charles  sent  his 
son  the  duke  of  York,  and  his  nephew 
the  prince  elector,  to  Hull,  on  a 
party  of  pleasure.  They  were  received 
and  entertained  with  the  respect 
due  to  their  rank.  The  next  morning 
the  governor  received  two  letters, 
one  by  Sir  Lewis  Dives  from  the  king 
himself,  announcing  his  intention  of 
dining  with  Hotham  on  that  day ;  the 
other  from  an  unknown  correspond- 
ent, said  to  have  been  W.  Murray, 
afterwards  earl  of  Dysart,  warning 


1  Eushworth,  iv.  553—563. 

2  Clarendon,  i.  506—518 ;  Husband,  138 ; 
Eushworth,  iv.  565—599;  and  the  Journals, 


him  to  be  on  his  guard,  for,  if  he  a 
mitted  the  king,  his  life  would  be  i 
danger  for  his  previous  misconduc 
Hotham  ordered  the  drawbridge 
be  raised,  the  gates  closed,  and  t 
walls   manned.     At  eleven   Chark 
arrived.     His  commands,  entreatie;  "; 
promises,  and  threats  were  equall 
disregarded.     At    four  he   receive-  . 
back  his  son  and  nephew,  and,  re 
turning  in  an  hour,  ordered  Hothan  . 
to  be  proclaimed  a  traitor  by  sound  o 
trumpet.    The  two  houses  voted  th'  ■ 
proclamation  a  breach   of  the   pri 
vileges  of  parliament.^ 

This  inauspicious  attempt  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  succession  of  petitions  an( 
complaints,  answers  and  replications 
remonstrances  and  protests,  in  whicl 
much  ability  was  displayed  by  th( 
writers  on  each  side,  though  the  ad 
vantage  still  seemed  to  rest  with  the 
king.  He  maintained  that  the  arm; 
at  Hull  were  his  private  property 
he  had  bought  them  with  borrowec 
money,  previously  to  the  Scottish  in- 
vasion ;  that  the  town  was  his,  for  ii 
had  belonged  to  the  crown,  and  wa; 
still  held  by  royal  charter ;  and  thai 
the  fortress  was  his,  because  to  hin 
belonged  the  command  of  all  the  for- 
tifications within  the  kingdom,^  Bui 
it  was  idle  to  talk  of  legal  rights  at  c 
time  when  a  real  though  disguised 
war  raged  between  the  parties. 

The  two  houses  had  already  voted 
a  levy  of  sixteen  thousand  men  in 
opposition  to  the  king,  who  intended 
to  levy  war  against  the  parhament. 
The  trained  bands  of  London,  under 
General  Shippon,  professed  the 
strongest  attachment  to  the  cause; 
the  arms  at  Hull  were  removed  to 
the  Tower;  a  forced  loan,  to  bear 
interest  at  eight  per  cent.,  and  paid 
in  money  or  plate,  replenished  the 
treasury;  large  sums  were  employed 


V.  16,  28.    The  Hothams,  father  and  son, 
afterwards  repented,  but  were  seized  and 
beheaded  by  order  of  parliament. 
»  Kushworth,  iv.  567—588. 


.D.  1642.] 


DEMANDS  OF  THE  PARLIAMENT. 


265 


Q  the  purchase  of  stores ;  the  earl  of 
Varwick  (Northumberland's  commis- 
ion  had  been  revoked  by  the  king) 
ook  the  command  of  the  fleet,  and 
he  earl  of  Essex  was  appointed  lord 
eneral,  with  a  solemn  promise  from 
;oth  Lords  and  Commons,  that  they 
rould  live  and  die  with  him  in  the 
lational  quarrel.^ 
On  the  other  hand  the  king  was  not 
ile.  Numbers  of  the  nobility  and 
entry,  and  clergy,  with  the  members 
f  both  universities,  lent  him  money ; 
vessel  sent  by  the  queen  from  Hol- 
md  brought  him  a  supply  of  arms, 
mmunition,  and  sixteen  pieces  of 
annon;  the  neighbouring  gentlemen 
f  the  county  offered  him  their  sup- 
port ;  and  in  opposition  to  the  ordi- 
lance  for  levying  the  militia,  he  is- 
ued  commissions  of  array  according 
0  the  ancient  custom,  for  each  sepa- 
ate  county.  Thus  the  whole  king- 
.om  was  thrown  into  confusion."'^  In 
very  shire,  almost  in  every  township, 
rere  persons  raising  men  at  the  same 
ime  for  the  opposite  parties.  In  the 
outhern  counties  the  interest  of  the 
larliament  was  generally  predomi- 
lant,  for  there  the  lower  classes  had 
ong  looked  up  to  it  for  protection 
gainst  the  illegal  assumptions  of 
oyalty;  and  the  speedy  vengeance 
viuh  which  the  least  symptom  of  dis- 
ibedience  was  visited,  induced  the 
ligher  classes  to  feign  sentiments 
vhich  they  did  not  feel.  In  many 
)laces  rencontres  took  place  between 
he  parties  ;  some  blood  was  spilt,  and 
)risoners  were  reciprocally  made ;  but 
yhenever  the  royalists  had  the  worst, 


their  property  was  pillaged  by  the 
mob.3 

There  were,  however,  many,  both 
at  York  and  in  the  parliament,  who 
still  laboured  to  effect  an  accommo- 
dation. The  king,  they  contended, 
had  made  most  ample  concessions; 
all  that  could  be  desired,  was  security 
for  the  performance,  and  why  might 
not  this  be  obtained  by  treaty  as 
readily  as  by  war  ?  Charles  demanded 
an  answer  to  the  proposals  which  he 
had  made  at  the  commencement  of 
the  year;  and  his  adversaries,  to 
silence  the  clamour  of  their  adhe- 
rents, offered  nineteen  articles,  as  the 
basis  of  a  pacification.  They  were 
chiefly  framed  after  the  model  of  the 
concessions  obtained  by  the  Scots; 
that  all  matters  of  importance  should 
be  debated  and  concluded  in  parlia- 
ment; that  the  members  of  the  council 
and  the  great  officers  of  state,  the  chief 
justice  and  chief  baron,  should  be 
always  chosen  with  the  approbation 
of  parliament,  and  should  retain  their 
offices  during  their  good  behaviour; 
that  the  governors  and  tutors  of  the 
king's  children  should  also  be  chosen 
by  parliament ;  that  no  treaty  of  mar- 
riage, respecting  any  member  of  t|ie 
royal  family,  should  be  negotiated 
without  its  consent;  that  the  king 
should  dismiss  all  his  guards,  should 
recall  his  proclamations,  and  should 
suffer  the  ordinance  for  the  militia  to 
remain  in  force,  till  the  question  were 
settled  by  bill ;  that  a  reform  should 
be  made  in  the  church  and  the 
liturgy;  that  no  peer  should  sit  in 
parliament  unless  he  were  admitted 


1  Journals,  v.  29,  34,  40,  56,  64,  66,  70,  79, 
7,91,  105,  121,  140,  152,  181,  186,  196,  206. 
'he  pay  of  the  soldiers  was  eightpence  per 
ay  for.  the  infantry,  two  shillings  and  six- 
oe  for  the  cavalry;  viz.  sixteen-pence 
or  the  keep  of  the  horse,  the  rest  for  the 
turn.— Ibid.  196,  197.  The  lord  general 
eceived  ten  pounds,  the  general  of  the 
tone  six  pounds  per  day. 

•  At  first  it  was  objected  to  the  commis- 
ions  issued  by  the  king  at  York,  that  they 
fere  of  no  force,  because  they  wanted  the 


great  seal.  To  remove  this  difficulty, 
I^ttleton,  the  lord  keeper,  was  induced  by 
Hyde  to  send  the  seal  to  the  king,  and  to 
repair  to  York  in  May.  The  two  houses 
were  irritated;  but  in  their  own  defence 
they  ordered  a  new  great  seal  to  be  made, 
and  intrusted  it  to  commissioners  of  their 
own.— Clarendon's  Life,  61,  64.  Hist.  i.  568 
—574.  Rushworth,  iv.  718.  Lords'  Jour- 
nals 93 

3  ibid.  74,  111,  115,  147,  149,  182,  and 
Mercurius  Eusticus. 


266 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  ^ 


with  the  consent  of  both  houses ;  that 
the  popish  peers  should  be  deprived 
of  their  votes  until  they  had  con- 
formed ;  and  that  the  children  of 
Catholics  should  be  brought  up  in 
the  Protestant  faith. 

Charles  replied  that  he  was  wilhng 
to  concur  in  the  forced  education  of 
Catholic  children,  to  compel  the  Ca- 
tholic peers  to  give  their  proxies  to 
Protestants,  and  to  abolish  all  inno- 
vations in  religion ;  but  he  could  not 
consent  to  the  rest  of  the  demands. 
He  deemed  them  unnecessary;  "for 
the  power  legally  placed  in  the  two 
houses  was  more  than  sufficient  to 
prevent  and  restrain  the  power  of 
tyranny."  He  would  therefore  say 
with  the  barons  of  old,  "Nolumus 
leges  Anglise  mutari."  Otherwise  he 
might  still  have  his  hands  kissed,  still 
be  addressed  with  the  style  of  majesty, 
still  wear  a  crown  and  carry  a  sceptre, 
but  he  would  be  deprived  of  all  real 
power,  a  dependant  on  the  bounty, 
and  a  slave  to  the  caprice,  of  a  faction 
among  his  subjects.' 

As  long  as  the  two  parties  adhered 
to  these  principles,  reconciliation  was 
impracticable ;  and  it  became  an  ob- 
ject of  the  first  importance  to  each, 
to  persuade  the  nation  that  the  im- 
pending civil  war  was  to  be  attributed 
to  the  unreasonable  pretensions  of 
the  other.  The  houses  voted  a 
humble  petition  to  the  king,  to  recall 
the  commissions  of  array,  to  disband 
his  forces,  consent  to  the  punishment 
of  dehnquents,  and  to  return  to  one 
of  his  usual  residences  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  capital.  Charles,  in  his  reply, 
appealed  to  the  Almighty  in  proof  of 


1  Lords'  Jonrnals,  90,97,153.  Rushworth, 
iv.  722,.  735.  Clarendon,  i.  634-647.  In 
this  answer  the  friends  of  the  church  re- 
marked and  lamented  an  important  de- 
?arture  from  the  language  of  ancient  times, 
he  parliament  was  now  described  as  con- 
sisting of  three  estates,  the  King,  the  Lords, 
and  tne  Commons ;  whereas,  formerly  the 
three  estates  were  the  Clergy,  the  Lords, 
and  the  Commons,  with  the  king  for  their 


his  readiness  to  disarm  his  adheren- 
to  meet  the  two  houses,  and  to  setl 
every  difference  in  a  parliamenta 
way;  but  then  he  required  as  pi 
vious  conditions  that  they  shou 
repeal  the  ordinance  of  the  milit 
replace  the  navy  under  the  comma: 
of  the  admiral  whom  he  had  a 
pointed,  and  meet  him  in  some  pla 
where  both  he  and  they  might 
secure  from  insult  and  intimidatio 
But  the  quarrel  was  now  drawing 
a  crisis;  and  the  houses  answer 
that  to  accede  to  such  conditic 
would  be  to  betray  the  trust  repos 
in  them  for  the  safety  of  the  ki 
and  kingdom. 

The  commencement  of  hostilit 
was  occasioned  by  the  following 
currence.     Colonel  Goring,  the 
vernor  of  Portsmouth,  an  office 
distinguished  merit,  was  raised  by  1 
parhament  to  the  rank  of  lieutenr 
general,  and   appointed  to  orga; 
and  discipline  the  new  levies, 
hesitated  to  accept  the  commis^ 
and  pleaded  in  excuse  of  his  delay 
necessity  of  superintending  the  C' 
struction  of  some  new  fortificatio 
but  a  peremptory  order  to  join 
army  extorted  from  him  an  ansv 
that  he  could  not  in  honour  quit 
command  without  the  royal  pen) 
sion.    Aware  of  the  consequences, 
administered  an  oath  of  allegianc< 
the  soldiers  and  inhabitants,  and  i 
few  days  was  besieged  by  a  str 
force  under  the  parliamentary 
ral,  the  earl   of  Essex.     The  k 
immediately  proclaimed  that  gent 
and  the  officers  under  him  trait 
unless  they  should  return  to  tl 


ge^ 


head. — Clarendon's    Life,    p.    67.      In 

omission  of  the  clergy  the  answer 
right;  for  the  clergy  had  long  cease* 
form  a  separate  estate  in  parhament. 
numbering  the  king  as  one  of  the  e«tt 
it  was  wrong;  he  was  their  head  stO] 
much  as  he  had  ever  been. 

2  Lords'  Journals,  v.  206,  235,  242.  ^ 
rendon,  i.  684—693.  I 


L.J).  1642.]         THE  KING  RAISES  HIS  STAIN  DAED. 


267 


iuty  within  the  space  of  six  days; 
Lhe  houses  on  their  part  declared  the 
royal  proclamation  a  libellous  and 
scandalous  paper,  and  retorted  the 
jrime  of  treason  on  all  those  by  whom 
t  had  been  advised,  and  by  whom  it 
should  be  afterwards  abetted  or  coun- 
■enanced,* 

In  these  circumstances  Charles 
resolved  on  hostile  measures.  Hav- 
.ng  sounded  the  disposition  of  the 
Torkshire  gentlemen,  he  summoned 
ill  his  loving  subjects  north  of  the 
Trent,  and  within  twenty  miles  to 
3he  south  of  that  river,  to  meet  him 
ji  arms  at  Nottingham  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  August.  On  that  day  the 
royal  standard,  on  which  was  a  hand 
pointing  to  a  crown,  with  this  motto, 
'  Give  to  Cffisar  his  due,"  was  carried 
3y  a  guard  of  six  hundred  foot  from 
:he  castle  into  a  large  field ;  the  king 
'ollowed  with  a  retinue  of  two  thou- 
sand men;  and  the  inhabitants 
irowded  around  to  hear  the  pro- 
3lamation  read  by  the  herald-at-arms. 
This  ceremony,  called  the  raising  of 
the  standard,  was  deemed  equivalent 
to  a  declaration  of  hostilities.^ 

Thus  step  by  step  was  the  country 
led  into  the  most  direful  of  national 
calamities,  a  civil  war.  The  Stuarts, 
seated  on  the  throne  of  the  Tudors, 
doubted  not  that  they  were  rightfully 
possessed  of  all  those  arbitrary  powers 
claimed  and  exercised  by  their  pre- 
decessors. But  within  the  last  fifty 
years  the  minds  of  men  had  under- 
gone a  wonderful  revolution.  It  had 
become  fashionable  to  study  the  prin- 
ciples of  government,  and  to  oppose 
the  rights  of  the  subject  to  the  pre- 


1  Clarendon,  i.  711—715.  Enshworth,  vi. 
■761,773.  Lords'  Journals,  76,  257,  261,  283, 
~98,  503.    Commons'  Journals,  May  20,  23. 

'  Lords'  Journals,  297.    Rushworth,783. 

'  This  general  feeling  is  strongly  expressed 
by»  female  and  contemporary  writer.  "  He 
made  no  conscience  of  granting  aniething 
to  the  people,  which  he  resolved  should  not 
obliege  him  longer  than  it  should  serve  his 
turn ;  for  he  was  a  prince  that  had  nothing 


tensions  of  the  sovereign.  We  have 
seen  that  Ehzabeth,  with  all  the  awe 
inspired  by  the  firmness  of  her  cha- 
racter, had  been  unable,  towards  the 
close  of  her  reign,  to  check  the  ex- 
pression of  liberal  sentiments.  Under 
the  gentle  sway  of  James  they  were 
diffused  with  rapidity ;  and  the  neces- 
sities of  Charles,  arising  from  his 
wars  and  his  debts,  emancipated  them 
altogether  from  restraint.  Good  sense 
should  have  taught  him  to  go  along 
with  the  general  feelings  of  his 
people ;  but  princes  in  all  ages  have 
been  slow  to  learn  the  important 
lesson,  that  the  influence  of  authority 
must  ultimately  bend  to  the  influence 
of  opinion.  The  monarch  clung  with 
pertinacity  to  every  branch  of  the 
prerogative ;  and  if  he  ever  relin- 
quished his  hold,  it  was  after  so  long  a 
struggle,  and  with  so  bad  a  grace,  that 
he  excited  in  his  subjects  suspicions 
of  his  sincerity ;  suspicions  confirmed 
by  that  habit  of  duplicity  which  had 
ever  marked  his  conduct  since  his 
first  entrance  into  public  life.  Their 
distrust  formed  an  antidote  to  their 
gratitude;  they  gave  him  no  credit 
for  the  most  valuable  concessions ;  and 
the  wish  to  secure  what  they  had 
gained,  induced  them  to  make  new 
and  more  galling  demands.^ 

The  reader,  however,  will  have 
remarked  that  the  controversy  be- 
tween the  king  and  his  opponents  no 
longer  regarded  the  real  liberties  of 
the  nation,  which  had  already  been 
established  by  successive  acts  of  the 
legislature ;  but  was  confined  to  cer- 
tain concessions,  which  ^/^ey  demanded 
as  essential  to  the   preservation   of 


of  faith  or  truth,  justice  or  generosity  in 
him.  He  was  the  most  obstinate  person  in 
his  self-will  that  ever  was ;  and  so  bent 
upon  being  an  absolute  uneontroulable 
soveraigne,  that  he  was  resolved  either  to 
be  such  a  king  or  none."  Though  the  por- 
trait is  too  highly  coloured,  the  outline 
may  be  deemed  correct. — Lucy  Hutchin- 
son's Memoirs  of  her  Husband,  Colonel 
Hutchinson,  p.  66. 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap,  -v 


those  liberties,  and  wliioli  he  refused  as  ! 
subversiveof theroyal  authority.  That 
some  securities  were  requisite,  no  one 
denied;  but  while  many  contended 
that  the  control  of  the  public  money, 
the  power  of  impeachment,  and  the 
right  of  meeting  every  third  year,  all 
which  were  now  vested  in  the  par- 
liament, formed  a  sufficient  barrier 
against  encroachments  on  the  part  of 
the  sovereign,  others  insisted  that  the 
command  of  the  army,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  officers  of  state,  the 
councillors,  and  the  judges,  ought  also 
to  be  transferred,  for  a  time  at  least, 


to  the  two  houses.  Diversity  of  oi 
nion  produced  a  schism  among  ti 
patriots ;  the  more  moderate  silent 
withdrew  to  the  royal  standard ;  t; 
more  violent  or  more  distrustful  r 
solved  to  defend  their  opinions  wi 
the  sword.  It  has  often  been  askc 
who  were  the  authors  of  the  ci^ 
war  ?  The  answer  seems  to  depei 
on  the  solution  of  this  other  que 
tion— were  additional  securities  n 
cessary  for  the  preservation  of  t" 
national  rights  ?  If  they  were,  tl 
blame  Will  belong  to  Charles ;  if  n( 
it  must  rest  with  his  adversaries. 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  EEE,  p.  9. 


Extracts  from  tlie  voluntary  de- 
laration  of  Anthony  Copley,  dated 
.4th  and  15th  July,  1603,  taken 
before  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury, 
he  lords  Marr,  Howard,  Cecil,  and 
■rthers. 

"  On  these  grounds  of  discontent- 
nent,  Mr.  Watson,  with  a  choice 
lumber  of  his  brethren  and  some  spe- 
cial lay  Catholics,  inasmuch  as  the 
dng  was  not  yet  crowned,  did  con- 
mlt  upon  their  case,  and  resolve 
apon  an  oath,  to  be  drawn  and  ten- 
iered  to  Catholics  concerning  some 
action  to  be  enterprised  for  the  good 
of  the  cause,  and  therein  to  be  con- 
tained a  clause  of  secrecy,  for  two 
reasons,  the  one  for  caution  against 
discovery  thereof  to  the  state,  the 
other  against  the  Jesuits'  partie, 
■which  we  were  certainly  informed 
were  likewise  distasted  with  the  king, 
and  had  their  course  for  the  com- 
mon cause  in  design,  and  that  in 
caution  against  us.  And  for  the 
drawing  in  of  associates  and  the 
timorous,  it  was  to  be  intimated  by 
the  tender  of  the  oath  that  the  busi- 
aess  was  no  more  than  to  present  a 
supplication  to  his  majesty  of  eighty 
or  a  hundred  of  the  chief  Catholics  at 
f  a  hunting  or  other  convenient  mo- 
•  ment.  The  tenor  of  the  supplication 
was,  that  they  were  a  chosen  band  of 
Catholics,  who  had  in  the  late  reign 
assisted  his  majesty's  title  against  all 


pretenders,  and  against  the  Spanish 
faction,  putting  him  in  mind  of  Wat- 
son's book, — they  beseeched  tolera- 
tion, &c." 

'''  The  exaniinant  deposed,  that 
Watson  tendered  the  oath  to  him, 
which  he  took  at  first  under  a  false 
impression,  when  Watson  gave  him  a 
glance  of  the  attempts  to  be  made  if 
their  suit  failed,  and  at  parting  re- 
quested him  to  come  to  town  with  as 
many  able  men  as  he  could." 

*'  They  had  several  meetings.  Wat- 
son, on  one  occasion,  talked  of  dis- 
pelling privy  counsellors,  cutting  off 
heads,  getting  the  broad  seal,  and 
seizing  the  Tower,  which  Copley  mar- 
velled at  ;  conversations  without  head 
or  foot,  the  grounds  of  which  he  then 
knew  not. 

"  A  day  or  two  after,  Watson 
told  him  the  Jesuits  had  crossed  his 
purpose  in  Lancashire  and  Wales, 
whence  he  expected  large  supplies  of 
men. 

"  A  meeting  took  place  between 
him,  Watson,  and  Sir  Griffin  Mark- 
ham,  when  Copley's  scruples  were 
satisfied  that  it  was  for  the  good  of 
the  Catholic  cause  they  should  enter 
into  the  enterprise.  It  was  proposed 
to  seize  the  king's  person  at  Green- 
wich, and  to  possess  themselves  of 
the  Tower.  It  was  intended  to  give 
a  free  use  of  religion  to  all,  and  that 
Catholics  should  hold  offices  equally 


270 


APPENDIX. 


with  Protestants.  Watson  proposed 
to  depose  the  king,  which  Copley 
opposed,  because  it  would  impair  the 
dignity  of  the  crown  by  dismember- 
ing Scotland  from  England,  and 
would  draw  on  the  Dane,  together 
with  Scotland  and  Brunswick.  At 
this  meeting  of  Sir  Griffin  Markham, 
which  occurred  at  a  supper  given  by 
Watson,  some  ludicrous  remarks  were 
made    on    King   James — his  vvdgar 


manner  of  drinking  is  particularly 
spoken  of. 

"  Watson  at  last,  finding  thing; 
did  not  succeed,  told  them  the} 
might  all  go  to  their  homes,  affirminf 
that  he  despaired  of  the  action  :  h( 
afterwards  himself  departed." 

This  document  fills  twelve  pages 
and  has  since  been  published  at  ful 
length  by  Mr.  Tierney,  Dodd,  iv 
App.  No.  1. 


NOTE  FFF,  pp.  22,  28,  30. 
Letter  from  Garnet  to  Ms  Superior  in  Mo^ne. 


"  Magnifice  Domine, 

"  Accepimus  dominationis  vestrse 
literas,  quas  ea  qua  par  est  reve- 
rentia  erga  suam  sanctitatem  et  ves- 
tram  patemitatem  amplectimur.  Et 
quidem  pro  mea  parte  quater  hac- 
tenus  tumultum  impedivi.  Nee  du- 
bium  est  quin  publicos  omnes  armo- 
rum  apparatus  prohibere  possimus, 
cum  certum  sit  multos  Catholicos, 
absque  nostro  consensu,  nihil  hujus- 
mocU  nisi  urgente  necessitate  atten- 
tare  velle. 

"  Duo  tamen  sunt  quse  nos  valde 
solicitos  tenent.  Primum  ne  alii 
fortassis  in  una  aliqua  provincia  ad 
arma  convolent,  unde  alios  ipsa  ne- 
cessitas  ad  similia  studia  compellat. 

"  Sunt  enim  non  pauci,  qui  nudo 
suae  sanctitatis  jussu  cohiberi  non 
possunt.  Ausi  sunt  enim,  vivo  papa 
Clemente,  interrogare  num  posset 
papa  illos  prohibere  quo  minus  vitam 
suam  defendant.  Dicunt  insuper 
suorum  secretorum  presbyterum  nul- 
lum fore  conscium  :  nominatim  vero 
de  nobis  conquenintur  etiam  amici 
nonnulli,  nos  illorum  molitionibus 
obicem  ponere. 

"  Atque  ut  hos  aliquo  modo  leni- 
remus,  et  saltern  tempus  lucraremur, 
ut  dilatione  aliqua  adhiberi  possint 
congrua  remedia,  hortati  sumus,  ut 
communi  consilio  aliquem  ad  sanctis- 
aimum  mitterent :  quod  factum  est, 
eumque  ad  illustrissimum  Nuntium 


in  Elandriam  direxi,  ut  ab  ipso  sua 
sanctitaticommendetur,  scriptis  etian 
Uteris  quibus  eorum  sententiam  ex 
posui,  et  rationes,  pro  utraque  parte 
Hae  literse  fuse  scriptse  et  plenissima 
fuere  :  tutissimfe  enim  transferentur 
atque  hoc  de  primo  periculo.  Alte 
rum  est  aliquanto  deterius,  quia  peri 
culum  est  ne  privatim  aliqua  pro 
ditio  vel  vis  Kegi  ofieratur,  et  hot 
pacto  omnes  Catholici  ad  arma  com 
pellantur. 

"  Quare  meo  quidem  judicio  du< 
necessaria  sunt ;  primum  ut  su; 
sanctitas  prsescribat  quid  quoque  ir 
casu  agendum  sit ;  deinde,  ut  sul 
censuris  omnem  armorura  vim  Catho 
licis  prohibeat,  idque  Brevi  public< 
edito,  cujus  occasio  obtendi  potes 
nuper  excitatus  in  Wallia  tumiiltus 
qui  demum  in  nihilum  recidit.  Resta 
ut  (cum  in  peius  omnia  quotidie  pro 
labantur)  oremus  suam  sanctitaten 
his  tantis  periculis  ut  brevi  necessa 
rium  aliquod  remedium  adhibeat 
cujus  sicut  et  reverendse  patemi 
tatia  vestrse  benedictionem  implo 
ramus. 

"  Magnificae  Dominationis  vestre 


"  Henricus  Gabnit. 
*'  Londoni,  24  Julii,  1605." 

There  is  in  the  State  Paper  OfficWj 
copy  of  the  first  portion  of  this  lett 
as  far  as  the  words  ad  sanctissimr 


APPENDIX. 


271 


mitterent,  which  is  followed  by  an  <L'c. 
— Dodd,  by  Tierney,  iv.  App.  p.  cix. 
The  only  difference  between  it  and 
the  published  letter  is,  that  where  the 
latter  has  "  Duo  tamen  sunt  quae  nos 
valde  solicitos  tenent :  primum  ne 
alii."  the  MS.  has  "  Est  tamen  quod 
nos  valde  solicitos  tenent,  ne  alii." 
Which  of  the  two  may  be  the  true 
reading  is  uncertain  ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  to  me  that  a  small  fragment 
of  the  letter,  with  its  <fcc.  in  place  of 
the  rest  of  its  contents,  can  be  very- 
deserving  of  credit,  as  long  as  we  are 
ignorant  by  whom,  or  for  what  pur- 
pose, it  was  copied.  There  is  a  still 
greater  difficulty  in  this  letter,  where 
Garnet  says,  on  July  24,  that  he  has 
despatched  the  common  messenger 
to  the  nuncio  in  Flanders,  whereas  it 


is  well  known  that  Baynham,  that 
messenger,  did  not  leave  England 
before  September.  I  have  endea- 
voured to  explain  it  away  in  different 
manners,  but  it  now  appears  to  me 
that  Garnet  has  been  misunderstood. 
He  does  not  say  that  he  had  actually 
despatched  the  messenger  to  the 
nuncio,  but  that  he  had  directed  him, 
— "  direxi," — which  may  mean  no- 
thing more  than  that  he  had  given  to 
him  instructions  with  letters  of  cre- 
dence. Now  it  was  very  possible 
that,  after  he  had  done  this,  events 
might  happen  to  prevent  the  imme- 
diate departure  of  Baynham,  or  to 
retard  it  for  a  few  weeks,  in  which 
supposition  the  letter  will  perfectly 
agree  with  the  fact. 


NOTE  GGG,  p.  32. 
Letter  from  Garnet  to  Persons. 


"  My  verie  lovinge  sir,  we  are  to 
goe  within  fewe   dayes  neerer  Lon- 
don,  yet   are  we    unprovided    of   a 
house,   nor  can  find  any  convenient 
for  any  longe  tyme.    But  we  must  be 
feyne  to  borrowe  some  private  house, 
and  live  more  privately  untill    this 
storme    be     overblowen  ;    for    most 
strict  inquiries  are  practised,  wherein 
yf  my  hostesse  be  not  quite  undone, 
she  speedeth  better  than  many  of  her 
neighbours.     The  courses  taken  are 
more  severe   than  in  Q.  Elizabeth's 
tyme.    Everie  six  weeks  in  a  severall 
court,  juries  appointed  to  indite,  pre- 
sent,  find  the   goods   of  Catholicks, 
prize   them,  yea,    in  many  places  to 
drive    awaye   whatsoever    they    find 
I  (contra  ordinem  juris),  and  putt  the 
1  owners,    yf  perhaps   Protestants,    to 
■  prove  that  they  be  theirs  and  not  of 
recusants    with    whom    they    deale. 
The  commissioners  in  all  contreys  are 
t  the  most  earnest  and  base  Puritans, 
[  whom  otherwise  the  kinge  discoun- 
i  tenanceth.     The  prisoners  at  Wisbich 


are  almost  famished  :  they  are  verie 
close,  and  can  have  no  healpe  from 
abrode,  but  the  kinge  allowinge  a 
marke  a  weeke  for  eche  one,  the 
keeper  maketh  his  gains,  and  giveth 
them  meate  but  three  dayes  a  weeke. 
If  any  recusant  buy  his  goods  againe, 
they  inquire  diligently  yf  the  money 
be  his  own,  otherwise  they  would 
have  that  toe.  In  fine  yf  these 
courses  hould,  everie  man  must  be 
fayne  to  redeeme  once  in  six  moneths 
the  verie  bedd  he  lyeth  on :  and 
hereof,  that  is  of  twice  redeeminge, 
besides  other  presidents  I  find  one  in 
this  lodginge  where  nowe  I  am.  The 
judges  nowe  openly  protest  that  the 
kinge  nowe  will  have  blood,  and 
hath  taken  blood  in  Yorkshier  :  that 
the  kinge  hath  hitherto  stroaked  the 
papists,  but  nowe  will  strike.  This 
is  without  any  least  desert  of  Catho- 
licks. The  execution  of  two  in  the 
north  is  certayn,  and,  whereas  it  was 
done  uppon  could  blood,  that  is,  with 
so  great  staye  after  their  condemna- 


APPENDIX. 


tion,  it  argueth  a  deliberate  resolu- 
tion of  what  we  may  expect.  So  that 
there  is  noe  hope  that  Pope  Paulus  V. 
can  doe  any  thinge  :  and  whatsoever 
men  give  owt  there  of  easie  proceed- 
ings with  Catholicks,  is  mere  fabu- 
lous. And  yet  I  am  assured  not- 
withstandinge,  that  the  best  sort  of 
Catholicks  will  beare  all  their  losses 
with  patience.  But  howe  these 
tyrannicall  proceedinges  of  such  base 
officers  may  drive  particular  men  to 
desperate  attempts,  that  I  can  not 
answer  for,  the  kinge's  wisedome  will 
foresee. 

"  I  have  a  letter  from  Field  in 
Ireland,  whoe  telleth  me  that  of  late 
there  was  a  verie  severe  proclama- 
tion against  all  ecclesiasticall  persons, 
and  a  generall  command  for  goinge  to 
the  churche  ;  with  a  soleme  protes- 
tation that  the  kinge  never  promised 
nor  meant  to  give  toleration." 

''  October  4,  1605." 

In  former  editions  I  published  this 
document  from  the  copy  in  Gerard's 
manuscript  narrative.  The  original 
is,  however,  in  existence,  and  the 
comparison  of  the  two  shows  what 
liberties  were  taken  by  the  copyist 
with  the  original.  Had  his  object 
been  only  to  present  the  public  with 
an  account  of  the  persecution  to 
which  the  English  Catholics  were  at 
that  moment  subjected,  there  would 
not  have  been  great  cause  to  complain 
of  his  alterations  in  the  first  part ; 
for  they  were  evidently  made  to  con- 
ceal from  government  the  names  of 
the  persons,  who  occasionally  afforded 
Garnet  an  asylum.  Neither  is  his 
omission  of  several  short  paragraphs 
which  follow  in  the  original  of  any 
great  consequence  ;  for  they  mostly 
relate  to  private  concerns,  and  are 
not  of  general  interest.  But  to  the 
original  letter  is  appended  a  post- 
script, of  the  date  of  the  21st  of  Oc- 
tober. This  is  most  important.  It 
shows  that  the  letter  of  the  4th  was 
still  in  the  possession  of  Garnet,  almost 
three  weeks  after  it  was  written.  In 
the  postscript  he  states  that  the  letter 
had  been   returned    to  him  by  the 


friend  to  whom  it  had  been  intruste. 
because  that  fi-iend  had  bet 
"  stayed,"  and  that  he  had  taken  tl 
opportunity  "  to  blot  out  some  word 
purposing  to  write  the  same  by  tl 
next  opportunity,  as  he  will  do  apart 
Wliat  these  words  were  we  kno 
not ;  but  that  he  thought  them  of  ti 
greatest  importance  is  plain  from  tl 
pains  which  he  took  to  ^'  blot  thei 
out ;"  for  this  he  has  done  so  eflfei 
tually  that  it  is  impossible  to  decipht 
a  syllable  of  the  original  writing 
Then  follows  the  notice  about  Eiel 
in  Ireland,  which,  though  for  whf 
purpose  it  is  difficult  to  guess,  hi 
in  Gerard's  copy  been  taken  ov 
of  the  postscript,  and  introduce 
into  the  letter  itself,  under  the  dat 
of  October  4. 

The  object  for  which  this  letter  wa  ^ 
made  up  in  the  shape  which  it  thr  < 
assumes   in   Gerard's  manuscript,   i 
plain  from  the  reasoning  which  bot 
he    and    Greenway  found    upon    : 
Tliey   contend   that,    if  Garnet   li 
been  privy  to  the  conspiracy,  he  nn 
have   believed  on  the  4  th,    that 
explosion  had  already  taken  place  o 
the  3rd,  the  day  on  which  the  par"" 
ment  had  been  summoned  to  m( 
though  no  reason  is  assigned  whyj 
might  not,    as  well  as  others,   h 
been  aware  of  the  prorogation  to 
5th  of  November  :  and  they  add  tl 
under  such   belief,   he  would  n€ 
have  resolved  to  encounter  the  dange 
of  making,  as  he  proposed  to  do, 
journey  to  London ;  though  in  fac 
he  made  no  such  journey,  but  change' 
his  route,    and  was  actually,    at  th 
time  \h  which  he  wrote,  on  his  wa; 
to   the  meeting  appointed  at   Dur 
church.     Hence  it  became  necessa: 
to  suppress  the  postscript,  because 
was    irreconeilable  with   such  staW 
ments.      There  was,   moreover,   thi 
benefit  in   the   suppression,    that  i 
kept  the  reader  in  ignorance,  1. 
the  real  date  of  the  letter,  the  2l8t 
October,   the  very  time  when   i| 
admitted    that    Greenway    madej 
Garnet  a  full  disclosure  of  the  plj 
and  2.  that  Garnet  took  that  op[ 
tunity  of  blotting  out   a  most 


ze  0 

I 


APPENDIX. 


273 


portant  passage  in  the  letter  written 
on  the  4th,  with  a  promise  to  forward 
the  same  passage  later  in  an  epistle 
apart ;  two  facts  which  would  furnish 
strong  presumptions  against  the  al- 
leged innocence  of  the  provincial.  I 
do  not  know,  however,  that  his  advo- 
cates ever  ventured  to  send  the  letter 
in  this  shape  to  the  press.  It  was  ex- 
hibited to  Eudsemon  Joannes,  when 
he  wrote  his  Apologia  against  Coke  ; 


for  he  refers  to  it,  and  draws  from  it 
the  same  conclusions  which  had  been 
already  drawn  for  him  by  Gerard 
and  Greenway. — Ad  actionem  pro- 
ditoriam  Edouardi  Coqui  Apologia, 
cap.  ix.,  versus  finem.  But  he  merely 
mentions  the  date  of  October  4,  with- 
out transcribing  the  letter,  or  quoting 
any  passage  from  it.  Mr.  Tierneyhas 
published  both  the  original  letter  and 
the  pretended  copy,  vol.  iv.  App.  p.  cii. 


NOTE  HHH,  pp.  33,  41. 


In  this  note  I  shall  mention  the 
chief  presumptions  against  Garnet, 
Greenway,  and  Gerard,  and  their  an- 
swers, with  those  of  their  advocates. 

1.  With  respect  to  Garnet,  it  is 
admitted  on  all  hands  that  no  overt 
act  of  treason  was  ever  proved  against 
him. 

2.  Garnet  himself  admitted  that  he 
had  incurred  the  legal  guilt  of  mis- 
prision of  treason,  because  he  had 
concealed  the  general  knowledge 
which  he  derived  from  one  of  the 
conspirators,  that  a  treasonable  plot 
was  in  agitation. 

3.  It  is  moreover  admitted  that  he 
afterwards  became  acquainted  with 
the  particular  plot,  and  also  concealed 
that  knowledge  :  but  that  conceal- 
Eaent  he  justified  by  the  plea  that  the 
knowledge  came  to  him  under  the 
seal  of  sacramental  confession. 

4.  It  now  became  a  question 
whether  this  was  really  the  fact.  To 
discover  the  truth  he  was  made  to 
believe  that  Greenway,  whom  he  had 
aamed  as  his  informant,  had  been 
taken,  and  had  asserted  in  his  exa- 
mination that,  when  he  mentioned 
the  plot,  it  was  not  in  confession. 
Sarnet  now  appeared  to  waver  ;  and 
the  discrepancy  in  his  several  answers 
was  taken  for  the  tergiversation  of 
ane  who,  being  caught  in  a  falsehood, 
?eeks  by  evasion  to  escape  conviction, 
Yet  all  his  answers  amount  in  reality 

7 


to  the  same  thing ;  for  it  is  uni- 
versally understood  among  Catholics, 
that  if  a  confessor  consult  another 
theologian  respecting  any  case  made 
known  to  him  in  confession,  that 
person,  in  whatever  way  the  in- 
formation may  be  conveyed,  is  equally 
bound  to  secrecy  with  the  confessor 
himself.  Garnet's  answers  are  all 
founded  on  this  doctrine.  The  dis- 
crepancy arises  from  his  solicitude  not 
to  injure  Greenway  by  contradicting 
what  he  had  been  falsely  told  was  the 
confession  of  Greenway. 

5.  Supposing  then  the  statement  of 
Garnet  to  be  correct,  it  is  of  im- 
portance to  ascertain  at  what  time 
the  communication  was  made  to  him. 
If  in  the  month  of  July,  what  excuse 
can  be  alleged  for  the  indolent  secu- 
rity in  which  he  seems  to  have  passed 
the  months  of  August,  September, 
and  October  ?  He  had  indeed  no  au- 
thority over  any  but  the  members  of 
his  order  ;  he  could  not  control  the 
actions  of  Catesby  and  the  other  con- 
spirators ;  yet  so  great  was  the  in- 
fluence which  he  possessed  among 
them,  and  so  many  opportunities  must 
have  oiFered  themselves  of  exercising 
that  influence,  that  he  undoubtedly 
might,  if  he  had  been  so  inclined, 
have  discovered,  during  those  three 
months,  some  means  of  preventing  the 
attempt  without  danger  of  betraying 
the  secret.  But  is  it  then  certain 
T 


274 


APPENDIX. 


that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  plot 
in  July  ?  It  has,  indeed,  been  said 
that  "  Garnet  invariably  asserted, 
both  in  the  examinations  which  are 
yet  preserved,  and  also  in  his  defence, 
and  in  his  speech  from  the  scaffold, 
that  he  first  heard  of  the  plot  from 
Greenway  on  the  26th  of  July " 
(Jardine,  363) ;  and  certainly,  if  this 
statement  is  correct,  his  silence  and 
apathy  during  the  three  following 
months  will  furnish  a  strong  presump- 
tion against  him.  But  I  have  been 
unable  to  discover  any  proof  of  it, 
either  in  Garnet's  defence  at  his  trial, 
or  in  his  speech  at  his  execution.  It 
depends  solely  on  the  record  of  his 
confession  of  March  12,  in  which  he 
is  made  to  assign  "  St.  James's  tide  " 
as  the  date  of  the  communication 
from  Greenway  ;  a  confession,  how- 
ever, into  the  record  of  which  I  am 
convinced,  for  several  reasons,  that 
a  very  important  error  has  crept. 
For  1.  as  late  as  October  4,  he  wrote 
to  Persons  the  letter  in  Note  GGG,  in 
answer  to  one  inquiring  what  stirs 
were  in  agitation  among  Catholics. 
Now  it  is  plain,  from  the  tenour  of 
that  letter,  that  Garnet  was  then 
(October  4)  ignorant  of  any  parti- 
culars of  the  plot,  unless  we  suppose 
that  he  sought  by  equivocation  to 
impose  on  his  superiors  in  Rome, — a 
supposition  which  no  one  acquainted 
with  the  constitution  of  the  order  will 
be  disposed  to  admit.  2.  Accoi-ding 
both  to  Greenway  in  his  narrative, 
and  to  Eudaemon  Joannes,  who  de- 
rived his  information  directly  from 
Greenway,  it  was  after  the  return  of 
Garnet  from  St.  Winifred's  Well,  and 
consequently  in  October,  that  Green- 
way made  the  communication  to  him. 
3.  De  Thou,  who  wrote  from  docu- 
ments furnished  by  the  prosecutors, 
states  that  Garnet,  when  he  was  ex- 
amined respecting  his  interlocutions 
with  Oldcorne  and  consequently  after 
March  2,  confessed  that  he  learned 
the  particulars  from  Greenway  five 
months  before,  having  previously  to 
that  received  a  general  hint  of  the 
matter  from  Catesby  :  fateri  quidem 
se  ante  v.  menses  a  Grenwello  de  re 


omni  edoctum,  antea  in  genere  a 
Catesbeio  monitum  (vi.  344).  This 
testimony  therefore  places  the  com- 
munication also  in  October,  the  fifth 
month  before  March.  These  consi- 
derations induce  me  to  believe  that 
by  mistake  the  name  of  Greenway 
has  been  used  for  that  of  Catesby, 
and  that  "  St.  James's  tide,"  the 
date  assigned  to  the  communication 
by  Greenway  in  the  confession  of 
March  12,  was  in  reality  the  date  of 
the  communication  made  by  Catesby, 
which  gave  occasion  to  Garnet's  letter 
of  July  24,  in  Note  FFF  ;  and  that 
the  other  communication  was  made  to 
him  at  Harrowden  shortly  after  Octo- 
ber 20  ;  for  on  that  day  he  went  there 
on  a  visit  to  Lord  Vaux  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  two  aunts  of  that  noble- 
man, and  there  Catesby  and  Green- 
way met  him,  as  we  are  informed  by 
Greenway  himself. 

6.  But  how  did  Garnet  act  after 
he  had  become  acquainted  with  the 
particulars  of  the  plot  ?  He  goes  on 
the  last  day  of  the  month  with  Sir 
Everard  Digby  to  Cough  ton,  where 
that  conspirator  had  invited  several 
Catholic  gentlemen  to  meet  him  under 
pretence  of  hunting  at  Dunchurch,  on 
the  5th  of  November.  "What  could 
take  him  there  at  such  a  time  with 
the  knowledge  which  he  possessed- 
It  certainly  bears  a  suspicious  ap- 
pearance, and  Garnet  himself  was 
aware  of  it.  In  his  conversation  with 
Oldcorne  (Jardine,  220),  he  expresses 
his  anxiety  on  that  head  ;  and  in  s 
letter  to  Anne  Vaux  he  writes,  "The 
time  of  my  coming  to  Coughton  is  s 
great  presumption  ;  but  all  Catholics 
know  that  it  was  necessity." — Jar 
dine,  392.  WTiat,  tlien,  was  th»i 
necessity  ?  Coughton  was  his  ap 
pointed  station  for  the  festival  of  Al 
Saints  :  he  was  expected  there  by  th< 
different  CathoFic  families  in  thoBf 
parts :  all  who  used  his  minisfer} 
would  be  there  to  receive  the  sacn 
ment  from  him.  He  could  not  dis 
appoint  tliem  without  exciting  am(^ 
them  strange  surmises  as  to  the 
of  his  absence, 

7.  At  Coughton,  we  are  told, 


APPENDIX. 


27K 


he  prayed  to  be  "rid  of  heresy," 
and  called  upon  his  hearers  to  pray 
for  some  good  success  towards  the 
Catholic  cause, —  Oldcorne  examin. 
6th  March.  Handy  exara.  27th  Nov. 
The  spies,  who  overheard  his  conver- 
sation with  Oldcorne,  understood  him 
also  to  state  that  he  had  made  a  form 
of  prayer  and  a  hymn  for  the  success 
of  that  business.  —  Interlocution  of 
23rd  and  25th  Feb.  Jardine,  217, 
221.  In  this  there  is  much  mistake 
and  misrepresentation,  arising  per- 
haps from  the  difficulty  of  hearing ; 
for  the  form  of  prayer  was  one  in 
common  use,  and  the  hymn  had  been 
a  portion  of  the  service  of  the  day  for 
centuries.  It  is,  however,  plain  that 
Garnet  had  acted  very  imprudently  at 
Coughton,  probably  had  suifered  ex- 
pressions to  escape  him  which,  though 
sufficiently  obscure  then,  might  now 
prove  his  acquaintance  with  the 
plot ;  for  he  writes  to  Anne  Vaux, 
on  March  4th,  "  There  is  some  talk 
here  of  a  discourse  made  by  me  or 
Hall ;  I  fear  it  is  that  which  I  made 
at  Coughton." — Antil.  144. 

8.  There  was  something  extraor- 
dinary in  the  simplicity  or  credulity 
of  Garnet  whilst  he  remained  in  the 
Tower.  Aware  that  he  had  been 
duped  and  betrayed  by  the  men  who 
offered  to  him  their  services,  he 
suffered  himself  to  be  duped  and 
betrayed  to  the  very  end.  He  still 
continued  to  write  letters  ;  and  of  all 
these  there  was  not  perhaps  one  which 
did  not  come  into  the  hands  of  the 
lieutenant  :  many  served  as  proofs 
against  him,  and  one  acquired  con- 
siderable celebrity  after  his  death, 
from  the  use  made  of  it  by  the  writers 
whom  the  king  employed  to  persuade 

Causa,  qua  adductus  sum  agnoscere 
conscientiam  meam,  fuit  quod  me  ac- 
cusaverant  omnes  qui  antecesserant, 
Catesbeio  nomen  meum  obtendente, 
quo  aliis  persuaderet,  qui  me  multo 
magis  reum  existimarunt  quam  revera 
fueram  (p.  146). 

Porro  interceptae  sunt,  nescio  qua 
pei-fidia,  literae  mese  ad  Dmam  Annam 


foreign  nations  of  Garnet's  guilt. 
It  was  written  on  Palm  Sunday 
(April  13),  to  his  brethren  of  the 
society,  being  an  apology  for  his 
several  confessions  and  disclosures, 
which,  as  he  had  been  falsely  in- 
formed, had  scandalized  the  whole 
body  of  Catholics.  Dr.  Andrews,  at 
that  time  bishop  of  Chichester,  made 
from  it  a  selection  of  passages,  which 
he  published  in  his  Tortura  Torti, 
printed  in  London  in  1609,  and  in 
Hanau  in  1610.  The  same  were 
copied  from  the  work  of  Andrews  by 
Casaubon  in  his  Epistola  ad  Pronto- 
nem  Duceeum,  printed  in  London  in 
1611,  and  in  Prankfort  in  1612. 
Lastly  came  Dr.  Robert  Abbot, 
brother  to  the  archbishop,  who  added 
to  the  former  selection,  and  published 
the  whole  in  a  new  Latin  version  in 
1613.  In  former  editions  of  this  history, 
judging  from  the  specimen  exhibited 
by  Dr.  Andrews,  I  had  no  hesitation 
in  pronouncing  the  letter  a  forgery. 
The  remarks  of  Mr.  Jardine  (p.  328) 
have  induced  me  to  compare  the  two 
versions  ;  and  the  comparison  has  led 
me  to  the  conclusion,  not,  indeed, 
that  there  was  no  original,  but  that  so 
many  falsifications  inconsistent  with 
facts  were  introduced  into  the  trans- 
lation by  Dr.  Andrews,  that  I  was 
justified  in  supposing  that  there  was 
none. 

That  the  reader  may  judge  of  the 
arts  employed  to  confirm  the  convic- 
tion of  the  Jesuit,  he  may  compare 
the  parallel  passages  out  of  this  letter 
in  the  following  columns,  the  first 
taken  from  the  more  correct  version 
of  Dr.  Abbot,  the  other  from  the 
false  version  of  Dr.  Andrews,  pub- 
lished four  years  earlier : — 

Nam  quid  facerem  ?  1.  Accusa- 
bant  me  reliqui  omnes  conjurati. 
2.  Catisbseus  usus  semper  apud  eos 
fuerat  auctoritate  mea,  qua  adduxit 
pene  omnes  ut  bene  sentirent  de  negotio, 
quo  factum  est  ut  ad  unum  omnes  me 
haberent  pro  reo  (p.  426). 

Litera3  etiam  a  me  aurantiarum 
succo  scriptse  ad  D.  Annam,  nescio 
T  2 


276 


APPENDIX. 


aurantiarum  succo  scrip  tse,  per  quas 
adversum  me  aliquid  ansa  arripue- 
runt,  quanquam  sine  causa. — Ibid. 

Atque  hie  coactus  sum  quoque  no- 
minare  Grenwellum  ;  quod  nunquam 
fecissem,  nisi  mihi  pro  certo  dictum 
fuisset  ab  amico  eum  in  partes  ultra- 
marinas,  evasisse.  Quod  nisi  ita  sen- 
sissem,  colligere  me  oportuisset,  sen- 
sas  meos  ad  aliam  formalem  fabulara 
excogitandam. — Ibid. 

Re  ita,  ut  factum  est,  habente, 
necessarium  erat.  Prime  namque 
non  poteram  a  conjuratorum  aliquo 
mutuatara  dicere  notitiam  meam  : 
hoc  enim  contrarium  erat  religiosis- 
slmis  protestationibus  meis,  quas 
scripto  feceram  Catholicis  omnibus, 
et  verbo  consiliariis  regiis. — Ibid. 

It  cannot  escape  the  notice  of  the 
reader  that  the  many  eiToneous  ren- 
derings in  the  translation  of  Dr.  An- 
drews are  wilful,  all  being  made  for 
the  purpose  of  aggravating  the  guilt 
of  Garnet.  Dr.  Abbot's  translation 
has  the  appearance  of  being  much 
more  correct,  though  he  also  seems 
not  to  have  felt  any  objection  to  the 
employmeHt  of  a  little  fraud,  when 
its  object  was  to  blacken  the  cha- 
racter of  a  Jesuit.  This  is  manifest 
from  his  attempt  to  persuade  his 
readers  that  Anne  Vaux  was  the 
mistress  of  Garnet.  With  this  view 
he  copies  certain  apparently  endear- 
ing expressions  from  her  letters,  and 
makes  her  sign  them  with  the  ini- 
tials A.  G.,  as  if  she  had  taken  Gar- 
net's name,  and  looked  upon  herself 
as  his  wife  (Antil.  135) ;  whereas  her 
words  are  only  expressive  of  her  grief 
to  be  deprived  of  one  who  had  been 
for  many  years  her  spiritual  director  ; 
and  her  real  signature  (for  these  let- 
ters are  still  in  the  State  Paper  Office) 
is  not  A.  G.,  but,  as  Mr.  Jardine 
has  remarked  (p.  200),  A.  V.,  or 
Anne  Vaux. 

There  is  in  the  same  letter,  written 
on  Palm  Sunday,  a  passage  which 
appears  to  me  to  explain  the  whole 
of  Garnet's  conduct.  "Always,"  he 
Bays,  "  I  condemned  the  plot  abso- 
ItUdy  in  my  own  mind;  and  my  opi- 


quomodo,  in  illorum  manus  pervene- 
runt,  quibiis  scientiam  meam  non  ob- 
scure confessus  eram. — Ibid. 

De  accusato  Grenwello  ita  respon- 
dit,  sibi  quidem,  si  fuga  sibi  consu- 
luisset  OrenweLlus  (putabat  enim  turn 
captum  et  in  custodia) ;  aliam  aliquam 
rationem  ineundam  esse,  atque  fabu- 
1am  aliam  formalem  sibi  fingendam 
esse. — Ibid. 

Cum  enim  rem  scire  me  jam  scirent 
omnes,  aliunde  petenda  mihi  fuit  origo 
cognitionis  meae.  A  conspiratoribus 
laicis  non  poteram  ;  quod  ssepe  illis 
dicto,  scripto,  sancte  protestatus  es- 
sem  me  illos  non  proditiirwn  v/nquam 
(p.  427). 


nion  generally  was,  that  all  stirs 
against  the  king  were  unlawful,  be- 
cause the  axithority  of  the  pope,  who 
had  forbidden  all  such  attempts,  was 
wanting.  And  of  this  my  opinion  I 
have  many  witnesses,  with  whom  I 
have  reasoned  on  the  subject,  though  I 
did  not  dare  absolutely  to  condemn  tlie 
opinions  of  otJters,  or  to  take  away  the 
liberty  which  many  theologians  allow 
to  Catholics,  though  against  my  opi- 
nion."— Antil.  146.  The  fact  was, 
that  Garnet  followed  the  doctrine  of 
probabilism.  He  did  not  conceal  his 
own  sentiments,  but  he  refused  to 
condemn  those  who  thought  them- 
selves justified  in  adopting  the  oppo- 
site opinion. 

9.  In  1675  certain  letters  were  dis- 
covered, written  from  the  Tower  by 
Digby  to  his  wife,  but  intended  for 
Gerard.  In  them  he  expresses  his 
surprise  and  sorrow  that  the  design 
should  be  condemned  by  the  Catho- 
lics and  missionaries  in  general,  and 
declares  that  he  would  never  have 
engaged  in  it  had  he  not  been  per- 
suaded that  it  was  lawful.  "  It  was 
my  certain  belief  that  those  which 
were  best  able  to  judge  of  the  lawful- 
ness of  it  had  been  acquainted  with 
it,  and  given  way  unto  it.  More  rea- 
sons I  had  to  persuade  to  this  l)elir* 
than  I  dare  utter,  which  I  will  ne 
to   the  suspicion   of   any,  though 


1 


APPENDIX. 


277 


should  be  to  the  rack  for  it." — Gun- 
powder Treason,  edition  of  1679, 
p.  242.  In  reference  to  the  same 
subject  he  proceeds  in  a  subsequent 
letter  :  "  I  do  answer  your  speech 
with  Mr.  Brown  thus.  Before  that 
I  knew  anything  of  this  plot,  I  did 
ask  Mr.  Farmer  (Garnet)  what  the 
meaning  of  the  pope's  brief  was." 
(This  brief  was  sent  to  Garnet  on 
the  19th  of  July,  1G03,  in  conse- 
quence of  Watson's  treason,  which  I 
mention  because  a  very  erroneous 
meaning  has  been  given  to  the  passage 
in  Miss  Aikin's  Court  of  James  I.) 
"  He  told  me  they  were  not,  meaning  [ 
priests,  to  undertake  to  procure  any 
stirrs  :  but  yet  they  would  not  hinder 
any  (neither  was  it  the  pope's  mind 
they  should),  that  should  be  under- 
taken for  Catholick  good.  I  did 
never  utter  thus  much,  nor  would 
not  but  to  you  :  and  this  answer, 
with  Mr.  Catesbye's  proceedings  with 
him  and  me,  gave  me  absolute  belief 
that  the  matter  in  general  was  ap- 
proved, though  every  particular  was 
not  known"  (p.  250,  251).  Hence 
it  appears  to  have  been  the  persuasion 
of  Digby  that  Garnet  approved  of  the 
plot.  But  had  he  any  assurance  of 
it?  It  is  plain  that  he  had  not. 
'As  I  did  not  know  directly  that  it 
was  approved  by  such,  so  did  I  hold 
it  in  my  conscience  the  best  not  to 
know  any  more  if  I  might"  (p.  242). 
This  concession  appears  to  take  away 
the  force  of  his  previous  testimony. 

With  respect  to  Greenway,  it  is 
certain  that  he  knew  of  the  secret  in 
confession;  but  of  this  the  ministers 
wore  unacquainted  at  the  time  of  the 
proclamation.  The  grounds  of  the 
charge  against  him  were  the  follow- 
ing : — 1.  According  to  the  attorney- 
general  at  the  trial,  Bates  had  ac- 
knowledged that  he  mentioned  the 
matter  to  Greenway,  and  received 
from  him  instructions  to  do  whatever 
his  master  should  order.  On  the 
other  side  Greenway,  in  a  paper  which 
lies  before  me,  declares  on  his  salva- 
tion that  Bates  never  spoke  one  word 
to  him  on  the  subject,  either  in  or 
out  of  confession  :  and  Bates  himself, 


in  a  letter  written  before  he  suffered, 
asserts  that  he  merely  said  it  was  his 
suspicion  that  Greenway  might  have 
known  something  of  the  plot.  2.  On 
the  6th  of  November,  Greenway  rode 
to  the  conspirators  at  Huddington, 
and  administered  to  them  the  sacra- 
ment. He  replies  that,  having  learned 
from  a  letter  written  by  Sir  Everard 
to  Lady  Digby,  the  danger  in  which 
they  were,  he  deemed  it  a  duty  to 
offer  to  them  the  aids  of  religion  be- 
fore they  suffered  that  death  which 
threatened  them ;  that  for  this  purpose 
he  rode  to  Huddington,  and  then, 
after  a  few  hours,  left  them  for  the 
house  of  Mr.  Abingdon,  at  Henlip. 
Greenway  escaped  to  Flanders. 

The  charge  against  Gerard  rested 
at  first  on  the  very  slender  foundation 
I  already  mentioned  in  chapter  1st, 
p.  24,  note.  The  moment  it  was 
made,  he  loudly  proclaimed  his  inno- 
cence, and  in  several  letters  demanded 
justice  from  the  lords  in  the  council. 
Six-and-twenty  years  later  the  charge 
was  revived  against  him  by  Anthony 
Smith,  a  secular  clergyman,  who 
made  affidavit  before  Dr.  Smith, 
bishop  of  Chalcedon  and  vicar-apo- 
stolic in  England,  that  in  his  hearing 
Gerard  had  said,  in  the  novitiate  at 
Liege,  that  he  worked  in  the  mine 
with  the  lay  conspirators  till  his 
clothes  were  as  wet  with  perspiration 
as  if  they  had  been  dipped  in  water ; 
and  that  the  general  condemnation  of 
the  plot  was  chiefly  owing  to  its  bad 
success,  as  had  often  happened  to  the 
attempts  of  unfortunate  generals  in 
war. — MS.  copy,  dated  April  17, 
1631.  On  the  contrary,  Gerard,  being 
called  upon  by  his  superiors,  again 
proclaimed  his  innocence,  asserted  it 
on  oath,  and  took  the  sacrament  upon 
it  :  and  it  may  be  thought  some, 
though  not  very  conclusive  proof  in 
his  favour,  that  Faukes,  in  his  exa- 
mination on  the  8th  of  November, 
says  that  "  none  but  gentlemen 
worked  in  the  mine." — Original  in 
the  State  Paper  Office.  For  my  own 
part,  after  having  read  what  he  wrote 
in  his  own  vindication,  I  cannot  doubt 
his  innocence,  and  suspect  that  Smith 


278 


APPENDIX. 


unintentionally  attributed  to  him 
what  he  had  heard  him  say  of  some 
other  person. 

I  will  only  add  that  implicit  faith 
is  not  to  be  given  even  to  the  docu- 
ments published  by  the  government. 
Winter  is  said  to  have  confessed  that 
Faukes  went  to  Flanders  with  the 
intention  of  communicating  the  plot  to 
Owen. — Gunpowder  Treason,  p.  56. 
Faukes  is  also  made  to  assert  the 
same.      "  I   retired    into    the    Low 


Countreys  "  by  advice  and  direction  of 
the  rest,  as  well  to  acquaint  Owen  with 
the  particulars  of  the  plot,  as  also  least 
by  ray  longer  stay  I  might  have 
grown  suspicious." — Ibid,  42.  The 
original  of  Winter's  confession  is  lost ; 
that  of  Faukes  is  still  in  the  State 
Paper  OflSce,  but  I  understand  that 
it  does  not  contain  the  passage  which 
is  printed  in  italics.  Two  other 
instances  are  noticed  by  Mr.  Jar- 
dine,  p.  6. 


NOTE  III,  p.  51. 


This  controversy  brought  to  light 
a  feet  which  James  was  most  anxious 
to  conceal. 

The  reader  is  aware  of  the  two 
papal  breves  which  had  been  issued 
by  Clement  VIII.  in  contemplation 
of  the  approaching  death  of  Eliza- 
beth. I  cannot  discover  that  any 
copies  of  these  breves  exist  ;*  but  from 
a  copy  of  the  letter  which  accom- 
panied them,  when  they  were  sent 
to  the  nuncio  at  Brussels,  may  be 
formed  a  pretty  correct  notion  of 
their  purport.  "Ad  Anglos  Ca- 
thohcos,"  says  the  pontiff,  "  scripsi- 
mus,  eosque  efficaciter  hortati  sumus 
ut,  si  unquam  alias,  nunc  maxime 
Concordes  et  unanimes  sint,  ac  qui- 
busvis  terrenis  affectibus  et  per- 
turbationibus  semotis,  ad  solam  Dei 
gloriam,  veram  regni  utilitatem,  et 
fidei  Catholicas  conservationem  aspi- 
ciant :  neque  se  ad  haereticorum 
consilia  adjungi,  eorumve  dolls  et 
astu  se  de  sua  constantia  dimoveri  pa- 
tiantur.  Scripsimus  etiam  et  Archi- 
praesbyterxim  Angliae  ejusque  as- 
siatentes,  et  caeterum  clerum,  ut  tam 
necessariam  Catholicorum,  proesertim 
nobilium,  unionem  sumnio  studio  con- 
sei-vent,  eosque  omni  officii  genere 
permoveant,    ne  cui   suffragentur  in 


•  [Thia  is  an  oversight  on  the  part  of  Dr. 
Lingard,  who  appears  to  have  forgotten 
that  one  of  these  breves  had  been  printed 


hoc  gravissimo  negotio,  nisi  vere  Ca- 
tholico,  ut  quod  summopere  in  Do- 
mino cupimus,  sancta  et  salutaris 
novi  regis  creatio,  Dei  adjutrice  gratia, 
sequatur." — MS.  letter. 

Of  the   breves   James    had    com- 
plained as  prejudicial  to  his  right  tc 
the   crown ;    and  BeUarmine  in   his 
reply,  under  the  name  of  Matthasus 
Tortus,   took   occasion   to  publish  c 
letter  written  by  the  king  himself  tc 
Clement  VIII.  in  1599,  in  which  h< 
solicited  the  dignity  of  cardinal  for  i 
Scottish  Catholic,  the  bishop  of  Vai 
zon,   and  subscribed   himself,   Beati 
tudinis  vestrae  obsequentissimus  filiuB 
J.  R.  (See  it  in  Rushworth,  i.  166. 
This  was  a  stroke  for  which  Jame 
was  not  prepared  ;  at  first  he  sanl 
under  it,  he  saw  himself  convicted  o 
duplicity  or  perfidy  in  the  eyes  of  al 
Europe.      As  his   only   resource  h 
determined  to  deny  the  fact.     Bal 
merino,    his  secretary   at   the   tim€ 
was  summoned  before  the  council,  an 
after   several    examinations,    at    th 
last  of  which  the  king  himself  attende 
unseen,   yet  within  hearing,  he  coi 
sen  ted   to  acknowledge  that  he  ha 
artfully  procured  the  royal  signatur 
to  the  letter,  but  at  the  same  tim 
had  kept  his  sovereign  in  ignoranc 


Ereviouslv  by  Mr.  Tierney,  in  hid  edition 
»odd,  vol.  iv.  Appendix,  p.  cvi.] 


APPENDIX. 


279 


both  of  its  contents  and  of  its  ad- 
dress. 

If  we  inquire  more  nearly  into  the 
artifice  which  he  was  supposed  to 
have  employed  for  this  purpose,  we 
shall  pronounce  the  story  totally 
unworthy  of  credit.  Balmerino  was 
made  to  confess  that,  finding  he  could 
not  prevail  on  the  king  to  open  a 
correspondence  with  the  pope,  he  pro- 
cured a  letter  to  be  composed  by 
Edward  Drummond ;  this,  at  a  mo- 
ment when  James  was  about  to  mount 
his  horse  on  a  hunting-party,  was 
laid  in  the  midst  of  several  other 
despatches  before  him,  and  the  king, 
in  the  hurry,  signed  it  together  with 
the  others  in  total  ignorance  of  its 
object. 

This  is  sufficiently  improbable ;  but 
let  us  ask  what  were  the  other 
despatches  ?  They  were  letters  to 
the  dukes  of  Florence  and  Savoy, 
and  to  the  cardinals  Aldobrandini, 
Bellarmine,  and  Cajetan,  at  Rome, 
So  much  it  was  necessary  to  admit, 
otherwise  Bellarmine  would  have 
published  them.  Now  what  could 
induce  the  king  to  write  to  these 
three  cardinals  1  The  answer  is,  that 
he  never  meant  to  do  so  ;  that  the 
letters  were  placed  before  him  with- 
out any  address,  and  signed  by  him 
under  the  notion  that  they  would  be 
forwarded  to  the  cardinals  of  the 
house  of  Guise,  his  maternal  rela- 
tions ;  that  they  were  thus  sent  in 
one  packet  to  the  archbishop  of  Glas- 
gow,  his  ambassador  at  the  court  of 


France,  and  directed  by  that  prelate, 
without  any  authority  from  the  king, 
to  the  three  cardinals  Aldobrandini, 
Bellarmine,  and  Cajetan ! — See  Bal- 
merino's  confession,  or  rather  the 
declaration  which  was  composed  for 
him  to  sign,  in  Tortura  Torti,  p.  288. 

No  man  can  read  this  story  with- 
out pronouncing  it  at  once  a  collec- 
tion of  falsehoods.  Indeed  it  was  so 
understood  at  the  time.  "  He  con- 
fessed simulatly,  as  was  thought  by 
thesse  that  best  wnderstood  the 
courte,  and  hou  matters  then  went, 
to  liberat  the  king  of  suche  gross- 
nes." — Balfour,  ii.  29. 

In  consequence  of  his  confession, 
Balmerino's  name  was  erased  from  the 
list  of  privy  councillors  in  England, 
and  he  was  sent  to  be  tried  in  Scot- 
land, where  he  received  judgment  of 
death.  "  Bot  by  the  king's  secrett 
commands  to  the  earle  of  Dumbar, 
he  was  againe  remitted  to  the  cus- 
todey  of  the  lord  Scone,  as  a  closse 
prissoner,  to  be  keipt  at  Falkland  ; 
and  from  thence  was  enlarged  and 
confyned  to  his  auen  housses  in 
Angus  shyre,  and  Balmerinoche  in 
Fyffe  shyre,  quher  he  deyed  of  a 
feuer  and  waicknes  in  the  stomache, 
some  few  mounthes  after  the  death 
of  his  arch-enimey  and  competitor, 
Ceicill,  earl  of  Salisburrey  (after 
quhome),  if  aney  tyme  he  had  sur- 
wiued  (as  was  talked  by  them  that 
best  knew  the  king's  mynd),  he  had 
beine  in  grater  crydit  with  his  master 
than  euer." — Balfour,  ii.  30. 


NOTE  KKK,  p.  120. 


The  chief  object  of  Bennet's  mission 
to  Rome  was  to  obtain  a  bishop  to 
preside  over  the  English  Catholic 
church.  The  secular  clergy  had  re- 
peatedly remonstrated  against  the 
government  by  an  archpriest  ;  but, 
though  their  case  was  supported  by 
the  favourable  testimony  of  Barbe- 
rini.   the    nuncio    at    Paris,   and   of 


Bentivoglio,  the  nuncio  at  Brussels, 
they  did  not  succeed  before  the 
death  of  Harrison,  the  second  arch- 
priest  after  Blackwall.  Then  Bennet, 
accompanied  by  Farrar,  another  cler- 
gyman, pressed  the  matter  on  the 
attention  of  Gregory  XV.,  the  reign- 
ing pope.  Their  principal  advocate 
was  Cardinal  Bandini,    who   argued 


APPENDIX. 


that  every  church,  by  the  institution 
of  Christ,  ought  to  be  placed  under 
the  superintendence  of  bishops  ;  that, 
had  episcopal  government  been  esta- 
blished among  the  English  Catholics, 
the  disputes  of  the  missionaries,  the 
unadvised  attempts  against  the  state, 
and  even  the  gunpowder  plot,  would 
in  all  probability  have  been  pre- 
vented ;  and  that,  unless  the  request 
of  the  clergy  were  granted,  the  French 
prelates,  and  particularly  the  arch- 
bishop of  Rouen,  who  had  already 
made  some  attempts,  would  take  upon 
themselves  the  chief  care  of  the  Eng- 
lish church.  He  was  opposed  by 
Cardinal  Mellini,  who  contended  that 
episcopal  government  was  not  essen- 
tial to  the  existence  of  a  provincial 
church ;  that  to  introduce  it  into 
England  would  be  to  expose  the 
Catholics  to  additional  severities  ; 
and  that  the  connection  already  ex- 
isting between  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish clergy  made  it  probable  that  the 
latter,  if  placed  under  a  bishop,  would 
make  common  cause,  and  demand  the 
same  privileges  with  the  former.  The 
petition  of  Bennet  was  strongly  sup- 
ported by  the  French  and  Spanish 
ambassadors  ;  and  the  pope  had  ex- 
pressed a  disposition  to  gratify  the 
clergy,  when  the  adversaries  of  the 
measure,  as  a  last  resource,  appealed 
to  the  fears  and  jealousies  of  James. 
Toby  Matthews,  pretending  an  un- 


willingness that  any  arrangement 
should  be  adopted  which  might  prove 
disagreeable  to  the  king,  revealed  the 
whole  proceeding  to  the  council. 
James  was  not  deceived  as  to  his 
motive  (see  a  letter  in  Cabala,  292, 
and  others  in  Bacon's  works,  vol.  vi.) ; 
but  he  communicated  to  the  pontiff 
through  the  Spanish  ambassador,  his 
resolution  never  to  admit  a  Catholic 
bishop  into  his  dominions.  Gregory 
hesitated  ;  instead  of  four  bishops, 
he  appointed  only  one  ;  and,  that  the 
new  prelate  might  be  less  objection- 
able, he  selected  for  the  office  Dr. 
Bishop,  who  had  formerly  signed  the 
celebrated  protestation  of  allegiance 
in  the  last  year  of  Elizabeth.  Still, 
as  it  was  doubtful  how  far  the  king 
might  yield,  or  the  bishop  himself 
might  form  connections  with  the 
French  prelates,  he  made  him  re- 
vocable at  pleasure.  He  was  conse- 
crated in  France,  and  received  power 
to  exercise  episcopal  authority  over 
the  Catholics  of  England  and  Scot- 
land. But  the  Scots  immediately 
remonstrated  ;  they  never  had  been, 
they  never  would  be,  subject  to  an 
English  prelate ;  and  Gregory,  to 
satisfy  this  national  jealousy,  ordered 
Bishop  to  abstain,  till  further  orders, 
from  pretending  to  any  jurisdiction 
within  the  kingdom  of  Scotland. — 
MSS.  penes  me. 


NOTE  LLL,  p.  laS. 


Rush  worth  and  Prynne  complain 
bitterly  of  the  indulgence  granted  to 
recusants  in  their  compositions.  The 
fact  was,  that  the  fine  to  the  pro- 
prietor in  the  first  instance  was  mode- 
rate in  comparison  with  the  penalty 
due  by  the  law.  But  every  estate 
was  burthened  with  a  great  number  of 
annuities  to  diflFerent  branches  of  the 
family,  and  of  these,  as  they  fell  in, 
one-third  was  secured  to  the  crown. 
I  will  give,  for  an  example  the  compo- 


sition of  Mr.  Tankard,  of  Borough 
bridge,  and  have  selected  it  becaust 
it  was  one  of  those  selected  by  Rush 
worth  as  a  subject  of  complaint. 

{  Sessio  Commiss.  apud  \ 

Com.      )  Maner.              f 

Ebor.      )  Dni  Regis,  &c.  16°  die  ( 

(  Octob.  An.  1630.       ) 

"Thomas  Tankard  of  Borowb 
in  the  county  of  York  Esqr.  hath 
day  compounded  with  his  majes 


1 


APPENDIX. 


commissioners  for  himself  and  Frances 
his  wife,  for  all  his  manors,  lands, 
tenements,  and  hereditaments  with 
their  appurtenances  in  the  county  of 
York,  for  the  sum  of  sixty-six  pounds, 
thirteen  shillings  four  pence  in  pre- 
sent. And  after  the  determination 
of  an  annual  rent  of  lOOZ.  payable  to 
Roger  Beckwith  of  Alborough,  the 
sum  of  33Z.  6s.  8d.  more.  And  after 
the  death  of  Merial  Tankard  of  Cop- 
grave  widow,  the  sum  of  3Sl.  6s.  8d. 
more.  And  after  the  determination 
of  an  annuity  to  Maiy  Tankard  his 
sister,  the  sura  of  161.  13s.  4d.  more. 
And  after  the  determination  of  an 
annuity  of  SOL  payable  to  Catherine 
Tankard,  sister  of  him  the  said 
Thomas  Tankard,  till  the  sum  of  six 
hundred  pounds  be  paid,  261.  13s.  4d. 
more.  And  after  the  determination 
an  annuity  of  101.  payable  to  Chris- 
topher Lancaster  of  Crabtrees  in  the 
county  of  Westmoreland  during  his 
life,  the  sum  of  SI.  6s.  8d.  more. 
And  after  the  determination  of  an 
annuity  of  101.  payable  unto  Hugh 
Tankard  during  his  life,  the  sum  of 


Zl.  6s.  8d.  more.  And  after  the 
determination  of  an  annuity  of  101. 
payable  to  Peter  North  after  the 
expiration  of  15  years  beginning 

dl.  6s.  8d.  more.  And  after  the 
determination  of  an  annuity  payable 
to  Ralph  Ellis  during  his  life,  the  sum 
oiBl.  6s.  8d.  more.  All  which  several 
sums  as  they  shall  fall  due,  are  to 
be  paid  at  Martinm.ass  and  Wliitson- 
tide  by  equal  portions.  And  to  give 
bond  for  the  first  half  year's  rent 
accordingly,  as  also  for  the  payment 
of  one  whole  year's  rent,  which  was 
due  unto  his  majesty  at  Martinraass 
An.  1629,  and  Whitsontide  1630. 
All  his  arreages  are  included  in  this 
composition." 

This  estate  was  forfeited  under  the 
Commonwealth,  and  Rushworth,  who 
thought  two  hundred  pounds  a  year 
too  small  a  fine  to  be  paid  by  the 
Catholic  proprietor  on  account  of  his 
religion,  was  not  ashamed  to  value 
the  fee  simple  at  no  more  than  six 
hundred  pounds.  He  purchased  it 
for  that  sum.  —  MS.  copies  of  the 
compositions  penes  me. 


NOTE  MMM,  p.  219. 


This  is  plain  from  the  following 
letter  of  the  king  to  the  earl  of  Niths- 
dale,  preserved  in  the  charter-room 
at  Terregles :  — 

**  Nithisdaill, — It  is  now  time  for 
me  to  bidd  you  looke  to  yourselfe  : 
for  longer  then  the  13  of  the  next 
month"  (the  day  on  which  the  Eng- 
lish parliament  was  to  meet)  "  I  will 
not  warrant  you  but  that  ye  will 
hear  of  a  breache  betwixt  me  and  my 
covenanting  rebelles.  Of  this  I  have 
written  to  the  marquiss  Douglas, 
but  under  condition  of  secresy,  the 
wh  lykewais  I  requ3n'e  of  you.    Onlie 


I  permit  you  with  the  same  caution 
to  advertise  Winton  :  For  the  rest 
referring  you  to  this  bearer  (who 
knows  nothing  of  the  substance  of 
this  letter),  I  rest  your  assured 
friend,  "  Charles  R. 

'*  Whytehall  the  27  March 
"1640. 
''Assistance  by  the  grace  of  God 
ye  shall  have,  and  as  soon  as  I  may, 
but  when,  as  yet  I  cannot  certainly 
tell  you." 

But  assistance  the  unfortunate  earl 
had  not. 


282 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  NNN,  pp.  254  and  263. 


The  reader  will  perhaps  be  sur- 
prised that  I  have  not  alluded  to  the 
immense  multitude  of  English  Pro- 
testants said  to  have  been  massacred 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion. 
I  am  perfectly  aware  that  Clarendon 
speaks  "of  forty  or  fifty  thousand 
murdered  before  they  suspected  them- 
selves to  be  in  any  danger,  or  could 
provide  for  their  own  defence  by 
drawing  together  in  towns  or  strong 
houses"  (Clarendon,  i.  299.  See 
also  his  History  of  the  Irish  Rebel- 
lion) ;  that  a  nameless  writer,  copied 
by  Nalson,  says  that  the  insurgents 
*'  within  a  few  days  murdered  an 
incredible  number  of  Protestants, 
men,  women,  and  children,  indiscri- 
minately" (Nalson,  ii.  591) ;  that 
May  asserts  "  that  the  persons  of 
above  200,000  men,  women,  and 
children  were  murdered,  many  of 
them  with  exquisite  and  unheard-of 
tortures,  within  the  space  of  one 
month"  (May  18);  and  that  the  same 
has  been  repeated  by  writers  without 
number.  But  such  assertions  appear 
to  me  rhetorical  flourishes,  rather 
than  historical  statements.  They  are 
not  founded  on  authentic  documents. 
They  lead  the  reader  to  suppose  that 
the  rebels  had  formed  a  plan  to  sur- 
prise and  murder  all  the  Protestant 
inhabitants  ;  whereas  the  fact  was, 
that  they  sought  to  recover  the  lands 
which,  in  the  last  and  in  the  present 
reign,  had  been  taken  firom  them  and 
given  to  the  English  planters.  They 
warned  the  intruders  to  be  gone  ; 
they  expelled  them  from  the  planta- 
tions ;  they  seized  their  goods,  and 
burnt  their  houses.  That  in  the  pro- 
secution of  this  object  many  lives 
would  be  lost  on  both  sides  is  evi- 
dent. As  early  as  October  27,  Colonel 
Crawford  killed  three  hundred  Irish 
with  his  cavalry  without  the  loss  of  a 
man,  and  on  the  28th  Colonel  Mat- 
thews slaughtered  above  one  hundred 
and  fifty  more   "  starting  them  like 


hares  out  of  the  bushes"  (Carte,  i 
186);  and  on  the  other  hand,  manj 
insulated  acts  of  murder  by  the  rebels 
prompted  chiefly  by  the  revenge  o 
individuals,  occurred.  But  that  nc 
premeditated  design  of  a  genera 
massacre  existed,  and  that  no  sucl 
massacre  was  made,  is  evident  fron 
the  official  despatches  of  the  lord 
justices  during  the  months  of  October 
November,  and  December. 

1.  We  have  their  despatches  of  Octo 
ber  the  25th,  with  the  accompanying 
documents  (Lords'  Journals,  iv.  412 
Nalson,  ii.  514 — 523),  but  in  thest 
there  is  no  mention  of  any  one  murder 
After  detaiUng  the  rising  and  plun 
dering  by  the  insurgents,  they  add 
"this,  though  too  much,  is  all  tha 
we  yet  hear  is  done  by  them." — Jour 
nals,  Ibid.     Nalson,  ii.  516. 

2.  In  a  letter  to  the  privy  council 
of  November  15,  they  thus  describ* 
the  conduct  of  the  rebels:  "The> 
have  seized  the  houses  and  estates  o 
almost  all  the  English  in  the  coimtie 
of  Monaghan,  Cavan,  Fermanagh,  Ar 
magh,  Tirone,  Donegal,  Leitrim,  Long 
ford,  and  a  great  part  of  the  county  o 
Downe,  some  of  which  are  houses  o 
good  strength,  and  dispossessed  th« 
English  of  their  arms,  and  some  o 
the  English  gentlemen  whose  house 
they  seized  (even  without  any  resist 
ance  in  regard  of  the  suddenness  o 
their  surprise),  the  rebels  most  bar 
barously,  not  only  murdered,  but,  a 
we  are  informed,  hewed  some  of  then 
to  pieces.  They  surprised  the  greates 
part  of  a  horse  troop  of  his  majestie 
army,  commanded  by  the  lord  Gran 
dison,  in  the  county  of  Armagh,  ani 
possessed  themselves  of  their  arms 
They  apprehended  the  lord  Caulfield 
and  Sir  Edward  Trevor,  a  member  o 
this  board,  and  Sir  Charles  Pointes,  am 
Mr.  Branthwait,  agent  to  the  earl  o 
Essex,  and  a  great  number  of  ot" 
gentlemen  of  good  quahty  of 
English  in  several  paiU,  whom  tl 


APPENDIX. 


283 


still  keep  prisoners  ;  as  also  the  lord 
Blayney's  lady  and  children,  and  divers 
other  ladies  and  gentlewomen.  They 
have  ^yasted,  destroyed,  and  spoyled 
wheresoever  they  came,  and  now 
their  fury  begins  to  threaten  the 
English  plantations  in  the  Queen's 
county  and  King's  county,  and,  by 
their  example,  the  sheriff  of  the 
county  of  Longford,  a  native  and 
papist,  is  likewise  risen  in  arms,  and 
followed  by  the  Irish  there,  where 
they  rob,  spoyl,  and  destroy  the  Eng- 
lish with  great  cruelty. 

'^  In  these,  their  assaults  of  the 
English,  they  have  slain  many,  robbed 
and  spoyled  thousands,  reduced  men  of 
good  estates  in  lands,  who  lived  plen- 
tifully and  well,  to  such  a  condition  as 
they  left  them  not  so  much  as  a  shirt 
to  cover  their  nakedness.  They 
turned  out  of  their  estates  many  of 
considerable  fortunes  in  goods,  and 
left  them  in  great  want  and  misery, 
and  even  the  Irish  servants  and  te- 
nants of  the  English,  who  lived  under 
them,  rise  against  them  with  great 
malignity,  and  joyn  wdth  the  rebels. 
They  defaced  the  chargeable  build- 
ings and  profitable  improvements  of 
the  English,  to  their  uttermost  power. 
They  threaten  all  the  English  to  be 
gone  by  a  time,  or  they  will  destroy 
them  utterly  ;  and  indeed  they  give 
out  publickly  that  their  purpose  is 
totally  to  extirp  the  Enghsh  and  Pro- 
testants, and  not  to  lay  down  arms 
until,  by  act  of  parliament  here,  the 
Romish  religion  be  established,  and 
that  the  government  be  settled  in 
the  hands  of  the  natives,  and  all  the 
old  Irish  restored  to  the  lands  of 
their  supposed  ancestors." — Nalson, 
p.  889. 

3.  In  another  of  the  same  date,  to 
be  read  in  the  house  of  Commons, 
they  express  themselves  thus  :  "By 
killing  and  destroying  so  many  English 
and  Protestants  in  several  parts,  by 
robbing  and  spoyling  of  them,  and 
many  thousands  more  of  his  majesties 
good  subjects,  by  seizing  so  many 
castles,  houses,  and  places  of  strength, 
in  several  parts  of  the  kingdom,  by 
threatening  the  English  to  depart,  or 


otherwise  they  will  destroy  them 
utterly ;  and  all  their  wickedness 
acted  against  the  English  and  Pro- 
testants with  so  much  inhumanity 
and  cruelty,  as  cannot  be  imagined 
to  come  from  Christians,  even  towards 
infidels."— Ibid.  p.  893. 

4.  In  the  fourth,  of  November  25, 
they  describe  the  progress  of  the 
rebellion.  "In  both  counties,  as 
well  Wickloe  as  Wexford,  all  the 
castles  and  houses  of  the  English, 
with  all  their  substance,  are  come 
into  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and  the 
English,  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren strip'd  naked,  and  banished 
thence  by  their  fury  and  rage.  The 
rebels  in  the  county  of  Longford  do 
still  increase  also,  as  well  as  in  their 
numbers  as  in  their  violence.  The 
Ulster  rebels  are  grow^n  so  strong,  as 
they  have  sufiicient  men  to  leave 
behind  them  in  the  places  they  have 
gotten  northward,   and  to  lay  siege 

to   some  not  yet  taken They 

have  already  taken  Mellifont,  the 
lord  Moor's  house,  though  with  the 
loss  of  about  120  men  of  theirs,  and 
there  (in  cold  blood)  they  murdered 
ten  of  those  that  manfully  defended 

that    place In    the   county    of 

Meath  also the  rebels  rob  and 

spoil  the  English  Protestants  till 
within  six  miles  of  Dublin." — Ibid. 
900,  901. 

5.  We  have  a  fifth  despatch,  of 
Nov.  27th: — "  The  disturbances  are 
now  grown  so  general,  that  in  most 
places,  and  even  round  about  this 
city,  within  four  miles  of  us,  not  only 
the  open  rebels  of  mere  Irish,  but  the 
natives,  men,  women,  and  children, 
joyn  together  and  fall  on  the  neigh- 
bours that  are  English  or  Protestants, 
and  rob  and  spoil  them  of  all  they 
have,  nor  can  we  help  it." — Nalson, 
902. 

6.  I  shall  add  a  sixth,  of  Decem- 
ber 14  : — "  They  continue  their  rage 
and  malignity  against  the  English 
and  Protestants,  who,  if  they  leave 
their  goods  or  cattel  for  more  safety 
with  any  papists,  those  are  called  out 
by  the  rebels,  and  the  papists  goods 
or  cattel  left  behind ;  and  now,  upon 


284 


appe:ndix. 


some  new  councils  taken  by  them,  they 
have  added  to  their  fonner  a  farther 
degree  of  cruelty,  even  of  the  highest 
nature,  which  is  to  proclaim,  that  if 
any  Irish  shall  harbour  or  relieve  any 
English,  that  be  suffered  to  escape 
them  with  his  life,  that  it  shall  be 
penal  even  to  death  to  such  Irish ; 
and  so  they  will  be  sure,  though  they 
put  not  those  English  actually  to  the 
sword,  yet  they  do  as  certainly  and 
with  more  cruelty  cut  them  off  that 
way,  than  if  they  had  done  it  by  the 
sword;  and  they  profess  they  will 
never  give  over  until  they  leave  not 
any  seed  of  an  Englishman  in  Ire- 
land."—Ibid.  911.  They  then  add 
an  account  of  a  castle  in  the  town  of 
Longford  having  surrendered  on  a  pro- 
mise of  quarter,  when  a  priest  killed 
the  minister,  and  others  killed  some 
of  the  captives  and  hanged  the  rest. — 
Ibid.  913.  "  The  rebels  of  the  county 
of  Kildare  have  taken  the  Naas  and 
Kildare,  in  the  county  of  Kildare. 
The  rebels  of  Meath  have  taken  Trim 
and  Ashboy,  in  the  county  of  Meath, 
and  divers  other  places.  The  rebels 
of  the  county  of  Dublin  have  pos- 
sessed Swoords  and  Rathcoole,  and 
spoyled  all  the  English  and  Pro- 
testants even  to  the  gates  of  Dublin." 
— Nalson,  914. 

If  we  consider  the  language  of  these 
despatches,  and  at  the  same  time 
recollect  who  were  the  writers,  and 
what  an  interest  they  had  in  exagge- 
rating the  excesses  of  the  insurgents, 
we  must,  I  think,  conclude  that 
hitherto  no  general  massacre  had 
been  made  or  attempted. 

On  the  23rd  of  December  the  same 
lords  justices  granted  a  commission 
to  Henry  Jones,  dean  of  Kilmore, 
and  seven  other  clergymen,  in  these 

words  :  "  Know  ye  that  we do 

hereby  give  unto  you ....  full  power 
and  authority ....  to  call  before  you, 
and  examine  upon  oath  on  the  holy 
Evangelists ....  as  well  all  such  per- 
sons as  have  been  robbed  and  de- 
spoiled, as  all  the  witnesses,  that  can 
give  testimony  therein  what  rob- 
beries and  spoils  have  been  committed 
on  them  since   the   22d   of  October 


last,  or  shall  hereafter  be  committe 
on  them  or  any  of  them :  what  th 
particulars  were,  or  are,  wherec 
they  were  or  shall  be  so  robbed  o 
spoiled ;  to  what  value,  by  whon 
what  their  names  are,  or  where  the 
now  or  last  dwelt  that  committe 
these  robberies.  On  what  day  c 
night  the  said  robberies  or  spoil 
committed,  or  to  be  committed,  wer 
done ;  what  traitorous  or  disloy? 
words,  speeches,  or  actions,  wer 
then  or  at  any  other  time  uttered  c 
committed  by  those  robbers  or  an 
of  them,  and  how  often ;  and  a 
other  circumstances  concerning  th 
said  particulars,  and  every  of  then 
And  you,  our  said  commissioners,  ar 
to  reduce  to  writing  all  the  ex; 
minations,  &c.,  and  the  same  to  n 
turn  to  our  justices  and  council  ( 
this  our  realm  of  Ireland." — TempL 
Irish  Reb.  p.  137. 

Let  the  reader  consider  the  purpoi 
of  this  commission,  and  he  will  ce 
tainly  think  it  strange  that,  if  a  gi 
neral  massacre  of  the  Protestants  ha 
taken  place  ;  if  200,000,  as  May  say 
or  even  the  smaller  number  of  40,0C 
or  50,000,   had  been  murdered,  it 
lords  justices  should  have  omitted  1 
extend  the  inquiry  to    so    bloody 
transaction.  However,  on  the  18th 
January,   1643,  they  issued  anotht 
commission  to  the  same  persons,  wit 
this  additional  instruction,  to  inqui; 
''  what  lands  had  been  seized,    ar 
what     murders     committed    by    ti 
rebels  ;  what  numbers  of  Biitish  Pr 
testants  had  perished  in  the  way 
Dublin,    or  any  place  whither  the 
fled,  and  how  many  had  turned  papis 
since  the  22d  of  October." — Warne 
161,  294.     Here  murders  are  indet 
mentioned,  but  in  such  a  manner 
to  prove  that  the  justices  were  st 
ignorant  of  any  general  or  even  e 
tensive  massacre. 

The  commissioners  accordingly  toe 
depositions  from  March  24  till  Oct 
ber,  1644,  and  the  examinations  f 
thirty-two  large  volumes  folio,  dep 
sited  in  the  College  library  at  Dubfi 
Warner,  after  a  diligent  inspectio 
observes,    that    "  in    infinitely    tl  ■ 


APPENDIX. 


285 


greatest  number  of  them,  the  words 
^eing  duly  sworn,  have  the  pen  drawn 
hrough  them,  with  the  same  ink 
nth  which  the  examinations  were 
ratten ;  and  in  several  of  those 
vhere  such  words  remain,  many  parts 
if  the  examinations  are  crossed  out. 
?his  is  a  circumstance  which  shows 
hat  the  bulk  of  this  immense  col- 
ection  is  parole  evidence,  and  upon 
eport  of  common  fame."  —  Ibid. 
■95. 

Out  of  these  examinations,  there- 
ore,     the     commissioners     collected 
hose  which  had  been   made    upon 
ath,  and  consigned  them  to  another 
ook,  attesting  with  their  signatures 
hat  the  copies  were  correct.   "From 
I  hese,    then,    it    appears    that    the 
( ^hole   number   of  persons  killed  by 
he    rebels  out  of  ioar,    not  at  the 
eginning  only,  but  in  the  course  of 
he  two  first  years  of  the  rebellion, 
mounted   altogether  to   2,109  :    on 
he  report  of  other  Protestants,  1,619 
[  lore  ;  and  on  the  report  of  some  of 
i  be  rebels  themselves,  a  further  num- 
[  er  of  300  :  the  whole  making  4,028. 
I  >esides  these  murders,  there  is  in  the 
1  xme  collection  evidence,  on  the  re- 
f  ort    of   others,    of  8,000  killed  by 
1-usage :    and  if  we  allow  that  the 
ruelties  of  the  Irish  out  of  war  ex- 
3nded  to  these  numbers  (which,  con- 
idering  the  nature  of  several  of  the 
epositions,  I  think  in  my  conscience 
e  cannot),  yet,  to  be  impartial,  we 
mst  allow  that  there  is  no  pretence 
)T  laying  a  greater  number  to  their 
liarge." — Warner,  297. 
.     I  shall  not  lengthen  this  note  by 
arrating   the   recriminations  of  the 
fish.     That  they  suffered  as  much  as 
aey  inflicted,    cannot  be   doubted, 
lut  the    blame  of  such  barbarities 
lould  not  rest  solely  with  the  per- 
etrators  on  either  side  ;  it  ought  to 
0  shared    by  those  who   originally 
'wed  the  seeds  of  thes?  calamities  by 
Vil  oppression    and    religious  per- 
icution. 

Here,  in  this  new  edition,  I  may  be 
llowed  to  notice  a  fact  which  has 
illy  come  to  my    knowledge  very 


lately.  It  may  perhaps  be  supposed 
that  the  Catholic  priesthood,  after  the 
merciless  treatment  to  which  they 
had  been  subjected  for  years,  would 
behold  with  pleasure,  perhaps  coun- 
tenance with  their  approbation,  the 
outrages  committed  by  the  rebels. 
It  appears,  however,  that  the  clergy 
of  Galway  were  actuated  by  senti- 
ments more  worthy  of  their  sacred 
calling.  In  1642  the  OTlaherties 
besieged  the  fort  of  Galway,  and  one 
of  these  chieftains  (Morogh  na  Mart) 
kept  the  English  inhabitants  of  the 
town  in  a  state  of  consternation  during 
three  days,  parading  the  streets  with 
three  hundred  followers,  who  commit- 
ted several  robberies,  and  some  mur- 
ders on  English  Protestants.  Among 
the  proofs  of  his  guilt,  recorded  by 
the  commissioners  already  mentioned, 
are  the  following  testimonies :  — 
"  Lieut.  John  Gell,  7  March,  1653, 
saith,  that  it  was  commonly  spoken 
in  Galway,  that  the  OTlaherties  of 
Ire-Connaught  were  brought  into  the 
town  purposely  to  murther  all  the 
English  ;  and  he  believeth  they  would 
have  murthered  them  all  accordingly, 
had  not  some  priests  hindered  them 
by  going  out  in  their  vestments,  with 
tapers  and  a  crucifix  carryed  before 
them,  commanding  the  said  mur- 
therers  to  surcease.  And  where 
some  goods  had  been  plundered,  they 
commanded  restitution  to  be  made, 
as  the  examinant,  being  then  in  the 
fort  of  Galway,  was  credibly  in- 
formed." The  testimony  of  his  maid- 
servant, Mary  Bowles,  is  more  full. 
"  That  she  herself  saw  the  priests  of 
the  town  and  other  priests,  being 
about  eight  in  number,  going  about 
the  town  in  their  vestments,  with 
tapers  burning,  and  the  sacrament 
borne  before  them,  and  earnestly  ex- 
horting the  said  Murrough  na  Mart 
and  his  company  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
our  Lady's,  and  St.  Patrick's,  that 
they  would  shed  no  more  blood  ;  and, 
if  they  did,  they  would  never  have 
mercy.  That  the  said  Murrough, 
and  one  Edmund  O'Elaherty,  were  at 
the  committing  of  the  said  murthers, 


286 


APPENDIX. 


and  aiding  and  abetting  the  same ; 
and  that  she  doth  verily  believe  that, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  said  priests, 
the  said  O'Flaherties  and  their  com- 
pany had  killed  all  the  English  Pro- 


testants  they  had  found  in  Gal  way." 
From  a  note  by  Mr.  Hardiman  in 
OTlaherty's  West  Connaught,  p.  406, 
published  by  the  Irish  Archeeological 
Society. 


NOTE  000,  p.  261. 


The  following  letter  from  the  queen 
to  Madame  de  Saint-Georges  explains 
her  feelings,  and  the  reasons  of  her 
voyage  to  Holland  : — "Ala  mie  Saint- 
Georges,  ce  gentilhomme  s'en  va  si 
bieninforme  des  raisons,  que  j'ai  eues 
de  sortir  d'Angleterre,  que  lorsque 
V0U3  les  saurez,  vous  vous  ^tonnerez 
que  je  ne  I'aie  pas  fait  plustot :  car, 
k  moins  que  de  me  r^soudre  h,  la 
prison,  je  ne  pouvois  pas  demeurer. 
Encore  s'il  n'y  avoit  eu  que  moi  a 
souffrir,  je  suis  si  accoutumde  aux 
aflflictions  que  cela  eut  passd  comme 
le  reste.  Mais  leur  dessein  etoit  de 
me  separer  du  roi  mon  seigneur,  et 
ils  disoientpubliquementqu'une  Heine 
n'dtoit  qu'une  sujette,  et  ^toit  pour 
passer  par  les  lois  du  pays  comme  les 
autres  :  ensuite  ils  m'ont  accusde  pub- 
liquement  en  disant  que  j'avois  voulu 
renverser  les  lois  et  la  religion  du 
royaume,  et  que  c'^toit  moi  que  avois 
fait  r^volter  les  Irlandais.  On  a  fait 
venir  des  t^moins  pour  jurer  que  cela 
etoit;  enfin,  on  pretendoit  que  tant 
que  je  demeurerois  aupres  du  roi, 
I'dtat  eeroit  en  danger,  et  beaucoup 
d'autres  choses  qui  seroient  trop 
longues  a  dcrire  ;  telles  que  venir  h. 
ma  maison,  lorsque  j'^tois  h  la  cha- 
pelle,  enfoncer  mes  portes,  menacer 
de  tout  tuer :  et  cela,  j'avoue,  ne 
m'a  fait  grande  peur  :  mais  il  est  vrai 


que  d'etre  sous  la  tyrannic  est  nne 
chose  qui  ne  se  peut   exprimer,    et 
durant  ce  temps  assist^e  de  personne. 
jugez  en  quel  ^tat  j'etois. — S'il  arri 
voit   que  je  vous  visse,    il  y  auroii 
choses  qui  ne  se  peuvent   dcrire,  el 
pires  que  tout  ce  qu'on  peut  penser, 
que  je  vous  dirois.      Priex  Dieu  poui 
moi,  car  il  n'y  a  pas  un  plus  misei-able 
creature  au  monde  que  moi.    Eloign^f 
du  roi  mon  seigneur,  de  mes  enfans 
hors  de  mon  poys  et  sans  esperancf 
de    retourner    sans    danger   Evident 
delaissee  de  tout  le  monde  :  ah !  Diet 
m'assiste  et  les  bonnes  prieres  de  m& 
amis,  parmi  lesquelsvous  etes  ma  mie 
Je   vous   prie   de   faire    mes   recom 
raendations  h.   ma   mieVitry,   et   lu 
dites  que  j'ai  tantk  dcrire,  quej'esper< 
qu'elle    m'excusera    pour   cette  fois 
Kecommandez  moi  aux  bonnes  Car 
melites  de  Paris.     Si  je  pouvois,  j< 
me  souhaiterois  bieu  avec  elles  :  mai 
je  ne  sais  si  cela  me  sera  permis.     .1 
vous  assure  que  c'est  la  sexile  chost 
quoi  je   songe  avec   plaisir.     Fait 
aussi    mes    recommendations    a    r 
ni^ce,  et  croyez  que  rien  ne  m'eui 
pechera  d'etre  ce  que  je  vous  ai  tou 
jours  promis,  votre-bien  bonne  amie. 
"  Henrietta-Marie,  Reine. 
"  La  Haye,  ce  28  Mai." 

Capefigue,  from  MSS.  B«Jthune 
9332. 


END  OF  VOL.  Vir. 


COX   (BmOS.)   AND  WTMAN,    FSINTBRS,   GREAT   QVKZN   STBBBT. 


liBirnirniT" 


"«mfflF1'fTl 


THE 


IISTOEY  OF  ENGLAND, 


FROM  THE  FIRST 


INVASION  BY  THE  ROMANS 

TO  THE 

ACCESSION  OF  WILLIAM  AND  MARY 
IN  1688. 

By  JOHN  LINGAED,  D.D. 

€fft  &ixt^  ^itioit,  Eebiseti  anU  consitJetablg  ^nlargetJ* 
IN  TEN  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  VIII. 


LONDON: 
CHAELES   DOLMAN,    61,   NEW   BOND    STEEET^ 

AND   22,   PATEENOSTEK   KOW. 
MDCCCLV. 


I 


CONTENTS 


THE    EIGHTH    VOLUME, 


CHAPTER  I. 


CHAELES  I.  (Continued). 


Battle  of  Edge  Bill — Treaty  at  Oxford — Solemn  Vow  and  Covenant — Battle  of 
Newhxvry — Solevm  League  and  Covenant  hetiveen  ike  English  and  Scottish 
Parliwnents — Cessation  of  War  in  Ireland — Royalist  Parliament  at  Oxford — 
Propositions  of  Peace — Battle  of  Marston  Moor — The  Army  of  Essex  Capi- 
tulates in  the  West — Self-denying  Ordinance — Synod  of  Divines — Directory 
for  Public  Worship — Trial  of  Archbishop  Laud — Bill  of  Attainder — His 
Execution. 


Treaty  proposed  and  refused     . 

1 

New  great  seal  . . 

16 

Royalists 

.        3 

Commissioners  sent  to  Scotland 

17 

Parliamentarians 

.     ib. 

Solemn  league  and  covenant     . . 

18 

State  of  the  two  armies 

.     ib. 

Scots  prepare  for  war    . . 

19 

The  king's  protestation . . 

4 

Covenant  taken  in  England      . . 

ib. 

Battle  of  Edge  HiU        .. 

5 

Charles  seeks  aid  from  Ireland . . 

20 

Action  at  Brentford 

.       6 

Federative  assembly  of  the  Ca- 

King retires  to  Oxford  . . 

.     ib. 

tholics  . .          

ib. 

State  of  the  kingdom     . . 

.       7 

Their  apologies  and  remonstrance 

21 

Treaty  at  Oxford 

.     ib. 

Cessation  concluded 

22 

Intrigues  during  the  treaty 

.       8 

A  French  envoy. . 

ib. 

Eeturn  of  the  queen 

.       9 

Royal  parliament  at  Oxford 

23 

Fall  of  Reading 

.     ib. 

Propositions  of  peace    . . 

ib. 

Waller's  plot 

.      10 

Methods  of  raising  money 

25 

Solemn  vow  and  covenant 

.      ib. 

Battle  of  Nantwich 

27 

Death  of  Hampden 

.      11 

Scottish  army  enters  England  . . 

ib. 

Actions  of  Sir  William  Waller . 

.      ib. 

Marches  and  countermarches    . . 

28 

The  Lords  propose  a  peace 

.      12 

Rupert  sent  to  relieve  York    . . 

ib. 

Are  opposed  by  the  Commons. 

.      ib. 

Battle  of  Marston  Moor 

29 

New  preparations  for  war 

.     13 

Surrender  of  Newcastle 

30 

Battle  of  Newbury 

.     16 

Essex  marches  into  the  west    . . 

ib. 

CONTENTS. 


His  army  capitulates     . .          . .  31 

Third  battle  of  Newbury          . .  ib. 

Kise  of  Cromwell           . .          . .  32 

His  quarrel  with  Manchester  . .  33 

First  self-denying  ordinance     . .  ib. 

Army  new  modelled      . .          . .  34 

Second  self-denying  ordinance  . .  ib. 

Ecclesiastical  occurrences         . .  35 

Persecution  of  the  Catholics    . .  ib. 

Of  the  Episcopalians      . .          . .  36 


Synod  of  divines  ..  .,  37 
Presbyterians     and  Independ- 
ents     . .          . .  . .  ..  ib. 

Demand  of  toleration  . .  . .  38 

New  directory    . .  . .  . .  ib. 

Trial  of  Archbishop  Laud  . .  39 

His  defence         . .  . ,  . .  40 

Bill  of  attainder  . .  . .  ib. 

Consent  of  the  Lords  . .  . .  41 

Execution           . .  . .  ..  ib. 


CHAPTER  11. 


Treaty  at  Uxbridge —  Victories  of  Montrose  in  Scotland — Defeat  of  the  King  at 
Naseby — Surrender  of  Bristol — Charles  shut  up  within  Oxford — Mission  of 
Glamorgan  to  Ireland — He  is  Disavowed  by  Charles,  but  Concludes  a  Peace 
with  the  Irish — The  King  IntHgues  with  the  Parliament,  the  Scots,  and  the 
Independents — lie  Escapes  to  the  Scottish  Army — Eefiises  tlic  Concessions 
required — Is  delivered  up  by  the  Scots. 


Dissensions  at  court  . .  . .  43 
Proposal  of  treaty  , .  . .  44 
Negotiation  at  Uxbridge  . .  45 
Demands  of  Irish  Catholics  . .  46 
Victories  of  Montrose  in  Scotland  48 
State  of  the  two  parties  in  Eng- 
land        49 

The  army  after  the  new  model . .  50 

Battle  of  Naseby  ..  ..  51 

Its  consequences  . .  . .  52 

Victory  of  Montrose  at  Elilsyth. .  54 

Surrender  of  Bristol       . .         . .  ib. 

Defeat  of  royalists  at  Chester  . .  56 

Of  Lord  Digby  at  Sherburne    . .  ib. 

The  king  retires  to  Oxford        . .  57 

His  intrigues  with  the  Irish     . .  ib. 

Mission  of  Glamorgan  . .  . .  58 

Who  concludes  a  secret  treaty  . .  59 

It  is  discovered  . .  . .  ..  ib. 

Party  violence  among  the  parlia- 
mentarians     . .  . .  . .  60 

Charles    attempts    to   negotiate 

with  them       . .  . .  . .  61 

He  disavows  Glamorgan  . .  62 


Who  yet  concludes  a  peace  in 
Ireland 

King  proposes  a  personal  treaty 

Montreuil  negotiates  with  the 
Scots    .. 

Ashbumham  with  the  Inde- 
pendents 

Charles  escapes  to  the  Scots     . . 

The  royalists  retire  from  the  con- 
test 

King  disputes  with  Henderson. . 

Motives  of  his  conduct  . . 

He  again  demands  a  personal 
conference 

Negotiation  between  the  parlia- 
ment and  the  Scots    . . 

Expedients  proposed  by  the  king 

Scots  deliver  him  up  to  the  par- 
liament 

He  still  expects  aid  from  Ireland 

But  is  disappointed 

Religious  disputes 

Discontent  of  the  Indepeidents 

And  of  the  Presbyterians 


62 
63 

64 

65 
67 

ib. 


I 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Opposite  Projects  of  the  Preslyterians  and  Independents— The  King  is  brought 
from  Holmhy  to  the  Army — Independents  driven  from  Parliament — Restored 
by  the  Army — Origin  of  the  Levellers — King  Escapes  from  Hampton  Court, 
and  is  Secured  in  the  Isle  of  Wight — Mutiny  in  the  Army— Public  Opinion 
in  Favour  of  the  King — Scots  Arm  in  his  Defence — The  Royalists  Renew  the 
War — The  Presbyterians  Assume  the  Ascendancy — Defeat  of  the  Scots — 
Suppression  of  the  Royalists — Treaty  of  Newport— The  King  is  again  brought 
to  the  Army — The  House  of  Commons  is  Purified — The  King's  Trial — 
Judgment — And  Execution — Reflections. 


The  king  at  Holmby      ..          ..  76 

Character  of  Fail-fax      ..         ..  77 

Opposition  of  the  Independents  ih. 

Demands  of  the  army    . .          . .  79 

Refusal  of  parliament    . .          . .  80 

The  army  carries  off  the  king  . .  81 
Marches  towards  London         . .  84 
And  treats  the  king  with  indul- 
gence   . .          . .          . .          . ,  85 

The     Independents    are    driven 

from  parliament         . .          . .  86 

Charies  refuses  the  offers  of  the 

army    . .          . .          . .          . .  88 

Which  marches  to  London       . .  89 

Enters  the  city  . .          . .          ..  ih. 

And  gives  the  law  to  the  parlia- 
ment   . .          . .          . .          ..  ib. 

The  king  listens  to  the  counsels 

of  the  officers  . .          . .          . .  90 

And  intrigues  against  them      . .  91 

Rise  of  the  Levellers     . .          . .  ib. 

The  king's  escape           . .          . .  92 

Ee  is  secured  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  93 

Mutiny  suppressed         . .          . .  94 

King  rejects  four  bills    ..          ..  95 

Vote  of  non-addresses    . .          . .  96 

King   subjected   to    farther    re- 
straint . .          . .          . .          ,.  ib. 

Public  opinion  in  his  favour      . .  97 

Levellers  prevail  in  the  army  . .  98 
The  Scots  take  up  arms  for  the 

king 99 

Also  the  English  royalists        . .  ib. 
Feigned  reconciliation  of  the  army 

and  the  city 100 

Insurrection  in  Kent     ..          ..  101 


Presbyterians  again  superior  in 
parliament       ..  ..  ..101 

Defeat  of  the  Scots        ..  ..103 

And  of  the  earl  of  Holland       . .      ib. 
Surrender  of  Colchester  . .      ih. 

Prince  of  Wales  in  the  Downs. .    104 
Treaty  of  Newport         ..  ..105 

Plan  of  new  constitution  . .      ib. 

Hints  of  bringing  the  king  to  trial  106 
Petition  for  that  purpose  . .      ib. 

King's  answer  to  the  parliament   107 
His  parting  address  to  the  com- 
missioners       ..  ..  ..108 

He  is  carried  away  by  the  army. .  ib. 
Commons  vote  the  agreement  with 

the  king  109 

The  House  of  Commons  is  purified  ib. 
Cromwell  returns  from  Scotland  110 
Independents  prevail    . .  . .      ib. 

Resolution  to  proceed  against  the 

king Ill 

Appointment  of  the  High  Court 
of  Justice        . .  . .  ..      ib. 

Hypocrisy  of  Cromwell . .  ..    112 

Conduct  of  Fairfax         ..  ..      ib. 

King  removed  from  Hurst  Castle  113 
Few  powers  interest  themselves 
in  his  favour   . .  . .  . ,      ib. 

Proceedings  at  the  trial  . .    114 

Behaviour  of  the  king  . .  . .      ib. 

He  proposes  a  private  conference  115 
Is  condemned     . .  . .  . .      iL 

Lady  Fairfax      . .  . .  ..116 

King  prepares  for  death  . .      ib. 

Letter  from  the  prince  . .  . .    117 

The  king  is  beheaded     . .  . .    118 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


vM 


Establishment  of  the  Commonwealth — Pijmishmentoftlie  Royalists — Mutiny  a: 
Suppression  of  the  Levellers — Charles  II.  Proclaimed  in  Scotland — Ascendancy 
of  his  Adherents  in  Ireland — Their  Defeat  at  Rathmines — Success  of 
Cromwell  in  Ireland — Defeat  of  Montrose,  and  Landing  of  Charles  in 
Scotland — Cromwell  is  sent  against  him — He  Gains  a  Victory  at  Dunbar — 
The  King  Marches  into  England  —  Loses  tlic  Battle  of  Worcester — His 
subsequent  Adventures  and  Escape. 


Abolition  of  the  monarchy 

Appointment  of  a  council  of  state 

Other  changes    . . 

Attempt  to  fill  up  the  house    . . 

Execution  of  the  royalists 

Opposition  of  the  Levellers 

Their  demands    . . 

Resisted  by  the  government 

The  mutineers  suppressed 

Proceedings  in  Scotland 

Charles  II.  proclaimed  in  Edin- 
burgh . . 

Answer  of  the  Scots 

Their  deputies  to  the  king 

Murder  of  Dr.  Dorislaus 

State  of  Ireland  . . 

Conduct  of  the  nuncio  . . 

His  flight  from  Ireland 

Articles  of  peace 

Cromwell  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand   . , 

Treaty  with  O'Neil 

Cromwell  departs  for  Ireland  . . 

Jones  gains  the  victory  at  Rath- 
mines   . . 

Cromwell  lands  . . 

Massacre  at  Drogheda  . . 

Massacre  at  Wexford    . . 

Cromwell's  further  progress 

Proceedings  in  Scotland 

Charles  hesitates  to  accept  the 
conditions  offered  by  the  com- 
miaaioners 


121 

ib. 

122 

124 

125 

ib. 

126 

127 

ib. 

128 

ib. 

ib. 
129 

ib. 
130 

ib. 
132 

ib. 

133 

ib. 

135 

ib. 

ib. 
136 

ib. 
137 
138 


ib. 


Progress  and  defeat  of  Montrose 

His  condemnation 

His  death 

Charles  lands  in  Scotland 

Cromwell  is  appointed  to  com- 
mand in  Scotland 

He  marches  to  Edinburgh 

Proceedings  of  the  Scottish  kirk 

Expiatory   declaration    required 
from  Charles  . . 

He  refuses  and  then  assents 

Battle  of  Dunbar 

Progress  of  Cromwell    . . 

The  king  escapes  and  is  after 
wards  taken    . . 

The  godliness  of  Cromwell 

Dissensions  among  the  Scots    . 

Coronation  of  Charles    . . 

Cromwell  lands  in  Fife  . . 

Charles  marches  into  England  . 

Defeat  of  the  earl  of  Derby 

Battle  of  Worcester 

Defeat  of  the  royalists  . . 

The  king  escapes 

Lo.'s  of  the  royalists 

Adventures  of  the  king  at  \VTiite 
ladies   . . 

At  Madeley 

In  the  royal  oak. . 

A  t  Moseley 

At  Mrs.  Norton's 

His  repeated  disappointments  . 

Charles  escapes  to  France 


139 
140 
141 
142 

143 

144 
145 

ib. 

ib. 

147 

ib. 

148 
ib. 
149 
160 
151 
152 
153 
154 
155 
ib. 
156 

ib. 
157 
158 
159 
160 

ib. 
161 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Vigilance  of  the  Government — Subjugation  of  Irelcmd — Of  Scotland— •Nego- 
tiation with  Portugal —  With  Spain —  With  the  United  Provinces — Naval 
War — Ambition  of  Cromwell — Expulsion  of  Parliament — Character  of  its 
leading  Mevibers — Some  of  its  enactments. 

179 


Tlie  Commonwealth,  a  military 

Subjugation  of  Scotland 

ofovemment 

163 

Attempt  to  incorporate  it  with 

Opposition  of  Lilburne  . . 

164 

England 

His  trial  and  acquittal  . . 

ib. 

Transactions  with  Portugal 

And  banishment. . 

165 

With  Spain          

Plana  of  the  royalists     . . 

ih. 

With  United  Provinces. . 

Discovered  and  prevented 

ib. 

Negotiation  at  the  Hague 

Execution  of  Love 

166 

Transfei-red  to  London  . . 

Transactions  in  Ireland . . 

167 

Rencontre    between    Blake   and 

Discontent  caused  by  the  king's 

Van  Tromp 

declaration  in  Scotland 

168 

The  States  deprecate  a  rupture 

Departure  of  Ormond    . . 

169 

Commencement  of  hostilities    . . 

Refusal  to  treat  with  the  parlia- 

Success of  De  Ruyter    . . 

ment     . . 

170 

Of  Van  Tromp  over  Blake 

Dffer  from    the    duke    of   Lor- 

Another battle  between  them  . . 

raine     

171 

Blake's  victory 

Treaty  with  that  prince 

ib. 

Cromwell's  ambition 

ft  is  rejected 

172 

Discontent  of  the  military 

5iege  of  Limerick 

ib. 

Cromwell's  intrigues 

Submission  of  the  Irish. . 

174 

His  conference  with  ^Vhitelock 

State  of  Ireland  . . 

ib. 

With  the  other  leaders  . . 

Trials  before  the  High  Court  of 

He  expels  the  parliament 

Justice 

175 

And  the  council  of  state 

Transportation  of  the  natives    . . 

ib. 

Addresses  of  congratulation 

■'irst  act  of  settlement    . . 

176 

Other  proceedings  of  the  late  par- 

>econd act  of  settlement 

177 

liament 

Transplantation  . . 

ib. 

Spiritual  offences 

)ppres3ive  laws. . 

ib. 

Reformation  of  law 

breach  of  articles 

178 

Forfeitures  and  sequestrations. . 

leligious  persecution    . . 

ib. 

Religious  intolerance      . . 

180 
181 
182 
ib. 
183 
184 

185 

ib. 
186 

ib. 
187 

ib. 

ib. 
188 

ib. 
189 
190 
191 
192 

ib. 
193 

ib. 

ib. 
194 

ih. 
195 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PROTECTORATE. 

^Tcmwell  calls  the  little  Parliament — Dissolves  it — Makes  himself  Protector — 
Subjugation  of  the  Scottish  Royalists — Peace  with  the  Dutch — New  Parlia- 
ment— Its  Dissolution— Insurrection  in  England — Breach  with  Spain — 
Troubles  in  Piedmont — Treaty  vjith  France. 

.  197 
.  198 
.    199 


-stablishment  of  a  new  govern- 
ment      196 

election  of  members    . .         . .     ib. 


Meeting  of  parliament  . . 
Its  character 
Prosecution  of  Libume . . 


CONTENTS. 


of 


His  acquittal 

Parties  in  parliament    . . 

Eegistration  of  births,  &c. 

Taxes 

Refonn  of  law     . . 

Zeal  for  religion . . 

Anabaptist  preachers     . . 

Dissolution  of  parliament 

Cromwell  assumes  the  oflElce 

protector 
Instrument  of  government 
He  publishes  ordinances 
Arrests  his  opponents    . . 
Executes  several  royalists 
Executes  Don  Pantaleon  Sa 
Executes  a  Catholic  clergyman 
Conciliates  the  army  in  Ireland 
Subdues  the  Scottish  royalists 
Incorporates  Scotland    . . 
Is  courted  by  foreign  powers    . 
War  with  the  United  Provinces 
Victory  of  the  English  . . 
The  Dutch  offer  to  negotiate 
Second  victory    . . 
Progress  of  the  negotiation 
Articles  of  peace 
Secret  treaty  with  Holland 
Negotiation  with  Spain 
Negotiation  with  France 
Negotiation  respecting  Dunkirk 
Cromwell  comes  to  no  deciaion 


200 
ib. 

201 
ib. 

202 
ib. 

203 

204 

205 

ib. 
206 
207 

ib. 
208 
209 

ib. 
210 
211 

ib. 
212 

ib. 
213 

ib. 
214 

ib. 
215 
216 

ib. 
217 
218 


The  new  parliament  meets 

Is  not  favourable  to  his  views  . . 

Debates  respecting  the  instru- 
ment   . . 

The  protector's  speech  . . 

Subscription  required  from  the 
members  . ,         . .          . . 

Cromwell  falls  from  his  carriage 

The  parliament  opposes  his  pro- 
jects 

Reviews  the  instrument 

Is  addressed  by  Cromwell 

And  dissolved     . . 

Conspiracy  of  the  republicans  . . 

Conspiracy  of  the  royalists 

Executions 

Decimation 

Military  government     . . 

Cromwell  breaks  with  Spain    . . 

Secret  expedition  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean . . 

Another  to  the  West  Indies     , . 

Its  failure 

Troubles  in  Piedmont    . . 

Insurrection  of  the  Vaudois     . . 

Cromwell  seeks  to  protect  them 

Sends  an  envoy  to  Turin 

Refuses  to  conclude  the  treaty 
with  France    . . 

The  Vaudois  submit,  and  Crom- 
well signs  the  treaty  . . 


219 
ib. 

220 
221 

ib. 
222 

ib. 
223 

ib. 
224 

ib. 

ib. 
226 

ib. 


ib. 
228 

ib. 
221 

ib. 
23( 
231 
23^ 

ib 

ib 
23: 


CHAPTER   VII. 


Poverty  and  Cliaracter  of  Charles  Stuart — War  with  Spain — Parliament- 
Exduaion  of  Meai^rs — Punishment  of  Naylor — Proposal  to  make  Cromwei 
King — His  hesitation  and  refv^al — New  Constitution — Sindercomb — Sexb 
— Alliance  with  France — Parliainent  of  two  Houses — Oppositixm,  in  tli 
Commons — Dissolution — Reduction  of  Dunkirk— f^ichnesi  of  the  Protector- 
His  Death  and  Character. 


Poverty  of  Charles  in  his  exile  234 

His  court             ib. 

His  amours         . .          . .          . .  235 

His  religion         236 

He  offers  himself  an  ally  to  Spam  237 

Account  of  Colonel  Sexby        . .  ib. 
Quarrel  between  the  king  and 

his  brother 238 

Capture  of  a  Spanish  fleet        . .  239 
Exclusion  of  members  from  par- 
liament             240 


Speech  of  the  protector. .  . .    24 

Debate  on  exclusion      . .  ..25 

Spciety  of  friends  . .  . .      ii 

OflFence      and      punishment     of 

Naylor 24 

Cromwell  aspires  to  the  title  of 

king 24 

He  complains  of  the  judgment 
,    against  Naylor  ..          ..24 

Abandons  the  cause  of  the  major- 
generals  ..  ..  ..      i 


CONTEXTS. 


First  mention  of   the  intended 
change . .  . .  . .  . .    246 

It  is  openly  brought  forward    . .      ib. 
Opposition  of  the  officers  . .    247 

Cromwell's  answer  to  them      . ,      ib. 
Eising  of  the  Anabaptists         . .    248 
Cromwell  hesitates  to  accept  the 
title      . .  . .  . .  . .     ib. 

Confers    on    it    with    the    com- 
mittee   249 

250 

ib. 

ib. 

ib. 

ib. 

251 

252 

253 

254 

255 

ib. 

256 

257 


Seeks  more  time. . 

Eesolves  to  accept  the  title 

Is  deterred  by  the  officers 

Refuses    . . 

His  second  inauguration 

The  new  form  of  government    . 

Plot  to  assassinate  him.. 

It  is  discovered  . . 

A.rrest  and  death  of  Sexby 

Blake's  victory  at  Santa  Cruz  . 

His  death  

Alliance  with  France     . . 
tfew  parliament  of  two  houses 


The  Commons  inquire  into  the 

rights  of  the  other  house       ..    257 
Cromwell    dissolves    the   parlia- 
ment      259 

Keceives     addresses    in     conse- 
quence.. ..  ,,  ..     ib. 

Arrival  of  Ormond         . .  . .    260 

Treachery  of  Willis        . .  . .      ib. 

Royal  fleet  destroyed     . .  . .    261 

Trials  of  royalists  . .  . .      ib. 

Execution  of  Slingsby  and  Hewet  262 
Battle  of  the  Dunes       . .  . .    263 

Capitulation  of  Dunkirk  . .    264 

Cromwell's  greatness      . .  . .      ib. 

His  poverty         . .  . .  . .    265 

His  fear  of  assassination  . .    266 

His  grief  for  his  daughter's  death  267 
His  sickness        . .  . .  ..     ib. 

His  conviction  of  his  recovery  . .    268 
His  danger  . .  . .  ..     ib. 

His  discourse      . .  . .  ..     ib. 

His  death  . .  . .  ..     ib. 

His  character 269 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Richard  Cromwell  Protector — Parliament  called — Dissolved — Military  Govern- 
ment— Long  Parliament  restored — Expelled  again — Reinstated — Monk  in 
London — Be-admission  of  secluded  Members — Long  Parliament  dissolved — 
The  Convention  Parliament — Restoration  of  Charles  II. 

?he  two  sons  of  Cromwell 
1  -lichard  succeeds  his  father 

discontent  of  the  army  . . 

'"uneral  of  Oliver 

•'oreign  transactions 
'  'few  parliament  . . 

'arties  in  parliament     . . 

lecognttion  of  Richard . . 

».nd  of  the  other  house 

harges  against  the  late  govern- 
ment    . . 

he  officers  petition 

he  parUament  dissolved 

lie  officers  recall  the  long  par- 
liament 

ejection   of  the    members  for- 
merly excluded 

cquiescence    of    the    different 
armies  . . 


271 

Dissension    between   parliament 

272 

and  the  officers 

283 

273 

The   officers   obliged    to    accept 

274 

new  commissions 

284 

275 

Projects  of  the  royalists 

ib. 

ib. 

Rising  in  Cheshire 

285 

276 

It  is  suppressed  . . 

286 

277 

Renewal  of  the  late  dissension 

287 

ib. 

Expulsion  of  the  parliament  . . 
Government   by   the  council  of 

288 

278 

officers. . 

ib. 

279 

Monk's  opposition 

289 

280 

His  secrecy 

ib. 

Lambert  sent  against  him 

291 

281 

Parliament  restored 

292 

Its  first  acts         

293 

ib. 

Monk  marches  to  York  ;  Monk 

marches  to  London    . . 

ib. 

282 

Mutiny  in  the  capital    . . 

294 

CONTENTS. 


Monk  addresses  the  house 

He   is   ordered   to  chastise   the 

citizens 
He  joins  them     . . 
Admits  the  secluded  members 
Perplexity  of  the  royalists 
Proceedings  of  the  house 
Proceedings  of  the  general 
Dissolution  of  the   long  parlia- 
ment 
Monk's  interview  with  Grenville 


294 

295 
296 
297 

ib. 
298 

■lb. 


lb. 


His  message  to  the  king 
The  elections 
Rising  under  Lambert  . . 
Influence  of  the  Cavaliers  in 

new  parliament 
The  king's  letters  delivered 
Declaration  from  Breda 
The     two     houses      recall 

king 

Charles  lands  at  Dover  . . 
Charles  enters  London  . . 


.    30 


the 


the 


APPENDIX 


J05 


HISTORY 


OF 


ENGLAND 


CHAPTEE  I. 


CHARLES  I.  (Continued). 


BATTLE  OP  EDGE  HILL — TREATY  AT  OXFORD — SOLEMN  VOW  AND  COVENANT- 
BATTLE  OF  NEWBURY — SOLEMN  LEAGUE  AND  COVENANT  BETWEEN  THE  ENGLISH 
AND  SCOTTISH  PARLIAMENTS — CESSATION  OF  WAR  IN  IRELAND ROYALIST  PAR- 
LIAMENT    AT    OXFORD PROPOSITIONS     OP     PEACE — BATTLE    OP    MARSTON    MOOR— 

THE   ARMY    OP    ESSEX    CAPITULATES    IN   THE   WEST — SELF-DENYING    ORDINANCE 

SYNOD    OF    DIVINES — DIRECTORY     FOR    PUBLIC     WORSHIP TRIAL     OF    ARCHBISHOP 

liAUD — BILL   OP    ATTAINDER — HIS    EXECUTION. 


It  had  been  suggested  to  the  king 
that,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  he 
might  negotiate  with  greater  dignity 
and  effect.  From  Nottingham  he 
despatched  to  London  the  earl  of 
Southampton,  Sir  John  Colepepper, 
md  Sir  WilliamUvedale,  the  bearers  of 
1  proposal,  that  commissioners  should 
be  appointed  on  both  sides,  with  full 
powers  to  treat  of  an  accommodation, 
rhe  two  houses,  assuming  a  tone  of 
conscious  superiority,  replied  that  they 
30uld  receive  no  message  from  a 
3rince  who  had  raised  his  standard 
igainst  his  parliament,  and  had  pro- 
lounced  their  general  a  traitor. 
Hharles  (and  his  condescension  may 
oe  taken  as  a  proof  of  his  wish  to 
ivoid  hostilities)  offered  to  withdraw 
lis  proclamation,  provided  they  on 
}heir  part  would  rescind  their  votes 
Igainst  his  adherents.  They  refused : 
t  was  their  right  and  their  duty  to 
lenounce,  and  bring  to  justice,  the 
memies  of  the  nation.  He  conjured 
ihem  to  think  of  the  blood  that  would 
yd  shed,  and  to  remember  that  it 
8 


would  lie  at  their  door ;  they  retorted 
the  charge :  he  was  the  aggressor,  and 
his  would  be  the  guilt.  With  this 
answer  vanished  every  prospect  of 
peace;  both  parties  appealed  to  the 
sword;  and  within  a  few  weeks  the 
flames  of  civil  war  were  lighted  up  in 
every  part  of  the  kingdom.' 

Three-fourths  of  the  nobility  and  su- 
perior gentry,  led  by  feelings  of  honour 
and  gratitude,  or  by  their  attachment 
to  the  church,  or  by  a  well-grounded 
suspicion  of  the  designs  of  the  lead- 
ing patriots,  had  ranged  themselves 
under  the  royal  banner.  Charles  felt 
assured  of  victory,  when  he  contem- 
plated the  birth,  and  wealth,  and  in- 
fluence of  those  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded; but  he  might  have  dis- 
covered much  to  dissipate  the  illusion, 
had  he  considered  their  habits,  or 
been  acquainted  with  their  real,  but 
unavowed  sentiments.  They  were 
for  the  most  part  men  of  pleasure. 


1  Journals,    v.   327,   328,  338,  341,  358. 
Clarendon,  ii.  8, 16. 

B 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


fitter  to  grace  a  court  than  to  endure 
the  rigour  of  military  discipline,  de- 
void of  mental  energy,  and  likely,  by 
their  indolence  and  debauchery,  to 
oflfer  advantages  to  a  prompt  and  vigi- 
lant enemy.  Ambition  would  induce 
them  to  aspire  to  office,  and  commands 
and  honours ;  to  form  cabals  against 
their  competitors,  and  to  distract  the 
attention  of  the  monarch  by  their  im- 
portunity or  their  complaints.  They 
contained  among  them  many  v^ho 
secretly  disapproved  of  the  war,  con- 
ceiving that  it  was  undertaken  for 
the  sake  of  episcopacy,— an  institution 
in  the  fate  of  which  they  felt  no 
interest,  and  others  who  had  already 
in  affection  enrolled  themselves  among 
the  followers  of  the  parliament,  though 
shame  deterred  them  for  a  time  from 
abandoning  the  royal  colours.' 

There  was  another  class  of  men  on 
whose  services  the  king  might  rely 
with  confidence,  —  the  Catholics, — 
who,  alarmed  by  the  fierce  intolerance 
and  the  severe  menaces  of  the  par- 
liament, saw  that  their  own  safety 
depeftded  on  the  ascendency  of  the 
sovereign.  But  Charles  hesitated  to 
avail  himself  of  this  resource.  His 
adversaries  had  allured  the  zealots  to 
their  party,  by  representing  the  king 


1  Thus  Sir  Edmund  Verney,  the  standard- 
bearer,  told  Hyde  that  he  followed  the 
king  because  honour  obliged  him ;  but  the 
object  of  the  war  was  against  his  conscience, 
for  he  had  no  reverence  lor  the  bishops, 
whose  quarrel  it  was. — Clarendon's  Life,  69. 
Lord  Spencer  writes  to  his  lady,  "  If  there 
could  be  an  expedient  found  to  salve  the 
punctilio  of  honour,  I  would  not  continue 
here  an  hour." — Sydney  Papers,  ii.  667. 

*  Thomas  Beynolds  and  Bartholomew 
Eoe,  on  Jan.  21 ;  John  Loukwood  and  Ed- 
mund Caterick,  on  April  13. — Challoner, 
ii.  117,200. 

*  In  proof  of  the  eiistence  of  roch  a  fac- 
tion, an  appeal  has  been  made  to  a  letter 
from  Lord  Spencer  to  his  wife.— Sydney 
Papers,  ii.  667.  Whether  the  cipher  'itt  j's 
correctly  rendered  "  papists,"  I  know  not. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  Lord  Spencer  may 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  applying  the  term 
to  the  party  supposed  to  possess  the  royal 
coufidence,  of  which  party  he  was  the  pro- 


as the  dupe  of  a  popish  faction,  whic 
laboured  to  subvert  the  Protestan 
and  to  establish  on  its  ruins  the  popis 
worship.  It  was  in  vain  that  I 
called  on  them  to  name  the  membe: 
of  this  invisible  faction,  that  he  pul 
licly  asserted  his  attachment  to  tl: 
reformed  faith,  and  that,  to  prove  h 
orthodoxy,  he  ordered  two  priests  .1 
be  put  to  death  at  Tyburn,  before  h 
departure  from  the  capital,  and  tv\ 
others  at  York,  soon  after  his  arriv 
in  that  city.'  The  houses  still  pe 
sisted  in  the  charge ;  and  in  all  the 
votes  and  remonstrances  attribute 
the  measures  adopted  by  the  king  1 
the  advice  and  influence  of  the  papis 
and  their  adherents.^  Aware  of  tl 
impression  which  such  reports  mac 
on  the  minds  of  the  people,  he  at  fir 
refused  to  intrust  with  a  commissio 
or  even  to  admit  into  the  ranks,  ar 
person  who  had  not  taken  the  oatl 
of  allegiance  and  supremacy ;  bi 
necessity  soon  taught  him  to  acce] 
of  the  services  of  all  his  subjec 
without  distinction  of  religion,  at 
he  not  only  granted  permission  to  ' 
CathoUcs  to  cary  arms  in  their  o 
defence,  but  incorporated  them  am. 
his  own  forces.* 
While  the  higher  classes  repairt 


fessed  adversary.    But  when  it  became 
last  necessary  to  point  out  the  heads  of 
popish  faction,  it  appeared  that,  with 
exception,  they  were  Protestants— the  < 
of  Bristol,   Cumberland,    Newcastle,    < 
narvon,    and    Rivers,    secretary    Nicho: 
Endymion  Porter,  Edward  Hyde,  the  du. 
of    Kichmond,    and  the   viscounts   Newa 
and    Falkland.— Rnshworth,    v.    16.     Ma 
163.  •    Colonel     Endymion    Porter    was 
Catholic— Also  Baillie,  i.  416,  430  ;  ii.  75. 
♦  Rushworth,  ir.  772 ;  v.  40.  50,  80.     CI 
rendon,    ii.    41.     On    September  23,    161 
Charles  wrote  from  Shrewsbury,  to  the  e* 
of  Newcastle  :  *'  This  rebeUion  is  growen 
that  height,  that  I  must  not  looke  to  wh 
opinion  men  ar,  who  at  this  tyme  ar  willii 
and  able  to  serve  me.     Therefore  I  doe  n 
only    permit,   but  command  you,  to  ma 
use  of   all    my    loving    subjects'    servii 
without  examining    ther   contienses    (in 
than  there  loyalty  to  me)  as  you  shnll  fvi 
most  to  conduce  to  the  uphoulding  oi 
just  regall  power."— Ellis,  iii.  291. 


LD.  1642.] 


STATE  OF  THE  TWO  AEMIES. 


snth  their  dependents  to  the  support 

)f  the  king,  the  call  of  the  parliament 

Tas  cheerfully  obeyed   by  the  yeo- 

nanry  in  the  country,  and  by  the 

nerchants    and    tradesmen    in    the 

owns.     All  these   had  felt  the  op- 

)ression   of    monopolies    and    ship- 

noney;   to  the  patriots   they  were 

ndebted  for  their  freedom  from  such 

;rievances;   and  as    to    them    they 

Doked   up  with  gratitude   for  past 

•enefits,   so    they   trusted    to  their 

risdom  for  the  present  defence  of 

heir  liberties.    Nor  was  this  the  only 

lotive ;  to  political  must  be  added 

eligious  enthusiasm.   The  opponents 

f  episcopacy,  under  the  self-given 

enomination  of  the  godly,  sought  to 

istinguish  themselves  by  the  real  or 

ffected  severity  of  their  morals ;  they 

)oked  down  with  contempt  on  all 

thers,  as  men  of  dissolute  or  irre- 

-gious    habits;    and    many    among 

lem,  in  the  belief  that  the  reformed 

iligion  was  in  danger,  deemed  it  a 

jnscientious  duty  to  risk  their  lives 

ad  fortunes  in  the  quarrel.'    Thus 

ere  brought  into  collision  some  of 

le  most  powerful  motives  which  can 

jitate  the  human  breast,— loyalty, 

id  liberty,  and  religion ;  the  conflict 

evated  the  minds  of  the  combatants 

x)ve   their  ordinary  level,   and  in 

any  instances  produced  a  spirit  of 

iroism,   and   self-devotedness,    and 

idurance,  which  demands  our  adrai- 

tion  and  sympathy.    Both  parties 

on  distinguished  their  adversaries 

^  particular  appellations.    The  roy- 

ists  were  denominated  Cavaliers ;  a 

3rd  which,  though  applied  to  them 

first  in  allusion  to  their  quality, 

on  lost  its  original  acceptation,  and 

IS  taken  to  be   synonymous  with 

pist,  atheist,  and  voluptuary;  and 

ey   on  their  part  gave   to    their 


I  Whitelock,  76. 

*  Life  of  Colonel  Hutchinson,  p,  100. 
The  godly  of  those  days,  when  the  colonel 
ibraced  their  party,  would  not  allow  him 
be  religious,  because  his  hair  was  not  in 


enemies  the  name  of  Eoundheads, 
because  they  cropped  their  hair  short, 
dividing  "  it  into  so  many  little 
peaks  as  was  something  ridiculous  to 
behold."  2 

Each  army  in  its  composition  re- 
sembled the  other.  Commissions  were 
given,  not  to  persons  the  most  fit  to 
command,  but  to  those  who  were  most 
willing  and  able  to  raise  men;  and 
the  men  themselves,  who  were  gene- 
rally ill  paid,  and  who  considered 
their  services  as  voluntary,  often  de- 
feated the  best-concerted  plans,  by 
their  refusal  to  march  from  their 
homes,  or  their  repugnance  to  obey 
some  particular .  oflicer,  or  their  dis- 
approval of  the  projected  expedition. 
To  enforce  discipline  was  dangerous ; 
and  both  the  king  and  the  parliament 
found  themselves  compelled  to  en- 
treat or  connive,  where  they  ought  to 
have  employed  authority  and  punish- 
ment. The  command  of  the  royal 
array  was  intrusted  to  the  earl  of 
Lindsey,  of  the  parliamentary  forces 
to  the  earl  of  Essex,  each  of  whom 
owed  the  distinction  to  the  experience 
which  he  was  supposed  to  have  ac- 
quired in  foreign  service.  But  such 
experience  aflforded  little  benefit. 
The  passions  of  the  combatants  des- 
pised the  cool  calculations  of  military 
prudence ;  a  new  system  of  warfare 
was  necessarily  generated;  and  men 
of  talents  and  ambition  quickly  ac- 
quired that  knowledge  which  was  best 
adapted  to  the  quality  of  the  troops 
and  to  the  nature  of  the  contest. 

Charles,  having  left  Nottingham, 
proceeded  to  Shrewsbury,  collecting 
reinforcements,  and  receiving  volun- 
tary contributions  on  his  march. 
Half-way  between  Stafford  and  Wel- 
lington he  halted  the  army,  and 
placing  himself  in  the  centre,  solemnly 


their  cut,  nor  his  words  in  their  phrase." — 
Ibid.  The  names  were  first  given  a  little 
before  the  king  left  Whitehall.— Clarendon, 


B  2 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


declared  in  the  presence  of  Almighty 
God  that  he  had  no  other  design,  that 
he  felt  no  other  wish,  than  to  main- 
tain the  Protestant  faith,  to  govern 
according  to  law,  and  to  observe  all 
the  statutes  enacted  in  parliament. 
Should  he  fail  in  any  one  of  these 
particulars,  he  renounced  all  claim  to 
assistance  from  man,  or  protection 
from  God ;  but  as  long  as  he  remained 
faithful  to  his  promise,  he  hoped  for 
cheerful  aid  from  his  subjects,  and 
was  confident  of  obtaining  the  blessing 
of  Heaven.  This  solemn  and  affecting 
protestation  being  circulated  through 
the  kingdom,  gave  a  new  stimulus  to 
the  exertions  of  his  friends;  but  it 
was  soon  opposed  by  a  most  extra- 
ordinary declaration  on  the  part  of 
the  parliament ;  that  it  was  the  real 
intention  of  the  king  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  the  papists  by  altering 
the  national  religion,  and  the  rapa- 
city of  the  Cavaliers  by  giving  up  to 
them  the  plunder  of  the  metropolis ; 
and  that,  to  prevent  the  accomplish- 
ment of  so  wicked  a  design,  the  two 
houses  had  resolved  to  enter  into 
a  solemn  covenant  with  God,  to  de- 
fend his  truth  at  the  hazard  of  their 
lives,  to  associate  with  the  well- 
affected  in  London  and  the  rest  of 
the  kingdom,  and  to  request  the  aid 
of  their  Scottish  brethren,  whose 
liberties  and  religion  were  equally  at 
stake.' 

In  the  mean  time  Waller  had  re- 
duced Portsmouth,  while  Essex  con- 
centrated his  force,  amounting  to 
fifteen  thousand  men,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Northampton.  He  received  orders 
from  the  houses  to  rescue,  by  force  if 
it  were  necessary,  the  persons  of  the 
king,  the  prince,  and  the  duke  of 
York,  ft-om  the  hands  of  those  des- 
perate men  by  whom  they  were  sur- 
rounded ;  to  offer  a  free  pardon  to  all 
who,  within  ten  days,  should  return 


1  Claremlon,  ii.  16.    Euahworth,  y.  20,21, 
Journals,  v.  370,  118. 


to  their  duty,  and  to  forward  to  the 
king  a  petition  that  he  would  separate 
himself  from  his  evil  counsellors,  and 
rely  once  more  on  the  loyalty  ol 
his  parliament.  Prom  Northampton 
Essex  hastened  to  Worcester  to  op- 
pose the  advance  of  the  royal  army. 

At  Nottingham  the  king  could 
muster  no  more  than  six  thousand 
men ;  he  left  Shrewsbury  at  the  head 
of  thrice  that  number.  By  a  suc- 
cession of  skilful  manoeuvres  he  con- 
trived to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the 
enemy ;  and  had  advanced  two  days' 
march  on  the  road  to  the  metropolis 
before  Essex  became  aware  of  hit 
object.  In  London  the  news  was  re- 
ceived with  terror.  Little  reliance 
could  be  placed  on  the  courage,  less 
on  the  fidehty  of  the  trained  bands 
and  peremptory  orders  were  des- 
patched to  Essex,  to  hasten  with  his 
whole  force  to  the  protection  of  the 
capital  and  the  parliament.  Thai 
general  had  seen  his  error ;  he  wa: 
following  the  king  with  expedition 
and  his  vanguard  entered  the  village 
of  Keynton  on  the  same  evening  oi 
which  the  royalists  halted  on  Edge 
hill,  only  a  few  miles  in  advance.  A' 
midnight  Charles  held  a  council  o 
war,  in  which  it  was  resolved  to  tun 
upon  tiie  pursuers,  and  to  offer  their 
battle.  Early  in  the  morning  thi 
royal  army  was  seen  in  position  oi 
the  summit  of  a  range  of  hills,  whicl 
gave  them  a  decided  superiority  ii 
case  of  attack;  but  Essex,  wlios< 
artillery,  with  one-fourth  of  his  men 
was  several  miles  in  the  rear,  satisfiei 
with  having  arrested  the  march  o 
the  enemy,  quietly  posted  the  dil 
ferent  corps,  as  they  arrived,  on 
rising  ground  in  the  Vale  of  the  Eei 
Horse,  about  half  a  mile  in  front  c 
the  village.  About  noon  the  CavaUer 
grew  weary  of  inaction ;  their  impor 
tunity  at  last  prevailed ;  and  abon  i 
two  the  king  discharged  a  canno- 
with  his  own  hand  as  the  signal 
battle.     The  royalists  descended  . 


A.D.  1G42.] 


BATTLE  OF  EDGE  HILL. 


good  order  to  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
where  their  hopes  were  raised  by  the 
treachery  of  Sir  Faithful  Fortescue, 
a  parliamentary  oJBficer,  who,  firing 
his  pistol  into  the  ground,  ranged 
himself  with  two  troops  of  horse 
under  the  royal  banner.  Soon  after- 
wards Prince  Eupert,  who  com- 
manded the  cavalry  on  the  right, 
charged  twenty-two  troops  of  parlia- 
mentary horse  led  by  Sir  James 
Eamsay ;  broke  them  at  the  very 
onset ;  urged  the  pursuit  two  miles 
beyond  Keynton,  and  finding  the 
baggage  of  the  enemy  in  the  village, 
indulged  his  men  for  the  space  of  an 
hour  in  the  work  of  plunder.  Had  it 
not  been  for  this  fatal  imprudence,  the 
royalists  would  probably  have  gained 
a  decisive  victory. 

During  his  absence  the  main  bodies 
of  infantry  were  engaged  under  their 
respective  leaders,  the  earls  of  Lind- 
sey  and  Essex,  both  of  whom,  dis- 
mounting, led  their  men  into  action 
on  foot.  The  cool  and  determined 
courage  of  the  Eoundheads  unde- 
ceived and  disconcerted  the  Cavaliers. 
The  royal  horse  on  the  left,  a  weak 
body  under  Lord  Wilmot,  had  sought 
protection  behind  a  regiment  of  pike- 
men;  and  Sir  William  Balfour,  the 
parliamentary  commander,  leaving  a 
few  squadrons  to  keep  them  at  bay, 
wheeled  round  on  the  flank  of  the  royal 
infantry,  broke  through  two  divisions, 
and  made  himself  master  of  a  battery 
of  cannon.  In  another  part  of  the 
field,  the  king's  guards,  with  his 
standard,  bore  down  every  corps  that 
opposed  them,  till  Essex  ordered  two 


1  The  standard  was  nevertheless  recovered 
by  the  daring  or  the  address  of  a  Captain 
Smith,  whom  the  king  made  a  banneret  in 
the  field. 

y-  '  This  is  the  most  consistent  aeconnt  of 
the  battle  which  I  can  form  out  of  the 
numerous  narratives  in  Clarendon,  May, 
Ludlow,  Heath,  &c.  Lord  Wharton,  to 
silence  the  alarm  in  London,  on  his  arrival 
from  the  army,  assured  the  two  houses  that 
the  loss  did  not  exceed  three  hundred  men. 
— Journ.   v.   423.    The    prince    of  Wales, 


regiments  of  infantry  and  a  squadron 
of  horse  to  charge  them  in  front 
and  flank,  whilst  Balfour,  abandoning 
the  guns  which  he  had  taken,  burst 
on  them  from  the  rear.  They  now 
broke ;  Sir  Edmund  Verney  was  slain, 
and  the  standard  which  he  bore  was 
taken  ;*  the  earl  of  Lindsey  received  a 
mortal  wound ;  and  his  son,  the  lord 
Willoughby,  was  made  prisoner  in 
the  attempt  to  rescue  his  father, 
Charles,  who,  attended  by  his  troop 
of  pensioners,  watched  the  fortune  of 
the  field,  beheld  with  dismay  the 
slaughter  of  his  guards ;  and  ordering 
the  reserve  to  advance,  placed  himself 
at  their  head;  but  at  that  moment 
Eupert  and  the  cavalry  reappeared ; 
and,  though  they  had  withdrawn 
from  Keynton  to  avoid  the  approach 
of  Hampden  with  the  rear  of  the 
parliamentary  army,  their  presence 
restored  the  hopes  of  the  royalists 
and  damped  the  ardour  of  their  oppo- 
nents, A  breathing-time  succeeded ; 
the  firing  ceased  on  both  sides,  and 
the  adverse  armies  stood  gazing  at 
each  other  till  the  darkness  induced 
them  to  withdraw,— the  royalists  to 
their  first  position  on  the  hills,  and 
the  parliamentarians  to  the  village  of 
Keynton,  From  the  conflicting  state- 
ments of  the  parties,  it  is  impossible 
to  estimate  their  respective  losses. 
Most  writers  make  the  number  of 
the  slain  to  amount  to  five  thousand  ; 
but  the  clergyman  of  the  place,  who 
superintended  the  burial  of  the  dead, 
reduces  it  to  about  one  thousand 
two  hundred  men.^ 
Both  armies  claimed  the  honour. 


about  twelve  years  old,  who  was  on  horse- 
back in  a  field  under  the  care  of  Sir  John 
Hinton,  had  a  narrow  escape.  "  One  of  the 
troopers  observing  you,"  says  Hinton, 
"came  in  full  career  towards  your  highness. 
I  received  his  charge,  and,  having  spent  a 
pistol  or  two  on  each  other,  I  dismounted 
him  in  the  closing,  but  being  armed  cap-a-pi6 
I  could  do  no  execution  on  him  with  my 
sword  :  at  which  instant  one  Mr.  Matthews, 
a  gentleman  pensioner,  rides  in,  and  with  a 
poll-axe  decides  the  business." — MS.  in  my 
possession. 


6 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  t. 


neither  reaped  the  benefit,  of  victory. 
Essex,  leaving  the  king  to  pursue  his 
march,  withdrew  to  Warwick,  and 
thence  to  Coventry ;  Charles,  having 
compelled  the  garrison  of  Banbury 
to  surrender,  turned  aside  to  the  city 
of  Oxford.  Each  commander  wished 
for  leisure  to  reorganize  his  army 
after  the  late  battle.  The  two  houses, 
though  they  assumed  the  laurels  of 
victory,  felt  alarm  at  the  proximity 
of  the  royalists,  and  at  occasional 
visits  from  parties  of  cavalry.  They 
ordered  Essex  to  come  to  their  pro- 
tection; they  wrote  for  assistance 
from  Scotland ;  they  formed  a  new 
army  under  the  earl  of  Warwick ; 
they  voted  an  address  to  the  king; 
they  even  submitted  to  his  refusal  of 
receiving  as  one  of  their  deputies  Sir 
John  Evelyn,  whom  he  had  previously 
pronounced  a  traitor.*  In  the  mean- 
wjiile  the  royal  army,  leaving  Oxford, 
loitered— for  what  reason  is  unknown 
— in  the  vicinity  of  Eeading,  and  per- 
mitted Essex  to  march  without  mo- 
lestation by  the  more  eastern  road  to 
the  capital.  Kingston,  Acton,  and 
Windsor,  were  already  garrisoned  for 
the  parliament;  and  the  only  open 
passage  to  London  lay  through  the 
town  of  Brentford.  Charles  had 
reached  Colnbrook  in  this  direction, 
when  he  was  met  by  the  commis- 
sioners, who  prevailed  on  him  to 
suspend  his  march.  The  conference 
lasted  two  days,  on  the  second  of  which 
Essex  threw  a  brigade,  consisting  of 
three  of  his  best  regiments,  into  that 
town.  Charles  felt  indignant  at  this 
proceeding.  It  was  in  his  opinion  a 
breach  of  faith;  and  two  days  later, 
after  an  obstinate  resistance  on  the 
part  of  the  enemy,  he  gained  posses- 


i  Journals,  331—366.  On  Nov.  7  the 
house  voted  the  king's  refusal  to  receive 
Evelyn  a  refusal  to  treat;  but  on  the  9th 
ingeniously  evaded  the  diflBculty,  by  leaving 
it  to  the  discretion  of  Evelyn,  whether  he 
would  act  or  not.  Of  course  he  declined. — 
Ibid.  437,  439. 

'  Each  party  published  contradictory  ac- 


sion  of  Brentford,  having  driven  part 
of  the  garrison  into  the  river,  and 
taken  fifteen  pieces  of  cannon  and 
five  hundred  men.  The  latter  he 
ordered  to  be  discharged,  leaving  it 
to  their  option  either  to  enter  among 
his  followers  or  to  promise  on  oath 
never  more  to  bear  arms  against 
him.' 

This  action  put  an  end  to  the  pro- 
jected treaty.  The  parliament  re- 
proached the  king  that,  while  he 
professed  the  strongest  repugnance  to 
shed  the  blood  of  Englishmen,  he  had 
surprised  and  murdered  their  ad- 
herents at  Brentford,  unsuspicious 
as  they  were,  and  relying  on  the 
security  of  a  pretended  negotiation. 
Charles  indignantly  retorted  the 
charge  on  his  accusers.  They  were 
the  real  deceivers,  who  sought  to  keep 
him  inactive  in  his  position,  till  they 
had  surrounded  him  with  the  multi- 
tude of  their  adherents.  In  effect  his 
situation  daily  became  more  critical. 
His  opponents  had  summoned  forces 
from  every  quarter  to  London,  and 
Essex  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
twenty-four  thousand  men.  The  two 
armies  faced  each  other  a  whole  day 
on  Turuham  Green ;  but  neither 
ventured  to  charge,  and  the  king, 
understanding  that  the  corps  which 
defended  the  bridge  at  Kingston  had 
been  withdrawn,  retreated  first  to 
Reading,  and  then  to  Oxford.  Pro- 
bably he  found  himself  too  weak  to 
cope  with  the  superior  number  of  his 
adversaries ;  publicly  he  alleged  his 
unwillingness  to  oppose  by  a  battle 
any  further  obstacle  to  a  renewal  of 
the  treaty  .3 

The  whole  kingdom  at  this  period 
exhibited  a  most   melancholy  spi 


4 


counts.  I  have  adhered  to  the  documents 
entered  in  the  Journals,  which  in  my 
opinion  show  that,  if  there  was  any  breach 
of  faith  in  these  transactions,  it  was  on  the 

Eart  of   the  parliament,  and   not  of  the 
ing. 

»  May,  179.    Whitelock,  65,  66.    Claren- 
don, ii.  76. 


J).  1642.] 


TEEATY  AT  OXFORD. 


acle.  No  man  was  suffered  to  remain 
leuter.  Each  county,  town,  and 
lamlet  was  divided  into  factions, 
eeking  the  ruin  of  each  other.  All 
tood  upon  their  guard,  while  the 
aost  active  of  either  party  eagerly 
ought  the  opportunity  of  despoiling 
he  lands,  and  surprising  the  persons 
»f  their  adversaries.  The  two  great 
rmies,  in  defiance  of  the  prohibitions 
)f  their  leaders,  plundered  wherever 
(hey  came,  and  their  example  was 
aithfully  copied  by  the  smaller  bo- 
lies  of  armed  men  in  other  districts. 
The  intercourse  between  distant  parts 
)f  the  country  was  interrupted ;  the 
operations  of  commerce  were  sus- 
pended ;  and  every  person  possessed 
3f  property  was  compelled  to  contri- 
Dute  after  a  certain  rate  to  the  sup- 
port of  that  cause  which  obtained  the 
superiority  in  his  neighbourhood.  In 
Oxford  and  its  vicinity,  in  the  four 
northern  counties,  in  Wales,  Shrop- 
shire, and  Worcestershire,  the  royalists 
triumphed  without  opposition ;  in 
the  metropolis,  and  the  adjoining 
30unties,  on  the  southern  and  eastern 
3oast,  the  superiority  of  the  parlia- 
ment was  equally  decisive.  But  in 
many  parts  the  adherents  of  both 
were  intermixed  in  such  different 
proportions,  and  their  power  and 
exertions  were  so  variously  affected 
by  the  occurrences  of  each  succeeding 
day,  that  it  became  difficult  to  decide 
which  of  the  two  parties  held  the  pre- 
ponderance. But  there  were  four 
counties,  those  of  York,  Chester,  De- 
von, and  Cornwall,  in  which  the 
leaders  had  already  learned  to  abhor 
the  evils  of  civil  dissension.  They 
met  on  both  sides  and  entered  into 
engagements  to  suspend  their  poli- 
tical animosities,  to  aid  each  other  in 
putting  down  the  disturbers  of  the 
public  peace,  and  to  oppose  the  intro- 
duction of  any  armed  force,  without 


i  Journals,  535.    Kashworth,  v.  100.    Cla- 
rendon, ii.  136,  139. 


the  joint  consent  both  of  the  king  and 
parliament.  Had  the  other  counties 
followed  the  example,  the  war  would 
have  been  ended  almost  as  soon  as  it 
began.  But  this  was  a  consumma- 
tion which  the  patriots  deprecated. 
They  pronounced  such  engagements 
derogatory  from  the  authority  of  par- 
liament; they  absolved  their  parti- 
sans from  the  obligations  into  which 
they  had  entered;  and  they  com- 
manded them  once  more  to  unsheath 
the  sword  in  the  cause  of  their  God 
and  their  country.' 

But  it  soon  became  evident  that 
this  pacific  feeling  was  not  confined 
to  the  more  distant  counties.  It 
spread  rapidly  through  the  whole 
kingdom;  it  manifested  itself  without 
disguise  even  in  the  metropolis.  Men 
were  anxious  to  free  themselves  from 
the  forced  contribution  of  one-twen- 
tieth part  of  their  estates  for  the 
support  of  the  parliamentary  army,' 
and  the  citizens  could  not  forget  the 
alarm  which  had  been  created  by  the 
late  approach  of  the  royal  forces. 
Petitions  for  peace,  though  they  were 
ungraciously  received,  continued  to 
load  the  tables  of  both  houses ;  and 
as  the  king  himself  had  proposed 
a  cessation  of  hostilities,  prudence 
taught  the  most  sanguine  advocates 
for  war  to  accede  to  the  wishes 
of  the  people.  A  negotiation  was 
opened  at  Oxford.  The  demands  of 
the  parliament  amounted  to  fourteen 
articles ;  those  of  Charles  were  con- 
fined to  six.  But  two  only,  the  first 
in  each  class,  came  into  discussion. 
No  argument  could  induce  the  houses 
to  consent  that  the  king  should  name 
to  the  government  of  the  forts  and 
castles  without  their  previous  appro- 
bation of  the  persons  to  be  appointed ; 
and  he  demurred  to  their  proposal 
that  both  armies  should  be  disbanded, 
until  he  knew  on  what  conditions  he 


2  Journals,  463,  491,  594.  Commons' 
Journals,  Dec.  13.  It  was  imposed  Nov.  29, 
1642. 


8 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I 


was  to  return  to  his  capital.  They 
had  Umited  the  duration  of  the  con- 
ference to  twenty  days ;  he  proposed 
a  prolongation  of  the  term ;  they 
refused;  and  he  offered,  as  his  ulti- 
matum, that  whenever  he  should  be 
reinstated  in  the  possession  of  his 
revenues,  magazines,  ships,  and  forts, 
according  to  law ;  when  all  the  mem- 
bers of  parliament,  with  the  exception 
of  the  bishops,  should  be  restored  to 
their  seats,  as  they  held  them  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1641 ;  and  when  the 
two  houses  should  be  secure  from  the 
influence  of  tumultuary  assemblies, 
which  could  only  be  effected  by  an 
adjournment  to  some  place  twenty 
mUes  distant  from  London,  he  would 
consent  to  the  immediate  disbanding 
of  both  armies,  and  would  meet  his 
parliament  in  person.  The  Commons 
instantly  passed  a  vote  to  recall  the 
commissioners  from  Oxford;  the 
Lords,  though  at  first  they  dissented, 
were  compelled  to  signify  their  con- 
currence; and  an  end  was  put  to 
the  treaty,  and  to  the  hopes  which  it 
had  inspired.* 

During  this  negotiation  the  houses 
left  nothing  to  the  discretion  of  their 
commissioners,  the  earl  of  Northum- 
berland, Pierrepoint,  Armyn,  Hol- 
land, and  AVhitelock.  They  were 
permitted  to  propose  and  argue ;  they 
had  no  power  to  concede.'  Yet, 
while  they  acted  in  public  according 
to  the  tenour  of  their  instructions, 
they  privately  gave  the  king  to  under- 
stand that  he  might  probably  pur- 


1  See  the  whole  proceedings  relative  to 
the  treaty  in  the  kinp's  works,  325 — 397; 
the  .Tournals  of  the  Lords,  v.  659 — 718 ;  and 
Eushworth,  v.  104—201. 

2  This  was  a  most  dilatory  and  inconre- 
rient  arrangement.  Every  proposal  or  de- 
mand, or  suggestion  from  the  kmg  was  sent 
to  the  parliament,  and  its  expediency  de- 
bated. The  houses  generally  disagreed. 
Conferences  were  therefore  held,  and 
amendments  proposed ;  new  discussions 
followed,  and  a  week  was  perhaps  consumed 
before  a  point  of  sm&U  importance  could  bo 
settled. 

»  See  Clarendon's  Life,  76—80;  White- 
lock,  68;    and  the  letters   in   the   king's 


chase  the  preservation  of  the  churcl 
by  surrendering  the  command  of  th( 
militia,— a  concession  which  his  oppo- 
nents deemed  essential  to  their  owr 
security.  At  one  period  they  indulged 
a  strong  hope  of  success.  At  parting 
Charles  had  promised  to  give  them 
satisfaction  on  the  following  day ;  but 
during  the  night  he  was  dissuaded 
from  his  purpose ;  and  his  answer  in 
the  morning  proved  little  short  oi 
an  absolute  denial.  Northumberland 
also  made  a  secret  offer  of  his  influence 
to  mollify  the  obstinacy  of  the  pa- 
triots; but  Charles,  who  called  that 
nobleman  the  most  ungrateful  of 
men,  received  the  proposal  with  dis- 
pleasure, and  to  the  importunity  of 
his  advisers  coldly  replied,  that  the 
sernce  must  come  first,  and  the 
reward  might  follow  afterwards. 
Whether  the  parliament  began  to 
suspect  the  fidelity  of  the  commis- 
sioners, and  on  that  account  recalled 
them,  is  unknown.  Hyde  maintains 
that  the  king  protracted  the  nego- 
tiation to  give  time  for  the  arrival  of 
the  queen,  without  whom  he  would 
come  to  no  determination;  but  of 
this  not  a  vestige  appears  in  the  pri- 
vate correspondence  between  Charles 
and  his  consort ;  and  a  sufficient  rea- 
son for  the  failure  of  the  treaty  may 
be  found  in  the  high  pretensions  of 
each  party,  neither  of  whom  had 
been  sufficiently  humbled  to  pur- 
chase peace  with  the  sacrifice  of 
honour  or  safety.^ 
It  was  owing  to  the  indefatigable 


works,  138—140.  Before  Henrietta  left 
England,  he  had  promised  her  to  give  away 
no  office  without  her  consent,  and  not  to 
make  peace  but  through  her  mediation. 
Charles,  however,  maintained  that  tli.'  first 
regarded  not  offices  of  state,  but  ollices  of 
the  royal  household ;  and  the  second  seoma 
to  have  been  misunderstood.  As  far  as  I 
can  judge,  it  only  meant  that  whenever  h© 
made  peace,  he  would  put  her  forward  u 
mediatrix,  to  the  end  that,  since  she  had 
been  calumniated  as  being  the  cause  of  the 
rupture  between  him  and  his  people,  she 
might  also  have  in  the  eyes  of  the  public 
the  merit  of  effecting  the  reconciliation. — 
Clarendon's  Life.  ibia. 


:d.  1643.] 


FALL  OF  READING. 


•xertions  of  Henrietta,  that*  the  king 
lad  been  enabled  to  meet  bis  oppo- 
lents  in  the  field.  During  her  re- 
idence  in  Holland  she  had  repeatedly 
ent  him  supplies  of  arms  and  ammu- 
lition,  and,  what  he  equally  wanted, 
>f  veteran  officers  to  train  and  disci- 
)line  his  forces.  In  February,  leav- 
ng  the  Hague,  and  trusting  to  her 
;ood  fortune,  she  had  eluded  the 
dgilance  of  Batten,  the  parliamentary 
idmiral,  and  landed  in  safety  in  the 
lort  of  Burlington,  on  the  coast  of 
JTorkshire.  Batten,  enraged  at  his 
lisappointment,  anchored  on  the  se- 
;ond  night,  with  four  ships  and  a 
Dinnace,  in  the  road,  and  discharged 
ibove  one  hundred  shot  at  the  houses 
)n  the  quay,  in  one  of  which  the 
lueen  was  lodged.  Alarmed  at  the 
ianger,  she  quitted  her  bed,  and 
'  bare  foot  and  bare  leg,"  sought  shel- 
:er  till  daylight  behind  the  nearest 
lill.  No  action  of  the  war  was  more 
bitterly  condemned  by  the  gallantry 
)f  the  Cavaliers  than  this  unmanly 
ittack  on  a  defenceless  female,  the 
^ife  of  the  sovereign.  The  earl  of 
Newcastle  hastened  to  Burlington, 
md  escorted  her  with  his  army  to 
York.  To  have  pursued  her  journey 
X)  Oxford  would  have  been  to  throw 
lerself  into  the  arms  of  her  oppo- 
lents.  She  remained  four  months 
.n  Yorkshire,  winning  the  hearts  of 
:he  inhabitants  by  her  affability,  and 
luickening  their  loyalty  by  her  words 
md  example.' 

During  the  late  treaty  every  effort 
lad  been  made  to  recruit  the  parlia- 
neutary  army;  at  its  expiration, 
Bampden,  who  commanded  a  regi- 
nent,  proposed  to  besiege  the  king 
vvithin  the  city  of  Oxford.  But  the 
irdour  of  the  patriots  was  constantly 
3hecked  by  the  caution  of  the  officers 
who    formed  the   council    of    war. 


Essex  invested  Reading ;  at  the  expi- 
ration of  ten  days  it  capitulated ;  and 
Hampden  renewed  his  proposal.  But 
the  hardships  of  the  siege  had  already 
broken  the  health  of  the  soldiers ;  and 
mortality  and  desertion  daily  thinned 
their  numbers.  Essex  found  himself 
compelled  to  remain  six  weeks  in  his 
new  quarters  at  Reading. 

If  the  fall  of  that  town  impaired 
the  reputation  of  the  royalists,  it 
added  to  their  strength  by  the  arrival 
of  the  four  thousand  men  who  had 
formed  the  garrison.  But  the  want 
of  ammunition  condemned  the  king 
to  the  same  inactivity  to  which  sick- 
ness had  reduced  his  adversaries. 
Henrietta  endeavoured  to  supply  this 
deficiency.  In  May  a  plentiful  con- 
voy arrived  from  York ;  and  Charles, 
before  he  put  his  forces  in  motion, 
made  another  offer  of  accommodation. 
By  the  Lords  it  was  received  with 
respect;  the  Commons  imprisoned 
the  messenger ;  and  Pym,  in  their 
name,  impeached  the  queen  of  high 
treason  against  the  parliament  and 
kingdom.  The  charge  was  met  by 
the  royalists  with  sneers  of  derision. 
The  Lords  declined  the  ungracious 
task  of  sitting  in  judgment  on  the  wife 
of  their  sovereign ;  and  the  Commons 
themselves,  but  it  was  not  till  after 
the  lapse  of  eight  months,  yielded  to 
their  reluctance,  and  silently  dropped 
the  prosecution.^ 

In  the  lower  house  no  man  had. 
more  distinguished  himself  of  late,  by 
the  boldness  of  his  language,  and  his 
fearless  advocacy  of  peace,  than  Ed- 
mund "Waller,  the  poet.  In  conversa- 
tion with  his  intimate  friends  he  had 
frequently  suggested  the  formation 
of  a  third  party,  of  moderate  men, 
who  should  "  stand  in  the  gap,  and 
unite  the  king  and  the  parliament.'* 
In  this  work  they  calculated  on  th& 


1  Mercurius  Belgic.  Feb,  24.  Micro- 
Aronicon,  Feb.  24,  1642-3.  Clarendon,  ii. 
143.  According  to  Rushworth,  Batten  fired 
at  boats  which  were  landing  ammunition  on 


the  quay. 

2  Journals,  104,  111,  118, 121,  362.  Com- 
mons'  Journals,  May  23,  June  21,  July  3,  6; 
1644,  Jan.  10. 


10 


CHARLES  L 


[chap.  I. 


co-operation  of  all  the  Lords  except- 
ing three,  of  a  considerable  number 
of  the  lower  house,  and  of  the  most 
able  among  the  advisers  of  the  king  at 
Oxford;  and  that  they  might  ascer- 
tain the  real  opinion  of  the  city,  they 
agreed  to  portion  it  into  districts,  to 
make  lists  of  the  inhabitants,  and  to 
divide  them  into  three  classes, — of 
moderate  men,  of  royalists,  and  of 
parliamentarians.  The  design  had 
been  communicated  to  Lord  Falk- 
land, the  king's  secretary ;  but  it  re- 
mained in  this  imperfect  stat^e,  when 
it  was  revealed  to  Pym  by  the  perfidy 
or  patriotism  of  a  servant,  who  had 
overheard  the  discourse  of  his  master. 
Waller,  Tomkins  his  brother-in-law, 
and  half  a  dozen  others,  were  imme- 
diately secured ;  and  an  annunciation 
was  made  to  the  two  houses  of "  the 
discovery  of  a  horrid  plot  to  seize  the 
city,  force  the  parliament,  and  join 
with  the  royal  army."  ' 

The  leaders  of  the  patriots  eagerly 
improved  this  opportunity  to  quell 
that  spirit  of  pacification  which  had 
recently  insinuated  itself  among 
their  partisans.  While  the  public 
mind  was  agitated  by  rumours  re- 
specting the  bloody  designs  of  the 
conspirators,  while  every  moderate 
man  feared  that  the  expression  of  his 
sentiments   might   be  taken   as   an 


1  Journals,  June  6. 

2  Journals,  May  31,  June  6, 14,  21,  27,  29. 
Eushworth,  v.  322—333.  Whitelock,  67,  70, 
105.  The  preamble  began  thus  :  "  Whereas 
there  hath  been  and  now  is  in  this  kingdom 
a  popish  and  traitorous  plot  for  the  subver- 
sion of  the  true  Protestant  religion,  and 
liberty  of  the  subject,  in  pursuance  whereof 
a  popish  army  hath  been  raised  and  is  now 
on  foot  in  divers  parts  of  the  kingdom,"  &c. 
— Journals,  June  6.    Lords*   Journals,  vi. 

7.  1  am  loath  to  charge  the  framers  and 
sopporters  of  this  preamble  with  publishing 
a  deliberate  falsehood,  for  the  purpose  of 
exciting  odium  against  the  king;  but  I  think 
it  impossible  to  view  their  conduct  in  any 
other  light.  The  popish  plot  and  popish 
army  were  fictions  of  their  own,  to  madden 
the  passions  of  their  adherents.  Charles, 
to  refute  the  calumny,  as  he  was  about  to 
receive  the  sacrament  from  the  hands  of 


evidence  of  his  participation  in  the 
plot,  they  proposed  a  new  oath  and 
covenant  to  the  house  of  Commons. 
No  one  dared  to  object;  and  the 
members  unanimously  swore  "  never 
to  consent  to  the  laying  down  of  arms, 
so  long  as  the  papists,  in  open  war 
against  the  parliament,  should  be 
protected  from  the  justice  thereof, 
but  according  to  their  power  and  vo- 
cation, to  assist  the  forces  raised  by 
the  parliament  against  the  forces 
raised  by  the  king."  The  Lords,  the 
citizens,  and  the  army  followed  their 
example ;  and  an  ordinance  was  pub- 
lished that  every  man  in  his  parish 
church  should  make  the  same  vow 
and  covenant.2  As  for  the  prisoners, 
instead  of  being  sent  before  a  court  of 
law,  they  were  tried  by  a  court-mar- 
tial. Six  were  condemned  to  die: 
two  suffered.  Waller  saved  his  life 
by  the  most  abject  submission.  "  He 
seemed  much  smitten  in  conscience : 
he  desired  the  help  of  godly  minis- 
ters," and  by  his  entreaties  induced 
the  Commons  to  commute  his  punish- 
ment into  a  fine  of  ten  thousand 
pounds  and  an  order  to  travel  on  the 
continent.  To  the  question  why  the 
principal  should  be  spared,  when  his 
assistants  suffered,  it  was  answered  by 
some,  that  a  promise  of  life  had  been 
made  to  induce  him  to  confess,  by 


Archbishop  Usher,  suddenly  rose  and  ad- 
dressed him  thus,  in  the  hearing  of  the 
whole  congregation  :  "  My  Lord,  I  have  to 
the  utmost  of  my  soul  prepared  to  become 
a  worthy  receiver;  and  may  I  so  receive 
comfort  by  the  blessed  sacrament,  as  I  do 
intend  the  establishment  of  the  true  re- 
formed  Protestant  religion,  as  it  stood  in 
its  beauty  in  the  happy  days  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, without  any  connivance  at  popery.  I 
bless  God  that  in  the  midst  of  these  publick 
distractions  I  have  still  liberty  to  commu- 
nicate ;  and  may  this  sacrament  be  mr 
damnation,  if  my  heart  do  not  joyn  with 
my  lipps  in  this  protestation." — Rush.  v. 
316.  Connivance  was  an  ambiguous  and 
therefore  an  ill-chosen  word.  He  w.is  pro- 
bably sincere  in  the  sense  which  Jte  attached 
to  it,  but  certainly  forsworn  in  the  sense 
in  which  it  would  be  taken  by  his  oppo- 
nents. 


i 


D.  1643.] 


DEATH  OF  HAMPDEN. 


11 


hers  that  too  much  blood  had 
ready  been  shed  in  expiation  of  an 
laginary  plot.^ 

In  the  meanwhile  Essex,  after  seve- 
1  messages  from  the  parliament, 
A  removed  from  Reading,  and  fixed 
s  head-quarters  at  Tame.  One 
ght  Prince  liupert,  making  a  long 
•cuit,  surprised  Chinnor  in  the  rear 
the  army,  and  killed  or  captured 
e  greater  part  of  two  regiments  that 
7  in  the  town.  In  his  retreat  to 
cford,  he  was  compelled  to  turn  on 
3  pursuers  at  Chalgrove;  they 
arged  with  more  courage  than  pru- 
nce,  and  were  repulsed  with  con- 
lerable  loss.  It  was  in  this  action 
at  the  celebrated  Hampden  received 
e  wound  of  which  he  died.  The 
putation  which  he  had  earned  by 
3  resistance  to  the  payment  of  the 
ip-money  had  deservedly  placed 
m  at  the  head  of  the  popular  lead- 
His  insinuating  manner,  the 
idesty  of  his  pretensions,  and  the 
lief  of  his  integrity,  gave  to  his 
inions  an  irresistible  weight  in  the 
ver  house;  and  the  courage  and 
bivity  which  he  displayed  in  the 
my  led  many  to  lament  that  he  did 
t  occupy  the  place  held  by  the  more 
-dy  or  more  cautious  earl  of  Essex, 
le  royalists  exulted  at  his  death 
equal  to  a  victory;  the  patriots 
nented  it  as  a  loss  which  could 
t  be  repaired.  Both  were  deceived, 
tvolutions  are  the  seed-plots  of 
ents  and  energy.  One  great  leader 
d  been  withdrawn;  there  was  no 
irth  of  others  to  supply  his  place.'' 
To  the  Eoot-and-branch  men,  the 
ik,  no  less  than  the  inactivity  of 
sex,  afforded  a  legitimate  ground 


After  a  minute  investigation,  I  cannot 
snade  myself  that  Waller  and  his  friends 
ceeded  further  than  I  have  mentioned, 
lat  they  might  have  done,  had  they  not 
•a  interrupted,  is  matter  of  mere"  con- 
"nre.  The  commission  of  array,  which 
ir  enemies  sought  to  couple  with  their 
ign,  had  plainly  no  relation  to  it. 


of  suspicion.  In  proportion  as  he 
sank  in  their  esteem,  they  were  care- 
ful to  extol  the  merits  and  flatter 
the  ambition  of  Sir  William  Waller. 
Waller  had  formerly  enjoyed  a  lucra- 
tive office  under  the  crown,  but  he 
had  been  fined  in  the  Star-chamber, 
and  his  wife  was  a  "  godly  woman  ;'* 
her  zeal  and  his  own  resentment 
made  him  a  patriot;  he  raised  a 
troop  of  horse  for  the  service,  and 
was  quickly  advanced  to  a  command. 
The  rapidity  of  his  movements,  his 
daring  spirit,  and  his  contempt  of 
military  rules,  were  advantageously 
contrasted  with  the  slow  and  cautious 
experience  of  Essex ;  and  his  success 
at  Portsmouth,  Winchester,  Chiches- 
ter, Malmsbury,  and  Hereford,  all 
of  which  he  reduced  in  a  short  time, 
entitled  him,  in  the  estimation  of  his 
admirers,  to  the  quaint  appellation  of 
William  the  Conqueror.  While  the 
forces  under  Essex  were  suffered  to 
languish  in  a  state  of  destitution,^  an 
army  of  eight  thousand  men,  well 
clothed  and  appointed,  was  prepared 
for  Waller.  But  the  event  proved 
that  his  abilities  had  been  overrated. 
In  the  course  of  a  week  he  fought 
two  battles,  one  near  Bath,  with 
Prince  Maurice,  the  other  with  Lord 
Wilmot,  near  Devizes :  the  first  was 
obstinate  but  indecisive,  the  second 
bloody  and  disastrous.  Waller  has- 
tened from  the  field  to  the  capital, 
attributing  the  loss  of  his  army,  not 
to  his  own  errors,  but  to  the  jealousy 
of  Essex.  His  patrons  did  not  aban- 
don their  favourite.  Emulating  the 
example  of  the  Eomans,  they  met 
the  unfortunate  general  in  triumphal 
procession,  and  the  speaker   of  the 


2  Eushworth,  v.  265,  274.  Whitelock,  69, 
70.    Clarendon,  ii.  237,  261. 

3  His  army  was  reduced  to  "  four  thou- 
sand or  five  thousand  men,  and  these  much 
malcontented  that  their  general  and  they 
should  be  misprized,  and  Waller  imme- 
diately prized."— Baillie,  i.  391.  He  had 
three  thousand  marching  men,  and  three 
hundred  sick.— Journals,  vi.  160. 


12 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


Commons  officially  returned  him 
thanks  for  his  services  to  his  country.' 

This  tone  of  defiance  did  not  im- 
pose on  the  advocates  of  peace.  Wal- 
ler's force  was  annihilated ;  the  grand 
army,  lately  removed  to  Kingston, 
had  been  so  reduced  by  want  and 
neglect,  that  Essex  refused  to  give  to 
it  the  name  of  an  army;  the  queen 
had  marched  without  opposition  from 
Yorkshire  to  Oxford,  bringing  to  her 
husband,  who  met  her  on  Edge-hill, 
a  powerful  reinforcement  of  men, 
artillery,  and  stores;  and  Prince 
E-upert,  in  the  course  of  three  days, 
had  won  the  city  and  castle  of  Bristol, 
through  the  cowardice  or  incapacity 
of  Nathaniel  Fiennes,  the  governor.^ 
The  cause  of  the  parliament  seemed 
to  totter  on  the  brink  of  ruin ;  and 
the  Lords,  profiting  of  this  moment 
of  alarm,  sent  to  the  Commons  six 
resolutions  to  form  the  basis  of  a  new 
treaty.  They  were  favourably  re- 
ceived; and  after  a  debate,  which 
lasted  till  ten  at  night,  it  was  resolved 
by  a  majority  of  twenty-nine  to  take 
them  into  consideration.^ 

But  the  pacific  party  had  to  contend 
with  men  of  the  most  determined 
energy,  whom  no  dangers  could  appal, 
no  difficulties  subdue.  The  next  day 
was  Sunday,  and  it  was  spent  by  them 
in  arranging  a  new  plan  of  opposition. 
The  preachers  from  their  pulpits  de- 


1  Eashworth,  v.  284,  285.  Clarendon,  ii. 
278,  290.  Journals,  July  27.  May,  201— 
205.  His  first  successes  were  attributed  to 
Colonel  Hurry,  a  Scotsman,  thouRh  Waller 
held  the  nominal  command. — Baillie,  i.  351. 
But  Hurry,  in  discontent,  passed  over  to 
the  king,  and  was  the  planner  of  the  expe- 
dition which  led  to  the  death  of  Hampden. 
—Clarendon,  ii.  2&i.    Baillie,  i.  371. 

*  Fiennes,  to  clear  himself  from  the  im- 
putation of  cowardice,  demanded  a  court- 
martial,  and  Prynne  and  Walker,  who  had 
accused  him  in  their  publications,  became 
the  prosecutors.  He  was  found  guilty,  and 
condemned  to  lose  hie  head,  but  obtained  s 
pardon  from  Essex,  the  commander-in-chief. 
—Howell,  State  Trials,  iv.  186—293. 

'  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  149.  The  Lords 
had  in  the  laat  month  declared  their  readi- 


scribed  peace  as  the  infallible  ruin  c 
the  city ;  the  common  council  voted  : 
petition,  urging,  in  the  most  forcibl 
terms,  the  continuation  of  the  war 
and   placards    were    affixed    in   th 
streets,  calUng  on  the  inhabitants  t 
rise  as  one  man,   and  prevent  th 
triumph  of  the  malignants.    The  nej 
morning   Alderman    Atkins   carrie 
the  petition  to  Westminster,  accon 
panied  by  thousands  calling  out  fc  i 
war,  and  uttering  threats  of  vongeanc 
against    the    traitors.      Their    cri(  < 
resounded  through  both  the  house 
The  Lords  resolved  to  abstain  froi 
all  public  business  till  tranquillity  wi  > 
restored,  but  the  Commons  thanke  ; 
the  petitioners  for  their  attachmer  I 
to  the   cause  of  the  country.    Th  ' 
consideration  of  the  resolutions  w;  j 
then  resumed ;  terror  had  driven  tl:  ; 
more  pusillanimous  from  the  hous< 
and  on  the  second  division  the  m  ^ 
party  obtained  a  majority  of  seven.*    '< 
Their  opponents,   however,  migl  I 
yet  have  triumphed,  had  they,  as  ws  ; 
originally  suggested,  repaired  to  t^ 
army,  and  claimed  the  protection 
the  earl  of  Essex.    But  the  lord  s 
and  Mr.  Pym  hastened  to  that  nol 
man  and  appeased  his  discontent  \\ 
excuses  and  promises.    They  offer* 
to  punish  those  who  had  libelled  h 
character;    they   professed    an    m 
bounded  reliance  on  his  honour ;  th<  j 


ness  to  treat ;  but  the  proceedings  had  be- 
suspended  in  consequence  of  a  royal  dec) 
ration  that  the  houses  were  not  tree,  n 
their  votes  to  be  considered  aa  the  votes 
parliament. — Journals,  vi.  97,  103,  108. 

♦  Clarendon,  ii.  320.  Journals,  Aug.  6, 
Lords',  vi.  171,  172.  BaiUie,  i.  390.  Ont 
Saturday,  the  numbers  were  94  and  65 :  < 
the  Monday  81  and  79;  but  the  report 
the  tellers  was  disputed,  and  on  the  bccoi 
division  it  gave  81  and  89.  Two  days  lat< 
between  two  thousand  and  three  thousai 
women  (the  men  dared  not  appeiir)  pi 
Rented  a  petition  for  peace,  and  rcceivec 
civil  answer;  but  as  they  did  not  depa 
and  some  of  them  used  menacing  languaj 
they  were  charged  and  dispersed  by  t 
military,  with  the  loss  of  several  lives. 
Journals,  Juno  0.  Clarendon,  iii.  81 
Baillie,  i.  390» 


I 


LD.  1643.] 


OLIVEE  CROMWELL. 


i3 


issured  him  that  money,  clothing,  and 
recruits  were  already  prepared  to  re- 
establish his  army.  Essex  was  won  ; 
md  he  informed  his  friends,  that  he 
jould  not  conscientiously  act  against 
:he  parliament  from  which  he  held 
lis  commission.  Seven  of  the  lords, 
ilmost  half  of  the  upper  house,  im- 
aaediately  retired  from  Westminster.' 
i.  The  victorious  party  proceeded  with 
aew  vigour  in  their  military  prepara- 
tions. Measures  were  taken  to  re- 
3ruit  to  its  full  complement  the  grand 
irmy  under  Essex ;  and  an  ordinance 
was  passed  to  raise  a  separate  force  of 
ben  thousand  horse  for  the  protection 
Df  the  metropolis.  Kimbolton,  who 
3n  the  death  of  his  father  had  suc- 
3eeded  to  the  title  of  earl  of  Man- 
ihester,  received  a  commission  to  levy 
m  army  in  the  associated  counties  of 
N'orfolk,  Suffolk,  Essex,  Cambridge, 
Ely,  and  Hertford.-  Committees  were 
ippointed  to  raise  men  and  money  in 
Qumerous  other  districts,  and  were  in- 
■  vested  with  almost  unlimited  powers ; 
for  the  exercise  of  which  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  parliament,  they  were 
made  responsible  to  no  one  but  the 
parliament  itself.  Sir  Henry  Vane, 
with  three  colleagues  from  the  lower 
bouse,  hastened  to  Scotland  to  solicit 
the  aid  of  a  Scottish  army ;  and,  that 
London  might  be  secure  from  insult, 
a  line  of  military  communication  was 
ordered  to  be  drawn  round  the  city. 
Every  morning  thousands  of  the 
inhabitants,  without  distinction  of 
rank,  were  summoned  to  the  task  in 


rotation;  with  drums  beating  and 
colours  flying  they  proceeded  to  the 
appointed  place,  and  their  wives  and 
daughters  attended  to  aid  and  encou- 
rage them  during  the  term  of  their 
labour.  In  a  few  days  this  great 
work,  extending  twelve  miles  in  cir- 
cuit, was  completed,  and  the  defence 
of  the  line,  with  the  command  of  ten 
thousand  men,  was  intrusted  to  Sir 
William  Waller.  Essex,  at  the  re- 
peated request  of  the  parliament,  re- 
luctantly signed  .the  commission,  but 
still  refused  to  insert  in  it  the  name  of 
his  rival.  The  blank  was  filled  up  by 
order  of  the  house  of  Commons.^ 

Here,  however,  it  is  time  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  reader  to  the  opening 
career  of  that  extraordinary  man, 
who,  in  the  course  of  the  next  ten 
years,  raised  himself  from  the  ignoble 
pursuits  of  a  grazier  to  the  high 
dignity  of  lord  protector  of  the  three 
kingdoms.  Oliver  Cromwell  was 
sprung  from  a  younger  branch  of  the 
Cromwell  3,  a  family  of  note  and 
antiquity  in  Huntingdonshire,  and 
widely  spread  through  that  county 
and  the  whole  of  the  Een  district. 
In  the  more  early  part  of  his  hfe  he 
fell  into  a  state  of  profound  and  pro- 
longed melancholy;  and  it  is  plain 
from  the  few  and  disjointed  docu- 
ments which  have  come  down  to  us, 
that  his  mental  faculties  were  im- 
paired, that  he  tormented  himself 
with  groundless  apprehensions  of  im- 
pending death,  on  which  account  he 
was  accustomed  to  require  the  attend- 


1  Clarendon,  323—333.  Northumberland 
repaired  to  his  house  at  Petworth ;  the  earls 
of  Bedford,  Holland,  Portland,  and  Clare, 
and  the  lords  Lovelace  and  Conway,  to  the 
king  at  Oxford.  They  were  ungraciously 
received,  and  most  of  them  returned  to  the 
parliament. 

*  The  first  association  was  made  in  the 
northern  counties  by  the  earl  of  Newcastle 
in  favour  of  the  king,  and  was  afterwards 
imitated  by  the  counties  of  Devon  and 
Cornwall.  The  patriots  saw  the  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  such  unions,  and  formed 
several  among  their  partisans.  The  mem- 
bera    bound    themselves   to    preserve   the 


peace  of  the  associated  counties ;  if  they 
were  royahsts,  "  against  the  malevolent  and 
ambitious  persons  who,  in  the  name  of  the 
two  houses,  had  embroiled  the  kingdom  in 
a  civil  war;"  if  they  were  parliamentarians, 
*•  against  the  papists  and  other  ill-affected 
persons  who  surrounded  the  king."  In 
each,  regulations  were  adopted,  filing  the 
number  of  men  to  be  levied,  armed,  and 
trained,  and  the  money  which  for  that  pur- 
pose was  to  be  raised  in  each  township. — 
Eushworth,  v.  66,  94—97,  119,  381. 

3  May,  214.  Journals,  July  18,  19,  27; 
Aug.  3,  7,  9,  15,  26.  Lords',  vi.  149,  158, 
175.  184. 


u 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  t. 


ance  of  his  physician  at  the  hour  of 
midnight,  and  that  his  imagination 
conjured  up  strange  fancies  about  the 
cross  in  the  market-place  at  Hunting- 
don,' hallucinations  which  seem  to 
have  orignated  in  the  intensity  of  his 
religious  feelings,  for  we  are  assured 
that  "  he  had  spent  the  days  of  his 
manhood  in  a  dissolute  course  of  life 
in  good  fellowship  and  gaming  ;"•'  or, 
as  he  expresses  it  himself,  he  had 
been  "  a  chief,  the  chief  of  sinners, 
and  a  hater  of  godliness."  However, 
it  pleased  "  Grod  the  light  to  enlighten 
the  darkness"  of  his  spirit,  and  to 
convince  him  of  the  error  and  the 
wickedness  of  his  ways ;  and  from  the 
terrors  which  such  conviction  engen- 
dered, seems  to  have  originated  that 
aberration  of  intellect,  of  which  he 
was  the  victim  during  great  part  of 
two  years.  On  his  recovery  he  had 
passed  from  one  extreme  to  the  other, 
from  the  misgivings  of  despair  to  the 
joyful  assurance  of  salvation.  He 
now  felt  that  he  was  accepted  by  God, 
a  vessel  of  election  to  work  the  work 
of  Grod,  and  bound  through  gratitude 
**  to  put  himself  forth  in  the  cause  of 
the  Lord.  "3  This  flattering  beUef, 
the  fruit  of  his  malady  at  Huntingdon, 
or  of  his  recovery  from  it,  accom- 
panied him  to  the  close  of  his  career  : 
it  gave  in  his  eyes  the  sanction  of 
Heaven  to  the  more  questionable 
events  in  his  life,  and  enabled  him  to 
I)ersevere  in  habits  of  the  most  fervent 
devotion,  even  when  he  was  plainly 


1  Warwick's  Memoirs,  249.  Warwick  had 
his  information  from  Dr.  Simcott,  Crom- 
well's physician,  who  pronounced  him  gple- 
netic.  Sir  Theodore  Mayerne  was  also  con- 
sulted, who,  in  his  manuscript  journal  for 
1628,  describes  his  patient  as  valde  melon- 
ckolicus. — Ellis,  Orig.  Letters,  2iid  series, 
iii.  248.  2  Warwick,  249, 

3  In  1638  he  thus  writes  of  himself  to  a 
female  saint,  one  of  his  cousins  :  "  I  find 
that  God  giveth  springs  in  a  dry  barren 
wilderness,  where  no  water  is.  I  live,  jon 
know  where,  in  Meshec,  which  they  say 
signifies  prolonging, — in  Kedar,  which  s  g- 
nifies  blackness.  Yet  the  Lord  forsaketh 
me  not,  though  he  do  prolong.  Yet  he  will, 
I  trust,  bring  me  to  his   tabernacle,   his 


following  the  unholy  suggestions  of 
cruelty,  and  duplicity,  and  ambition. 
It  was  probably  to  withdraw  him 
from  scenes  likely  to  cause  the  ])ro- 
longatiou  or  recurrence  of  his  malady, 
that  he  was  advised  to  direct  his  at- 
tention to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture. 
He  disposed  by  sale  of  his  patrimonial 
property  in  Huntingdon,  and  took  a 
large  grazing  farm  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  little  town  of  St,  Ives. 
This  was  an  obscure,  but  tranquil  and 
soothing  occupation,  which  be  did  not 
quit  till  five  years  later,  when  he 
migrat€d  to  Ely,  on  the  death  of  his 
maternal  uncle,  who  had  left  to  him  by 
will  the  lucrative  situation  of  farmer 
of  the  tithes  and  of  church-lands 
belonging  to  the  cathedral  of  that  city. 
Those  stirring  events  followed,  which 
led  to  the  first  civil  war ;  Cromwell's 
enthusiasm  rekindled,  the  time  was 
come  "  to  put  himself  forth  in  the 
cause  of  the  Lord,"  and  that  cause 
he  identified  in  his  own  mind  with 
the  cause  of  the  country  party  in 
opposition  to  the  sovereign  and  the 
church.  The  energy  with  which  he 
entered  into  the  controversies  of  the 
time  attracted  public  notice,  and  the 
burgesses  of  Cambridge  chose  him  for 
their  representative  in  both  the  par- 
liaments called  by  the  king  in  1G40. 
He  carried  with  him  to  the  house  the 
simplicity  of  dress,  and  the  awkward- 
ness of  manner,  which  bespoke  the 
country  farmer  ;  occasionally  he  rose 
to  speak,  and  then,  though  his  voice 


resting  place."  If  the  reader  wish  to  un- 
derstand this  Cromwellian  effusion,  let  him 
consult  the  Psalm  cxii.  in  the  VulgHte,  or 
exr.  in  the  English  translation,  lie  says 
to  the  same  correspondent,  "  You  know 
what  my  manner  of  life  hath  been.  Oh  !  I 
lived  in  and  loved  darkness,  and  hated  liyht, 
1  was  a  chief,  the  chief  of  sinners.  This  is 
true,  I  hated  godliness.  Yet  God  had 
mercy  on  me.  Oh,  the  riches  of  his  mercy !" 
— Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches  by  Car- 
Ivle,  i.  141.  Warwick  bears  testimony  to 
{he  sincerity  of  his  conversion  :  "  for  he 
declared  he  was  ready  to  make  restitution 
to  any  man  who  would  accuse  him,  or  whom 
he  could  accuse  himself  to,  to  have  wronged." 
—Warwick,  249. 


4..D.  1643.] 


EISE  OF  CROMWELL. 


15 


was  harsh,  his  utterauce  confused, 
md  his  matter  unpremeditated,  yet 
le  seldom  failed  to  command  respect 
md  attention  by  the  originality  and 
3oldness  of  his  views,  the  fervour  with 
ivhich  he  maintained  them,  and  the 
*reU-known  energy  and  inflexibility 
)f  his  character.^    It  was  not,  how- 
jver,  before  the  year  1642  that  he 
}ook  his  place  among  the  leaders  of 
:he  party.    Having  been  appointed 
me  of  the  committees  for  the  county 
)f  Cambridge  and  the  isle  of  Ely,  he 
lastened  down  to  Cambridge,  took 
oossession  of  the   magazine,   distri- 
Duted  the  arms  among  the  burgesses, 
md  prevented  the  colleges  from  send- 
ng  their  plate  to  the  king  at  Oxford, 
Prom  the  town   he  transferred  his 
services  to  the  district  committed  to 
lis  charge.     No  individual  of  sus- 
picious or  dangerous  principles,  no 
;ecret  plan  or  association  of  the  royal- 
sts,  could   elude   his  vigilance  and 
ictivity.    At  the  head  of  a  military 
brce   he   was    everywhere   present, 
naking  inquiries,  inflicting  punish- 
nents,  levying  weekly  the  weekly  as- 
essments,  impressing  men,  horses,  and 
tores,  and  exercising  with  relent- 
ess  severity  all  those  repressive  and 
indictive   powers  with    which   the 
ecent    ordinances   had   armed   the 
•ommittees.    His  exertions  were  duly 
appreciated.    When  the  parliament 
elected  officers  to  command  the  se- 
enty-five  troops  of  horse,  of  sixty 
aen  each,  in  the  new  army  under  the 
arl  of  Essex,  farmer  Cromwell  re- 
eived  the    commission  of  captain ; 
fithin  six  months  afterwards,  he  was 
aised  to  the  higher  rank  of  colonel, 
nth  permission  to  levy  for  himself  a 
egiment  of  one  thousand  horse  out 


1  Warwick,  247. 

'  Cromwell  tells  us  of  one  of  them,  Wal- 
3n,  the  son  of  Colonel  Walton,  that  in  life 
e  was  a  precious  young  man  fit  for  God, 
nd  at  bis  death,  which  was  caused  by  a 
'onnd  received  in  battle,  became  a  glorious 
aint  in  heaven.    To   die  in   such  a  cause 

M  to  the  saint  ft  ••  comfort  great  above 


of  the  trained  bands  in  the  Eastern 
association.  To  the  sentiment  of 
honour,  which  animated  the  Cavaliers 
in  the  field,  he  resolved  to  oppose  the 
energy  which  is  inspired  by  religious 
enthusiasm.  Into  the  ranks  of  his 
Ironsides — their  usual  designation — 
he  admitted  no  one  who  was  not  a 
freeholder,  or  the  son  of  a  freeholder, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  man  fearing 
God,  a  known  professor  of  godliness, 
and  one  who  would  make  it  his  duty 
and  his  pride  to  execute  justice  on 
the  enemies  of  God.'^  Nor  was  he 
disappointed.  The  soldiers  of  the 
Lord  of  Hosts  proved  themselves  a 
match  for  the  soldiers  of  the  earthly 
monarch.  At  their  head  the  colonel, 
by  his  activity  and  daring,  added  new 
laurels  to  those  which  he  had  pre- 
viously won;  and  parliament,  as  a 
proof  of  confidence,  appointed  him 
military  governor  of  a  very  important 
post,  the  isle  of  Ely.  Lord  Grey  of 
Werke  held  at  that  time  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  in  the  Eastern  asso- 
ciation ;  but  Grey  was  superseded  by 
the  earl  of  Manchester,  and  Colonel 
Cromwell  speedily  received  the  com- 
mission of  lieutenant-general  under 
that  commander.^ 

But  to  return  to  the  general  nar- 
rative, which  has  been  interrupted  to 
introduce  Cromwell  to  the  reader. 
London  was  preserved  from  danger, 
not  by  the  new  lines  of  circumval- 
lation,  or  the  prowess  of  Waller,  but- 
through  the  insubordination  which 
prevailed  among  the  royalists.  The 
earl,  now  marquess,  of  Newcastle, 
who  had  associated  the  northern 
counties  in  favour  of  the  king,  had 
defeated  the  lord  Fairfax,  the  parlia- 
mentary general,  at  Atherton  Moor, 


his  pain.  Yet  one  thing  hung  upon  hia 
spirit.  I  asked  him  what  that  was.  He 
told  me,  that  God  had  not  suffered  him  ta 
be  any  more  the  executioner  of  His  ene- 
mies."— Ellis,  first  series,  iii.  299. 

3  See  Cromwelliana,  1—7 ;  May,  206,  re- 
print of  1812 ;  Lords'  Journ.  iv.  149 ;  Com- 
mons', iii.  186. 


16 


CHAELES  L 


fi 


[chap.  I. 


in  Yorkshire,  and  retaken  Gainsbo- 
rough, in  Lincolnshire,  from  the  army 
under  Cromwell.  Here,  however,  his 
followers  refused  to  accompany  him 
any  further.  It  was  in  vain  that  he 
called  upon  them  to  join  the  grand 
army  in  the  south,  and  put  an  end  at 
once  to  the  war  by  the  reduction  of 
the  capital.  They  had  been  embodied 
for  the  defence  of  the  northern  coun- 
ties, and  could  not  be  induced  to  ex- 
tend the  limits  of  that  service  for 
which  they  had  been  originally  en- 
rolled. Hence  the  king,  deprived  of 
one  half  of  his  expected  force,  was 
compelled  to  adopt  a  new  plan  of 
operations.  Turning  his  back  on 
London,  he  hastened  towards  the 
Severn,  and  invested  Gloucester,  the 
only  place  of  note  in  the  midland 
counties  which  admitted  the  autho- 
rity of  the  parliament.  That  city 
was  defended  by  Colonel  Massey,  a 
brave  and  determined  officer,  with  an 
obstinacy  equal  to  its  importance; 
and  Essex,  at  the  head  of  twelve 
thousand  men,  undertook  to  raise  the 
siege.  The  design  was  believed  im- 
practicable; but  all.  the  attempts  of 
the  royalists  to  impede  his  progress 
were  defeated;  and  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  day  the  discharge  of  four  pieces 
of  cannon  from  Presbury  Hills  an- 
nounced his  arrival  to  the  inhabitants. 
The  besiegers  burnt  their  huts  and 
retired;  and  Essex,  having  spent  a 
few  days  to  recruit  his  men  and  pro- 
vision the  place,  resumed  his  march 
in  the  direction  of  London.  On  his 
approach  to  Newbury,  he  found  the 
royal  army  in  possession  of  the  road 
before  him.  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
describe  a  conflict  which  has  been 
rendered  unintelligible  by  the  con- 
fused and  discordant  narratives  of 
different  writers.  The  king's  cavalry 
appears  to  have  been  more  than  a 
match  for  that  of  the  enemy ;  but  it 


1  EuBhworth,  v.  286,  290,  293.    May,  220 
-228.    Clarendon,  iii.  347.    Journala,  Sept. 


could  make  no  impression  on  the 
forest  of  pikes  presented  by  the  in- 
fantry, the  greater  part  of  which  con- 
sisted of  the  trained  bands  from  the 
capital.  The  battle  raged  till  late  in 
the  evening,  and  both  armies  passed 
the  night  in  the  field,  but  in  the  morn- 
ing the  king  allowed  Essex  to  marcb 
through  Newbury;  and  having  or- 
dered Prince  Hupert  to  annoy  the 
rear,  retired  with  his  infantry  to  Ox- 
ford. The  parliamentarians  claimed, 
and  seem  to  have  been  justified  ic 
claiming,  the  victory ;  but  their  com- 
mander, having  made  his  triumphal 
entry  into  the  capital,  solicitec 
permission  to  resign  his  command 
and  travel  on  the  continent.  Tc 
those  who  sought  to  dissuade  him 
he  objected  the  distrust  with  whicl: 
he  had  been  treated,  and  the  insuli 
which  had  been  offered  to  him  by  tht 
authority  intrusted  to  Waller.  Se- 
veral expedients  were  suggested ;  bu" 
the  lord  general  was  aware  of  hi 
advantage ;  his  jealousy  could  not  b< 
removed  by  adulation  or  submission 
and  Waller,  after  a  long  struggle,  wa; 
compelled  to  resign  the  command  o 
the  army  intrusted  with  the  defenci 
of  the  capital.' 

As  soon  as  the  parliament  ha( 
recovered  from  the  alarm  occasionci 
by  the  loss  of  Bristol,  it  had  founc 
leisure  to  devote  a  part  of  its  atten 
tion  to  the  civil  government  of  th' 
kingdom.  1.  Serious  inconvenience 
had  been  experienced  from  the  ab 
sence  of  the  great  seal,  the  applicatioi 
of  which  was  held  by  the/  lawyer 
necessary  to  give  validity  to  severa 
descriptions  of  writs.  Of  this  benefi 
the  two  houses  and  their  adherent 
were  deprived,  while  the  king  on  hi 
part  was  able  to  issue  patents  an- 
commissions  in  the  accustomed  font 
To  remedy  the  evil,  the  Common 
had  voted  a  new  seal ;  the  Lords  cte 


26,  28 ;  Oct.  7,  9.    Lordfl',  ri.  218,  242, 24( 
247,  347,  356. 


J 


A.D.  1643.]      COMMISSIONERS  SENT  TO  SCOTLAND. 


17 


murred ;  but  at  last  their  consent  was 
extorted :  commissioners  were  ap- 
pointed to  execute  the  oflQce  of  lord 
keeper,  and  no  fewer  than  five  hun- 
dred writs  were  sealed  in  one  day. 
2.  The  public  administration  of  justice 
had  been  suspended  for  twelve  months. 
The  king  constantly  adjourned  the 
terms  from  Westminster  to  Oxford, 
and  the  two  houses  as  constantly  for- 
bade the  judges  to  go  their  circuits 
during  the  vacations.  Now,  however, 
under  the  authority  of  the  nev;  seal, 
the  courts  were  opened.  The  com- 
missioners sat  in  Chancery,  and  three 
judges,  all  that  remained  with  the 
parliament.  Bacon,  Eeeve,  and  Tre- 
vor, in  those  of  the  King's  Bench, 
the  Common  Pleas,  and  the  Ex- 
chequer. 3.  The  prosecution  of  the 
judges  on  account  of  their  opinions 
in  the  case  of  the  ship-money  was 
resumed.  Of  those  who  had  been 
impeached,  two  remained,  Berkeley 
and  Trevor.  The  first  was  fined  in 
twenty,  the  second  in  six,  thousand 
pounds.  Berkeley  obtained  the  re- 
mission of  a  moiety  of  the  fine,  and 
both  were  released  from  the  impri- 
sonment to  which  they  were  ad- 
judged.' 

Ever  since  the  beginning  of  the 
troubles,  a  thorough  understanding 
had  existed  between  the  chief  of  the 
Scottish  Covenanters,  and  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  English  reformers.  Their 
views  were  similar ;  their  object  the 
same.  The , Scots  had,  indeed,  fought 
and  won  ;  but  they  held  the  fruit  of 
their  victory  by  a  doubtful  tenure, 
as  long  as  the  fate  of  their  "  English 
brethren  "  depended  on  the  uncertain 
chances  of  war.  Both  policy  and 
religion  prompted  them  to  interfere. 
The  triumph  of  the  parliament  would 


1  Lords'  Journals,  yi.  214,  252,  264,  301, 
818.  Commons'  Journals,  May  15,  July  5, 
Sept.  28.  Kushworth,  v.  144,  145,  339,  342, 
361. 

*  Clarendon,  iv.  624.    Guthrie,  127. 

*  •'  The  jealousy  the  English  have  of  our 

i 


secure  their  own  liberties ;  it  might 
serve  to  propagate  the  pure  worship 
of  their  kirk.  This  had  been  foreseen 
by  the  Scottish  royalists,  and  Mon- 
trose, who  by  the  act  against  the  plot- 
ters was  debarred  from  all  access  to 
the  king,  took  advantage  of  the 
queen's  debarkation  at  Burlington  to 
visit  her  at  York.  He  pointed  out  to 
her  the  probability  of  the  Scottish 
Covenanters  sending  their  army  to 
the  aid  of  the  parliament,  and  oOered 
to  prevent  the  danger  by  levying  in 
Scotland  an  army  of  ten  thousand 
royalists.  But  he  was  opposed  by 
his  enemy  the  marquess  of  Hamilton, 
who  deprecated  the  arming  of  Scot 
against  Scot,  and  engaged  on  his  own 
responsibility  to  preserve  the  peace 
between  the  Scottish  people  and  their 
sovereign.  His  advice  prevailed ;  the 
royalists  in  Scotland  were  ordered  to 
follow  him  as  their  leader;  and,  to 
keep  him  true  to  the  royal  interest, 
the  higher  title  of  duke  was  conferred 
upon  him.'^ 

If  Hamilton  was  sincere,  he  had 
formed  a  false  notion  of  his  own  im- 
portance. The  Scottish  leaders,  act- 
ing as  if  they  were  independent  of  the 
sovereign,  summoned  a  convention  of 
estates.  The  estates  met  in  defiance 
of  the  king's  prohibition ;  but,  to  their 
surprise  and  mortification,  no  com- 
missioner had  arrived  from  the  Eng- 
lish parliament.  National  jealousy, 
the  known  intolerance  of  the  Scottish 
kirk,  the  exorbitant  claims  set  up  by 
the  Scottish  leaders  in  the  late  inva- 
sion, contributed  to  deter  many  from 
accepting  their  new  offers  of  assist- 
ance;^ and  more  than  two  months 
were  sufiered  to  elapse  before  the  com- 
missioners, Vane,  Armyn,  Hatcher, 
and  Barley,  with  Marshall,  a  Pres- 


nation,  beyond  aU  reason,  is  not  well  taken. 
If  Mr.  Meldrum  bring  no  satisfaction  to  us 
quickly  as  to  conformity  of  church  govern- 
ment, it  will  be  a  great  impediment  in  their 
aflFairs  here." — Baillie,  July  26,  i.  372.  See 
also  Dalrymple,  ii.  144. 
C 


.18 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


hyterian,  and  Nye,  an  Independent 
divine,  were  despatched  with  full 
powers  to  Scotland.'  Both  the  con- 
vention of  the  estates  and  the  assem- 
bly of  the  kirk  had  long  waited  to 
receive  them ;  their  arrival  was  cele- 
brated as  a  day  of  national  triumph ; 
and  the  letters  which  they  delivered 
from  the  English  parliament  were 
read  with  shouts  of  exultation  and 
tears  of  joy.' 

In  the  very  outset  of  the  negotiation 
two  important  difficulties  occurred. 
The  Scots  professed  a  willingness  to 
take  up  arms,  but  sought  at  the  same 
time  to  assume  the  character  of  me- 
diators and  umpires,  to  dictate  the 
terms  of  reconciliation,  and  to  place 
themselves  in  a  condition  to  extort 
the  consent  of  the  opposite  parties. 
Erom  these  lofty  pretensions  they 
were  induced  to  descend  by  the  obsti- 
nacy of  Vane  and  the  persuasions  of 
Johnston  ofWariston,  one  of  their 
subtlest  statesmen ;  they  submitted 
to  act  as  the  allies  of  the  parliament ; 
but  required  as  an  indispensable  pre- 
liminary, the  sanction  of  the  kirk. 
It  was  useless  to  reply  that  this  was  a 
civil,  and  not  a  religious  treaty.  The 
Scots  rejoined,  that  the  two  houses 
had  always  announced  the  reforma- 
tion of  religion  as  the  chief  of  their 
objects ;  that  they  had  repeatedly  ex- 
pressed their  wish  of  "  a  nearer  union 
of  both  churches ;"  and  that,  in  their 
last  letters  to  the  Assembly,  they 
had  requested  the  members  to  aid 
them  with  their  prayers  and  influience 
to  consult  with  their  commissioners, 
and  to  send  some  Scottish  ministers 
to  join  the  English  divines  assembled 
at  Westminster.'  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances. Vane  and  his  colleagues 


J  The  Scots  did  not  approve  of  this  mis- 
sion of  the  Independent  ministers.  "  Mr. 
Marshall  will  be  most  welcome ;  but  if 
Mr.  Nye,  the  bead  of  the  Independents,  be 
his  fellow,  we  cannot  take  it  well." — Baillie, 
i.  372.  They  both  preached  before  the 
Assembly.  "  We  heard  Mr.  Marshall  with 
great  contentment.  Mr.  Nye  did  not  please. 


could  not  refuse  to  admit  a  deputation 
from  the  Assembly,  with  Henderson 
the  moderator  at  its  head.  He  sub- 
mitted to  their  consideration  the  form 
of  a  "solemn  league  and  covenant,'* 
which  should  bind  the  two  nations  to 
prosecute  the  public  incendiaries,  to 
preserve  the  king's  life  and  authority 
in  defence  of  the  true  religion  and  the 
liberties  of  both  kingdoms,  to  extir- 
pate popery,  prelacy,  heresy,  schism, 
and  profaneness,  and  to  establish  a 
conformity  of  doctrine,  discipline,  and 
church  government  throughout  the 
island.  This  last  clause  alarmed  the 
commissioners.  They  knew  that, 
though  the  majority  of  the  parlia- 
mentarians inclined  to  the  Presby- 
terian tenets,  there  existed  among 
them  a  numerous  and  most  active 
party  (and  of  these  Vane  himself  was 
among  the  most  distinguished)  who 
deemed  all  ecclesiastical  authority  an 
invasion  of  the  rights  of  conscience ; 
and  they  saw,  that  to  introduce  aa 
obligation  so  repugnant  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  latter,  would  be  to  pro- 
voke an  open  rupture,  and  to  marshal 
the  two  sects  in  hostile  array  against 
each  other.  But  the  zeal  of  the 
Scottish  theologians  was  inexorable; 
they  refused  to  admit  any  opening  to 
the  toleration  of  the  Independents; 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  they 
were  at  last  persuaded  to  intrust  the 
wording  of  the  article  to  two  or  three 
individuals  of  known  and  approved 
orthodoxy.  By  these  it  was  presented 
in  a  new  and  less  objectionable  form, 
clothed  in  such  happy  ambiguity  of 
language,  as  to  suit  the  principles  and 
views  of  all  parties.  It  provided  thafe 
the  kirk  should  be  preserved  in  its 
existing  purity,  and   the  church  of 


He  touched  neither  in  prayer  or  preachiag 
the  common  business.  All  his  sermon  was 
on  the  common  head  of  spiritual  life, 
wherein  he  ran  out  above  all  our  under* 
standings."— Id.  388. 

-  Baillie,  i.  379,  380.    Rushworth,  v.  467, 
470.  *  Journals,  vi.  140. 


A.D.  1643.]  COVENANT  TAKEN  IN  SCOTLAND. 


19 


England  "be  reformed  according  to 
the  word  of  God"  (which  the  Inde- 
pendents would  interpret  in  their 
own  sense),  and  "  after  the  example  of 
the  best  reformed  cliurcheSj"  among 
which  the  Scots  could  not  doubt  that 
theirs  was  entitled  to  the  lirst  place. 
In  this  shape,  Henderson,  with  an 
appropriate  preface,  laid  the  league 
and  covenant  before  the  Assembly; 
several  speakers,  admitted  into  the 
secret,  commended  it  in  terms  of  the 
highest  praise,  and  it  was  imme- 
diately approved,  without  one  dis- 
sentient voice.' 

As  soon  as  the  covenant,  in  its 
amended  shape,  had  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  estates,  the  most  eloquent 
pens  were  employed  to  quicken  the 
flame  of  enthusiasm.  The  people 
were  informed,  in  the  cant  language 
of  the  time,  1.  that  the  controversy 
in  England  was  between  the  Lord 
Jesus  and  antichrist  with  his  follow- 
ers ;  the  call  was  clear ;  the  curse  of 
Meroz  would  light  on  all  who  would 
not  come  to  help  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty :  2.  that  both  kirks  and  king- 
doms were  in  imminent  danger ;  they 
sailed  in  one  bottom,  dwelt  in  one 
house,  and  were  members  of  one 
body ;  if  either  were  ruinated,  the 
other  could  not  subsist ;  Judah  could 
not  long  continue  in  liberty,  if  Israel 
were  led  away  captive:  and  3.  that 
they  had  now  a  fair  opportunity  of 
advancing  uniformity  in  discipline 
and  worship  ;  the  English  had  already 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  good  build- 
ing by  casting  out  that  great  idol, 
prelacy ;  and  it  remained  for  the  Scots 
to  rear  the  edifice  and  in  God's  good 
time  to  put  on  the  cope-stone.  The 
clergy  called  on  their  hearers  "to 
turn  to  God  by  fasting  and  prayer;" 
a  proclamation  was  issued  summoning 
all  the  lieges  between  the  ages  of  six- 


1  Baiilie,  i.  381.     Clarendon,  iii.  368—384. 

»  Rushworth,  v.  472,  482,  492.  Journals, 
139,312.  Baiilie,  i.  390,  391.  "The  chief 
aim  of  it  was  for  the  propagation  of  our 


teen  and  sixty  to  appear  in  arms ;  and 
the  chief  command  of  the  forces  was, 
at  the  request  of  the  parliament,  ac- 
cepted by  Leslie,  the  veteran  general 
of  the  Covenanters  in  the  last  war. 
He  had,  indeed,  made  a  solemn  pro- 
mise to  the  king,  when  he  was  created 
earl  of  Leven,  never  more  to  bear 
arms  against  him  ;  but  he  now  recol- 
lected that  it  was  with  the  reservation, 
if  not  expressed,  at  least  understood, 
of  all  cases  in  which  liberty  or  reli- 
gion might  be  at  stake.  ^ 

In  England  the  covenant,  with  some 
amendments,  was  approved  by  the 
two  houses,  and  ordered  to  be  taken 
and  subscribed  by  all  persons  in  office, 
and  generally  by  the  whole  nation. 
The  Commons  set  the  example ;  the 
Lords,  with  an  affectation  of  dignity 
which  exposed  them  to  some  sarcastic 
remarks,  waited  till  it  had  previously 
been  taken  by  the  Scots.  At  the  same 
time  a  league  of  "brotherly  assist- 
ance "  was  negotiated,  stipulating  that 
the  estates  should  aid  the  parliament 
with  an  army  of  twenty-one  thousand 
men  ;  that  they  should  place  a  Scot- 
tish garrison  in  Berwick,  and  dis- 
mantle the  town  at  the  fccnclusion 
of  the  war;  and  that  their  forces 
should  be  paid  by  England  at  the  rate 
of  thirty-one  thousand  pounds  per 
month,  should  receive  for  their  outfit 
an  advance  of  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  besides  a  reasonable  recom- 
pense at  the  establishment  of  peace, 
and  should  have  assigned  to  them  as 
security  the  estates  of  the  papists, 
prelates,  and  malignants  in  Notting- 
hamshire and  the  five  northern  coun- 
ties. On  the  arrival  of  sixty  thousand 
pounds  the  levies  began ;  in  a  few 
weeks  they  were  completed ;  and 
before  the  end  of  the  year  Leslie 
mustered  his  forces  at  Harlaw,  the 
appointed  place  of  rendezvous.^ 


church  discipline  in  England  and  Ireland." 
—Id.  393. 

3  Journals,    Sept.    14,    21,   25;    Oct.  3; 

Dec.  8.    Lords'  Journals,  yi.  220—224,  243, 

C  2 


20 


CHARLES  I. 


[CKAP.  I. 


This  formidable  lea^jue,  this  union, 
cemented  by  interest  and  fanaticism, 
struck  alarm  into  the  breasts  of  the 
royalists.  They  had  found  it  difficult 
to  maintain  their  ground  against  the 
parliament  alone;  they  felt  unequal 
to  the  contest  with  a  new  and  power- 
ful enemy.  But  Charles  stood  undis- 
mayed ;  of  a  sanguine  disposition,  and 
confident  in  the  justice  of  his  cause, 
he  saw  no  reason  to  despond  ;  and,  as 
he  had  long  anticipated,  so  had  he 
prepared  to  meet,  this  additional  evil. 
With  this  view  he  had  laboured  to 
secure  the  obedience  of  the  English 
army  in  Ireland  against  the  adherents 
and  emissaries  of  the  parliament. 
Suspecting  the  fidelity  of  Leicester, 
the  lord  lieutenant,  he  contrived  to 
detain  him  in  England;  gave  to 
the  commander-in-chief,  the  earl  of 
Ormond,  who  was  raised  to  the  higher 
rank  of  marquess,  full  authority  to 
dispose  of  commissions  in  the  army, 
and  appointed  Sir  Henry  Tichborne 
lord  justice  in  the  place  of  Parsons. 
The  commissioners  sent  by  the  two 
houses  were  compelled  to  leave  the 
island ;  and  four  of  the  counsellors, 
the  most  hostile  to  his  designs,  were 
imprisoned  under  a  charge  of  high 
treason.' 

So  many  reinforcements  had  sus- 
cessively  been  poured  into  Ireland, 
both  from  Scotland  and  England, 
that  the  army  which  opposed  the 
insurgents  was  at  length  raised  to  fifty 
thousand  men  ;*  but  of  these  the  Scots 
seemed  to  attend  to  their  private  in- 
terests more  than  the  advancement  of 
the  common  cause ;  and  the  English 
were  gradually  reduced  in  number  by 
want,  and  desertion,  and  the  casual- 
ties of  war.  They  won,  indeed,  several 
battles;  they  burnt  and  demolished 


281,  289,  364.  The  amendments  were  the 
insertion  of  "the  church  of  Ireland"  after 
that  of  Enpland,  an  explanation  of  the  word 
prelacy,  and  the  addition  of  a  raargiuHl 
note,  stating,  that  hy  the  expression  ••ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  God,"   was  meant 


many  villages  and  towns ;  but  the  evil 
of  devastation  recoiled  upon  them- 
selves, and  they  began  to  feel  the 
horrors  of  famine  in  the  midst  of  the 
desert  which  they  had  made.  Their 
applications  for  relief  were  neglected 
by  the  parliament,  which  had  con- 
verted to  its  own  use  a  great  part  of 
the  money  raised  for  the  service  in 
Ireland,  and  felt  little  inclination  to 
support  an  army  attached  to  the  royal 
cause.  The  officers  remonstrated  of 
free  though  respectful  language,  and 
the  failure  of  their  hopes  embittered 
their  discontent,  and  attached  them 
more  closely  to  the  sovereign.^ 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Catholics, 
by  the  establishment  of  a  federative 
government,  had  consolidated  their 
power,  and  given  an  uniform  direc- 
tion to  their  efforts.  It  was  the  care 
of  their  leaders  to  copy  the  example 
given  by  the  Scots  during  the  suc- 
cessful war  of  the  Covenant.  Like 
them  they  professed  a  sincere  attach- 
ment to  the  person,  a  profound  respect 
for  the  legitimate  authority  of  the 
monarch ;  but  like  them  they  claimed 
the  right  of  resisting  oppression,  and 
of  employing  force  in  defence  of  their 
religion  and  liberties.  At  their  re- 
quest, and  in  imitation  of  the  general 
assembly  of  the  Scottish  kirk,  a  synod 
of  Catholic  prelates  and  divines  was 
convened  at  Kilkenny ;  a  statement 
of  the  grievances  which  led  the  insur- 
gents to  take  up  arms  was  placed 
before  them ;  and  they  decided  that 
the  grounds  were  sufficient,  and  the 
war  was  lawful,  provided  it  were  not 
conducted  through  motives  of  per- 
sonal interest  or  hatred,  nor  disgraced 
by  acts  of  unnecessary  cruelty.  An 
oath  and  covenant  was  ordered  to  be 
taken,  binding  the  subscribers  to  pro- 


conceive  the  same  according  to  the  word  of 
God." — Journals,  Sept.  1,  2. 

1  Carte's  Ormond,  i.  421,  411 ;  iii.  76, 125, 
135.  2  Journals,  v.  226. 

Clarendon,  iii.  415—418,  424.    Carte's 


'  80  far  as  we  do  or  shall  in  our  consciences  I  Ormond,  iii.  155,  162,  164. 


A.D.  1G13.]      CONFEDEEACY  OF  IRISH  CATHOLICS. 


21 


tect,  at  the  risk  of  their  hves  and 
fortunes,  the  freedom  of  the  Catholic 
Avorsbip,  the  person,  heirs,  and  rights 
of  the  sovereign,  and  the  lawful  im- 
munities and  liberties  of  the  kingdom 
of  Ireland,  against  all  usurpers  and 
invaders  whomsoever  ;  and  excommu- 
nication was  pronounced  against  all 
Catholics  who  should  abandon  the 
covenant  or  assist  their  enemies, 
against  all  who  should  forcibly  detain 
in  their  possession  the  goods  of  Eng- 
lish or  Irish  Catholics,  or  of  Irish 
Protestants  not  adversaries  to  the 
cause,  and  against  all  who  should  take 
advantage  of  the  war,  to  murder, 
wound,  rob,  or  despoil  others.  By 
common  consent  a  supreme  council 
of  twenty-four  members  was  chosen, 
with  Lord  Mountgarret  as  president ; 
and  a  day  was  appointed  for  a 
national  assembly,  which,  without  the 
name,  should  assume  the  form  and 
exercise  the  rights  of  a  parliament.' 

This  assembly  gave  stability  to  the 
plan  of  government  devised  by  the 
leaders.  The  authority  of  the  statute 
law  was  acknowledged,  and  for  its 
administration  a  council  was  esta- 
blished in  each  county.  From  the 
judgment  of  this  tribunal  there  lay  an 
appeal  to  the  council  of  the  province, 
which  in  its  turn  acknowledged  the 
superior  jurisdiction  of  "  the  supreme 
council  of  the  confederated  Catholics 
in  Ireland."  For  the  conduct  of  the 
war  four  generals  were  appointed,  one 
to  lead  the  forces  of  each  province; 
Owen  O'Neil  in  Ulster,  Preston  in 
Leinster,  Barry  Garret  in  Munster, 
and  John  Burke  in  Connaught,  all  of 
them  officers  of  experience  and  merit, 
who  had  relinquished  their  commands 
in  the  armies  of  foreign  princes,  to 
offer  their  services  to  their  country- 
men. Aware  that  these  regulations 
amounted  to  an  assumption  of  the 


1  Eashworth,  v.  516.  VindiciEe  Cath.Hib. 
4 — 7.  This  work  has  often  been  attributed 
to  Sir  Rich.  Belling,  but  Walsh  (Pref.  to 
Hist,  of  Clemonstrance,  46)  says  that  the 


sovereign  authority,  they  were  careful 
to  convey  to  the  king  new  assurances 
of  their  devotion  to  his  person,  and 
to  state  to  him  reasons  in  justification 
of  their  conduct.  Their  former  mes- 
sengers, though  Protestants  of  rank 
and  acknowledged  loyalty,  had  been 
arrested,  imprisoned,  and,  in  one  in- 
stance at  least,  tortured  by  order  of 
their  enemies.  They  now  adopted  a 
more  secure  channel  of  commuuica- 
tion,  and  transmitted  their  petitions 
through  the  hands  of  the  commander- 
in-chief.  In  these  the  supreme  coun- 
cil detailed  a  long  list  of  grievances 
which  they  prayed  might  be  redressed. 
They  repelled  with  warmth  the  im- 
putation of  disloyalty  or  rebellion. 
If  they  had  taken  up  arms,  they  had 
been  compelled  by  a  succession  of 
injuries  beyond  human  endurance,  of 
injuries  in  their  religion,  in  their 
honour  and  estates,  and  in  the  liber- 
ties of  their  country.  Their  enemies 
were  the  enemies  of  the  king.  The 
men  who  had  sworn  to  extirpate  them 
from  their  native  soil  were  the  same 
who  sought  to  deprive  him  of  his 
crown.  They  therefore  conjured  him 
to  summon  a  new  parliament  in 
Ireland,  to  allow  them  the  free  exer- 
cise of  that  religion  which  they  had 
inherited  from  their  fathers,  and  to 
confirm  to  Irishmen  their  national 
rights,  as  he  had  already  done  to  his 
subjects  of  England  and  Scotland.^ 

The  very  first  of  these  petitions, 
praying  for  a  cessation  of  arms,  had 
suggested  a  new  line  of  policy  to  the 
king.^  He  privately  informed  the 
marquess  of  Ormond  of  his  vvish  to 
bring  over  a  portion  of  his  Irish 
army  that  it  might  be  employed  in 
his  serviee  in  England;  required  him 
for  that  purpose  to  conclude  an  armis- 
tice with  the  insurgents,  and  sent  to 
him  instructions  for  the  regulation 


real  author  was  Dr.  Callaghan,  presented 
by  the  supreme  council  to  the  see  of  Water- 
ford.  '  Carte,  iii.  110,  111,  laS. 
3  Carte,  iii.  99. 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


of  his  conduct.  This  despatch  was 
secret ;  it  was  followed  by  a  public 
warrant ;  and  that  was  succeeded  by  a 
peremptory  command.  But  much 
occurred  to  retard  the  object,  and  irri- 
tate the  impatience  of  the  monarch. 
Ormond,  for  his  own  security,  and 
the  service  of  his  sovereign,  deemed  it 
politic  to  assume  a  tone  of  superiority, 
and  to  reject  most  of  the  demands  of 
the  confederates,  who,  he  saw,  were 
already  divided  into  parties,  and  in- 
fluenced by  opposite  counsels.  The 
ancient  Irish  aud  the  clergy,  whose 
efforts  were  directed  by  Scaramp,  a 
papal  envoy,  warmly  opposed  the  pro- 
ject. Their  enemies,  they  observed, 
had  been  reduced  to  extreme  distress ; 
their  victorious  army  under  Preston 
made  daily  inroads  to  the  very  gates 
of  the  capital.  "SYhy  should  they 
descend  from  the  vantage-ground 
which  they  had  gained  ?  why,  without 
a  motive,  resign  the  prize  when  it  was 
brought  within  their  reach  ?  It  was 
not  easy  to  answer  their  arguments ; 
but  the  lords  of  the  pale,  attached 
through  habit  to  the  English  govern- 
ment, anxiously  longed  for  an  armis- 
tice as  the  preparatory  step  to  a  peace. 
Their  exertions  prevailed.  A  cessa- 
tion of  arms  was  concluded  for  twelve 
months ;  and  the  confederates,  to  the 
surprise  of  their  enemies,  consented  to 
contribute  towards  the  support  of  the 
royal  army  the  sum  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand pounds  in  money,  and  the  value 
of  fifteen  thousand  pounds  in  pro- 
visions.' 

At  the  same  time  Charles  had  re- 
course to  other  expedients,  from  two 
of  which  he  promised  himself  con- 


1  Rushworth,  v.  548.  Cart*,  ii.  App.  1 ; 
iii.  117, 131,  159,  160,  166, 168,  172,  174.  No 
one,  I  think,  who  has  perused  all  the  docu- 
ments, can  doubt  that  the  armistice  was 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  army 
in  Ireland.  But  its  real  object  did  not 
escape  the  notice  of  the  two  houses,  who 
TOted  it  "  destructive  to  the  Protestant 
reli^on,  dishonourable  to  the  English  nation, 
and  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  three 
kingdoms ;"  and,  to  intiame  the  pasaions  of 


siderable  benefit.  1.  It  had  been  the 
policy  of  the  cardinal  Richelieu  to 
foment  the  troubles  in  England  as  he 
had  previously  done  in  Scotland  ;  and 
his  intention  was  faithfully  fulfilled 
by  the  French  ambassador  Senneterre. 
But  in  the  course  of  the  last  year 
both  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIII.  died ; 
the  regency,  during  the  minority  of 
the  young  king,  devolved  on  Anne  of 
Austria,  the  queen-mother ;  and  that 
princess  had  always  professed  a  warm 
attachment  for  her  sister-in-law, 
Henrietta  Maria.  Senneterre  was 
superseded  by  the  count  of  Harcourt, 
a  prince  of  the  house  of  Lorrain, 
with  the  title  of  ambassador  extra- 
ordinary. The  parliament  received 
him  with  respect  in  London,  and  per- 
mitted him  to  proceed  to  Oxford. 
Charles,  whose  circumstances  would 
not  Mlow  him  to  spend  his  time  in 
diplomatic  finesse,  immediately  de- 
manded a  loan  of  money,  an  auxiliary 
army,  and  a  declaration  against  his 
rebellious  subjects.  But  these  were 
things  which  the  ambassador  had  no 
power  to  grant.  He  escaped  mth 
difficulty  from  the  importunity  of  the 
king,  and  returned  to  the  capital  to 
negotiate  with  the  parliament.  There, 
offering  himself  in  quality  of  mediator, 
he  requested  to  know  the  real  grounds 
of  the  existing  war;  but  his  hope  of 
success  was  damped  by  this  cold  and 
laconic  answer,  that,  when  he  had  any 
proposal  to  submit  in  the  name  of  the 
French  king,  the  houses  would  be 
ready  to  vindicate  their  conduct. 
Soon  afterwards  the  despatches  from 
his  court  were  intercepted  and  opened; 
among  them  was  discovered  a  letter 


their  partisans,  published  s  declaration,  in 
which,  with  their  usual  adherence  to  truth, 
they  assert  that  the  cessation  was  made  at 
a  time  when  "  the  famine  among  the  Irish 
had  made  them,  unnatural  and  cannibal- 
like, eat  and  feed  one  upon  another;"  that 
it  had  been  devised  and  carried  on  by  popish 
instruments,  and  was  designed  for  the 
better  introduction  of  popery,  and  the  ex- 
tirpation of  the  Protestant  religion. — Jour- 
nnN,  vi.  23S,2S9. 


i.D.  1643.] 


ROYAL  PARLIAMENT  AT  OXFORD. 


Tom  Lord  Goring  to  the  queen ;  and 
is  contents  disclosed  that  Harcourt 
lad  been  selected  on  her  nomination ; 
ihat  he  was  ordered  to  receive  his  in- 
;tructions  from  her  and  the  king; 
ind  that  Goring  was  soliciting  suc- 
X)ur  from  the  French  court.  This 
nformation,  with  an  account  of  the 
nanner  in  which  it  had  been  obtained, 
Yas  communicated  to  the  ambassador, 
vho  immediately  demanded  passports 
md  left  the  kingdom.' 

2.  Experience  had  proved  to  Charles 
ihat  the  very  name  of  parliament 
possessed  a  powerful  influence  over 
;he  minds  of  the  lower  classes  in 
avour  of  his  adversaries.  To  dispel 
ihe  charm,  he  resolved  to  oppose  the 
oyal  members  to  those  who  remained 
it  Westminster,  and  summoned  by 
proclamation  both  houses  to  meet  him 
it  Oxford  on  the  twenty-second  of 
lanuary  in  the  succeedingyear.  Forty- 
;hree  peers  and  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  commoners  obeyed;^  the 
isual  forms  of  parliament  were  ob- 
;erved,  and  the  king  opened  the  ses- 
sion with  a  gracious  speech,  in  which 
le  deplored  the  calamities  of  the 
cingdom,  desired  them  to  bear  wit- 
less to  his  pacific  disposition,  and 
Dromised  them  all  the  freedom  and 
jrivileges  belonging  to  such  assem- 
olies.  Their  first  measure  was  a  letter 
;nbscribed  by  all  the  members  of  both 
louses,  and  directed  to  the  earl  of 
Essex,  requesting  him  to  convey  to 
ihose  "by  whom  he  was  trusted," 
vheir  earnest  desire  that  commis- 
sioners might  be  appointed  on  both 


1  Clarendon,  iii.  398—403.  Journals,  vi. 
J45,  302,  305,  309,  375,  379,  416.  Commons, 
5ept.  14;  Oct.  11 ;  Nov.  15,  22;  Jan.  10,  12: 
?eb.  12. 

«  If  we  may  believe  ■VVhitelock  (80),  when 
;he  two  houses  at  Westminster  were  called 
>Ter  (Jan.  30) ,  there  were  two  hundred  and 
jighty  members  present,  and  one  hundred 
)mployed  on  different  services.  But  I  sus- 
3ect  some  error  in  the  numbers,  as  the  list 
)f  those  who  took  the  covenant  amounts 
>nly  to  two  hundred  and  twenty  names, 
)Teii  including  such  as  took  it  after  that  day. 
[Compare    Kushworth,    v.    480,    with    the 


sides  to  treat  of  an  accommodation. 
Essex,  having  received  instructions, 
replied  that  he  could  not  deliver  a 
letter  which,  neither  in  its  address 
nor  in  its  contents,  acknowledged  the 
authority  of  the  parliament.  Charles 
himself  was  next  brought  forward.  He 
directed  his  letter  to  *'  the  Lords  and 
Commons  of  parliament  assembled 
at  Westminster,"  and  requested,  "  by 
the  advice  of  the  Lords  and  Com- 
mons of  parliament  assembled  at 
Oxford,"  the  appointment  of  com- 
missioners to  settle  the  distractions 
of  the  kingdom,  and  particularly  the 
manner  "how  all  the  members  of 
both  houses  might  meet  in  full  and 
free  convention  of  parliament,  to 
consult  and  treat  upon  such  things 
as  might  conduce  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  true  Protestant  religion, 
with  due  consideration  to  the  just 
ease  of  tender  consciences,  to  the 
settling  of  the  rights  of  the  crown 
and  of  parliament,  the  laws  of  the 
land,  and  the  liberties  and  property 
of  the  subject,"  This  message  the 
two  houses  considered  an  insult,  be- 
cause it  impUed  that  they  were  not 
a  full  and  free  convention  of  par- 
liament. In  their  answer  they  called 
on  the  king  to  join  them  at  West- 
minster ;  and  in  a  pubhc  declaration 
denounced  the  proceeding  as  "  a 
popish  and  Jesuitical  practice  to 
allure  them  by  the  specious  pretence  of 
peace  to  disavow  their  own  authority, 
and  resign  themselves,  their  religion, 
laws,  and  liberties,  to  the  power  of 
idolatry,    superstition,  and   slavery.^ 


Journals.)  The  lords  were  twenty-two  pre- 
sent, seventy-four  absent,  of  whom  eleven 
were  excused. — Journals,  vi.  387.  The  two 
houses  at  Oxford  published  also  their  lists 
of  the  members,  making  the  commons 
amount  to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
the  lords  to  eighty -three.  But  of  the  latter 
several  had  been  created  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war. 

3  Journals,  vi.  451,  459,  The  reader  will 
notice  in  the  king's  letter  an  allusion  to 
religious  toleration  ("  with  due  considera- 
tion to  the  ease  of  tender  consciences"),  the 
first  which  had  yet  been  made  by  authority, 


24 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


In  opposition,  the  houses  at  Oxford 
declared  that  the  Scots  had  broken 
the  act  of  pacification ;  that  all  English 
subjects  who  aided  them  should  be 
deemed  traitors  and  enemies  of  the 
state ;  and  that  the  Lords  and  Com- 
mons remaining  at  Westminster,  who 
had  given  their  consent  to  the  coming 
in  of  the  Scots,  or  the  raising  of 
forces  under  the  earl  of  Essex,  or  the 
making  and  using  of  a  new  great  seal, 
had  committed  high  treason,  and 
ought  to  be  proceeded  against  as  trai- 
tors to  the  king  and  kingdom.'  Thus 
again  vanished  the  prospect  of  peace ; 
and  both  parties  with  additional 
exasperation  of  mind,  and  keener 
desires  of  revenge,  resolved  once  more 
to  stake  their  hope  of  safety  on  the 
uncertain  fortune  of  war. 

But  the  leaders  at  "Westminster 
found  it  necessary  to  silence  the 
murmurs  of  many  among  their  own 
adherents,  whose  anxiety  for  the  re- 
storation of  peace  led  them  to  attri- 
bute interested  motives  to  the  advo- 
cates of  war.  On  the  first  appearance 
of  a  rupture,  a  committee  of  safety 
had  been  appointed,  consisting  of  five 
lords  and  ten  commoners,  whose  office 
it  was  to  perforin  the  duties  of  the 
executive  authority,  subject  to  the 
approbation  and  authority  of  the 
houses ;  now  that  the  Scots  had  agreed 
to  join  in  the  war,  this  committee, 
after  a  long  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Lords,  was  dissolved,  and  another 
established  in  its  place,  under  the 
name  of  the  Committee  of  the  two 
Kingdoms,  composed  of  a  few  mem- 
bers from  each  house,  and  of  certain 


and  which  a  few  years  before  would  have 
scandalized  the  members  of  the  church  of 
Euglirid  as  much  as  it  did  now  the  Presby- 
teriaus  and  Scots.  But  policy  had  taught  that 
which  reason  could  not.  It  was  now  thrown 
out  as  a  bait  to  the  Independents,  whose 
apprehensions  of  persecution  were  a^gra- 
vatfd  by  the  intolerance  of  their  Scottish 
allies,  and  who  were  on  that  account  sus- 
pected of  hiiving  already  made  some  secret 
overtures  to  the  court.  "  Bristol,  under  his 
hand,  gires  them  a  fall  assurance  of  so  full 


commissioners  from  the  estates  oi 
Scotland.'  On  this  new  body  the 
Peers  looked  with  an  eye  of  jealousy, 
and  when  the  Commons,  in  conse- 
quence of  unfavourable  reports,  re- 
ferred to  it  the  task  of  "preparing  some 
grounds  for  settling  a  just  and  safe 
peace  in  all  the  king's  dominions,"  they 
objected  not  to  the  thing,  but  to  the 
persons,  and  appointed  for  the  same 
purpose  a  different  committee.  The 
struggle  lasted  six  weeks;  but  the 
influence  of  the  upper  house  had 
diminished  with  the  number  of  its 
members,  and  the  Lords  were  com- 
pelled to  submit,  under  the  cover 
of  an  unimportant  amendment  to 
maintain  th^r  own  honour.  The 
propositions  now  brought  forward  af 
the  basis  of  a  reconciliation  were  in 
substance  the  following;  that  the 
covenant  with  the  obligation  of  takine 
it,  the  reformation  of  religion  accord- 
ing to  its  provisions,  and  the  utter 
abolition  of  episcopacy,  should  be  con- 
firmed by  act  of  parliament ;  that  the 
cessation  of  war  in  Ireland  should  be 
declared  void  by  the  same  authority ; 
that  a  new  oath  should  be  framed  for 
the  discovery  of  Catholics ;  that  the 
penalties  of  recusancy  should  be 
strictly  enforced-:  that  the  children 
of  Catholics  should  be  educated  Pro- 
testants; that  certain  English  Pro- 
testants by  name,  all  papists  who  had 
borne  arms  against  the  parliament, 
and  all  Irish  rebels,  whether  Catho- 
lics or  Protestants ,  who  had  brought 
aid  to  the  royal  army,  should  be  ex- 
cepted from  the  general  pardon  ;  that 
the  debts  contracted  by  the  parlia- 


a  liberty  of  their  conscience  as  they  could 
wish,  inveighing  withal  against  the  Scots' 
cruel  invasion,  and  the  tyranny  of  our  pres- 
bytery, equal  to  the  Spanish  inquisition."— 
Baillie,  i.  -128. 

1  Clarendon,  iii.  440—454.    JoumaL«,  " 
404,  4.il,  459,  484,  485;  Dec.  30;  Jan. 
30;  March  6,  11.    Eushworth,  v.  559— o/u, 
582— 60:i, 

2  Journals  of  Commons,  Jan.  30;  Feb.  7, 
10.  12.  IC;  of  Lords,  Feb.  12. 16. 


LD.  1641.] 


MODE  OF  EAISING  MONEY. 


35 


nent  should  be  paid  out  of  the  estates 
)f  deUnquents ;  and  that  the  com- 
nanders  of  the  forces  by  land  and 
>ea,  the  great  officers  of  state,  the 
deputy  of  Ireland,  and  the  judges, 
?hould  be  named  by  the  parliament, 
3r  the  commissioners  of  parliament, 
to  hold  their  places  during  their  good 
behaviour.  From  the  tone  of  these 
propositions  it  was  evident  that  the 
differences  between  the  parties  had 
become  wider  than  before,  and  that 
peace  depended  on  the  subjugation  of 
the  one  by  the  superior  force  or  the 
better  fortune  of  the  other.'  - 

Here  the  reader  may  pause,  and, 
before  he  proceeds  to  the  events  of 
the  next  campaign,  may  take  a  view 
of  the  different  financial  expedients 
adopted  by  the  contending  parties. 
Want  of  money  was  an  evil  which 
pressed  equally  on  both;  but  it  was 
more  easily  borne  by  the  patriots,  who 
possessed  an  abundant  resource  in 
the  riches  of  the  capital,  and  were  less 
restrained  in  their  demands  by  con- 
siderations of  delicacy  or  justice. 
1.  They  were  able  on  sudden  emer- 
gencies to  raise  considerable  supplies 
by  loan  from  the  merchants  of  the 
city,  who  seldom  dared  to  refuse,  or, 
if  they  did,  were  compelled  to  yield 
by  menaces  of  distraint  and  impri- 
sonment. For  all  such  advances  in- 
terest was  promised  at  the  usual  rate 
of  eight  per  cent.,  and  "the  public 
■  faith  was  pledged  for  the  repayment 
of  the  capital."  2.  When  the  parlia- 
ment ordered  their  first  levy  of  sol- 
diers, many  of  their  partisans  sub- 
scribed considerable  sums  in  money, 
or  plate,  or  arms,  or  provisions.  But 
it  was  soon  asked,  why  the  bur- 
then should  fall  exclusively  on  the 


1  Journals,  March  15,  20,  23,  29,  30; 
April  3,  5,  13,  16.  On  the  question  whether 
they  should  treat  in  uaion  with  the  Scots, 
the  Commons  divided  sixty-four  against 
sixty-four  ;  but  the  noes  obtained  the 
casting  vote  of  the  speaker. — Baillie,  i.  446. 
See  also  the  Journals  of  the  Lords,  yi.  473, 
483,   491,   501,   514,   519,   527,   531.     Such, 


well-affected ;  and  the  houses  im- 
proved the  hint  to  ordain  that  all 
non-subscribers,  both  in  the  city  and 
in  the  country,  should  be  compelled 
to  contribute  the  twentieth  part  of 
their  estates  towards  the  support  of 
the  common  cause.  3.  Still  the  wants 
of  the  army  daily  increased,  and,  as  a 
temporary  resource,  an  order  was 
made  that  each  county  should  pro- 
vide for  the  subsistence  of  the  men 
whom  it  had  furnished.  4.  And  this 
was  followed  by  a  more  permanent 
expedient,  a  weekly  assessment  of  ten 
thousand  pounds  on  the  city  of  Lon- 
don, and  of  twenty-four  thousand 
pounds  on  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  to 
be  levied  by  county-rates  after  the 
manner  of  subsidies.  5.  In  addition, 
the  estates  both  real  and  personal  of 
all  delinquents,  that  is,  of  all  indi- 
viduals who  had  borne  arms  for  tho 
king,  or  supplied  him  with  money,  or 
in  any  manner,  or  under  any  pre- 
tence, had  opposed  the  parliament, 
were  sequestrated  from  the  owners, 
and  placed  under  the  management  of 
certain  commissioners  empowered  to 
receive  the  rents,  to  seize  the  moneys 
and  goods,  to  sue  for  debts,  and  to 
pay  the  proceeds  into  the  treasury. 
6.  In  the  next  place  came  the  excise, 
a  branch  of  taxation  of  exotic  origin, 
and  hitherto  unknown  in  the  king- 
dom. To  it  many  objections  were 
made;  but  the  ample  and  constant 
supply  which  it  promised  insured  its 
adoption;  and  after  a  succession  of 
debates  and  conferences,  which  occu- 
pied the  houses  during  three  months, 
the  new  duties,  which  were  in  most 
instances  to  be  paid  by  the  first  pur- 
chaser, were  imposed  both  on  the 
articles  already  subject  to  the  cus- 


indeed,  was  the  dissension  among  them, 
that  Baillie  says  they  would  have  accepteii 
the  first  proposalfrom  the  houses  atOxlord„ 
had  not  the  news  that  the  Scots  had  passed 
the  Tweed  arrived  a  few  hours  before.  This 
gave  the  ascendancy  to  the  friends  of  wair, 
— BailUe,  i.  429,  430. 


26 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


toms,  and  on  a  numerous  class  of 
commodities  of  indigenous  growth  or 
manufacture.'  Lastly,  in  aid  of  these 
several  sources  of  revenue,  the  houses 
did  not  refuse  another  of  a  more  sin- 
gular description.  It  was  customary 
for  many  of  the  patriots  to  observe  a 
weekly  fast  for  the  success  of  their 
cause;  and,  that  their  purses  might 
not  profit  by  the  exercise  of  their 
piety,  they  were  careful  to  pay  into 
the  treasury  the  price  of  the  meal 
from  which  they  had  abstained.  If 
others  would  not  fast,  it  was  at  least 
possible  to  make  them  pay ;  and  com- 
missioners were  appointed  by  ordi- 
nance to  go  through  the  city,  to  rate 
every  housekeeper  at  the  price  of  one 
meal  for  his  family,  and  to  collect  the 
money  on  every  Tuesday  during  the 
next  six  months.  By  these  expe- 
dients the  two  houses  contrived  to 
carry  on  the  war,  though  their  pe- 
cuniary embarrassments  were  con- 
tinually multiplied  by  the  growing 
accumulation  of  their  debts,  and  the 
unavoidable  increase  of  their  expen- 
diture.' 

With  respect  to  the  king,  his  first 
resource  was  in  the  sale  of  his  plate 
and  jewels,  his  next  in  the  generous 
devotion  of  his  adherents,  many  of 
whom  served  him  during  the  whole 
war  at  their  own  cost,  and,  rather 
than  become  a  burthen  to  their  sove- 
reign, mortgaged  their  last  acre,  and 
left  themselves  and  their  families 
without  the  means  of  future  subsist- 
ence. As  soon  as  he  had  set  up  his 
standard,  he  solicited  loans  from  his 
friends,  pledging  his  word  to  requite 
their  promptitude,  and  allotting  cer- 


'  It  should  be  observed  that  the  excise  in 
its  very  infancy  extended  to  strong  beer, 
aJe,  cider,  perry,  wine,  oil,  figs,  sugar, 
raisins,  pepper,  salt,  silk,  tobacco,  soap, 
strong  waters,  and  even  flesh  meat,  whether 
it  were  exposed  for  sale  in  the  market,  or 
killed  by  private  families  for  their  own 
consumption.— Journals,  vi.  372. 

5  Journals,  v.  460,  468,  4S2;  vi.  lOS,  190, 


tain  portions  of  the  crown  lands  fc 
their  repayment — a  very  precarioi 
security  as  long  as  the  issue  of  tb 
contest  should  remain  uncertaii 
But  the  appeal  was  not  made  in  van 
Many  advanced  considerable  sun 
without  reserving  to  themselves  an 
claim  to  remuneration,  and  othei 
lent  so  freely  and  abundantly,  tha 
this  resource  was  productive  beyon 
his  most  sanguine  expectations.  Ye 
before  the  commencement  of  th 
third  campaign,  he  was  compelled  t 
consult  his  parliament  at  Oxford.  B 
its  advice  he  issued  privy  seals,  whic 
raised  one  hundred  thousand  pound: 
and,  in  imitation  of  his  adversaries 
established  the  excise,  which  brough 
him  in  a  constant,  though  not  ver. 
copious  supply.  In  addition,  his  gar 
risons  supported  themselves  by  weekl; 
contributions  from  the  neighbourin: 
townships,  and  the  counties  whicl 
had  associated  in  his  favour  willingl; 
furnished  pay  and  subsistence  to  thei 
own  forces.  Yet,  after  all,  it  wa 
manifest  that  he  possessed  not  tht 
same  facihties  of  raising  money  witl 
his  adversaries,  and  that  he  mus 
ultimately  succumb  through  povert: 
alone,  unless  he  could  bring  th< 
struggle  to  a  speedy  termination.^ 

For  this  purpose  both  parties  hsu 
made  every  exertion,  and  both  Irish 
men  and  Scotsmen  had  been  callec 
into  England  to  fight  the  battles  o 
the  king  and  the  parliament.  The 
severity  of  the  winter  afforded  uc 
respite  from  the  operations  of  war 
Five  Irish  regiments,  the  first  fruit- 
of  the  cessation  in  Ireland,  arrived  al 
Mostyn  in  Flintshire ;  their  reputa- 


209,  224,  248,  250,  272.    Commons'  Journals 
Nov.  26,  Dec.  8,  1642  ;  Feb.  23,  Sept.  h 
March   26,   1644.     Rushworth,    v.    71, 
209,  313,  748.     It  should  be  recollected  i; 
according  to  the  devotion  of  the  time,  "  i' 
fast  required  a  total  abstinence  from  aJi 
food,  till  the  fast  was  ended." — Directory 
for  the  Publique  Worship,  p.  32. 

3  Kushworth,  v.  580,  601.    Clarendon,  ii. 
87,453. 


.D.  1G44.]        MOVEMENTS  OE  THE  TWO  ARMIES. 


27 


ion,  more  than  their  number,  un- 
lerved  the  prowess  of  their  enemies ; 
10  force  ventured  to  oppose  them  in 
he  field;  and,  as  they  advanced, 
very  post  was  abandoned  or  surren- 
ered.  At  length  the  garrison  of 
'antwich  arrested  their  progress; 
nd  whilst  they  were  occupied  with 
he  siege,  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  ap- 
proached with  a  superior  force  from- 
Yorkshire.  For  two  hours  the  Anglo- 
rish,  under  Lord  Byron,  maintained 
n  obstinate  resistance  against  the 
ssailants  from  without  and  the  gar- 
ison  from  within  the  town ;  but  in  a 
loment  of  despair  one  thousand  six 
undred  men  in  the  works  threw 
own  their  arms,  and,  with  a  few  ex- 
eptions,  entered  the  ranks  of  their 
dversaries.  Among  the  names  of 
he  officers  taken,  occurs  that  of  the 
elebrated  Colonel  Monk,  who  was 
fterwards  released  from  the  Tower 
5  act  a  more  brilliant  part,  first  in 
ae  service  of  the  Commonwealth, 
nd  then  in  the  re-establishment  of 
iie  throne.' 

A  few  days  before  this  victory,  the 
cots  had  passed  the  Tweed.  The 
otion  that  they  were  engaged  in  a 
oly  crusade  for  the  reformation  of 
sligion  made  them  despise  every 
ifficulty ;  and,  though  the  weather 
'as  tempestuous,  though  the  snow 
ly  deep  on  the  ground,  their  enthu- 
asm  carried  them  forward  in  a  mass 
•hich  the  royalists  dared  not  oppose, 
'heir  leader  sought  to  surprise  New- 
istle;  he  was  disappointed  by  the 
romptitude  of  the  marquess  of  New- 
astle,  who,  on  the  preceding  day,  had 
irown  himself  into  the  town;  and 
unine  compelled  the  enemy,  after  a 
ege  of  three  weeks,  to  abandon  the 
ttempt.  Marching  up  the  left  bank 
f  the  Tyne,  they  crossed  the  river  at 
iywell,  and  hastening  by  Ebchester 
5    Sunderland,    took   possession   of 


1  Rush.  V.  299, 
laseres. 


Fairfax,  434,  ed,  of 


that  port  to  open  a  communication 
by  sea  with  their  own  country.  The 
marquess,  having  assembled  his  army, 
offered  them  batt^le,  and,  when  they 
refused  to  fight,  confined  them  for 
five  weeks  within  their  own  quarters. 
In  proportion  as  their  advance  into 
England  had  elevated  the  hopes  of 
their  friends  in  the  capital,  their  sub- 
sequent inactivity  provoked  surprise 
and  complaints.  But  Lord  Fairfax, 
having  been  joined  by  his  victorious 
son  from  Cheshire,  dispersed  the  roy- 
ahsts  at  Leeds,  under  Colonel  Bellasis, 
the  son  of  Lord  Falconberg ;  and  the 
danger  of  being  enclosed  between 
two  armies  induced  the  marquess  of 
Newcastle  to  retire  from  Durham  to 
York.  He  was  quickly  followed  by 
the  Scots ;  they  were  joined  by  Fair- 
fax, and  the  combined  army  sat  down 
before  the  city.  Newcastle  at  first 
despised  their  attempts ;  but  the 
arrival  of  fourteen  thousand  parlia- 
mentarians, under  the  earl  of  Man- 
chester, convinced  him  of  his  danger, 
and  he  earnestly  solicited  succour 
from  the  king.'' 

But  instead  of  proceeding  with 
the  military  transactions  in  the  north, 
it  will  here  be  necessary  to  advert 
to  those  which  had  taken  place  in 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  In  the 
counties  on  the  southern  coast  several 
actions  had  been  fought,  of  which  the 
success  was  various,  and  the  result 
unimportant.  Every  eye  fixed  itself 
on  the  two  grand  armies  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Oxford  and  London.  The 
parliament  had  professed  a  resolution 
to  stake  the  fortune  of  the  cause  on 
one  great  and  decisive  battle ;  and,  with 
this  view,  every  eflbrt  had  been  made 
to  raise  the  forces  of  Essex  and  Waller 
to  the  amount  of  twenty  thousand 
men.  These  generals  marched  in  two 
separate  corps,  with  the  hope  of  en- 
closing the  king,  or  of  besieging  tim 


2  Enshworth,  v.  223.    Baillie,  ii.  1,  6, 10, 
28,  33.    Journals,  523. 


28 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  ] 


in  Oxford.'  A  ware  of  his  inferiority, 
Charles,  by  a  skilful  manceuvre,  passed 
with  seven  thousand  men  between 
the  hostile  divisions,  and  arrived  in 
safety  at  "U''orcester.  The  jealousy  of 
the  commanders  did  not  allow  them 
to  act  in  concert.  Essex  directed 
his  march  into  Dorsetshire;  Waller 
took  on  himself  the  task  of  pursuing 
the  fugitive  monarch.  Charles  again 
deceived  him.  He  pretended  to  ad- 
vance along  the  right  bank  of  the 
Severn  from  AVorcester  to  Shrews- 
bury ;  and  when  Waller,  to  prevent 
him,  hastened  from  Broomsgrove  to 
take  possession  of  that  town,  the  king 
turned  at  Bewdley,  retraced  his  steps 
to  Oxford,  and,  recruiting  his  army, 
beat  up  the  enemy's  quarters  in  Buck- 
inghamshire. In  two  days  Waller 
had  returned  to  the  Cherwell,  which 
separated  the  two  armies;  but  an 
unsuccessful  action  at  Copredy  Bridge 
checked  his  impetuosity,  and  Charles, 
improving  the  advantage  to  repass  the 
river,  marched  to  Evesham  in  pursuit 
of  Essex.  Waller  did  not  follow ;  his 
forces,  by  fatigue,  desertion,  and  his 
lat€  loss,  had  been  reduced  from 
eight  thousand  to  four  thousand  men, 
and  the  Committee  of  the  two  King- 
doms recalled  their  favourite  ge- 
neral from  his  tedious  and  unavailing 
pursuit.'-* 

During  these  marches  and  counter- 
marches, in  which  the  king  had  no 
other  object  than  to  escape  from  his 
pursuers,  in  the  hope  that  some  for- 
tunate occurrence   might    turn   the 


1  When  Essex  loft  London  he  requested 
the  assembly  of  divines  to  keep  a  fast  for 
his  success.  The  reader  may  learn  from 
Baillie  how  it  was  celebrated.  "  We  spent 
from  nine  to  five  graciously.  After  D.  Twisse 
had  begun  with  a  brief  prayer,  Mr.  Mar- 
shall prayed  large  two  hours,  most  divinely 
confessing  the  sins  of  the  members  of  the 
assembly  in  a  wonderful,  pathetick,  and 
prudent     way.      After    Mr.     Arrowemith 

5 reached  an  hour,  then  a  psalm ;  thereafter 
[r.  Vines  prayed  ne«r  two  hours,  and  Mr. 
Palmer  preached  an  hour,  and  Mr.  Seaman 
prayed  near  two  hours,  then  a  psalm  ;  after 
Mr.  Henderson  brought  them  to  a  sweet 


scale  in  his  favour,  he  received  thi 
despatch  already  mentioned  from  th 
marquess  of  Newcastle.  The  ill-fate( 
prince  instantly  saw  the  dange: 
which  threatened  him.  The  fall  o 
York  would  deprive  him  of  the  north 
em  counties,  and  the  subsequen 
junction  of  the  besieging  army  Avitl 
his  opponents  in  the  south  woul( 
constitute  a  force  against  which  i 
would  be  useless  to  struggle.  Hi 
only  resource  was  in  the  courage  am 
activity  of  Prince  Eupert.  He  ordere< 
that  commander  to  collect  all  th 
force  in  his  power,  to  hasten  int- 
Yorkshire,  to  fight  the  enemy,  an( 
to  keep  in  mind  that  two  things  wer 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  th 
crown, — ^both  the  relief  of  the  citj 
and  the  defeat  of  the  combine 
army.3 

Rupert,  early  in  the  spring,  ha 
marched  from  his  quarters  at  Shrews 
bury,  surprised  the  parliamentar 
army  before  Newark,  and  after 
sharp  action,  compelled  it  to  capi 
tulate.  He  was  now  employed  i 
Cheshire  and  Lancashire,  where  h 
had  taken  Stockport,  Bolton,  an 
Liverpool,  and  had  raised  the  siege  ( 
Latham  House,  after  it  had  bee 
gallantly  defended  during  eightee 
weeks  by  the  resolution  of  the  cour 
tess  of  Derby.  On  the  receipt  of  tb 
royal  command,  he  took  with  him 
portion  of  his  own  men,  and  son 
regiments  lately  arrived  from  In 
land;  reinforcements  poured  in  o 
his  march,  and  on  his  approach  tl: 


conference  of  the  heat  confessed  in  tl 
assembly,  and  other  seen  faults  to  be  rem 
died,  and  the  conveniencv  to  preach  again 
all  sects,  especially  Anabaptists  and  An 
Domians.  Dr.  Twisse  closed  with  a  she 
prayer  and  blessing.  God  was  so  evidef 
m  all  this  exercise,  that  we  expect  cert;, 
a  blessing." — Baillie,  ii,  18,  lU. 

*  Rushworth,  v.  670—676.     Clarendo:i 
487—493.  497—502.     Baillie,  ii.  38. 

'  See  his  letter  in  Evelyn's  Memoir 
App.  88.  It  completely  exculpates  Kt 
from  the  charge  of  obstinacy  and  ras" 
in  having  fought  the  subsequent  baC 
Marstou  Moor. 


D.  IGii] 


BATTLE  OP  MAESTON  MOOE. 


29 


imbined  army  deemed  it  prudent  to 
)andon  the  works  before  the  city, 
e  was  received  with  acclamations  of 
y ;  but  left  York  the  next  day  to 
jht  the  bloody  and  decisive  battle 
'  Marston  Moor.'  Both  armies,  in 
icordance  with  the  military  tactics 
'  the  age,  were  drawn  up  in  line,  the 
fantry  in  three  divisions,  with 
rons  bodies  of  cavalry  on  each  flank. 
1  force  they  were  nearly  equal, 
nounting  to  twenty-three  or  twenty- 
re  thousand  men;  but  there  was 
is  peculiarity  in  the  arrangement 
the  parliamentarians,  that  in  each 
vision  the  English  and  the  Scots 
ere  intermixed,  to  preclude  all  occa- 
Dn  of  jealousy  or  dispute.  It  was 
)w  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  for 
r'o  hours  a  solemn  pause  ensued, 
ch  eyeing  the  other  in  the  silence 
suspense,  with  nothing  to  separate 
em  but  a  narrow  ditch  or  rivulet, 
t  seven  the  signal  was  given,  and 
upert  at  the  head  of  the  royal 
.valry  on  the  right  charged  with  his 
;ual  impetuosity,  and  with  the  usual 
suit.  He  bore  down  all  before  him, 
it  continued  the  chase  for  some 
iles,  and  thus,  by  his  absence  from 
e  field,  suffered  the  victory  to  slip 
it  of  his  hands.2 

At  the  same  time  the  royal  infantry, 
ider  Goring,  Lucas,  and  Porter, 
.d  charged  their  opponents  with 
ual  intrepidity  and  equal  success, 
le  line  of  the  confederates  was 
erced  in  several  points;  and  their 
nerals,  ]\Ianchester,  Leven,  and 
drfax,  convinced  that  the  day  was 
st,  fled  in  different  directions.  By 
eir  flight  the  chief  command  de- 
lved upon  Cromwell,  who  improved 
e  opportunity  to  win  for  himself  the 
arels  of  victory.  With  "  his  iron- 
ies "  and  the  Scottish  horse  he  had 
iven  the  royal  cavalry,  under  the 


earl  of  Newcastle,  from  their  position 
on  the  left.  Ordering  a  few  squadrons 
to  observe  and  harass  the  fugitives, 
he  wheeled  round  on  the  flank  of  the 
royal  infantry,  and  found  them  in 
separate  bodies,  and  in  disorder,  in- 
dulging in  the  confidence  and  license 
of  victory.  Eegiment  after  regiment 
was  attacked  and  dispersed ;  but  the 
"  white  coats,"  a  body  of  veterans 
raised  by  Lord  Newcastle,'formed  in  a 
circle;  and,  whilst  their  pikemen 
kept  the  cavalry  at  bay,  their  mus- 
keteers poured  repeated  volleys  into 
the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  Had  these 
brave  men  been  supported  by  any 
other  corps,  the  battle  might  have 
been  restored ;  but,  as  soon  as  their 
ammunition  was  spent,  an  opening 
was  made,  and  the  white  coats  pe- 
rished, every  man  falling  on  the  spot 
on  which  he  had  fought. 

Thus  ended  the  battle  of  Marston 
Moor.  It  was  not  long,  indeed,  before 
the  royal  cavalry,  amounting  to  three 
thousand  men,  made  their  appear- 
ance returning  from  the  pursuit.  But 
the  aspect  of  the  field  struck  dismay 
into  the  heart  of  Eupert.  His 
thoughtless  impetuosity  was  now 
exchanged  for  an  excess  of  caution ; 
and  after  a  few  skirmishes  he  with- 
drew. Cromwell  spent  the  night  on 
the  spot ;  but  it  was  to  him  a  night 
of  suspense  and  anxiety.  His  troopers 
were  exhausted  with  the  fatigue  of  the 
day ;  the  infantry  was  dispersed,  and 
without  orders ;  and  he  expected  every 
moment  a  nocturnal  attack  from 
Eupert,  who  had  it  in  his  power  to 
collect  a  sufficient  force  from  the 
several  corps  of  royalists  which  had 
suffered  little  in  the  battle.  But  the 
morning  brought  him  the  pleasing 
intelligence  that  the  prince  had  has- 
tened by  a  circuitous  route  to  York. 
The  immediate  fruit  of  the  victory 


1  Eushworth,  v.  307,  623,  631. 

'  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  says  that  at  first  he 
.t  to  flight  part  of  the  royal  cavalry,  and 


pursued  them  on  the  road  to  York.  On  his 
return  he  found  that  the  rest  of  his  wing 
had  been  routed  by  the  prince. — Fairfax, 

438. 


80 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


were  fifteen  hundred  prisoners  and 
the  whole  train  of  artillery.  The 
several  loss  of  the  two  parties  is 
unknown;  those  who  buried  the 
slain  numbered  the  dead  bodies 
at  four  thousand  one  hundred  and 
fifty.* 

This  disastrous  battle  extinguished 
the  power  of  the  royalists  in  the 
northern  counties.  The  prince  and 
the  marquees  had  long  cherished  a 
deeply-rooted  antipathy  to  each  other. 
It  had  displayed  itself  in  a  consulta- 
tion respecting  the  expediency  of 
fighting;  it  was  not  probable  that  it 
would  be  appeased  by  their  defeat. 
They  separated  the  next  morning; 
Eupert,  hastening  to  quit  a  place 
where  he  had  lost  so  gallant  an  army, 
returned  to  his  former  command  in 
the  western  counties;  Newcastle, 
whether  he  despaired  of  the  royal 
cause,  or  was  actuated  by  a  sense  of 
injurious  treatment,  taking  with  him 
the  lords  Falconberg  and  Widdring- 
ton,  sought  an  asylum  on  the  conti- 
nent. York,  abandoned  to  its  fate, 
opened  its  gates  to  the  enemy,  on  con- 
dition that  the  citizens  should  not  be 
molested,  and  that  the  garrison  should 
retire  to  Skipton.  The  combined 
army  immediately  separated  by  order 
of  the  Committee  of  both  Kingdoms. 
Manchester  returned  into  Notting- 
hamshire, Fairfax  remained  in  York, 
and  the  Scots  under  Leven  retracing 
their  steps,  closed  the  campaign  with 
the  reduction  of  Newcastle.  They 
had  no  objection  to  pass  the  winter 


1  For  this  battle  see  Eushworth,  v.  632 ; 
Tharloe,  i.  39 ;  Clarendon,  iv.  503 ;  Baillie, 
11,  36,  40 ;  Whitelock,  89  ;  Memorie  of  the 
Somervilles,  £din.  1815.  Cromwell  sent 
messengers  from  the  field  to  recall  the 
three  generals  who  had  fled.  Leven  was 
found  m  bed  at  Leeds  about  noon ;  and 
having  read  the  despatch,  struck  his  breast, 
exclaiming,  "  I  would  to  God  I  hud  died 
upon  the  place."— Ibid. ;  also  Turner,  Me- 
moirs, 38. 

«  Clarendon,  ii.  504. 

*  I  doubt  whether  Essex  had  any  claim 
to  that  generosity  of  character  which  is 
attributed  to  him  by  historians.    The  queen 


in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  ow 
country  ;  the  parliament  felt  no  wis 
to  see  them  nearer  to  the  Englis 
capital.^ 

In  the  mean  time  Essex,  impatier 
of  the  control  exercised  by  that  con 
mittee,  ventured  to  act  in  oppositio 
to  its  orders;  and  the  two  house 
though  they  reprimanded  him  for  h 
disobedience,  allowed  him  to  pursu 
the  plan  which  he  had  formed  of  dis 
solving  with  his  army  the  associatio 
of  royalists  in  Somersetshire,  Devor 
shire,  and  Cornwall.  He  relieve 
Lyme,  which  had  long  been  besiege 
by  Prince  Maurice,  one  of  the  king 
nephews,  and  advanced  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Exeter,  where  the  queen  a  fei 
days  before  had  been  delivered  of 
daughter.  That  princess,  weary  < 
the  dangers  to  which  she  was  expose 
in  England,  repaired  to  Falmouth,  pi 
to  sea  with  a  squadron  of  ten  Duto 
or  Flemish  vessels,  and,  escaping  th 
keen  pursuit  of  the  English  fle< 
from  Torbay,  reached  in  safety  tl 
harbour  of  Brest.^ 

Essex,  regardless  of  the  royalis 
who  assembled  in  the  rear  of  h 
army,  pursued  his  march  into  Con 
wall.  To  most  men  his  conduct  w; 
inexplicable.  Many  suspected  thi 
he  sought  to  revenge  himself  on  tl 
parliament  by  betraying  his  foro 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  1 
Lostwithiel  he  received  two  lett«i 
one,  in  which  he  was  solicited  by  tl 
king  to  unite  with  him  in  compellii 
his  enemies  to  consent  to  a  peac 


had  been  delivered  of  a  princess,  Henriel 
Maria,  at   Exeter,  and   sent   to  him  for 
passport  to  go  to  Bath  or  Bristol  i,)r  ( 
recovery  of  her  h.alth.    He  refu- 
sullingly  otterea  to  attend  her 
she  would  go   to   London,   whcr. 
been  already  impeached  of  high  ireaa 
Rushworth,   v.  684.     I   observe   that    ■ 
before  the  war,  when  the  king  hail  wr 
to  the  queen  to  intimate  his  wi?l 
as  lord  chamberlain,  to  prepnr(' 
for  his  reception,  she   desired  ^!         '^ 
do  it,  adding,  '*  their  lordships  are 
princes  to  receave  anye  direction  f 
Evelyn'B  Mem.  ii.  App.  78. 


are  to^HI 
n  from^HI 


D.  1644. 


ESSEX'S  AEMY  CAPITULATES. 


31 


hich  while  it  ascertained  the  legal 
ghts  of  the  throne,  might  secure  the 
Ugion  and  liberties  of  the  people ; 
lother  from  eighty-four  of  the  prin- 
pal  officers  in  the  royal  army,  who 
edged  themselves  to  draw  the  sword 
ainst  the  sovereign   himself,  if  he 
ould   ever   swerve  from  the  prin- 
Dles  which  he  had    avowed  in  his 
:ter.      Both     were     disappointed. 
;sex   sent  the   letters  to  the  two 
uses,  and  coldly  replied  that   his 
siness  was  to  fight,  that  of  the  par- 
ment  to  negotiate. 
But  he  now  found   himself  in  a 
)st  critical  situation,  cut  off  from 
intercourse   with    London,    and 
losed    between    the  sea  and  the 
nbined  forces  of  the  king.  Prince 
mrice,  and  Sir  Richard  Grenville. 
s  cavalry,  unable  to  obtain  sub- 
jence,  burst  in  the  night,  though 
,  without  loss,  through  the  lines  of 
:  enemy.    But  each  day  the  roy- 
its  won  some  of  his  posts;  their 
illery  commanded  the  small  haven 
Foy,  through  which  alone  he  could 
ain  provisions ;  and  his  men,  dis- 
yed  by  a  succession  of  disasters, 
used  to  stand  to  their  colours.    In 
3    emergency    Essex,    with    two 
er  officers,  escaped  from  the  beach 
a  boat  to  Plymouth ;  and  Major- 
aeral  Skippon  offered  to  capitulate 
the  rest  of  the  army.    On  the  sur- 
der  of  their   arms,    ammunition, 
[  artillery,  the  men  were  allowed 
narch  to  Poole  and  Wareham,  and 
Qce  were  conveyed  in  transports 
ortsmouth,  where  commissioners 
n  the  parliament  met  them  with  a 
ply  of  clothes  and  money.    The 
I   general    repaired   to  his   own 
se,    calling   for  an   investigation 
1  into  his  own  conduct  and  into 
5  of  the  committee,  who  had  neg- 
ed  to  disperse  the  royalists  in  the 
■  of  his  army,  and  had  betrayed  the 
36  of  the  people,  to  gratify  their 
I  jealousy  by  the  disgrace  of  an 
onent.    To   soothe  his  wounded 


mind,  the  houses  ordered  a  joint  de- 
putation to  wait  on  him,  to  thank 
him  for  his  fidelity  to  the  cause,  and 
to  express  their  estimation  of  the 
many  and  eminent  services  which  he 
had  rendered  to  his  country.^ 

This  success  elevated  the  hopes  of 
the  king,  who,  assuming  a  tone   of 
conscious  superiority,  invited  all  his 
subjects  to  accompany  him  to  Lon- 
don, and  aid  him  in  compelling  the 
parliament  to  accept  of  peace.    But 
the  energies  of  his  opponents  were  not 
exhausted.    They   quickly  recruited 
their  diminished  forces;  the  several 
corps    under    Essex,    "Waller,    and 
Manchester,  were  united ;  and,  while 
the  royalists  marched  through  White- 
church  to  Newbury,  a  more  nume- 
rous army  moved  in  a  parallel  direc- 
tioiy through  Basingstoke  to  Reading. 
There  the  leaders  (the  lord  general 
was  absent  under   the  pretence  of 
indisposition),  hearing  of  reinforce- 
ments pouring  into  Oxford,  resolved 
to  avail  themselves  of  their  present 
superiority,  and  to  attack,  at  the  same 
moment,   the   royalist    positiojis  at 
Show  on  the  eastern,  and  at  Speen  on 
the  western  side  of  the  town.    The 
action  in  both  places  was  obstinate, 
the  result,  as  late  as  ten  at  night, 
doubtful ;  but  the  king,  fearing  to  be 
surrounded  the  next  day,  assembled 
his    men   under   the   protection    of 
Donnington  Castle,  and  marched  to- 
wards "VVallingford,  a  movement  which 
was  executed  without  opposition  by 
the  light  of  the  moon,  and  in  full 
view  of  the  enemy.    In  a  few  days  he 
returned  with  a  more  numerous  force, 
and,  receiving  the  artillery  and  am- 
munition, which  for  security  he  had 
left  in  Donnington  Castle,  conveyed 
it  without   molestation  to  Walling- 
ford.    As  he  passed  and  repassed,  the 
parliamentarians   kept  within   their 
lines,  and  even   refused   the   battle 


1  Eushworth,  v.  683, 
711.    Clarend.  iv.  511- 


684,  690—693,  699— 

•518—527. 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


which  he  offered.  This  backwardness, 
whether  it  arose  from  internal  dissen- 
sion, or  from  inferiority  of  numbers, 
provoked  loud  complaints,  not  only 
in  the  capital,  where  the  conflict  at 
Newbury  had  been  celebrated  as  a 
victory,  but  in  the  two  houses,  who 
had  ordered  the  army  to  follow  up  its 
success.  The  generals,  having  dis- 
persed their  troops  in  winter  quarters, 
hastened  to  vindicate  their  own  con- 
duct. Charges  of  cowardice,  or  dis- 
affection, or  incapacity,  were  made 
and  retorted  by  one  against  the  other ; 
and  that  cause  which  had  nearly  tri- 
umphed over  the  king  seemed  now  on 
the  point  of  being  lost  through  the 
personal  jealousies  and  contending 
passions  of  its  leaders.' 

The  greater  part  of  these  quarrels 
had  originated  in  the  rivalry  of  -am- 
bition ;  but  those  in  the  army  of  the 
earl  of  Manchester  were  produced  by 
religious  jealousy,  and  on  that  account 
were  followed  by  more  important 
results.  When  the  king  attempted 
to  arrest  the  five  members,  Man- 
chester, at  that  time  Lord  Kimbolton, 
was  the  only  peer  whom  he  im- 
peached. This  circumstance  endeared 
Kimbolton  to  the  party ;  his  own 
safety  bound  him  more  closely  to  its 
interests.  On  the  formation  of  the 
army  of  the  seven  associated  coun- 
ties, he  accepted,  though  with  reluc- 
tance, the  chief  command;  for  his 
temper  and  education  had  formed 
him  to  shine  in  the  senate  rather 
than  the  camp ;  and,  aware  of  his  own 
inexperience,  he  devolved  on  his 
council  the  chief  direction  of  military 
operations,  reserving  to  himself  the 
delicate  and  important  charge  of  har- 
monizing and  keeping  together  the 
discordant  elements  of  which  his 
force  was  composed.  The  second  in 
command,  as  the  reader  is  aware,  was 
Cromwell,   with   the  rank  of  lieu- 


»  Enshworth,    v.    715—732.     Clarendon, 
6«-552. 


tenant-general.      In   the  parade 
sanctity  both  Manchester  and  Croi 
well    seemed    equal   proficients; 
belief  and  practice  they  followed  t\ 
opposite  parties.    The  first  sought  t] 
exclusive  establishment  of  the  pn 
byterian  system ;  the  other  contendi 
for  the  common  right  of  mankind 
worship  God  acccording  to  the  di 
tates   of  conscience.    But   this   d 
ference    of    opinion    provoked    i 
dissension  between  them.    The  mo 
gentle  and  accommodating  temper 
Manchester  was  awed  by  the  superi 
genius  of  Cromwell,  who    gradual 
acquired   the   chief  control  of  ti 
army,  and  offered  his  protection 
the   Independents   under   his   coi 
mand.    In  other  quarters  these  re 
gionists  suffered  restraint  and  pen 
cution  from  the  zeal  of  the  Pr< 
byterians ;  the  indulgence  which  th 
enjoyed  under  Cromwell  scandaliz 
and  alarmed  the   orthodoxy  of  t 
Scottish  commissioners,  who  obtain* 
as  a  counterpoise  to  the  influence 
that  officer,  the  post  of  major-gene 
for  Crawford,  their  countryman,  a 
a  rigid  Presbyterian.    Cromwell  a 
Crawford  instantly  became  rivals  a 
enemies.    The  merit  of  the  victory 
Marston  Moor  had  been  claimed 
the  Independents,  who  magnified  1 
services  of  their  favourite  command 
and  ridiculed  the  flight  and  coward 
of  the  Scots.    Crawford  retorted  i 
charge,  and  deposed  that  Cromw 
having  received  a  slight  wound  in 
neck  at  the  commencement  of 
action,  immediately  retired  and 
not  afterwards  appear  in   the  fi< 
The   lieutenant-general   in    reve: 
exhibited   articles    against  Crawf  - 
before  the  committee  of  war,  and 
colonels  threatened  to  resign   V 
commissions  unless  he  were  rem< 
while  on  the  other  hand  Mancht 
and  the  chaplains  of  the  army  g 
testimony  in  his  favour,  and  theft 
tish    commissioners,    assuming 
defence  of  their  countryman, 


1 


A.D.  1044.1 


THE  SELF-DENYING  OHDINANCB. 


33 


sented  him  as  a  martyr  in  the  cause 
of  religion.' 

But  before  this  quarrel  was  termi- 
nated a  second  of  greater  importance 
arose.  The  indecisive  action  at  New- 
bury, and  the  refusal  of  battle  at  Don- 
nington,  had  excited  the  discontent 
of  the  public ;  the  lower  house  ordered 
an  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the 
generals  and  the  state  of  the  armies ; 
and  the  report  made  by  the  Committee 
of  both  Kingdoms  led  to  a  vote  that  a 
plan  for  the  organization  of  the 
national  force,  in  a  new  and  more 
efficient  form,  should  be  immediately 
prepared.  Waller  and  Cromwell, 
who  were  both  members  of  the  house, 
felt  dissatisfied  with  the  report.  At 
the  next  meeting  each  related  his 
share  in  the  transactions  which  had 
excited  such  loud  complaints;  and 
the  latter  embraced  the  opportunity 
to  prefer  a  charge  of  disaffection 
against  the  earl  of  Manchester,  who, 
he  pretended,  was  unwilling  that  the 
royal  power  should  sufier  additional 
humiliation,  and  on  that  account 
would  never  permit  his  army  to 
engage  unless  it  were  evidently  to  its 
disadvantage.  Manchester  in  the  house 
of  Lords  repelled  the  imputation  with 
warmth,  vindicated  his  own  conduct, 
md  retorted  on  his  accuser,  that  he 
dad  yet  to  learn  in  what  place  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Cromwell  with  his 
cavalry  had  posted  himself  on  the  day 
3fbattle.2 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that,  even 
it  this  early  period,  Essex,  Man- 
chester, and  the  Scottish  commis- 
doners  suspected  Cromwell  with  his 
"riends  of  a  design  to  obtain  the 
command  of  the  army,  to  abolish  the 
louse  of  Lords,  divide  the  house  of 
Dommons,  dissolve  the  covenant  be- 
tween the  two  nations,  and  erect  a 
lew   government   according   to   his 


1  BaiUie,  ii.  40,  41,  42,  49,  57,  60,  66,  69 
lollia,  15. 

*  E-oshworth,  v.  732.    Journala,  'Nov.  22 

:3, 25.    Lords'  Journals,  yu.  67,  78,  80, 14l'. 

8 


own  principles.  To  defeat  this  pro- 
ject it  was  at  first  proposed  that 
the  chancellor  of  Scotland  should  de- 
nounce him  as  an  incendiary,  and 
demand  his  punishment  according  to 
the  late  treaty ;  but,  on  the  reply  of 
the  lawyers  whom  they  consulted, 
that  their  proofs  were  insufficient  to 
sustain  the  charge,  it  was  resolved 
that  Manchester  should  accuse  him 
before  the  Lords  of  having  expressed 
a  wish  to  reduce  the  peers  to  the  state 
of  private  gentlemen ;  of  having  de- 
clared his  readiness  to  fight  against 
the  Scots,  whose  chief  object  was  to 
establish  religious  despotism;  and  of 
having  threatened  to  compel,  with 
the  aid  of  the  Independents,  both 
king  and  parliament  to  accept  such 
conditions  as  he  should  dictate.  This 
charge,  with  a  written  statement  by 
Manchester  in  his  own  vindication, 
was  communicated  to  the  Commons ; 
and  they,  after  some  objections  in 
point  of  form  and  privilege,  referred 
it  to  a  committee,  where  its  considera- 
tion was  postponed  from  time  to  time, 
till  at  last  it  was  permitted  to  sleep  in 
silence.^ 

Cromwell  did  not  hesitate  to  wreak 
his  revenge  on  Essex  and  Manchester, 
though  the  blow  would  probably  re- 
coil upon  himself.  He  proposed  in 
the  Commons  what  was  afterwards 
called  the  "self-denying  ordinance," 
that  the  members  of  both  houses 
should  be  excluded  from  all  offices, 
whether  civil  or  military.  He  would 
not,  he  said,  reflect  on  what  was 
past,  but  suggest  a  remedy  for  the 
future.  The  nation  was  weary  of  the 
war ;  and  he  spoke  the  language  both 
of  friends  and  foes,  when  he  said  that 
the  blame  of  its  continuance  rested 
with  the  two  houses,  who  could  not 
be  expected  to  bring  it  to  a  speedy 
termination  as  long  as  so  many  of 


Whitelock,  116. 

3  Baillie,  ii.  76,  77.  Journals,  Dee.  2,  4  ; 
Jan.  18.  Lords'  Journals,  79,  80.  White- 
lock,  116, 117.    HoUis,  18. 


34 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


their  members  derived  from  military 
commands  wealth  and  authority,  and 
consideration.  His  real  object  was 
open  to  every  eye ;  still  the  motion 
met  with  the  concurrence  of  his  own 
party,  and  of  ail  whose  patience  had 
been  exhausted  by  the  quarrels  among 
the  commanders;  and,  when  an  ex- 
emption was  suggested  in  favour  of 
the  lord-general,  it  was  lost  on  a  divi- 
sion by  seven  voices,  in  a  house  of  one 
hundred  and  ninety-three  members. 
However,  the  strength  of  the  oppo- 
sition encouraged  the  peers  to  speak 
with  more  than  their  usual  freedom. 
They  contended  that  the  ordinance 
was  unnecessary,  since  the  committee 
was  employed  in  framing  a  new  model 
for  the  army;  that  it  was  unjust, 
since  it  would  operate  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  whole  peerage  from  office,  while 
the  Commons  remained  equally  eli- 
gible to  sit  in  parliament,  or  to  fill 
civil  or  military  employments.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  lower  house  re- 
monstrated. The  Lords  replied  that 
they  had  thrown  out  the  bill,  but 
would  consent  to  another  of  similar 
import,  provided  it  did  not  extend  to 
commands  in  the  army.' 

But  by  this  time  the  Committee  of 
both  Kingdoms  had  completed  their 
plan  of  military  reform,  which,  in  its 
immediate  operation,  tended  to  pro- 
duce the  same  effect  as  the  rejected 
ordinance.  It  obtained  the  sanction 
of  the  Scottish  commissioners,  who 
consented,  though  with  reluctance, 
to  sacrifice  their  friends  in  the  upper 
house,  for  the  benefit  of  a  measure 
which  promised  to  put  an  end  to  the 
feuds  and  delays  of  the  former  system, 
and  to  remove  from  the  army  Crom- 
well, their  most  dangerous  enemy. 
If  it  deprived  them  of  the  talents  of 
Essex  and  Manchester,  which  they 
seem  never  to  have  prized,  it  gave 
them  in  exchange  a  commander-in- 


chief,  whose  merit  they  had  learned 
to  appreciate  during  his  service  in 
conjunction  with  their  forcfes  at  the 
siege  of  York.  By  the  "  new  model " 
it  was  proposed  that  the  army  should 
consist  of  one  thousand  dragoons,  six 
thousand  six  hundred  cavalry  in  six. 
and  fourteen  thousand  four  hundred 
infantry  in  twelve  regiments,  under 
Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  as  the  first,  and 
Major-General  Skippon  as  the  second, 
in  command.  The  Lords  hesitated: 
but  after  several  conferences  and  de- 
bates they  returned  it  with  a  few 
amendments  to  the  Commons,  and  i1 
was  published  by  sound  of  drum  ic 
London  and  "Westminster.'* 

This  victory  was  followed  by  another 
Many  of  the  peers  still  clung  to  th( 
notion  that  it  was  intended  to  abolisl 
their  privileges,  and  therefore  re- 
solved not  to  sink  without  a  struggle 
They  insisted  that  the  new  armj 
should  take  the  covenant,  and  sub 
scribe  the  directory  for  public  wor 
ship;  they  refused  their  approbatioi 
to  more  than  one  half  of  the  officer 
named  by  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax ;  anc 
they  objected  to  the  additional  power 
offered  by  the  Commons  to  that  gene 
ral.  On  these  subjects  the  division 
in  the  house  were  nearly  equal,  an( 
whenever  the  opposite  party  obtainei 
the  majority,  it  was  by  the  aid  of 
single  proxy,  or  of  the  clamours  c 
the  mob.  At  length  a  declaratioi 
was  made  by  the  Commons,  tha 
"  they  held  themselves  obliged  to  pr€ 
serve  the  peerage  with  the  rights  an 
privileges  belonging  to  the  house  c 
Peers  equally  as  their  own,  and  woul 
really  perform  the  same."  Helieve 
from  their  fears,  the  Lords  yielde 
to  a  power  which  they  knew  not  ho 
to  control;  the  different  bills  wr- 
passed,  and  among  them  a  new 
denying  ordinance,  by  which  ev*.. 
member   of  either   house  was  di 


1  Journals,  Dec.  9,  17;  Jan.  7,  10,  13. 
Lords'  Journals,  129,  131,  134, 136.  Bush- 
worth,  Yi.  3—7. 


*  Journals,  Jan.  9,  13,  25,  27 ;  Feb.  1 
15:  of  Lords,  159,  175,  169,  193,  195,  » 
Clarendon,  ii.  669. 


A.D.  1645.]         PEESECUTION  OF  THE  CATHOLICS. 


35 


charged  from  all  civil  and  military 
offices  conferred  by  authority  of  par- 
hament,  after  the  expiration  of  forty 
days.' 

Hitherto  I  have  endeavoured  to 
preserve  unbroken  the  chain  of  mili- 
tary and  political  events :  it  is  now 
time  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  the  ecclesiastical  occur- 
rences of  the  two  last  years. 

I.  As  religion  was  acknowledged  to 
be  the  first  of  duties,  to  put  down 
popery  and  idolatry,  and  to  purge  the 
church  from  superstition  and  corrup- 
tion, had  always  been  held  out  by  the 
parliament  as  its  grand  and  most  im- 
portant object.  It  was  this  which,  in 
the  estimation  of  many  of  the  com- 
batants, gave  the  chief  interest  to  the 
quarrel ;  this  which  made  it,  accord- 
ing to  the  language  of  the  time,  "  a 
wrestle  between  Christ  and  antichrist." 
1.  Every  good  Protestant  had  been 
educated  in  the  deepest  horror  of 
popery :  there  was  a  magic  in  the  very 
-word  which  awakened  the  prejudices 
and  inflamed  the  passions  of  men ; 
and  the  reader  must  have  observed 
with  what  art  and  perseverance  the 
patriot  leaders  employed  it  to  confirm 
the  attachment,  and  quicken  the 
efforts  of  their  followers.  Scarcely  a 
lay  occurred  in  which  some  order  or 
Drdinance,  local  or  general,  was  not 
issued  by  the  two  houses;  and  very 
few  of  these,  even  on  the  most  in- 
iifferent  subjects,  were  permitted  to 
pass  without  the  assertion  that  the 
war  had  been  originally  provoked, 
md  was  still  continued  by  the  papists, 
!br  the  sole  purpose  of  the  establish- 
oaent  of  popery  on  the  ruins  of  Pro- 


1  Journals,  Feb.  25,  March  21 ;  of  Lords, 
J87, 303. 

«  Journals,  vi.  133,  254.  See  their  Me- 
•noirs  in  Challoner,  ii.  209—319.  In  1643, 
liter  a  solemn  fast,  the  five  chaplains  of 
:he  queen  were  apprehended  and  sent  to 
Prance,  their  native  country,  and  the  fur- 
litnre  of  her  chapel  at  Somerset  House  was 
Dublicly  burnt.  The  citizens  were  so  edified 
»ith  the  sight,  that  they  requested  and  ob- 


testantism.  The  constant  repetition 
acted  on  the  minds  of  the  people  as  a 
sufficient  proof  of  the  charge ;  and 
the  denials,  the  protestations,  the 
appeals  to  heaven  made  by  the  king, 
were  disregarded  and  condemned  as 
unworthy  artifices,  adopted  to  deceive 
the  credulous  and  unwary.  Under 
such  circumstances,  the  Catholics 
found  themselves  exposed  to  insult 
and  persecution  wherever  the  in- 
fluence of  the  parliament  extended  : 
for  protection  they  were  compelled  to 
flee  to  the  quarters  of  the  royalists, 
and  to  fight  under  their  banners  ;  and 
this  again  confirmed  the  prejudice 
against  them,  and  exposed  them  to 
additional  obloquy  and  punishment. 

But  the  chiefs  of  the  patriots,  while 
for  political  purposes  they  pointed 
the  hatred  of  their  followers  against 
the  Catholics,  appear  not  to  have  de- 
lighted unnecessarily  in  blood.  They 
ordered,  indeed,  searches  to  be  made 
for  Catholic  clergymen ;  they  offered 
and  paid  rewards  for  their  apprehen- 
sion, and  they  occasionally  gratified 
the  zealots  with  the  spectacle  of  an 
execution.  The  priests  who  suffered 
death  in  the  course  of  the  war 
amounted  on  an  average  to  three  for 
each  year,  a  small  number,  if  we 
consider  the  agitated  state  of  the 
public  mind  during  that  period.* 
But  it  was  the  property  of  the  lay 
Catholics  which  they  chiefly  sought, 
pretending  that,  as  the  war  had  been 
caused  by  their  intrigues,  its  expenses 
ought  to  be  defrayed  by  their  for- 
feitures. It  was  ordained  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  estate,  both  real  and 
personal,  of  every  papist,  should  be 


tained  permission  to  destroy  the  gilt  cross 
in  Cheapside.  The  lord  mayor  and  alder- 
men graced  the  ceremony  with  their  pre- 
sence, and  "antichrist"  was  thrown  into 
the  flames,  while  the  bells  of  St.  Peter's 
rang  a  merry  peal,  the  city  waits  played 
melodious  tunes  on  the  leads  of  the  church, 
the  train  bands  discharged  volleys  of  mus- 
ketry, and  the  spectators  celebrated  the 
triumph  with  acclamatious  of  joy. — Pari. 
Chron.  294,  327. 

D2 


CHAELES  I. 


[CHAP.  I 


seized  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the 
nation ;  and  that  by  the  name  of 
papist  should  be  understood  all  per- 
sons who,  within  a  certain  period, 
had  harboured  any  priest,  or  had 
been  convicted  of  recusancy,  or  had 
attended  at  the  celebration  of  mass, 
or  had  suffered  their  children  to  be 
educated  in  the  Catholic  worship,  or 
had  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  abju- 
ration; an  oath  lately  devised,  by 
which  all  the  distinguishing  tenets  of 
the  Catholic  religion  were  specifically 
renounced. ' 

II.  A  still  more  important  object 
was  the  destruction  of  the  episcopal 
establishment,  a  consummation  most 
devoutly  wished  by  the  saints,  by  all 
who  objected  to  the  ceremonies  in 
the  liturgy,  or  had  been  scandalized 
by  the  pomp  of  the  prelates,  or  had 
smarted  under  the  inflictions  of  their 
zeal  for  the  preservation  of  orthodoxy. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  these  pre- 
lates, in  the  season  of  prosperity,  had 
not  borne  their  faculties  with  meek- 
ness ;  that  the  frequency  of  prose- 
cutions in  the  ecclesiastical  courts  had 
produced  irritation  and  hatred ;  and 
that  punishments  had  been  often 
awarded  by  those  courts  rigorous 
beyond  the  measure  of  the  offence. 
But  the  day  of  retribution  arrived. 
Episcopacy  was  abolished ;  an  im- 
peachment suspended  over  the  heads 
of  most  of  the  bishops,  kept  them  in 
a  state  of  constant  apprehension ;  and 
the  inferior  clergy,  wherever  the  par- 
liamentary arms  prevailed,  suffered 
all  those  severities  which  they  had 
formerly  inflicted  on  their  dissenting 
brethren.  Their  enemies  accused 
them  of  immorality  or  malignancy; 
and  the  two  houses  invariably  se- 
questrated their  livings,  and  assigned 
the  profits  to  other  ministers,  whose 
sentiments  accorded  better  with  the 


^  Journals,  Aug.  17,  1613.    Collection  of 
Ordinances,  22. 

2  Journals  of  Lords,  ri.  389 ;  of  Commons, 


new  standard  of  orthodoxy  and  pa- 
triotism admitted  at  A^'estminster. 

The  same  was  the  fate  of  the  eccle- 
siastics in  the  two  universities,  whict 
had  early  become  objects  of  jealousj 
and  vengeance  to  the  patriots.    The5 
had  for  more  than  a  century  incul- 
cated the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience 
and  since  the  commencement  of  th( 
war  had  more  than  once  advanced 
considerable  sums  to  the  king.    Ox- 
ford,  indeed,   enjoyed   a   temporarj 
exemption  from  their  control ;  bui 
Cambridge  was  already  in  their  power 
and  a  succession  of  feuds  between  th( 
students  and  the  townsmen  affordet 
a   decent    pretext    for    their  inter- 
ference.   Soldiers  were  quartered  ir 
the   colleges ;   the  painted  window; 
and  ornaments  of  the  churches  wer< 
demolished;  and  the  persons  of  thi 
inmates  were  subjected  to  insults  anc 
injuries.    In  January,  1644,  an  ordi 
nance  passed  for  the  reform  of  th< 
university;  and  it  was  perhaps  for 
tunate  that  the  ungracious  task  de 
volved  in  the  first  instance  on  th' 
military  commander,  the  earl  of  Man 
Chester,  who  to  a  taste  for  literatur 
added    a    gentleness    of    dispositioi 
averse  from  acts  of  severity.    Unde 
his  superintendence  the  university  wa 
"  purified ;"  and  ten  heads  of  house? 
with  sixty-five  fellows,  were  expellee 
Manchester  confined  himself  to  thos 
who,  by  their  hostility  to  the  parlio 
ment,  had  rendered  themselves  con 
spicuous,  or  through  fear  had  alread 
abandoned  their  stations;  but  afte 
his  departure,  the   meritorious  ur 
dertaking  was   resumed  by  a  coa 
mittee,  and  the  number  of  expulsior 
was  carried  to  two  hundred.*    Thi 
the  clerical  establishment  gradual! 
crumbled  away ;  part  after  part  w: 
detached  from  the  edifice;  and  tl 
reformers  hastened  to  raise  what  th( 


Jan.  20,  16«.    Xeal,  1.  i 

i.  112.    Querela  Cantab,  in  Merc, 

—210. 


I.    W^H 
c.  Eos^B 


LD.  1644.] 


EELIGIOUS  DIFPERENCES. 


37 


deemed  a  more  scriptural  fabric  on 
the  ruins.    In  the  month  of  June, 
1643,  one  hundred  and  twenty  indi- 
viduals selected  by  the  Lords   and 
Commons,  under  the  denomination  of 
pious,  godly,  and  judicious   divines, 
were  summoned  to  meet  at  Wesl- 
minster ;  and,  that  their  union  might 
bear  a  more  correct  resemblance  to 
the  assembly  of  the   Scottish  kirk, 
thirty  laymen— ten  lords  and  twenty 
3ommoners — were    voted   additional 
nembers.    The  two  houses  prescribed 
jhe  form  of  the  meetings,  and  the 
■ubject  of  the  debates :  they  enjoined 
m  oath  to  be  taken  on  admission, 
md  the  obligation  of  secrecy  till  each 
luestion  should  be  determined;  and 
hey   ordained  that    every  decision 
should  be  laid  before  themselves,  and 
considered  of  no  force  until  it  had 
)een  confirmed  by  their  approbation..' 
Of  the  divines  summoned,  a  portion 
vas  composed  of  Episcopalians;  and 
hese,  through  motives  of  conscience 
)r  loyalty,  refused  to  attend :  the  ma- 
ority  consisted  of  Puritan  ministers, 
inxious  to  establish  the  Calvinistic 
liscipline  and  doctrine  of  the  foreign 
•eformed  churches ;  and  to  these  was 
ipposed  a  small  but  formidable  band 
f    Independent    clergymen,    who, 
mder  the  persecution  of  Archbishop 
laud,  had  formed  congregations  in 
loliand,  but  had  taken  the  present 
pportunity  to  return  from  exile,  and 
•reach  the    gospel  in    their   native 
ountry.    The  point  at  issue  between 
hese  two  parties  was  one  of  the  first 
oaportance,   involving  in  its  result 
he  great  question  of  liberty  of  con- 
cnence.     The  Presbyterians  sought 
3  introduce  a  gradation  of  spiritual 
uthorities   in   presbyteries,   classes, 
ynods,  and  assembhes;  giving  to  these 
everal  judicatories  the  power  of  the 
.eySjthat  is,  of  censuring,  suspending, 
.epriving,  and  excommunicating  de- 


^  Journals,  vi,  114,  254.    Commons,  1643, 
lay  13,  June  16,  July  6,  Sept.  14.    Rush. 


linquents.  They  maintained  that 
such  a  power  was  essential  to  the 
church ;  that  to  deny  it  was  to  rend 
into  fragments  the  seamless  coat  of 
Christ,  to  encourage  disunion  and 
schism,  and  to  open  the  door  to  every 
species  of  theological  war.  On  the 
other  hand,  their  adversaries  con- 
tended that  all  congregations  of 
worshippers  were  co-ordinate  and  in- 
dependent ;  that  synods  might  advise, 
but  could  not  command ;  that  multi- 
plicity of  sects  must  necessarily  result 
from  the  variableness  of  the  human 
judgment,  and  the  obligation  of 
worshipping  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  conscience ;  and  that  reli- 
gious toleration  was  the  birthright  of 
every  human  being,  whatever  were 
his  speculative  creed  or  the  form  of 
worship  wliich  he  preferred.^^ 

The  weight  of  number  and  influence 
was  in  favour  of  the  Presbyterians. 
They  possessed  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority in  the  assembly,  the  senate,  the 
city,  and  the  army;  the  solemn  league 
and  covenant  had  enlisted  the  whole 
Scottish  nation  in  their  cause ;  and 
the  zeal  of  the  commissioners  from 
the  kirk,  who  had  also  seats  in  the 
assembly,  gave  a  new  stimulus  to  the 
efforts  of  their  English  brethren. 
The  Independents,  on  the  contrary, 
were  few,  l3ut  their  deficiency  in  point 
of  number  was  supplied  by  the  energy 
and  talents  of  their  leaders.  They 
never  exceeded  a  dozen  in  the  as- 
sembly; but  these  were  veteran  dis- 
putants, eager,  fearless,  and  perse- 
vering, whose  attachment  to  their 
favourite  doctrines  had  been  riveted 
by  persecution  and  exile,  and  who  had 
not  escaped  from  the  intolerance  of 
one  church  to  submit  tamely  to  the 
control  of  another.  In  the  house  of 
Commons  they  could  command  the 
aid  of  several  among  the  master  spirits 
of  the   age,— of  Cromwell,  Selden, 


v,  337  339. 
'-  Baillie,  i.  420, 431 ;  ii.  15,  24, 37,  43,  61. 


38 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  L 


St.  John,  Vane,  and  Whitelock ;  in 
the  capital  some  of  the  most  wealthy 
citizens  professed  themselves  their 
disciples,  and  in  the  army  their  power 
rapidly  increased  by  the  daily  acces- 
sion of  the  most  godly  and  fanatic  of 
the  soldiers.  The  very  nature  of  the 
contest  between  the  king  and  the 
parliament  was  calculated  to  pre- 
dispose the  mind  in  favour  of  their 
principles.  It  taught  men  to  distrust 
the  claims  of  authority,  to  exercise 
their  own  judgment  on  matters  of  the 
highest  interest,  and  to  spurn  the 
fetters  of  intellectual  as  well  as  of 
poUtical  thraldom.  In  a  short  time 
the  Independents  were  joined  by  the 
Antinomians,  Anabaptists,  Millena- 
rians,  Erastians,  and  the  members  of 
many  ephemeral  sects,  whose  very 
names  are  now  forgotten.  All  had 
one  common  interest;  freedom  of 
conscience  formed  the  chain  which 
bound  them  together.' 

In  the  assembly  each  party  watched 
with  jealousy,  and  opposed  with 
warmth,  the  proceedings  of  the  other. 
On  a  few  questions  they  proved  una- 
nimous. The  appointment  of  days  of 
humiliation  and  prayer,  the  suppres- 
sion of  public  and  scandalous  sins, 
the  prohibition  of  copes  and  surplices, 
the  removal  of  organs  from  the 
churches,  and  the  mutilation  or  de- 
molition of  monuments  deemed  super- 
stitious or  idolatrous,  were  matters 
equally  congenial  to  their  feelings, 
and  equally  gratifying  to  their  zeal  or 
fanaticism.''  But  when  they  came  to 
the  more  important  subject  of  church 
government,  the  opposition  between 
them  grew  fierce  and  obstinate ;  and 
day  after  day,  week  after  week,  was 
consumed  in  unavailing  debates.  The 
kirk  of  Scotland  remonstrated,  the 
house  of  Commons  admonished  in 
vain.    Eor  more  than  a  year  the  per- 


1  BaUlie,  i.  398,  408 ;  ii.  3,  19,  43.  White- 
lock,  169,  170. 

»  Journals,  16i3,  July  5 ;  1644,,  Jan.  16, 
2»,  May  9.    Journals  of  Lords,  vi.  200,  607; 


severance  of  the  Independents  held  in 
check  the  ardour   and  influence  of 
their    more    numerous    adversaries. 
Overpowered  at  last  by  open  force, 
they  had  recourse  to  stratagem ;  and, 
to  distract  the  attention  of  the  Pres- 
byterians, tendered  to  the  assembly  a 
plea  for   indulgence  to  tender  con- 
sciences ;  while  their  associate,  Crom- 
well, obtained  from  the  lower  house 
an  order  that  the  same  subject  should 
be  referred  to  a  committee  formed  ol 
lords  and  commoners,  and  Scottish 
commissioners  and  deputies  from  the 
assembly.    Thus  a  new  apple  of  dis- 
cord was  thrown  among  the  comba- 
tants.    The  lords  Say  and  Wharton 
Sir  Henry  Vane,  and  Mr.  St.  John 
contended  warmly  in  favour  of  tolera^ 
tion;  they  were  as  warmly  opposec 
by   the   "  divine    eloquence   of  th( 
chancellor  "  of  Scotland,  the  commis 
sioners  from  the  kirk,  and  severa 
eminent    members    of  the   Englisl 
parliament.     The  passions  and  arti 
fices  of  the  contending  parties  inter 
posed  additional  delays,  and  the  yea 
1644  closed  before   this   interestinj 
controversy  could   be  brought  to 
conclusion.^     Eighteen  months  ha' 
elapsed  since  the  assembly  was  firs 
convened,  and  yet  it  had  accomplishe< 
nothing   of  importance  except   th 
composition  of  a  directory  for  th 
public  worship,  which  regulated  th 
order  of  the  service,  the  administrt 
tion  of  the  sacraments,  the  ceremon 
of  marriage,  the  visitation  of  the  sicl 
and  the  burial  of  the  dead.    On  &  > 
these  subjects  the  Scots  endeavoure 
to  introduce  the  practice  of  their  ow 
kirk;  but  the  pride  of  the  Englis 
demanded  alterations ;  and  both  pa3 
ties  consented  to  a  sort  of  compr*  - 
mise,  which  carefully  avoided  eve 
approach  to  the  form  of  a  litur 
and  while  it  suggested  heads  for  : 


546.    Baillie,  i.  421,  422, 471.    Rush.  t.  j. 


3  Baillie,  ii.  57,  61,  62,  66—68. 
Sept.  13,  Jan.  24;  of  Lords,  70. 


Joaifl|| 


.D.  1643.] 


PROSECUTION  OF  LAUD. 


armon  and  prayer,  left  much  of  the 
latter,  and  the  whole  of  the  manner, 
3  the  talents  or  the  inspiration  of 
he  minister.  In  England  the  Book 
f  Common  Prayer  was  abolished, 
nd  the  Directory  substituted  in  its 
lace  by  an  ordinance  of  the  two 
ouses;  in  Scotland  the  latter  was 
ommanded  to  be  observed  in  all 
hurches  by  the  joint  authority  of  the 
ssembly  and  the  parliament.* 
To  the  downfall  of  the  liturgy  suc- 
eeded  a  new  spectacle,— the  decapi- 
ation  of  an  archbishop.  The  name 
f  Laud,  during  the  first  fifteen 
lonths  after  his  impeachment,  had 
carcely  been  mentioned;  and  his 
riends  began  to  cherish  a  hope  that, 
midst  the  din  of  arms,  the  old  man 
light  be  forgotten,  or  sufiered  to 
escend  peaceably  into  the  grave.  But 
is  death  was  unintentionally  occa- 
ioned  by  the  indiscretion  of  the  very 
lan  whose  wish  and  whose  duty  it 
ras  to  preserve  the  life  of  the  prelate, 
'he  Lords  had  ordered  Laud  to  ool- 
ite the  vacant  benefices  in  his  gift  on 
ersons  nominated  by  themselves,  the 
ing  forbade  him  to  obey.  The  death 
f  the  rector  of  Chartham,  in  Kent, 
rought  his  constancy  to  the  test. 
?he  Lords  named  one  person  to  the 
ving,  Charles  another ;  and  the  arch- 
ishop,  to  extricate  himself  from  the 
ilemma,  sought  to  defer  his  decision 
ill  the  right  should  have  lapsed  to 
lie  crown;  but  the  Lords  made  a 
eremptory  order,  and  when  he  at- 
3mpted  to  excuse  his  disobedience, 
3nt  a  message  to  the  Commons  to 
xpedite  his  trial.  Perhaps  they  meant 
nly  to  intimidate ;  but  his  enemies 
3ized  the  opportunity ;  a  committee 
'•as  appointed ;  and  the  task  of  col- 
MJting  and  preparing  evidence  was 
ommitted  to  Prynne,  whose  tiger- 
•  Jce  revenge  still  thirsted  for  the  blood 


of  his  former  persecutor.-  He  carried 
off"  from  the  cell  of  the  prisoner  his 
papers,  his  diary,  and  even  his  written 
defence ;  he  sought  in  every  quarter 
for  those  who  had  formerly  been  pro- 
secuted or  punished  at  the  instance  of 
the  archbishop,  and  he  called  on  all 
men  to  discharge  their  duty  to  God 
and  their  country,  by  deposing  to  the 
crimes  of  him  who  was  the  common 
enemy  of  both. 

At  the  termination  of  six  months 
the  committee  had  been  able  to  add 
ten  new  articles  of  impeachment  to 
the  fourteen  already  presented ;  four 
months  later,  both  parties  were  ready 
to  proceed  to  trial,  and  on  the  12th  of 
March,  1644,  more  than  three  years 
after  his  commitment,  the  archbishop 
confronted  his  prosecutors  at  the  bar 
of  the  house  of  Lords. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  conduct  the 
reader  through  the  mazes  of  this  long 
and  wearisome  process,  which  occu- 
pied twenty-one  days  in  the  course  of 
six  months.  The  many  articles  pre- 
sented by  the  Commons  might  be 
reduced  to  three, — that  Laud  had  en- 
deavoured to  subvert  the  rights  of 
parliament,  the  laws  and  the  religion 
of  the  nation.  In  support  of  these, 
every  instance  that  could  be  raked 
together  by  the  industry  and  inge- 
nuity of  Prynne,  was  brought  for- 
ward. The  familiar  discourse,  and 
the  secret  writings  of  the  prelate  had 
been  scrutinized ;  and  his  conduct 
both  private  and  public,  as  a  bishop 
and  a  counsellor,  in  the  Star-chamber 
and  the  High  Commission  court,  had 
been  subjected  to  the  most  severe  in- 
vestigation. Under  every  disadvan- 
tage, he  defended  himself  with  spirit, 
and  often  with  success.  He  showed 
that  many  of  the  witnesses  were  his 
personal  enemies,  or  undeserving  of 
credit;  that  his  words  and  writings 


BaiUie,  i.  408,  413,  440 ;  ii.  27,  31,  33, 
8,  73,  74,  75.     Eush.  v.   785.     Journals, 

r.  24,  Nov.  26,  Jan.  1, 4,  March 5.    Jour- 
of  Lords,  119,  121.    See  **  Confessions 


of  Faith,  &e.  in  the  Church  of  Scotland," 
159—194. 

2  Laud's   History  written  by  himself  in 
the  Tower,  200—206. 


40 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I. 


would  bear  a  less  offensive  and  more 
probable  interpretation ;  and  that 
most  of  the  facts  objected  to  him  were 
either  the  acts  of  his  officers,  who 
alone  ought  to  be  responsible,  or  the 
common  decision  of  those  boards  of 
which  he  was  only  a  single  member.' 
Thus  far  he  had  conducted  his  defence 
without  legal  aid.  To  speak  to  mat- 
ters of  law,  he  was  allowed  the  aid  of 
counsel,  who  contended  that  not  one 
of  the  offences  alleged  against  him 
amounted  to  high  treason  ;  that  their 
number  could  not  change  their  qua- 
lity; that  an  endeavour  to  subvert 
the  law,  or  religion,  or  the  rights  of 
parliament,  was  not  treason  by  any 
statute ;  and  that  the  description  of 
an  offence  so  vague  and  indeterminate 
ought  never  to  be  admitted;  other- 
wise the  slightest  transgression  might, 
under  that  denomination,  be  con- 
verted into  the  highest  crime  known 
to  the  law.' 

But  the  Commons,  whether  they 
distrusted  the  patriotism  of  the  Lords, 
or  doubted  the  legal  guilt  of  the  pri- 
soner, had  already  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed by  attainder.  After  the  second 
reading  of  the  ordinance,  they  sent 
for  the  venerable  prisoner  to  their  bar, 
and  ordered  Brown,  one  of  the  ma- 
nagers, to  recapitulate  in  his  hearing 
the  evidence  against  him,  together  with 
his  answers.  Some  days  later  he  was 
recaUed,  and  suffered  to  speak  in  his 
own  defence.  After  his  departure. 
Brown  made  a  long  reply;  and  the 
house,  without  further  consideration, 
passed  the  bill  of  attainder,  and  ad- 
judged him  to  suffer  the  penalties  of 
treason.'  Tlie  reader  will  not  fail  to 
observe  this  flagrant  perversion  of  the 
forms  of  justice.  It  was  not  as  in  the 
case  of  the  earl  of  Strafford.  The 
Commons  had  not  been  present  at 
the  trial  of  Laud ;  they  had  not  heard 


the  evidence,  they  had  not  even  read 
the  depositions  of  the  witnesses ;  they 
pronounced  judgment  on  the  credit 
of  the  unsworn  and  partial  statement 
made  by  their  own  advocate.  Such  a 
proceeding,  so  subversive  of  right  and 
equity,  would  have  been  highly  repre- 
hensible in  any  court  or  class  of  men ; 
it  deserved  the  severest  reprobation 
in  that  house,  the  members  of  which 
professed  themselves  the  champions 
of  freedom,  and  were  actually  in  arms 
against  the  sovereign,  to  preserve,  as 
they  maintained,  the  laws,  the  rights, 
and  the  liberties  of  the  nation. 

To  quicken  the  tardy  proceedings 
of  the  Peers,  the  enemies  of  the  arch- 
bishop had  recourse  to  their  usual 
expedients.  Their  emissaries  lamented 
the  delay  in  the  punishment  of  de- 
linquents, and  the  want  of  unanimity 
between  the  two  houses.    It  was  art- 
fully suggested  as  a  remedy,  that  both 
the  Lords  and  Commons  ought  to  sil 
and  vote  together  in  one  assembly 
and  a  petition,  embodying  these  dif- 
ferent subjects,  was  prepared  and  cir- 
culated for   signatures  through  the 
city.    Such  manoeuvres  aroused  th( 
spirit  of  the  Peers.    They  threatenec 
to  punish  all  disturbers  of  the  peace 
they  replied  with  dignity  to  an  in 
suiting  message  from  the  Commons 
and,  regardless  of  the  clamours  of  th« 
populace,  they  spent  several  days  ii 
comparing  the  proofs  of  the  manager 
with  the  defence  of  the  archbishor 
At  last,  in  a  house  of  fourteen  mem 
hers,  the  majority  pronounced  hin  ; 
guilty  of  certain  acts,  but  called  upo] 
the  judges  to  determine  the  quality  c 
the  offence ;  who  warily  replied,  tha 
nothing  of  which  he  had  been  coc 
victed  was  treason  by  the  statute  la\» 
what  it  might  be  by  the  law  of  pa: 
liament,   the   house   alone  was  tb  i 
proper  judge.    In  these  circumstanct  < 


1  Compare  his  own  daily  account  of  liis 
trinl  in  History,  220 — 421,  with  that  part 
published  by  Ifrynne,  under  the  title  of 
Canterburies  Doome,  1616;  and  Eushwortb, 


V.  772.        2  See  it  in  Laud's  History, 

3  Jonrnals,  Oct.  31,  Nov.  2, 11, 16.  Li 
History,  431—440.    Kushworth,  v,  780. 


1 


\  1(>45.] 


EXECUTION  OF  LAUD. 


41 


he  Lords  informed  the  Commons, 
hat  till  their  consciences  were  satis- 
aed,  they  should  "scruple"  to  pass 
the  bill  of  attainder.^ 

It  was  the  eve  of  Christmas,  and 
CO  prove  that  the  nation  had  thrown 
3flr  the  yoke  of  superstition,  the  festi- 
val was  converted,  by  ordinance  of 
the  two  houses,  into  a  day  of  "fast- 
ing and  public  humiliation."  ^  There 
was  much  policy  in  the  frequent 
repetition  of  these  devotional  obser- 
vances. The  ministers  having  pre- 
viously received  instructions  from  the 
leading  patriots,  adapted  their  prayers 
and  sermons  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  time,  and  never  failed  to  add  a 
new  stimulus  to  the  fanaticism  of 
their  hearers.  On  the  present  occa- 
sion the  crimes  of  the  archbishop 
offered  a  tempting  theme  to  their 
eloquence ;  and  the  next  morning  the 
Commons,  taking  into  consideration 
the  last  message,  intrusted  to  a  com- 
mittee the  task  of  enlightening  the 
ignorance  of  the  Lords.  In  a  con- 
ference the  latter  were  told  that  trea- 
sons are  of  two  kinds ;  treasons  against 
the  king,  created  by  statute,  and  cog- 
nizable by  the  inferior  courts;  and 
treasons  against  the  realm,  held  so  at 
common  law,  and  subject  only  to  the 
judgment  of  parliament.  There  could 
not  be  a  doubt  that  the  offence  of 
Laud  was  treason  of  the  second  class  ; 
nor  would  the  two  houses  perform 
their  duty,  if  they  did  not  visit  it 


1  Journals,  vii.  76, 100,  111. 

2  Ibid.  106.  In  the  preceding  year,  the 
Scottish  commissioners  had  "  preached 
stoutly  against  the  superstition  of  Christ- 
mas ;"  but  only  succeeded  in  prevailing  on 
the  two  houses  *'  to  profane  that  holy  day  by 
sitting  on  it,  to  their  great  joy,  and  some 
of  the  assembly's  shame." — Baillie,  i.  411. 

»  Journals,  125, 126.  Commons',  Dec.  26. 
Land's  Troubles,  452.  Rushworth,  v,  781— 
785.  Cyprianus  Aug.  528.  From  the  jour- 
nals it  appears  that  twenty  lords  were  in 
the  house  during  the  day  :  but  we  are  told 
in  the  "Brief  Relation"  printed  in  the 
second  collection  of  Somers's  Tracts,  ii. 
287,  that  the  majority  consisted  of  the  earls 
of  Kent,  Pembroke,  Salisbury,  and  Boling- 


with  the  punishment  which  it  de- 
served. When  the  question  was  re- 
sumed, several  of  the  lords  withdrew ; 
most  of  the  others  were  willing  to  be 
persuaded  by  the  reasoning  of  the 
Commons ;  and  the  ordinance  of  at- 
tainder was  passed  by  the  majority, 
consisting  only,  if  the  report  be  cor- 
rect, of  six  members,^ 

The  archbishop  submitted  with  re- 
signation to  his  fate,  and  appeared  on 
the  scaffold  with  a  serenity  of  counte- 
nance and  dignity  of  behaviour,  which 
did  honour  to  the  cause  for  which  he 
suffered.  The  cruel  punishment  of 
treason  had  been,  after  some  objec- 
tions, commuted  for  decapitation,  and 
the  dead  body  was  delivered  for  inter- 
ment to  his  friends.*  On  Charles  the 
melancholy  intelligence  made  a  deep 
impression ;  yet  he  contrived  to  draw 
from  it  a  new  source  of  consolation. 
He  had  sinned  equally  with  his  op- 
ponents in  consenting  to  the  death  of 
Strafford,  and  had  experienced  equally 
with  them  the  just  vengeance  of 
heaven.  But  he  was  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  Laud ;  the  whole  guilt  was 
exclusively  theirs ;  nor  could  he 
doubt  that  the  punishment  would 
speedily  follow  in  the  depression  of 
their  party,  and  the  exaltation  of  the 
throne.^ 

The  very  enemies  of  the  unfortu- 
nate archbishop  admitted  that  he  was 
learned  and  pious,  attentive  to  his 
duties,   and   unexceptionable  in  his 


broke,  and  the  lords  North,  Grayof  Werke, 
and  Bruce.  Bruce  afterwards  denied  that 
he  had  voted.  According  to  Sabran,  the 
French  ambassador,  the  majority  amounted 
to  five  out  of  nine. — Raumer,  ii.  332. 

*  Several  executions  had  preceded  that 
of  the  archbishop.  Macmahon,  concerned 
in  the  design  to  surprise  the  castle  of  Dub- 
hn,  suffered  Nov.  22  ;  Sir  Alexander  Carew, 
who  had  engaged  to  surrender  Plymouth  to 
the  king,  on  Dec.  23 ;  and  Sir  John  Hotham 
and  his  son,  who,  conceiving  themselves 
ill  treated  by  the  parliament,  had  entered 
into  a  treaty  for  the  surrender  of  Hull,  on 
the  1st  and  2nd  of  January ;  Lord  Macguire 
followed  on  Feb.  20. 

5  See  his  letter  to  tLe  queen,  Jan.  llth, 
in  his  Works,  145. 


42 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


I 


morals ;  on  the  other  hand,  his  friends  j 
could  not  deny  that  he  was  hasty  and 
vindictive,  positive  in  his  opinions, 
and  inexorable  in  his  enmities.  To 
excuse  his  participation  in  the  arbi- 
trary measures  of  the  council,  and 
his  concurrence  in  the  severe  decrees 
of  the  Star-chamber,  he  alleged,  that 
he  was  only  one  among  many;  and 
that  it  was  cruel  to  visit  on  the 
head  of  a  single  victim  the  common 
faults  of  the  whole  board.  But  it  was 
replied,  with  great  appearance  of 
truth,  that  though  only  one,  he  was 
the  chief;  that  his  authority  and  in- 
fluence swayed  the  opinions  both  of 
his  sovereign  and  his  colleagues ;  and 
that  he  must  not  expect  to  escape  the 
just  reward  of  his  crimes  because  he 
had  possessed  the  ingenuity  to  make 
others  his  associates  in  guilt.  Yet  I 
am  of  opinion  that  it  was  religious, 
and  not  political  rancour,  which  led 
him  to  the  block ;  and  that,  if  the 
zealots  could  have  forgiven  his  con- 
duct as  archbishop,  he  might  have 
lingered  out  the  remainder  of  his  hfe 


1  I  have  not  noticed  the  charge  of  en- 
deavouring to  introduce  popery,  because  it 
j^pears  to  me  fully  disproved  by  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  conduct  and  writings,  as  long 
as  he  was  in  authority.  There  is,  however, 
some  reason  to  believe  that,  in  the  solitude 
of  his  cell,  and  with  the  prospect  of  the 
block  before  hia  eyes,  he  began  to  think 
more  favourably  of  the  Catholic  church.  At 
least,  I  find  Kosetti  inquiring  of  Cardinal 
Barberini  whether,  if  Laud  should  escape 
from  the  Tower,  the  pope  would  afford  him 
an  asylum  and  a  pension  in  Borne.  He 
would  be  content  with  one  thousand  crowns 
— "  il  quale,  quando  avesse  potuto  liberarsi 
dalle  career!,  sarebbe  ito  volontieri  a  vivere 
e  morire  in  Roma,  contendandosi  di  mille 
scudi  annul."  Barberini  answered,  that 
Land  was  in  such  bad  repute  in  Bome«  being 


in  the  Tower.  There  was,  however, 
but  Uttle  difference  in  that  respect 
between  them  and  their  victim.  Both 
were  equally  obstinate,  equally  infal- 
lible, equally  intolerant.  As  long  as 
Laud  ruled  injthe  zenith  of  his  power, 
deprivation  awaited  the  non-conform- 
ing minister,  and  imprisonment,  fine, 
and  the  pillory  were  the  certain  lot 
of  the  writer  who  dared  to  lash  the 
real  or  imaginary  vices  of  the  prelacy. 
His  opponents  were  now  lords  of  the 
ascendant,  and  they  exercised  their 
sway  with  similar  severity  on  the  ortho- 
dox clergy  of  the  establishment,  and  on 
all  who  dared  to  arraign  before  the 
publicthe  new  reformation  of  religion. 
Surely  the  consciousness  of  the  like 
intolerance  might  have  taught  them 
to  look  with  a  more  indulgent  eye  on 
the  past  errors  of  their  fallen  adver- 
sary, and  to  spare  the  life  of  a  feeble 
old  man  bending  under  the  weight  of 
seventy-two  [years,  and  disabled  by 
his  misfortunes  from  ofiering  oppo- 
sition to  their  will,  or  affording  aid 
to  their  2nemies.i 


looked  upon  as  the  cause  of  all  the  troubles 
in  England,  that  it  would  previously  be 
necessary  that  he  should  give  good  proof  of 
his  repentance ;  in  which  case  he  should  re- 
ceive assistance,  though  such  assistance 
would  give  a  colour  to  the  imputation  that 
there  had  always  been  an  understanding 
between  him  and  Eome.  "  Era  si  cattivo  il 
concetto,  che  di  lui  avevasi  in  Roma,  cioh 
che  fosse  stato  autore  di  tutte  le  torbolenze 
d'  Inghilterra,  che  era  necessario  dasse 
primo  segni  ben  grandi  del  suo  pentimento. 
Ed  in  tal  caso  sarebbe  stato  ajutato ;  sebene 
saria  paruto  che  nelle  sue  paasate  resolu- 
zioni  se  la  fosse  sempre  intesa  con  Roma." 
—From  the  MS.  abstract  of  the  Barberini 
papers  made  by  the  canon  Nicoletti  soon 
after  the  death  of  the  cardinal. 


43 


CHAPTER  II. 


XT     AT     CXBRIDGE — VICTORIES     OP     MONTKOSE    IN    SCOTLAND— DEFEAT    OF   TH« 

KING    AT    NASEBY SURRENDER    OF    BRISTOL — CHARLES    SHUT    UP    WITHIN  OXFORD 

MISSION     OP     GLAMORGAN     TO     IRELAND HE    IS      DISAVOWED    BY    CHARLES,    BUT 

CONCLUDES     A    PEACE    WITH     THE     IRISH THE    KING     INTRIGUES    WITH    THE    PAR- 

LIAMENT,    THE     SCOTS,    AND    THE     INDEPENDENTS — HE    ESCAPES    TO    THE    SCOTTISH 
ARMY — REFUSES    THE    CONCESSIONS    REQUIRED — IS   DELIVERED    UP    BY  THE  SCOTS. 


Whenetee  men  spontaneously 
risk  their  lives  and  fortunes  in 
the  support  of  a  particular  cause, 
they  are  wont  to  set  a  high  value  on 
their  services,  and  generally  assume 
the  right  of  expressing  their  opinions, 
and  of  interfering  with  their  advice. 
:Hence  it  happened  that  the  dissen- 
sions and  animosities  in  the  court 
and  army  of  the  unfortunate  mo- 
narch were  scarcely  less  violent  or 
less  dangerous  than  those  which 
divided  the  parliamentary  leaders. 
All  thought  themselves  entitled  to 
offices  and  honours  from  the  grati- 
tude of  the  sovereign;  no  appoint- 
ment could  be  made  which  did  not 
deceive  the  expectations,  and  excite 
the  murmurs,  of  numerous  compe- 
titors; and  complaints  were  every- 
where heard,  cabals  were  formed,  and 
the  wisest  plans  were  frequently  con- 
trolled and  defeated,  by  men  who 
thought  themselves  neglected  or  ag- 
grieved. When  Charles,  as  one  ob- 
vious remedy,  removed  the  lord  Wil- 
mot  from  the  command  of  the  cavalry, 
and  the  lord  Percy  from  that  of  the 
ordnance,  he  found  that  he  had  only 
aggravated  the  evil ;  and  the  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  army  was  further  increased 
by  the  substitution  of  his  nephew 
Prince  Eupert,  whose  severe  and  im- 
iperious  temper  had  earned  him  the 
general  hatred,  in  the  place  of  Euthen, 
who,  on  account  of  his  infirmities, 
bad  been  advised  to  retire.' 


1  Clarendon,  ii.  482,  513,  554. 


Another  source  of  most  acrimonious 
controversy,  was  furnished  by  the  im- 
portant question  of  peace  or  war, 
which  formed  a  daily  subject  of  debate 
in  every  company,  and  divided  the 
royalists  into  contending  parties. 
Some  there  were  (few,  indeed,  in 
number,  and  chiefly  those  whom  the 
two  houses  by  their  votes  had  ex- 
cluded from  all  hopes  of  pardon)  who 
contended  that  the  king  ought  never 
to  lay  down  his  arms  till  victory  should 
enable  him  to  give  the  law  to  his  ene- 
mies ;  but  the  rest,  wearied  out  with 
the  fatigues  and  dangers  of  war,  and 
alarmed  by  the  present  sequestra- 
tion of  their  estates,  and  the  ruin 
which  menaced  their  families,  most 
anxiously  longed  for  the  restoration 
of  peace.  These,  however,  split  into 
two  parties  ;  one  which  left  the  con- 
ditions to  the  wisdom  of  the  monarch ; 
the  other  which  not  only  advised,  but 
occasionally  talked  of  compelling  a 
reconciliation  on  almost  any  terms, 
pretending  that,  if  once  the  king  were 
reseated  on  his  throne,  he  must 
quickly  recover  every  prerogative 
which  he  might  have  lost.  As  for 
Charles  himself,  he  had  already  suf- 
fered too  much  by  the  war,  and  saw 
too  gloomy  a  prospect  .before  him, 
to  be  indifferent  to  the  subject ;  but, 
though  he  was  now  prepared  to  make 
sacrifices,  from  which  but  two  years 
before  he  would  have  recoiled  with 
horror,  he  had  still  resolved  never  to 
subscribe  to  conditions  irreconcilable 
with  his  honour  and  conscience ;  and 


44 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


in  this  temper  of  mind  lie  was  con- 
firmed by  the  frequent  letters  of  Hen- 
rietta from  Paris,  who  reminded  him 
of  the  infamy  which  he  would  entail 
on  himself,  were  he,  as  he  was  daily 
advised,  to  betray  to  the  vengeance 
of  the  parliament  the  Protestant 
bishops  and  Catholic  royalists,  who, 
trusting  to  his  word,  had  ventured 
their  all  for  his  interest.*  He  had 
now  assembled  his  parliament  for  the 
second  time;  but  the  attendance  of 
the  members  was  scarce,  and  the  in- 
convenience greater  than  the  benefit. 
Motions  were  made  ungrateful  to  the 
feelings,  and  opposed  to  the  real  views 
of  the  king,  who,  to  free  himself  from 
the  more  obtrusive  and  importu- 
nate of  these  advisers,  sent  them 
into  honourable  exile,  by  appoint- 
ing them  to  give  their  attendance  on 
his  queen  during  her  residence  in 
France.^ 

In  the  last  summer  the  first  use 
which  he  had  made  of  each  successive 
advantage,  was  to  renew  the  offer  of 
opening  a  negotiation  for  peace.  It 
convinced  the  army  of  the  pacific  dis- 
position of  their   sovereign,  and    it 


1  This  is  the  inference  which  I  have  drawn 
from  a  careful  perusal  of  the  correspond- 
ence between  Charles  and  the  queen  in  his 
Works,  p.  142 — 150.  Some  writers  have 
come  to  a  different  conclusion  :  that  he  was 
insincere,  and  under  the  pretence  of  seeking 
peace,  was  in  reality  determined  to  continue 
the  war.  That  he  prepared  for  the  resump- 
tion of  hostilities  is  indeed  true ;  but  the 
reason  which  he  gives  to  the  queen  is  satis- 
factory, •'  the  improbability  that  this  pre- 
sent treaty  should  produce  a  peace,  con- 
sidering the  great  strange  difference  (if  not 
contrarietj')  of  grounds  that  are  betwixt 
the  rebels'  propositions  and  mine,  and  that 
I  cannot  alter  mine,  nor  will  they  ever 
theirs,  until  they  be  out  of  the  hope  to  pre- 
vail by  force"  (p.  146).  Nor  do  I  see  any 
proof  that  Charles  was  governed,  as  is 
pretended,  by  the  queen.  He  certainly 
took  his  resolutions  without  consulting  her, 
and,  if  she  sometimes  expressed  her  opinion 
respecting  the»,  it  was  no  more  than  any 
other  woman  in  a  similar  situation  would 
have  done.  "  I  have  nothing  to  say,  but 
that  you  have  a  care  of  your  honour;  and 
that,  if  you  have  a  peace,  it  may  be  such  as 
may  hold  ;  and  if  it  fall  out  otherwise,  that 
you  do  not  abandon  those  who  have  served 


threw  on  the  parliament,  even  among 
their  own  adherents,  the  blame  of 
continuing  the  war.  At  length,  after 
the  third  message,  the  houses  gave 
a  tardy  and  reluctant  consent;  but 
it  was  not  before  they  had  received 
from  Scotland  the  propositions  for- 
merly voted  as  the  only  basis  of  a 
lasting  reconciliation,  had  approved 
of  the  amendments  suggested  by  their 
allies,  and  had  filled  up  the  blanks 
with  the  specification  of  the  acts  of 
parliament  to  be  passed,  and  with  the 
names  of  the  royalists  to  be  excepted 
from  the  amnesty.  It  was  plain  to 
every  inteUigent  man  in  either  army 
that  to  lay  such  a  foundation  of  peace 
was  in  reality  to  proclaim  perpetual 
hostilities.^  But  the  king,  by  the  ad- 
vice of  his  council,  consented  to  make 
it  the  subject  of  a  treaty,  for  two 
ends  ;  to  discover  whether  it  was  the 
resolution  of  the  houses  to  adhere 
without  any  modification  to  these 
high  pretensions;  and  to  make  the 
experiment,  whether  it  were  not  pos- 
sible to  gain  one  of  the  two  factions, 
the  Presbyterians  or  the  Indepen- 
dents, or  at  least  to  widen  the  breach 


you,  for  fear  they  do  forsake  you  in  your 
need.  Also  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  be  in 
■safety  without  a  regiment  of  guard  j  for 
myself,  I  think  I  cannot  be,  seeing  the 
malice  which  they  have  against  me  and  my 
religion,  of  which  I  hope  you  wUl  have  a 
care  of  both.  But  in  my  opinion,  religion 
should  be  the  last  thing  upon  which  you 
should  treat ;  for  if  you  do  agree  upon 
strictness  against  the  Catholics,  it  would 
discourage  them  to  serve  yon;  and  if  after- 
wards there  should  be  no  peace,  you  could 
never  expect  succours  either  from  Ireland, 
or  any  other  Catholic  prince,  for  they  would 
believe  you  would  abandon  them  after  you 
have  served  yourself"  (p.  143,  143). 

2  See  the  letters  in  Charles's  Works,  143 
— 148.  "  I  may  fairly  expect  to  be  chidden 
by  thee  for  having  suffered  thee  to  be  vexed 
by  them  [Wilmot  being  already  there,  Percy 
on  his  way,  and  Sussex  within  a  few  days  of 
taking  his  jonrney^,  but  that  I  know  thou 
carest  not  for  a  little  trouble  to  free  me 
from  great  inconvenience." — Ibid.  150. 

3  Journals,  vii.  53.    The  very  authors  of 
the  propositions  did  not  expect  that 
king  would  ever  submit  to  them     ""--"- 
8,  43,  73, 


that  tl|^ 

1 


A.D.  1G45.]        MEETING  OF  THE  COMMISSIONEES. 


45 


between    them   by   furnishing   new 
causes  of  dissension.' 

At  Uxbridge,  within  the  parlia- 
mentary quarters,  the  commissioners 
from  the  two  parties  met  each  other. 
Those  from  the  parliament  had  been 
commanded  to  admit  of  no  deviation 
from  the  substance  of  the  propositions 
already  voted;  to  confine  themselves 
to  the  task  of  showing  that  their 
demands  were  conformable  to  reason, 
and  therefore  not  to  be  refused ;  and 
to  insist  that  the  questions  of  rehgion, 
the  mihtia,  and  Ireland,  should  each 
be  successively  debated  during  the 
term  of  three  days,'  and  continued  in 
rotation  till  twenty  days  had  expired, 
when,  if  no  agreement  were  made, 
the  treaty  should  terminate.  They 
demanded  that  episcopacy  should  be 
abolished,  and  the  Directory  be  sub- 
stituted in  place  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer;  that  the  command  of 
the  army  and  navy  should  be  vested 
in  the  two  houses,  and  intrusted  by 
them  to  certain  commissioners  of 
their  own  appointment ;  and  that  the 
cessation  in  Ireland  should  be  broken, 
and  hostilities  should  be  immediately 
renewed.  The  king's  commissioners 
replied,  that  his  conscience  would  not 
allow  him  to  consent  to  the  proposed 
change  of  religious  worship,  but  that 
he  was  willing  to  consent  to  a  law 
restricting  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
bishops  within  the  narrowest  bounds, 
granting  very  reasonable  indulgence 
to  tender  consciences,  and  raising  on 
the  church  property  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds,  towards 
the  liquidation  of  the  public  debt; 
that  on  the  subject  of  the  army  and 
navy  he  was  prepared  to  make  con- 
siderable   concessions,   provided   the 


1  Charlp3  wag  now  persuaded  even  to 
address  the  two  houses  by  the  style  of  "  the 
Lords  and  Commons  assembled  in  the  par- 
liament of  England  at  Westminster,"  instead 
of  ♦•the  Lords  and  Commons  of  parliament 
assembled  at  Westminster,"  which  he  had 
fonnerly  used. — Journals,  Tii.  91.  He  says 
he  would  not  have  done  it,  if  he  could  have 


power  of  the  sword  were,  after  a 
certain  period,  to  revert  unimpaired 
to  him  and  his  successors ;  and  that 
he  could  not,  consistently  with  his 
honour,  break  the  Irish  treaty,  which 
he  had,  after  mature  deliberation, 
subscribed  and  ratified.  Much  of  the 
time  was  spent  in  debates  respecting 
the  comparative  merits  of  the  epis- 
copal and  presbyterian  forms  of 
church  government,  and  in  charges 
and  recriminations  as  to  the  real 
authors  of  the  distress  and  necessity 
which  had  led  to  the  cessation  in 
Ireland.  On  the  twentieth  day  no- 
thing had  been  concluded.  A  proposal 
to  prolong  the  negotiation  was  rejected 
by  the  two  houses,  and  the  commis- 
sioners returned  to  London  and  Ox- 
ford. The  royalists  had,  however, 
discovered  that  Yane,  St.  John,  and 
Prideaux  had  come  to  Uxbridge  not  < 
so  much  to  treat,  as  to  act  the  part 
of  spies  on  the  conduct  of  their  col- 
leagues; and  that  there  existed  an 
irreconcilable  difference  of  opinion 
between  the  two  parties,  the  Pres- 
byterians seeking  the  restoration  of 
royalty,  provided  it  could  be  accom- 
plished with  perfect  safety  to  them- 
selves, and  vnth  the  legal  establish- 
ment of  their  religious  worship,  while 
the  Independents  sought  nothing  less 
than  the  total  downfall  of  the  throne, 
and  the  extinction  of  the  privileges 
of  the  nobility .2 

Both  parties  again  appealed  to  the 
sword,  but  with  very  different  pros- 
pects before  them ;  on  the  side  of  the 
royalists  all  was  lowering  and  gloomy, 
on  that  of  the  parliament  bright  and 
cheering.  The  king  had  derived  but 
little  of  that  benefit  which  he  ex- 
pected from  the  cessation  in  Ireland- 


found  two  in  the  council  to  support  him. — 
Works,  lii.  Evelyn's  Mem.  ii.  App.  90. 
This  has  been  alleged,  but  I  see  not  with 
what  reason,  as  a  proof  of  his  insincerity  in 
the  treaty. 

2  See  Journals,  vii.  163, 166,  169,  174,  181, 
195,211,  231,  239,242—254;  Clarendon,  ii. 
578—600. 


46 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


He  dared  not  withdraw  the  bulk  of 
his  army  before  he  had  concluded  a 
X)eace  with  the  insurgents ;  and  they, 
aware  of  his  difficulties,  combined 
their  demands,  which  he  knew  not 
how  to  grant,  with  an  offer  of  aid 
which  he  was  unwilling  to  refuse. 
They  demanded  freedom  of  religion, 
the  repeal  of  Poyning's  law,  a  parlia- 
mentary settlement  of  their  estates, 
and  a  general  amnesty,  with  this 
exception,  that  an  inquiry  should  be 
instituted  into  all  acts  of  violence  and 
bloodshed  not  consistent  with  the 
acknowledged  usages  of  war,  and  that 
the  perpetrators  should  be  punished 
according  to  their  deserts,  without 
distinction  of  party  or  religion.  It 
was  the  first  article  which  presented 
the  chief  difficulty.  The  Irish  urged 
the  precedent  of  Scotland ;  they  asked 
•  no  more  than  had  been  conceded  to 
the  Covenanters;  they  had  certainly 
as  just  a  claim  to  the  free  exercise  of 
that  worship  which  had  been  the 
national  worship  for  ages,  as  the 
Scots  could  have  to  the  exclusive 
establishment  of  a  form  of  religion 
which  had  not  existed  during  an 
entire  century.  But  Charles,  in  ad- 
dition to  his  own  scruples,  feared  to 
irritate  the  prejudices  of  his  Pro- 
testant subjects.  He  knew  that  many 
of  his  own  adherents  would  deem 
such  a  concession  an  act  of  apostasy ; 
and  he  conjured  the  Irish  deputies 
not  to  solicit  that  which  must  prove 
prejudicial  to  him,  and  therefore  to 
themselves :  let  them  previously  enable 


1  Clarendon,  Irish  Rebellion,  25. 

2  Carte's  Ormond,  ii.  App.  xii.  liv.  xv. 
iviii. ;  ill.  cccxxxi.  He  thus  states  his  rea- 
sons to  the  lord  lieutenant : — "  It  being  now 
manifest  that  the  English  rebels  have,  as  far 
as  in  them  lies,  given  the  command  of  Ire- 
land to  the  Scots"  (they  had  made  Leslie, 
earl  of  Leven,  commander-in-chief  of  all 
the  Enghsh  as  well  as  Scottish  forces  in 
Ireland),  "that  their  aim  is  the  total  sub- 
version of  religion  and  regal  power,  and 
that  nothing  less  will  content  them,  or 
purchase  peace  here ;  I  think  myself  bound 
m  conscience  not  to  let  slip  the  means  of 
settling  that  kingdom  (if  it  may  be)  fully 


him  to  master  their  common  enemies; 
let  them  place  him  in  a  condition  "  to 
make  them  happy,"  and  he  assured 
them  on  the  word  of  a  king,  that  he 
would  not  "  disappoint  their  just  ex- 
pectations."' They  were  not,  how- 
ever, to  be  satisfied  with  vague  pro- 
mises, which  might  afterwards  be 
interpreted  as  it  suited  the  royal 
convenience;  and  Charles,  to  throw 
the  odium  of  the  measure  from 
himself  on  his  Irish  counsellors, 
transferred  the  negotiation  to  Dublin, 
to  be  continued  by  the  new  lord 
lieutenant,  the  marquess  of  Ormond. 
That  nobleman  was  at  first  left  to 
his  own  discretion.  He  was  then 
authorized  to  promise  the  non-execu- 
tion of  the  penal  laws  for  the  present, 
and  their  repeal  on  the  restoration  of 
tranquillity;  and,  lastly,  to  stipulate 
for  their  immediate  repeal,  if  he  could 
not  otherwise  subdue  the  obstinacy. 
or  remove  the  jealousy  of  the  insur- 
gents. The  treaty  at  Uxbridge  had 
disclosed  to  the  eyes  of  the  monarcl: 
the  abyss  which  yawned  before  him 
he  saw  "that  the  aim  of  his  adversaries 
was  a  total  subversion  of  religion  anc 
regal  power;"  and  he  commandec 
Ormond  to  conclude  the  peace  what 
ever  it  might  cost,  provided  it  shoul( 
secure  the  persons  and  properties  o 
the  Irish  Protestants,  and  the  fu] 
exercise  of  the  royal  authority  in  th 
island.' 

In  Scotland  an  unexpected  bu 
transient  diversion  had  been  mad 
in  favour  of  the  royal  cause.    Th 


under  my  obedience,  nor  lose  that  assistanc 
which  I  may  hope  from  my  Irish  subject 
for  such  scruples  as  in  a  less  pressing  coi 
dition  might  reasonably  be  stuck  at  by  mi 

If  the  suspension  of  Poining's  si 

for  such  bills  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  h< 
tween  you  there,  and  the  present  takic 
away  of  the  penal  laws  against  papists  by 
law,  will  do  it,  I  shall  not  think  it  a  hai 
bargain,  so  that  freely  and  vigorously  thf 
engage  themselves  in  my  assistance  again 
my  rebels  of  England  and  Scotland,  f* 
which  no  conditions  can  be  too  hard,  n< 
being  against  conscience  or  honour." 
Charles's  Works,  149, 150. 


A.D.  1644.] 


MONTROSE  IN  SCOTLAND. 


47 


5arls,  afterwards  marquesses,  of  An- 

iaiin  and  Montrose  had  met  in  the 

30urt  at  Oxford.    In  abiUties  Mon- 

Tose  was  inferior  to  few,  in  ambition 

X)  none.    The  reader  is  aware  that  he 

lad  originally  fought  in  the  ranks 

)f  the  Covenanters,  but  afterwards 

ransferred  his  services  to    Charles, 

vnd  narrowly  escaped  the  vengeance 

)f  his  enemies.    Now,  that  he  was 

igain  at  liberty,  he  aspired  to  the 

;lory  of  restoring  the  ascendancy  of 

he  royal  cause  in  Scotland.    At  first 

Jl  his  plans  were  defeated  by  the 

ealousy  or  wisdom  of  Hamilton ;  but 

Hamilton  gradually  sunk,  whilst  his 

ival  rose  in  the  esteem  of  the  sove- 

eign.'    Antrim,   his   associate,    was 

ireak  and  capricious,  but   proud  of 

lis  imaginary  consequence,  and  eager 

0  engage  in  undertakings  to  which 

^either  his  means   nor   his   talents 

^ere  equal.    He  had   failed   in  his 

riginal  attempt  to  surprise  the  castle 

f  Dublin ;  and  had  twice  fallen  into 

he  hands  of  the  Scots  in  Ulster,  and 

wice  made  his  escape;  still  his  loyalty 

r  presumption  was  unsubdued,  and 

e  had  come  to  Oxford  to  make  a 

hird  tender  of  his  services.    Both 

mtrim  and  Montrose  professed  them- 

3lves  the  personal  enemies  of  the 

arl   of  Argyle,   appointed    by   the 

cottish  estates    lieutenant    of    the 

ingdom ;  and  they  speedily  arranged 

plan,  which  possessed  the  double 


1  When  Hamilton  arrived  at  Oxford, 
'ec.  16,  1643,  several  charges  were  brought 
gainst  him  by  the  Scottish  royalists,  which 
ith  his  answers  may  be  seen  in  Burnet, 
[emoirs,  250 — 269.  Charles  pronounced 
0  opinion ;  but  his  suspicions  were  greatly 
ccited  by  the  deception  practised  by  Ha- 
•ilton  on  the  lords  of  the  royal  party  at 
le  convention,  and  his  concealment  from 
lem  of  the  king's  real  intentions.  On  this 
jcount  Hamilton  was  arrested,  and  eon- 
jyed  to  Pendennis  Castle,  in  Cornwall, 
here  he  remained  a  prisoner  till  the  place 
as  taken  by  the  parliamentary  forces. 
[amilton's  brother  Lanark  was  also  forbid- 
en  to  appear  at  court;  and,  having  re- 
Mved  advice  that  he  would  be  sent  to  the 
istle  of  Ludlow,  made  his  escape  from 
'xford  to  his  countrymen  in  London,  and 


merit  of  combining  the  interest  of 
the  king  with  the  gratification  of 
private  revenge.  Having  obtained 
the  royal  commission,^  Antrim  pro- 
ceeded to  Ulster,  raised  eleven  or 
fifteen  hundred  men  among  his  de- 
pendents, and  despatched  them  to  the 
opposite  coast  of  Scotland  under  the 
command  of  his  kinsman  Alaster 
Macdonald,  surnamed  Colkitto.^  They 
landed  at  Knoydart :  the  destruction 
of  their  ships  in  Loch  Eishord,  by 
a  hostile  fleet,  deprived  them  of  the 
means  of  returning  to  Ireland;  and 
Argyle  with  a  superior  force  cau- 
tiously watched  their  motions.  From 
the  Scottish  royalists  they  received 
no  aid;  yet  Macdonald  marched  as 
far  as  Badenoch,  inflicting  severe 
injuries  on  the  Covenanters,  but 
exposed  to  destruction  from  the  in- 
creasing multitude  of  his  foes.  In 
the  mean  time,  Montrose,  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-general,  had  un- 
furled the  royal  standard  at  Dumfries ; 
but  with  so  little  success,  that  he 
hastily  retraced  his  steps  to  Carlisle, 
where  by  several  daring  actions  he 
rendered  such  services  to  the  royal 
cause,  that  he  received  the  title  of 
marquess  from  the  gratitude  of  the 
king.  But  the  fatal  battle  of  Mar- 
ston  Moor  induced  him  to  turn  his 
thoughts  once  more  towards  Scotland; 
and  having  ordered  his  followers  to 
proceed  to  Oxford,  on  the  third  day 


thence  returned  to  Edinburgh.  His  offence 
was,  that  he,  as  secretary,  had  affixed  the 
royal  signet  to  the  proclamation  of  Aug.  24, 
calling  on  all  Scotsmen  to  arm  in  support  of 
the  new  league  and  covenant. — See  p.  18. 

2  He  was  authorized  to  treat  with  the 
confederate  Catholics  for  ten  thousand  men ; 
if  their  demands  were  too  high,  to  raise  as 
many  men  as  he  could  and  send  them  to 
the  king  ;  to  procure  the  loan  of  two  thou- 
sand men  to  be  landed  in  Scotland ;  and  to 
offer  Monroe,  the  Scottish  commander,  the 
rank  of  earl  and  a  pension  of  two  thousand 
pounds  per  annum,  if  with  his  army  he 
would  join  the  royalists.  Jan.  20,  16M. — 
Clarendon  Papers,  ii,  165. 

3  MacColl  Keitache,  son  of  Coll,  the  left- 
handed. 


48 


CHAHLES  I. 


[chap.  I 


he  silently  withdrew  with  only  two 
companions,  and  soon  afterwards 
reached  in  the  disguise  of  a  groom 
the  foot  of  the  Grampian  Hills. 
There  he  received  intelligence  of 
the  proceedings  of  Macdonald,  and 
appointed  to  join  him  in  Athole.  At 
the  castle  of  Blair,  which  had  sur- 
rendered to  the  strangers,  the  two 
chieftains  met:  Montrose  assumed 
the  command,  published  the  royal 
commission,  and  called  on  the  neigh- 
bouring clans  to  join  the  standard  of 
their  sovereign.  The  Scots,  who  had 
scorned  to  serve  under  a  foreigner, 
cheerfully  obeyed,  and  to  the  aston- 
ishment of  the  Covenanters  an  army 
appeared  to  rise  out  of  the  earth  in 
a  quarter  the  most  remote  from 
danger:  but  it  was  an  army  better 
adapted  to  the  purpose  of  predatory 
invasion  than  of  permanent  warfare. 
Occasionally  it  swelled  to  the  amount 
of  several  thousands ;  as  often  it 
dwindled  to  the  original  band  of 
Irishmen  under  Macdonald.  These, 
having  no  other  resource  than  their 
courage,  faithfully  clung  to  their 
gallant  commander  in  all  the  vicis- 
situdes of  his  fortune ;  the  High- 
landers, that  they  might  secure  their 
plunder,  frequently  left  him  to  flee 
before  the  superior  multitude  of  his 
foes. 

The  first  who  dared  to  meet  the 
royalists  in  the  field,  was  the  lord 
Elcho,  whose  defeat  at  Tippermuir 
gave  to  the  victors  the  town  of  Perth, 
with  a  plentiful  supply  of  military 
stores  and  provisions.  From  Perth 
they  marched  towards  Aberdeen ; 
the  lord  Burley  with  his  army  fled 
at  the  first  charge ;  and  the  pursuers 
entered  the  gates  with  the  fugitives. 
The  sack  of  the  town  lasted  three 
days  :  by  the  fourth  many  of  the 
Highlanders  had  disappeared  with 
the  spoil;  and  Argyle  approached 
with  a  superior  force.  Montrose,  to 
avoid  the  enemy,  led  his  followers 
into  Banff,  proceeded  along  the  right 


bank  of  the  Spey,  crossed  the  mour 
tains  of  Badenoch,  passed  throug 
Athole  into  Angus,  and  after  a  eu 
cuitous  march  of  some  hundred  mile 
reached  and  took  the  castle  of  Fyvi 
There  he  was  overtaken  by  tL 
Covenanters,  whom  he  had  so  Ion 
bafHed  by  the  rapidity  and  perplexit 
of  his  movements.  But  every  attemj 
to  force  his  position  on  the  summ: 
of  a  hill  was  repelled;  and  on  th 
retirement  of  the  enemy,  he  ai 
nounced  to  his  followers  his  intentio 
of  seeking  a  safer  asylum  in  the  Higl 
lands.  Winter  had  already  set  i 
with  severity ;  and  his  Lowland  assc 
ciates  shrunk  from  the  dreary  pro; 
pect  before  them ;  but  Montroj 
himself,  accompanied  by  his  moi 
faithful  adherents,  gained  withoi 
opposition  the  braes  of  Athole. 

To  Argyle  the  disappearance  of  tl 
royalists  was  a  subject  of  joy.  J)i; 
banding  the  army,  he  repaired,  aft( 
a  short  visit  to  Edinburgh,  to  h 
castle  of  Inverary,  where  he  repose 
in  security,  aware,  indeed,  of  the  ho 
tile  projects  of  Montrose,  but  trus 
ing  to  the  wide  barrier  of  snows  ar 
mountains  which  separated  him  fro: 
his  enemy.  But  the  royal  lead< 
penetrated  through  this  Alpine  wi 
derness,  compelled  Argyle  to  sa' 
himself  in  an  open  boat  on  Lo( 
Fyne,  and  during  six  weeks  wreak( 
his  revenge  on  the  domains  ai 
the  clansmen  of  the  fugitive,  j 
the  approach  of  Argyle  with  elev( 
hundred  regular  troops,  he  retire< 
but  suddenly  turning  to  the  le 
crossed  the  mountains,  and  issuii 
from  Glennevis,  surprised  his  pii 
suers  at  Inverlochy  in  Lochab( 
Prom  his  galley  in  the  Prith,  Argj 
beheld  the  assault  of  the  enemy,  t 
shock  of  the  combatants,  and  t 
slaughter  of  at  least  one  half  of  1 
whole  force.  This  victory  placed  t 
north  of  Scotland  at  the  mercy  of  t 
conquerors.  Prom  Inverlochy  tb 
marched  to  Elgin,  and  from  Elgin 


A.D.  1615.] 


STATE  OF  PARTIES. 


49 


Aberdeen,  ravaging,  as  they  passed, 
the  lands,  and  burning  the  houses  of 
the  Covenanters.  But  at  Brechin, 
Baillie  opposed  their  progress  with  a 
numerous  and  regular  force.  Mon- 
trose turned  in  the  direction  of  Dun- 
keld ;  Baillie  marched  to  Perth.  The 
former  surprised  the  opulent  town  of 
Dundee;  the  latter  arrived  in  time 
to  expel  the  plunderers.  But  he 
pursued  in  vain.  They  regained  the 
Grampian  hills,  where  in  security 
they  once  more  bade  defiance  to  the 
whole  power  of  the  enemy.  Such 
was  the  short  and  eventful  campaign 
of  Montrose.  His  victories,  exagge- 
rated by  report,  and  embellished  by 
the  fancy  of  the  hearers,  cast  a  faint 
and  deceitful  lustre  over  the  declining 
cause  of  royalty.  But  they  rendered 
no  other  service.  His  passage  was 
that  of  a  meteor,  scorching  everything 
in  its  course.  Wherever  he  ap- 
peared, he  inflicted  the  severest  in- 
juries; but  he  made  no  permanent 
conquest ;  he  taught  the  Covenanters 
bo  tremble  at  his  name,  but  he  did 
aothing  to  arrest  that  ruin  which 
menaced  the  throne  and  its  ad- 
aerents.' 

England,  however,  was  the  real 
irena  on  which  the  conflict  was  to  be 
lecided,  and  in  England  the  king 
ioon  found  himself  unable  to  cope 
•Yith  his  enemies.  He  still  possessed 
ibout  one-third  of  the  kingdom.  From 
Oxford,  he  extended  his  sway  almost 
vithout  interruption  to  the  extremity 
)f  Cornwall :  North  and  South  Wales, 
vith  the  exception  of  the  castles  of 
.'embroke  and  Montgomery,  ac- 
:nowledged  his  authority;  and  the 
oyal  standard  was  still  unfurled  in 
everal  towns  in  the  midland  coun- 

i.2     But    his   army,   under    the 


*  See  Kush worth,  v,  923—932;  vi.  228; 
Juthrie,  162—183 ;  Baillie,  ii,  64,  65,  92— 
5;  Clarendon,  ii.  606,  618:  Wishart,  67, 
10;  Journals,  vii.  566;  Spalding,  ii.  237. 

*  Rushworth,  vi.  18—22. 

*  CSarendoD,  ii.   604,  633,  636,  643,  661, 

8 


'  nominal  command  of  the  prince 
of  Wales,  and  the  real  command  of 
Prince  Eupert,  was  frittered  away  in 
a  multitude  of  petty  garrisons,  and 
languished  in  a  state  of  the  most 
alarming  insubordination.  The  ge- 
nerals, divided  into  factions,  pre- 
sumed to  disobey  the  royal  orders, 
and  refused  to  serve  under  an  adver- 
sary or  a  rival ;  the  officers  indulged 
in  every  kind  of  debauchery :  the 
privates  lived  at  free  quarters;  and 
the  royal  forces  made  themselves 
more  terrible  to  their  friends  by 
their  licentiousness  than  to  their 
enemies  by  their  valour.^  Their  ex- 
cesses provoked  new  associations  in 
the  counties  of  Wilts,  Dorset,  Devon, 
Somerset,  and  Worcester,  known  by 
the  denomination  of  Clubmen,  whose 
primary  object  was  the  protection 
of  private  property,  and  the  inflic- 
tion of  summary  vengeance  on  the 
depredators  belonging  to  either  army. 
These  associations  were  encouraged 
and  organized  by  the  neighbouring 
gentlemen ;  arms  of  every  description 
were  collected  for  their  use ;  and  they 
were  known  to  assemble  in  numbers 
of  four,  six,  and  even  ten  thousand 
men.  Confidence  in  their  own 
strength,  and  the  suggestions  of 
their  leaders,  taught  them  to  extend 
their  views ;  they  invited  the  adjoin- 
ing counties  to  follow  their  example, 
and  talked  of  putting  an  end  by  force 
to  the  unnatural  war  which  depo- 
pulated the  country.  But  though 
they  professed  to  observe  the  strictest 
neutrality  between  the  contending 
parties,  their  meetings  excited  a  well- 
founded  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the 
parliamentary  leaders  ;  who,  the  mo- 
ment it  could  Tje  done  without  dan- 
ger,   pronounced   such    associations 


663,  "  Good  men  are  so  scandalized  at  the 
horrid  impiety  of  our  armies,  that  they  will 
not  believe  that  God  can  bless  any  cause 
in  such  hands." — Lord  Culpeper  to  Lord 
Digby.  Clarendon  Papers,  ii,  189,  Carte's 
Ormond,  iii.  396,  399. 
E 


50 


CHARLES  I. 


[CHAP,  II 


illegal,  and  ordered  them  to  be  sup- 
pressed by  military  force.' 

On  the  other  side,  the  army  of  the 
parliament  had  been  reformed  accord- 
ing to  the  ordinance.  The  members 
of  both  houses  had  resigned  their 
commissions,  with  the  exception  of  a 
single  individual,  the  very  man  with 
whom  the  measure  had  originated, — 
Lieutenant-General  Cromwell.  This 
by  some  writers  has  been  alleged  as  a 
proof  of  the  consummate  art  of  that 
adventurer,  who  sought  to  remove 
out  of  his  way  the  men  that  stood 
between  him  and  the  object  of  his 
ambition ;  but  the  truth  is,  that  his 
continuation  in  the  command  was 
effected  by  a  succession  of  events 
which  he  could  not  possibly  have 
foreseen.  He  had  been  sent  with 
Waller  to  oppose  the  progress  of 
the  royalists  in  the  west;  on  his 
return  he  was  ordered  to  prevent 
the  junction  of  the  royal  cavalry 
with  the  forces  under  the  king, 
and  he  then  received  a  commission 
to  protect  the  associated  counties 
from  insult.  While  he  was  em- 
ployed in  this  service,  the  term  ap- 
pointed by  the  ordinance  approached ; 
but  Fairfax  expressed  his  unwilling- 
ness to  part  with  so  experienced  an 
officer  at  such  a  crisis,  and  the  two 
houses  consented  that  he  should  re- 
main forty  days  longer  with  the  army. 


1  Clarendon,  ii.  665.  Whitelock,  March  4, 
11,  15.  Rushw.  vi.  52.  53,  61,  62.  But  the 
best  account  of  the  Clubmen  is  to  be  found 
in  a  letter  from  I'airfax  to  the  Committee  of 
both  Kingdoms,  preserved  in  the  Journals  of 
the  Lords,  vii.  184.  They  wore  white  rib- 
bons for  a  distinction,  prevented,  as  much 
as  they  were  able,  all  hostilities  between 
the  soldiers  of  the  opposite  parties,  and 
drew  Tip  two  petitions  in  the  same  words, 
one  to  be  presented  to  the  king,  the  other 
to  the  parliament,  praying  them  to  conclude 
a  peace,  and  in  the  mean  time  to  withdraw 
their  respective  garrisons  out  of  the  coun- 
try, and  pledging  themselves  to  keep  pos- 
session of  the  several  forts  and  castles,  and 
not  to  surrender  them  without  a  joint  com- 
mission from  both  king  and  parliament. 
Fairfax  observes,  that  "their  heads  had 
either  been  in  actual  service  in  the  king's 


Before  they  expired,  the  great  battU 
of  Naseby  had  been  fought ;  in  conse- 
quence of  the  victory,  the  ordinana 
was  suspended  three  months  in  bL 
favour ;  and  afterwards  the  same  in 
dulgence  was  reiterated  as  often  as  ii 
became  necessary.- 

It  was  evident  that  the  army  hac 
lost  nothing  by  the  exclusion  of  mem- 
bers of  parliament  and  the  change  ii 
its  organization.  The  commander; 
were  selected  from  those  who  hac 
already  distinguished  themselves  bj 
the  splendour  of  their  services  anc 
their  devotion  to  the  cause;  the  ne^ 
regiments  were  formed  of  privates 
who  had  served  under  Essex,  Man- 
chester, and  Waller,  and  care  was 
taken  that  the  majority  of  both  shoulc 
consist  of  that  class  of  religion-^ 
denominated  Independents.  Ti 
men  were  animated  with  an  enii... 
siasm  of  which  at  the  present  day  W( 
cannot  form  an  adequate  conception 
They  divided  their  time  between  mi- 
litary duties  and  prayer;  they  san{ 
psalms  as  they  advanced  to  the  charge 
they  called  on  the  name  of  the  Lord 
while  they  were  slaying  their  ene 
mies.  The  result  showed  that  fana 
ticism  furnished  a  more  powerfu 
stimulus  than  loyalty ;  the  soldiers  o 
God  proved  more  than  a  match  fo 
the  soldiers  of  the  monarch.^ 

Charles  was  the  first  to  take  th 


army,  or  were  known   favourers    of  th 
party.    In  these  two  counties,  Wilts  an 
Dorset,  they  are  abundantly  more  aifecte 
to  the  enemy  than  to  the  parliament, 
know  not  what  they  may  attempt.'' — 1' 
At  length  the  two  houses  declared  all 
sons  associating  in  arms  without  author 
traitors  to  the  commonwealth. — Journal 
vu.  549. 

*  Journals,   Feb.  27,  May  10,  June  !• 
Aug.  8.    Lords'  Journ.  vii.  420,  535. 

'  Essex,  Manchester,  and  Denbigh  r 
luctantly  tendered  their  resignations  tl 
day  before  the  ordinance  uassed.  Tl 
first  died  in  the  course  of  tne  next  jet 
(Sept.  14)  ;  and  the  houses,  to  express  the 
respect  for  his  memory,  attended  t! 
funeral,  and  defrayed  the  expense  oat 
the  public  purse.— Lords'  Journals,  viii.  6C' 
533. 


A.D.  1(>15.] 


BATTLE  OF  NASEBY. 


51 


field.  He  marched  from  Oxford  at 
the  head  of  ten  thousand  men,  of 
whom  more  than  one-half  were  ca- 
valry ;  the  siege  of  Chester  was  raised 
at  the  sole  report  of  his  approach  ;  and 
Leicester,  an  important  post  in  pos- 
session of  the  parliament,  was  taken 
by  storm  on  the  first  assault.  Fairfax 
had  appeared  with  his  army  before 
Oxford,  where  he  expected  to  be  ad- 
mitted by  a  party  within  the  walls ; 
but  the  intrigue  failed,  and  he  re- 
ceived orders  to  proceed  in  search  of 
the  king.'  On  the  evening  of  the 
seventh  day  his  van  overtook  the  rear 
of  the  royalists  between  Daventry 
and  Harborough.  Fairfax  and  his 
officers  hailed  with  joy  the  prospect 
of  a  battle.  They  longed  to  refute  the 
bitter  taunts  and  sinister  predictions 
of  their  opponents  in  the  two  houses ; 
to  prove  that  want  of  experience  might 
be  supplied  by  the  union  of  zeal  and 
talent ;  and  to  establish,  by  a  victory 
over  the  king,  the  superiority  of  the 
Independent  over  the  Presbytman 
party.  Charles,  on  the  contrary,  had 
sufficient  reason  to  decline  an  engage- 
ment.^ His  numbers  had  been  di- 
minished by  the  necessity  of  leaving 
a  strong  garrison  in  Leicester,  and 
several  reinforcements  were  still  on 
their  march  to  join  the  royal  stan- 
dard. But  in  the  presence  of  the 
Roundheads  the  Cavaliers  never  lis- 
tened to  the  suggestions  of  prudence. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  royal  army 
formed  in  line  about  a  mile  south  of 
Harborough.  Till  eight  they  awaited 
with  patience  the  expected  charge  of 
the  enemy;  but  Fairfax  refused  to 
move  from  his  strong  position  near 


^  Lords'  Journals,  vii.  429,  431. 

2  So  little  did  Charles  anticipate  the  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy,  that  on  the  12th  he 
amused  himself  with  hunting,  and  on  the 
13th  at  supper-time  wrote  to  secretary 
Nkliolas  that  he  should  march  the  next 
moming,  and  proceed  through  Landabay 
and  Melton  to  Belvoir,  but  no  further. 
Before  midnight  he  had  resolved  to  fight.— 
See  hia  letter  in  Evelyn's  Memoirs,  ii.  App. 


Naseby,  and  the  king  yielding  to  the 
importunity  of  his  officers,  gave  the 
word  to  advance.  Prince  Eupert 
commanded  on  the  right.  The  enemy 
fled  before  him :  six  pieces  of  cannon 
were  taken,  and  Ireton,  the  general 
of  the  parliamentary  horse,  was 
wounded,  and  for  some  time  a  pri- 
soner in  the  hands  of  the  victors.^ 
But  the  lessons  of  experience  had 
been  thrown  away  upon  E-upei-t.  He 
urged  the  pursuit  with  his  charac- 
teristic impetuosity,  and,  as  at  Mar- 
ston  Moor,  by  wandering  from  the  field 
suffered  the  victory  to  be  won  by  the 
masterly  conduct  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
That  commander  found  himself 
opposed  to  a  weak  body  of  cavalry 
under  Sir  Marmaduke  Langdale.  By 
both  the  fight  was  maintained  with 
obstinate  valour;  but  superiority  of 
numbers  enabled  the  former  to  press 
on  the  flanks  of  the  royalists,  who 
began  to  waver,  and  at  last  turned 
their  backs  and  fled.  Cromwell  pru- 
dently checked  the  pursuit,  and  leav- 
ing three  squadrons  to  watch  the 
fugitives,  directed  the  remainder  of 
his  force  against  the  rear  of  the  royal 
infantry.  That  body  of  men,  only 
three  thousand  five  hundred  in  num- 
ber, had  hitherto  fought  with  the 
most  heroic  valour,  and  had  driven 
the  enemy's  line,  with  the  exception 
of  one  regiment,  back  on  the  reserve  ; 
but  this  unexpected  charge  broke 
their  spirit ;  they  threw  down  their 
arms  and  asked  for  quarter.  Charles, 
who  had  witnessed  their  efforts  and 
their  danger,  made  every  exertion  to 
support  them;  he  collected  several 
bodies  of  horse ;  he  put  himself  at 


3  Ireton  was  of  an  ancient  family  in  Not- 
tinghamshire, and  bred  to  the  law.  He 
raised  a  troop  of  horse  for  the  parliament 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  accepted  a 
captain's  commission  in  the  new-modelled 
army.  At  the  request  of  the  officers,  Crom- 
well had  been  lately  appointed  general  of 
the  horse,  and,  at  CromweU's  request, 
Ireton  was  made  commissary-general  under 
him.— Journals,  vii.  421.  Rushworth,  vi. 
42. 

E  2 


oU 


CELiELES  I. 


[chap.  II, 


their  head;  he  called  on  them  to 
follow  him;  he  assured  them  that 
one  more  effort  would  secure  the 
victory.  But  the  appeal  was  made 
in  vain.  Instead  of  attending  to  his 
prayers  and  commands,  they  fled,  and 
forced  him  to  accompany  them.  The 
pursuit  was  continued  with  great 
slaughter  almost  to  the  walls  of  Lei- 
cester; and  one  hundred  females, 
some  of  them  ladies  of  distinguished 
rank,  were  put  to  the  sword  under 
the  pretence  that  they  were  Irish 
Catholics.  In  this  fatal  battle,  fought 
near  the  village  of  Naseby,  the  king 
lost  more  than  three  thousand  men, 
nine  thousand  stand  of  arms,  his  park 
of  artillery,  the  baggage  of  the  army, 
and  with  it  his  own  cabinet,  contain- 
ing private  papers  of  the  first  import- 
ance. Out  of  these  the  parliament 
made  a  collection,  which  was  pub- 
lished, with  remarks,  to  prove  to  the 
nation  the  falsehoods  of  Charles,  and 
the  justice  of  the  war.' 

After  this  disastrous  battle,  the 
campaign  presented  little  more  than 
the  last  and  feeble  struggles  of  an 
expiring  party.  Among  the  royalists 
hardly  a  man  could  be  found  who 
did  not  pronounce  the  cause  to  be 
desperate ;  and,  if  any  made  a  show 
of  resistance,  it  was  more  through  the 
hope    of    procuring    conditions   for 


^  For  this  battle  see  Clarendon,  ii.  655 ; 
Eushworth,  vi.  42;  and  the  Journals,  vii, 
433 — 436.  May  asserts  that  not  more  than 
three  hundred  men  were  killed  on  the  part 
of  the  king,  and  only  one  hundred  on  that 
of  the  parhament.  The  prisoners  amounted 
to  five  thousand. — May,  77.  The  publica- 
tion of  the  king's  papers  has  been  severely 
censured  by  his  friends,  and  as  warmly  de- 
fended by  the  advocates  of  the  parhament. 
If  their  contents  were  of  a  nature  to  justify 
the  conduct  of  the  latter,  I  see  not  on  what 
ground  it  could  be  expected  that  they 
should  be  suppressed.  The  only  complaint 
which  can  reasonably  be  made,  and  which 
seems  founded  in  fact,  is  that  the  selection 
of  the  papers  for  the  press  was  made  un- 
fairly. The  contents  of  the  cabinet  were 
several  days  in  possession  of  the  officers, 
and  then  submitted  to  the  examination  of  a 
committee  of  the  lower  house;  by  whose 
advice  certain  papers  were  selected  and  sent 


themselves,   than   of  benefiting  the 
interests  of  their  sovereign.    Charles 
himself   bore   his  misfortunes    with 
an  air    of  magnanimity,  which  was 
characterized    as    obstinacy   by   the 
desponding  minds  of  his  followers. 
As  a  statesman  he  acknowledged  the 
hopelessness  of  his  cause ;  as  a  Chris- 
tian he  professed  to  believe  that  God 
would  never  allow  rebellion  to  pros- 
per ;  but,  let  whatever  happen,  he  at 
least  would  act  as  honour  and  con- 
science called  on  him   to   act ;    his 
name  should  not  descend  to  posterity 
as  the  name  of  a  king  who  had  aban- 
doned the  cause  of  God,  injured  the 
rights  of  his  successors,  and  sacrificed 
the  interests  of  his  faithful  and  de- 
voted adherents.'    From  Leicester  ht 
retreated  to  Hereford;   from  Here- 
ford to  Eagland  Castle,  the  seat  of  th( 
loyal  marquess  of  Worcester;   anc 
thence  to  Cardiff,  that  he  might  mort 
readily    communicate    with    Princf 
Hupert  at  Bristol.   Each  day  brough 
him  a  repetition  of  the  most  melan 
choly    intelligence.      Leicester   ha< 
surrendered  almost  at  the  first  sum 
mons ;  the  forces  under  Goring,  tb 
only  body  of  royalists  deserving  th 
name  of  an  army,  were  defeated  b; 
Fairfax   at   Lamport;    Bridgewatei 
hitherto  deemed  an  impregnable  for  . 
tress,  capitulated  after  a  short  siege 


to  the  Lords,  with  a  suggestion  that  the 
should  be  communicated  to  the  citizens  i 
a  common  hall.    But  the  Lords  required  t 
see  the  remainder;  twenty-two  addition! 
papers  were  accordingly  produced ;  but  it  wi 
at  the  same  time  acknowledged  that  othei 
were  still  kept  back,  because  they  had  n( 
yet  been  deciphered.    By  an  order  of  tl 
Commons     the     papers    were     afterwart 
printed  with  a  preface  contrasting  certai 
passages  in  them   with  the   king's  form* 
protestations. — Joarnals,  June  23,  26,  3' 
July  3,   7;  Lords',  vii,   467,   469.     Char 
himself  acknowledges  that  thepublicati 
as  far  as  it  went,  was  genuine  (Evel> 
Memoirs,  App.  101)  ;  but  he  also  maintu 
that  other  papers,  which  would  have  scr 
to  explain  doubtful  passages,  had  been  p 
posely  suppressed. — Clarendon  Papers, 
187.     See  Baillie,  ii.  136. 

2  Eushworth,    vi.    132.      Clarendon, 
630. 


A.D.  1645.1 


LOSSES  OF  THE  KING. 


53 


a  chain  of  posts  extending  from  that 
town  to  Lyme,  on  the  southern  coast, 
cut  off  Devonshire  and  Cornwall,  his 
principal  resources,  from  all  commu- 
nication with  the  rest  of  the  king- 
dom ;  and,  what  was  still  worse,  the 
dissensions  which  raged  among  his 
officers  and  partisans  in  those  coun- 
ties could  not  be  appeased  either  by 
the  necessity  of  providing  for  the 
common  safety,  or  by  the  presence 
and  authority  of  the  prince  ofAVales." 
To  add  to  his  embarrassments,  his 
three  fortresses  in  the  north,  Car- 
lisle, Pontefract,  and  Scarborough, 
which  for  eighteen  months  had  defied 
all  the  efforts  of  the  enemy,  had  now 
fallen,  the  first  into  the  hands  of  the 
Scots,  the  other  two  into  those  of  the 
parhament.  Under  this  accumula- 
tion of  misfortunes  many  of  his 
friends,  and  among  them  Eupert 
himself,  hitherto  the  declared  advo- 
cate of  war,  importuned  him  to  yield 
to  necessity,  and  to  accept  the  condi- 
tions offered  by  the  parliament.  He 
replied  that  they  viewed  the  question 
with  the  eyes  of  mere  soldiers  and 
statesmen ;  but  he  was  a  king,  and 
had  duties  to  perform  from  which  no 
change  of  circumstances,  no  human 
power,  could  absolve  him,— to  preserve 
the  church,  protect  his  friends,  and 
transmit  to  his  successors  the  lawful 
rights  of  the  crown.  God  was  bound 
to  support  his  own  cause:  he  might 
for  a  time  permit  rebels  and  traitors 
to  prosper,  but  he  would  ultimately 
humble  them  before  the  throne  of 
their  sovereign. ^  Under  this  per- 
suasion, he  pictured  to  himself  the 
wonderful  things  to  be  achieved  by 


1  Clarendon,  ii.  663,  et  seq.  Eushw.  yi. 
60,55,57.    Carte's  Ormond.iii.  423. 

^  Clarendon,  ii.  679.  Lords'  Journals, 
Tii.  667.  Only  three  days  before  Lia  arrival 
at  Oxford,  he  wrote  (August  25)  a  letter  to 
secretary  Nicholas,  with  an  order  to  publish 
its  contents,  that  it  was  his  fixed  determina- 
tion, by  the  grace  of  God,  never  in  any 
possible  circumstances  to  yield  up  the  go- 
Temment  of  the  church  to  Papists,  Pres- 


the  gallantry  of  ]\Iontrose  in  Scotland, 
and  looked  forward  with  daily  impa- 
tience to  the  arrival  of  an  imaginary 
army  of  twenty  thousand  men  from 
Ireland.  But  from  such  dreams  he 
was  soon  awakened  by  the  rapid 
increase  of  disaffection  in  the  popula- 
tion around  him,  and  by  the  rumoured 
advance  of  the  Scots  to  besiege  the 
city  of  Hereford,  From  Cardiff  he 
hastily  crossed  the  kingdom  to  New- 
ark. Learning  that  the  Scottish 
cavalry  were  in  pursuit,  he  left  New- 
ark, burst  into  the  associated  coun- 
ties, ravaged  the  lands  of  his  enemies, 
took  the  town  of  Huntingdon,  and  at 
last  reached  in  safety  his  court  at 
Oxford.  It  was  not,  that  in  this 
expedition  he  had  in  view  any  parti- 
cular object.  His  utmost  ambition 
was,  by  wandering  from  place  to 
place,  to  preserve  himself  from  falling 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies  before 
the  winter.  In  that  season  the  seve- 
rity of  the  weather  would  afford  him 
sufficient  protection,  and  he  doubted 
not,  that  against  the  spring  the  vic- 
tories of  Montrose,  the  pacification 
of  Ireland,  and  the  compassion  of  his 
foreign  allies,  would  enable  him  to 
resume  hostilities  with  a  powerful, 
army,  and  with  more  flattering  pro- 
spects of  success.^ 

At  Oxford  Charles  heard  of  the  vic- 
tory gained  at  Kilsyth,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Stirling,  by  Montrose,, 
who,  if  he  had  been  compelled  to 
retreat  from  Dundee,  was  still  able  to 
maintain  the  superiority  in  the  High- 
lands. The  first  who  ventured  to- 
measure  swords  with  the  Scottish 
hero  was  the  veteran  general  Hurry : 


byterians,  or  Independents,  nor  to  injure 
his  successors  by  lessening  the  ecclesiastical 
or  military  power  bequeathed  to  him  by  his 

Eredecessors,  nor  to  forsake  the  defence  of 
is  friends,  who  had  risked  their  lives  and 
fortunes  in  his  quarrel. — Evelyn's  Memoirs, 
ii.  App.  10^. 

3  Clarendon,  ii.  677.  Eushw.  vi.  131. 
Carte's  Ormond,  iii.  415,  416,  418,  420,  423, 
427.     Bailiie,  u.  152. 


54 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


but  the  assailant  fled  from  the  con- 
flict at  Auldearn,  and  saved  himself, 
with  the  small  remnant  of  his  force, 
•within  the  walls  of  Inverness,  To 
Hurry  succeeded  with  similar  fortune 
Baillie,  the  commander-in-chief.  The 
battle  was  fought  at  Alford,  in  the 
shire  of  Aberdeen ;  and  few,  besides 
the  principal  officers  and  the  cavalry, 
escaped  from  the  slaughter.  A  new 
army  of  ten  thousand  men  was  col- 
lected: four  days  were  spent  in 
fasting  and  prayer  ;  and  the  host  of 
Grod  marched  to  trample  under  foot 
the  host  of  the  king.  But  the  expe- 
rience of  their  leader  was  controlled 
by  the  presumption  of  the  committee 
of  estates,  and  he,  in  submission  to 
their  orders,  marshalled  his  men  in  a 
position  near  Kilsyth;  his  cavalry 
was  broken  by  the  royalists  at  the 
first  charge ;  the  infantry  fled  without 
a  blow,  and  about  five  thousand  of 
the  fugitives  are  said  to  have  perished 
in  the  pursuit,  which  was  continued 
for  fourteen  or  twenty  miles.*  This 
victory  placed  the  Lowlands  at  the 
mercy  of  the  conqueror.  Glasgow 
and  the  neighbouring  shires  solicited 
his  clemency;  the  citizens  of  Edin- 
burgh sent  to  him  the  prisoners  who 
had  been  condemned  for  their  adhe- 
rence to  the  royal  cause ;  and  many 
of  the  nobility,  hastening  to  his 
standard,  accepted  commissions  to 
raise  forces  in  the  name  of  the  sove- 
reign. At  this  news  the  Scottish 
cavalry,  which,  in  accordance  with 
the  treaty  of  "  brotherly  assistance," 
had  already  advanced  to  Nottingham, 
marched  back  to  the  Tweed  to  pro- 
tect their  own  country ;  and  the  king 
on  the  third  day  left  Oxford  with  five 


1  It  was  probably  on  account  of  the  heat 
of  the  season  that  Montrose  ordered  bis 
men  to  throw  aside  their  plaids — vestes  mo- 
lestiores — and  fight  in  their  shirts ;  an  order 
which  has  given  occasion  to  several  fanciful 
conjectures  and  exaggerations. — See  Carte, 
iv.  538. 

»  Rushworth,  vi.  230.  May.  Guthrie, 
194.    BaUlie,  ii.  156,  157,  273.    This  defeat 


thousand  men,  to  drive  the  infantry 
from  the  siege  of  Hereford.  They  did 
not  wait  his  arrival,  and  lie  entered 
the  city  amidst  the  joyful  acclama- 
tions of  theinhabitants.- 

But  Charles  was  not  long  sufiered 
to  enjoy  his  triumph.  Full  of  confi- 
dence, he  had  marched  from  Here- 
ford to  the  reUef  of  Bristol ;  but  at 
Ragland  Castle  learned  that  it  was 
already  in  possession  of  the  enemy. 
This  unexpected  stroke  quite  un- 
nerved him.  That  a  prince  of  his 
family,  an  officer  whose  reputation 
for  courage  and  fidelity  was  un- 
blemished, should  surrender  in  the 
third  week  of  the  siege  an  important 
city,  which  he  had  promised  to  main- 
tain for  four  months,  appeared  to  him 
incredible.  His  mind  was  agitated 
with  suspicion  and  jealousy.  He 
knew  not  whether  to  attribute  the 
conduct  of  his  nephew  to  cowardice, 
or  despondency,  or  disaffection ;  but 
he  foresaw  and  lamented  its  baneful 
influence  on  the  small  remnant  of  his 
followers.  In  the  anguish  of  his 
mind  he  revoked  the  commission  of 
the  prince,  and  commanded  him  to 
quit  the  kingdom ;  he  instructed  the 
council  to  watch  his  conduct,  and  on 
the  first  sign  of  disobedience  to  take 
him  into  custody ;  and  he  ordered  the 
arrest  of  his  friend  Colonel  Legge, 
and  appointed  Sir  Thomas  Glenham 
to  succeed  Legge  as  governor  of 
Oxford.  "  Tell  my  sone,"  he  says  in 
a  letter  to  Nicholas,  "that  I  shall 
lesse  grieeve  to  hear  that  he  is  knoked 
in  the  head,  than  that  he  should  doe 
so  meane  an  act  as  is  the  rendering 
of  Bristoll  castell  and  fort  upon  the 
termes  it  was."^ 


perplexed  the  theology  of  that  learned  man. 
"  I  confess  I  am  amazed,  and  cannot  see  to 
my  mind's  satisfaction,  the  reasons  of  the 

Lord's   deaUug  with  that  land What 

means  the  Lord,  so  far  against  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  most  clear-sighted,  to  humble  os 
so  low,  and  by  his  own  immediate  hand,  I 
confess  I  know  not." — Ibid. 
3  Clarendon,  ii.  693.    Rushw  orth,  \i.  66— 


A.D.  1645.] 


DEFEAT  OF  MONTROSE. 


55 


""  Whilst  the  king  thus  mourned  over 
the  loss  of  Bristol,  he  received  still 
more    disastrous    intelligence    from 
Scotland.     The   victory   of   Kilsyth 
had  dissolved  the  royal  army.    The 
Gordons    with   their   followers    had 
returned  to  their    homes  ;    Colkitto 
had  led  back  the  Highlanders  to  their 
mountains;  and  Montrose,  with  the 
remnant,  not  more  than  six  hundred 
men,  repaired  to  the  borders  to  await 
the  arrival  of  an  English  force  which 
had  been  promised,  but  not  provided, 
by  Charles.  In  the  mean  while  David 
Leslie  had  been  detached  with  four 
thousand  cavalry  from  the  Scottish 
army  in  England.    He  crossed   the 
Tweed,  proceeded  northward,  as   if 
he  meant  to  interpose  himself  be- 
tween the  enemy  and  the  Highlands ; 
ind  then  returned  suddenly  to  sur- 
prise them  in  their  encampment  at 
Philiphaugh.     Montrose    spent    the 
light   at    Selkirk   in  preparing  de- 
patches  for  the  king ;  Leslie,  who 
vas  concealed  at  no  great  distance. 
Tossing  the  Ettrick  at  dawn,  under 
x>ver  of  a  dense  fog,  charged  unex- 
pectedly into  the  camp  of  the  royalists, 
vho  lay  in  heedless  security  on  the 
Eaugh.    Their  leader,  with  his  guard 
)f    horse,    flew    to    their    s'lccour ; 
)ut,  after  a  chivalrous  but  fruitless 
£Fort,  was  compelled  to  retire  and 
ibandon   them   to   their  fate.    The 
^•eater  part  had  formed  themselves 
nto  a  compact  body,  and  kept  the 
nemy  at  bay  till  their  offer  of  sur- 
■ender  upon  terms  had  been  accepted. 
3at  then   the  ministers  loudly  de- 
Qanded  their  lives ;  they  pronounced 
he  capitulation  sinful,  and  therefore 
Did;    and   had  the    satisfaction   to 
•ehold  the  whole  body   of  captives 


2.  Joarnals,  vi.  581.  Ellis,  iii.  311.  Eve- 
nt's Memoirs,  ii.  App.  108.  The  suspicion 
f  Leg^e'a  fidelity  was  infused  into  the 
oyalmind  by  Digby.  Charles  wished  him 
3  be  secured,  but  refused  to  believe  him 
•«atT  without  better  proof.— Ibid.  111. 
1  Balfour,  iii.  341.  Thurloe,  i.  72.  The 
ext  year  the  garrison  of  Dunavertie,  three 


massacred  in  cold  blood,  not  the  men 
only,  but  also  every  woman  and  child 
found  upon  the  Haugh.  Nor  was 
this  sacrifice  sufficient.  Forty  females, 
who  had  made  their  escape,  and  had 
been  secured  by  the  country  people, 
were  a  few  days  later  delivered  up  to 
the  victors,  who,  in  obedience  to  the 
decision  of  the  kirk,  put  them  to 
death  by  throwing  them  from  the 
bridge  near  Linlithgow  into  the  river 
Avon.  Afterwards  the  Scottish  par- 
liament approved  of  their  barbarities, 
on  the  pretence  that  the  victims  were 
papists  from  Ireland ;  and  passed  an 
ordinance  that  the  "  Irische  prisoners 
taken  at  and  after  Philiphaughe,  in 
all  the  prisons  in  the  kingdom,  should 
be  execut  without  any  assaye  or  pro- 
cesse,  conform  to  the  treatey  betwixt 
both  kingdoms."'  Of  the  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  who  fled  with  Mon- 
trose, many  were  also  taken  ;  and 
of  these  few  escaped  the  hands  of 
the  executioner :  Montrose  himself 
threaded  back  his  way  to  the  High- 
lands, where  he  once  more  raised  the 
royal  standard,  and,  with  a  small  force 
and  diminished  reputation,  continued 
to  bid  defiance  to  his  enemies.  At 
length,  in  obedience  to  repeated  mes- 
sages from  the  king,  he  dismissed  his 
followers,  and  reluctantly  withdrew 
to  the  continent.- 

AVith  the  defeat  of  Montrose  at 
Philiphaugh  vanished  those  brilliant 
hopes  with  which  the  king  had  con- 
soled himself  for  his  former  losses; 
but  the  activity  of  his  enemies  al- 
lowed him  no  leisure  to  indulge  his 
grief;  they  had  already  formed  a 
lodgment  within  the  suburbs  of 
Chester,  and  threatened  to  deprive 
him  of  that,  the  only  port  by  which 


hundred  men,  surrendered  to  David  Leslie 
"  at  the  kingdom's  mercie."  "  They  put  to 
the  sword,"  says  Turner,  "  everie  mother's 
Sonne  except  one  young  man,  Machoul, 
whose  life  I  begged." — Turner's  Memoirs, 
46  also  4>S 

^  Kush.  vi.  237.     Guthrie,  201.    Journals, 
vi.  58J,.    Wishart,  203.    Baillie,  ii.  164. 


56 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  ir. 


he  could  maintain  a  communication 
with  Ireland.  He  hastened  to  its 
relief,  and  was  followed  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  day's  journey  by  Pointz, 
a  parliamentary  officer.  It  was  the 
king's  intention  that  two  attacks,  one 
from  the  city,  the  other  from  the 
country,  should  be  simultaneously 
made  on  the  camp  of  the  besiegers ; 
and  with  this  view  he  left  the  greater 
part  of  the  royal  cavalry  at  Routen- 
heath,  under  Sir  Marmaduke  Lang- 
dale,  while  he  entered  Chester  himself 
with  the  remainder  in  the  dusk  of 
the  evening.  It  chanced  that  Pointz 
meditated  a  similar  attempt  with  the 
aid  of  the  besiegers,  on  the  force  under 
Langdale;  and  the  singular  position 
of  the  armies  marked  the  following 
day  with  the  most  singular  vicissitudes 
of  fortune.  Early  in  the  morning 
the  royalists  repelled  the  troops  under 
Pointz ;  but  a  detachment  from  the 
camp  restored  the  battle,  and  forced 
them  to  retire  under  the  walls  of  the 
city.  Here,  vrith  the  help  of  the 
king's  guards,  they  recovered  the 
ascendancy,  but  suffered  themselves 
in  the  pursuit  to  be  entangled  among 
lanes  and  hedges  lined  with  infantry, 
by  whom  they  were  thrown  into 
irremediable  disorder.  Six  hundred 
troopers  fell  in  the  action,  more  than 
a  thousand  obtained  quarter,  and  the 
rest  were  scattered  in  every  direction. 
The  next  night  Charles  repaired  to 
Denbigh,  collected  the  fugitives  around 
him,  and,  skilfully  avoiding  Pointz, 
hastened  to  Bridgenorth,  where  he 
was  met  by  his  nephew  Maurice  from 
the  garrison  of  Worcester.' 

The  only  confidential  counsellor 
who  attended  the  king  in  this  ex- 
pedition was  Lord  Digby.  That  noble- 
man, unfortunately  for  the  interest 
of  his  sovereign,  had  incurred  the 
hatred  of  his  party :  of  some,  on  ac- 
count of  his  enmity  to  Prince  Ilupert; 


1  Clarendon,    ii.    712.      Thurloe,    i. 
Eush.  vi.  117.    Journais,  tI,  608. 


73. 


of  the  general  officers,  because  he  was 
supposed  to  sway  the  royal  mind, 
even  in  military  matters;  and  of  all 
who  desired  peace,  because  to  his 
advice  was  attributed  the  obstinacy 
of  Charles  in  continuing  the  war.  It 
was  the  common  opinion  that  the 
king  ought  to  fix  his  winter  quarters 
at  SYorcester;  but  Digby,  unwilling 
to  be  shut  up  during  four  months  in 
a  city  of  which  the  brother  of  Eupert 
was  governor,  persuaded  him  to  pro- 
ceed to  his  usual  asylum  at  Newark 
There,  observing  that  the  discontent 
among  the  officers  increased,  he  parted 
from  his  sovereign,  but  on  an  im- 
portant and  honourable  mission.  The 
northern  horse,  still  amounting  tc 
fifteen  hundred  men,  were  persuadec 
by  Langdale  to  attempt  a  junctior 
with  the  Scottish  hero,  Montrose 
and  to  accept  of  Digby  as  commander 
in-chief.  The  first  aciiievement  of  th( 
new  general  was  the  complete  dis 
persion  of  the  parliamentary  infantr: 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Doncaster 
but  in  a  few  days  his  own  follower 
were  dispersed  by  Colonel  Copley  a 
Sherburne.  They  rallied  at  Skipton 
forced  their  way  through  Westmore 
land  and  Cumberland,  and  penetratet 
as  far  as  Dumfries,  but  could  nowher 
meet  with  intelligence  of  their  Scot 
tish  friends.  Eetuming  to  the  border 
they  disbanded  near  Carlisle,  th 
privates  retiring  to  their  homci 
the  officers  transporting  themsclve 
to  the  Isle  of  Man.  Langdale  re 
mained  at  Douglas ;  Digby  proceede  : 
to  the  marquess  of  Ormond  in  Ire 
land.* 

Charles,  during  his  stay  at  Newarl 
was  made  to  feel  that  with  his  goo 
fortune  he  had  lost  his  authorit: 
His  two  nephews,  the  Lord  Gerait 
and  about  twenty  other  officers, 
tered  his  chamber,  and,  in  rude 
insulting  language,  charged  him 


2  Clarendon,    Hist.    ii.    714.     Clare 
Papers,  ii.  199.    Kush Worth,  vi.  131. 


A.D.  1645.] 


•MISSION  OF  GLAMORGAN 


57 


ingratitude  for  their  services,  and 
undue  partiality  for  the  traitor  Digby. 
The  king  lost  the  command  of  his 
temper,  and,  with  more  warmth  than 
he  was  known  to  have  betrayed  on 
any  other  occasion,  bade  them  quit 
his  presence  for  ever.  They  retired, 
and  the  next  morning  received  pass- 
ports to  go  where  they  pleased.  But 
it  was  now  time  for  the  king  himself 
to  depart.  The  enemy's  forces  mul- 
tiplied around  Newark,  and  the  Scots 
were  advancing  to  join  the  blockade. 
In  the  dead  of  the  night  he  stole, 
with  five  hundred  men,  to  Belvoir 
Castle;  thence,  with  the  aid  of  ex- 
perienced guides,  he  threaded  the 
numerous  posts  of  the  enemy ;  and 
on  the  second  day  reached,  for  the 
last  time,  the  walls  of  Oxford.  Yet 
if  he  were  there  in  safety,  it  was 
owing  to  the  policy  of  the  parhament, 
who  deemed  it  more  prudent  to  re- 
duce the  counties  of  Devon  and 
Cornwall,  the  chief  asylum  of  his 
adherents.  For  this  purpose  Fairfax, 
with  the  grand  army,  sat  down  before 
Exeter:  Cromwell  had  long  ago  swept 
away  the  royal  garrisons  between  that 
city  and  the  metropolis.' 

The  reader  will  have  frequently 
remarked  the  king's  impatience  for 
the  arrival  of  military  aid  from  Ire- 
land. It  is  now  time  to  notice  the 
intrigue  on  which  he  founded  his 
hopes,  and  the  causes  which  led  to 
his  disappointment.  All  his  efforts 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  the  insur- 
gents had  failed  through  the  obstinacy 
of  the  ancient  Irish,  who  required  as 
an  indispensable  condition  the  legal 
establishment  of  their  religion. *  The 
Catholics,  they  alleged,  were  the 
people  of  Ireland;  they  had  now 
regained  many  of  the  churches,  which, 
not  a  century  before,  had  been  taken 
from  their  fathers;  and  they  could 
not  in  honour  or  conscience  resign 


»  Clarendon,    ii.    719—723.     Eushworth, 
Ti.  80—95.    Journals,  671,  672. 
2  Einuccini'3  MS.  Ifarrative.? 


them  to  the  professors  of  another 
religion.  Charles  had  indulged  a 
hope  that  the  lord  lieutenant  would 
devise  some  means  of  satisfying  their 
demand  without  compromising  the 
character  of  his  sovereign  ;3  but  the 
scruples  or  caution  of  Ormond  com- 
pelled him  to  look  out  for  a  minister 
of  less  timid  and  more  accommodating 
disposition,  and  he  soon  found  one  in 
the  Lord  Herbert,  a  Catholic,  and 
son  to  the  marquess  of  Worcester, 
Herbert  felt  the  most  devoted  attach- 
ment to  his  sovereign.  He  had  lived 
with  him  for  twenty  years  in  habits 
of  intimacy :  in  conjunction  with  his 
father,  he  had  spent  above  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  in  support  of 
the  royal  cause;  and  both  had  re- 
peatedly and  publicly  avowed  their 
determination  to  stand  or  fall  with 
the  throne.  To  him,  therefore,  the 
king  explained  his  difficulties,  his 
views,  and  his  wishes.  Low  as  he 
was  sunk,  he  had  yet  a  sufficient 
resource  left  in  the  two  armies  in 
Ireland.  With  them  he  might  make 
head  against  his  enemies,  and  re- 
establish his  authority.  But  unfor- 
tunately this  powerful  and  necessary 
aid  was  withheld  from  him  by  the 
obstinacy  of  the  Irish  Catholics, 
whose  demands  were  such,  that,  to 
grant  them  publicly  would  be  to 
forfeit  the  affection  and  support  of 
all  the  Protestants  in  his  dominions. 
He  knew  but  of  one  way  to  elude 
the  difficulty,— the  employment  of  a 
secret  and  confidential  minister,  whose 
credit  with  the  Catholics  would  give 
weight  to  his  assurances,  and  whose 
loyalty  would  not  refuse  to  incur 
danger  or  disgrace  for  the  benefit 
of  his  sovereign.  Herbert  cheerfully 
tendered  his  services.  It  was  agreed 
that  he  should  negotiate  with  the 
confederates  for  the  immediate  aid 
of  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men; 


3  See  the  Correspondence  in  Carte's  Or- 
mond, ii.  App.  IV.  xviii.  xx.  xiii. ;  iii.  373, 
387,  401;  Charles's  Works,  155. 


58 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II 


that,  as  the  reward  of  their  willingness 
to  serve  the  king,  he  should  make  to 
them  certain  concessions  on  the  point 
of  religion ;  that  these  should  be  kept 
secret,  as  long  as  the  disclosure  might 
be  likely  to  prejudice  tbe  royal  in- 
terests ;  and  that  Charles,  in  the  case 
of  discovery,  should  be  at  liberty  to 
disavow  the  proceedings  of  Herbert, 
till  he  might  find  himself  in  a  situa- 
tion to  despise  the  complaints  and  the 
malice  of  his  enemies.' 

Por  this  purpose  Herbert  (now 
created  earl  of  Glamorgan)  was  fur- 
nished, 1.  with  a  commission  to  levy 
men,  to  coin  money,  and  to  employ 
the  revenues  of  the  crown  for  their 
support;  2.  with  a  warrant  to  grant 
on  certain  conditions  to  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland  such  concessions  as  it  was 
not  prudent  for  the  king  or  the 
lieutenant  openly  to  make;  3.  with 
a  promise  on  the  part  of  Charles 
to  ratify  whatever  engagements  his 
envoy  might  conclude,  even  if  they 
were  contrary  to  law;  4.  and  with 
different  letters  for  the  pope,  the 
nuncio,  and  the  several  princes  from 
whom  subsidies  might  be  expected. 
But  care  was  taken  that  none  of  these 
documents  should  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  council.  The  commission 
was  not  sealed  in  the  usual  manner ; 
the  names  of  the  persons  to  whom 
the  letters  were  to  be  addressed  were 
not  inserted  ;  and  all  the  papers  were 
in  several  respects  informal ;  for  this 
purpose,  that  the  king  might  have 


1  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  201. 

2  See  the  authorities  in  Appendix,  PPP. 

3  See  the  same. 

*  Dr.  Leyburn,  who  was  sent  by  the  queen 
to  Ireland  in  1647,  teUs  us,  on  the  authority 
of  the  nuncio  and  the  bishop  of  Clogher, 
"  that  my  lord  of  Worcester  [Glamorgan] 
was  ready  to  justify  that  he  had  exactly 
followed  his  instructions,  and  particularly 
that  concerning  the  lord  lieutenant,  whom 
he  had  made  acquainted  with  all  that  he 
had  transacted  with  the  Irish,  of  which  he 
could  produce  proof." — Birch,  Inquiry,  322. 
JNor  will  any  one  doubt  it,  who  attends  to 
tbe  letter  of  Ormond  to  Lord  Muskerry  on 
the  11th  of  August,  just  after  the  arrival  of 


a  plausible  pretext  to  deny  theii 
authenticity  in  the  event  of  a  pre- 
mature disclosure.^ 

Glamorgan  proceeded  on  his  chival- 
rous mission,  and  after  many  adven- 
tures and  escapes,  landed  in  safety 
in  Ireland.  That  he  communicatee 
the  substance  of  his  instructions  tc 
Ormond,  cannot  be  doubted ;  and,  ii 
there  were  aught  in  his  subsequent 
proceedings  of  which  the  lord  heute- 
nant  remained  ignorant,  that  igno- 
rance was  affected  and  voluntary  or 
the  part  of  Ormond.^  At  DubUc 
both  joined  in  the  negotiation  with 
the  Catholic  deputies  :  from  Dublic 
Glamorgan  proceeded  to  Kilkenny, 
where  the  supreme  council,  satisfied 
with  his  authority,  and  encouraged 
by  the  advice  of  Ormond,  concluded  . 
with  him  a  treaty,  by  which  it  was 
stipulated  that  the  Catholics  should 
enjoy  the  public  exercise  of  their  reli- 
gion, and  retain  all  churches,  and  the 
revenues  of  churches,  which  were 
not  actually  in  possession  of  the  Pro- 
testant clergy;  and  that  in  return 
they  should,  against  a  certain  day. 
supply  the  king  with  a  body  of  ten 
thousand  armed  men,  and  should 
devote  two-thirds  of  the  ecclesiastical 
revenues  to  his  service  during  th€ 
war.* 

To  the  surprise  of  all  who  were  not 
in  the  secret,  the  public  treaty  now 
proceeded  with  unexpected  facility. 
The  only  point  in  debate  between  the 
lord    lieutenant    and   the    deputies. 


Glamorgan  at  Kilkenny,  in  which,  speaking 
of  Glamorgan,  he  assured  him,  and  through 
him  the  council  of  the  confederates,  that 
he  knew  "no  subject  in  England  upon 
whose  favour  and  authority  with  his  majesty 
they  can  better  rely  than  upon  his  lord- 
ship's, nor with  whom  he  (Ormond) 

would  sooner  agree  for  the  beneflt  of  this 
kingdom." — Birch,    63.      And    another    t< 
Glamorgan  himself  on  Feb.  11th,  i 
he  says,  "  Your  lordship  may  secur< 
in  the  way  j'ou  have  propoi'ed  to  v        ■  n 
to  serve  the  king,  without  fear  of  iiitorro 
tion  from  me,  or  so  much  as  inquiring  f ' 
the  means  you  work  by." — Ibid.  163. 
also  another  letter,  of  April  6th,  in  Leli 
iii.  283. 


A.D.  1(>15.]        THE  SECRET  TREATY  DISCOVERED. 


59 


respected  their  demand  to  be  relieved 
by  act  of  parliament  from  all  penal- 
ties for  the  performance  of  the  divine 
service  and  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments,  after  any  other  form 
than  that  of  the  established  church. 
Ormond  was  aware  of  their  ulterior 
object:  he  became  alarmed,  and  in- 
sisted on  a  proviso,  that  such  article 
should  not  be  construed  to  extend  to 
any  service  performed,  or  sacraments 
administered,  in  cathedral  or  parochial 
churches.  After  repeated  discussions, 
two  expedients  were  suggested ;  one, 
that  in  place  of  the  disputed  article 
should  be  substituted  another,  pro- 
viding that  any  concession  with  re- 
spect to  religion  which  the  king  might 
afterwards  grant  should  be  considered 
as  making  part  of  the  present  treaty ; 
the  other,  that  no  mention  should  be 
made  of  religion  at  ail,  but  that  the 
lieutenant  should  sign  a  private  en- 
gagement, not  to  molest  the  Catholics 
in  the  possession  of  those  churches 
-which  they  now  held,  but  leave  the 
question  to  the  decision  of  a  free 
parliament.  To  this  both  parties 
assented ;  and  the  deputies  returned 
to  Kilkenny  to  submit  the  result  of 
the  conferences  to  the  judgment  of  the 
general  assembly.' 

But  before  this,  the  secret  treaty 
with  Glamorgan,  which  had  been 
concealed  from  all  but  the  leading 
members  of  the  council,  had  by  acci- 
dent come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
parKament.  About  the  middle  of 
October,  the  titular  archbishop  of 
Tuam  was  slain  in  a  skirmish  between 
two  parties  of  Scots  and  Irish  near 
Sligo ;  and  in  the  carriage  of  the  pre- 
late were  found  duplicates  of  the 
whole  negotiation.  The  discovery 
svas  kept  secret;   but  at  Christmas 


^  Compare  Carte,  i.  548,  with  Vindicise 
3ath.  Hib.  11,  13. 

2  Rush  worth,  vi.  239,  240.  Carte's  Or- 
mond, iii.  438—440.  "  You  do  not  believe," 
mrites  Hyde  to  secretary  Ificholas,  "  that 
oaylord  Digby  knew  of  my  lord  Glamorgan's 
commission  and  negotiation  in  Ireland.    I 


Ormond  received  a  copy  of  these  im- 
portant papers  from  a  friend,  with  an 
intimation  that  the  originals  had  been 
for  some  weeks  in  possession  of  the 
committee  of  both  nations  in  London. 
It  was  evident  that  to  save  the  royal 
reputation  some  decisive  measure 
must  be  immediately  taken.  A  coun- 
cil was  called.  Digby,  who  looked 
upon  himself  as  the  king's  confi- 
dential minister,  but  had  been  kept 
in  ignorance  of  the  whole  transaction, 
commented  on  it  with  extreme  seve- 
rity. Glamorgan  had  been  guilty  of 
unpardonable  presumption.  Without 
the  permission  of  the  king,  or  the 
privity  of  the  lord  lieutenant,  he  had 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  rebels, 
and  pledged  the  king's  name  to  the 
observance  of  conditions  pregnant 
with  the  most  disastrous  conse- 
quences. It  was  an  usurpation  of 
the  royal  authority;  an  offence  little 
short  of  high  treason.  The  accused, 
faithful  to  his  trust,  made  but  a  feeble 
defence,  and  was  committed  to  close 
custody.  In  the  despatches  from  the 
council  to  Charles,  Digby  showed  that 
he  looked  on  the  concealment  which 
had  been  practised  towards  him  as  a 
personal  affront,  and  expressed  his 
sentiments  with  a  warmth  and  free- 
dom not  the  most  grateful  to  the 
royal  feelings.- 

The  unfortunate  monarch  was  still 
at  Oxford  devising  new  plans,  and 
indulging  new  hopes.  The  dissen- 
sions among  his  adversaries  had  as- 
sumed a  character  of  violence  and 
importance  which  they  had  never 
before  borne.  The  Scots,  irritated  by 
the  systematic  opposition  of  the  Inde- 
pendents, and  affected  delays  of  the 
parliament,  and  founding  the  justice 
of  their  claim  on  the  solemn  league 


am  confident  he  did  not ;  for  he  shewed  me 
the  copies  of  letters  which  he  had  written 
to  the  king  upon  it,  which  ought  not  in  good 
manners  to  have  been  written ;  and  I  be- 
lieve will  not  be  forgiven  to  him  by  those 
for  whose  service  they  were  written." — 
Clarendon  Papers,  ii_,  346. 


GO 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  ir. 


and  covenant  confirmed  by  the  oaths 
of  the  two  nations,  insisted  on 
the  legal  establishment  of  Presby- 
terianism,  and  the  exclusive  prohi- 
bition of  every  other  form  of  worship. 
They  still  ruled  in  the  synod  of 
divines ;  they  were  seconded  by  the 
great  body  of  ministers  in  the  capital, 
and  by  a  numerous  party  among  the 
citizens;  and  they  confidently  called 
for  the  aid  of  the  majority  in  the  two 
houses,  as  of  their  brethren  of  the 
same  religious  persuasion.  But  their 
opponents,  men  of  powerful  intellect 
and  invincible  spirit,  were  supported 
by  the  swords  and  the  merits  of  a 
conquering  army.  Cromwell,  from 
the  field  of  Naseby,  had  written  to 
express  his  hope,  that  the  men  who 
had  achieved  so  glorious  a  victory 
might  be  allowed  to  serve  God  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
sciences. Fairfax,  in  his  despatches, 
continually  pleaded  in  favour  of 
toleration.  Selden  and  Whitelock 
warned  their  colleagues  to  beware 
how  they  erected  among  them  the 
tyranny  of  a  Presbyterian  kirk ;  and 
many  in  the  two  houses  began  to 
maintain  that  Christ  had  established 
no  particular  form  of  church  govern- 
ment, but  had  left  it  to  be  settled 
under  convenient  limitations  by  the 
authority  of  the  state.'  Nor  were 
their  altercations  confined  to  reli- 
gious matters.  The  decline  of  the 
royal  cause  had  elevated  the  hopes  of 
the  English  leaders.  They  no  longer 
disguised  their  jealousy  of  the  pro- 
jects of  their  Scottish  allies ;  they 
accused  them  of  invading  the  sove- 
reignty of  England  by  placing  gar- 
risons in  Belfast,  Newcastle,  and 
Carlisle ;  and  complained  that  their 
army  served   to   no   other   purpose 


1  BaiUie,  ii.  Ill,  161,  169,  183.  Eashw. 
Ti.  46,  85.  Whitelock,  69,  172.  Journals, 
Tu.  434,  476,  620. 

2  Journals,  vii.  573,  619,  640-643,  653, 
668,  689,  697,  703 ;  viii.  27,  97.  BaiUie,  ii. 
161,  162, 166,  171,  185,  188. 


than  to  plunder  the  defenceless  inha- 
bitants. The  Scots  haughtily  replied, 
that  the  occupation  of  the  fortresses 
was  necessary  for  their  own  safety; 
and  that,  if  disorders  had  occasionally 
been  committed  by  the  soldiers,  the 
blame  ought  to  attach  to  the  negli- 
gence or  parsimony  of  those  who  had 
failed  in  suppljing  the  subsidies  tc 
which  they  were  bound  by  treaty 
The  English  commissioners  remon- 
strated with  the  parliament  of  Scot- 
land, the  Scottish  with  that  o: 
England;  the  charges  were  recipro- 
cally made  and  repelled  in  tones  o; 
asperity  and  defiance ;  and  the  occur- 
rences of  each  day  seemed  to  announce 
a  speedy  rupture  between  the  twc 
nations.  Hitherto  their  ancient  ani 
mosities  had  been  lulled  asleep  b: 
the  conviction  of  their  mutual  de 
pendence :  the  removal  of  the  com- 
mon danger  called  them  again  int< 
activity.* 

To  a  mind  like  that  of  Charles 
eager  to  multiply  experiments,  am 
prone  to  beheve  improbabilities,  th 
hostile  position  of  these  parties  opene 
a  new  field  for  intrigue.     He  per 
suaded  himself  that  by  gaining  eithei 
he   should    be   enabled    to   destro; 
both.3    He  therefore  tempted  the  In 
dependents  with  promises  of  arapl 
rewards  and  unhmited  toleration ;  an 
at  the  same  time  sought  to  win  tb 
Scots  by  professions  of  his  willingnes 
to  accede  to   any  terms  compatibl  i 
with    his    honour    and    conscienc<  i 
Their  commissioners  in  London  h. 
already  made  overtures  for  an  acco: 
modation    to    Queen    Henrietta    i 
Paris;  and  the  French  monarch,  ; 
her  suggestion,  had  intrusted  Moi 
treuil  with  the  delicate  ofTice  of  neg' 
tiating   secretly  between   them  au 


»  "  I  am  not  without  hope  that  I  shall  1 
able  to  draw  either  the  Presbyterians  < 
Independents  to  side  with  ine  lor  exti 
pating  the  one  the  other,  that  I  slialiti  1 
really  king  again." — Carte's  Ormond, 
452. 


A.D.  IGio.]    THE  KING'S  PROPOSALS  TO  PARLIAMENT. 


61 


their  sovereign.  Prom  Montreuil 
Charles  understood  that  the  Scots 
would  afford  him  an  asylum  in  their 
army,  and  declare  in  his  favour,  if  he 
would  assent  to  the  three  demands 
made  of  him  during  the  treaty  at 
Uxbridge ;  a  proposal  which  both 
Henrietta  and  the  queen  regent  of 
France  thought  so  moderate  in  exist- 
ing circumstances,  that  he  would  ac- 
cept it  with  eagerness  and  gratitude. 
But  the  king,  in  his  own  judgment, 
gave  the  preference  to  a  project  of 
accommodation  with  the  Independ- 
ents, because  they  asked  only  for 
toleration,  while  the  Scots  sought  to 
force  their  own  creed  on  the  con- 
sciences of  others ;  nor  did  he  seem  to 
comprehend  the  important  fact,  that 
the  latter  were  wilUng  at  least  to 
accept  him  for  their  king,  while  the 
former  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the 
entire  subversion  of  his  throne.' 

Prom  Oxford  he  had  sent  several 
messages  to  the  parliament,  by  one  of 
which  he  demanded  passports  for 
commissioners,  or  free  and,  safe 
access  for  himself.  To  all  a  refusal 
was  returned,  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  employed  the  opportunity  afforded 
him  by  former  treaties  to  tempt  the 
fidelity  of  the  commissioners,  and  that 
it  was  unsafe  to  indulge  him  with 
more  facilities  for  conducting  similar 
intrigues.  Decency,  however,  re- 
quired that  in  return  the  two  houses 
should  make  their  proposals ;  and  it 
was  resolved  to  submit  to  him  certain 
articles  for  his  immediate  and  unqua- 
lified approval  or  rejection.  The 
Scots  contended  in  favour  of  the  three 
original  propositions ;  but  their  oppo- 
nents introduced  several  important 
alterations,  for  the  twofold  purpose, 
first  of  spinning  out  the  debates,  till 

*  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  209—211.  Baillie, 
ii.  188.    Thurloe,  i.  72,  73,  85. 

'  Charles'3  Works,  548—550.  Jonrnals, 
TOi.  31,  45,  53,  72.  BailUe,  ii.  144,  173,  177, 
184, 190. 

»  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  211—214.  "Let 
not  my  enemies  flatter  themselvea  so  with 


the  king  should  be  surrounded  in 
Oxford,  and  secondly  of  making  such 
additions  to  the  severity  of  the  terms 
as  might  insure  their  rejection.^ 

Under  these  circumstances  Mon- 
treuil admonished  him  that  he  had 
not  a  day  to  spare;  that  the  Inde- 
pendents sought  to  deceive  him  to 
his  own  ruin ;  that  his  only  resource 
was  to  accept  of  the  conditions  of- 
fered by  the  Scots;  and  that,  what- 
ever might  be  his  persuasion  respect- 
ing the  origin  of  episcopacy,  he  might, 
in  his  present  distress,  conscientiously 
assent  to  the  demand  respecting  Pres- 
byterianism;  because  it  did  not  re- 
quire him  to  introduce  a  form  of 
worship  which  was  not  already  esta- 
blished, but  merely  to  allow  that  to 
remain  which  he  had  not  the  power 
to  remove.  Such,  according  to  his 
instructions,  was  the  opinion  of  the 
queen  regent  of  France,  and  such  was 
the  prayer  of  his  own  consort,  Hen- 
rietta Maria.  But  no  argument  could 
shake  the  royal  resolution.^  He  re- 
turned a  firm  but  temperate  refusal, 
and  renewed  his  request  for  a  personal 
conference  at  Westminster.  Themes- 
sage  was  conveyed  in  terms  as  energetic 
as  language  could  supply,  but  it  arrived 
at  a  most  unpropitious  moment,  the 
very  day  on  which  the  Committee  of 
both  Kingdoms  thought  proper  to 
communicate  to  the  two  houses  the 
papers  respecting  the  treaty  betw^eeu 
Glamorgan  and  the  Catholics  of  Ire- 
land. Amidst  the  ferment  and  ex- 
asperation produced  by  the  disclo- 
sure, the  king's  letter  was  suffered  to 
remain  unnoticed.  "* 

The  publication  of  these  important 
documents  imposed  on  Charles  the 
necessity  of  vindicating  his  conduct 
to  his  Protestant  subjects ;  a  task  of  no 


their  good  successes.  Without  pretending 
to  prophesy,  I  will  foretell  their  ruin,  except 
they  agree  with  me,  however  it  shall  please 
God  to  dispose  of  me." 

•*  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  213.  Journals, 
viii.  103,  125.  Commons',  iv.  Jan.  16,  26. 
Charles's  Works,  551.    Baillie,  ii.  185. 


62 


CHAELES  I. 


I 


[chap,  i: 


very  easy  executioti,  had  he  not  availed 
himself  of  the  permission  which  he 
had  formerly  extorted  from  the  at- 
tachment of  Glamorgan.  In  an  addi- 
tional message  to  the  two  houses,  he 
protested  that  he  had  never  given  to 
that  nobleman  any  other  commission 
than  to  enlist  soldiers,  nor  authorized 
him  to  treat  on  any  subject  without 
the  privity  of  the  lord  lieutenant; 
that  he  disavowed  all  his  proceedings 
and  engagements  with  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland ;  and  that  he  had  ordered 
the  privy  council  in  Dublin  to  pro- 
ceed against  him  for  his  presumption, 
accordin  g  to  law.  *  That  council,  how- 
ever, or  at  least  the  lord  lieutenant, 
was  in  possession  of  a  document  un- 
known to  the  parliament,  a  copy  of 
the  warrant  by  which  Charles  had 
engaged  to  confirm  whatever  Gla- 
morgan should  promise  in  the  royal 
name.  On  this  account,  in  his  answer 
to  Ormond,  he  was  compelled  to  shift 
his  ground,  and  to  assert  that  he  had 
no  recollection  of  any  such  warrant ; 
that  it  was  indeed  possible  he  might 
have  furnished  the  earl  with  some 
credential  to  the  Trish  Catholics  ;  but 
that  if  he  did,  it  was  only  with  an 
understanding  that  it  should  not  be 
employed  without  the  knowledge  and 
the  approbation  of  the  lord  lieute- 
nant. AYhoever  considers  the  eva- 
sive tendency  of  these  answers,  will 
find  in  them  abundant  proof  of  Gla- 
morgan's pretensions.^ 

That  nobleman  had  already  reco- 
vered his  liberty.  To  prepare  against 
subsequent  contingencies,  and  to  leave 
the  king  what  he  termed  "  a  starting- 
bole,"  he  had  been  careful  to  sub- 
join to  his  treaty  a  secret  article 
called  a  defeasance,  stipulating  that 
the  sovereign  should  be  no  further 
bound  than  he  himself  might  think 
proper,  after  he  had  witnessed  the 


1  Journala,   viii.  132.    Charles's  Works, 
55. 

2  Carte,  iii.  4io—448. 

*  Compare  Carte,  i.  651,  with  the  Yindi- 


efforts  of  the  Catholics  in  his  favour 
but  that  Glamorgan  should  concec 
this  release  from  the  royal  knowledg 
till  he  had  made  every  exertion  1: 
his  power  to  procure  the  execution 
of  the  treaty.3     This  extraordinar; 
instrument  he  now  produced  in  hi 
own  vindication :  the  council  ordere 
him  to  be  discharged  upon  bail  fo 
his  appearance  when  it  might  be  re 
quired;  and  he  hastened,  under  th 
approbation  of  the  lord  lieutenanl 
to  resume  his  negotiation  with  th 
Catholics  at  Kilkenny.    He  found  th 
general   assembly  divided   into   tw 
parties.    The  clergy,  with  their  adhe 
rents,  opposed  the  adoption  of  an;  : 
peace  in  which  the  establishment  c  I 
the  Catholic  worship  was  not  openl. 
recognized ;  and  their  arguments  wer  ^ 
strengthened  by  the  recent  imprison 
ment  of  Glamorgan,  and  the  secre 
influence  of  the  papal  nuncio  Einuc 
cini,  archbishop  and  prince  of  Fermc 
who   had    lately  landed  in  Irelanc 
On  the  other  hand,  the  members  c  '■ 
the  council  and  the  lords  ajid  gentle 
men  of  the  Pale  strenuously  recom 
mended  the  adoption  of  one  of  th 
two  expedients  which  have  been  pre 
viously  mentioned,   as   offering  suj 
ficient  security  for  the  church,  an  ' 
the  only  means  of  uniting  the  Pre 
testant  royalists  in  the  same  caus  ^ 
with  the  Catholics.    At  the  sugges 
tion  of  the  nuncio,  the  decision  wa 
postponed  to  the  month  of  May ;  bu  ■ 
Glamorgan  did  not  forget  the  nece? 
sities  of  his  sovereign ;  he  obtained  a  ' 
immediate  aid  of  six  thousand  mer 
and  the  promise  of  a  considerable  re 
inforcement,  and  proceeded  to  Watei 
ford  for  the  purpose  of  attempting  t 
raise  the  siege  of  Chester.     Ther(  , 
while  he  wait-ed  the  arrival  of  trant 
ports,  he  received  the  news  of  th  • 
public  disavowal  of  his  authority  b   I 


ciae,  17.  Neither  of  these  writers  gives  tis 
full  copy  of  the  defeasance.  In  the  Vindici 
we  are  told  that  it  was  this  which  procure 
Glamorgaa's  discharge  from  prison. 


A.D.  1646.1       DISSOLUTION  OP  THE  EOTAL  AEMY. 


63 


the  king.  But  this  gave  him  little 
uneasiness:  he  attributed  it  to  the 
real  cause,  the  danger  with  which 
Charles  was  threatened  ;  and  he  had 
been  already  instructed  "  to  make  no 
other  account  of  such  declarations, 
than  to  put  himself  in  a  condition  to 
help  his  master  and  set  him  free."^ 
In  a  short  time  the  more  distressing 
intelligence  arrived  that  Chester  had 
surrendered :  the  fall  of  Chester  was 
followed  by  the  dissolution  of  the 
royal  army  in  Cornwall,  under  the 
command  of  Lord  Hopton ;  and  the 
prince  of  Wales,  unable  to  remain 
there  with  safety,  fled  first  to  Scilly 
and  thence  to  Jersey.  There  re- 
mained not  a  spot  on  the  English 
coast  where  the  Irish  auxiliaries  could 
be  landed  with  any  xjrospect  of  suc- 
cess. Glamorgan  dispersed  his  army. 
Three  hundred  men  accompanied  the 
Lord  Digby  to  form  a  guard  for  the 
;prince ;  a  more  considerable  body 
proceeded  to  Scotland  in  aid  of  Mon- 
trose; and  the  remainder  returned 
to  their  former  quarters.-^ 

In  the  mean  while  the  king  con- 
tinued to  consume  his  time  in  unavail- 
ing negotiations  with  the  parliament, 
the  Scots,  and  the  Independents. 
1.  He  had  been  persuaded  that  there 
were  many  individuals  of  considerable 
influence  both  in  the  city  and  the  two 
houses,  who  anxiously  wished  for  such 
an  accommodation  as  might  heal  the 
wounds  of  the  country:  that  the 
terror  inspired  by  the  ruling  party 
imposed  silence  on  them  for  the  pre- 
sent; but  that,  were  he  in  London, 
they  would  joyfully  rally  around  him, 


1  Birch,  189. 

*  Had  Glamorgan's  intended  anny  of 
10,000  men  landed  in  England,  the  war 
would  probably  have  assumed  a  most  aan- 
gtdnary     character.      An    ordinance    had 

ried  the  houses,  that  no  quarter  should 
given  to  any  Irishman,  or  any  papist 
born  in  Ireland ;  that  they  should  be  ex- 
cepted out  of  all  capitulations  ;  and  that 
whenever  they  were  taken,  they  should 
forthwith  be  put  to  death.— Rushworth, 
V.  729.    Oct.  24  1644.     By  the  navy  this  was 


and  by  their  number  and  union  com- 
pel his  adversaries  to  lower  their  pre- 
tensions. This  it  was  that  induced 
him  to  solicit  a  personal  confer- 
ence at  Westminster.  He  now  re- 
peated the  proposal,  and,  to  make  it 
worth  acceptance,  oflfered  to  grant 
full  toleration  to  every  class  of  Pro- 
testant dissenters,  to  yield  to  the  par- 
liament the  command  of  the  army 
during  seven  years,  and  to  make  over 
to  them  the  next  nomination  of  the 
lord  admiral,  the  judges,  and  the 
officers  of  state.  The  insulting  silence 
with  which  this  message  was  treated 
did  not  deter  him  from  a  third  at- 
tempt. He  asked  whether,  if  he  were 
to  disband  his  forces,  dismantle  his 
garrisons,  and  return  to  his  usual 
residence  in  the  vicinity  of  the  par- 
liament, they,  on  their  part,  would 
pass  their  word  for  the  preservation 
of  his  honour,  person,  and  estate, 
and  allow  his  adherents  to  live  with- 
out molestation  on  their  own  pro- 
perty. Even  this  proposal  could  not 
provoke  an  answer.  It  was  plain 
that  his  enemies  dared  not  trust  their 
adherents  in  the  royal  presence ;  and, 
fearing  that  he  might  privately  make 
his  way  into  the  city,  they  published 
an  ordinance,  that  if  the  king  came 
within  the  lines  of  communication, 
the  officer  of  the  guard  should  con- 
duct him  to  St.  James's,  imprison  his 
followers,  and  allow  of  no  access  to 
his  person;  and  at  the  same  time 
they  gave  notice  by  proclamation  that 
all  Catholics,  and  all  persons  who 
had  borne  arms  in  the  king's  service, 
should  depart  within  six  days,  under 


vigorously  executed.  The  Irish  sailors  were 
invariably  bound  back  to  back,  and  thrown 
into  the  sea.  At  land  we  read  of  twelve 
Irish  soldiers  being  hanged  by  the  parlia- 
mentarians, for  whom  Prince  Eupert  hanged 
twelve  of  his  prisoners.— Clarendon,  ii.  623. 
After  the  victory  of  Naseby,  Fairfax  re- 
ferred the  task  to  the  two  houses.  He  had 
not,  he  wrote,  time  to  inquire  who  were 
Irish  and  who  were  not,  but  had  sent  all 
the  prisoners  to  London,  to  be  disposed  of 
according  to  law.— Journals,  vii.  433. 


64 


CHAELES  I. 


[CHi-P.  I] 


the  penalty  of  being  proceeded  against 
as  spies  according  to  martial  law.' 

2.  In  the  negotiation  still  pending 
between  Montreuil  and  the  Scottish 
commissioners,  other  matters  were 
easily  adjusted ;  but  the  question  of 
religion  presented  an  unsurmountable 
difficulty,  the  Scots  insisting  that  the 
Presbyterian  form  of  church  govern- 
ment should  be  established  in  all  the 
three  kingdoms ;  the  king  consenting 
that  it  should  retain  the  supremacy  in 
Scotland,  but  refusing  to  consent  to 
the  abolition  of  episcopacy  in  England 
and  Ireland.^  To  give  a  colour  to  the 
agency  of  Montreuil,  Louis  had  ap- 
pointed him  the  Erench  resident  in 
Scotland;  and  in  that  capacity  he 
applied  for  permission  to  pass  through 
Oxford  on  his  way,  that  he  might 
deliver  to  the  king  letters  from  his 
sovereign  and  the  queen  regent.  Ob- 
jections were  made ;  delays  were  cre- 
ated; but  after  the  lapse  of  a  fort- 
night, he  obtained  a  passport  from 
the  Committee  of  the  two  Kingdoms,^ 
and  employed  his  time  at  Oxford  in 
persuading  Charles  of  the  necessity  of 
concession,  and  in  soliciting  from  the 
Scottish  commissioners  authority  to 
assure  their  sovereign  of  safety  as  to 
person  and  conscience  in  the  Scottish 
army.  On  the  first  of  April  he  re- 
ceived from  Charles  a  written  engage- 
ment, that  he  would  take  with  him 


i  Charles's  Works,  556,  557.  Eushworth, 
vi.  249.  Journals,  March  31,  1646.  Carte's 
Ormond,  iii.  452. 

2  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  209—215. 

3  Lords'  Joum.  viii.  171.  Commons', 
Feb.  16,  28;  March  4,  5,  7. 

♦  Of  this  paper  there  were  two  copies, 
one  to  be  kept  secret,  containing  a  protesta- 
tion that  none  of  the  king's  followers  should 
be  mined  or  dishonoured ;  the  other  to  be 
shown,  containing  no  such  protestation. 
*'Kn  I'un  desquels,  qui  m'a  este  donn6  pour 
faire  voir,  la  protestation  n'estoit  point. 
Faite  a  Oxford  ce  premier  Avril,  1646."— 
Clarend.  Papers,  ii.  220. 

5  Why  BO?  It  had  been  so  settled  in 
Paris,  because  the  negotiation  was  opened 
under  their  auspices,  and  conducted  by  their 
agent.— Clarend.  Hist.  ii.  750,  Papers,  ii. 
209. 


to  their  quarters  before  Newark  "n( 
man  excepted  by  parliament,  bu 
only  his  nephews  and  Ashburnhara,' 
and  that  he  would  then  listen  to  in 
struction  in  the  matter  of  religion 
and  concede  as  far  as  his  conscienc< 
would  permit.*  In  return,  Montreui 
pled  ged  to  him  the  wor  d  of  his  so  vere  igi 
and  the  queen  regent  of  France,^  tha 
the  Scots  should  receive  him  as  thei: 
natural  king,  should  offer  no  violenc 
to  his  person  or  conscience,  his  ser 
vants  or  followers,  and  should  joii 
their  forces  and  endeavours  with  hi 
to  procure  "a  happy  and  well-grounde( 
peace."  On  this  understanding  i 
was  agreed  that  the  king  should  at 
tempt  on  the  night  of  the  followin; 
Tuesday  to  break  through  the  parUa 
mentary  force  lying  round  Oxford 
and  that  at  the  same  time  a  bod; 
of  three  hundred  Scottish  cavalr; 
should  advance  as  far  as  Harboroug) 
to  receive  him,  and  escort  him  ii 
safety  to  their  own  army.^ 

Two  days  later  Montreuil  resume< 
his  pretended  journey  to  Scotland 
and  repaired  to  Southwell,  withii 
the  quarters  assigned  to  the  Scoti 
That  they  might  without  inconveni 
ence  spare  a  large  escort  to  meet  th 
king,  he  had  brought  with  him 
royal  order  to  Lord  Belasyse  to  sur 
render  Newark  into  their  hands ;  but 
to  his  surprise  and  dismay,  he  founi 


6  Ibid.  220—222.  It  had  been  aske 
whether  Montreuil  had  any  authority  fror 
the  Scottish  commissioners  to  make  sue 
an  engagement.  I  see  no  reason  to  doul 
it.  Both  Charles  and  Montreuil  must  hav 
been  aware  that  an  unauthorized  engage 
ment  could  have  ofiered  no  security  to  th 
king  in  the  hazardous  attempt  which  h 
meditated.  We  find  him  twice,  before  th 
date  of  the  engagement,  requiring  the  con 
missioners  to  send  powers  to  Montreuil  t 
assure  him  of  safety  in  person  and  cor 
science  in  their  army  (Clarendon  Pap.  i 
218) ,  and  immediately  afterwards  informui 


Ormond  that  he  was  going  to  the  Scottu 
ly  because  he  had  lately  received  **  ver 
good    security"    that    he    and    his  frienc 


should  be  safe  in  person,  honour,  and  coi 
science.  See  the  letter  in  Lords'  Journal 
viii.  366,  and  account  of  a  letter  from  tb 
king  to  Lord  Belasyse  in  Pepys,  ii.  246. 


.D.  164G.]    THE  KI^iG  TREATS  WITH  BOTH  PAETIES. 


Go 


that  the  commissioners  to  the  army 
jiffected  to  be  ignorant  of  the  autho- 
rity exercised  by  him  at  Oxford,  and 
refused  to  take  upon  themselves  the 
responsibihty  of  meeting  and  receiv- 
ing the  king.  They  objected  that  it 
would  be  an  act  of  hostility  towards 
the  parliament,  a  breach  of  the  solemn 
league  and  covenant  between  the 
nations:  nor  would  they  even  allow 
him  to  inform  Charles  of  their  re- 
fusal, till  they  should  have  a  personal 
conference  with  their  commissioners 
in  London.  In  these  circumstances 
he  burnt  the  order  for  the  surrender 
of  Newark ;  and  the  king,  alarmed  at 
his  unaccountable  silence,  made  no 
attempt  to  escape  from  Oxford.  A 
fortnight  was  passed  in  painful  sus- 
pense. At  last  the  two  bodies  of 
commissioners  met  at  Royston;  and 
the  result  of  a  long  debate  was  a  sort 
of  compromise  between  the  opposite 
parties,  that  the  king  should  be  re- 
ceived, but  in  such  manner  that  all 
appearance  of  previous  treaty  or  con- 
cert might  be  avoided ;  that  he  should 
be  requested  to  give  satisfaction  on 
the  question  of  religion  as  speedily  as 
possible,  and  that  no  co-operation  of 
the  royal  forces  with  the  Scots  should 
be  permitted.  At  first  Montreuil,  in 
the  anguish  of  disappointment,  was 
of  opinion  that  no  faith  was  to  be  put 
in  the  word  of  a  Scotsman :  now  he 
thought  that  he  discovered  a  gleam  of 
hope  in  the  resolution  taken  at  Eoys- 
ton,  and  advised  the  king  to  accept 
the  proposal,  if  no  better  expedient 
could  be  devised.  It  held  out  a  pro- 
spect of  safety,  though  it  promised 
nothing  more.' 


'  These  particulars  appear  in  the  corre- 
spondence in  Clarendon  Papers,  221 — 226. 
Montreuil  left  Oxford  on  Friday ;  therefore 
on  the  3rd. 

2  This  gentleman  might  be  Fairfax  or 
Cromwell;  but  from  a  letter  of  Baillie  (ii. 
199,  App.  3),  I  should  think  that  he  was  an 
"  Independent  minister,"  probably  Peters. 

•*  See  two  letters,  one  of  March  2,  from 
Ashburnham,  beginning,  "  Sir,  you  cannot 
suppose  the  work  is  done,"  and  another 
8 


3.  During  this  negotiation  the  un- 
fortunate monarch,  though  warned 
that,  by  treating  at  the  same  time 
with  two  opposite  parties,  he  ran  the 
risk  of  forfeiting  the  confidence  of 
both,  had  employed  Ashburnham  to 
make  proposals  to  the  Independents 
through  Sir  Henry  Yane.  What  the 
king  asked  from  them  was  to  facili- 
tate his  access  to  parliament.  Ample 
rewards  were  held  out  to  Yane,  "  to 
the  gentleman,  who  was  quartered 
with  him,"  2  and  to  the  personal  friends 
of  both  ;  and  an  assurance  was  given, 
that  if  the  estabUshment  of  Presby- 
terianism  were  still  made  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  peace,  the  king 
would  join  his  efforts  with  theirs  "  te 
root  out  of  the  kingdom  that  tyran- 
nical government."  From  the  re- 
mains of  the  correspondence  it  ap- 
pears that  to  the  first  communication 
Yane  had  replied  in  terms  which, 
though  not  altogether  satisfactory,  did 
not  exclude  the  hope  of  his  compli- 
ance; and  Charles  wrote  to  him  a 
second  time,  repeating  his  offers,  de- 
scribing his  distress,  and  stating  that, 
unless  be  received  a  favourable  an- 
swer within  four  days,  he  must  have 
recourse  to  some  other  expedient.^ 
The  negotiation,  however,  continued 
for  weeks  :  it  was  even  discovered  by 
the  opposite  party,  who  considered  it 
as  an  artful  scheme  on  the  part  of  the 
Independents  to  detain  the  king  in 
Oxford,  till  Fairfax  and  Cromwell 
should  bring  up  the  army  from  Corn- 
wall; to  amuse  the  royal  bird,  till 
the  fowlers  had  enclosed  him  in  their 
toils.* 

Oxford  during  the  war  had  been 


without  date,  from  Charles,  beginning,  "Sir, 
I  shaU  only  add  this  word  to  what  was  said 
in  my  last."  They  were  first  published  from 
the  papers  of  secretary  ^'ieholas,  by  Birch, 
in  1764,  in  the  preface  to  a  collection  of 
"Letters  between  Colonel  Hammond  and 
the  committee  at  Derby  House,  &c."  and 
afterwards  in  the  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  22G, 
227. 

*  See  Baillie,  App.  3,  App.  23,  ii.  199,  203. 

"  Their  daily  treaties  with  Ashburnham  to 

F 


6G 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


rendered  one  of  the  strongest  for- 
tresses in  the  kingdom.  On  three 
sides  the  waters  of  the  Isis  and  the 
Cherwell,  spreading  over  the  adjoin- 
ing country,  kept  the  enemy  at  a  con- 
siderable distance,  and  on  the  north 
the  city  was  covered  with  a  succession 
of  works,  erected  by  the  most  skilful 
engineers.  With  a  garrison  of  five 
thousand  men,  and  a  plentiful  supply 
of  stores  and  provisions,  Charles  might 
have  protracted  his  fate  for  several 
months  ;  yet  the  result  of  a  siege  must 
have  been  his  captivity.  He  possessed 
no  army;  he  had  no  prospect  of  as- 
sistance from  without;  and  within, 
famine  would  in  the  end  compel  him 
to  surrender.  But  where  was  he  to 
seek  an  asylum  ? 

Indignant  at  what  he  deemed  a 
breach  of  faith  in  the  Scots,  he 
spurned  the  idea  of  throwing  himself 
on  their  mercy ;  and  the  march  of 
Fairfax  with  the  advanced  guard  of 
his  army  towards  Andover  admo- 
nished him  that  it  was  time  to  quit 
the  city  of  Oxford.  First  he  inquired 
by  two  officers  the  opinion  of  Ireton, 
who  was  quartered  at  Waterstock, 
whether,  if  he  were  to  disband  his 
forces,  and  to  repair  to  the  general, 
the  parliament  would  suffer  him  to 
retain  the  title  and  authority  of  king. 
Then,  receiving  no  answer  from  Ire- 
ton,  he  authorized  the  earl  of  South- 
ampton to  state  to  Colonel  Eainbo- 
rowe,  that  the  king  was  ready  to 
deliver  himself  up  to  the  army,  on 
receiving  a  pledge  that  his  personal 
safety    should   be   respected.*      But 


keep  the  king  still,  till  they  deliver  him  to 
Sir  Thomaa  Fairfax,  and  to  be  disposed 
Tipon  as  Cromwell  and  his  friend  think  it 
fittest  for  their  affairs."— Ibid.  A  different 
account  is  given  in  the  continuation  of 
Mackintosh,  vi.  21. 

*  Hearne's  Dunstable,  ii.  787—790. 

2  The  Scots  had  made  three  offers  or 
promises  to  the  king.  The  first  and  most 
important  was  the  engagement  of  the  1st 
of  April.  But  the  Scottish  commissioners 
■with  the  arm^  shrunk  from  the  responsibUitj 
of  carrying  it  into  execution;  and,  as  it 
appears  to  me,  with  some  reason,  for  they 


Rainborowe  referred  him  to  the  par- 
liament ;  and  the  unhappy  monarch, 
having  exhausted  every  expedient 
which  he  could  devise,  left  Oxford  at 
midnight,  disguised  as  a  servant,  fol- 
lowing his  supposed  master  Ashburn- 
ham,  who  rode  before  in  company 
with  Hudson,  a  clergyman,  well 
acquainted  with  the  country.  They 
passed  through  Henley  and  Brentford 
to  Harrow ;  but  the  time  which  was 
spent  on  the  road  proved  either  that 
Charles  had  hitherto  formed  no  plan 
in  his  own  mind,  or  that  he  lingered 
with  the  hope  of  some  communication 
from  his  partisans  in  the  metropolis. 
At  last  he  turned  in  the  direction  oi 
St.  Alban's ;  and,  avoiding  that  town- 
hastened  through  bye-ways  to  Har- 
borough.  If  he  expected  to  find  there 
a  body  of  Scottish  horse,  or  a  mes- 
senger from  Montreuil,  he  was  dis- 
appointed. Crossing  by  Stamford,  he 
rested  at  Downham,  and  spent  two  oi 
three  days  in  fruitless  inquiries  lor  a 
ship  Vfhich  might  convey  him  to  New- 
castle or  Scotland,  whilst  HudsoE 
repaired  to  the  French  agent  at  South- 
well, and  returned  the  bearer  of  e 
short  note  sent  by  Montreuil,  froir 
whom  the  messenger  understood  ihal 
the  Scots  had  pledged  their  word— 
they  would  give  no  written  docu- 
ment—to fulfil  on  their  part  the  ori- 
ginal engagement  made  in  their  namt  ' 
at  Oxford.=^  On  this  slender  security— 
for  he  had  no  alternative— he  repairec 
to  the  lodgings  of  Montreuil  early  ir 
the  morning,  and  about  noon  wa; 
conducted  by  a  troop  of  horse  to  th< 


had  not  been  parties  to  the  tontract.  Thi 
second  was  the  modified  offer  agreed  upoi 
by  both  bodies  of  commissioners  at  Royston 
But  this  offer  was  never  accepted  by  th' 
king,  and  consequently  ceased  to  be  bindini 
upon  them.  The  third  was  the  verbal  pro 
mise  mentioned  above.  If  it  was  maa»- 
and  of  a  promise  of  safety  there  can  be  iJi 
doubt,  though  we  have  only  the  testinion; 
of  Hudson— the  Scots  were  certainly  boom 
by  it,  and  must  plead  guilty  to  the  charg 
of  breach  of  faith,  by  subsequently  deliver 
ing  up  the  fugitive  monarch  to  the  Englia: 
parliament. 


A.D.  1646.1      CHAELES  SUEEENDEES  TO  THE  SCOTS. 


head  quarters  at  Kelham.  Leslie  and 
his  officers,  though  they  afiected  the 
utmost  surprise,  treated  him  with  the 
respect  due  to  their  sovereign ;  and 
Loudon  in  the  name  of  the  commis- 
sioners required  that  he  should  take 
the  covenant,  should  order  Lord  Be- 
lasyse  to  surrender  Newark,  and 
should  despatch  a  messenger  with  the 
royal  command  to  Montrose  to  lay 
down  his  arms.  Charles  soon  disco- 
vered that  he  was  a  prisoner,  and 
when,  to  make  the  experiment,  he 
undertook  to  give  the  word  to  the 
guard,  he  was  interrupted  by  Leven, 
who  said:  "I  am  the  older  soldier, 
sir;  your  majesty  had  better  leave 
that  office  to  me."  ^ 

For  ten  days  the  public  mind  in 
the  capital  had  been  agitated  by  the 
most  contradictory  rumours :  the  mo- 
ment the  place  of  the  king's  retreat 
was  ascertained,  both  Presbyterians 
and  Independents  united  in  con- 
demning the  perfidy  of  their  northern 
allies.  Menaces  of  immediate  hostili- 
ties were  heard.  Poyntz  received  or- 
ders to  wateh  the  motions  of  the  Scots 
with  five  thousand  horse ;  and  it  was 
resolved  that  Fairfax  should  follow 
with  the  remainder  of  the  army.  But 
the  Scottish  leaders,  anxious  to  avoid 
a  rupture,  and  yet  unwilUng  to  sur- 
render the  royal  prize,  broke  up  their 
camp  before  Newark,  and  retired  with 
precipitation  to  Newcastle.  Thence 
by  dint  of  protestations  and  denials 
they  gradually  succeeded  in  allaying 
the  ferment.^     Charles   contributed 


^  Peck,  Desid.  Curios.  1.  x.  Ifo.  8.  Ash- 
bnrnham,  ii.  76.  Kushworth,  \i.  266,  267, 
276.  Clarendon,  Hist.  iii.  22  j  Papers,  ii. 
228.    Turner,  Mem.  41. 

-  See  their  messages  in  the  Lords'  Jour- 
nals, Yiii.  307,  308,  311,  364;  Hearne's  Dun- 
stable, ii.  790—800.    They  protest  that  they 
were  astonished  at  the  king's  coming  to 
their  army;    that    they  beUeved  he  must 
mean  to  give  satisfaction,  or  he  would  never 
have    come    to    them ;    that   his  presence 
would  never  induce  them  to  act  in  opposi- 
■     tion  to  the  solemn  league  and  covenant; 
^     that  they  should  leave  the  settlement  of  all 
(     questions  to  the  parliaments  of  the  two 


his  share,  by  repeating  his  desire  of 
an  accommodation,  and  requesting 
the  two  houses  to  send  to  him  th« 
propositions  of  peace:  and,  as  an 
earnest  of  his  sincerity,  he  despatched 
a  circular  order  to  his  officers  to 
surrender  the  few  forkesses  which 
still  maintained  his  cause.  The  war 
was  at  an  end ;  Oxford,  Worcester, 
Pendennis,  and  Eagland,  opened  their 
gates ;  and  to  the  praise  of  the  con- 
querors it  must  be  recorded,  that 
they  did  not  stain  their  laurels  with 
blood.  The  last  remnants  of  the  royal 
army  obtained  honourable  terms  from 
the  generosity  of  Fairfax ;  easy  com- 
positions for  the  redemption  of  their 
estates  were  held  out  to  the  great 
majority  of  the  royalists;  and  the 
policy  of  the  measure  was  proved  by 
the  number  of  those  who  hastened  to 
profit  by  the  indulgence,  and  thus 
extinguished  the  hopes  of  the  few  who 
still  thought  it  possible  to  conjure  up 
another  army  in  defence  of  the  cap- 
tive monarch.^ 

While  the  two  houses,  secure  ot 
victory,  debated  at  their  leisure  the 
propositions  to  be  submitted  for  ac- 
ceptance to  the  king,  the  Scots  em- 
ployed the  interval  in  attempts  to 
convert  him  to  the  Presbyterian  creed. 
For  this  purpose,  Henderson,  the 
most  celebrated  of  their  ministers, 
repaired  from  London  to  Newcastle. 
The  king,  according  to  his  promise, 
listened  to  the  arguments  of  his  new 
instructor;  and  an  interesting  con- 
troversy respecting  the  divine  insti- 


nations ;  that  there  had  been  no  treaty 
between  the  king  and  them ;  and  that  th« 
assertion  in  the  letter  published  by  Ormoad 
was  "  a  damnable  untruth." 

3  Journals,  viii.  309,  329,  360,  374,  473. 
Baillie,  ii.  207,  209.  Kush.  vi.  280—297.  The 
last  who  submitted  to  take  down  the  royal 
standard  was  the  marquess  of  Worcester. 
He  was  compelled  to  travel,  at  the  age  of 
eighty,  from  Ragland  Castle  to  London,  bat 
died  immediately  after  his  arrival.  As  iiis 
estate  was  under  sequestration,  the  Lords 
ordered  a  sum  to  be  advanced  for  the  ex- 
penses of  his  funeral. — Journals,  viii.  498, 
616.  See  Appendix,  QQQ. 
F  2 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


tution  of  episcopacy  and  presbyteracy 
was  maintained  with  no  contemptible 
display  of  skill  between  the  two  pole- 
mics. Whether  Charles  composed 
without  the  help  of  a  theological  moni- 
tor the  papers  which  on  this  occasion 
he  produced,  may  perhaps  be  doubted ; 
but  the  author,  whoever  he  were, 
proved  himself  a  match,  if  not  more 
than  a  match,  for  his  veteran  oppo- 
nent.' The  Scottish  leaders,  how- 
ever, came  with  political  arguments 
to  the  aid  of  their  champion.  They 
assured  the  king  that  his  restoration 
to  the  royal  authority,  or  his  per- 
petual exclusion  from  the  throne, 
depended  on  his  present  choice.  Let 
him  take  the  covenant,  and  concur  in 
the  estabhshment  of  the  Directory, 
and  the  Scottish  nation  to  a  man, 
the  English,  Avith  the  sole  exception 
of  the  Independents,  would  declare 
in  his  favour.  His  conformity  in 
that  point  alone  could  induce  them 
to  mitigate  the  severity  of  their  other 
demands,  to  replace  him  on  the  throne 
of  his  ancestors,  and  to  compel  the 
opposite  faction  to  submit.  Should 
he  refuse,  he  must  attribute  the  con- 
sequences to  himself.  He  had  re- 
ceived suflBcient  warning:  they  had 
taken  the  covenant,  and  must  dis- 
charge their  duty  to  God  and  their 
country. 

It  was  believed  then,  it  has  often 
been  repeated  since,  that  the  king's 
refusal  originated  in  the  wilfulness 
and  obstinacy  of  his  temper ;  and 
that  his  repeated  appeals  to  his  con- 
science were  mere  pretexts  to  disguise 


'  The  following  was  the  chief  point  in 
dispute.  Each  had  alleged  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture in  support  of  his  favourite  opinion,  and 
each  explained  those  texts  in  an  opposite 
meaning.  It  was  certainly  as  unreasonable 
that  Charles  should  submit  his  judgment  to 
Henderson,  as  that  Henderson  should  sub- 
mit his  to  that  of  Charles.  The  king,  there- 
fore, asked  who  was  to  be  judge  between 
them.  The  divine  replied,  that  Scripture 
could  only  be  explained  by  Scripture,  which, 
in  the  opinion  ot  the  monarch,  was  leaving 
the  matter  undecided.  He  maintained  that 
antiquity  was  the  judge.    The  church  go- 


his  design  of  replunging  the  nation 
into  the  horrors  from  which  it  had  so 
recently  emerged.  But  this  supposi- 
tion is  completely  refuted  by  the 
whole  tenour  of  his  secret  correspon- 
dence with  his  queen  and  her  council 
in  Erance.  He  appears  to  have 
divided  his  objections  into  two  classes, 
political  and  religious,  1.  It  was,  he 
alleged,  an  age  in  which  mankind 
were  governed  from  the  pulpit: 
whence  it  became  an  object  of  the  first 
importance  to  a  sovereign  to  determine 
to  whose  care  that  powerful  engine 
should  be  intrusted.  The  principles 
of  Presbyterianism  were  anti-mon- 
archical; its  ministers  openly  advo- 
cated the  lawfulness  of  rebellion  ;  and. 
if  they  were  made  the  sole  dispen.sers  of 
pubhc  instruction,  he  and  his  succes- 
sors might  be  kings  in  name,  but  would 
be  slaves  in  eflfect.  The  wisest  of 
those  who  had  swayed  the  sceptre 
since  the  days  of  Solomon  had  given 
his  sanction  to  the  maxim  "  no  bishop 
no  king ;"  and  his  own  history  fur- 
nished a  melancholy  confirmation  of 
the  sagacity  of  his  father.  2.  The 
origin  of  episcopacy  was  a  theological 
question,  which  he  had  made  it  his 
business  to  study.  He  was  convinced 
that  the  institution  was  derived  from 
Christ,  and  that  he  could  not  in  con- 
science commute  it  for  another  form 
of  church  government  devised  by 
man.  He  had  found  episcopacy  in 
the  church  at  his  accession ;  he  had 
sworn  to  maintain  it  in  all  its  rights ; 
and  he  was  bound  to  leave  it  in  exist- 
ence at  his  death.    Once,  indeed,  to 


vernment  established  by  the  apostles  m : 
have  been  consonant  to  the  meaning  of  i 
Scripture.  Now,  as  far  as  we  can  go  !>;; 
in  history,  we  find  episcopacy  establish! 
whence  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  episcopa 
was  the  form  established  by  the  apostl 
Henderson  did  not  allow  the  inference,  i 
church  of  the  Jews  had  fallen  into  idola 
during  the  short  absence  of  Moses  on  t 
mount,  the  church  of  Christ  might  Li. 
fallen  into  error  in  a  short  time  after  i 
death  of  the  apostles.  Here  the  controver-s^ 
ended  with  the  sickness  and  death  o" 
divine.— See  Charles's  Works,  75— CO. 


fith  of^B, 

-GO.     H 


A.D.  1&46.]       THE  ENGLISH  AND  SCOTS  DISAGREE. 


please  the  two  houses,  he  had  be- 
trayed his  conscience  by  assenting  to 
the  death  of  Strafford;  the  punish- 
ment of  that  transgression  still  lay 
heavy  on  his  head;  but  should  he, 
to  please  them  again,  betray  it  once 
more,  he  would  prove  himself  a  most 
incorrigible  sinner,  and  deserve  the 
curse  both  of  God  and  man,' 

The  king  had  reached  Newark  in 
May :  it  was  the  end  of  July  before 
the  propositions  of  peace  were  sub- 
mitted to  his  consideration.  The 
same  in  substance  with  those  of  the 
preceding  year,  they  had  yet  been 
aggravated  by  new  restraints,  and  a 
more  numerous  list  of  proscriptions. 
On  the  tenth  day,  the  utmost  limit  of 
the  time  allotted  to  the  commissioners, 
Charles  replied  that  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  return  an  unquaUfied  assent 
to  proposals  of  such  immense  import- 
ance: that  without  explanation  he 
could  not  comprehend  hov,^  much  of 
the  ancient  constitution  it  was  meant 
to  preserve,  how  much  to  take  away ; 
that  a  personal  conference  was  neces- 
sary for  both  parties,  in  order  to  re- 
move doubts,  weigh  reasons,  and  come 
to  a  perfect  understanding ;  and  that 
for  this  purpose  it  was  his  intention 
to  repair  to  Westminster  whenever 
the  two  houses  and  the  Scottish  com- 
missioners would  assure  him  that  he 
might  reside  there  with  freedom,  ho- 
nour, and  safety  .2 

This  message,  which  was  deemed 
evasive,  and  therefore  unsatisfactory. 


1  For  all  these  particulars,  see  the  Cla- 
rendon Papers,  ii.  243,  248,  258,  260,  263, 
265,  274,  277,  295  ;  Baillie,  ii.  208,  209,  214, 
218,  219,  236,  241,  242,  243,  249. 

2  Journals,  viii.  423,  447,  460.  The  king 
now  wished  to  escape  from  the  Scots.  Ash- 
burnham  was  instructed  to  sound  Pierpoint, 
one  of  the  parliamentarian  commissioners, 
but  Pierpoint  refused  to  confer  with  him. — 
Ashbnrn.  ii.  78. 

'  Journals,  viii.  461,  485.  Baillie,  ii.  222, 
223,  225,  267.  Knsh.  vi.  322—326,  To  pro- 
cure the  money,  a  new  loan  was  raised  in 
the  following  manner.  Every  subscriber  to 
former  loans  on  the  faith  of  parliament, 
who  had  yet  received  neither  principal  nor 


filled  the  Independents  with  joy, 
the  Presbyterians  with  sorrow.  The 
former  disguised  no  longer  their  wish 
to  dethrone  the  king,  and  either 
to  set  up  in  his  place  his  son,  the 
duke  of  York,  whom  the  surrender 
of  Oxford  had  delivered  into  their 
hands,  or,  which  to  many  seemed 
preferable,  to  substitute  a  repub- 
lican for  a  monarchical  form  of 
government.  The  Scottish  commis- 
sioners sought  to  allay  the  ferment, 
by  diverting  the  attention  of  the 
houses.  They  expressed  their  readi- 
ness not  only  to  concur  in  such  mea- 
sures as  the  obstinacy  of  the  king 
should  make  necessary,  but  on  the 
receipt  of  a  compensation  for  their 
past  services,  to  withdraw  their  army 
into  their  own  country.  The  offer 
was  cheerfully  accepted ;  a  committee 
assembled  to  balance  the  accounts 
between  the  nations;  many  charges 
on  both  sides  were  disputed  and  dis- 
allowed ;  and  at  last  the  Scots  agreed 
to  accept  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds  in  lieu  of  all  demands,  of 
which  one  half  should  be  paid  before 
they  left  England,  the  other  after  their 
arrival  in  Scotland.^ 

At  this  moment  an  unexpected  vote 
of  the  two  houses  gave  birth  to  a  con- 
troversy unprecedented  in  history.  It 
was  resolved  that  the  right  of  dispos- 
ing of  the  king  belonged  to  the  parlia- 
ment of  England.  The  Scots  hastened 
to  remonstrate.  To  dispose  of  the 
king  was  an  ambiguous  term ;   they 


interest,  was  allowed  to  subscribe  the  same 
sum  to  the  present  loan,  and,  in  return, 
both  sums  with  interest  were  to  be  secured 
to  him  on  the  grand  excise  and  the  sale  of 
the  bishops'  lands.  For  the  latter  purpose, 
three  ordinances  were  passed ;  one  dis- 
abling all  persons  from  holding  the  place, 
assuming  the  name,  and  exercising  the 
jurisdiction  of  archbishops  or  bishops  within 
the  realm,  and  vesting  all  the  lands  belong- 
ing to  archbishops  and  bishops  in  certam 
trustees,  for  the  use  of  the  nation  (Jour- 
nals, 515)  ;  another  securing  the  debts  of 
subscribers  on  these  lands  (ibid.  520)  ;  and 
a  third  appointing  persons  to  make  con- 
tracts of  sale,  and  receive  the  money. — 
Journals  of  Commons,  Nov.  16. 


76 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II. 


"would  assume  that  it  meant  to  deter- 
mine where  he  should  reside  until 
harmony  was  restored  between  him 
and  his  people.  But  it  ought  to  be 
remembered  that  he  was  king  of  Scot- 
land as  well  as  of  England ;  that  each 
nation  had  an  interest  in  the  royal 
person ;  both  had  been  parties  in  the 
•war ;  both  had  a  right  to  be  consulted 
respecting  the  result.  The  English, 
on  the  contrary,  contended  that  the 
Scots  were  not  parties  but  auxiliaries, 
and  that  it  was  their  duty  to  execute 
the  orders  of  those  whose  bread  they 
ate,  and  whose  money  they  received. 
Scotland  was  certainly  an  independent 
kingdom.  But  its  rights  were  con- 
fined within  its  own  limits ;  it  could 
not  claim,  it  should  not  exercise,  any 
authority  within  the  boundaries  of 
England.  This  altercation  threatened 
to  dissolve  the  union  between  the 
Idngdoms.  Conferences  were  repeat- 
edly held.  The  Scots  published  their 
speeches;  the  Commons  ordered  the 
books  to  be  seized,  and  the  printers  to 
be  imprisoned ;  and  each  party  obsti- 
nately refused  either  to  admit  the 
pretensions  of  its  opponents,  or  even 
to  -yield  to  a  compromise.  But  that 
which  most  strongly  marked  the  sense 
of  the  parliament,  was  a  vote  pro- 
viding money  for  the  payment  of  the 
army  during  the  next  six  months ; 
a  very  intelligible  hint  of  their  de- 
termination to  maintain  their  claim 
by  force  of  arms,  if  it  were  invaded  by 
the  presumption  of  their  aUies.* 

This  extraordinary  dispute,  the  dif- 
ficulty of  raising  an  immediate  loan, 
and  the  previous  arrangements  for 
the  departure  of  the  Scots,  occu- 
pied the  attention  of  the  two  houses 
during  the  remainder  of  the  year. 
Charles  had  sufficient  leisure  to  re- 


^  JoumalB,  498,  534.  Commons,  Oct.  7, 
IS,  14, 16.  Bu»h.  Ti.  329—373.  Baillie,  ii. 
946. 

>  "  Holdenby  or  Holmby,  a  very  stately 
lioase,  built  by  the  lord  chancellor  Hatton, 
and  in  King  James's  reign  purchased  by 


fleet  on  the  fate  which  threatened 
him.  His  constancy  seemed  to  relax ; 
he  consulted  the  bishops  of  London 
and  Salisbury ;  and  successively  pro- 
posed several  unsatisfactory  expe- 
dients, of  which  the  object  was  to 
combine  the  toleration  of  episcopacy 
with  the  temporary  or  partial  esta- 
blishment of  Presbyterianism.  The 
Lords  voted  that  he  should  be  allowed 
to  reside  at  Newmarket;  but  the 
Commons  refused  their  consent ;  and 
ultimately  both  houses  fixed  on 
Holmby,  in  the  vicinity  of  Northamp- 
ton.^ No  notice  was  taken  of  the 
security  which  he  had  demanded  for 
his  honour  and  freedom ;  but  a  pro- 
mise was  given  that  respect  should  be 
had  to  the  safety  of  his  person  in  the 
defence  of  the  true  religion  and  the 
Uberties  of  the  two  kingdoms,  accord- 
ing to  the  solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant. This  vote  was  communicated 
to  the  Scottish  commissioners  at 
Newcastle,  who  rephed  that  they 
awaited  the  commands  of  their  own 
parliament.' 

In  Scotland  the  situation  of  the 
king  had  been  the  subject  of  many 
keen  and  animated  debates.  In  the 
parliament  his  friends  were  active  and 
persevering ;  and  their  efforts  elicited 
a  resolution  that  the  commissioners 
in  London  should  urge  with  all  their 
influence  his  request  of  a  personal  con- 
ference. Cheered  by  this  partial  suc- 
cess, they  proposed  a  vote  expressive  of 
their  determination  to  support,  under 
all  circumstances,  his  right  to  the 
English  throne.  But  at  this  moment 
arrived  the  votes  of  the  two  houses 
for  his  removal  to  Holmby :  the  cur- 
rent of  Scottish  loyalty  was  instantly 
checked;  and  the  fear  of  a  rupture 
between   the   nations    induced   the 


Q.  Anne  for  her  second  son." — Herbert,  13. 
It  was,  therefore,  the  king's  own  property. 
3  Clarendon  Papers,  li.  265,  266,  270. 
Journals,  622,  636,  648,  681.  Commons' 
Journals,  Dec.  24.  His  letter  to  the  bishop 
of  London  is  in  Ellis,  iii.  326,  2ud  ser. 


A.D.  1647.]        THE  SCOTS  DELIVER  UP  THE  KING. 


71 


estates  to  observe  a  solemn  fast,  that 
they  might  deserve  the  blessing  of 
Heaven,  and  to  consult  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  kirk,  that  they  might 
proceed  with  a  safe  conscience.  The 
answer  was  such  as  might  have  been 
expected  from  the  bigotry  of  the  age ; 
that  it  was  unlawful  to  assist  in  the 
restoration  of  a  prince  who  had  been 
excluded  from  the  government  of  his 
kingdom  for  his  refusal  of  the  propo- 
sitions respecting  religion  and  the 
covenant.  No  man  ventured  to 
oppose  the  decision  of  the  kirk.  In 
a  house  of  two  hundred  members, 
not  more  than  seven  or  eight  were 
found  to  speak  in  favour  of  their 
sovereign.  A  resolution  was  voted 
that  he  should  be  sent  to  Holmby, 
or  some  other  of  his  houses  near 
London,  to  remain  there  till  he 
had  assented  to  the  propositions  of 
peace ;  and  all  that  his  friends  could 
obtain  was  an  amendment  more  ex- 
pressive of  their  fears  than  of  their 
hopes,  that  no  injury  or  violence 
should  be  offered  to  his  person,  no 
obstacle  be  opposed  to  the  legitimate 
succession  of  his  children,  and  no 
alteration  made  in  the  existing 
government  of  the  kingdoms.  This 
addition  was  cheerfully  adopted  by 
the  English  house  of  Lords ;  but  the 
Commons  did  not  vouchsafe  to  honour 
it  with  their  notice.  The  first  pay- 
ment of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
had  already  been  made  at  Northaller- 
ton: the  Scots,  according  to  agree- 
ment, evacuated  Newcastle ;  and  the 
parhameutary  commissioners,  without 
any  other  ceremony,  took  charge  of 
the  royal  person.  Four  days  later  the 
Scots  received  the  second  sum  of  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds ;  their 
army  repassed  the  border-line  Isetween 
the  two  kingdoms ;  and  the  captive 
monarch,  under  a  strong  guard,  but 
with  every  demonstration  of  respect, 


1  Journals,  viii.  686,   689,  695,  699,  713. 
-Commons',  Jan.  25,  26,  27.    Baillie,  ii.  253. 


was  conducted  to  his  new  prison  at 
Holmby.* 

The  royalists,  ever  since  the  king's 
visit  to  Newark,  had  viewed  with 
anxiety  and  terror  the  cool  calcu- 
lating policy  of  the  Scots.  The  result 
converted  their  suspicions  into  cer- 
titude: they  hesitated  not  to  accuse 
them  of  falsehood  and  perfidy,  and  to 
charge  them  with  having  allured  the 
king  to  their  army  by  deceitful  pro- 
mises, that,  Judas-like,  they  might 
barter  him  for  money  with  his  ene- 
mies. Insinuations  so  injurious  to 
the  character  of  the  nation  ought  not 
to  be  lightly  admitted.  It  is,  indeed, 
true  that  fanaticism  and  self-interest 
had  steeled  the  breasts  of  the  Cove- 
nanters against  the  more  generous 
impulses  of  loyalty  and  compassion; 
and  that,  by  the  delivery  of  the  king 
to  his  enemies,  they  violated  their 
previous  pledge  of  personal  safety, 
which,  if  once  given,  though  by  word 
only,  ought  to  have  been  sacredly 
fulfilled.  But  there  is  no  ground  for 
the  statement,  that  they  held  out 
promises  to  delude  the  unfortunate 
prince.  It  was  with  reluctance  that 
they  consented  to  receive  him  at  all ; 
and  when  at  last  he  sought  an  asy- 
lum in  their  army,  he  came  thither, 
not  allured  by  invitation  from  them, 
but  driven  by  necessity  and  despair. 
2.  If  the  delivery  of  the  royal  person, 
connected  as  it  was  with  the  receipt 
of  200,000Z.,  bore  the  appearance  of  a 
sale,  it  ought  to  be  remembered,  that 
the  accounts  between  the  two  nations 
had  been  adjusted  in  the  beginning 
of  September;  that  for  four  months 
afterwards  the  Scots  never  ceased  to 
negotiate  in  favour  of  Charles ;  nor 
did  they  resign  the  care  of  his  person, 
till  the  votes  of  the  English  parlia- 
ment compelled  them  to  make  the 
choice  between  compliance  or  war. 
It  may  be,  that  in  forming  their  deci- 


Kush.  vi.  390—398.    Whitelock,  232.    Thur- 
loe,  i.  73,  74. 


CHAliLES  I. 


CHAP.  IL 


sion  their  personal  interest  was  not 
forgottea;  but  there  was  another 
consideration  which  had  no  small 
weight  even  with  the  friends  of  the 
monarch.  It  was  urged  that  by  suf- 
fering the  king  to  reside  at  Holmby, 
they  would  do  away  the  last  pretext 
for  keeping  on  foot  the  army  under 
the  command  of  Fairfax  ;  the  disso- 
lution of  that  army  would  annihilate 
the  influence  of  the  Independents, 
and  give  an  undisputed  ascendancy  to 
the  Presbyterians;  the  first  the  de- 
clared enemies,  the  others  the  avowed 
advocates  of  Scotland,  of  the  kirk, 
and  of  the  king;  and  the  necessary 
consequence  must  be,  that  the  two 
parliaments  would  be  left  at  liberty 
to  arrange,  in  conformity  with  the 
covenant,  both  the  establishment  of 
religion  and  the  restoration  of  the 
throne.' 

Charles  was  not  yet  weaned  from 
the  expectation  of  succour  from  Ire- 
land. At  Newcastle  he  had  consoled 
the  hours  of  his  captivity  with  dreams 
of  the  mighty  efforts  for  his  deliver- 
ance, which  would  be  made  by 
Ormond,  and  Glamorgan,  and  the 
council  at  Kilkenny.  To  the  first  of 
these  he  forwarded  two  messages,  one 
openly  through  Lanark,  the  Scottish 
secretary,  the  other  clandestinely 
through  Lord  Digby,  who  proceeded 
to  Dublin  from  France.  By  the  first 
Ormond  received  a  positive  command 
to  break  oflf  the  treaty  with  the  Ca- 
tholics ;  by  the  second  he  was  told  to 
adhere  to  his  former  instructions,  and 
to  obey  no  order  which  was  not  trans- 


1  See  the  declarations  of  Argyle  in  Lainp, 
iii.  560  ;  and  of  the  Scottish  commissioners 
to  the  English  parliament,  Journals,  ix.  oM, 
598.  •'  Stapleton  and  Holhs,  and  some 
others  of  the  eleven  members,  had  been 
the  main  persuaders  of  us  to  remove  out  of 
England,  and  leave  the  kinp  to  them,  upon 
assurance,  which  was  most  likely,  that  this 
was  the  only  means  to  get  that  evil  army 
disbanded,  the  king  and  peace  settled 
according  to  our  minds ;  but  their  bent 
execution  of  this  real  intention  has 
undone  them,  and  all,  till  God  provide   a 


niitt«d  to  him  by  the  queen  or  the 
prince.  The  letter  to  Glamorgan, 
proves  more  clearly  the  distress  to 
which  he  was  reduced,  and  the  con- 
fidence which  he  reposed  in  the  ex- 
ertions of  that  nobleman.  "  If,"  he 
writes,  "  you  can  raise  a  large  sum  of 
money  by  pawning  my  kingdoms  for 
that  purpose,  I  am  content  you 
should  do  it ;  and  if  I  recover  them, 
I  will  fully  repay  that  money.  And 
tell  the  nuncio,  that  if  once  I  can 
come  into  his  and  your  hands,  which 
ought  to  be  extremely  wish'd  for  by 
you  both,  as  well  for  the  sake  of  Eng- 
land as  Ireland,  since  all  the  rest,  as  I 
see,  despise  me,  I  will  do  it.  And  if 
I  do  not  say  this  from  my  heart,  or 
if  in  any  future  time  I  fail  you  in 
this,  may  God  never  restore  me  to  my 
kingdoms  in  this  world,  nor  give  me 
eternal  happiness  in  the  next,  to 
which  I  hope  this  tribulation  will 
conduct  me  at  last,  after  I  have  satis- 
fied my  obhgations  to  my  friends,  to 
none  of  whom  am  I  so  much  obliged 
as  to  yourself,  whose  merits  towards 
me  exceed  all  expressions  that  can  be 
used  by 

"  Your  constant  Friend, 

"  Chaeles  R."  • 
But  religion  was  still  the  rock  on 
which  the  royal  hopes  were  destined 
to  split.  The  perseverance  of  the 
supreme  council  at  Kilkenny  pre- 
vailed in  appearance  over  the  in- 
trigues of  the  nuncio  and  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  clergy.  The  peace  was 
reciprocally  signed ;  it  was  published 
with  more  than  usual  parade  in  the 


remedy."— Baillie,  ii.  257. 

=*  Birch,  Inquiry,  2rio.  I  may  here  men- 
tion that  Glamorgan,  when  he  was  marquess 
of  Worcester,  published  "  A  Century  of  the 
Names  and  Scantlings  of  such  Inventions," 
&c.,  which  Hume  pronounces  "  a  ridiculous 
compound  of  lies,  chimeras,  and  impos- 
sibilities, enough  to  show  what  might  be 
expected  from  such  a  man."  1£  the  reau^ 
peruse  Mr.  Partington's  recent  edition 
this  treatise,  he  will  probably  conclude  ttr 
the  historian  had  never  seeQ  it,  or  ' 
was  unable  to  comprehend  it 


or  that^H 


.D.  1646.] 


ORMOND  SLTRRENDEES  DUBLIN. 


ties  of  DuDlin  and  Kilkenny;  but 
3  the  same  time  a  national  synod  at 
Tat^rford  not  only  condemned  it  as 
jntrary  to  the  oath  of  association, 
ut  on  that  ground  excommunicated 
s  authors,  fautors,  and  abettors  as 
lilty  of  perjury.  The  struggle  be- 
veen  the  advocates  and  opponents 
:  the  peace  was  soon  terminated, 
hemenof  Ulster  under  Owen  O'Neil, 
roud  of  their  recent  victory  (they 
ad  almost  annihilated  the  Scottish 
rmy  in  the  sanguinary  battle  of 
•enburb),  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
:ergy;  Preston,  who  commanded 
le  forces  of  Leinster,  after  some 
esitation,  declared  also  in  their 
ivour ;  the  members  of  the  old 
Duncil  who  had  subscribed  the  treaty 
ere  imprisoned,  and  a  new  council 
as  estabhshed,  consisting  of  eight 
lymen  and  four  clergymen,  with  the 
uncio  at  their  head.  Under  their 
irection,  the  two  armies  marched  to 
3siege  Dublin :  it  was  saved  by  the 
rudence  of  Ormond,  who  had  wasted 
le  neighbouring  country,  and  by 
le  habits  of  jealousy  and  dissension 
hich  prevented  any  cordial  co-ope- 
ition  between  O'Neil  and  Preston, 
le  one  of  Irish,  the  other  of  English 
escent.  Ormond,  however,  despaired 
f  preserving  the  capital  against  their 
speated  attempts ;  and  the  import- 
nt  question  for  his  decision  was, 
hether  he  should  surrender  it  to 
lem  or  to  the  parliament.  The  one 
ivoured  of  perfidy  to  his  religion, 
ae  other  of  treachery  to  his  sove- 
eigu.  He  preferred  the  latter.  The 
rst  answer  to  his  offer  he  was  in- 
uced  to  reject  as  derogatory  from 
is  honour:    a    second   negotiation 


1  Journals,  viii.  519,  522;  ix.  29,  32,  35. 
he  reader  will  find  an  accurate  account  of 
iie  numerous  and  complicated  negotiations 
espectinp  Ireland  in  Birch,  Inquiry,  &c., 
.  142—261. 

*  Under  the  general  name  of  Independ- 
nts,  I  include,  for  convenience,  all  the 
liferent  sects  enumerated  at  the  time  by 
Idwards  in  hia  Gangrsena, — Independents, 


followed ;  and  he  at  last  consented  to 
resign  to  the  parliament  the  sword, 
the  emblem  of  his  office,  the  castle  of 
Dublin,  and  all  the  fortresses  held  by 
his  troops,  on  the  payment  of  a  cer- 
tain sum  of  money,  a  grant  of  security 
for  his  person,  and  the  restoration  of 
his  lands,  which  had  been  seques- 
trated. This  agreement  was  per- 
formed. Ormond  came  to  England, 
and  the  king's  hope  of  assistance 
from  Ireland  was  once  more  disap- 
pointed.' 

Before  the  conclusion  of  this  chap- 
ter, it  will  be  proper  to  notice  the 
progress  which  had  been  made  in  the 
reformation  of  religion.  From  the 
directory  for  public  worship,  the 
synod  and  the  houses  proceeded  to 
the  government  of  the  church.  They 
divided  the  kingdom  into  provinces, 
the  provinces  into  classes,  and  the 
classes  into  presbyteries  or  elderships ; 
and  established  by  successive  votes 
a  regular  gradation  of  authority 
among  these  new  judicatories,  which 
amounted,  if  we  may  believe  the 
ordinance,  to  no  fewer  than  ten  thou- 
sand. But  neither  of  the  great  religious 
parties  was  satisfied.  1.  The  Inde- 
pendents strongly  objected  to  the  in- 
tolerance of  the  Presbyterian  scheme;" 
and  though  willing  that  it  should 
be  protected  and  countenanced  by 
the  state,  they  claimed  a  right  to- 
form,  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
consciences,  separate  congregations  for 
themselves.  Their  complaints  were 
received  with  a  willing  ear  by  the 
two  houses,  the  members  of  which 
(so  we  are  told  by  a  Scottish  divine 
who  attended  the  assembly  at  West- 
minster) might  be  divided  into  four 


Brownista,  Millenaries,  'Antinomians,  Ana- 
baptists, Arminians,  Libertines,  Familists, 
Enthusiasts,  Seekers,  Perfectists,  Socinians, 
Arianists,  Anti-Trinitarians,  Anti-Scriptn- 
rists,  and  Sceptics. — Neal's  Puritans,  ii.  251. 
I  observe  that  some  of  them  maintained 
that  toleration  was  due  even  to  Catholics. 
Baillie  repeatedly  notices  it  with  feelings  of 
horror  (ii.  17, 13,  43,  61). 


CHARLES  I. 


[CH.VP. 


classes :  the  Presbyterians,  who,  in 
number  and  influence,  surpassed  any 
one  of  the  other  three ;  the  Indepen- 
dents, who,  if  few  in  number,  were 
yet  distinguished  by  the  superior 
talents  and  industry  of  their  leaders ; 
the  lawyers,  who  looked  with  jealousy 
on  any  attempt  to  erect  an  eccle- 
siastical power  independent  of  the 
legislature;  and  the  men  of  irreligious 
habits,  who  dreaded  the  stern  and 
scrutinizing  discipline  of  a  Presby- 
terian kirk.  The  two  last  occasionally 
served  to  restore  the  balance  between 
the  two  others,  and  by  joining  with 
the  Independents,  to  arrest  the  zeal, 
and  neutralize  the  votes  of  the  Pres- 
byterians. With  their  aid,  Cromwell, 
as  the  organ  of  the  discontented  reli- 
gionists, had  obtained  the  appointment 
of  a  "grand  committee  for  accom- 
modation," which  sat  four  months, 
and  concluded  nothing.  Its  professed 
object  was  to  reconcile  the  two  parties, 
by  inducing  the  Presbyterians  to  re- 
cede from  their  lofty  pretensions,  and 
the  Independents  to  relax  something 
of  their  sectarian  obstinacy.  Both 
were  equally  inflexible.  The  former 
would  admit  of  no  innovation  in  the 
powers  which  Christ,  according  to 
their  creed,  had  bestowed  on  the 
presbytery;  the  latter,  rather  than 
conform,  expressed  their  readiness  to 
suffer  the  penalties  of  the  law,  or  to 
seek  some  other  clime,  where  the 
enjoyment  of  civil,  was  combined  with 
that  of  religious  freedom.' 

2.  The  discontent  of  the  Presby- 
terians arose  from  a  very  different 
source.  They  complained  that  the 
parliament  sacrilegiously  usurped  that 
jurisdiction  which  Christ  had  vested 
exclusively  in  his  church.  The  as- 
sembly contended,  that  "  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  com- 
mitted to  the  officers  of  the  church, 
by  virtue  whereof,  they  have  power 


1  Baillie,  i.  408,  420,  431 ;  ii.  11,  33,  37, 42, 
67,  63,  G6,  71. 


respectively  to  retain  and  remit  si 
to  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven  agai 
the  impenitent  by  censures,  and 
open  it  to  the  penitent  by  absolutio 
These  claims  of  the  divines  w 
zealously  supported  by  their  brethi 
in  parliament,  and  as  fiercely  oppo: 
by  all  who  were  not  of  their  co 
munion.  The  divines  claimed  for  1 
presbyteries  the  right  of  inquiri 
into  the  private  lives  of  individu; 
and  of  suspending  the  unworthy  fr< 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supp' 
but  the  parliament  refused  the  & 
and  confined  the  second  to  cases 
public  scandal.  They  arrogated 
themselves  the  power  of  judging  wl 
offences  should  be  deemed  scandalo 
the  parliament  defined  the  particu 
offences,  and  appointed  civil  coma 
sioners  in  each  province,  to  whom  1 
presbyteries  should  refer  every  c 
not  previously  enumerated.  T) 
allowed  of  no  appeal  from  the  ea 
siastical  tribunals  to  the  civil  ma 
strate ;  the  parliament  empowei 
all  who  thought  themselves  aggrieA 
to  apply  for  redress  to  either  of  1 
two  houses.2  This  profane  mutilati 
of  the  divine  right  of  the  presbyter 
excited  the  alarm  and  execration 
every  orthodox  believer.  When  \ 
ordinance  for  carrying  the  new  pJ 
into  execution  was  in  progress  throu 
the  Commons,  the  ministers  genera 
determined  not  to  act  under  its  p: 
visions.  The  citizens  of  London,  w 
petitioned  against  it,  were  ind€ 
silenced  by  a  vote  that  they  h 
violated  the  privileges  of  the  hous 
but  the  Scottish  commissioners  cai 
to  their  aid  with  a  demand  that  re 
gion  should  be  regulated  to  the  sat 
faction  of  the  church ;  and  the  assei 
bly  of  divines  ventured  to  remonstra 
that  they  could  not  in  consciec 
submit  to  an  imperfect  and  an 
scriptural  form  of  ecclesiastical  f 


2  Jouniala,  vii.  469.    Commons',  Sept, 
Oct.  10,  March  8. 


1644.] 


RELIGIOUS  DISSENSION. 


75 


■nment.  To  the  Scots  a  civil  but 
meaning  answer  was  returned :  to 
rm  the  assembly,  it  was  resolved 
it  the  remonstrance  was  a  breach 
privilege,  and  that  nine  questions 
)uld  be  proposed  to  the  divines, 
pecting  the  nature  and  object  of 
!  divine  right  to  which  they 
stended.  These  questions  had 
;n  prepared  by  the  ingenuity  of 
den  and  "VVhitelock,  ostensibly  for 
!  sake  of  information,  in  reality 
breed  dissension  and  to  procure 
ay.^ 

iYhen  the  votes  of  the  house  were 
lounced  to  the  assembly,  the  mem- 
■s  anticipated  nothing  less  than  the 
liction  of  those  severe  penalties 
h  which  breaches  of  privilege  were 
lally  visited.  They  observed  a  day 
fasting  and  humihation,  to  invoke 
)  protection  of  God  in  favour  of 
persecuted  church;  required  the 
mediate  attendance  of  their  absent 
leagues ;  and  then  reluctantly  en- 
ed  on  the  consideration  of  the  ques- 
Qs  sent  to  them  from  the  Commons, 
a  few  days,  however,  the  king  took 
uge  in  the  Scottish  army,  and  a 
y  ray  of  hope  cheered  their  afflicted 
rits.  Additional  petitions  were  pre- 
ited ;  the  answer  of  the  two  houses 
ame   more   accommodating ;  and 


Journals,  viii.  232.  Commons',  March  23, 
ril  22.  JJaillie,  ii.  194.  "The  pope  and 
g,"  he  exclaims,  "  were  never  more 
nest  for  the  headship  of  the  church, 
a  the  plurality  of  this  parliament"  (196, 
,199,201,216). 

These  were  the  only  places  in  which 
Presbyterian    government    was    esta- 
ihed  according  to  law. 


the  petitioners  received  thanks  for 
their  zeal,  with  an  assurance  in 
conciliatory  language  that  attention 
should  be  paid  to  their  requests. 
The  immediate  consequence  was  the 
abolition  of  the  provincial  commis- 
sioners; and  the  ministers,  softened 
by  this  condescension,  engaged  to 
execute  the  ordinance  in  London  and 
Lancashire.^  At  the  same  time  the 
assembly  undertook  the  composition 
of  a  catechism  and  confession  of 
faith;  but  their  progress  was  daily 
retarded  by  the  debates  respecting 
the  nine  questions ;  and  the  influence 
of  their  party  was  greatly  diminished 
by  the  sudden  death  of  the  earl  of 
Essex.^  It  was,  however,  restored  by 
the  delivery  of  the  king  into  the  hands 
of  the  parliament :  petitions  were  im- 
mediately presented,  complaining  of 
the  growth  of  error  and  schism ;  and 
the  impatience  of  the  citizens  induced 
them  to  appoint  a  committee  to  wait 
daily  at  the  door  of  the  house  of 
Commons,  till  they  should  receive  a 
favourable  answer.  But  another  re- 
volution, to  be  related  in  the  next 
chapter,  followed ;  the  custody  of  the 
royal  person  passed  from  the  par- 
liament to  the  army;  and  the  hopes 
of  the  orthodox  were  utterly  extin- 
guished. ■* 


3  Baillie  says,  "  He  was  the  head  of  our 
party  here,  kept  altogether,  who  now  are 
like,  by  that  alone,  to  fall  to  pieces.  The 
house  of  Lords  absolutely,  the  city  very 
much,  and  many  of  the  shires  depended  on 
him"  (ii.  234). 

*  BaUlie,  ii.  207, 215,  216, 226, 234, 236, 230. 
Journals,  viii.  332,  509 ;  ix.  18,  72,  82.  Com- 
mons', May  26,  ^o\.  27,  Dec.  7,  March  15, 
20. 


76 


CHAPTER  III. 


OPPOSITE     PROJECTS     OP     THE     PKESBYTERIANS    AND    INDEPENDENTS — THE    KINC 

BROUGHT    FROM    HOLMBY    TO    THE    ARMY INDEPENDENTS     DRIVEN     PROM     PARI 

MENT — RESTORED     BT    THE     ARMY ORIGIN    OP     THE     LEVELLERS — KING    ESCA 

PROM    HAMPTON     COURT    AND    IS    SECURED    IN    THE    ISLE    OP    WIGHT — MUTINI 

THE     ARMY — PUBLIC     OPINION     IN     FAVOUR     OP     THE     KING SCOTS     ARM     IN 

DEFENCE — THE    ROYALISTS    RENEW    THE    WAR— THE    PRESBYTERIANS    RESUME 

ASCENDANCY DEFEAT    OF   THE    SCOTS — SUPPRESSION    OF    THE   ROYALISTS— TRB 

OF    NEWPORT — THE     KING     IS     AGAIN    BROUGHT     TO     THE     ARMY THE     HOUSE 

COMMONS      IS     PURIFIED THE      KING'S     TRIAL — JUDGMENT AND     EXBCUTIO 

REFLECTIONS. 


The  king  during  his  captivity  at 
Holmby  divided  his  time  between  his 
studies  and  amusements.  A  con- 
siderable part  of  the  day  he  spent 
in  his  closet,  the  rest  in  playing  at 
bowls,  or  riding  in  the  neighbour- 
hood.' He  was  strictly  watched ;  and 
without  an  order  from  the  parlia- 
ment no  access  could  be  obtained  to 
the  royal  presence.  The  crowds  who 
came  to  be  touched  for  the  evil  were 
sent  back  by  the  guards ;  the  servants 
who  waited  on  his  person  received 
their  appointment  from  the  commis- 
sioners; and,  when  he  refused  the 
spiritual  services  of  the  two  Presby- 
terian ministers  sent  to  him  from 
London,  his  request  for  the  attendance 
of  any  of  his  twelve  chaplains  was 
equally  refused.  Thus  three  months 
passed  away  without  any  official  com- 
munication from  the  two  houses.  The 
king's  patience  was  exhausted;  and 
he  addressed  them  in  a  letter,  which, 
as  it  must  have  been  the  production 
of  his  own  pen,  furnishes  an  un- 
doubted and  favourable  specimen  of 
his  abilities.  In  it  he  observed  that 
the  want  of  advisers  might,  in  the 
estimation  of  any  reasonable   man, 


1  "  Ho  frequentlv  went  to  Harrowden,  a 
house  of  the  Lord  Vaui's,  where  there  was 
a  jrood  bowling-green  with  gardens,  groves, 
and  walks ;  and  to  Althorp,  a  fair  house, 


excuse  him   from  noticing  the 
portant  propositions  presented  to  j 
at  Newcastle ;  but  his  wish  to  resi 
a  good  understanding  between  him 
and   his  houses  of  parliament 
induced  him  to  make  them  the  i 
jects  of  his  daily  study ;  and,  if 
could  not  return  an  answer  satis 
tory  in  every  particular,  it  must 
attributed  not  to  want  of  will,  bu 
the   prohibition  of  his    conscie 
Many   things   he   would   cheerf 
concede:  with  respect  to  the  otl 
he  was  ready  to  receive  in  format 
and  that  in  person,  if  such  were 
pleasure  of  the  Lords  and  Comm< 
Individuals   in  his   situation  mi 
persuade   themselves   that   prom 
extorted   from   a   prisoner   are 
binding.    If  such  were  his  opin 
he  would  not  hesitate  a  momen 
grant  whatever  had  been  asked, 
very  reluctance  proved  beyond 
pute,  that  with  him  at  least  the  w< 
of  a  king  were  sacred. 

After  this  preamble  he  proceed 
signify  his  assent  to  most  of  the  ] 
positions ;  but  to  the  three  princ 
points  in  debate,  he  answers ;  1. 1 
he  is  ready  to  confirm  the  Pre.^ 


two  or  three  miles  from  Holmby,  belon 
to  the  Lord  Spenser,  where  there  w. 
green  well  kept."— Herbert,  18. 


D.  1G47.J 


CONDITION  OF  THE  AEMT. 


77 


rian  government  for  tli  e  space  of 
ree  years,  on  conbition  that  liberty 
■  worship  be  allowed  to  himself  and 
s  household;  that  twenty  divines 
his  nomination  be  added  to  the 
sembly  at  Westminster;  and  that 
e  final  settlement  of  reUgion  at  the 
:piration  of  that  period  be  made  in 
e  regular  way  by  himself  and  the 
.'0  houses :  2.  he  is  willing  that  the 
mmand  of  the  army  and  navy  be 
■sted  in  persons  to  be  named  by 
em,  on  condition  that  after  ten 
ars  it  may  revert  to  the  crown; 
id  3.  if  these  things  be  accorded,  he 
edges  himself  to  give  full  satisfaction 
ith  respect  to  the  war  in  Ireland. 
7  the  Lords  the  royal  answer  was 
vourably  received,  and  they  resolved 

•  a  majority  of  thirteen  to  nine  that 
e  king  should  be  removed  from 
olmby  to  Oatlands;  but  the  Com- 
ons  neglected  to  notice  the  subject, 
;d  their  attention  was  soon  occupied 

•  a  question  of  more  immediate,  and 
erefore  in  their  estimation  of  su- 
irior  importance.* 

The  reader  is  aware  that  the  Pres- 
terians  had  long  viewed  the  army 
ider  Fairfax  with  peculiar  jealousy, 
offered  a  secure  refuge  to  their 
ligious,  and  proved  the  strongest 
ilwark  of  their  political,  opponents, 
nder  its  protection,  men  were  be- 
)nd  the  reach  of  intolerance.  They 
•ayed  and  preached  as  they  pleased  ; 
e  fanaticism  of  one  served  to  coun- 
nance  the  fanaticism  of  another ; 
id  all,  however  they  might  differ  in 
'iritual  gifts  and  theological  notions, 
are  bound  together  by  the  common 
•ofession  of  godliness,  and  the  com- 
on  dread  of  persecution.  Fairfax, 
lOugh  called  a  Presbyterian,  had 
)thing  of  that  stern   unaccommo- 


dating character  which  then  marked 
the  leaders  of  the  party.  In  the  field 
he  was  distinguished  by  his  activity 
and  daring;  but  the  moment  his 
military  duties  were  performed,  he 
relapsed  into  habits  of  ease  and  indo- 
lence ;  and,  with  the  good-nature  and 
the  credulity  of  a  child,  suffered  him- 
self to  be  guided  by  the  advice  or  the 
wishes  of  those  around  him— by  his 
wife,  by  his  companions,  and  particu- 
larly by  Cromwell.  That  adventurer 
had  equally  obtained  the  confidence 
of  the  commander-in-chief  and  of  the 
common  soldier.  Dark,  artful,  and 
designing,  he  governed  Fairfax  by  his 
suggestions,  while  he  pretended  only 
to  second  the  projects  of  that  general. 
Among  the  privates  he  appeared  as 
the  advocate  of  liberty  and  toleration, 
joined  with  them  in  their  conventicles, 
equalled  them  in  the  cant  of  fanati- 
cism, and  affected  to  resent  their 
wrongs  as  religionists  and  their  priva- 
tions as  soldiers.  To  his  fellow-officers 
he  lamented  the  ingratitude  and  jea- 
lousy of  the  parliament,  a  court  in 
which  experience  showed  that  no  man, 
not  even  the  most  meritorious  patriot, 
was  secure.  To-day  he  might  be  in 
high  favour,  to-morrow,  at  the  in- 
sidious suggestion  of  some  obscure 
lawyer  or  narrow-minded  bigot,  he 
might  find  himself  under  arrest,  and 
be  consigned  to  the  Tower.  That 
Cromwell  already  aspired  to  the 
eminence  to  which  he  afterwards 
soared,  is  hardly  credible;  but  that 
his  ambition  was  awakened,  and  that 
he  laboured  to  bring  the  army  into 
collision  with  the  parliament,  was 
evident  to  the  most  careless  observer.'^ 
To  disband  that  army  was  now 
become  the  main  object  of  the  Pres- 
byterian leaders;  but  they  disguised 


These  particulars  appear  in  the  corre- 
ondence  in  Clar.  Pap.  221—226 ;  Journals, 
',  60, 193, 199  J  Commons',  Feb.  20,  March 
9;  May  21. 

'  As  early  as  Au {J.  2,  1648,  Huntingdon, 
e  major  in  his  regiment,  in  his  account  of 


Cromwell's  conduct,  noticed,  that  in  his 
chamber  at  Kingston  he  said,  •'  What  a 
sway  Stapleton  and  Hollis  had  heretofore 
in  the  kingdom,  and  he  knew  nothing  to 
the  contrary  but  that  he  was  as  well  able  to 

fovern  the  kingdom  as  either  of  them,"— 
ournals,  x.  411. 


78 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  ] 


their  real  motives  under  the  pretence 
of  the  national  benefit.  The  royalists 
■were  humbled  in  the  dust ;  the  Scots 
had  departed  ;  and  it  was  time  to 
relieve  the  country  from  the  charge 
of  supporting  a  multitude  of  men  in 
arms  without  any  ostensible  purpose. 
They  carried,  but  with  considerable 
opposition,  the  following  resolutions : 
to  take  from  the  army  three  regiments 
of  horse  and  eight  regiments  of  foot, 
for  the  service  in  Ireland ;  to  retain 
in  England  no  greater  number  of 
infantry  than  might  be  required  to 
do  the  garrison  duty,  with  six  thou- 
sand cavalry  for  the  more  speedy 
suppression  of  tumults  and  riots ;  and 
to  admit  of  no  officer  of  higher  rank 
than  colonel,  with  the  exception  of 
Fairfax,  the  commander-in-chief.  In 
addition  it  was  voted  that  no  commis- 
sion should  be  granted  to  any  member 
of  the  lower  house,  or  to  any  indi- 
vidual who  refused  to  take  the  solemn 
league  and  covenant,  or  to  any  one 
whose  conscience  forbade  him  to  con- 
form to  the  Presbyterian  scheme  of 
church  government.' 

The  object  of  these  votes  could  not 
be  concealed  from  the  Independents. 
They  resolved  to  oppose  their  adver- 
saries with  their  own  weapons,  and  to 
intimidate  those  whom  they  were 
unable  to  convince.  Suddenly,  at 
their  secret  instigation,  the  army, 
rising  from  its  cantonments  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Nottingham,  ap- 
proached the  metropolis,  and  selected 
quarters  in  the  county  of  Essex. 
This  movement  was  regarded  and 
resented  as  a  menace;  Fairfax,  to 
excuse  it,  alleged  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  subsistence  in  an  exhausted 
and  impoverished  district.  At  Saffron 
Walden  he  was  met  by  the  parlia- 
mentary commissioners,  who  called  a 


1  Joarnals  of  Commons,  iv.  Feb.  15,  19, 
20,  23,  25,  26,  27;  March  1,  2,  3,  4,  5.  On 
several  divisions,  the  Presbyterian  majority 
•was  reduced  to  ten ;  on  one,  to  two  mem- 
bers. They  laboured  to  exclude  Fairfax, 
but  were  left  in  a  minority  of  147  to  159.— 


council  of  officers,  and  submitted 
their  consideration  proposals  for  1 
service  of  Ireland  ;  but  instead  o 
positive  answer,  inquiries  were  mi 
and  explanations  demanded,  whil« 
remonstrance  against  the  treatm( 
of  the  army  was  circulated  for  s 
natures  through  the  several  regimer 
In  it  the  soldiers  required  an  or 
nance  of  indemnity  to  screen  th 
from  actions  in  the  civil  courts 
their  past  conduct,  the  payment 
their  arrears,  which  amounted 
forty-three  weeks  for  the  horse,  s 
to  eighteen  for  the  infantry ;  exen 
tion  from  impressment  for  fore 
service;  compensation  for  the  maim' 
pensions  for  the  widows  and  fami] 
of  those  who  had  fallen  during  i 
war,  and  a  weekly  provision  of  mon 
that  they  might  no  longer  be  co 
pelled  to  Hve  at  free  quarters  on " 
inhabitants.  This  remonstrance  ^ 
presented  to  Fairfax  to  be  forwarc 
by  him  to  the  two  houses.  1 
ruling  party  became  alarmed:  tl 
dreaded  to  oppose  petitioners  w 
swords  in  their  hands ;  and,  that  i 
project  might  be  suppressed  in 
birth,  both  houses  sent  instructi< 
to  the  general,  ordered  all  memb 
of  parhament  holding  commands 
repair  to  the  army,  and  issuec 
declaration,  in  which,  after  a  prorr 
to  take  no  notice  of  what  was  p; 
they  admonished  the  subscribers  t 
to  persist  in  their  illegal  course  wo 
subject  them  to  punishment  "  as  e 
mies  to  the  state  and  disturbers  of 
public  peace."  ^ 

The  framers  of  this  declaration  kr 
little  of  the  temper  of  the  milits 
They  sought  to  prevail  by  intimi 
tion,  and  they  only  inflamed 
general  discontent.  Was  it  to 
borne,  the  soldiers  asked  each  otl 


Ibid.  March  5.    "  Some,"  says  Whit<^ 
"wondered    it    should    admit    del 
question"  (p.  239). 

*  Journals,  ii.  66,  72,  82,  89.  96, 11 
Commons',  t.  March  11,  25,  26, 27,  T 


D.  1647.. 


DEMANDS  OF  THE  ADJUTATOES. 


79 


lat   the   city   of  London  and  the 
)unty  of  Essex  should  be  allowed  to 
jtition  against  the  army,  and  that 
ley,  who  had  fought,  and  bled,  and 
)nquered  in  the  cause  of  their  coun- 
y,  should  be  forbidden  either  to  state 
leir  grievances  or  to  vindicate  their 
laracters?    Hitherto  the  army  had 
,'en  guided,  m  appearance  at  least, 
:   the    council    of    ofl&cers;    now, 
liether  it  was  a  contrivance  of  the 
ficers  themselves  to  shift  the  odium 
the  whole  body  of  the  military,  or 
js  suggested  by  the  common  men, 
iio  began  to  distrust  the  integrity  of 
eir  commanders,  two  deliberating 
•dies,  in  imitation  of  the  houses  at 
Westminster,  were  formed ;  one  con- 
iting  of  the  ofl&cers  holding  com- 
issions,  the   other   of  two   repre- 
atatives  from  every  troop  and  com- 
ny,  calling  themselves  adjutators 
helpers ;   a  name  which,  by  the 
genuity    of    their    enemies,    was 
anged  into  that  of  agitators  or  dis- 
rbers.'     Guided  by  their  resolves, 
e  whole  army  seemed  to  be  animated 
th  one  soul :  scarcely  a  man  could 
tempted   to  desert  the  common 
use  by  accepting  of  the  service  in 
eland;  each  corps  added  supernu- 
}raries  to  its  original  complement  ,^ 
d  language  was  held,  and  projects 
re  suggested,  most  alarming  to  the 
esbyterian  party.    Confident,  bow- 
er, in  their  own  power,  the  majority 
the  house  resolved  that  the  several 
ziments  should  be  disbanded  on  the 
3eipt  of  a  small  portion  of  their 
rears.      This    vote    was     scarcely 
ssed,  when  a  deputation  from  the 
jutators  presented  to  the  Commons 


Hobbes,  Behemoth,  587.  Berkeley, 
.  This,  however,  was  not  the  first  ap- 
wance  of  the  agitators.  "  The  first 
»e,"  says  Fairfax,  •'  I  took  notice  of  them 
3  at  Nottingham  (end  of  February),  by 

Boldiers  meeting  to  frame  a  petition  to 
parliament  about  their  arrears.  The 
ng  Beemed  just ;  but  not  liking  the  way, 
pSie  with  some  oflBcers  who  were  prin- 
tiOj  engaged  in  it,  and  got  it  suppressed 

uat  time."— Short  Memorials  of  Thomas 


a  defence  of  the  remonstrance.  They 
maintained  that  by  becoming  soldiers 
they  had  not  lost  the  rights  of  sub- 
jects ;  that  by  purchasing  the  freedom 
of  others,  they  had  not  forfeited  their 
own ;  that  what  had  been  granted  to 
the  adversaries  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  to  the  officers  in  the  armies  of 
Essex  and  Waller,  could  not  in  justice 
be  refused  to  them ;  and  that,  as 
without  the  liberty  of  petitioning, 
grievances  are  without  remedy,  they 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  petition  now 
in  what  regarded  them  as  soldiers,  no 
less  than  afterwards  in  what  might 
regard  them  as  citizens.  At  the  same 
time  the  adj  utators  addressed  toFairfax 
and  the  other  general  officers  a  letter 
complaining  of  their  wrongs,  stating 
their  resolution  to  obtain  redress, 
and  describing  the  expedition  to  Ire- 
land as  a  mere  pretext  to  separate  the 
soldiers  from  those  officers  to  whom 
they  were  attached,  "  a  cloak  to  the 
ambition  of  men  who  having  lately 
tasted  of  sovereignty,  and  been  lifted 
beyond  their  ordinary  sphere  of  ser- 
vants, sought  to  become  naasters  and 
degenerate  into  tyrants."  The  tone 
of  these  papers  excited  alarm ;  and 
Cromwell,  Skippon,  Ireton,  and 
Fleetwood,  were  ordered  to  repair  to 
their  regiments,  and  assure  them  that 
ordinances  of  indemnity  should  be 
passed,  that  their  arrears  should  be 
audited,  and  that  a  considerable  pay- 
ment should  be  made  previous  to 
their  dismissal  from  the  service. 
When  these  officers  announced,  in. 
the  words  of  the  parliamentary  order, 
that  they  were  come  to  quiet  "the 
distempers  in  the  army,"  the  councils 


Lord  Fairfax,  written  by  himself.    Somers's 
Tracts,  y.  392.     Maseres,  446. 

2  Several  bodies  of  troops  in  the  distant 
counties  had  been  disbanded  ;  but  the  army 
under  Fairfax,  by  enlisting  volunteers  from 
both  parties,  royalists  as  well  as  parlia- 
mentarians, was  gradually  increased  by 
several  thousand  men,  and  the  burthen  of 
supporting  it  was  doubled. — See  Journals, 
ix.  559-583. 


80 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  I 


replied,  that  they  knew  of  no  dis- 
tempers, but  of  many  grievances,  and 
that  of  these  they  demanded  imme- 
diate redress.' 

"Whit clock,  with  his  friends,  earnestly 
deprecated  a  course  of  proceeding 
which  he  foresaw  must  end  in  de- 
feat; but  his  efforts  were  frustrated 
by  the  inflexibility  or  violence  of 
Holies,  Stapleton,  and  Glyn,  the 
leaders  of  the  ruling  party,  who, 
though  they  condescended  to  pass  the 
ordinance  of  indemnity,  and  to  issue 
money  for  the  payment  of  the  arrears 
of  eight  weeks,  procured  instructions 
for  the  lord  general  to  collect  the 
several  regiments  in  their  respective 
quarters,  and  to  disband  them  without 
delay.  Instead  of  obeying,  he  called 
together  the  council  of  officers,  who 
resolved,  in  answer  to  a  petition  to 
them  from  the  agitators,  that  the 
votes  of  parliament  were  not  satis- 
factory ;  that  the  arrears  of  payment 
for  eight  weeks  formed  but  a  portion 
of  their  just  claim,  and  that  no  secu- 
rity had  been  given  for  the  discharge 
of  the  remainder;  that  the  bill  of 
indemnity  was  a  delusion,  as  long  as 
the  vote  declaring  them  enemies  of 
the  state  was  unrepealed;  and  that, 
instead  of  suffering  themselves  to  be 
disbanded  in  their  separate  quarters, 
the  whole  army  ought  to  be  drawn 
together,  that  they  might  consult  in 
common  for  the  security  of  their 
persons  and  the  reparation  of  their 
characters.  Orders  were  despatched 
at  the  same  time  to  secure  the  park 
of  artillery  at  Oxford,  and  to  seize 
the  sum  of  four  thousand  pounds 
destined  for  the  garrison  in  that  city. 
These  measures  opened  the  eyes  of 
their  adversaries.  A  proposal  was 
made  in  parliament  to  expunge  the 
offensive  declaration  from  the  jour- 
nals, a  more  comprehensive  bill  of 


Kush  worth, 


1  Journals,  ii.  164.     Commons' 
30.     Whitelock.   245,  24«. 
447,  451,  457, 469.  480,  485. 
■  *  Whitelock,  248, 260  .  Holies  .92. 


27. 


Jour- 


indemnity  was  introduced,  and  otl: 
votes  were  suggested,  calculated 
remove  the  objections  of  the  arn 
when  the  alarm  of  the  Presbyteri 
leaders  was  raised  to  the  highest  pit 
by  the  arrival  of  unexpected  tidii 
from  Holmby.^ 

Soon  after  the  appointment  of  1 
agitators,  an  officer  had  delivered 
the  king  a  petition  from  the  arr 
that  he  would  suffer  himself  to 
conducted  to  the  quarters  of  th 
general,  by  whom  he  should  be 
stored   to   his   honour,   crown,  s 
dignity.      Charles   replied,   that 
hoped  one  day  to  reward  them  for  i 
loyalty  of  their  intention,  but  that 
could  not  give  his  consent  to  a  m 
sure  which  must,  in  all  probabil 
replunge  the  nation  into  the  hori 
of  a  civil  war.^    He  believed  that  t 
answer   had   induced   the   army 
abandon  the  design ;  but  six  we 
later,  on  Wednesday,  the  2nd  of  Ji 
while   he  was   playing   at  bowls 
Althorp,  Joyce,  a  cornet  in  the  ge 
ral's  life-guard,  was  observed  stand 
among  the  spectators ;  and  late  in 
evening  of  the  same  day,  the  comi 
sioners  in  attendance  upon  him 
derstood  that  a  numerous  part: 
horse  had  assembled   on    Harlem 
Heath,  at  the  distance  of  two  ii 
from  Holmby.     Their   object  C( 
not  be  doubted ;  it  was  soon  a-^ 
tained  that  the  military  under 
orders  would  offer  no  resistance , 
Colonel  Greaves,   their  comman 
deemed  it  expedient  to  withdraw 
place  of  safety.     About  two  in 
morning  a  body  of  troopers  app©  ■ 
before  the  gates,  and  were  insta 
admitted.    To  the  questions  of    I 
commissioners,  who  was  their  c 
mander,  and  what  was  their  pur] 
Joyce   replied,   that   they   were 
commanders,  and  that  they  had  c 


nals,  207,  222,  226—228.  Commons',  M« 

21,25,  28;  June  1,4,  5.    Rushworth,  Ti 

493,  497—500,  505. 

3  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  366. 


i 


A.D.  1W7.]       THE  KING  EEMOVED  TO  THE  ARMY. 


81 


to  arrest  Colonel  Greaves,  and  to 
secure  the  person  of  the  king,  that  he 
might  not  be  carried  away  by  their 
enemies.  With  a  pistol  in  his  hand 
he  then  demanded  admission  to 
Charles :  but  the  grooms  of  the  bed- 
chamber interposed;  and,  after  a 
violent  altercation,  he  was  induced  to 
withdraw.  During  the  day  the  par- 
liamentary guards  were  replaced  by 
these  strangers;  about  ten  at  night 
Joyce  again  demanded  admission  to 
the  royal  bedchamber,  and  informed 
the  king  that  his  comrades  were  ap- 
prehensive of  a  rescue,  and  wished  to 
conduct  him  to  a  place  of  greater 
security.  Charles  signified  his  assent, 
on  the  condition  that  what  then 
passed  between  them  in  private  should 
be  repeated  in  public ;  and  at  six  the 
next  morning,  took  his  station  on  the 
steps  at  the  door,  while  the  troopers 
drew  up  before  him,  with  Joyce  a 
little  in  advance  of  the  line.  This 
dialogue  ensued : — 

King.— Mr.  Joyce,  I  desire  to  ask 
you,  what  authority  you  have  to  take 
charge  of  my  person  and  convey  me 
away  ? 

Joyce. — I  am  sent  by  authority  of 
the  army,  to  prevent  the  design  of 
their  enemies,  who  seek  to  involve  the 
kingdom  a  second  time  in  blood. 

King.— That  is  no  lawful  autho- 
rity. I  know  of  none  in  England 
but  my  own,  and  after  mine,  that 
of  the  parliament.  Have  you  any 
written  commission  from  Sir  Thomas 
Fairfax  ? 

Joyce.— I  have  the  authority  of  the 
army,  and  the  general  is  included  in 
the  army. 

King.— That  is  no  answer.  The 
general  is  the  head  of  the  army.  Have 
you  any  written  commission  ? 


1  Compare  the  narrative  published  by  the 
army  (Eushw.  vi.  53),  with  the  letters  sent 
by  the  commissioners  to  the  house  of  Lords, 
Journals,  237,  240,  248,  250,  273,  and  Her- 
hurt's  Memoirs,  26—33.  Fairfax  met  the 
king  at  Childersley,  near  Cambridge,  and 
advised  him  to  return  to  Holmby.    "  The 


Joyce.— I  beseech  your  majesty  to 
ask  me  no  more  questions.  There  is 
my  commission,  pointing  to  the 
troopers  behind  him. 

King,  with  a  smile— I  never  before 
read  such  a  commission ;  but  it  is 
written  in  characters  fair  and  legible 
enough;  a  company  of  as  handsome 
proper  gentlemen  as  I  have  seen  a 
long  while.  But  to  remove  me  hence, 
you  must  use  absolute  force,  unless 
you  give  me  satisfaction  as  to  these 
reasonable  and  just  demands  which 
I  make:  that  I  may  be  used  with 
honour  and  respect,  and  that  I  may 
not  be  forced  in  anything  against  my 
conscience  or  honour,  though  I  hope 
that  my  resolution  is  so  fixed  that  no 
force  can  cause  me  to  do  a  base  thing. 
You  are  masters  of  my  body,  my  soul 
is  above  your  reach. 

The  troopers  signified  their  assent 
by  acclamation ;  and  Joyce  rejoined, 
that  their  principle  was  not  to  force  any 
man's  conscience,  much  less  that  of 
their  sovereign.  Charles  proceeded 
to  demand  the  attendance  of  his  own 
servants,  and,  when  this  had  been 
granted,  asked  whither  they  meant 
to  conduct  him.  Some  mentioned 
Oxford,  others  Cambridge ;  but,  at  his 
own  request,  Newmarket  was  pre- 
ferred. As  soon  as  he  had  retired, 
the  commissioners  protested  against 
the  removal  of  the  royal  person,  and 
called  on  the  troopers  present  to  come 
over  to  them,  and  maintain  the  au- 
thority of  parliament.  But  they  re- 
plied with  one  voice,  "  None,  none ;" 
and  the  king,  trusting  himself  to 
Joyce  and  his  companions,  rode  that 
day  as  far  as  Hinchinbrook  House, 
and  afterwards  proceeded  to  Chil- 
dersley, not  far  from  Cambridge.' 

This  design  of  seizing  the  person  of 


next  day  I  waited  on  his  majesty,  it  being 
also  my  business  to  persuade  his  return  to 
Holmby;    but  he  was    otherwise  resolved 

So  having  spent  the  whole  day  about 

this  business,  I  returned  to  my  quarters; 
and  as  I  took  leave  of  the  king,  he  said  to 
me,  Sir,  I  have  as  good  interest  in  the  army 

a 


82 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  III. 


the  king  was  openly  avowed  by  the 
council  of  the  agitators,  though  the 
general  belief  attributed  it  to  the 
secret  contrivance  of  Cromwell.  It 
had  been  carefully  concealed  from 
the  knowledge  of  Fairfax,  who,  if  he 
was  not  duped  by  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
lieutenant-general  and  his  friends, 
carefully  suppressed  his  suspicions, 
and  acted  as  if  he  believed  his  brother 
officers  to  be  animated  with  the  same 
sentiments  as  himself,  an  earnest 
desire  to  satisfy  the  complaints  of  the 
military,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
prevent  a  rupture  between  them  and 
the  parliament.  But  Cromwell  ap- 
pears to  have  had  in  view  a  very  dif- 
ferent object,  the  humiliation  of  his 
pohtical  opponents;  and  his  hopes 
were  encouraged  not  only  by  the 
ardour  of  the  army,  but  also  by  the 
general  wishes  of  the  people. 

1.  The  day  after  the  abduction  of 
the  king  from  Holmby,  the  army 
rendezvoused  at  Newmarket,  and 
entered  into  a  solemn  engagement, 
stating  that,  whereas  several  officers 
had  been  called  in  question  for  advo- 
cating the  cause  of  the  miUtary,  they 
had  chosen  certain  men  out  of  each 
company,  who  then  chose  two  or  more 
out  of  themselves,  to  act  in  the  name 
and  behalf  of  the  whole  soldiery  of 
their  respective  regiments;  and  that 
they  did  now  unanimously  declare 
and  promise  that  the  army  should  not 
disband,  nor  volunteer  for  the  service 
in  Ireland,  till  their  grievances  had 
been  so  far  redressed,  and  their  sub- 
sequent safety  so  far  secured,  as  to 
give  satisfaction  to  a  council  com- 
posed of  the  general  officers,  and  of 
two  commissioned  officers,  and   two 


as  you I  called  for  a  council  of  war  to 

proceed  against  Joyce  for  this  high  oflfenee, 
and  breach  of  the  articles  of  war ;  but  the 
oflBcera,  whether  for  fear  of  the  distempered 
soldiers,  or  rather  (as  I  suspected)  a  secret 
allowance  of  what  was  done,  made  all  my 
endeavours  in  this  ineffectual." — Somors's 
Tr«cts,v.391.  Holies  asserts  that  the  removal 
of  the  king  had  been  planned  at  the  house  of 
Cromwell,  on  the  30th  of  May  (Holies,  96) ; 


privates,  or  adjutators,  chosen  from 
each  regiment.' 

2.  The  forcible  removal  of  the  king 
had  warned  the  Presbyterian  leaders 
of  the  bold  and  unscrupulous  spirit 
which  animated  the  soldiery;  yet 
they  entertained  no  doubt  of  obtain- 
ing the  victory  in  this  menacing  and 
formidable  contest.  So  much  appa- 
rent reverence  was  still  paid  to  the 
authority  of  the  parliament,  so  power- 
ful was  the  Presbyterian  interest  in 
the  city  and  among  the  military,  that 
they  believed  it  would  require  only 
a  few  concessions,  and  some  judicious 
management  on  their  part,  to  break 
that  bond  of  union  which  formed  the 
chief  element  of  strength  possessed  by 
their  adversaries.  But  when  it  be- 
came known  that  a  friendly  under- 
standing already  existed  between  the 
officers  and  the  king,  they  saw  that  no 
time  was  to  be  lost.  In  their  alarm 
the  measures,  which  they  had  hitherto 
discussed  very  leisurely,  were  hurried 
through  the  two  houses ;  the  obnox- 
ious declaration  was  erased  from  the 
journals ;  a  most  extensive  bill  ol 
indemnity  was  passed;  several  ordi- 
nances were  added  securing  more 
plentiful  pay  to  the  disbanded  soldiers, 
and  still  more  plentiful  to  those  whc 
should  volunteer  for  the  service  in 
Ireland.  Six  commissioners— the  earl 
of  Nottingham  and  Lord  Delaware 
from  the  house  of  Lords,  and  Pield- 
marshal  General  Skippon,=  Sir  Henrj 
Vane  the  younger,  and  two  others, 
from  the  house  of  Commons — were 
appointed  to  superintend  the  disband- 
ment  of  the  forces;  and  peremptory, 
orders  were  despatched  to  the  I"' 
general,  to  collect  all  the  regime  i 


Huntingdon,  that  it  was  advised  by  Crom 
well  and  Ireton.— Lords'  Journals,  x.  409. 

1  Pari.  Hist.  iii.  604. 

'  Skippon  had  been  appointed  com 
mander-in-chief  of  the  forces  in  Ireland 
with   the    title    of   field-marshal,    and    si 

Sounds  per  day  for  his  entertainment 
ournals,  ix.  122,  Ap.  6.  He  also  recelN 
the  sum  of  one  thousand  pounds  for  b^ 
outfit.— Holies,  p.  250. 


i 


A.D.  1047.]         COMMISSIONERS  YISIT  THE  AEMY. 


S3 


under  his  immediate  command  on 
Newmarket  Heath  on  Wednesday, 
the  9th  of  June,  and  to  second  to  the 
utmost  of  his  power  the  proceedings 
on  the  part  of  the  six  deputies.  He 
professed  obedience;  but  of  his  own 
authority  changed  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous to  Triploe  Heath,  between 
Cambridge  and  Eoyston,  and  the  day 
also  from  Wednesday  to  Thursday, 
apparently  with  a  view  to  the  conve- 
nience of  the  two  houses.' 

It  was  only  on  the  morning  of 
Wednesday  that  the  earl  of  Notting- 
ham, with  his  five  companions,  was 
able  to  set  out  from  London  on  their 
important  mission ;  and,  while  they 
were  on  the  road,  their  colleagues  at 
Westminster  sought  to  interest  Hea- 
ven in  their  favour  by  spending  the 
day,  as  one  of  fasting  and  humihation, 
in  religious  exercises,  according  to  the 
fashion  of  the  time.  Late  in  the 
evening  the  commissioners  reached 
Cambridge,  and  immediately  ofiered 
:he  votes  and  ordinances,  of  which 
:hey  were  the  bearers,  to  the  accept- 
mce  of  Fairfax  and  his  council.  The 
rvhole,  however,  of  the  next  morning 
)vas  wasted  (artfully,  it  would  seem, 
m  the  part  of  the  officers)  in  trifling 
controversies  on  mere  matters  of 
"orm,  till  at  last  the  lord  general 
leigned  to  return  an  answer  which 
vas  tantamount  to  a  refusal.  To  the 
\  )roposals  of  parliament  he  preferred 
I  he  solemn  engagement  already  en- 
ered  into  by  the  army  on  Newmarket 
leath,  because  the  latter  presented 
,  more  effectual  way  of  disbanding 
he  forces  under  his  command  with- 
'Ut  danger,  and  of  extinguishing 
atisfactorily  the  discontent  which 
•ervaded  the  whole  nation.    If,  how- 

ver,  the   commissioners  wished   to 


1  The  orders  of  the  parliament  with  re- 
pect  to  the  time  and  place  are  in  the  Lords' 
oumals,  ix.  2-41.  Yet  the  debates  on  the 
oncessions  did  not  close  before  Tuesday, 
or  did  the  negotiation  between  the  com- 
lissioners  and  the  military  council  conclude 


ascertain  in  person  the  real  senti- 
ments of  the  soldiery,  he  was  ready 
with  his  officers  to  attend  upon  them, 
whilst  they  made  the  inquiry.-  It 
was  now  one  in  the  afternoon ;  every 
corps  had  long  since  occupied  its  posi- 
tion on  the  heath ;  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe,  that  the  opportunity 
afibrded  by  this  delay  had  been  im- 
proved to  prepare  each  regiment 
separately,  and  particular  agents  in 
each  regiment,  against  the  arrival  and 
proposals  of  the  commissioners.  The 
latter  dared  not  act  on  their  own 
discretion,  but  resolved  to  obey  their 
instructions  to  the  very  letter.  Pro- 
ceeding, therefore,  to  the  heath,  they 
rode  at  once  to  the  regiment  of 
infantry  of  which  Fairfax  was  colonel. 
The  votes  of  the  two  houses  were 
then  read  to  the  men,  and  Skippon, 
having  made  a  long  harangue  in  com- 
mendation of  the  votes,  concluded  by 
asking  whether,  with  these  conces- 
sions, they  were  not  all  satisfied. 
"  To  that  no  answer  can  be  returned," 
exclaimed  a  voice  from  the  ranks,  "tiJl 
your  proposals  have  been  submitted 
to,  and  approved  by,  the  council  of 
officers  and  adjutators."  The  speaker 
was  a  subaltern,  who  immediately, 
having  asked  and  obtained  permission 
from  his  colonel  to  address  the  whole 
corps,  called  aloud,  "  Is  not  that  the 
opinion  of  you  all  ?  "  They  shouted, 
"  It  is,  of  all,  of  all."  "  But  are  there 
not,"  he  pursued,  "  some  among  you 
who  think  otherwise  ?  "  "  No,"  was 
the  general  response,  "  no,  not  one." 
Disconcerted  and  abashed,  the  com- 
missioners turned  aside,  and,  as  they 
withdrew,  were  greeted  with  continual 
cries  of  "  Justice,  justice,  we  demand 
justice."  3 
From  this  regiment  they  proceeded 


till    afternoon    on    Thursday.  —  Ibid.    247, 
253. 

2  The  correspondence  is  in  the  Joornals, 
ibid. 

3  Kushworth,    yi.    518.    Whitelock,   251. 
HoUea,  252. 

a2 


84 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  hi. 


to  each  of  the  others.  In  every 
instance  the  same  ceremonywas  re- 
peated, and  always  with  the  same 
result.  No  one  now  could  doubt  that 
both  officers  and  men  were  joined  in 
one  common  league;  and  that  the 
link  which  bound  them  together  was 
the  "  solemn  engagement."  '  Both 
looked  upon  that  engagement  as  the 
charter  of  their  rights  and  liberties. 
No  concession  or  intrigue,  no  par- 
tiality of  friendship  or  religion,  could 
seduce  them  from  the  faith  which 
they  had  sworn  to  it.  There  were, 
indeed,  a  few  seceders,  particularly 
the  captains,  and  several  of  the  lord 
general's  life-guard ;  but  after  all,  the 
men  who  yielded  to  temptation 
amounted  to  a  very  inconsiderable 
number,  in  comparison  with  the  im- 
mense majority  of  those  who  with 
inviolable  fidelity  adhered  to  the  en- 
gagement, and,  by  their  resolution  and 
perseverance,  enabled  their  leaders  to 
win  for  them  a  complete,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  bloodless  victory. 

3.  On  the  next  day  a  deputation  of 
freeholders  from  the  county  of  Nor- 
folk, and  soon  afterwards  similar 
deputations  from  the  counties  of  Suf- 
folk, Essex,  Herts,  and  Buckingham, 
waited  with  written  addresses  upon 
Pairfax.  They  lamented  that  now, 
when  the  war  with  the  king  was  con- 
cluded, peace  had  not  brought  with  it 
the  blessings,  the  promise  of  which 
by  the  parliament  had  induced  them 
to  submit  to  the  eviis  and  privations 
of  war;  a  disappointment  that  could 
be  attributed  only  to  the  obstinacy 
'  with  which  certain  individuals  clung 
;  to  the  emoluments  of  office  and  the 
monopoly  of  power.  To  Fairfax, 
therefore,  under  God,  they  appealed 
to  become  the  sa'Viour  of  his  coun- 
try, to  be  the  mediator  between 
it  and  the  two  houses.  With  this 
view,  let  him  keep  his  army  together, 


'  NottiDgbam's    Letter    ia   the    Lords' 
Journals,  iz.  253. 
a  Lords'  Journals,  260,  263,  277.    Holies 


till  he  had  brought  the  incendiaries 
to  condign  punishment,  and  extorted 
full  redress  of  the  grievances  so  se- 
verely felt  both  by  the  army  and  the 
people.' 

The    chiefs,    however,   who    now 
ruled  at  Westminster,  were  not  the 
men  to  surrender  without  a  struggle, 
They  submitted,  indeed,  to  pass  a  few 
ordinances  calculated  to  give   satis- 
faction ;  but  these  were  combined  with 
others  which  displayed  a  fixed  deter- 
mination not  to  succumb  to  the  dic- 
tates of  a  mutinous  soldiery.    A  com- 
mittee was  established  with  power  U 
raise  forces  for  the  defence  of  th( 
nation :  the  favourite  general  Skippor 
was   appointed   to   provide   for   th( 
safety  of  the  capital ;   and  the  raos' 
positive  orders  were  sent  to  Fairfax 
not  to  suffer  any  one  of  the  corpi 
under   his   command    to    approaci 
within  forty  miles  of  London.   Ever: 
day  the   contest    assumed   a   mor< 
threatening  aspect.    A  succession  o 
petitions,  remonstrances,  and  decla 
rations  issued  from  the  pens  of  Iretoi 
and  Lambert,  guided,  it  was  believed 
by  the  hand  of  Cromwell.  In  additioi 
to   their   former    demands,    it   wa 
required  that  all  capitulations  grantei 
by  military  commanders  during  th' 
war  should  be  observed ;  that  a  tim' 
should  be  fixed  for  the  termination  c 
the  present    parliament;    that  th 
house  of  Commons  should  be  purgd 
of    every  individual  disqualified   b; 
preceding  ordinances;    and,  in  par 
ticular,  that  eleven  of  its  memben 
comprising  Holies,  Glyn,  Stapletor 
Clotworthy,   and  Waller,   the  ohie 
leaders  of  the  Presbyterian  party,  an' 
members  of  the  committee  at  Derb; 
House,  should  be  excluded,  till  the 
had  been  tried  by  due  course  of  la^ 
for  the  offence  of  endeavouring  t 
commit  the  army  with  the   parlia 
ment.    To  give  weight  to  these  dc 


says  that  these  petitions  were 
Cromwell,  and  sent  into  the  countiei 
subscriptions.— Holies,  256 


drawn  .♦' 
luntieuH 

m 


A.D.  1647.]        CONCESSIONS  MADE  TO  THE  ARMY. 


85 


mands,  Fairfax,  who  seems  to  have 
acted  as  the  mere  organ  of  the  council 
of  officers,'  marched  successively  to 
St.  Alban's,  to  Watford,  and  to  Ux- 
bridge.  His  approach  revealed  the 
weakness  of  his  opponents,  and  the 
cowardice,  perhaps  hypocrisy,  of 
many,  who  foresaw  the  probable  issue 
of  the  contest,  and  deemed  it  not  their 
interest  to  provoke  by  a  useless 
resistance  the  military  chiefs,  who 
might  in  a  few  hours  be  their  masters. 
Hence  it  happened  that  men  who 
had  so  clamorously  and  successfully 
appealed  to  the  privileges  of  parliament, 
when  the  king  demanded  the  five 
members,  now  submitted  tamely  to  a 
similar  demand,  when  it  was  made  by 
twelve  thousand  men  in  arms.  Skip- 
pon,  their  oracle,  was  one  of  the  first 
deserters.  He  resigned  the  several 
commands  which  he  held,  and  exhorte  d 
the  Presbyterians  to  fast  and  pray, 
.and  submit  to  the  will  of  God.  Erom 
that  time  it  became  their  chief  soli- 
citude to  propitiate  the  army.  They 
granted  very  ingeniously  leave  of 
absence  to  the  eleven  accused  mem- 
bers ;  they  ordered  the  new  levies  for 
the  defence  of  the  city  to  be  dis- 
banded, and  the  new  lines  of  commu- 
nication to  be  demolished ;  they  sent 
a  month's  pay  to  the  forces  under 
Fairfax,  with  a  vote  declaring  them 
the  army  of  the  parliament,  and  ap- 
pointed commissioners  to  treat  with 
commissioners  from  the  military 
council,  as  if  the  latter  were  the  repre- 
'Sentatives  of  an  independent  and  co- 
equal authority.  2 


1  "From  the  time  they  declared  their 
'  lanrped  authority  at  Triploe  Heath  (June 
lOth),  I  never  gave  mj'  free  consent  to  any 
-hing  they  did ;  but  being  yet  undischarged 
)f  my  place,  they  set  my  name  in  way  of 
course  to  all  their  papers,  whether  I  con- 
sented or  not." — Somers'a  Tracts,  v.  396. 
Pbia  can  only  mean  that  he  reluctantly 
lUowed  them  to  make  use  of  his  name  ;  for 
le  was  certainly  at  liberty  to  resign  his 
command,  or  to  protest  against  the  mea- 
■ares  which  he  disapproved. 

*  Hushworth,  vi.  618—596.  Whitelock, 
^1—256.    Holies,  101.    Journals,  249,  257, 


This  struggle  and  its  consequences 
were  viewed  with  intense  interest  by 
the  royalists,  who  persuaded  them 
selves  that  it  must  end  in  the  restora 
tion  of  the  king;  but  the  opportunities 
furnished  by  the  passions  of  his  ad- 
versaries were  as  often  forfeited  by 
the  irresolution  of  the  monarch. 
While  both  factions  courted  his 
assistance,  he,  partly  through  dis- 
trust of  their  sincerity,  partly  through 
the  hope  of  more  favourable  terms, 
balanced  between  their  offers,  till  the 
contest  was  decided  without  his  inter- 
ference. Ever  since  his  departure 
from  Holmby,  though  he  Was  still 
a  captive,  and  compelled  to  follow  the 
marches  of  the  army,  the  officers  had 
treated  him  with  the  most  profound 
respect ;  attention  was  paid  to  all  his 
wants ;  the  general  interposed  to  pro- 
cure for  him  occasionally  the  company 
of  his  younger  children;  his  servants. 
Legge,  Berkeley,  and  Ashburnham, 
though  known  to  have  come  from 
France  with  a  message  from  the 
queen,'  were  permitted  to  attend 
him;  and  free  access  was  given  to 
some  of  his  chaplains,  who  read  the 
service  in  his  presence  pubhcly  and 
without  molestation.  Several  of  the 
officers  openly  professed  to  admire 
his  piety,  and  to  compassionate  his 
misfortunes ;  even  Cromwell,  though 
at  first  he  affected  the  distance  and 
reserve  of  an  enemy,  sent  him  secret 
assurances  of  his  attachment;  and 
successive  addresses  were  made  to 
him  in  the  name  of  the  military,  ex- 
pressive of  the  general  wish  to  effect 


■i^^rw-t! 


260,  263,  275,  277,  284,  289,  291,  298.  Com- 
mons', June  7,  11,  12,  15,  18,  25,  26,  28.  On 
divisions  in  general,  the  Presbyterians  had 
a  majority  of  forty ;  but  on  the  28th,  the 
first  day  after  the  departure  of  their  leaders, 
they  were  left  in  a  minority  of  eighty-five 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty-one. — Ibid. 

^  "  I  returned  with  instructions  to  endea- 
vour  by  the  best  means  imaginable  such  a 
compliance  between  his  majesty  and  the 
army,  as  might  have  influence,  and  beget  a 
right  understanding  between  his  majesty 
and  the  parliament."— Ashburnham'sLetter, 
in  1648,  p.  5. 


8G 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  Ill 


an  accommodation,  which  should  re- 
concile the  rights  of  the  throne  with 
those  of  the  people.  A  secret  negotia- 
tion followed  through  the  agency  of 
Berkeley  and  Ashburnham;  and  Fair- 
fax, to  prepare  the  public  for  the 
result,  in  a  letter  to  the  two  houses, 
spumed  the  imputation  cast  upon 
the  army,  as  if  it  were  hostile  to 
monarchical  government,  justified  the 
respect  and  indulgence  with  which 
he  had  treated  the  royal  captive,  and 
maintained  that  "  tender,  equitable, 
and  moderate  dealings  towards  him, 
his  family,  and  his  former  adherents," 
was  the  most  hopeful  course  to  lull 
asleep  the  feuds  which  divided  the 
nation.  Never  had  the  king  so  fair  a 
prospect  of  recovering  his  authority.' 
In  the  treaty  between  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  parhament  and  those 
of  the  army,  the  latter  proceeded  with 
considerable  caution.  The  redress  of 
mihtary  grievances  was  but  the  least 
of  their  cares ;  their  great  object  was 
the  settlement  of  the  national  tran- 
quillity on  what  ihey  deemed  a  solid 
and  permanent  basis.  Of  this  inten- 
tion they  had  suffered  some  hints 
to  transpire  ;  but  before  the  open 
announcement  of  their  plan,  they 
resolved  to  bring  the  city,  as  they 
had  brought  the  parliament,  under 
subjection.  London,  with  its  depen- 
dencies, had  hitherto  been  the  chief 
support  of  the  contrary  faction;  it 
abounded  with  discharged  officers  and 
soldiers  who  had  served  under  Essex 
and  AValler,  and  who  were  ready  at 
the  first  summons  to  draw  the  sword 
in  defence  of  the  covenant ;  and  the 
supreme  authority  over  the  military 
wilhin  the  hues  of  communication 
had  been,  by  an  ordinance  of  the 
last  year,  vested  in  a  committee,  all 
the  members  of  which  were  strongly 
attached  to  the  Presbyterian  interest. 
To  wrest  this  formidable  wea])on  from 


'  Journals,  ii.  323,  324.    Aahburn.  ii.  91. 
Also  Huntingdon's  Narrative,  i.  409. 


the  hands  of  their  adversaries,  thej 
forwarded  a  request  to  the  two  houses, 
that  the  command  of  the  London 
mihtia  might  be  transferred  from  dis- 
affected persons  to  men  distinguished 
by  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the 
country.  The  Presbyterians  in  the 
city  were  alarmed ;  they  suspected  a 
coalition  between  the  king  and  the 
Independents ;  they  saw  that  the 
covenant  itself  was  at  stake,  and  that 
the  propositions  of  peace  so  often 
voted  in  parliament  might  in  a  few 
days  be  set  aside.  A  petition  was  pre- 
sented in  opposition  to  the  demand 
of  the  army;  but  the  houses,  now 
under  the  influence  of  the  Inde- 
pendents, passed  the  ordinance ;  and 
the  city,  on  its  part,  determined  to 
resist  both  the  army  and  the  parlia- 
ment. Lord  Lauderdale,  the  chief  of 
the  Scottish  commissioners,  hastened 
to  the  king  to  obtain  his  concurrence; 
a  new  covenant,  devised  in  his  favour, 
was  exposed  at  Skinners'  Hall,  and 
the  citizens  and  soldiers,  and  probably 
the  concealed  royalists,  hastened  in 
crowds  to  subscribe  their  names.  By 
it  they  bound  themselves,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God,  and  at  the  risk  of  then: 
hves  and  fortunes,  to  bring  the  sove- 
reign to  AVestminster,  that  he  might 
confirm  the  concessions  which  he  had 
made  in  his  letter  from  Holmby,  and 
might  confer  with  his  parhament  on 
the  remaining  propositions.  But  the 
recent  converts  to  the  cause  of  the 
army  hastened  to  prove  the  sincerity 
of  their  conversion.  Both  Lords  and 
Commons  voted  this  engagement  an 
act  of  treason  against  the  kingdom; 
and  the  publication  of  the  vot-e, 
instead  of  damping  the  zeal,  inflau; 
the  passions  of  the  people.  The  ci 
zens  jietitioned  a  second  time,  aiiu 
received  a  second  refusal.  The  mo- 
ment the  petitioners  departed,  a  mul- 
titude of  apprentices,  supjwrted  by  a 
crowd  of  military  men,  besieged  tbp 
doors  of  the  two  houses;  for  eiiri 
hours  they  continued,  by  shouts  ui 


A.D.  iG4r.] 


PLAN  OF  SETTLEMENT. 


87 


messages,  to  call  for  the  repeal  of  the 
ordinance  respecting  the  mihtia,  and 
of  the  vote  condemning  the  covenant; 
and  the  members,  after  a  long  re- 
sistance, worn  out  with  fatigue,  and 
overcome  with  terror,  submitted  to 
their  demands.  Even  after  they  had 
been  suffered  to  retire,  the  multitude 
suddenly  compelled  the  Commons  to 
return,  and,  with  the  speaker  in  the 
chair,  to  pass  a  vote  that  the  king 
should  be  conducted  without  delay 
to  his  palace  at  Westminster,  Both 
houses  adjourned  for  three  days,  and 
the  two  speakers,  with  most  of  the 
Lidependent  party  and  their  prose- 
lytes, amounting  to  eight  peers  and 
fifty-eight  commoners,  availed  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  to  withdraw 
from  the  insults  of  the  populace,  and 
to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  army.' 

In  the  mean  while  the  council  of 
officers  had  completed  their  plan  "  for 
the  settlement  of  the  nation,"  which 
they  submitted  first  to  the  considera- 
tion of  Charles,  and  afterwards  to  that 
of  the  parhamentary  commissioners. 
In  many  points  it  was  similar  to  the 
celebrated  "  propositions  of  peace  ;" 
but  contained  in  addition  several  pro- 
visions respecting  the  manner  of  elec- 
tion, and  the  duration  of  parliament 
and  the  composition  of  the  magistracy, 
which  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
the  reader  even  at  the  present  day. 
It  proposed  that  a  parliament  should 
meet  every  year,  to  sit  not  less  than 
a  certain  number  of  days,  or  more 
than  another  certain  number,  each 
of  which  should  be  fixed  by  law ;  that 
if  at  the  close  of  a  session  any  parlia- 
mentary businessremained  unfinished, 
a  committee  should  be  appointed  with 
power  to  sit  and  bring  it  to  a  con- 
clusion ;  that  a  new  parliament  should 
be  summoned  every  two  years,  unless 
the  former  parliament  had  been  pre- 
viously dissolved  with  its  own  con- 


1  Whitelock,  260, 261.  Journals, ix.377, 393. 
Holies,  145.  Leicester's  Journal  in  the  Syd- 
ney Papers,  edited  by  Mr.  Blencowe,  p.  25. 


sent ;  that  decayed  and  inconsiderable 
boroughs  should  be  disfranchised,  and 
the  number  of  county  members  in- 
creased, such  increase  being  propor- 
tionate to  the  rates  of  each  county  in 
the  common  charges  of  the  kingdom ; 
that  every  regulation  respecting  the 
reform  of  the  representation  and  the 
election  of  members  should  emanate 
from  the  house  of  Commons  alone, 
whose  decision  on  such  matters  should 
have  the  force  of  law,  independently 
of  the  other  branches  of  the  legisla- 
ture ;  that  the  names  of  the  persons 
to  be  appointed  sherifis  annually,  and 
of  those  to  be  appointed  magistrates 
at  any  time,  should  be  recommended 
to  the  king  by  the  grand  jury  at  the 
assizes;  and  that  the  grand  jury  itself 
should  be  selected,  not  by  the  par- 
tiality of  the  sheriff,  but  equally  by 
the  several  divisions  of  the  county; 
that  the  excise  should  be  taken  off  all 
articles  of  necessity  without  delay,  and 
off  all  others  within  a  limited  time ; 
that  the  land-tax  should  be  equally 
apportioned;  that  a  remedy  should 
be  apphed  to  the  "  unequal,  trouble- 
some, and  contentious  way  of  minis- 
ters' maintenance  by  tithes;"  that 
suits  at  law  should  be  rendered  less 
tedious  and  expensive ;  that  the 
estates  of  all  men  should  be  made 
liable  for  their  debts;  that  insolvent 
debtors,  who  had  surrendered  all  that 
they  had  to  their  creditors,  should  be 
discharged;  and  that  no  corporation 
should  exact  from  their  members 
oaths  trenching  on  freedom  of  con- 
science-^ To  these  innovations,  great 
and  important  as  they  were,  it  was 
not  the  interest,  if  it  had  been  the 
inclination,  of  Charles  to  make  any 
serious  objection :  but  on  three  other 
questions  he  felt  much  more  deeply, 
— The  church,  the  army,  and  the  fate 
of  the  royalists;  yet  there  existed  a 
disposition  to  spare  his  feelings  on  all 


2  Charles's  Works,  579.    Pari.  History, 
ii.  738. 


83 


CHARLES  I. 


rCHA.P.  Ill 


three;  and  after  long  and  frequent 
discussion,  such  modifications  of  the 
original  proposals  were  adopted,  as  in 
the  opinion  of  his  agents,  Berkeley 
and  Ashburnham,  would  insure  his 
assent.  1.  Instead  of  the  abolition  of 
the  hierarchy,  it  was  agreed  to  deprive 
it  only  of  the  power  of  coercion,  to 
place  the  liturgy  and  the  covenant  on 
an  equal  footing,  by  taking  away  the 
penalties  for  absence  from  the  one, 
and  for  refusal  of  the  other ;  and  to 
substitute  in  place  of  the  oppressive 
and  sanguinary  laws  still  in  force, 
some  other  provision  for  the  discovery 
of  popish  recusants,  and  the  restraint 
of  popish  priests  and  Jesuits,  seeking 
to  disturb  the  state.  2,  To  restore  to 
the  crown  the  command  of  the  army 
and  navy  at  the  expiration  of  ten 
years.  3.  And  to  reduce  the  number 
of  delinquents  among  the  English 
royalists  to  be  excluded  from  pardon, 
to  five  individuals.  Had  the  king 
accepted  these  terms,  he  would  most 
probably  have  been  replaced  on  the 
throne ;  for  his  agents,  who  had  the 
best  means  of  forming  a  judgment, 
though  they  differed  on  other  points, 
agreed  in  this,  that  the  officers  acted 
uprightly  and  sincerely ;  but  he  had 
unfortunately  persuaded  himself— and 
in  that  persuasion  he  was  confirmed 
both  by  the  advice  of  several  faithful 
royalists  and  by  the  interested  repre- 
sentations of  the  Scottish  commis- 
sioners—that the  growing  struggle 
between  the  Presbyterians  and  Inde- 
pendents would  enable  him  to  give  the 
law  to  both  parties ;  and  hence,  when 
"the  settlement  "was  submitted  to  him 
for  his  final  approbation,  he  retnmed 
an  unqualified  refusal.  The  astonish- 
ment of  his  agents  was  not  less  than 
that  of  the  officers.  Had  he  dis- 
sembled, or  had  he  changed  his  mind? 
In  either  case  both  had  been  deceived. 
Tliey  might  suppress  their  feelings ; 


1  Compare  the  narratives  of  Berkeley, 
3fi4 ;  Ashburnham,  ii.  92;  Ludlow,  i.  174;  and 
Huntingdon  (Journals,  x.  410),  with  the  pro- 


but  the  adjutators  complained  aloud 
and  a  party  of  soldiers,  attributinj^ 
the  disappointment  to  the  intriguer 
of  Lord  Lauderdale,  burst  at  nighl 
into  the  bedchamber  of  that  noble- 
man, and  ordered  him  to  rise  and 
depart  without  delay.  It  was  in  vair 
that  he  pleaded  his  duty  as  commis- 
sioner from  the  estates  of  Scotland,  oi 
that  he  solicited  the  favour  of  a  short 
interview  with  the  king :  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  his  bed  and  hasten 
back  to  the  capital.' 

Before  this,  information  of  the  pro- 
ceedings in  London  had  induced  Fair- 
fax to  collect  his  forces  and  march 
towards  the  city.  On  the  way  he  wa£ 
joined  by  the  speakers  of  both  houses, 
eight  lords  and  fifty-eight  commoners, 
who  in  a  council  held  at  Sion  House 
solemnly  bound  themselves  "  to  live 
and  die  with  the  army."  Here  it  was 
understood  that  many  royalists  had 
joined  the  Presbyterians,  and  that  a 
declaration  had  been  circulated  in  the 
name  of  the  king,  condemning  all 
attempts  to  make  war  on  the  parlia- 
ment. The  officers,  fearing  the  effect 
of  this  intelligence  on  the  minds  ot 
the  military,  already  exasperated  by 
the  refusal  of  their  proposals,  con- 
jured Charles  to  write  a  conciliatory 
letter  to  the  general,  in  which  he 
should  disavow  any  design  of  assisting 
the  enemy,  should  thank  the  armj 
for  its  attention  to  his  comfort,  and 
should  commend  the  moderation  ot 
their  plan  of  settlement  in  many 
points,  though  he  could  not  consent 
to  it  in  all.  The  ill-fated  monarch 
hesitated ;  the  grace  of  the  measure 
was  lost  by  a  delay  of  twenty- four 
hours ;  and  though  the  letter  was  at 
last  sent,  it  did  not  arrive  before  the 
city  had  made  an  offer  of  submission. 
In  such  circumstances  it  could  serve 
no  useful  purpose.  It  was  interpreted 
as  an  artifice  to  cover  the  king's  in- 


¥osal8  of  the  army  in  Charles's  Works,  678. 
be  insult  to  Landerdale  is  mentioned  in 
the  Lords'  Journals,  ix.  367. 


D.  IW/.J 


FAIRFAX  ENTERS  THE  CITY. 


8i> 


igues  with  the  Presbyterians,  instead 
a  demonstration  of  his  good  will  to 
le  army.^ 

To  return  to  the  city ;  Holies  and 

IS  colleagues  had  resumed  the  as- 

iidancy  during  the  secession  of  the 

i.dependents.    The  eleven  members 

'•ned  to  the  house ;  the  command 

e  militia  was  restored  to  the 

or  committee;  and  a  vote  was 

1  that  the  king  should  be  invited 

Westminster.    At  the  same  time 

lO  common  council  resolved  to  raise 

subscription  a  loan  of  ten  thousand 

vauds,  and  to  add  auxiUaries  to  the 

aiued    bands    to    the    amount   of 

-'hteen    regiments.    Ten   thousand 

len   were   already   in   arms ;   four 

undred  barrels  of  gunpowder,  with 

her   military   stores,   were   drawn 

om  the  magazine  in  the  Tower ;  and 

:•:■    Presbyterian   generals,   Massey, 

Vallev,  and  Poyntz,  gladly  accepted 

le  command.^  But  the  event  proved 

^at  these  were  empty  menaces.    In 

roportion  as  it  was  known  that  Fair- 

tx  had  begun  his  march,  that  he 

ad  reviewed  the  army  on  Hounslow 

if'ath,  and  that   he   had   fixed  his 

-quarters  at  Hammersmith,  the 

of  danger  cooled  the  fervour  of 

. ;  i  u  usiasm,  and  the  boast  of  resistance 

a,-^  insensibly  exchanged  for  offers  of 

Ujinission.  The  militia  of  South wark 

penly  fraternized  with  the  army;  the 

.  orks  on  the  line  of  communication 

ere  abandoned ;  and  the  lord  mayor, 

:i  a  promise  that  no  violence  should 

i'ered  to  the  inhabitants,  ordered 

-rates  to  be  thrown  open.    The 

'■xt   morning    was    celebrated    the 

riumph   of    the   Independents.     A 

o^iment   of  infantry,   followed    by 

lie   of   cavalry,   entered   the   city ; 


^  Jonrnala,  359,  375.  Heath,  140.  Lud- 
pw,  i.  181.  Charles  afterwards  disavowed 
ae  declaration,  and  demanded  that  the 
uthor  and  publisher  should  be  punished. — 
'Vhitelock,  267.  There  are  two  copies  of 
lis  letter,  one  in  the  Clarendon  Papers,  ii. 
'73;  another  and  shorter  in  the  Parlia- 
aentary  History,  xv.  205. 


then  came  Fairfax  on  horseback,  sur- 
rounded by  his  body-guards  and  a 
crowd  of  gentlemen ;  a  long  train  of 
carriages,  in  which  were  the  speakers 
and  the  fugitive  members,  succeeded ; 
and  another  regiment  of  cavalry 
closed  the  procession.  In  this  man- 
ner, receiving  as  they  passed  the 
forced  congratulations  of  the  mayor 
and  the  common  council,  the  con- 
querors marched  to  Westminster, 
where  each  speaker  was  placed  in 
his  chair  by  the  hand  of  the  general.^ 
Of  the  lords  who  had  remained  in 
London  after  the  secession,  one  only, 
the  earl  of  Pembroke,  ventured  to 
appear ;  and  he  was  suffered  to  make 
his  peace  by  a  declaration  that  he 
considered  all  the  proceedings  during 
the  absence  of  the  members  compul- 
sory, and  therefore  null.  But  in  the 
lower  house  the  Presbyterians  and 
their  adherents  composed  a  more 
formidable  body ;  and  by  their  spirit 
and  perseverance,  though  they  could 
not  always  defeat,  frequently  embar- 
rassed the  designs  of  their  opponents. 
To  many  things  they  gave  their  as- 
sent; they  suffered  Maynard  and  Glyn,. 
two  members,  to  be  expelled,  the  lord 
mayor,  one  of  the  sheriffs,  and  four 
of  the  aldermen,  to  be  sent  to  the 
Tower,  and  the  seven  peers  who  sat 
during  the  secession  of  their  col- 
leagues, to  be  impeached.  But  a 
sense  of  danger  induced  them  to 
oppose  a  resolution  sent  from  the 
Lords,  to  annul  all  the  votes  passed 
from  the  26th  of  July  to  the  6th  of 
August.  Four  times,  contrary  to  the 
practice  of  the  house,  the  resolution 
was  brought  forward,  and  as  often, 
to  the  surprise  of  the  Independents, 
was  rejected.   Fairfax  hastened  to  the 


2  Journals,  x.  13, 16,  17. 

3  Whitelock,  261—264.  Leicester's  Jour- 
nal, 27.  BaiUie  calls  this  surrender  of  the 
city  "  an  example  rarely  paralleled,  if  not 
of  treachery,  yet  at  least  of  childish  impro- 
vidence and  base  cowardice"  (ii.  259).  The 
eleven  members  instantly  fled.— Leicester,, 
ibid. 


9C 


CHARLES  I. 


aid  of  his  friends.  In  a  letter  to  the 
speaker,  he  condemned  the  conduct 
of  the  Commons  as  equivalent  to  an 
approval  of  popular  violence,  and 
hinted  the  necessity  of  removing 
from  the  house  the  enemies  of  the 
public  tranquillity.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  subject  was  resumed;  the 
Presbyterians  made  the  trial  of  their 
strength  on  an  amendment,  and  find- 
ing themselves  outnumbered,  suffered 
the  resolution  to  pass  without  a  divi- 
sion.' 

The  submission  of  the  citizens  made 
a  considerable  change  in  the  prospects 
of  the  captive  monarch.  Had  any 
opposition  been  offered,  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  officers  (so  we  are 
told  by  Ashburnham)  to  have  un- 
furled the  royal  standard,  and  to  have 
placed  Charles  at  their  head.  The 
ease  with  which  they  had  subdued 
their  opponents  convinced  them  of 
their  own  superiority,  and  rendered 
the  policy  of  restoring  the  king  a 
more  doubtful  question.  Still  they 
continued  to  treat  him  with  respect 
and  indulgence.  From  Oatlands  he  j 
was  transferred  to  the  palace  of 
Hampton  Court.  There  he  was  suf- 
fered to  enjoy  the  company  of  his 
children,  whenever  he  pleased  to  com- 
mand their  attendance,  and  the  plea- 
sure of  hunting,  on  his  promise  not 
to  attempt  an  escape;  all  persons 
whom  he  was  content  to  see  found 
ready  admission  to  his  presence ;  and, 
what  he  prized  above  all  other  con- 


1  Journals,  375,  385,  3S8,  391—398.  Com- 
mons', iv.  Aug.  9,  10,  17,  19,  20. 

*  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  381,  Appendix,  xli. 
Snshw.  vii.  795.  Memoirs  of  Hamiltons, 
316.    Herbert,  48.    Ashburn.  ii.  93,  95. 

3  Of  this  answer,  Charles  himself  says  to 
the  Scottish  commissioners,  "  Be  not  startled 
at  my  answer  which  I  gave  yesterday  to  the 
two  houses  ;  for  if  you  truly  understand  it, 
I  hare  put  yoa  in  a  right  way,  where  before 
you  were  wrong." — Memoirs  of  Hamiltons, 
323, 

*  Ludlow,  i.  184.  Wliitelock,  269.  Hunt- 
ingdon in  JoornaLs,  i.  410,  Journals,  v. 
Sept.  22.  On  the  division,  Cromwell  was 
one  of  the  tellera  for  the  Yea,  and  Colonel 


cessions,  he  was  furnished  with 
opportunity  of  corresponding  fr( 
and  safely  with  the  queen  at  Pai 
At  the  same  time  the  two  house? 
the  requisition  of  the  Scottish  a 
missioners,  submitted  "the  prop' 
tions"  once  more  to  the  royal  coi 
deration;  but  Charles  replied,  t 
the  plan  suggested  by  the  army  ■' 
better  calculated  to  form  the  basi; 
lasting  peace,  and  professed  his  re£ 
ness  to  treat  respecting  that  p 
with  commissioners  appointed  by 
parliament,  and  others  by  the  am 
The  officers  applauded  this  answ 
Cromwell  in  the  Commons  spoke 
its  favour  with  a  vehemence  wh 
excited  suspicion ;  and,  though  it  > 
ultimately  voted  equivalent  to  a 
fusal,  a  grand  committee  was  : 
pointed  "to  take  the  whole  mat 
respecting  the  king  into  conside 
tion."  It  had  been  calculated  tl 
this  attempt  to  amalgamate  the  plan 
the  parHament  with  that  of  the  an 
might  be  accomplished  in  the  space 
twenty  days;  but  it  occupied  m( 
than  two  months ;  for  there  was  n- 
a  third  house  to  consult,  the  coun 
of  war,  which  debated  every  clau 
and  notified  its  resolves  to  the  Loj 
and  Commons,  under  the  mode 
but  expressive,  name  of  the  desires 
the  army,* 

While   the   king   sought  thus 
flatter  the  officers,  he  was,  accordi 
to  his  custom,  employed  in  treati 
with  the  opposite  party.*    The  mj 


Rainsborough,  the  chief  of  the  Levelle 
for  the  No.  It  was  carried  by  a  major 
of  84  to  34.— Ibid. 

5  In  vindication  of  Charles,  it  ha^ 
suggested  that  he  was  only  playing 
same  game  as  his  opponents,  amusiii; 
as  they  sought  to  amuse  him,    Thi^. 
ever,  is  very  doubtful  as  far  as  it  regai 
superior  officers,  who  appear  to  me  t 
treated  with  him  in  good  earnest,  t 
were  induced  to  break  oflf  the  negt 
by  repeated  proofs  of  his  duplicity,  i 
rapid  growth  of  distrust  and  d  i 
the  army,    I  do  not,  however, 
Morrice's  tale  of  a  letter  from 
Henrietta    intercepted    by    Cromw. 
Ireton, 


.D.  1&4/.] 


EISE  OF  THE  LEYELLEES. 


91 


aess  of  Ormond,  and  the  lord  Capel/ 
ith  the  Scottish  coniinissioners, 
aited  on  him  from  London ;  and  a 
jsolution  was  formed  that  in  the 
ext  spring,  the  Scots  should  enter 
ngland  with  a  numerous  army,  and 
ill  on  the  Presbyterians  for  their 
d;  that  Charles,  if  he  were  at  liberty, 
jherwise  the  prince  of  Wales,  should 
motion  the  enterprise  by  his  pre- 
ince ;  and  that  Ormond  should  re- 
mie  the  government  of  Ireland, 
hile  Capel  summoned  to  the  royal 
andard  the  remains  of  the  king's 
arty  in  England.  Such  was  the 
itline  of  the  plan :  the  minor  details 
ad  not  been  arranged,  when  Crom- 
ell,  either  informed  by  his  spies,  or 
rompted  by  his  suspicions,  com- 
iained  to  Ashbumham  of  the  incura- 
e  duplicity  of  his  master,  who  was 
}  the  same  time  soliciting  the  aid, 
id  plotting  the  destruction  of  the 
nny.* 

But  by  this  time  a  new  party  had 
sen,  equally  formidable  to  royalists, 
resbyterians,  and  Independents.  Its 
)unders  were  a  few  fanatics  in  the 
mks,  who  enjoyed  the  reputation  of 
iperior  godliness.  They  pretended 
ot  to  knowledge  or  abilities :  they 
ere  but  humble  individuals,  to  whom 
od  had  given  reason  for  their  guide, 
id  whose  duty  it  was  to  act  as  that 
iason  dictated.  Hence  they  called 
lemselves  Rationalists,  a  name  which 
as  soon  exchanged  for  the  more 
icpressive  appellation  of  Levellers, 
a  religion  they  rejected  all  coercive 
athority;   men   might   estabUsh    a 


1  Capel  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
r  the  royal  commanders,  and  had  lately 
•turned  from  beyond  the  sea  vrith  the 
ermission  of  parliament. 

•  Clarendon,  iii.  70—72—75.  Ashburn- 
am,  ii.  94.  Of  the  disposition  of  the  Seot- 
sh  parliament,  we  have  this  account  from 

ailue:  "If  the  king  be  willing  to  ratify 
or  covenant,  we  are  all  as  one  man  to  re- 
:ore  him  to  all  his  rights,  or  die  by  the  way; 
■  hfi  continue  resolute  to  reject  our  cove- 
ant,  and  only  to  give  us  some  parts  of  the 
latter  of  it,  many  here  will  be  for  him,  even 
a  these  terms ;  but  divers  of  the  best  and 


public  worship  at  their  pleasure,  but, 
if  it  were  compulsory,  it  became  un- 
lawful, by  forcing  conscience  and 
leading  to  wilful  sin :  in  politics  they 
taught  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
people  to  vindicate  their  own  rights 
and  do  justice  to  their  own  claims. 
Hitherto  the  public  good  had'  been 
sacrificed  to  private  interest ;  by  the 
king,  whose  sole  object  was  the  reco- 
very of  arbitrary  power;  by  the 
officers,  who  looked  forward  to  com- 
mands, and  titles,  and  emoluments; 
and  by  the  parliament,  which  sought 
chiefly  the  permanence  of  its  own 
authority.  It  was  now  time  for  the 
oppressed  to  arise,  to  take  the  cause 
into  their  own  hands,  and  to  resolve 
"to  part  with  their  lives,  before  they 
w  ould  part  with  their  freedom."  ^  These 
doctrines  were  rapidly  diflFused: 
they  made  willing  converts  of  the 
dissolute,  the  adventurous,  and  the 
discontented;  and  a  new  spirit,  the 
fruitful  parent  of  new  projects,  began 
to  agitate  the  great  mass  of  the  army. 
The  king  was  seldom  mentioned  but 
in  terms  of  abhorrence  and  contempt ; 
he  was  an  Ahab  or  Coloquintida,  the 
everlasting  obstacle  to  peace,  the  cause 
of  dissension  and  bloodshed.  A  paper 
entitled  "  The  Case  of  the  Army," 
accompanied  with  another  under  the 
name  of  "  The  Agreement  of  the 
People,"  was  presented  to  the  general 
by  the  agitators  of  eleven  regiments. 
They  ofiered,  besides  a  statement  of 
grievances,  a  new  constitution  for  the 
kingdom.  It  made  no  mention. of 
king  or  lords.     The  sovereignty  was 


wisest  are  irresolute,  and  wait  till  God  give 
more  light."— Baillie,  ii.  260. 

3  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  App.  xl.  Walker, 
History  of  Independents,  194.  Eushworth, 
vii.  845.  Hutchinson,  287.  Secretary 
Nicholas,  after  mentioning  the  Eationalists, 
adds,  "  There  are  a  sect  of  women  lately 
come  from  foreign  parts,  and  lodged  in 
Southwark,  called  Quakers,  who  swell, 
shiver,  and  shake ;  and  when  they  come  to 
themselves  (for  in  all  the  time  of  their  fits 
Mahomet's  holy  ghost  converses  with  them) 
they  begin  to  preach  what  hath  been  deh- 
vered  to  them  by  the  spirit."— Clarendon 
Papers,  ii.  383. 


92 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap;' 


I 


said  to  reside  in  the  people,  its  exer- ' 
cise  to  be  delegated  to  their  repre- 
sentatives, but  with  the  reseiTation  of 
equality  of  law,  freedom  of  conscience, 
and  freedom  I'rom  forced  service  in 
the  time  of  war ;  three  privileges  of 
which  the  nation  would  never  divest 
itself;  parliaments  were  to  be  bien- 
nial, and  to  sit  during  six  months ; 
the  elective  franchise  to  be  extended, 
and  the  representation  to  be  more 
equally  distribut^ed.  These  demands 
of  the  Levellers  were  strenuously  sup- 
ported by  the  colonels  Pride  and 
Eainsborough,  and  as  fiercely  opposed 
by  Cromwell  and  Ireton.  The  coun- 
cil of  ofiicers  yielded  so  far  as  to  re- 
quire that  no  more  addresses  should 
be  made  to  the  king;  but  the  two 
houses  voted  the  papers  destructive 
of  the  government,  and  ordered  the 
authors  to  be  prosecuted ;  though  at 
the  same  time,  to  afibrd  some  satis- 
faction to  the  soldiery,  they  resolved 
that  the  king  was  bound  to  give  the 
royal  assent  to  all  laws  for  the  public 
good,  which  had  been  passed  and 
presented  to  him  by  the  Lords  and 
Commons.' 

It  was  now  some  time  since  the 
king  had  begun  to  tremble  for  his 
safety.  He  saw  that  the  violence  of 
the  Levellers  daily  increased;  that 
the  officers,  who  professed  to  be  his 
friends,  were  become  objects  of  sus- 
picion ;  that  Ireton  had  been  driven 
from  the  council,  and  Cromwell 
threatened  with  impeachment;  that 
several  regiments  were  in  a  state  of 
complete  insubordination ;  and  that 
Fairfax  himself  doubted  of  his  power 
to  restore  the  discipline  of  the  army. 
Charles  had  formerly  given  his  word 
of  honour  to  the  governor,  Colonel 
Whalley,  not  to  attempt  an  escape : 


1  Claren.  Papers,  ii.  App.  xl.  xli.  Journ. 
Nov.  5,  6.  Rush.  Tii.  849,  857,  860,  863. 
Whitelock,  274—277. 

*  See  Ashbumham's  letter  to  the  speaker 
on  Nov.  26,  p.  2 ;    his  Memoir,  101—112 
Berkeley,   373  —  375;    Joarnals,    ix.    520. 
Bush.  vii.  871 J  Clarendon,  iii.  77;  Mem.  of 


he  now  withdrew  it  under  the  p 
tcnce  that  of  late  he  had  been 
narrowly  watched  as  if  no  credit  w. 
due  to  his  promise.    His  guards  W' 
immediately  doubled;   his   servai 
with  the  exception  of  Legge,  w< 
dismissed ;  and  the  gates  were  clot 
against  the  admission  of  strange 
Yet  it  may  be  doubted  whether  thi 
precautions  were  taken  with  any  otl 
view  than  to  lull  the  suspicion  of  t 
Levellers;  for  he  still  possessed  t 
means  of  conferring  personally  w 
Ashburnham  and  Berkeley,  and  : 
ceived  from  AVhalley  repeated  hii 
of  the  dangerous  designs  of  his  ei 
mies.    But  where  was  he  to  seek 
asylum  ?   Jersey,  Berwick,  the  Isle 
Wight,  and  the  residence  of  the  Sc< 
tish  commissioners  in  London,  W( 
proposed.    At  first  the  commission" 
expressed  a  wilhngness  to  receive  hi 
the  next  day  they  withdrew  their  cc 
sent,  and  he  fixed,  as  a  last  resour 
on  the  Isle  of  Wight.    On  Nove: 
ber  10th  his  apprehensions  were  wou 
up  to  the  highest  pitch  by  some  s 
ditional  and  most  alarming  intel 
gence;    the   next    evening   he   v 
missing.     At   supper-time  Whall 
entered  his  apartment,  but,  inste 
of  the  king,  found  on  his  table  sevei 
written  papers,  of  which  one  was 
anonymous  letter,  warning   him 
danger  to  his  person,  and  another 
message   from    himself  to   the   t^ 
houses,   promising,  that  though 
had  sought  a  more  secure  asylu: 
he  should  be  always  ready  to  cor 
forth,  "  whenever  he  might  be  hea 
with  honour,  freedom,  and  safety."- 
This  unexpected  escape  drew  fro 
the  parliament  threats  of  vengean 
against  all  persons  who  should  pr 
sume  to  harbour  the  royal  fugitiv 


Hamiltons,  324;  "Whitelock,  278.  That 
letter  from  Cromwell  was  received  or  re 
by  the  king,  is  certain  (see  Journals, 
411 ;  Berkeley,  377) ;  that  it  was  written  1 
the  purpose  of  inducing  him  to  escape,  a 
thus  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Levellers, 
a  gratuitous  surmise  of  Cromwell's  enemi- 


.D.  1647.]        ATTEMPTED  ESCAPE  OF  THE  KING. 


93 


at  in  the  course  of  three  days  the 
itelligence  arrived,  that  he  was  again 
prisoner  in  the  custody  of  Colonel 
lammond,  who   had  very  recently 
een  appointed  governor  of  the  Isle 
r  Wight.     The  king,  accompanied 
y  Legge,  groom  of  the  chamber,  had 
a  the  evening  of  his  departure  de- 
luded the  back  stairs  into  the  gar- 
en,  and  repaired  to  a  spot  where 
lerkeley    and  Ashburnham    waited 
is  arrival.    The  night  was  dark  and 
tormy,  which  facilitated  their  escape ; 
ut,  when  they  had  crossed  the  river 
t  Thames  Ditton,  they   lost  their 
ray,  and  it  was  daybreak  before  they 
eached  Sutton,  where  they  mounted 
heir  horses.    The  unfortunate  mo- 
larch  had  still  no  fixed  plan.    As  they 
iroceeded  in  a  southerly  direction,  he 
onsulted  his  companions ;  and  after 
ome  debate  resolved  to  seek  a  tem- 
torary  asylum  at   Tichfield  House, 
he  residence  of  the  countess  of  South- 
ampton,   whilst   Ashburnham    and 
Berkeley  should   cross  over   to  the 
;sle  of  Wight,  and  sound  the  disposi- 
tion of  Hammond  the  governor,  of 
»hom  little  more  was  known  than 
jhat  he  was  nephew  to  one  of  the 
•oyal  chaplains.      When  Hammond 
list  learned  the  object  of  the. mes- 
sengers,   he    betrayed    considerable 
darm,  under  the  impression  that  the 
lung  was  actually  on  the  island ;  but, 
having  recovered  his  self-possession, 
he  reminded  them  that  he  was  but  a 
servant  bound  to  obey  the  orders  of 
his  employers,  and  refused  to  give  any 
other  pledge  than  that  he  would  prove 
himself  an  honest  man.     How  they 
could  satisfy  themselves  with  this  am- 
biguous promise,  is  a  mystery  which 
was   never   explained— each    subse- 
quently  shifting  the  blame  to  the 
other— but  they  suffered  him  to  ac- 
compaDy  them  to  the  king's  retreat, 
and  even  to  take  with  him  a  brother 
officer,  the  captain  of  Cowes  Castle. 

During  their  absence  Charles  had 
formed  a  new  plan  of  attempting  to 


escape  by  sea,  and  had  despatched  a 
trusty  messenger  to  look  out  for  a  ship 
in  the  harbour  of  Southampton.  He 
was  still  meditating  on  this  project 
when  Ashburnham  returned,  and 
announced  that  Hammond  with  his 
companion  was  already  in  the  town, 
awaiting  his  majesty's  commands. 
The  unfortunate  monarch  exclaimed, 
"  What !  have  you  brought  him 
hither  ?  Then  I  am  undone."  Ash- 
burnham instantly  saw  his  error.  It 
was  not,  he  rephed,  too  late.  They 
were  but  two,  and  might  be  easily 
despatched.  Charles  paced  the  room 
a  few  minutes,  and  then  rejected  the 
sanguinary  hint.  Still  he  clung  to 
the  vain  hope  that  a  ship  might  be 
procured;  but  at  the  end  of  two 
hours,  Hammond  became  impatient ; 
and  the  king,  having  nerved  his  mind 
for  the  interview,  ordered  him  to  be 
introduced,  received  him  most  gra- 
ciously, and,  mingling  promises  with 
flattery,  threw  himself  on  his  honour. 
Hammond,  however,  was  careful  not 
to  commit  himself ;  he  replied  in  lan- 
guage dutifiil,  yet  ambiguous;  and 
the  king,  unable  to  extricate  himself 
from  the  danger,  with  a  cheerful  coun- 
tenance, but  misboding  heart,  con- 
sented to  accompany  him  to  the 
island.  The  governor  ordered  every 
demonstration  of  respect  to  be  paid 
to  the  royal  guest,  and  lodged  him  in 
Carisbrook  Castle.' 

The  increasing  violence  of  the 
Levellers,  and  the  mutinous  dispo- 
sition of  the  army,  had  awakened  the 
most  serious  apprehensions  in  the 
superior  officers ;  and  Fairfax,  by  the 
advice  of  the  council,  dismissed  the 
agitators  to  their  respective  regi- 
ments, and  ordered  the  several  corps 
to  assemble  in  three  brigades  on  three 
different  days.  Against  the  time  a 
remonstrance  was  prepared  in  his 
name,   in  which   he   complained  of 


1  Journals,  ix.  525.  Eushworth,  vii,  874. 
Ashburnham,  ii.  Berkeley,  377— 382.  Her- 
bert, 52.    Ludlow,  i.  187—191. 


94 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


the  calumnies  circulated  among  the 
soldiers,  stated  the  objects  which  he 
had  laboured  to  obtain,  and  offered 
to  persist  in  his  endeavours,  provided 
the  men  would  return  to  their  ancient 
habits  of  military  obedience.  All 
looked  forward  with  anxiety  to  the 
result ;  but  no  one  with  more  appre- 
hension than  Cromwell.  His  life  was 
at  stake.  The  Levellers  had  threat- 
ened to  make  him  pay  with  his  head 
the  forfeit  of  his  intrigues  with 
Charles ;  and  the  flight  of  that  prince, 
by  disconcerting  their  plans,  had 
irritated  their  former  animosity.  On 
the  appointed  day  the  first  brigade, 
that  on  which  the  officers  could  rely, 
mustered  in  a  field  between  Hertford 
and  "Ware;  and  the  remonstrance 
was  read  by  order  of  Fairfax  to  each 
regiment  in  succession.  It  was  an- 
swered with  acclamations;  the  men 
hastened  to  subscribe  an  engagement 
to  obey  the  commands  of  the  general ; 
and  the  sowers  of  discord,  the  distri- 
butors of  seditious  pamphlets,  were 
pointed  out,  and  taken  into  custody. 
From  this  corps  Fairfax  proceeded  to 
two  regiments,  which  had  presumed 
to  come  on  the  ground  without 
orders.  The  first,  after  some  debate, 
submitted;  the  second  was  more 
obstinate.  The  privates  had  expelled 
the  majority  of  the  officers,  and  wore 
round  their  hats  this  motto :  "  The 
people's  freedom,  and  the  soldiers' 
rights."  Cromwell  darted  into  the 
ranks  to  seize  the  ringleaders  ;  his 
intrepidity  daunted  the  mutineers; 
one  man  was  immediately  shot,  two 
more  were  tried  and  condemned  on 
the  spot,  and  several  others  were 
reserved  as  pledges  for  the  submis- 
sion of  their  comrades.'  By  this  act 
of  vigour  it  was  thought  that  sub- 
ordination had  been   restored;   but 


1  Whitelock,  278.  Journals,  ii.  527.  Lud- 
low, i.  192.  It  was  reported  among  the 
soldiers  that  the  king  had  promised  to 
Cromwell  the  title  of  earl  with  a  blue  ribbon, 
to  his  son  the  office  of  gentleman  of  the 


Cromwell  soon  discovered  that 
Levellers  constituted  two-thirds  of 
military  force,  and  that  it  was  ne< 
sary  for  him  to  retrace  his  steps 
he  wished  to  retain  his  former    i 
fluence.    With  that  view  he  mad 
public  acknowledgment  of  his  er 
and  a  solemn  promise  to  stand  or 
with  the  army.    The  conversion 
the  sinner  was  hailed  with  acclai 
tions  of  joy,  a  solemn  fast  was  k  j 
to  celebrate  the  event;   and  Crc  1 
well  in  the  assembly  of  officers  c  ^ 
fessed,  weeping  as  he  spoke,  that  "  i 
eyes,   dazzled   by  the  glory  of     | 
world,  had  not  clearly  discerned    I 
work  of  the  Lord ;  and  therefore  I 
humbled  himself  before  them,  i  j 
desired  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  t  i 
God  would  forgive  his  self-seekin  i 
His  fellow-delinquent  Ireton  foUov  ^ 
in  the  same  repentant  strain;  h 
poured  forth  their  souls  before  G  : 
in  fervent  and  extemporary  pray< 
and  "  never,"  so  we  are  assured,  "  < 
more  harmonious   music   ascend 
the  ear  of  the  Almighty.'"* 

The  king  had  yet  no  reason  to 
pent  of  his  confidence  in  Hammer 
but  that  governor,  while  he  grani 
every  indulgence  to  his  captive,  h 
no  intention  of  separating  his  o-" 
lot  from  that  of  the  army.  He  cc 
suited  the  officers  at  the  head-qu; 
ters,  and  secretly  resolved  to  adh( 
to  their  instructions.  Charles  ] 
commenced  his  former  intrigu 
Through  the  agency  of  Dr.  Grouj 
one  of  the  queen's  chaplains, 
sought  to  prevail  on  the  Scotti 
commissioners  to  recede  from  th« 
demand  that  he  should  confirm  t 
covenant :  he  sent  Sir  John  Berkel 
to  Cromwell  and  his  friends,  to  i 
mind  them  of  their  promises,  and 
solicit  their  aid  towards  a  person 


bedchamber  to  the  prince,  and  to  Iret 
the  command  of  the  forces  in  Ireland. 
HoUes,  127. 

»  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  App.  xliv.   Berl 
ley,  386.    Whitelock,  284. 


D.  1647.] 


DEMANDS  OF  PAELIAMENT. 


95 


jaty ;  and  by  a  message  to  the  par- 
.ment  he  proposed,  in  addition  to 
3  former  offers,  to  surrender  the 
mmand  of  the  army  during  his  life, 

exchange  the  profits  of  the  Court 
"Wards  for  a  yearly  income,  and  to 
ovide  funds  for  the  discharge  of  the 
oneys  due  to  the  military  and  to 
e  public  creditors.  The  neglect 
th  which  this  message  was  received, 
dthe  discouraging  answer  returned 
■  the  officers,  awakened  his  appre- 
insions ;  they  were  confirmed  by  the 
«ttish  commissioners,  who,  while 
ey  complained  of  his  late  offer  as  a 
olation  of  his  previous  engagement, 
sured  him  that  many  of  his  ene- 
ies  sought  to  make  him  a  close 
isoner,  and  that  others  openly 
Iked  of  removing  him  either  by  a 
?al  trial,  or  by  assassination.  These 
imings  induced  him  to  arrange  a 
an  of  escape :  appUcation  was  made 

the  queen  for  a  ship  of  war  to 
nvey  him  from  the  island ;  and 
erwick  was  selected  as  the  place  of 
s  retreat.'  He  had,  however,  but 
:tle  time  to  spare.  As  their  ulti- 
atum,  and  the  only  condition  on 
hich  they  would  consent  to  a  per- 
•nal  treaty,  the  houses  demanded 
le  royal  assent  to  four  bills  which 
ley  had  prepared.  The  first  of 
lese,  after  ivesting  the  command  of 
le  army  in  the  parliament  for  twenty 
3ars,  enacted,  that  after  that  period 

might  be  restored  to  the  croTv-n, 
at  not  without  the  previous  consent 
'  the  Lords  and  Commons ;  and  that 
all,  whenever  they  should  declare 
16  safety  of  the  kingdom  to  be  con- 
Jmed,  all  bills  passed  by  them  re- 


1  Memoirs  of  Hamiltons,  325—333.  Lud- 
••W,  i.  195— 201.    Berkeley,  383. 

«  Jottmals,  ii.  575.  Charles's  Works,  590 
-593.  Now  let  the  reader  turn  to  Claren- 
on,  History,  iii.  88.  He  tells  us,  that  by 
06,  the  king  was  to  have  confessed  himself 
le  author  of  the  war,  and  guilty  of  all  the 
h>od  which  had  been  spilt ;  by  another,  he 
■«•  to  dissolve  the  government  of  the 
irarcb,  and  grant  all  lands  belonging  to  the 


specting  the  forces  by  sea  or  land 
should  be  deemed  acts  of  parliament, 
even  though  the  king  for  the  time 
being  should  refuse  his  assent;  the 
second  declared  all  oaths,  proclama- 
tions, and  proceedings  against  the 
parliament  during  the  war,  void  and 
of  no  effect;  the  third  annulled  all 
titles  of  honour  granted  since  th6  20th 
of  May,  1642,  and  deprived  all  peers 
to  be  created  hereafter  of  the  right 
of  sitting  in  parliament,  without  the 
consent  of  the  two  houses ;  and  the 
fourth  gave  to  the  houses  themselves 
the  power  of  adjourning  from  place 
to  place  at  their  discretion. ^  The 
Scots,  to  delay  the  proceedings,  asked 
for  a  copy  of  the  bills,  and  remon- 
strated against  the  alterations  which 
had  been  made  in  the  propositions  of 
peace.  Their  language  was  bold  and 
irritating ;  they  characterized  the  con- 
duct of  the  parliament  as  a  violation 
of  the  league  and  covenant ;  and  they 
openly  charged  the  houses  with  suf- 
fering themselves  to  be  controlled  by 
a  body,  which  owed  its  origin  and  its 
subsistence  to  their  authority.  But 
the  Independents  were  not  to  be 
awed  by  the  clamour  of  men  whom 
they  knew  to  be  enemies  under  the 
name  of  allies ;  they  voted  the  inter- 
ference of  any  foreign  nation  in  acts 
of  parliament  a  denial  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  kingdom,  and  or- 
dered the  four  bills  to  be  laid  before 
the  king  for  his  assent  without  fur- 
ther delay.  The  Scots  hastened  to 
Carisbrook,  in  appearance  to  protest 
against  them,  but  with  a  more  im- 
portant object  in  view.  They  now 
relaxed  from  their  former  obstinacy; 


church  to  other  uses  j  hj  a  third,  to  settle 
the  militia,  without  reserving  so  much  power 
to  himself  as  any  subject  was  capable  of; 
and  in  the  last  place,  he  was  in  effect  to 
sacrifice  all  those  who  had  served  him,  or 
adhered  to  him,  to  the  mercy  of  the  parlia- 
ment. When  this  statement  is  compared 
with  the  real  bills,  it  may  be  judged  how 
little  credit  is  due  to  the  assertions  of 
Clarendon,  unless  they  are  supported  by 
other  authorities. 


96 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


they  no  longer  insisted  on  the  posi- 
tive confirmation  of  the  covenant, 
bnt  were  content  with  a  promise  that 
Charles  should  make  every  conces- 
sion in  point  of  religion  which  his 
conscience  would  allow.  The  treaty 
which  had  been  so  long  in  agitation 
between  them  was  privately  signed; 
and  the  king  returned  this  answer  to 
the  two  houses,  that  neither  his  pre- 
sent sufferings,  nor  the  apprehension 
of  worse  treatment,  should  ever  in- 
duce him  to  give  his  assent  to  any 
bills  as  a  part  of  the  agreement, 
before  the  whole  was  concluded.' 

Aware  of  the  consequences  of  his 
refusal,  Charles  had  resolved  to  anti- 
cipate the  vengeance  of  the  parlia- 
ment by  making  his  escape  the  same 
evening  to  a  ship  which  had  been 
sent  by  the  queen,  and  had  been 
waiting  for  liim  several  days  in 
Southampton  Water;  but  he  was 
prevented  by  the  vigilance  of  Ham- 
mond, who  closed  the  gates  on  the 
departure  of  the  commissioners, 
doubled  the  guards,  confined  the 
•royal  captive  to  his  chamber,  and 
dismissed  Ashburnham,  Berkeley, 
Legge,  and  the  greater  part  of  his 
attendants.^  An  attempt  to  raise  in 
his  favour  the  inhabitants  of  the 
island  was  instantly  suppressed,  and 
its  author,  Burley,  formerly  a  captain 
in  the  royal  army,  suffered  the  punish- 
ment of  a  traitor.  The  houses  re- 
solved (and  the  army  promised  to 
live  and  die  with  them  in  defence 
of  the  resolution)^  that  they  would 
receive  no  additional  message  from 
the  king;  that  they  would  send  no 
^dress  or  application  to  him;  that 


1  JournalB,  ii.  575,  578,  582,  591,  604,  616, 
621.  Charles's  Works,  594.  Memoirs  of 
Hanxiltons,  334. 

^  Aslibnmliain,  ii.  121.  Berkeley,  387, 
393. 

s  On  Jan.  11,  before  the  vote  passed,  an 
address  was  presented  from  the  general  and 
the  council  of  war  by  seven  colonels  and 
other  officers  to  the  house  of  Commons, 
expressive  of  the  resolution  of  the  army  to 


if  any  other  person  did  so  witl 
leave,  he  should  be  subject  to 
penalties  of  high  treason ;  and  ' 
the  committee  of  public  safety  she 
be  renewed,  to  sit  and  act  alone,  w 
out  the  aid  of  foreign  coadjul 
This  last  hint  was  understood  by 
Scots:  they  made  a  demand  of 
hundred  thousand  pounds  due 
them  by  the  treaty  of  evacuat 
and  announced  their  intention 
returning  immediately  to  their  • 
parliament.* 

The  king  appeared  to  submit  ^ 
patience  to  the  new  restraints  imp< 
on  his  freedom  ;  and  even  affectec 
air  of  cheerfulness,  to  disguise 
design  which  he  still  cherishet 
making  his  escape.  The  immed 
charge  of  his  person  had  been 
trusted  to  four  warders  of  apprc 
fidelty,  who,  two  at  a  time,  underl 
the  task  in  rotation.  They  ace 
panied  the  captive  wherever  he  • 
at  his  meals,  at  his  public  devoti 
during  his  recreation  on  the  bowl 
green,  and  during  his  walks  ro 
the  walls  of  the  castle.  He  was  n< 
permitted  to  be  alone,  unless  it  v 
in  the  retirement  of  his  bedchaml 
and  then  one  of  the  two  warders 
continually  stationed  at  each  of 
doors  which  led  from  that  apartm 
Yet  in  defiance  of  these  precaut 
(such  was  the  ingenuity  of  the  k 
so  generous  the  devotion  of  those  ^ 
sought  to  serve  him)  he  found 
means  of  maintaining  a  correspc 
ence  with  his  friends  on  the  coas 
Hampshire,  and  through  them  v 
the  English  royalists,  the  Scot 
commissioners    in    Edinburgh, 


stand  by  the  parUament;  and  anothe 
the  house  of  Lords,  expressive  of  their 
tention  to  preserve  inviolate  the  right 
the  peerage.  Of  the  latter  no  notic 
taken  in  the  journals  of  the  hous 
Journ.  V.  Jan.  11.    Pari.  Hist.  vi.  836. 

♦  The  vote  of  non-addresses  passed  1 
majority  of  141  to  92.  Journals,  v.  Jai 
See  also  Jan.  11,  15, 1648;  Lords'  Jouru 
ii.  640,  662;  Rushworth,  vii.  953,  961,  ,t 
Leicester's  Journal,  30. 


i 


.D.  16-48.] 


CHANGE  OF  PUBLIC  OPINION. 


97 


ueen  at  Paris,  and  the  duke  of  York 
t  St.  James's,  who  soon  afterwards, 
a  obedience  to  the  command  of  his 
ither,  escaped  in  the  disguise  of  a 
emale  to  Holland.' 
In  the  mean  while  an  extraordi- 
nary ferment  seemed  to  agitate  the 
/hole  mass  of  the  population.  With 
he  exception  of  the  army,  every  class 
f  men  was  dissatisfied.  Though  the 
var  had  ceased  twelve  months  before, 
he  nation  enjoyed  few  of  the  benefits 
f  peace.  Those  forms  and  institu- 
ions,  the  safeguards  of  liberty  and 
>roperty,  which  had  been  suspended 
:uring  the  contest,  had  not  been 
estored;  the  committees  in  every 
ounty  continued  to  exercise  the  most 
•ppressive  tyranny;  and  a  monthly 
ax  was  still  levied  for  the  support  of 
he  forces,  exceeding  in  amount  the 
ums  which  had  been  exacted  for  the 
ame  purpose  during  the  war.  No 
oan  could  be  ignorant  that  the  par- 
iament,  nominally  the  supreme  au- 
hority,  was  under  the  control  of  the 
ouncil  of  officers ;  and  the  continued 
aptivity  of  the  king,  the  known  senti- 
aents  of  the  agitators,  and,  above  all, 
he  vote  of  non-addresses,  provoked  a 
general  suspicion  that  it  was  in  con- 
emplation  to  abolish  the  monarchical 
;overnment,  and  to  introduce  in  its 
)lace  a  military  despotism.  Four- 
ifths  of  the  nation  began  to  wish  for 
he  re-establishment  of  the  throne 
Much  diversity  of  opinion  prevailed 
vith  respect  to  the  conditions;  but 
ill  agreed  that  what  Charles  had  so 
)ften  demanded,  a  personal  treaty, 
mght  to  be  granted,  as  the  most 
ikely  means  to  reconcile  opposite  in- 
;erests  and  to  lead  to  a  satisfactory 
irrangement. 


Soon  after  the  passing  of  the  vote 
of  non-addresses,  the  king  had  ap- 
pealed to  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
through  the  agency  of  the  press.  He 
put  it  to  them  to  judge  between  him 
and  his  opponents,  whether  by  his 
answer  to  the  four  bills  he  had  given 
any  reasonable  cause  for  their  vio- 
lent and  unconstitutional  vote ;  and 
whether  they,  by  the  obstinate  re- 
fusal of  a  personal  conference,  had 
not  betrayed  their  resolve  not  to  come 
to  any  accommodation.-  The  impres- 
sion made  by  this  paper  called  for  an 
answer:  a  long  and  laboured  vindi- 
cation of  the  proceedings  of  the  house 
of  Commons  was  prepared,  and  after 
many  erasures  and  amendments  ap- 
proved ;  copies  of  it  were  allotted  to 
the  members  to  be  circulated  among 
their  constituents,  and  others  were 
sent  to  the  curates  to  be  read  by  them 
to  their  parishioners.^  It  contained 
a  tedious  enumeration  of  all  the 
charges,  founded  or  unfounded,  which 
had  ever  been  made  against  the  king 
from  the  commencement  of  his  reign ; 
and  thence  deduced  the  inference 
that,  to  treat  with  a  prince  so  hostile 
to  popular  rights,  so  often  convicted, 
of  fraud  and  dissimulation,  would  be 
nothing  less  than  to  betray  the  trust 
reposed  in  the  two  houses  by  the 
country.  But  the  framers  of  the 
vindication  marred  their  own  object. 
They  had  introduced  much  ques- 
tionable matter,  and  made  numerous 
statements  open  to  refutation:  the 
advantage  was  eagerly  seized  by  the 
royalists;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
penalties  recently  enacted  on  account 
of  unlicensed  publications,  several 
answers,  eloquently  and  convincingly 
written,   were   circulated   in    many 


^  Joarnals,  i.  35,  76,  220.  Eusliworth, 
m.  984,  1002,  1067,  1109.  Clarendon,  iii. 
129.  One  of  those  through  whom  Charles 
corresponded  with  his  friends,  was  Fire- 
JMce,  who  tells  us  that  he  was  occasionally 
employed  by  one  of  the  warders  to  watch 
or  him  at  the  door  of  the  king's  bed- 
chamber, and  on  such  occasions  gave  and 
8 


received  papers  through  a  small  crevice  in 
the  boards.  See  his  account  in  the  addi- 
tions to  Herbert's  Memoirs,  p.  187.  The 
manner  of  the  duke's  escape  is  related  in 
his  Life,  i.  33.  and  Ellis,  2nd  series,  iii.  329. 

3  King's  Works,  130.     Pari,  Hist.  iii.  883. 

3  Journals,  v.  Feb.  10,  11.  Pari,  Hist, 
iii.  817.    Perrinchiefi*,  M. 


98 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap.  II 


parts  of  the  country.  Of  these  the 
most  celebrated  came  from  the  pens 
of  Hyde  the  chancellor,  and  of  Dr. 
Bates,  the  king's  physician.' 

But  whilst  the  royal  cause  made 
rapid  progress  among  the  people,  in 
the  army  itself  the  principles  of  the 
Levellers  had  been  embraced  by  the 
majority  of  the  privates,  and  had 
made  several  converts  among  the 
ofl&cers.  These  fanatics  had  disco- 
vered in  the  Bible,  that  the  govern- 
ment of  kings  was  odious  in  the  sight 
of  God,*  and  contended  that  in  fact 
Charles  .  had  now  no  claim  to  the 
sceptre.  Protection  and  allegiance 
were  reciprocal.  At  his  accession  he 
had  bound  himself  by  oath  to  protect 
the  hberties  of  his  subjects,  and  by 
the  violation  of  that  oath  he  had 
released  the  people  from  the  obliga- 
tion of  allegiance  to  him.  For  the 
decision  of  the  question  he  had  ap- 
pealed to  the  God  of  battles,  who,  by 
the  result,  had  decided  against  his 
pretensions.  He  therefore  was  an- 
swerable for  the  blood  which  had 
been  shed;  and  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  representatives  of  the  nation  to 
call  him  to  justice  for  the  crime,  and, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of 
similar  mischiefs,  to  provide  for  the 
liberties  of  all,  by  founding  an  equal 
commonwealth  on  the  general  con- 
sent, Cromwell  invited  the  patrons 
of  this  doctrine  to  meet  at  his  house 
the  grandees  (so  they  were  called)  of 
the  parliament  and  army.  The  ques- 
tion was  argued;  but  both  he  and 
his  colleagues  were  careful  to  conceal 
their  real  sentiments.  They  did  not 
openly  contradict  the  principles  laid 
down  by  the  Levellers,  but  they 
affected  to  doubt  the  possibility  of 
reducing  them  to  practice.  The 
truth  was,  that  they  wished  not  to 
commit  themselves  by  too  explicit  an 
avowal  before  they  could  see  their  way 
plainly  before  them.^ 


1  Ibid.      Pari.     Hist.    iii.    866.      King's 
Works,  132.  2  1  Kings,  tIu.  8. 


In  this  feverish  state  of  the  publ 
mind    in   England,    every   eye   w;  1 
turned  towards  the  proceedings  :  j 
Scotland.    Por  some  time  a  notic  i 
had  been  cherished  by  the  Scottb  1 
clergy,  that  the  king  at  Carisbrot  i 
had  not  only  subscribed  the  covenar 
but  had  solemnly  engaged  to  enfor  1 
it   throughout   his   dominions ;  ai  i 
the  prospect  of  a  speedy  triumph  ov  - 
the  Independents  induced  them 
preach  a  crusade  from  the  pulpii 
favour  of  the  kirk  and  the  thror 
But  the  return  of  the  commissionei  i 
and  the  publication  of  "the  agre  i 
ment"  with  the  king,  bitterly  disa  * 
pointed  their  hopes.    It  was  foui  ( 
that  Charles  had  indeed  consented   < 
the  establishment  of  Presbyterianis  i 
in  England,  but  only  as  an  expe:  i 
ment  for  three  years,  and  with  t  "5 
liberty  of  dissent  both  for  himse  J 
and  for  those  who  might  choose    i 
follow  his  example.    Their  invecti\  t 
were  no  longer  pointed  against  t  i 
Independents ;  "  the  agreement"  f 
its  advocates  became  the  object 
their  fiercest  attacks.    Its  provisi 
were  said  to  be  unwarranted  by  1 
powers  of  the  commissioners,  and 
purpose  was  pronounced  an  act 
apostasy  from  the  covenant,  an  ii 
pious  attempt  to  erect  the  throne 
the  king  in  preference  to  the  thro 
of  Christ.    Their  vehemence  intin 
dated  the  Scottish   parliament,  a 
admonished  the  duke  of  Hamilton 
proceed  with  caution.    That  nob 
man,  whose  imprisonment  ended  wi  I 
the   surrender    of    Pendennis,  h  i 
waited  on  the  king  in   Newcastl 
a  reconciliation  followed ;  and  he  v 
now  become  the  avowed  leader  of  t  i 
royalists  and  moderate  Presbyteria: 
That  he  might  not  irritate  the  n  t 
gious  prejudices  of  his  countrym*  i 
he  sought  to  mask  his  real  object,  t 
restoration   of  the  monarch, 
the  pretence  of  suppressing  h 


»  Ludlow,  i.  206.    Whitelock,  317 


A.D.  1&48.] 


INSUEEECTION  IN  WALES. 


99 


and  schism ;  he  professed  the  deepest 
veneration  for  the  covenant,  and  the 
most  impUcit  deference  to  the  autho- 
rity of  the  kirk;  he  listened  with 
apparent  respect  to  the  remonstrances 
of  the  clerical  commission,  and  openly 
solicited  its  members  to  aid  the  par- 
liament with  their  wisdom,  and  to 
state  their  desires.  But  these  were 
mere  words  intended  to  lull  suspi- 
cion. By  dint  of  numbers  (for  his 
party  comprised  two-thirds  of  the 
convention),  he  obtained  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  of  danger ;  this 
was  followed  by  a  vote  to  place  the 
kingdom  in  a  posture  of  defence ;  and 
the  consequence  of  that  vote  was  the 
immediate  levy  of  reinforcements  for 
the  army.  But  his  opponents  under 
the  earl  of  Argyle  threw  every  ob- 
stacle in  his  way.  They  protested  in 
parliament  against  the  war  ;  the  com- 
missioners of  the  kirk  demanded  that 
their  objections  should  be  previously 
removed ;  the  women  cursed  the  duke 
as  he  passed,  and  pelted  him  with 
stones  from  their  windows ;  and  the 
ministers  from  their  pulpits  de- 
nounced the  curse  of  God  on  all 
who  should  take  a  share  in  the  un- 
holy enterprise.  Forty  thousand  men 
had  been  voted;  but  though  force 
was  frequently  employed,  and  blood 
occasionally  shed,  the  levy  proceeded 
so  slowly,  that  even  in  the  month  of 
July  the  grand  army  hardly  exceeded 
one-fourth  of  that  number.* 

By  the  original  plan  devised  at 
Hampton  Court,  it  had  been  arranged 
that  the  entrance  of  the  Scots  into 
England  should  be  the  signal  for  a 
simultaneous  rising  of  the  royalists 
in  every  quarter  of  the  kingdom. 
But  the  former  did  not  keep  their 
time,  and  the  zeal  of  the  latter  could 
not  brook  delay.  The  first  who  pro- 
claimed the  king  was  a  parliamentary 


1  Memoirs  of  the  Hamiltons,  339,  347,  353. 
Thiu-loe,  i.  94.  Eushworth,  rii.  1031,  48, 
62,  67,  114,  132.  Two  circumstantial  and 
interesting  letters  from  Baillie,  ii.  280—297. 


ofBcer,  Colonel  Poyer,  mayor  of  the 
town,  and  governor  of  the  castle,  of 
Pembroke.  He  refused  to  resign  his 
mihtary  appointment  at  the  com- 
mand of  Fairfax,  and,  to  justify  his 
refusal,  unfurled  the  royal  standard. 
Poyer  was  joined  by  Langherne  and 
Powel,  two  officers  whose  forces  had 
lately  been  disbanded.  Several  of 
the  men  hastened  to  the  aid  of  their 
former  leaders ;  the  Cavaliers  ran  to 
arms  in  both  divisions  of  the  princi- 
pality ;  a  force  of  eight  thousand  men 
was  formed ;  Chepstow  was  surprised, 
Carnarvon  besieged,  and  Colonel 
Fleming  defeated.  By  these  petty 
successes  the  unfortunate  men  were 
lured  on  to  their  ruin.  Horton 
checked  their  progress ;  Cromwell  fol- 
lowed with  five  regiments  to  punish 
their  presumption.  The  tide  imme- 
diately changed.  Langherne  was  de- 
feated ;  Chepstow  was  recovered ;  the 
besiegers  of  Carnarvon  were  cut  to 
pieces.  On  the  refusal  of  Poyer  to 
surrender,  the  lieutenant-general  as- 
sembled his  corps  after  sunset,  and 
the  fanatical  Hugh  Peters  foretold 
that  the  ramparts  of  Pembroke,  like 
those  of  Jerico,  would  fall  before  the 
army  of  the  living  God.  From  prayer 
and  sermon  the  men  hastened  to  the 
assault;  the  ditch  was  passed,  the 
walls  were  scaled ;  but  they  found  the 
garrison  at  its  post,  and  after  a  short 
but  sanguinary  contest,  Cromwell  or- 
dered a  retreat.  A  regular  siege  was 
now  formed;  and  the  Independent 
general,  notwithstanding  his  impa- 
tience to  proceed  to  the  north,  was 
detained  more  than  six  weeks  before 
this  insignificant  fortress.^ 

Scarcely  a  day  passed,  which  was 
not  marked  by  some  new  occurrence 
indicative  of  the  approaching  contest. 
An  alarming  tumult  in  the  city,  in 
which    the    apprentices   forced   the 


Whitelock,  305.    Turner,  52. 

~  Lords'  Journals,  x.  88,  253.  Eush- 
worth, Tii.  1016,  38,  66,  97,  129.  Heath, 
171.    Whitelock,  303,  305.    May,  116. 


100 


CHAELES  I. 


[  CHAP.  Ill 


guard,  and  ventured  to  engage  the 
military  under  the  command  of  the 
general,  was  quickly  followed  by 
similar  disturbances  in  Norwich, 
Thetford,  Canterbury,  Exeter,  and 
several  other  towns.  They  were,  in- 
deed, suppressed  by  the  vigilance  of 
Pairfax  and  the  county  committees ; 
but  the  cry  of  "  God  and  the  king," 
echoed  and  re-echoed  by  the  rioters 
on  these  occasions,  sufficiently  proved 
that  the  popular  feeling  was  setting 
fast  in  favour  of  royalty.  At  the  same 
time  petitions  from  different  public 
Iwdies  poured  into  the  two  houses,  all 
concurring  in  the  same  prayer,  that 
the  army  should  be  disbanded,  and 
the  king  brought  back  to  his  capital.' 
The  Independent  leaders,  aware  that 
it  would  not  be  in  their  power  to 
control  the  city  while  their  forces 
were  employed  in  the  field,  sought  a 
reconciliation.  The  parliament  was 
suffered  to  vote  that  no  change  should 
be  made  in  the  fundamental  govern- 
ment of  the  realm  by  King,  Lords,  and 
Commons ;  and  the  citizens  in  return 
engaged  themselves  to  live  and  die 
with  the  parliament.  Though  the 
promises  on  both  sides  were  known 
to  be  insincere,  it  was  the  interest  of 
each  to  dissemble.  Fairfax  withdrew 
his  troops  from  Whitehall  and,  the 
Mews ;  the  charge  of  the  militia  was 
once  more  intrusted  to  the  lord 
mayor  and  the  aldermen ;  and  the  chief 
command  was  conferred  on  Skippon, 
who,  if  he  did  not  on  every  subject 
agree  with  the  Independents,  was 
yet  distinguished  by  his  marked 
opposition  to  the  policy  of  their  op- 
ponents. 

The  inhabitants  of  Surrey  and 
Essex  felt  dissatisfied  with  the  an- 
swers given  to  their  petitions ;  those 
of  Kent  repeatedly  assembled  to  con- 
sider their  grievances,  and  to  consult 
on  the  means  of  redress.   These  meet- 


>  Journals,  243,  260,  267,  272.    Commons, 
April  13,  27,  May  16.    Whitelock,  299,  302, 


ings,  which  originated  with  a  private 
gentleman   of  the   name  of  Hales 
soon  assumed  the  character  of  loyalt: 
and    defiiance.      Associations    wer< 
formed,  arms  were  collected,  and  oi 
an  appointed   day  a  general   risin; 
took  place.    The  inhabitants  of  Dea 
distinguished    themselves     on    thi 
occasion  ;  and  Eainsborowe,  the  par 
liamentarian   admiral,    prepared   t' 
chastise  their  presumption.    Leaviu  ; 
orders  for  the  fleet  to  follow,  he  pro 
ceeded  in  his  barge  to  reconnoitre  th  i 
town  ;  but  the  men,  several  of  whor  v 
had  families  and  relatives  in  it,  begai  . 
to  murmur,  and  Lindale,  a  boatswai:  i 
in  the  admiral's   ship,    proposed  t  . 
declare  for  the  king.     He  was  an  - 
swered  with  acclamations ;  the  ojGficer  ^ 
were  instantly  arrested ;  the  crews  c  ^ 
the  other  ships  followed  the  example  ; 
the    arguments    and    entreaties   c  i 
Eainsborowe  himself,  and  of  the  earl  c  f 
Warwick,  who  addressed  them  in  th  > 
character  of  lord  high  admiral,  wer  • 
disregarded,    and    the    whole    flee'  .. 
consisting   of  six  men-of-war    full  - 
equipped   for   the    summer   servia 
sailed   under   the   royal   colours   t 
Helvoetsluys,  in  search  of  the  youn  ' 
duke  ofYork,whomtheychose  for  thai 
commander-in-chief.*    But  the  alarr 
excited   by  this   revolt   at   sea  wa 
quieted   by  the   success   of  Fairfa 
against  the  insurgents  on  land.    Th 
Cavaliers  had  ventured  to  oppose  hir 
in  the  to^vn  of  Maidstone,  and  for  >' 
hours,  aided  by  the  advantage  of  tlu 
position,  they  resisted  the  effort> 
the  enemy ;  but  their  loss  was  prop. 
tionate  to  their  valour,  and  two  hu^ 
dred  fell  in  the  streets,  four  hundre    1 
were  made  prisoners.     Many  of  tb 
countrymen,  discouraged  by  this  ' 
feat,  hastened  to  their  homes.  Gorii 
earl  of  Newport,  putting  himself 
the  head  of  a  different  body,  advanr 
to  Blackheatb,  and  sohcited  admissio 


303,  305,  306. 
2  Life  of  James  II.  i.  41. 


4 


A.l>.  1648.] 


HAMILTON  ENTEES  ENGLAND. 


101 


into  the  city.  It  was  a  moment  big 
with  the  most  important  conse- 
quences. The  king's  friends  formed 
a  numerous  party;  the  common 
council  wavered ;  and  the  parliament 
possessed  no  armed  force  to  support 
its  authority.  The  leaders  saw  that 
they  had  but  one  resource,  to  win  by 
conciliation.  The  aldermen  impri- 
soned at  the  request  of  the  army 
were  set  at  liberty ;  the  impeachment 
against  the  six  lords  was  discharged ; 
and  the  excluded  members  were  per- 
mitted to  resume  their  seats.  These 
concessions,  aided  by  the  terror 
which  the  victory  at  Maidstone 
inspired,  and  by  the  vigilance  of 
Skippon,  who  intercepted  all  com- 
munication between  the  royalists 
and  the  party  at  Blackheath,  de- 
feated the  project  of  Goring.  That 
commander,  having  received  a  refusal, 
crossed  the  river,  with  five  thousand 
horse,  was  joined  by  Lord  Capel  with 
the  royalists  from  Hertfordshire,  and 
by  Sir  Charles  Lucas  with  a  body  of 
horse  from  Chelmsford,  and  assuming 
the  command  of  the  whole,  fixed  his 
head-quarters  in  Colchester.  The 
town  had  no  other  fortification  than 
a  low  rampart  of  earth ;  but,  relying 
on  his  own  resources  and  the  con- 
stancy of  his  followers,  he  resolved  to 
defend  it  against  the  enemy,  that  he 
might  detain  Fairfax  and  his  army  in 
the  south,  and  keep  the  north  open 
to  the  advance  of  the  Scots.  This 
plan  succeeded;  Colchester  was  as- 
sailed and  defended  with  equal  reso- 
lution ;  nor  was  its  fate  decided  till 
the  failure  of  the  Scottish  invasion 
had  proved  the  utter  hopelessness  of 
the  royal  cause.' 

It  soon  appeared  that  the  restora- 
tion of  the  impeached  and  excluded 
members,  combined  with  the  de- 
parture of  the  officers  to  their  com- 


1  Journals,  x.  276,  278,  279,  283,  289,  297, 
801,  304.  Commons,  May  24,  25,  June  4,  8. 
Whitelock,  307,  308,  309,  310.  Clarendon, 
iii.  133, 151,  154. 


mands  in  the  army,  had  imparted  a 
new  tone  to  the  proceedings  in  par- 
liament. Holies  resumed  not  only 
his  seat,  but  his  preponderance  in 
the  lower  house.  The  measures 
which  his  party  had  formerly  ap- 
proved were  again  adopted;  and  a 
vote  was  passed  to  open  a  new  treaty 
with  the  king,  on  condition  that  he 
should  previously  engage  to  give 
the  royal  assent  to  three  bills,  re- 
voking all  declarations  against  the 
parliament,  establishing  the  Presby- 
terian discipline  for  the  term  of  three, 
and  vesting  the  command  of  the  army 
and  navy  in  certain  persons  during 
that  of  ten  years.  But  among  the 
lords  a  more  liberal  spirit  prevailed. 
The  imprisonment  of  the  six  peers 
had  taught  them  a  salutary  lesson. 
Aware  that  their  own  privileges  would 
infallibly  fall  with  the  throne,  they 
rejected  the  three  bills  of  the  Com- 
mons, voted  a  personal  treaty  without 
any  previous  conditions,  and  received 
from  the  common  council  an  as- 
surance that,  if  the  king  were  suffered 
to  come  to  London,  the  city  would 
guarantee  both  the  royal  person  and 
the  two  houses  from  insult  and 
danger.  But  Holies  and  his  adhe- 
rents refused  to  yield ;  conference 
after  conference  was  held;  and  the 
two  parties  continued  for  more  than 
a  month  to  debate  the  subject  without 
interruption  from  the  Independents. 
These  had  no  leisure  to  attend  to 
such  disputes.  Their  object  was  to 
fight  and  conquer,  under  the  persua- 
sion that  victory  in  the  field  would 
restore  to  them  the  ascendancy  in  the 
senate,- 

It  was  now  the  month  of  July,  and 
the  English  royalists  had  almost  aban- 
doned themselves  to  despair,  when 
they  received  the  cheering  intelli- 
gence that  the  duke  of  Hamilton  had 


2  Journals,  308,  349,  351,  362,  364,  367. 
Commons,  July  5.  Whitelock,  316,  316, 
318,  319.     Ludlow,  i.  251. 


102 


CHARLES  I. 


TCHAP.  Ill 


at  last  redeemed  his  promise,  and 
entered  England  at  the  head  of  a 
numerous  army.  The  king's  adhe- 
rents in  the  northern  counties  had 
ah*eady  surprised  Bermck  and  Car- 
lisle ;  and,  to  faciUtate  his  entry,  had 
for  two  months  awaited  with  impa- 
tience his  arrival  on  the  borders. 
The  approach  of  Lambert,  the  parha- 
mentary  general,  compelled  them  to 
seek  shelter  within  the  walls  of 
Carlisle,  and  the  necessity  of  saving 
that  important  place  compelled  the 
duke  to  despatch  a  part  of  his  army 
to  its  relief.  Soon  afterwards  he  cr- 
rived  himself.  Report  exaggerated 
Ms  force  to  thirty  thousand  men, 
though  it  did  not  in  fact  amount  to 
more  than  half  that  number ;  but  he 
was  closely  followed  by  Monro,  who 
led  three  thousand  veterans  from 
the  Scottish  army  in  Ireland,  and 
was  accompanied  or  preceded  by  Sir 
Marmaduke  Langdale,  the  com- 
mander of  four  thousand  CavaHers, 
men  of  approved  valour,  who  had 
staked  their  all  on  the  result.  With 
such  an  army  a  general  of  talent  and 
enterprise  might  have  replaced  the 
king  on  his  throne ;  but  Hamilton, 
though  possessed  of  personal  courage, 
was  diffident  of  his  own  powers,  and 
resigned  himself  to  the  guidance  of 
men  who  sacrificed  the  interests  of 
the  service  to  their  private  jealousies 
and  feuds.  Forty  days  were  con- 
sumed in  a  short  march  of  eighty 
miles ;  and  when  the  decisive  battle 
was  fought,  though  the  main  body 
had  reached  the  left  bank  of  the 
Ribble  near  Preston,  the  rear-guard, 
under  Monro,  slept  in  security  at 
Kirkby  Lonsdale.  Lambert  had  re- 
tired slowly  before  the  advance  of  the 
Scots,  closely  followed  by  Langdale 
and  his  Cavaliers ;  but  in  Otley  Park 
he  was  joined  by  Cromwell,  with 
several  regiments  which  had  been 
employed  in  the  reduction  of  Pem- 
broke. Their  united  force  did  not 
exceed  nine  thousand  men;  but  the 


I  impetuosity  of  the  general  despised 
inequaUty  of  numbers;  and  the 
ardour  of  his  men  induced  him  tc 
lead  them  without  delay  against  the 
enemy.  From  Clitheroe,  Langdale  feD 
back  on  the  Scottish  army  near  Pres- 
ton, and  warned  the  duke  to  prepare 
for  battle  on  the  following  day.  01 
the  disasters  which  followed,  it  is  im- 
possible to  form  any  consistent  notion 
from  the  discordant  statements  oj 
the  Scottish  ofl&cers,  each  of  whom, 
anxious  to  exculpate  himself,  laid  tht 
chief  blame  on  some  of  his  colleagues 
This  only  is  certain,  that  the  Cava- 
liers fought  with  the  obstinacy  o^ 
despair ;  that  for  six  hours  they  bore 
the  whole  brunt  of  the  battle ;  that  a$ 
they  retired  from  hedge  to  hedge  thej 
solicited  from  the  Scots  a  reinforce- 
ment of  men  and  a  supply  of  ammu- 
nition ;  and  that,  unable  to  obtair 
either,  they  retreated  into  the  town 
where  they  discovered  that  theii 
allies  had  crossed  to  the  opposite 
bank,  and  were  contending  with  the 
enemy  for  the  possession  of  th( 
bridge.  Langdale,  in  this  extremity 
ordered  his  infantry  to  disperse,  and 
with  the  cavalry  and  the  duke,  whc 
had  refused  to  abandon  his  English 
friends,  swam  across  the  Ribble 
Cromwell  won  the  bridge,  and  th€ 
royalists  fled  in  the  night  towarc 
Wigan. 

Of  the  Scottish  forces,  none  but 
the  regiments  under  Monro,  and  thf 
stragglers  who  rejoined  him,  returned 
to  their  native  country.  Two-third' 
of  the  infantry,  in  their  eagerness  tc 
escape,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
neighbouring  inhabitants ;  nor  did 
Baillie,  their  general,  when  he  sur- 
rendered at  Warrington,  number 
more  than  three  thousand  men  under 
their  colours.  The  duke  wandered 
as  far  as  Uttoxeter  with  the  cavalry : 
there  his  followers  mutinied,  and 
yielded  himself  a  prisoner  to  Gene 
Lambert  and  the  Lord  Grey 
Groby.      The    Cavaliers    disbanc 


A.D.  1643.J 


DISCOMFITUEE  OF  THE  SCOTS. 


103 


themselves  in  Derbyshire;  their  gal- 
lant leader,  who  travelled  in  the  dis- 
guise of  a  female,  was  discovered  and 
taken  in  the  vicinity  of  Nottingham  : 
but  Lady  Savile  bribed  his  keeper : 
dressed  in  a  clergyman's  cassock  he 
escaped  to  the  capital ;  and  remained 
there  in  safety  with  Dr.  Barwick, 
being  taken  for  an  Irish  minister 
driven  from  his  cure  by  the  Irish 
Catholics,' 

On  the  very  day  on  which  the  Scots 
began  their  march,  a  feeble  attempt 
had  been  made  to  assist  their  advance 
by  raising  the  city  of  London.  Its 
author  was  one  who  by  his  incon- 
stancy had  deservedly  earned  the  con- 
tempt of  every  party,— the  earl  of 
Holland.  He  had  during  the  contest 
passed  from  the  king  to  the  parlia- 
ment, and  from  the  parliament  to  the 
king.  His  ungracious  reception  by 
the  royalists  induced  him  to  return 
to  their  opponents,  by  whom  he  was 
at  first  treated  with  severity,  after- 
wards with  neglect.  Whether  it 
were  resentment  or  policy,  he  now 
professed  himself  a  true  penitent, 
offered  to  redeem  his  past  errors  by 
future  services,  and  obtained  from 
the  prince  of  "Wales  a  commission  to 
raise  forces.  As  it  had  been  con- 
certed between  him  and  Hamilton, 
on  the  5th  of  July  he  marched  at  the 
head  of  five  hundred  horse,  in  warlike 
array  from  his  house  in  the  city,  and 
having  fixed  his  quarters  in  the  vicinity 
of  Kingston,  sent  messages  to  the  par- 
liament and  the  common  council,  call- 


1  Lords'  Journals,  x.  455 — 458.  Rushworth, 
Tii.  1227,  1242.  Barwicci  Vita,  66.  The 
narrative  in  Burnet's  Memoirs  of  the  Hamil- 
tons  (355—365)  should  be  checked  by  that 
in  Clarendon  iii.  (150,  160).  The  first  was 
derived  from  Sir  James  Turner  (Turner's 
Memoirs,  63),  who  held  a  command  in  the 
Scottish  army;  the  second  from  Sir  Mar- 
maduke  Langdale.  According  to  Turner, 
Langdale  was  ignorant,  or  kept  the  Scots 
in  ignorance,  of  the  arrival  of  Croniwell  and 
his  army;  according  to  Langdale,"  he  re- 
peatedly informed  them  of  it,  but  they 
refused  to  give  credit  to  the  information. 
Langdale's  statement  ia  confirmed  by  Cach- 


ing on  them  to  join  with  him  in  putting 
an  end  to  the  calamities  of  the  nation. 
On  the  second  day,  through  the  negli- 
gence, it  was  said,  of  Dalbier,  his 
military  confidant,  he  was  surprised, 
and  after  a  short  conflict,  fled  with  a 
few  attendants  to  St.  Neots ;  there  a 
second  action  followed,  and  the  earl 
surrendered  at  discretion  to  his  pur- 
suers. His  misfortune  excited  little 
interest;  but  every  heart  felt  com- 
passion for  two  young  noblemen  whom 
he  had  persuaded  to  engage  in  this 
rash  enterprise,  the  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham and  his  brother  the  Lord  Francis 
Yilliers.  The  latter  was  slain  at 
Kingston;  the  former,  after  many 
hair-breadth  escapes,  found  an  asylum 
on  the  continent.^ 

The  discomfiture  of  the  Scottish 
army  was  followed  by  the  surrender 
of  Colchester.  While  there  was  an 
object  to  fight  for,  Goring  and  his 
companions  had  cheerfully  submitted 
to  every  privation;  now  that  not  a 
hope  remained,  they  offered  to  capitu- 
late, and  received  for  answer  that  quar- 
ter would  be  granted  to  the  privates, 
but  that  the  ofi&cers  had  been  declared 
traitors  by  the  parliament,  and  must 
surrender  at  discertion.  These  terms 
were  accepted;  the  council  deliberated 
on  the  fate  of  the  captives ;  Goring, 
Capel,  and  Hastings,  brother  to  the 
earl  of  Huntingdon,  were  reserved 
for  the  judgment  of  the  parliament ; 
but  two.  Sir  George  Lisle  and  Sir 
Charles  Lucas,  because  they  were  not 
men  of  family,  but  soldiers  of  fortune,* 


mont,  who  affirmed  to  Burnet,  that  "on 
fryday  before  Preston  the  duke  read,  to 
Douchel  and  him  a  letter  he  had  from 
Langdale,  telling  how  the  enemy  had  ren- 
dezvoused at  Oatley  and  Oatley  Park,  wher 
Cromwell  was."— See  a  letter  from  Burnet 
to  Turner,  in  App.  to  Turner's  Memoirs, 
251.  Monro  also  informed  the  duke,  pro- 
bably by  Dachmont,  of  Cromwell's  arrival 
at  Skipton.— Ibid.  249. 

2  Clarendon,  iii.  121,  176.  Whitelock, 
317,  SIS,  320.  Lords'  Journals,  367.  Com- 
mons, July  7,  12.    Leicester's  Journal,  35. 

3  This  is  the  reason  assigned  by  Fairfax 
himself.— Memoirs,  450. 


104 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  II 


were  selected  for  immediate  execu- 
tion. Both  had  been  distinguished 
by  their  bravery,  and  were  reckoned 
among  the  first  commanders  in  the 
royal  service.  Lucas  tearing  open  his 
doublet,  exclaimed,  "Fire,  rebels!" 
and  instantly  fell.  Lisle  ran  to  him, 
kissed  his  dead  body,  and  turning  to 
the  soldiers,  desired  them  to  advance 
nearer.  One  replied,  "  Fear  not,  sir, 
we  shall  hit  you."  "  My  friends,"  he 
answered,  "  I  have  been  nearer  when 
you  have  missed  me."  The  blood  of 
these  brave  men  impressed  a  deep 
stain  on  the  character  of  Fairfax, 
nor  was  it  wiped  away  by  the  efforts 
of  his  friends,  who  attributed  their 
death  to  the  revengeful  counsels  of 
Ireton.* 

At  this  time  the  prince  of  Wales 
had  been  more  than  six  weeks  in  the 
Downs.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the 
revolt  of  the  fleet,  he  repaired  to  the 
Hague,  and  taking  upon  liimself  the 
command,  hastened  with  nineteen 
sail  to  the  English  coast.  Had  he 
appeared  before  the  Isle  of  "Wight, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Charles 
would  have  recovered  his  liberty ;  but 
the  council  with  the  prince  decided 
that  it  was  more  for  the  royal  interest 
to  sail  to  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
where  they  long  continued  to  solicit 
by  letters  the  wavering  disposition  of 
the  parliament  and  the  city.  While 
Hamilton  advanced,  there  seemed  a 
prospect  of  success ;  the  destruction 
of  his  army  extinguished  their  hopes. 
The  king,  by  a  private  message,  sug- 
gested that  before  their  departure 
from  the  coast,  they  should  free  him 
from  his  captivity.  But  the  mariners 
proved  that  they  were  the  masters. 
They  demanded  to  fight  the  hostile 
fleet  under  the  earl  of  Warwick,  who 


•  Journals,  i.  477.  Eushworth,  vii.  1242, 
1244.  Clarendon,  iii.  177.  Fairfax  says  in 
his  vindication  that  they  surrendered  "  at 
mercy,  which  means  that  some  are  to  sofier, 
some  to  be  spared." — Memoirs,  p.  540. 

'■"  Lords'  Journals,  x.  399,  414,  417,  426, 
444,  483,  4«8.  404.    Clarendon  Papers,  ii. 


studiously  avoided  an   engagemer 
that  he  might  be  joined  by  a  squadrc 
from  Portsmouth.    During  two  da^ 
the  royalists  offered  him  battle:  1 
different  manoeuvres  he  eluded  tho 
attempts ;  and  on  the  third  day  tL  , 
want   of   provisions   compelled    th  I 
prince   to   steer    for    the    coast    (  J 
Holland,   without   paying   attentio  \ 
to  the  request  of  his  royal  fathei  ! 
Warwick,  who  had  received  his  reir  • 
forcements,  followed  at  a  considerabl 
distance ;  but,  though  he  defended  h  - 
conduct  on  motives  of  prudence,  h  : 
did  not  escape  the  severe  censure  c  ' 
the  Independents  and  Levellers,  wh  ! 
maintained  that  the  cause  had  alway  : 
been  betrayed  when  it  was  intruste  i 
to  the  cowardice   or  disaffection  c 
noble  commanders.- 

It  is  now  time  to  revert  to  th 
contest  between  the  two  houses  re 
specting  the  proposed  treaty  with  th 
king.  Towards  the  end  of  July  th 
Commons  had  yielded  to  the  obstinac 
of  the  Lords;  the  preliminary  con 
ditions  on  which  they  had  insiste^ 
were  abandoned,  and  the  vote  c 
non-addresses  was  repealed.  Hithert 
these  proceedings  had  been  marke- 
with  the  characteristic  slowness  o 
every  parliamentary  measure ;  bu 
the  victory  of  Cromwell  over  Hamil 
ton,  and  the  danger  of  interferenc 
on  the  part  of  the  army,  alarmed  th 
Presbyterian  leaders;  and  fifteen  com 
missioners,  five  lords  and  ten  com 
moners,  were  appointed  to  conduc 
the  negotiation.^  At  length  the; 
arrived;  Charles  repaired  from  hi 
prison  in  Carisbrook  Castle  to  th< 
neighbouring  town  of  Newport;  h( 
was  suffered  to  call  around  him  hi 
servants,  his  chaplains,  and  such  o 
his  counsellors  as  had  taken  no  pari 


412,  414. 

'  They  were  the  earls  of  Northumberland 
Salisbury,  Pembroke,  and   Middlesex,   t><. 
lords    Say    and   8ele,  Lord  Wenman, 
Henry  Vane,  junior,  Sir   Harbottle   Gr 
stone,    and    Holies,     Pierrepoint,    Brc. 
Crew,  Glyn,  Potts,  and  Bulkely. 


..D.  1648.] 


TREATY  OF  NEWPORT. 


103 


a  the  war;  and,  as  far  as  outward 
ppearance  might  be  trusted,  he  had 
t  length  obtained  the  free  and 
lonourable  treaty  which  he  had  so 
ften  solicited.  Still  he  felt  that  he 
vas  a  captive,  under  promise  not  to 
2ave  the  island  till  twenty  days  after 
he  conclusion  of  the  treaty ;  and  he 
oon  found,  in  addition,  that  he  was 
lot  expected  to  treat,  but  merely  to 
ubmit.  How  far  the  two  houses 
aight  have  yielded  in  other  circum- 
tances  is  uncertain;  but,  under  the 
)resent  superiority  of  the  army,  they 
lared  not  descend  from  the  lofty  pre- 
ensions  which  they  had  previously 
)ut  forth.  The  commissioners  were 
)ermitted  to  argue,  to  advise,  to 
mtreat;  but  they  had  no  power  to 
•oncede ;  their  instructions  bound 
hem  to  insist  on  the  king's  assent 
o  every  proposition  which  had  been 
;ubmitted  to  his  consideration  at 
aampton  Court.  To  many  of  these 
iemands  Charles  made  no  objection ; 
n  lieu  of  those  which  he  refused, 
le  substituted  proposals  of  his  own, 
rfhich  were  forwarded  to  the  parlia- 
iient,  and  voted  unsatisfactory.  He 
)tfered  new  expedients  and  modifica- 
.ions;  but  the  same  answer  was  in- 
variably returned,  till  the  necessity  of 
lis  situation  wrung  from  the  unfor- 
tunate prince  his  unqualified  assent 
to  most  of  the  articles  in  debate.  On 
:bur  points  only  he  remained  inflexi- 
ble. Though  he  agreed  to  suspend 
for  three  years,  he  refused  to  abolish 


'  The  papers  given  in  during  this  treaty 
may  be  seen  in  the  Lords'  Journals,  x.  474 
—618.  The  best  account  ia  that  composed 
by  order  of  the  king  himself,  for  the  use  of 
the  prince  of  Wales.— Clarendon  Papers, 
li.  425 — 449.  I  should  add,  that  a  new  sub- 
ject of  discussion  arose  incidentally  during 
the  conferences.  The  lord  Inchiquin  had 
abandoned  the  cause  of  the  parliament  in 
Ireland,  and,  at  his  request,  Ormond  had 
been  sent  from  Paris  by  the  queen  and  the 
prince,  to  resume  the  government,  with  a 
commission  to  make  peace  with  the  Catholic 
party.  Charles  wrote  to  him  two  letters 
(Oct.  10,  28.— Carte,  ii,  App.  xixi.  iiiii.), 
ordering  him  to  follow  the  aueen'a  iastruc- 


entirely,  the  functions  of  the  bishops ; 
he  objected  to  the  perpetual  aliena-  '^ 
tJon  of  the  episcopal  lands,  but  pro- 
posed to  grant  leases  of  them  for  lives, 
or  for  ninety-nine  years,  in  favour  of 
the  present  purchasers ;  he  contended 
that  all  his  followers,  without  any 
exception,  should  be  admitted  to 
compound  for  their  delinquency ;  and 
he  protested  that,  till  his  conscience 
were  satisfied  of  the  lawfulness  of  the  ■ 
covenant,  he  would  neither  swear  to 
it  himself,  nor  impose  it  upon  others. 
Such  was  the  state  of  the  negotiation, 
when  the  time  allotted  by  the  parlia- 
ment expired ;  and  a  prolongation  for 
twenty  days  was  voted.' 

The  Independents  from  the  very 
beginning  had  disapproved  of  the 
treaty.  In  a  petition  presented  by 
"thousands  of  well-afifected  persons  irv 
and  near  London,"  they  enumerated 
the  objects  for  which  they  had  fought, 
and  which  they  now  claimed  as  the 
fruit  of  their  victory.  Of  these  the 
principal  were,  that  the  supremacy 
of  the  people  should  be  established 
against  the  negative  voice  of  the  king 
and  of  the  lords ;  that  to  prevent  civil 
wars,  the  office  of  the  king  and  the 
privileges  of  the  peers  should  be  clearly 
defined ;  that  a  new  parliament,  to  be 
elected  of  course  and  without  writs, 
should  assemble  every  year,  but  never 
for  a  longer  time  than  forty  or  fifty 
days;  that  religious  belief  and  worship 
should  be  free  from  restraint  or  com- 
pulsion; that  the  proceedings  in  law 


tions,  to  obey  no  commands  from  himself  as 
long  as  he  should  be  imder  restraint,  and 
not  to  be  startled  at  his  concessions  re- 
specting Ireland,  for  they  would  come  to 
nothing.  Of  these  letters  -the  houses  were 
ignorant ;  but  they  got  possession  of  one 
from  Ormond  to  the  Irish  Catholics,  and 
insisted  that  Charles  should  order  the  lord 
lieutenant  to  desist.  This  he  eluded  for 
some  time,  alleging  that  if  the  treaty  took 
effect,  their  desire  was  already  granted  by 
his  previous  concessions ;  if  it  did  not,  no 
order  of  his  would  be  obeyed^  At  last  h& 
consented,  and  wrote  the  letter  required. — 
Journals,  i.  576—578,  597,  618.  Clarendon 
Papers,  ii.  441,  445,  452. 


106 


CHAELES  I. 


should  be  shortened,  and  the  charges 
ascertained;  that  tithes  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  clergy,  and  perpetual 
imprisonment  for  debt,  should  be 
abolished:  and  that  the  parliament 
*'  should  lay  to  heart  the  blood  spilt, 
and  the  rapine  perpetrated  by  com- 
mission from  the  king,  and  consider 
whether  the  justice  of  God  could  be 
satisfied,  or  his  ^yrath  be  appeased,  by 
an  act  of  oblivion."  This  instrument 
is  the  more  deserving  of  attention, 
because  it  points  out  the  poUtical 
views  which  actuated  the  leaders  of 
the  party.^ 

In  the  army,  flushed  as  it  was 
with  victory,  and  longing  for  revenge, 
maxims  began  to  prevail  of  the  most 
dangerous  tendency  in  respect  of  the 
royal  captive.  The  politicians  main- 
tained that  no  treaty  could  be  safely 
made  with  the  king,  because  if  he 
were  under  restraint,  he  could  not 
be  bound  by  his  consent ;  if  he  were 
restored  to  liberty,  he  could  not  be 
expected  to  make  any  concessions. 
The  fanatics  went  still  further.  They 
had  read  in  the  book  of  Numbers 
that  "blood  defileth  the  land,  and 
the  land  cannot  be  cleansed  of  the 
blood  that  is  shed  therein,  but  by 
the  blood  of  him  that  shed  it ;"  and 
hence  they  inferred  that  it  was  a 
duty,  imposed  on  them  by  the  God 
who  had  given  them  the  victory,  to 
call  the  king  to  a  strict  account  for 
all  the  blood 'which  had  been  shed 
during  the  civil  war.  Among  these, 
one  of  the  most  eminent  was  Colonel 
Ludlow,  a  member  of  parliament, 
who,  having  persuaded  himself  that 
the  anger  of  God  could  be  ap- 
peased only  by  the  death  of  Charles, 
laboured,  though  in  vain,  to  make 
Fairfax  a  convert  to  his  opinion. 
He  proved  more  successful  with  Ire- 
ton,  whose  regiment  petitioned  the 
commander-in-chief,  that  crime  might 
be  impartially  punished  without  any 


Wbitelock,  335. 


[CHAFi|| 

)w,  riclf 


distinction  of  high  or  low,  ricl 
poor;  that  all  who  had  contrived  j 
abetted  the  late  war  might  rece  \ 
their  just  deserts;  and  that  whosoe-'  t 
should   speak   or   act   in   favour    i 
Charles,  before  that  prince  had  h 
acquitted  of  shedding  innocent  b 
should  incur  the  penalties  of  trea^, 
The  immediate  object  of  this  paj  : 
was  to  try  the  general  disposition 
the  army.    Though  it  did  not  opei  i 
express,  it  evidently  contemplated  1  i 
future  trial  of  the  king,  and  was  i  \ 
lowed  by  another  petition  from  1  { 
regiment  of  Colonel  Ingoldsby,  whi-  \ 
in  plainer  and  bolder  terms,  demanc  i 
that  the  monarch  and  his  adherei 
should  be  brought  to  justice;  a  i 
demned  the  treaty  between  him  a  : 
the   parliament    as    dangerous   a  - 
unjust ;   and   required  the  appoii 
ment  of  a  council  of  war  to  discos  ( 
an  adequate  remedy  for  the  natioi  ■ 
evils.    Fairfax  had  not  the  courage  ^ 
oppose  what,  in  his  own  judgme: 
he  disapproved ;  the  petitions  w( 
laid  before  an  assembly  of  officei 
and  the  result  of  their  deliberati 
was    a   remonstrance    of    enorrao 
length,  which,  in  a  tone  of  mens 
and  asperity,  proclaimed  the  wh< 
plan  of  the  reformers.    It  requir 
that  "the  capital  and  grand  auth 
of  aU  the  troubles  and  woes  whi 
the  kingdom  had  endured,  should 
speedily  brought  to  justice  for  t 
treason,  blood,  and  mischief  of  whi 
he  had  been  guilty;"  that  a  peri 
should  be  fixed  for  the  dissolution 
the  parliament;  that  a  more  eqi 
representation  of  the  people  shou 
be  devised;  that  the  representati 
body   should    possess    the    suprer 
power,  and  elect  every  future  kin 
and  that  the  prince  so  elected  shou 
be  bound  to  disclaim  all  pretensio 
to  a  negative  voice  in  the  passing 
laws,  and  to  subscribe  to  that  for 
of  government  which  he  should  fii 
established  by  the  present  parUs 
This  remonstrance  was  addresse 


)arhax]Mfa 
Idress^H 


lt>48.]     DEMANDS  OF  PAELIAMENT  GRANTED. 


107 


3  lower  house  alone ;  for  the  re- 
■mers  declared  themselves  uuable  to 
derstand  on  what  ground  the  lords 
lid  claim  co-equal  power  with  the 
jresentatives  of  the  people,  in  whom 
.ne  the  sovereignty  resided.'  It 
jvoked  a  long  and  animated  de- 
■e;  but  the  Presbyterians  met  its 
locates  without  fear,  and  silenced 
iva  by  an  overwhelming  majority, 
ley  felt  that  they  were  supported 

the  general  wish  of  the  nation, 
i  trusted  that  if  peace  were  once 
ablished  by  agreement  with  the 
ig,  the  officers  would  not  dare  to 
ge  their  pretensions.  With  this 
!W  they  appointed   a   distant  day 

the  consideration  of  the  remon- 
ance,  and  instructed  the  commis- 
ners  at  Newport  to  hasten  the 
aty  to  a  speedy  conclusion.^ 
The  king  now  found  himself  driven 
the  last  extremity.  The  threats  of 
i  army  resounded  in  his  ears ;  his 
3nds  conjured  him  to  recede  from 

former  answers ;  and  the  commis- 
ners  declared  their  conviction,  that 
fchout  full  satisfaction,  the  two 
uses  could  not  save  him  from  the 
ogeance  of  his  enemies.  To  add  to 
I  alarm,  Hammond,  the  governor 
the  island,  had  received  a  message 
>m  Fairfax  to  repair  without  delay 

the  head-quarters  at  Windsor, 
lis  was  followed  by  the  arrival  of 
»lonel  Eure,  with    orders  to  seize 


Whitelock,  3i3,  346,  355.     Rushworth, 
.  1298, 1311,  1331. 

'•  Journals  of  Commons,  I^ov.  20,  24,  30. 
ere  were  two  divisions  relating  to  this 
estionj  in  the  first  the  majority  was  94 
60,  in  the  second  125  to  58. 
'  Clarendon  Papers,  449—454.  Journals, 
620—622.  The  royalists  excepted  from 
iter  were  the  marquess  of  Newcastle, 
•  Marmaduke  Langdale,  Lord  Digby,  Sir 
chard  Grenville,  Mr.  Justice  Jenfins,  Sir 
'  Mjcis  Dorrington,  and  Lord  Byron.  It 
pears  to  me  difficult  to  read  the  letters 
itten  by  Charles  during  the  treaty  to  his 
a  the  prince  of  Wales  (Clarendon  Papers, 
426—464),  and  yet  belieye  that  he  acted 
th  insincerity.  But  how  then,  asks  Mr. 
ling  (Hist,  of  Scotland,  iii.  411),  are  we 
account  for  his  assertion  to  Ormond,  that 


the  king,  and  confine  him  again  in 
Carisbrook  Castle,  or,  if  he  met  with 
opposition,  "to  act  as  God  should 
direct  him."  Hammond  replied  with 
firmness,  that  in  military  matters  he 
would  obey  his  general ;  but  as  to  the 
royal  person,  he  had  received  the 
charge  from  the  parliament,  and 
would  not  suffer  the  interference  of 
any  other  authority.  Eure  departed ; 
but  Charles  could  no  longer  conceal 
from  himself  the  danger  which  stared 
him  in  the  face;  his  constancy  or 
obstinacy  relented;  and  he  agreed, 
after  a  most  painful  struggle,  and 
when  the  time  was  run  to  the  last 
minute,  to  remit  the  compositions  of 
his  followers  to  the  mercy  of  parlia- 
ment ;  to  consent  to  the  trial  of  the 
seven  individuals  excepted  from  par- 
don, provided  they  were  allowed  the 
benefit  of  the  ancient  laws ;  and  to 
suspend  the  functions  and  vest  in  the 
crown  the  lands  of  the  bishops,  till 
religion  should  be  settled,  and  the 
support  of  its  ministers  determined 
by  common  consent  of  the  king  and 
the  two  houses.  By  this  last  expe- 
dient it  was  hoped  that  both  parties 
would  be  satisfied ;  the  monarch,  be- 
cause the  order  was  not  aboHshed, 
nor  its  lands  alienated /or  erer;  the 
parliament,  because  neither  one  nor 
the  other  could  be  restored  without 
its  previous  consent.^ 
In  the  morning,  when  the  commis- 


the  treaty  would  come  to  nothing,  and  for 
his  anxiety  to  escape  manifested  by  his  cor- 
respondence with  Hopkins?  —  Wagstaff's 
Vindication  of  the  Eoyal  Martyr,  142—161. 
1.  Charles  knew  that,  besides  the  parlia- 
ment, there  was  the  army,  which  had  both 
the  will  and  the  power  to  set  aside  any 
agreement  which  might  be  made  between 
him  and  the  parliament ;  and  hence  aroae 
his  conviction  that  "  the  treaty  would  come 
to  nothing."  2.  He  was  acquainted  ^rith 
all  that  passed  in  the  private  councils  of  his 
enemies ;  with  their  design  to  bring  him  to 
trial  and  to  the  scaffold ;  and  he  had  also 
received  a  letter,  informing  him  of  an  in- 
tention to  assassinate  him  during  the  treaty. 
— Herbert,  134.  Can  we  be  surprised,  if, 
under  such  circumstances,  he  sought  to 
escape  ?    Nor  was  his  parole  an  objection. 


1»3 


CHARLES  I. 


[chap. 


sioners  took  their  leave,  Charles 
addressed  them  with  a  sadness  of 
countenance  and  in  a  tone  of  voice 
which  drew  tears  from  all  his  attend- 
ants. ''  My  lords,"  said  he,  "  I  beUeve 
we  shall  scarce  ever  see  each  other 
again.  But  God's  will  be  done!  I 
have  made  my  peace  with  him,  and 
shall  undergo  without  fear  whatever 
he  may  suffer  men  to  do  to  me.  My 
lords,  you  cannot  but  know  that  in 
my  fall  and  ruin  you  see  your  own, 
and  that  also  near  you.  I  pray  God 
send  you  better  friends  than  I  have 
found.  I  am  fully  informed  of  the 
carriage  of  them  who  plot  against  me 
and  mine ;  but  nothing  affects  me  so 
much  as  the  feeling  I  have  of  the 
sufferings  of  my  subjects,  and  the 
mischief  that  hangs  over  my  three 
kingdoms,  drawn  upon  them  by  those 
who,  upon  pretences  of  good,  violently 
pursue  their  own  interests  and  ends." ' 
Hammond  departed  at  the  same  time 
with  the  commissioners,  and  the 
command  at  Carisbrook  devolved  on 
Boreman,  an  officer  of  the  militia  ;  at 
Newport  on  Eolfe,  a  major  in  the 
army.  To  both  he  gave  a  copy  of  his 
instructions  from  the  parliament  for 
the  safety  of  the  royal  person;  but 
the  character  of  Eolfe  was  known : 
he  had  been  charged  with  a  design  to 
take  the  king's  life  six  months  before, 
and  had  escaped  a  trial  by  the 
indulgence  of  the  grand  jury,  who 
ignored  the  bill,  because  the  main 
fact  was  attested  by  the  oath  of  only 
one  witness.^ 

The  next  morning  a  person  in  dis- 
guise ordered  one  of  the  royal  attend- 
ants to  inform  the  king  that  a  mili- 
tary force  was  on  its  way  to  make 
him  prisoner.  Charles  immediately 
consulted  the  duke  of  Eichmond,  the 


He  conceived  himself  released  from  it  by 
misconduct  on  the  part  of  Hammond,  who, 
at  last,  aware  of  that  persuasion,  prevailed 
on  him,  though  with  considerable  aifficulty, 
to  renew  his  pledge. — Journals,  x.  598. 
After  this  renewal  he  refused  to  escape 
even  when  every  facility  was  offered  him. — 


earl  of  Lindsay,  and  Colonel  Co 
who  joined  in  conjuring  him  to  s 
his  life  by  an  immediate  escape.  G 
night  was  dark  and  stormy ;  they  w 
acquainted  with  the  watchword ;  i 
Coke  offered  him  horses  and  a  b( 
But  the  king  objected,  that  he ' 
bound  in  honour  to  remain  twe: 
days  after  the  treaty,  nor  would 
admit  of  the  distinction  which  t] 
suggested,  that  his  parole  was  gi' 
not  to  the  army,  but  to  the  par 
ment.  It  was  in  vain  that  they  argi 
and  entreated ;  Charles,  with  his  c 
racteristic  obstinacy,  retired  to  i 
about  midnight ;  and  in  a  sh 
time  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cobl 
arrived  with  a  troop  of  horse  an 
company  of  foot.  Boreman  refu 
to  admit  him  into  Carisbrook.  ] 
Eolfe  offered  his  aid  at  Newport 
five  the  king  was  awakened  by  a  n 
sage  that  he  must  prepare  to  dep? 
and  about  noon  he  was  safely  lod 
in  Hurst  Castle,  situate  on  a  soUt 
rock,  and  connected  by  a  nar; 
causeway,  two  miles  in  length,  v 
the  opposite  coast  of  Hampshire.^ 

The  same  day  the  council  of  offit 
published  a  menacing  declarat 
against  the  house  of  Commons, 
charged  the  majority  with  apost 
from  their  former  principles,  : 
appealed  from  their  authority 
"  the  extraordinary  judgment  of  ( 
and  of  all  good  people ; "  called  on 
faithful  members  to  protest  against 
past  conduct  of  their  colleagues,  i 
to  place  themselves  under  the  prol 
tion  of  the  army ;  and  asserted  t 
since  God  had  given  to  the  offi( 
the  power,  he  had  also  made  it  tl 
duty,  to  provide  for  the  settlem 
of  the  kingdom  and  the  punishm 
of  the   guilty.     In  the   pursuit 


Eushworth,  vii.  13*4. 

1  Appendix  to  Evelyn's  Memoirs,  ii.  1 

2  Journals,  x.  315,  345,  340,  358,  370, 
Clarendon,  iii.  234. 

3  Eushworth,  vu.  1344—1348,  1351 
bert,  113,  124. 


1G48. 


THE  EUMP  PAELIAMENT. 


109 


-t  ese  objects,  Fairfax  marched  several 
\'  ?iments  to  London,  and  quartered 
;  em  at  Whitehall,  York  House, 
V  e  Mews,  and  in  the  skirts  of  the 

The  reader  will  recollect  the  pusil- 
aimous  conduct  of  the  Presbyterian 
embers  on  the  approach  of  the  army 

the  year  1646.  On  the  present 
casion  they  resolved  to  redeem  their 
aracter.  They  betrayed  no  symp- 
m  of  fear,  no  disposition  to  retire, 
to  submit.  Amidst  the  din  of  arms 
A  the  menaces  of  the  soldiers,  they 
ily  attended  their  duty  in  parlia- 
ent,  declared  that  the  seizure  of  the 
yal  person  had  been  made  without 
eir  knowledge  or  consent,  and  pro- 
eded  to  consider  the  tendency  of 
.e  concessions  made  by  Charles  in 
.6  treaty  of  Newport.  This  pro- 
loed  the  longest  and  most  animated 
jbate  hitherto  known  in  the  history 
'  parliament.  Vane  drew  a  most 
^favourable  portrait  of  the  king,  and 
ipresented  all  his  promises  and  pro- 
ssions  as  hollow  and  insincere; 
iennes  became  for  the  first  time  the 
)yal  apologist,  and  refuted  the 
larges  brought  by  his  fellow  com- 
dssioner;  and  Prynne,  the  cele- 
rated  adversary  of  Laud,  seemed  to 
»rget  his  antipathy  to  the  court,  that 
e  might  lash  the  presumption  and 
erfidy  of  the  army.  The  debate 
Dntinued  by  successive  adjourn- 
lents  three  days  and  a  whole  night ; 
Qd  on  the  last  division  in  the  morn- 
ig  a  resolution  was  carried  by  a 
lajority  of  thirty-six,  that  the  offers 
f  the  sovereign  furnished  a  sufficient 
round  for  the  future  settlement  of 
he  kingdom.' 

But  the  victors  were  not  suffered  to 
njoy  their  triumph.    The  next  day 


Skippon  discharged  the  guards  of  the 
two  houses,  and  their  place  was  sup- 
plied by  a  regiment  of  horse  and 
another  of  foot  from  the  army. 
Colonel  Pride,  while  Fairfax,  the 
commander-in-chief,  was  purposely 
employed  in  a  conference  with  some 
of  the  members,  stationed  himself  in 
the  lobby :  in  his  hand  he  held  a  list 
of  names,  while  the  Lord  Grey  stood 
by  his  side  to  point  out  the  persons 
of  the  members;  and  two-and-fifty 
Presbyterians,  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  party  by  their  talents  or  influ- 
ence, were  taken  into  custody  and  con- 
ducted to  different  places  of  confine- 
ment. Many  of  those  who  passed  the 
ordeal  on  this,  met  with  a  similar 
treatment  on  the  following  day; 
numbers  embraced  the  opportunity 
to  retire  into  the  country ;  and  the 
house  was  found,  after  repeated  puri- 
fications, to  consist  of  about  fifty 
individuals,  who,  in  the  quaint  lan- 
guage of  the  time,  were  afterwards 
dignified  with  the  honourable  appel- 
lation of  the  "  E-ump."^ 

Whether  it  were  through  policy  or 
accident,  Cromwell  was  not  present 
to  take  any  share  in  these  extraor- 
dinary proceedings.  After  his  victory 
at  Preston  he  had  marched  in  pursuit 
of  Monro,  and  had  besieged  the 
important  town  of  Berwick.  But  his 
real  views  were  not  confined  to  Eng- 
land. The  defeat  of  the  Scottish 
royalists  had  raised  the  hopes  of  their 
opponents  in  their  own  country.  In 
the  western  shires  the  curse  of  Meroz 
had  been  denounced  from  the  pulpit 
against  all  who  refused  to  arm  in 
defence  of  the  covenant ;  the  fanatical 
peasants  marshalled  themselves  under 
their  respective  ministers ;  and  Lou- 
don and  Eglinton,  assuming  the  com- 


1  Bushworth,  vu.  13^1,  1350.  Whitelock, 
38. 

»  Journals,  Dec.  1,  2,  3,  5.  Clarendon 
'»pers,  ii.  App.  xlviii.  Cobbett,  Pari.  Hist. 
152.  In  some  of  the  previous  divisions, 
he  house  consisted  of  tvyo  hundred  and 
brty  members  J  but  several  seem  to  have 


retired  during  the  night ;  at  the  conclusion 
there  were  only  two  hundred  and  twelve. 

3  Whitelock,  358,  359.  Commons'  Jour- 
nals,  Dec.  6,  7.  This  was  called  Pride's 
purge.  Forty-seven  members  were  im- 
prisoned, and  ninety.six  excluded.— Pari. 
Hist.  iii.  1248. 


110 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap. 


mand,  led  them  to  Edinburgh.'  This 
tumultuary  mass,  though  joined  by 
Argyle  and  his  Highlanders,  and  by 
Cassillis  with  the  people  of  Carrickand 
Galloway,  was  no  match  for  the  dis- 
ciplined army  under  Lanark  and 
Monro ;  but  Cromwell;  offered  to 
advance  to  their  support,  and  the  two 
parties  hastened  to  reconcile  their 
differences  by  a  treaty,  which  secured 
to  the  royalists  their  lives  and  pro- 
perty, on  condition  that  they  should 
disband  their  forces.  Argyle  with  his 
associates  assumed  the  name  and  the 
office  of  the  committee  of  the  estates ; 
Berwick  and  Carlisle  were  delivered 
to  the  English  general ;  and  he  him- 
self with  his  army  was  invited  to  the 
capital.  Amidst  the  public  rejoicing, 
private  conferences,  of  which  the  sub- 
ject never  transpired,  were  repeatedly 
held ;  and  Cromwell  returning  to 
England,  left  Lambert  with  two  regi- 
ments of  horse,  to  support  the  govern- 
ment of  his  friends  till  they  could 
raise  a  sufficient  force  among  their 
own  party.2  His  progress  through 
the  northern  counties  was  slow ;  nor 
did  he  reach  the  capital  till  the  day 
after  the  exclusion  of  the  Presbyterian 
members.  His  late  victory  had  ren- 
dered him  the  idol  of  the  soldiers :  he 
was  conducted  with  acclamations  of 
joy  to  the  royal  apartments  in  White- 
hall, and  received  the  next  day  the 
thanks  of  the  house  of  Commons  for 
bis  distinguished  services  to  the  two 
kingdoms.  Of  his  sentiments  with 
respect  to  the  late  proceedings  no 
doubt  was  entertained-  If  he  had 
not  suggested,  he  had  at  least  been 
careful  to  applaud  tlie  conduct  of 
the  officers,  and  in  a  letter  to  Fairfax 


1  This  was  called  the  inroad  of  the  Whig- 
gamores ;  a  name  given  to  these  peasants 
either  from  whiggam,  a  word  employed  by 
them  in  driving  their  horses,  or  irom  whig 
(Angliee  whey),  a  beverage  of  sour  milk, 
which  formed  one  of  the  principal  articles 
of  their  meals. — Burnet's  History  of  his 
own  Times,  i.  43.  It  soon  came  to  designate 
An  enemy  of  the  king,  and  in  the  next  reign 


he  blasphemously  attributed  it  to 
inspiration  of  the  Almighty .^ 

The  government  of  the  king( 
had  now  devolved  in  reality  on 
army.  There  were  two  milr 
councils,  the  one  select,  consistin 
the  grandees,  or  principal  commanc 
the  other  general,  to  which  the  i 
rior  officers,  most  of  them  mer 
levelling  principles,  were  admit 
A  suspicion  existed  that  the  for: 
aimed  at  the  establishment  of  an 
garchy ;  whence  their  advice  was 
quently  received  with  jealousy  ; 
distrust,  and  their  resolutions  v 
sometimes  negatived  by  the  gre; 
number  of  their  inferiors.  W 
any  measure  had  received  the  apj 
bation  of  the  general  council,  it 
carried  to  the  house  of  Comm« . 
who  were  expected  to  impart  to  it 
sanction  of  their  authority.  "W 
ready  obedience  they  renewed 
vote  of  non-addresses,  resolved  t 
the  re-admission  of  the  eleven 
pelled  members  was  dangerous  in 
consequences,  and  contrarj'  to 
usages  of  the  house,  and  declared  t 
the  treaty  in  the  Isle  of  "Wight,  5 
the  approbation  given  to  the  re 
concessions,  were  dishonourable 
parliament,  destructive  of  the  cc 
mon  good,  and  a  breach  of  the  pul 
faith.^  But  these  were  only  prepa 
tory  measures :  they  were  soon  cal 
upon  to  pass  a  vote,  the  very  ment 
of  which  a  few  years  before  woi 
have  struck  the  boldest  among  th 
with  astonishment  and  terror. 

It  had  been  long  the  conviction 
the  officers  that  the  life  of  the  king  v 
incompatible  with  their  safety, 
he    were    restored,  they  would  1 


was  transferred,  nnder  the  abbreviated  fc 
of  whig,  to  the  opponents  of  the  court. 

-  Memoirs  of  the  Hamiltons,  367—3 
Guthrie,  283—299.  Eushworth,  vii.  12 
1282,  1286,  1296,  1325. 

3  Journals,  Dec.  8.  Whitelock,  362.  Bn 
worth,  vii.  1339. 

*  Journals,  Dec.  3, 13,  14,  20.  Whitelo 
362,  363.    Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  App.  xlb 


0. 1648.]         ILLEGAL  VOTE  OF  THE  COMMONS. 


Ill 


me  the  objects  of  royal  vengeance; 
he  were  detained  in  prison,  the 
.blic  tranquillity  would  be  disturbed 

a  succession  of  plots  in  his  favour, 
private  assassination  there  was 
mething  base  and  cowardly  from 
lich  the  majority  revolted ;  but  to 
ing  him  to  public  justice  was  to 
t  openly  and  boldly ;  it  was  to  pro- 
lim  their  confidence  in  the  goodness 
their  cause ;  to  give  to  the  world  a 
lendid  proof  of  the  sovereignty  of 
e  people  and  of  the  responsibility  of 
Qgs.'    When  the  motion  was  made 

the  Commons,  a  few  ventured  to 
ipose  it,  not  so  much  with  the 
)pe  of  saving  the  life  of  Charles, 

for  the  puri)ose  of  transferring 
e  odium  of  his  death  on  its  real 
ithors.  They  suggested  that  the 
•rson  of  the  king  was  sacred ;  that 
story  afforded  no  precedent  of  a 
vereign  compelled  to  plead  before  a 
urt  of  judicature  composed  of  his 
vn  subjects ;  that  measures  of  ven- 
ance  could  only  serve  to  widen  the 
eeding  wounds  of  the  country ;  that 

was  idle  to  fear  any  re-action  in 
vour  of  the  monarch,  and  it  was 
)w  time  to  settle  on  a  permanent 
isis  the  liberties  of  the  country. 
ut  their  opponents  were  clamorous, 
)stinate,  and  menacing.  The  king, 
ley  maintained,  was  the  capital  de- 
Qquent:  justice  required  that  he 
lould  suffer  as  well  as  the  minor 
fenders.  He  had  been  guilty  of 
•eason  against  the  people,  it  remained 
•r  their  representatives  to  bring  him 
>  punishment;  he  had  shed  the 
lood  of  man ;  God  made  it  a  duty 
)  demand  his  blood  in  return.  The 
pposition  was  silenced;  and  a  com- 
littee  of  thirty-eight  members  was 
ppointed  to  receive  information 
Qd  to  devise  the  most  eligible  man- 
er  of  proceeding.  Among  the  more 
iflaential  names  were  those  of  Wid- 
rington   and  "Whitelock,  Scot  and 


Marten.  But  the  first  two  declined  to 
attend ;  and,  when  the  clerk  brought 
them  a  summons,  retired  into  the 
country.^ 

At  the  recommendation  of  this 
committee,  the  house  passed  a  vote 
declaratory  of  the  law,  that  it  was 
high  treason  in  the  king  of  England 
for  the  time  being  to  levy  war  against 
the  parliament  and  kingdom  of 
England;  and  this  was  followed  up 
with  an  ordinance  erecting  a  high 
court  of  justice  to  try  the  question  of 
fact,  whether  Charles  Stuart,  king  of 
England,  had  or  had  not  been  guilty  of 
the  treason  described  in  the  preced- 
ing vote.  But  the  subserviency  of 
the  Commons  was  not  imitated  by 
the  Lords.  They  saw  the  approach- 
ing ruin  of  their  own  order  in  the 
fall  of  the  sovereign;  and  when  the 
vote  and  ordinance  were  transmitted 
to  their  house,  they  rejected  both  with- 
out a  dissentient  voice,  and  then  ad- 
journed for  a  week.  This  unexpected 
effort  surprised,  but  did  not  disconcert, 
the  Independents.  They  prevailed  on 
the  Commons  to  vote  that  the  people 
are  the  origin  of  all  just  power,  and 
from  this  theoretical  truth  proceeded 
to  deduce  two  practical  falsehoods. 
As  if  no  portion  of  that  power  had 
been  delegated  to  the  king  and  the 
Lords,  they  determined  that  "the 
Commons  of  England  assembled  in 
parliament,  being  chosen  by  and  re- 
presenting the  people,  have  the  su- 
preme authority :"  and  thence  inferred 
that  "  whatsoever  is  enacted  and  de- 
clared for  law  by  the  Commons  in 
parliament  hath  force  of  law,  and 
concludes  all  the  people  of  the  nation, 
although  the  consent  and  concurrence 
of  the  king  and  the  house  of  Peers  be 
not  had  thereunto."  But  even  in 
that  iiypothesis,  how  could  the  house, 
constituted  as  it  then  was,  claim  to  be 
the  representative  of  the  people  ?  It 
was  in  fact  the  representative  of  the 


1  Clarendon,  Hist,  iii,  249. 


2  Journals,  Dec.  23.    Whitelock, 


112 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  I 


army  only,  and  not  a  free  but  an 
enslaved  representative,  bound  to 
speak  with  the  voice,  and  to  enregister 
the  decrees  of  its  mast-ers.'  Two  days 
later  an  act  for  the  trial  of  the  king 
was  passed  by  the  authority  of  the 
Commons  only. 

In  the  mean  while  Cromwell  con- 
tinued to  act  his  accustomed  part. 
"Whenever  he  rose  in  the  house,  it  was 
to  recommend  moderation,  to  express 
the  doubts  which  agitated  his  mind,  to 
protest  that,  if  he  assented  to  harsh 
and  ungracious  measures,  he  did  it 
with  reluctance,  and  solely  in  obe- 
dience to  the  will  of  the  Almighty. 
Of  his  conduct  during  the  debate  on 
the  king's  trial,  we  have  no  account ; 
but  when  it  was  suggested  to  dissolve 
the  upper  house,  and  transfer  its 
members  to  that  of  the  Commons, 
he  characterized  the  proposal  as  ori- 
ginating in  revolutionary  phrensy; 
and,  on  the  introduction  of  a  bill  to 
alter  the  form  of  the  great  seal, 
adopted  a  language  which  strongly 
marks  the  hypocrisy  of  the  man, 
though  it  was  calculated  to  make 
impression  on  the  fanatical  minds  of 
his  hearers.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  address- 
ing the  speaker,  "  if  any  man  what- 
soever have  carried  on  this  design  of 
deposing  the  king,  and  disinheriting 
his  posterity,  or  if  any  man  have  still 
such  a  design,  he  must  be  the  greatest 
traitor  and  rebel  in  the  world;  but 
since  the  providence  of  God  has  cast 


1  Jonrnals,  x.  611.  Commons,  Jan.  1,  2, 
4,  6.  Hitherto  the  Lords  had  seldom  ex- 
<;eeded  seven  in  number ;  but  on  this  occa- 
sion they  amounted  to  fourteen. — Leices- 
ter's Journal,  47. 

2  For  Cromwell's  conduct,  see  the  letters 
in  the  Appendix  to  the  second  volume  of 
the  Clarendon  Papers,  1.  li.  The  authen- 
ticity of  this  speech  has  been  questioned, 
as  resting  solely  on  the  treacherous  credit 
of  Perrinchiefe ;  but  it  occurs  in  a  letter 
written  on  the  11th  of  January,  which  de- 
scribes the  proceedings  of  the  9th,  and 
therefore  cinnot,  I  think,  be  questioned. 
By  turning  to  the  Journals,  it  will  be 
found  that  on  that  day  the  house  had  divi- 
ded on  a  C'.testion  whether  any  more  mes- 


this  upon  us,  I  cannot  but  submit 
Providence,  though  I  am  not  ; 
prepared  to  give  you  my  advice."  "^ 

The  lord  general,  on  the  contra 
began  to  assume  a  more  open  ant 
bolder  tone.  Hitherto,  instead 
leading,  he  had  been  led.  That 
disapproved  of  much  that  had  \x 
done,  we  may  readily  believe ;  but 
only  records  his  own  weakness,  wh' 
he  alleges  in  excuse  of  his  condi 
that  his  name  had  been  subscribed 
the  resolves  of  the  council,  whetl 
he  consented  or  not.  He  had  lat< 
shed  the  blood  of  two  gallant  offic 
at  Colchester,  but  [no  solicitati< 
could  induce  him  to  concur  in  sh' 
ding  the  blood  of  the  king.  His  na 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  comn 
sioners ;  he  attended  at  the  first  m€ 
ing,  in  which  no  business  was  tra 
acted,  but  he  constantly  refused 
be  present  at  their  subsequent  : 
tings  or  to  subscribe  his  name  to  th 
resolutions.  This  conduct  surpri; 
and  mortified  the  Independents: 
probably  arose  from  the  influei 
of  his  wife,  whose  desperate  I 
will  soon  challenge  the  attent: 
the  reader.^ 

Before  this  the  king,  in  antr 
pation  of  his  subsequent  trial,  1 
been  removed  to  the  palace  of 
James's.  In  the  third  week  of 
confinement  in  Hurst  Castle,  he  > 
suddenly  roused  out  of  his  sleep 
midnight  by  the  fall  of  the  dn: 


11 


sages  should  be  received  from  the  Lo! 
which  was  carried  in  opposition  to  Lud 
and    Marten.      "  Then,"    says    the    let 
'•they  fell  on  the  business  of  the  ki) 
trial."     On  this  head  nothing  is  mentio 
in  the  Journals ;  but  a  motion  which  wo 
cause  frequent  allusions  to  it  was  made  ; 
carried.     It  was  for  a  new  great  seal, 
which  should  be    engraven    the  House 
Commons,  with  this  inscription: — "Ir 
first  year  of  freedom,  by  God's  bless: 
stored,  1648."     Such  a  motion  would 
rally  introduce  Cromwell's  speech  respe^ . 
the  deposition  of   the    king  and  the  ' 
herison  of  his  posterity. 

3  Nalson,  Trial  of  Charles  I.     Cl« 
Papers,  ii.  App.  ii. 


I.    Clatf|| 

m 


.r.  1649.] 


CHARLES  REMOVED  TO  WINDSOR. 


113 


'ridge  and  the  trampling  of  horses. 
L  thousand  frightful  ideas  rushed  on 
is  mind,  and  at  an  early  hour  in  the 
Qoming  he  desired  his  servant  Her- 
lert  to  ascertain  the  cause ;  but  every 
aouth  was  closed,  and  Herbert  re- 
umed  with  the  scanty  information 
tiat  a  Colonel  Harrison  had  arrived. 
Lt  the  name  the  king  turned  pale, 
fastened  into  the  closet,  and  sought 
0  relieve  his  terrors  by  private  de- 
otion.  In  a  letter  which  he  had 
eceived  at  Newport,  Harrison  had 
«en  pointed  out  to  him  as  a  man 
ngaged  to  take  his  life.  His  alarm, 
owever,  was  unfounded.  Harrison 
ras  a  fanatic,  but  no  murderer:  he 
aught,  indeed,  the  blood  of  the  king, 
ut  it  was  his  wish  that  it  should  be 
hed  by  the  axe  of  the  executioner, 
ot  by  the  dagger  of  the  assassin, 
le  had  been  appointed  to  superintend 
he  removal  of  the  royal  captive,  and 
ad  come  to  arrange  matters  with  the 
ovemor,  of  whose  fidelity  some  sus- 
icion  existed.  Keeping  himself  pri- 
ate  during  the  day,  he  departed  in 
he  night;  and  two  days  later  Charles 
ras  conducted  with  a  numerous 
soort  to  the  royal  palace  of  Wind- 

Hitherto,  notwithstanding  his  con- 
nement,  the  king  had  always  been 
erved  with  the  usual  state;  but  at 
Vindsor  his  meat  was  brought  to 
able  uncovered,  and  by  the  hands  of 
he  soldiers;  no  say  was  given;  no 
up  presented  on  the  knee.  This 
bsence  of  ceremony  made  on  the 
;nfortunate  monarch  a  deeper  im- 
ression  than  could  have  been  ex- 
pected. It  was,  he  said,  the  denial  of 
hat  to  him,  which  by  ancient  custom 
?as  due  to  many  of  his  subjects ;  and 
ather  than  submit  to  the  humiliation, 
le  chose  to  diminish  the  number  of 


*  Herbert,    131—136.      Eushworth,    \ii. 
376. 

»  Herbert,  155,  157.    Wfaitelock,  365.    Sir 
ohn  Temple  attributed  his  tranquillity  "  to 
steange  conceit  of  Ormond's  working  for 
8 


the  dishes,  and  to  take  his  meals  in 
private.  Of  the  proceedings  against 
him  he  received  no  official  intel- 
ligence; but  he  gleaned  the  chief 
particulars  through  the  inquiries  of 
Herbert,  and  in  casual  conversation 
with  Whichcote  the  governor.  The 
information  was  sufficient  to  appal 
the  stoutest  heart;  but  Charles  was 
of  a  most  sanguine  temperament,  and 
though  he  sought  to  fortify  his  mind 
against  the  worst,  he  still  cherished  a 
hope  that  these  menacing  prepara- 
tions were  only  intended  to  extort 
from  him  the  resignation  of  his 
crown.  He  reUed  on  the  interposition 
of  the  Scots,  the  intercession  of  foreign 
powers,  and  the  attachment  of  many 
of  his  English  subjects.  He  per- 
suaded himself  that  his  very  enemies 
would  blush  to  shed  the  blood  of  their 
sovereign;  and  that  their  revenge 
would  be  appeased,  and  their  ambi- 
tion sufficiently  gratified,  by  the  sub- 
stitution in  his  place  of  one  of  his 
younger  children  on  the  throne." 

But  these  were  the  dreams  of  a 
man  who  sought  to  allay  his  fears  by 
voluntary  delusions.  The  princes  of 
Europe  looked  with  cold  indifierence 
on  his  fate.  The  king  of  Spain  during 
the  whole  contest  had  maintained  a 
friendly  correspondence  with  the  par- 
liament. Frederick  III.,  king  of  Den- 
mark, though  he  was  his  cousin- 
german,  made  no  effort  to  save  his 
Ufe;  and  Henrietta  could  obtain  for 
him  no  interposition  from  France, 
where  the  infant  king  had  been  driven 
from  his  capital  by  civil  dissension, 
and  she  herself  depended  for  subsist- 
ence on  the  charity  of  the  cardinal  de 
Retz,  the  leader  of  the  Fronde.^  The 
Scottish  parliament,  indeed,  made  a 
feeble  effort  in  his  favour.  The  com- 
missioners subscribed  a  protest  against 


him  in  Ireland.  He  still  hangs  upon  that 
twigg  ;  and  by  the  enquireys  he  made  after 
his  and  Inchiquin's  conjunction,  I  see  he 
will  not  be  beaten  off  it." — In  Leicester's 
Journal,  48.  ^  Memoirs  of  Ketz.  i.  261. 
I 


-r-iXUE 


A.D.  1649.] 


TEIAL  OF  CHAELES. 


115 


subject.  Such  was  the  substance  of 
his  discourse,  delivered  ou  three  dif- 
ferent days,  and  amidst  innumerable 
interruptions  from  the  president,  who 
would  not  suffer  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  court  to  be  questioned,  and  at 
last  ordered  the  "default  and  con- 
tempt of  the  prisoner"  to  be  re- 
corded. 

The  two  following  days  the  court  sat 
in  private,  to  receive  evidence  that 
the  king  had  commanded  in  several 
engagements,  and  to  deliberate  on  the 
form  of  judgment  to  be  pronounced. 
On  the  third  Bradshaw  took  his  seat, 
dressed  in  scarlet ;  and  Charles  im- 
mediately demanded  to  be  heard.  He 
did  not  mean,  he  said,  on  this  occasion 
either  to  acknowledge  or  deny  the 
authority  of  the  court ;  his  object  was 
to  ask  a  favour,  which  would  spare 
them  the  commission  of  a  great  crime, 
and  restore  the  blessing  of  tran- 
quillity to  his  people.  He  asked  per- 
mission to  confer  with  a  joint  com- 
mittee of  the  Lords  and  Commons, 
The  president  replied  that  the  pro- 
posal was  not  altogether  new,  though 
it  was  now  made  for  the  first  time  by 
the  king  himself;  that  it  pre-sup- 
posed  the  existence  of  an  authority 
co-ordinate  with  that  of  the  Commons, 
which  could  not  be  admitted ;  that  its 
object  could  only  be  to  delay  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  court,  now  that  judg- 
ment was  to  be  pronounced.  Here 
he  was  interrupted  by  the  earnest 
expostulation  of  Colonel  Downes,  one 
of  the  members.  The  king  was  imme- 
diately removed;  the  commissioners 
adjourned  into  a  neighbouring  apart- 
ment, and  almost  an  hour  was  spent 
in  private  and  animated  debate.  Had 
the  conference  been  granted,  Charles 
would  have  proposed  (so  at  least  it 
was  understood)  to  resign  the  crown 
in  favour  of  the  prince  of  Wales. 

When  the  court  resumed,  Bradshaw 
announced  to  him  the  refusal  of  his 
request,  and  proceeded  to  animadvert 
in  harsh  and  unfeeling  language  on 


the  principal  events  of  his  reign. 
The  meek  spirit  of  the  prisoner  was 
roused ;  he  made  an  attempt  to  speak, 
but  was  immediately  silenced  with 
the  remark,  that  the  time  for  his 
defence  was  past ;  that  he  had  spurned 
the  numerous  opportunities  offered 
to  him  by  the  indulgence  of  the 
court;  and  that  nothing  remained 
for  his  judges  but  to  pronounce  sen- 
tence; for  they  had  learned  from 
holy  writ  that  "  to  acquit  the  guilty 
was  of  equal  abomination  as  to  con- 
demn the  innocent."  The  charge  was 
again  read,  and  was  followed  by  the 
judgment,  "that  the  court,  being 
satisfied  in  conscience  that  he,  the 
said  Charles  Stuart,  was  guilty  of  the 
crimes  of  which  he  had  been  accused, 
did  adjudge  him  as  a  tyrant,  traitor, 
murderer,  and  pubhc  enemy  to  the 
good  people  of  the  nation,  to  be  put 
to  death  by  severing  his  head  from 
his  body."  The  king  heard  it  in 
silence,  sometimes  smiling  with  con- 
tempt, sometimes  raising  his  eyes 
to  heaven,  as  if  he  appealed  from 
the  malice  of  men  to  the  justice  of 
the  Almighty.  At  the  conclusion  the 
commissioners  rose  in  a  body  to  testify 
their  assent,  and  Charles  made  a  last 
and  more  earnest  effort  to  speak ;  but 
Bradshaw  ordered  him  to  be  removed, 
and  the  guards  hurried  him  out  of 
the  hall.' 

During  this  trial  a  strong  military 
force  had  been  kept  under  arms  to 
suppress  any  demonstration  of  popular 
feeling  in  favour  of  the  king.  On  the 
first  daj^  when  the  name  of  Fairfax, 
as  one  of  the  commissioners,  was 
called,  a  female  voice  cried  from  the 
gallery,  "  He  has  more  wit  than  to 
be  here."  On  another  occasion,  when 
Bradshaw  attributed  the  charge 
against  the  king  to  the  consentient 
voice  of  the  people  of  England,  the 
same  female  voice  exclaimed,  "No, 


1  See  the  trial  of  Charles  Stuart,   w^ 
additions  by  Nalson,  folio,  London,  1735. 
I  2 


116 


CHAELES  I. 


[chap.  III. 


not  one-tenth  of  the  people."  A  faint 
murmur  of  approbation  followed,  but 
was  instantly  suppressed  by  the  mili- 
tary. The  speaker  was  recognised  to 
be  Lady  Fairfax,  the  wife  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief;  and  these  afiFronts, 
probably  on  that  account,  were  suf- 
fered to  pass  unnoticed.* 

When  Coke,  the  solicitor-general, 
opened  the  pleadings,  the  king  gently 
tapped  him  on  the  shoulder  with  his 
cane,  crying,  "Hold,  hold."  At  the 
same  moment  the  silver  head  of  the 
cane  fell  oflF,  and  rolled  on  the  floor. 
It  was  an  accident  which  might  have 
happened  at  any  time;  but  in  this 
superstitious  age  it  could  not  fail  to 
be  taken  for  an  omen.  Both  his 
friends  and  enemies  interpreted  it  as 
a  presage  of  his  approaching  deca- 
pitation.' 

On  one  day,  as  the  king  entered  the 
court,  he  heard  behind  him  the  cry 
of  "  Justice,  justice ;"  on  another,  as 
he  passed  between  two  lines  of 
soldiers,  the  word  "execution"  was 
repeatedly  sounded  in  his  ears."  He 
bore  these  afiFronts  with  patience,  and 
on  his  return  said  to  Herbert,  "  I  am 
well  assured  that  the  soldiers  bear  me 
no  malice.  The  cry  was  suggested  by 
their  officers,  for  whom  they  would 
do  the  like  if  there  were  occasion."  ^ 

On  his  return  from  the  hall,  men 
and  women  crowded  behind  the 
guards,  and  called  aloud,  "God pre- 
serve your  majesty."  But  one  of  the 
soldiers  venturing  to  say,  "  God  bless 
you,  Sir,"  received  a  stroke  on  the 
head  from  an  officer  with  his  cane. 
"  Truly,"  observed  the  king,  "  I 
think  the  punishment  exceeded  the 
offence."  * 

By  his  conduct  during  these  pro- 
ceedings, Charles  had  exalted  his  cha- 
racter even  in  the  estimation  of  bis 
enemies :    he   had   now   to   prepare 


1  Nalson's    Trial.      Clarendon,    iii.    254. 
State  Trials,  366,  367,  368,  folio,  1730. 

2  Nalson.    Herbert,   165.     "He  seemed 
unconcerned;  yet  told  the  biehop,  it  really 


himself  for  a  still  more  trying  scene, 
to  nerve  his  mind  against  the  terrors 
of  a  public  and  ignominious  death. 
But  he  was  no  longer  the  man  he  had 
been  before  the  civil  war.  Affliction 
had  chastened  his  mind ;  he  had  learned 
from  experience  to  submit  to  the  visi- 
tations of  Providence;  and  he  sought 
and  found  strength  and  relief  in  the 
consolations  of  religion.  The  next 
day,  the  Sunday,  was  spent  by  him  at 
St.  James's,  by  the  commissioners  at 
Whitehall.  The?/  observed  a  fast, 
preached  on  the  judgments  of  God, 
and  prayed  for  a  blessing  on  the  com- 
monwealth. Jle  devoted  his  time  to 
devotional  exercises  in  the  company 
of  Herbert  and  of  Dr.  Juxon,  bishop 
of  London,  who  at  the  request  of 
Hugh  Peters  (and  it  should  be  re- 
corded to  the  honour  of  that  fana- 
tical preacher),  had  been  permitted  to 
attend  the  monarch.  His  nephew  the 
prince  elector,  the  duke  of  Eichmond, 
the  marquess  of  Hertford,  and  several 
other  noblemen,  came  to  the  door  of 
his  bedchamber,  to  pay  their  last 
respects  to  their  sovereign ;  but  they 
were  told  in  his  name  that  he 
thanked  them  for  their  attachment, 
and  desired  their  prayers ;  that  the 
shortness  of  his  time  admonished  him 
to  think  of  another  world ;  and  that 
the  only  moments  which  he  could 
spare  must  be  given  to  his  children. 
These  were  two,  the  Princess  Eliza- 
beth and  the  duke  of  Gloucester :  the 
former  wept  for  her  father's  fate ;  the 
latter,  too  young  to  understand  the 
cause,  joined  his  tears  through  sym- 
pathy. Charles  placed  them  on  his 
knees,  gave  them  such  advice  as  was 
adapted  to  their  years,  and  seemed  to 
derive  pleasure  from  the  pertinency 
of  their  answers.  In  conclusion,  he 
divided  a  few  jewels  between  them, 
kissed  them,  gave  them  his  blessing. 


made  a  great  impression  on  him ;  and  to 
this  hour,  says  he,  I  know  not  possibly  how 
it  should  come." — Warwick,  340. 
3  Herbert,  163, 164.       ♦  Ibid.  163, 165. 


LAST  MOMENTS  OF  CHARLES. 


and    hastily   retired    to    his    devo- 
tions.' 

On  the  last  night  of  his  life  he 

slept  soundly  about  four  hours,  and 

early   in    the    morning     awakened 

Herbert,  who  lay  on  a  pallet  by  his 

bed-side,     "This,"  he  said,  "is  my 

second  marriage-day.     I  would  be  as 

trim  as  may  be;   for   before   night 

[  hope  to  be  espoused  to  my  blessed 

lesus."     He  then   pointed  out  the 

lothes  which  he  meant  ■  to  wear,  and 

)rdered  two  shirts,  on  account  of  the 

;everity  of  the  weather:  "For,"  he 

)bserved,  "were  I  to  shake  through 

x)ld,  my  enemies  would  attribute  it 

o  fear.    I  would  have  no  such  impu- 

ation.    I  fear  not  death.    Death  is 

lot  terrible  to  me.    I  bless  my  God  I 

jn  prepared."^ 

The  king  spent  an  hour  in  privacy 
nth  the  bishop ;  Herbert  was  after- 
irards  admitted ;  and  about  ten  o'clock 
Jolonel  Hacker  announced  that  it 
r'as  time  to  proceed  to  Whitehall, 
le  obeyed,  was  conducted  on  foot, 
etween  two  detachments  of  military, 
cross  the  park,  and  received  permis- 
Lon  to  repose  himself  in  his  former 
.  edchamber.  Dinner  had  been  pre- 
ared  for  him ;  but  he  refused  to  eat, 
aough  afterwards,  at  the  solicitation 
f  the  bishopj  he  took  the  half  of  a 
ianchet  and  a  glass  of  wine.  Here 
e  remained  almost  two  hours,  in 
Dnstant  expectation  of  the  last  sum- 


117 


mons,  spending  his  time  partly  in 
prayer  and  partly  in  discourse  with 
Dr.  Juxon.  There  might  have  been 
nothing  mysterious  in  the  delay;  if 
there  was,  it  may  perhaps  be  ex- 
plained from  the  following  circum- 
stance. 

Four  days  had  now  elapsed  since 
the  arrival  of  ambassadors  from  the 
Hague  to  intercede  in  his  favour.  It 
was  only  on  the  preceding  evening 
that  they  had  obtained  audiences  of 
the  two  houses,  and  hitherto  no 
answer  had  been  returned.  In  their 
company  came  Seymour,  the  bearer  of 
two  letters  from  the  prince  of  Wales, 
one  addressed  to  the  king,  the  other 
to  the  Lord  Fairfax.  He  had  already 
delivered  the  letter,  and  with  it  a 
sheet  of  blank  paper  subscribed  with 
the  name  and  sealed  with  the  arms 
of  the  prince.  It  was  the  price  which 
he  ofiFered  to  the  grandees  of  the  army 
for  the  life  of  his  father.  Let  them 
fill  it  up  with  the  conditions ;  what- 
ever they  might  be,  they  were  already 
granted ;  his  seal  and  signature  were 
affixed.^  It  is  not  improbable  that 
this  ofiFer  may  have  induced  the  leaders 
to  pause.  That  Fairfax  laboured  to 
postpone  the  execution,  was  always 
asserted  by  his  friends ;  and  we  have 
evidence  to  prove  that,  though  he 
was  at  Whitehall,  he  knew  not,  or  at 
least  pretended  not  to  know,  what 
was  passing.* 


i 


1  Herbert,  169—180.  State  Trials,  357— 
50. 

*  Herbert,  183 — 185.  I  may  here  insert 
1  anecdote,  which  seems  to  prove  that 
barles  attrlbnted  his  misfortnnes  in  a  great 
easure  to  the  counsels  of  Archbishop 
aud.  On  the  last  night  of  his  life,  he  had 
jserred  that  Herbert  was  restless  during 
a  Bleep,  and  in  the  morning  insisted  on 
lowing  the  cause.  Herbert  answered  that 
i  was  dreaming.  He  saw  Laud  enter  the 
>oin ;  the  king  took  him  aside,  and  spoke 

him  with  »  pensive  countenance ;  the 
chbiehop  sighed,  retired,  and  fell  pros- 
ate  on  the  ground.    Charles  rephed,  "  It 

▼ery  remarkable;  but  he  is  dead.  Yet 
id  we  conferred  together  during  life,  'tis 
>ry  likely  (albeit  I  loved  him  well)  I  should 
vfe  said   sometliing.  to. him  nught  hare 


occasioned  his  sigh." — Herbert's  Letter  to 
Dr.  Samways,  published  at  the  end  of  his 
Memoirs,  p.  220. 

3  For  the  arrival  of  the  ambassadors  seo 
the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons  ou 
the  26th.  A  fac-simUe  of  the  carte-blanche. 
with  the  signature  of  the  prince,  graces  the 
title-page  of  the  third  volume  of  the  Original 
Letters,  pubhshed  by  Mr.  Ellis. 

*  "  Mean  time  they  went  into  the  long 
gallery,  where  chancing  to  meet  the  general, 
he  ask'd  Mr.  Herbert  how  the  king  did  ? 
Which  he  thought  strange His  ques- 
tion being  answer'd,  the  general  seem'd 
much  surprized." — Herbert,  194.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  Herbert  could  have 
mistaken  or  fabricated  such  a  question,  or 
that  Fairfax  would  have  asked  it,  had  ho 
known,  what  had  taken  place.    To  his  asset- 


lis 


CHARLES  I. 


;CHL^.  Ill 


In  the  meanwhile  Charles  enjoyed 
the  consolation  of  learning  that  his 
son  had  not  forgotten  him  in  his  dis- 
tress. By  the  indulgence  of  Colonel 
Tomlinson,  Seymour  was  admitted, 
delivered  the  letter,  and  received  the 
Toyal  instructions  for  the  prince. 
He  was  hardly  gone,  when  Hacker 
arrived  with  the  fatal  summons. 
About  two  o'clock  the  king  proceeded 
through  the  long  gallery,  lined  on 
each  side  with  soldiers,  who,  far  from 
insulting  the  fallen  monarch,  ap- 
peared by  their  sorrowful  looks  to 
sympathize  with  his  fate.  At  the  end 
sn  aperture  had  been  made  in  the 
wall,  through  which  he  stepped  at 
once  upon  the  scaffold.  It  was  hung 
with  black ;  at  the  further  end  were 
seen  the  two  executioners,  the  block, 
and  the  axe ;  below  appeared  in  arms 
several  regiments  of  horse  and  foot ; 
and  beyond,  as  far  as  the  eye  was  per- 
mitted to  reach,  waved  a  dense  and 
countless  crowd  of  spectators.  The 
king  stood  collected  and  undismayed 
amidst  the  apparatus  of  death.  There 
was  in  his  countenance  that  cheerful 
intrepidity,  in  his  demeanour  that 
dignified  calmness,  which  had  cha- 
lacterized,  in  the  hall  of  Potheringay, 
his  royal  grandmother  Mary  Stuart. 
It  was  his  wish  to  address  the  people ; 
but  they  were  kept  beyond  the  reach 
of  his  voice  by  the  swords  of  the 
military ;  and  therefore  confining  his 
discourse  to  the  few  persons  standing 
with  him  on  the  scaffold,  he  took,  he 
said,  that  opportunity  of  denying  in 
the  presence  of  his  God  the  crimes  of 
which  he  had  been  accused.  It  was 
not  to  him,  but  to  the  houses  of  par- 
liament, that  the  war  and  all  its  evils 
should  be  charged.  The  parliament 
had  first  invaded  the  rights  of  the 
crown  by  claiming  the  command  of 
the  army ;   and  had  provoked  hos 


tion  that  Fairfax  was  with  the  officers  in 
Harrison's  room,  employed  in  "  prayer  or 
discourse,"  it  has  been  objected  that  his 
name  does  not  occur  among  the  names  of 
1  who  wers  proved  to  have  been  there 


tilities  by  issuing  commissions  for  th( 
levy  of  forces,  before  he  had  raised ; 
single  man.  But  he  had  forgiven  all 
even  those,  whoever  they  were  (fo: 
he  did  not  desire  to  know  theii 
names),  who  had  brought  him  to  hi 
death.  He  did  more  than  forgivt 
them,  he  prayed  that  they  migh 
repent.  But  for  that  purpose  the; 
must  do  three  things:  they  mus 
render  to  God  his  due,  by  settling  th 
church  according  to  the  Scripture 
they  must  restore  to  the  crown  thos 
rights  which  belonged  to  it  by  law 
and  they  must  teach  the  people  th 
distinction  between  the  sovereign  am 
the  subject :  those  persons  could  no 
be  governors  who  were  to  be  governed 
tTiei/  could  not  rule,  whose  duty  i 
was  to  obey.  Then,  in  allusion  t 
the  offers  formerly  made  to  him  b 
the  army,  he  concluded  with  thee 
words :— "  Sirs,  it  was  for  the  libei 
ties  of  the  people  that  I.  am  com 
here.  If  I  would  have  assented  to  a: 
arbitrary  sway,  to  have  all  thing 
changed  according  to  the  power  of  th 
sword,  I  needed  not  to  have  com 
hiiher ;  and  therefore  I  tell  you  (an 
I  pray  God  it  be  not  laid  to  you 
charge),  that  I  am  the  martyr  of  th 
people." 

Having  added,  at  the  suggestion  f 
Dr.  Juxon,  "I  die  a  Christian  ac 
cording  to  the  profession  of  th 
church  of  England,  as  I  found  it  lei 
me  by  my  father,"  he  said,  addressin 
himself  to  the  prelate,  "  I  have  oi 
my  side  a  good  cause,  and  a  gracioo 
God." 

Bishop.— There  is  but  one  stag 
more;  it  is  turbulent  and  trouble 
some,  but  a  short  one.  It  will  carr 
you  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  ther 
you  will  find  joy  and  comfort. 

King.— I  go  from  a  corruptible 
an  incorruptible  crown. 


at  the  trial  of  the  regicides.     But  th 
no  contradiction.    The  witnesses  speak 
what  happened   before,  Herbert  of 
liappened  daring,  the  execution.    8ei 
Ellis,  2nd  series,  iii.  M5. 


I 


..D.  1649.]        HIS  PRINCIPLES  OP  GOVERNMENT. 


119 


Bishop. — You  exchange  an  earthly 
or  an  eternal  crown  —  a  good  ex- 
hange. 

Being  ready,  "he  bent  his  neck  on 
he  block,  and  after  a  short  pause, 
tretched  out  his  hands  as  a  signal. 
\t  that  instant  the  axe  descended; 
he  head  rolled  from  the  body ;  and  a 
eep  groan  burst  from  the  multitude 
f  the  spectators.  But  they  had  no 
jisure  to  testify  their  feeUngs ;  two 
roops  of  horse  dispersed  them  in  dif- 
3rent  directions. ' 

Such  was  the  end  of  the  unfortu- 
nate Charles  Stuart ;  an  awful  lesson 
0  the  possessors  of  royalty,  to  watch 
he  growth  of  public  opinion,  and  to 
moderate  their  pretensions  in  con- 
^rmity  with  the  reasonable  desires 
f  their  subjects.  Had  he  lived  at  a 
lore  early  period,  when  the  sense  of 
^rong  was  quickly  subdued  by  the 
abit  of  submission,  his  reign  would 
robably  have  been  marked  with 
3wer  violations  of  the  national  liber- 
ies. It  was  resistance  that  made 
im  a  tyrant.  The  spirit  of  the  people 
efused  to  yield  to  the  encroachments 
f  authority ;  and  one  act  of  oppres- 
ion  placed  him  under  the  necessity 
f  committing  another,  till  he  had 


1  Herbert,  189—194.  Warwick,  344.  Nal- 
an,  Trial  of  Charles  Staart.  The  royal 
orpae,  having  been  embalmed,  was  after 
ome  days  delivered  to  the  earl  of  Kichmond 
jr  private  interment  at  Windsor.  That 
obleman,  accompanied  by  the  marquess  of 
lertford,  the  earls  of  Southampton  and 
iindsey,  Dr.  Juxon,  and  a  few  of  the  king's 
ttendanta,  deposited  it  in  a  vault  in  the 
hoir  of  St.  George's  chapel,  which  already 
ontained  the  remains  of  Henry  VIII.  and 
f  his  third  queen,  Jane  Seymour. — Her- 
ert,  203.  Blencowe,  Sydney  Papers,  64. 
Notwithstanding  such  authority,  the  asser- 
ion  of  Clarendon  that  the  place  could  not 
e  discovered,  threw  some  doubt  upon  the 
al^ect.  But  in  1813  it  chanced  that  the 
"orkmen  made  an  aperture  in  a  vault  cor- 
esponding  in  situation,  and  occupied  by 
liree  coffins ;  and  the  prince  regent  ordered 
n  investigation  to  ascertain  the  truth.  One 
;'  the  cottins,  in  conformity  with  the  ac- 

-nt  of  Herbert,  was  of  lead,  with  a  leaden 
,  in  which  were  cut  the  words  "King 
3."  In  the  upper  lid  of  this  an  open- 
as  made  :  and  when  the  cerecloth  and 


revived  and  enforced  all  those  odious 
prerogatives,  which,  though  usually 
claimed,  were  but  sparingly  exercised, 
by  his  predecessors.  For  some  years 
his  efforts  seemed  successful ;  but  the 
Scottish  insurrection  revealed  the  de- 
lusion ;  he  had  parted  with  the  real 
authority  of  a  king,  when  he  forfeited 
the  confidence  and  affection  of  his 
subjects. 

But  while  we  blame  the  illegal 
measures  of  Charles,  we  ought  not 
to  screen  from  censure  the  subsequent 
conduct  of  his  principal  opponents. 
Prom  the  moment  that  war  seemed 
inevitable,  they  acted  as  if  they 
thought  themselves  absolved  from 
all  obligations  of  honour  and  honesty. 
They  never  ceased  to  inflame  the 
passions  of  the  people  by  misrepre- 
sentation and  calumny;  they  exer- 
cised a  power  far  more  arbitrary  and 
formidable  than  had  ever  been  claimed 
by  the  king ;  they  punished  summa- 
rily, on  mere  suspicion,  and  without 
attention  to  the  forms  of  law ;  and  by 
their  committees  they  established  in 
every  county  a  knot  of  petty  tyrants, 
who  disposed  at  will  of  the  liberty 
and  property  of  the  inhabitants. 
Such  anomalies  may,  perhaps,  be  in- 


unctuous  matter  were  removed,  the  features 
of  the  face,  as  far  as  they  could  be  distin- 
guished, bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  the 
portraits  of  Charles  I.  To  complete  the 
proof,  the  head  was  found  to  have  been 
separated  from  the  tnmk  by  some  sharp 
instrument,  which  had  cat  through  the 
fourth  vertebra  of  the  neck, — See  "  An 
Account  of  what  appeared  on  opening  the 
coffin  of  King  Charles  I.  By  Sir  Henry 
HaLford,  bart."  1813.  It  was  observed  at 
the  same  time,  that  "the  lead  coffin  of 
Henry  VIII.  had  been  beaten  in  about  the 
middle,  and  a  considerable  opening  in  that 
part  exposed  a  mere  skeleton  of  the  king." 
This  may  perhaps  be  accounted  for  from  a 
passage  in  Herbert,  who  teUs  us  that  while 
the  workmen  were  employed  about  the 
inscription,  the  chapel  was  cleared,  but  a 
soldier  contrived  to  conceal  himself,  de- 
scended into  the  vault,  cut  off  some  of  the 
velvet  pall,  and  "wimbled  a  hole  into  the 
largest  coffin."  He  was  caught,  and  "  a 
bone  was  found  about  him,  which,  he  said, 
he  would  haft  a  knife  with."— Herbert,  20i, 
See  Appendix,  £BB. 


120 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  1 


separable  from  the  jealousies,  the 
resentments,  and  the  heart-burnings, 
which  are  engendered  in  civil  com- 
motions ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  right 
and  justice  had  seldom  been  more 
wantonly  outraged,  than  they  were 
by  those  who  professed  to  have  drawn 
the  sword  in  the  defence  of  right  and 
justice. 

Neither  should  the  death  of  Charles 
be  attributed  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
people.  They,  for  the  most  part, 
declared  themselves  satisfied,  with 
their  victory;  they  sought  not  the 
blood  of  the  captive  monarch ;  they 
were  even  willing  to  replace  him  on 
the  throne,  under  those  limitations 
which  they  deemed  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  their  rights.  The 
men  who  hurried  him  to  the  scaffold 


were  a  small  faction  of  bold  and  ami 
tious  spirits,  who  had  the  address 
guide  the  passions  and  fanaticism 
their  followers,  and  were  enabl 
through  them  to  control  the  re 
sentiments  of  the  nation.  Even 
the  commissioners  appointed  to  g 
in  judgment  on  the  king,  scarce 
one-half  could  be  induced  to  atter 
at  his  trial ;  and  many  of  those  wl 
concurred  in  his  condemnation  su' 
scribed  the  sentence  with  feehngs 
shame  and  remorse.  But  so  it  alwa 
happens  in  revolutions :  the  most  vi 
lent  put  themselves  forward;  the 
vigilance  and  activity  seem  to  mu 
tiply  their  number;  and  the  darii 
of  the  few  wins  the  ascendancy  ov< 
the  indolence  or  the  pusillanimity 
the  many. 


CHAPTER   IV. 
THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


ESTABLISHMENT     OP     THE     COMMONWEALTH — PUNISHMENT     OF      THB      KOYALI3T3- 

MOTINY     AND     SUPPRESSION     OF     THE     LEVELLERS CHARLES     II.     PROCLAIMED    1 

SCOTLAND ASCENDANCY     OP     HIS     ADHERENTS     IN     IRELAND THEIR     DEFEAT   i 

RATHMINES SUCCESS     OP     CROMWELL     IN      IRELAND LANDING     OP     CHARLES     I 

SCOTLAND CROMWELL  13  SENT    AGAINST    HIM HE    GAINS    A   VICTORY    AT    DUNB4 

— THE    KING    MARCHES   INTO    ENGLAND LOSES   THB    BATTLE    OF    WORCESTER — H 

SUBSEQUENT   ADVENTURES   AND    ESCAPE. 


When  the  two  houses  first  placed 
themselves  in  opposition  to  the  sove- 
reign, their  demands  were  limited  to 
the  redress  of  existing  grievances; 
now  that  the  struggle  was  over,  the 
triumphant  party  refused  to  be  con- 
tent with  anything  less  than  the 
abolition  of  the  old,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  and  more  popular 
form  of  government.  Some,  indeed, 
still  ventured  to  raise  their  voices  in 
favour  of  monarchy,  on  the  plea  that 
it  was  an  institution  the  most  con- 
genial to  the  habits  and  feelings  of 
Englishmen.  By  these  it  was  pro- 
posed that  the  two  elder  sons  of 


Charles  should  be  passed  by,  becaa> 
their  notions  were  already  formed,  an 
their  resentments  already  kindlec 
that  the  young  duke  of  Glouceste 
or  his  sister  EHzabeth,  should  t 
placed  on  the  throne ;  and  that,  undt 
the  infant  sovereign,  the  royal  prert 
gative  should  be  circumscribed  b 
law,  so  as  to  secure  from  future  er 
croachment  the  just  liberties  of  tb 
people.  But  the  majority  warml 
contended  for  the  establishment  of 
commonwealth.  ^Vhy,  they  a8ke( 
should  they  spontaneously  set  u 
again  the  idol  which  it  had  cost  thei 
so  much  blood  and  treasure  to  pu 


D.  1(U9.] 


•ABOLITION  OF  MONAECHY. 


121 


iwn  ?  Laws  would  prove  but  feeble 
;straints  on  the  passions  of  a  proud 
id  powerful  monarch.  If  they 
)ught  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the 
jstoratiou  of  despotism,  it  could  be 
lund  only  in  some  of  those  institu- 
ons  which  lodge  the  supreme  power 
ith  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
hat  they  spoke  their  real  sentiments 
not  improbable,  though  we  are 
jsured,  by  one  who  was  present  at 
leir  meetings,  that  personal  interest 
ad  no  small  influence  in  their  final 
etermination.  They  had  sinned  too 
eeply  against  royalty  to  trust  them- 
ilves  to  the  mercy,  or  the  modera- 
on,  of  a  king.  A  republic  was  their 
tioice,  because  it  promised  to  shelter 
lem  from  the  vengeance  of  their 
aemies,  and  offered  to  them  the 
dditional  advantage  of  sharing  among 
lemselves  all  the  power,  the  patron- 
ge,  and  the  emoluments  of  office.^ 
In  accordance  with  this  decision, 
le  moment  the  head  of  the  royal 
ictim  fell  on  the  scaffold  at  White- 
all,  a  proclamation  was  read  in 
Jheapside,  declaring  it  treason  to  give 
3  -any  person  the  title  of  king  with- 
ut  the  authority  of  parliament ;  and 
t  the  same  time  was  published  the 
ote  of  the  4th  of  January,  that  the 
upreme  authority  in  the  nation  re- 
ided  in  the  representatives  of  the 
)eople.  The  peers,  though  aware  of 
heir  approaching  fate,  continued  to 
it ;  but,  after  a  pause  of  a  few  days, 
he  Commons  resolved :  first,  that  the 
louse  of  Lords,  and,  next,  that  the 
»ffice  of  king,  ought  to  be  abolished. 
Chese  votes,  though  the  acts  to  be 
ngrafted  on  them  were  postponed, 
)roved  sufficient;  from  that  hour 
;he  kingship  (the  word  by  which  the 
"oyai  dignity  v/as  now  designated), 


with  the  legislative  and  judicial  au- 
thority of  the  peers,  was  considered 
extinct ;  and  the  lower  house,  under 
the  name  of  the  Parliament  of  Eng- 
land, concentrated  within  itself  all  the 
powers  of  government.- 

The  next  measure  was  the  appoint- 
ment, by  the  Commons,  of  a  council 
of  state,  to  consist  of  forty-one  mem- 
bers, with  powers  limited  in  duration 
to  twelve  months.  They  were  charged 
with  the  preservation  of  domestic 
tranquillity,  the  care  and  disposal  of 
the  military  and  naval  force,  the 
superintendence  of  internal  and  ex- 
ternal trade,  and  the  negotiation  of 
treaties  with  foreign  powers.  Of  the 
persons  selected  for  this  office,  three- 
fourths  possessed  seats  in  the  house ; 
and  they  reckoned  among  them  the 
heads  of  the  law,  the  chief  officers  in 
the  army,  and  five  peers,— the  earls  of 
Denbigh,  Mulgrave,  Pembroke,  and 
Salisbury,  with  the  Lord  Grey  of 
Werke,  who  condescended  to  accept 
the  appointment,  either  through  at- 
tachment to  the  cause,  or  as  a  com- 
pensation for  the  loss  of  their  here- 
ditary rights.3  But  at  the  very  outset 
a  schism  appeared  among  the  new 
counsellors.  The  oath  required  of 
them  by  the  parliament  contained  an 
approval  of  the  king's  trial,  of  the 
vote  against  the  Scots  and  their  Eng- 
lish associates,  and  of  the  abolition  of 
monarchy  and  of  the  house  of  Lords. 
By  Cromwell  and  eighteen  others,  it 
was  taken  cheerfully,  and  without 
comment ;  by  the  remaining  twenty- 
two,  with  Fairfax  at  their  head,  it 
was  firmly  but  respectfully  refused. 
The  peers  alleged  that  it  stood  not 
with  their  honour  to  approve  upon 
oath  of  that  which  had  been  done  in 
opposition  to  their   vote;  the  com- 


i  Whitelock,  391. 

^  Journals,  1649,  Jan.  30,  Feb.  6,  7 
Cromwell  \oted  in  favour  of  the  house  of 
Lords.— Ludlow,  i.  246.  Could  he  be  sin- 
:ere  ?    I  think  not. 

»  The  earl  of  Pembroke  had  the  meanneas 


to  solicit  and  accept  tho  place  of  repre- 
sentative for  Berkshire;  and  his  example 
was  imitated  by  two  others  peers,  the  earl 
of  Salisbury  and  Lord  Howard  of  Escrick, 
who  sat  for  Lynn  and  Carlisle. — Journals, 
April  16,  May  5,  Sept.  18.  Leicester's 
Journal,  72. 


122 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAP. 


moners,  that  it  was  not  for  them  to 
pronounce  an  opinion  on  judicial  pro- 
ceedings of  which  they  had  no  oflScial 
information.  But  their  doubts  respect- 
ing transactions  that  were  past  formed 
no  objection  to  the  authority  of  the 
existing  government.  The  house  of 
Commons  was  in  actual  possession  of 
the  supreme  power.  Prom  that  house 
they  derived  protection,  to  it  they 
owed  obedience,  and  with  it  they 
were  ready  to  live  and  die.  'Crom- 
well and  his  friends  had  the  wisdom 
to  yield;  the  retrospective  clauses 
were  expunged,  and  in  their  place  was 
substituted  a  general  promise  of  ad- 
hesion to  the  parliament,  both  with 
resi}ect  to  the  existing  form  of  public 
liberty,  and  the  future  government 
of  the  nation,  "  by  way  of  a  republic 
without  king  or  house  of  peers."  ^ 

This  important  revolution  drew 
with  it  several  other  alterations.  A 
representation  of  the  house  of  Com- 
mons superseded  the  royal  effigy  on 
the  great  seal,  which  was  intrusted 
to  three  lords-commissioners.  Lisle, 
Keble,  and  Whitelock ;  the  Avrits  no 
longer  ran  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
but  of  "  the  keepers  of  the  liberty  of 
England  by  authority  of  parliament;" 
new  commissions  were  issued  to  the 
judges,  sheriffs,  and  magistrates ;  and 
in  lieu  of  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and 
supremacy,  was  required  an  engage- 
ment to  be  true  to  the  common- 
wealth of  England.  Of  the  judges, 
six  resigned ;  the  other  six  consented 
to  retain  their  situations,  if  parlia- 
ment   would    issue   a   proclamation 


1  Journals,  Feb.  7,  13,  14,  15,  19,  22. 
Whitelock,  378,  382,  383.  The  amended 
oath  is  in  Walker,  part  ii.  130. 

2  Journals,  Feb.  8.  Yet  neither  this  de- 
claration nor  the  frequent  remonstrances 
of  the  lawyers  could  present  the  house 
from  usurping  the  ofSce  of  the  judges,  or 
from  inflicting  illegal  punishments.  Thus, 
for  example,  on  the  report  of  a  committee, 
detailing  the  discovery  of  a  conspiracy  to 
extort  money  by  a  faJse  charge  of  delin- 
quency, the   house,  without   hearing    the 


declaratory  of  its  intention  to  mai 
tain  the  fundamental  laws  of  t 
kingdom.  The  condition  was  accept 
and  fulfilled;^  the  courts  proceed 
to  hear  and  determine  causes  aft 
the  ancient,  manner ;  and  the  gr( 
body  of  the  people  scarcely  felt  the  h 
portant  change  which  had  been  ma 
in  the  government  of  the  counti 
For  several  years  past  the  suprei 
authority  had  been  administered 
the  name  of  the  king  by  the  t^ 
houses  at  Westminster,  with  the  a 
of  the  committee  at  Derby  Hous 
now  the  same  authority  was  equal 
administered  in  the  name  of  f. 
people  by  one  house  only,  and  wi 
the  advice  of  a  council  of  state. 

The  merit  or  demerit  of  thus  ere« 
ing  a  commonwealth  on  the  ruins 
the  monarchy  chiefly  belongs  toCroi 
well,  Ireton,  Bradshaw,  and  Marte 
who  by  their  superior  influence  guid< 
and  controlled  the  opinions  and  pa 
sions  of  their  associates  in  the  sena 
and  the  army.  After  the  king's  dea" 
they  derived  much  valuable  aid  fro 
the  talents  of  Yane,^  Whitelock,  ai 
St.  John;  and  a  feeble  lustre  w 
shed  on  their  cause  by  the  accessi( 
of  the  five  peers  from  the  abolisb 
house  of  Lords.  But,  after  all,  wh 
right  could  this  handful  of  men  ha- 
to  impose  a  new  constitution  on  tl 
kingdom  ?  Ought  they  not,  in  co] 
sistency  with  their  own  principles, 
have  ascertained  the  sense  of  tl 
nation  by  calUng  a  new  parliament 
The  question  was  raised,  but  tl 
leaders,  aware  that  their  power  w: 


accused,  or  sending  them  before  a  court 
justice,  proceeded  to  inflict  on   some  tl 
penalties  of  the  pillorr,  fine,  and  impriso 
ment,  and  adjudged  Mrs.  Samford,  as  tl 
principal,  to  be  whipped  the  next  day  firoi* 
Newgate  to  the  Old  Exchange,  and  to  l| 
kept  to  hard  labour  for  three  months,^! 
Journals,  1650,  Feb.  2,  Aug.  13. 

3  Immediately  after  Pride's  purge,  Van 
disgusted  at  the  intolerance  of  his  on 
party,  left  London,  and  retired  to  Rd 
Castle ;  he  wa«  now  induced  to  rejoin 
and  resumed  his  seat  on  Feb.  26 


d 


.  1649.] 


EXECUTION  OF  EOYALISTS. 


123 


ed  on  the  sword  of  the  military," 

unk  from  the  experiment ;  and,  to 

de  the  demands  of  their  opponents, 

)ointed  a  committee  to  regulate 

!  succession  of  parliaments  and  the 

ction  of  members;   a 'committee, 

ich  repeatedly  met  and  deliberated, 

fc  never  brought  the  question  to 

7  definitive  conclusion.    Still,  vehen 

}  new  authorities  looked   around 

)  house,  and  observed  the  empty 

aches,  they  were   admonished   of 

3ir  own  insignificance,  and  of  the 

llowness  of  their  pretensions.  They 

imed  the  sovereign  authority,  as 

e  representatives  of  the  people; 

t  the  majority  of  those  represen- 

:ives  had  been  excluded  by  succes- 

e  acts  of  military  violence;   and 

e  house  had  been  reduced  from 

are  than  five  hundred  members,  to 

jsthan  one-seventh  of  that  number. 

)r  the  credit  and  security  of  the 

vemment  it  was  necessary  both  to 

pply  the   deficiency,  and,  at  the 

me  time,  to  oppose  a  bar  to  the 

troduction  of  men  of  opposite  prin- 

ples.    With  this  view,  they  resolved 

continue  the  exclusion  of  those 

ho  had  on  the  5th  of  December 

sented  to  the  vote,  that  the  king's 

concessions  were  a  sufficient  ground 

I  proceed  to  a  settlement ;"  but  to 

)en  the   house  to  all  others  who 

lould  previously  enter  on  the  jour- 

als  their  dissent  from  that  resolu- 

on.'     By   this  expedient,   and   by 

:!casional  writs  for  elections  in  those 

laces  where  the  influence  of  the  party 

as  irresistible,  the  number  of  mem- 

ers  gradually  rose  to  one  hundred 

ad  fifty,  though  it  was  seldom  that 

18  attendance  of  one-half,  or  even 

f  one-third,  could  be  procured. 

During  the  war,  the  dread  of  re- 

aliation  had  taught  the  two  parties 

0  temper  with  moderation  the  license 

f  victory.     Little  blood    had  been 

bed  except  in  the  field  of  battle.  But 


1  Jonrn.  Feb.  1.    Walker,  part  ii.   115. 
•Vhitelock,  376. 


now  that  check  was  removed.  The 
fanatics,  not  satisfied  with  the  death 
of  the  king,  demanded,  with  the  Bible 
in  their  hands,  additional  victims ; 
and  the  politicians  deemed  it  prudent 
by  the  display  of  punishment  to  re- 
strain the  machinations  of  their  ene- 
mies. Among  the  royahsts  in  custody 
were  the  duke  of  Hamilton  (who  was 
also  earl  of  Cambridge  in  England), 
the  earl  of  Holland,  Groring  earl  of 
Norwich,  the  Lord  Capel,  and  Sir 
John  Owen,  all  engaged  in  the  last 
attempt  for  the  restoration  of  Charles 
to  the  throne.  By  a  resolution  of  the 
house  of  Commons  in  November, 
Hamilton  had  been  adjudged  to  pay 
a  fine  of  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  and  the  other  four  to  re- 
main in  perpetual  imprisonment ;  but 
after  the  triumph  of  the  Indepen- 
dents, this  vote  had  been  rescinded, 
and  a  high  court  of  justice  was  now 
established  to  try  the  same  persons 
on  a  charge  of  high  treason.  It  was 
in  vain  that  Hamilton  pleaded  the 
order  of  the  Scottish  parliament 
under  which  he  had  acted;  that 
Capel  demanded  to  be  brought  before 
his  peers,  or  a  jury  of  his  country- 
men, according  to  those  fundamental 
laws  which  the  parliament  had  pro- 
mised to  maintain;  that  all  invoked 
the  national  faith  in  favour  of  that 
quarter  which  they  had  obtained  at 
the  time  of  their  surrender.  Brad- 
shaw,  the  president,  delivered  the 
opinions  of  the  court.  To  Hamilton, 
he  replied  that,  as  an  English  earl, 
he  was  amenable  to  the  justice  of  the 
country;  to  Capel,  that  the  court 
had  been  estabUshed  by  the  parlia- 
ment, the  supreme  authority  to  which 
all  must  submit ;  to  each,  that  quarter 
given  on  the  field  of  battle  insured 
protection  from  the  sword  of  the  con- 
queror, but  not  from  the  vengeance 
of  the  law.  All  five  were  condemned 
to  lose  their  heads ;  but  the  rigour  of 
the  judgment  was  softened  by  a  refer- 
ence to  the  mercy  of  parliament.  The 


124 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


next  day  the  wives  of*  Holland  and 
Capel,  accompanied  by  a  long  train  of 
females  in  mourning,  appeared  at  the 
bar,  to  solicit  the  pardon  of  the  con- 
demned. Though  their  petitions 
were  rejected,  a  respite  for  two  days 
was  granted.  This  favour  awakened 
new  hopes ;  recourse  was  had  to  flat- 
tery and  entreaty;  bribes  were  of- 
fered and  accepted ;  and  the  following 
morning  new  petitions  were  pre- 
sented. The  fate  of  Holland  occupied 
a  debate  of  considerable  interest. 
Among  the  Independents  he  had 
many  personal  friends,  and  the  Pres- 
byterians exerted  all  their  influence 
in  his  favour.  But  the  saints  expa- 
tiated on  his  repeated  apostasy  from 
the  cause ;  and,  after  a  sharp  contest, 
Cromwell  and  Ireton  obtained  the 
majority  of  a  single  voice  for  his 
death.  The  case  of  Goring  was  next 
considered.  No  man  during  the  war 
had  treated  his  opponents  with  more 
bitter  contumely,  no  one  had  inflicted 
on  them  deeper  injuries;  and  yet,  on 
an  equal  division,  his  Ufe  was  saved 
by  the  casting  voice  of  the  speaker. 
The  sentences  of  Hamilton  and  Capel 
were  affirmed  by  the  unanimous  vote 
of  the  house ;  but,  to  the  surprise  of 
all  men,  Owen,  a  stranger,  without 
friends  or  interest,  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  escape.  His  forlorn  condition 
moved  the  pity  of  Colonel  Hutchin- 
son; the  efibrts  of  Hutchinson  were 
seconded  by  Ireton ;  and  so  powerful 
was  their  united  influence,  that  they 
obtained  a  majority  of  five  in  his 
favour.  Hamilton,  Holland,  and 
Capel  died  on  the  scafibld,  the  first 


1  If  the  reader  compjires  the  detailed 
narrative  of  these  proceedings  by  Clarendon 
(iii.  265—270),  with  the  official  account  in 
the  Journals  (March  7,  8),  he  will  be  sur- 

Erised  at  the  numerous  inaccuracies  of  the 
istorian.  See  also  the  State  Trials ;  Eng- 
land's Bloody  Tribunal;  "Whitelock,  386; 
Burnet's  Hamiltons,  385 ;  Leicester's  Jour- 
nal, 70;  Ludlow,  i.  247;  and  Hutchinson, 
310.  3  Whitelock,  398,  399. 

5  Lilburne  in  his  youth  had  been  a  par- 
tisan of  Baatwick,  and  had  printed  one  of 


fnartyrs  of  loyalty  after  the  establi 
ment  of  the  commonwealth.' 

But,  though  the  avowed  enemie.- 
the  cause  crouched  before  their  C' 
querors,  there  was  much  in  the 
ternal  state  of  the  country  to  awal 
apprehension  in  the  breasts  of  Cro 
well  and  his  friends.    There  could 
no  doubt  that  the  ancient  royal: 
longed  for  the  opportunity  of  avei 
ing  the  blood  of  the  king ;  or  that  1 
new  royalists,  the  Presbyterians,  w 
sought  to  re-establish  the  throne 
the  conditions  stipulated  by  the  tre: 
in  the  Isle  of  "Wight,  bore  with  im] 
tience  the  superiority  of  their  rivj 
Throughout  the  kingdom  the  iov 
classes  loudly  complained  of  the  b\ 
then  of  taxation;   in   several   pa 
they  suffered  under  the  pressure 
penury  and  famine.    In  Lancash 
and  Westmoreland  numbers  perish 
through  want ;  and  it  was  certified 
the  magistrates  of  Cumberland  tl 
thirty  thousand  families  in  that  coue 
"had  neither  seed  nor  bread  ooi 
nor  the  means  of  procuring  either 
But  that  which  chiefly  created  alai 
was  the  progress  made   among  t 
military  by  the  "Levellers,"  men 
consistent  principles  and  uncompr 
mising  conduct,  under  the  guidan 
of  Colonel  John  Lilburne,  an  offic 
distinguished  by  his  talents,  his  eli 
quence,  and  his  courage.^    Lilburdj 
with  his  friends,  had  long  cherished  1 
suspicion  that  Cromwell,  Ireton,  ai 
Harrison  sought  only  their  priva 
aggrandizement  under  the  mantle 
patriotism;  and  the  recent  chang 
had  converted  this  suspicion  into  coi 


his  tracts  in  Holland.  Before  the  8t8 
chamber  he  refused  to  take  the  oath  < 
officio,  or  to  answer  interrogatories,  and 
consequence  was  condemned  to  stand  in  ti 
pillory,  was  whipped  from  the  Fleet  Prist 
to  Westminster,  receiving  five  hundrc^ 
lashes   with   knotted   cords,    and  was 

f)risoned  with  double  irons  on  his  hands  i 
egs.  Three  years  lat«r  (1641),  the  ho 
of  Commons  voted  the  punishment  ill* 
bloody,  barbarous,  and  tyrannical. — I 
ton's  Diary,  iii.  503,  note. 


49.] 


DISSENSIONS  OF  PARTIES. 


125 


They   observed    that    the 
men  ruled  without  control  in 

general  council  of  officers,  in  the 
liament,  and  in  the  council  of  stat«. 
3y  contended  that  every  question 
;  first  debated  and  settled  in  the 
ncil  of  officers,  and  that,  if  their 
ermination  was  afterwards  adopted 
the  house,  it  was  only  that  it 
;ht  go  forth  to  the  public  under 

pretended  sanction  of  the  repre- 
tatives  of  the  nation;  that  the 
ncii  of  state  had  been  vested  with 
vers  more  absolute  and  oppressive 
n  had  ever  been  exercised  by  the 
}  king;  and  that  the  High  Court  of 
>tice  had  been  established  by  the 
ty  forthe  purpose  of  depriving  their 
tims  of  those  remedies  which  would 
afforded  by  the  ordinary  courts  of 
•.  In  some  of  their  publications 
y  went  further.  They  maintained 
t  the  council  of  state  was  employed 
an  experiment  on  the  patience  of 

nation;  that  it  was  intended  to 
s  from  the  tyranny  of  a  few  to  the 
anny  of  one;  and  that  Oliver  Crom- 
11  was  the  man  who  aspired  to  that 
h  but  dangerous  pre-eminence.* 
1  plan  of  the  intended  constitu- 
Q,  entitled  "  the  Agreement  of  the 
t^le,"  had  been  sanctioned  by  the 
mcil  of  officers,  and  presented  by 
irfax  to  the  house  of  Commons, 
it  it  might  be  transmitted  to  the 
eral  counties,  and  there  receive 
i  approbation  of  the  inhabitants. 

a  sop  to  shut  the  mouth  of 
rberus,  the  sum  of  three  thousand 
ands,  to  be  raised  from  the  estates 
5 delinquents  in  the  county  of  Dur- 
iin,  had  been  voted  to  Lilburne; 
t  the  moment  he  returned  from 
}  north,  he  appeared  at  the  bar 
the  house,  an^  petitioned  against 
I  he  agreement,"  objecting  in  par- 
:ular  to  one  of  the  provisions  by 
dch  the  parliament  was  to  sit  but 


See  England's  New  Chains  discovered, 
i  the  Hunting  of  the  Foxes,  passim  ;  the 
3g's  Pamphlets,  No.  411,  xii. ;  414,  lii.  lyi. 


six  months  every  two  years,  and  the 
government  of  the  nation  during  the 
other  eighteen  months  was  to  be 
intrusted  to  the  council  of  state. 
His  example  was  quickly  followed; 
and  the  table  was  covered  with  a 
succession  of  petitions  from  officers 
and  soldiers,  and  "the  well-affected" 
in  different  counties,  who  demanded 
that  a  new  parliament  should  be 
holden  every  year;  that  during  the 
intervals  the  supreme  power  should 
be  exercised  by  a  committee  of  the 
house;  that  no  member  of  the  last 
should  sit  in  the  succeeding  parlia- 
ment; that  the  self-denying  ordinance 
should  be  enforced;  that  no  officer 
should  retain  his  command  in  the 
army  for  more  than  a  certain  period ; 
that  the  High  Court  of  Justice  should 
be  abolished  as  contrary  to  law,  and 
the  council  of  state,  as  likely  to  be- 
come an  engine  of  tyranny ;  that  the 
proceedings  in  the  courts  should  be 
in  the  English  language,  the  number 
of  lawyers  diminished,  and  their  fees 
reduced ;  that  the  excise  and  customs 
should  be  taken  away,  and  the  lands 
of  delinquents  sold  for  compensation 
to  the  well-affected ;  that  religion 
should  be  "  reformed  according  to  the 
mind  of  Grod;"  that  no  one  should  be 
molested  or  incapacitated  on  account 
of  conscience;  that  tithes  should  be 
abolished ;  and  that  the  income  of 
each  minister  should  be  fixed  at  one 
hundred  pounds  per  annum,  to  be 
raised  by  a  rate  on  his  parishioners.- 

Aware  of  the  necessity  of  crushing 
the  spirit  of  opposition  in  the  mili- 
tary, general  orders  were  issued  by 
Fairfax,  prohibiting  private  meetings 
of  officers  or  soldiers,  "  to  the  dis- 
turbance of  the  army;"  and  on  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  of  remonstrance 
from  several  regiments,  four  of  the 
five  troopers  by  whom  it  was  signed 
were  condemned  by  a  court-martial 


2  Walker,  133.    Whitelock,  388,  393,  396, 
398,  399.    Carte,  Letters,  i.  229. 


126 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAI 


to  ride  the  wooden  horse  with  their 
faces  to  the  tail,  to  have  their  swords 
broken  over  their  heads,  and  to  be 
afterwards  cashiered.  Lilburne,  on 
the  other  hand,  laboured  to  inflame 
the  general  discontent  by  a  succes- 
sion of  pamphlets,  entitled,  ''Eng- 
land's New  Chains  Discovered,"  "The 
Hunting  of  the  Foxes  from  New- 
market and  Triploe  Heath  to  AYhite- 
hall  by  five  small  Belles"  (in  allusion 
to  the  five  troopers),  and  the  second 
part  of  "England's  New  Chains."  The 
last  he  read  to  a  numerous  assembly 
at  Winchester  House ;  by  the  parlia- 
ment it  was  voted  a  seditious  and 
traitorous  libel,  and  the  author,  with 
his  associates,  Wahvyn,  Prince,  and 
Overton,  was  committed,  by  order 
of  the  council,  to  close  custody  in  the 
Tower.* 

It  had  been  determined  to  send  to 
Ireland  a  division  of  twelve  thousand 
men;  and  the  regiments  to  be  em- 
ployed were  selected  by  ballot,  appa- 
rently in  the  fairest  manner.  The 
men,  however,  avowed  a  resolution 
not  to  march.  It  was  not,  they  said, 
that  they  refused  the  service;  but 
they  believed  the  expedition  to  be 
a  mere  artifice  to  send  the  discon- 
tented out  of  the  kingdom ;  and  they 
asserted  that  by  their  engagement 
on  Triploe  Heath  they  could  not 
conscientiously  move  a  step  till  the 
liberties  of  the  nation  were  settled  on 
a  permanent  basis.  The  first  act  of 
mutiny  occurred  in  Bishopsgate.  A 
troop  of  horse  refused  to  obey  their 
colonel ;  and,  instead  of  marching  out 
of  the  city,  took  possession  of  the 
colours.  Of  these,  five  were  con- 
demned to  be  shot;  but  one  only, 
by  name  Lockyer,  suffered.  At  his 
burial  a  thousand  men,  in  files,  pre- 
ceded the  corpse,  which  was  adorned 
with   bunches   of    rosemary   dipped 


I  "VVhitelock,  385,  3S6, 392.  CouncU  Book 
in  the  State-paper  Office,  March  27, 
No.  17  ;  March  29,  No.  27.  Carte,  Letters, 
i.  273,  276. 


in  blood;  on  each  side  rode  t 
trumpeters,  and  behind  was  led 
trooper's  horse,  covered  with  mo 
ing;  some  thousands  of  men 
women  followed  with  black  and  g 
ribbons  on  their  heads  and  bn 
and  were  received  at  the  grave 
numerous  crowd  of  the  inhabitar 
London  and  Westminster.  Thi 
traordinary  funeral  convinced 
leaders  how  widely  the  discoi 
was  spread,  and  urged  them  to 
immediate  adoption  of  the  mosi 
cisive  measures.- 

The  regiments  of  Scrope,  In 
BLarrison,  Ingoldsby,  Skippon, 
nolds,  and  Horton,  though  quarl 
in  different  places,  had  already  el( 
their  agents,  and  published  thei 
solution  to  adhere  to  each  other,  t 
the  house  commissioned  Eairfa 
reduce  the  mutineers,  ordered  J 
pon  to  secure  the  capital  from  ^ 
prise,  and  declared  it  treason 
soldiers  to  conspire  the  death  ol 
general  or  lieutenant-general,  o] 
any  person  to  endeavour  to  altei 
government,  or  to  aflarm  that 
parliament  or  council  of  state 
either  tyrannical  or  unlawful^ 
Banbury,  in  Oxfordshire,  a  Ca] 
Thompson,  at  the  head  of  two  ' 
dred  men,  published  a  manil 
entitled  "  England's  Standard 
vanced,"  in  which  he  declared 
if  Lilburne,  or  his  fellow-priso 
were  ill-treated,  their  sufferings  sh 
be  avenged  seventy  times  seven 
upon  their  persecutors.  His  o 
was  to  unit€  some  of  the  disconte 
regiments;  but  Colonel  Eeynolds 
prised  him  at  Banbury,  and  prev 
on  his  followers  to  surrender  wit 
loss  of  blood."'  Another  party, 
sisting  of  ten  troops  of  horse, 
more  than  a  thousand  strong, 
ceeded   from  Salisbury  to   Bur 


2  Walker,  161.    Whitelock,  399. 

3  Journals,  May  1,  14.    Whitelock, : 
*  Walker,  u.  168.    ■\Vhitelock,  401. 


D.  l(U9.j 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  SCOTLAND. 


127 


igmenting  their  numbers  as  they 
ivauced.  Fairfax  and  .Cromwell, 
ter  a  march  of  more  than  forty 
iles  during  the  day,  arrived  soon 
tyerwards,  and  ordered  their  followers 
take  refreshment.  White  had  been 
nt  to  the  insurgents  with  an  offer  of 
irdon  on  their  submission :  whether 
)  meant  to  deceive  them  or  not,  is 
icertain ;  he  represented  the  pause 

the  part  of  the  general  as  time 
lowed  ihem  to  consult  and  frame 
.eir  demands;  and  at  the  hour  of 
idnight,  while  they  slept  in  security, 
romwell  forced  his  way  into  the 
'WUj  with  two  thousand  men,  at 
le  entrance,  while  Colonel  Reynolds, 
ith  a  strong  body,  opposed  their  exit 
!  the  other.  Pour  hundred  of  the 
utineers  were  made  prisoners,  and 
le  arms  and  horses  of  double  that 
amber  were  taken.  One  cornet  and 
iro  corporals  suffered  death ;  the 
hers,  after  a  short  imprisonment, 
ere  restored  to  their  former  regi- 
ents/ 

This  decisive  advantage  disconcerted 
1  the  plans  of  the  mutineers.  Some 
irtial  risings  in  the  counties  of 
[ants,  Devon,  and  Somerset  were 
lickly  suppressed;  and  Thompson, 
ho  had  escaped  from  Banbury  and 
jtired  to  "Wellingborough,  being  de- 
;rted  by  his  followers,  refused  quarter, 
ad  fell  fighting  singly  against  a  host 

enemies.^  To  express  the  national 
ratitude  for  this  signal  deliverance, 
day  of  thanksgiving  was  appointed ; 
ae  parliament,  the  council  of  state, 
ud  the  council  of  the  army  assembled 
b  Christ-church;  and,  after  the  reU- 
ious  service  of  the  day,  consisting 
f  two  long  sermons  and  appropriate 
rayers,  proceeded  to  Grocers'  Hall, 
'here  they  dined  by  invitation  from 
.be  city.  The  speaker  Lenthall,  the 
■rgan  of  the  supreme  authority,  like 
ormer  kings,  received  the  sword  of 


state  from  the  mayor,  and  delivered 
it  to  him  again.  At  table,  he  was 
seated  at  the  head,  supported  on  his 
right  hand  by  the  lord  general,  and 
on  the  left  by  Bradshaw,  the  president 
of  the  council ;  thus  exhibiting  to  the 
guests  the  representatives  of  the  three 
bodies  by  which  the  nation  was 
actually  governed.  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  dinner,  the  lord  mayor 
presented  one  thousand  pounds  in 
gold  to  Fairfax  in  a  basin  and  ewer 
of  the  same  metal,  and  five  hundred 
pounds,  with  a  complete  service  of 
plate,  to  Cromwell.^ 

The  suppression  of  the  mutiny 
afforded  leisure  to  the  council  to 
direct  its  attention  to  the  proceedings, 
in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  In  the  first 
of  these  kingdoms,  after  the  departure 
of  Cromwell,  the  supreme  authority 
had  been  exercised  by  Argyle  and  his 
party,  who  were  supported,  and  at  the 
same  time  controlled,  by  the  para- 
mount influence  of  the  kirk.  The 
forfeiture  and  excommunication  of  the 
"Engagers"  left  to  their  opponents 
the  undisputed  superiority  in  the 
parliament  and  all  the  great  offices 
of  the  state.  From  the  part  which 
Argyle  had  formerly  taken  in  the 
surrender  of  the  king,  his  recent 
connection  with  Cromwell,  and  his 
hostility  to  the  engagement,  it  was 
generally  believed  that  he  had  acted 
in  concert  with  the  English  Indepen- 
dents. But  he  was  wary,  and  subtle, 
and  flexible.  At  the  approach  of  dan- 
ger he  could  dissemble;  and,  when- 
ever it  suited  his  views,  could  change 
his  measures  without  changing  his 
object.  At  the  beginning  of  January 
the  fate  with  which  Charles  was 
menaced  revived  the  languid  affection 
of  the  Scots.  A  cry  of  indignation 
burst  from  every  part  of  the  country: 
he  was  their  native  king— would  they 
suffer  him  to  be  arraigned  as  a  crimi- 


1  King's  Pamphlets,  No.  421,  xrii. ;  422,  i. 
fhitelock,  402.  »  Whitelock,  403. 


3  Leicester's    Journal,    74.      Whitelock 
(406)  places  the  guests  in  a  different  order. 


128 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


LCHAP. 


nal  before  a  foreign  tribunal  ?  By 
delivering  him  to  his  enemies,  they 
had  sullied  the  fair  fame  of  the 
nation— would  they  confirm  this  dis- 
grace by  tamely  acquiescing  in  his 
death?  Argyle  deemed  it  prudent 
to  go  with  the  current  of  national 
feeling;'  he  suffered  a  committee  to 
be  appointed  in  parliament,  and  the 
commissioners  in  London  received 
instructions  to  protest  against  the 
trial  and  condemnation  of  the  king. 
But  these  instructions  disclosed  the 
timid  fluctuating  policy  of  the  man 
by  whom  they  were  dictated.  It  is 
vain  to  look  in  them  for  those  warm 
and  generous  sentiments  which  the 
case  demanded.  They  are  framed  with 
hesitation  and  caution ;  they  betray 
a  consciousness  of  weakness,  a  fear 
of  provoking  enmity,  and  an  attention 
to  private  interest ;  and  they  show 
that  the  protestors,  if  they  really 
sought  to  save  the  hfe  of  the  monarch, 
were  yet  more  anxious  to  avoid  every 
act  or  word  which  might  give  offence 
to  his  adversaries.2 

The  commissioners  dehvered  the 
paper,  and  the  Scottish  parliament, 
instead  of  an  answer,  received  the 
news  of  the  king's  execution.  The 
next  day  the  chancellor,  attended  by 
the  members,  proceeded  to  the  cross 
in  Edinburgh,  and  proclaimed  Charles, 
the  son  of  the  deceased  prince,  king 
of  Scotland,  England,  France,  and 
Ireland.  But  to  this  proclamation 
was  appended  a  provision,  that  the 
young  prince,  before  he  could  enter 
on  the  exercise  of  the  royal  authority, 
should  satisfy  the  parliament  of  his 
adhesion  both  to  the  national  cove- 
nant of  Scotland,  and  to  the  solemn 
league  and  covenant  between  the  two 
kingdoms.^ 


1  Wariston  had  proposed  (and  Argyle  had 
seconded  him)  to  postpone  the  motion  for 
interference  in  the  king's  behalf  till  the 
Lord  had  been  sought  by  a  solemn  fast,  but 
"  Argyle,  after  he  saw  that  it  was  carried 
by  wottea  in  his  contrarey,  changed  his  first 
opinione  with  a  faire  appologey,  and  willed 


At  length,  three  weeks  after 
death  of  the  king,  whose  life  it  ' 
intended  to  save,  the  English  par 
ment  condescended  to  answer 
protestation  of  the  Scots,  but  ii 
tone  of  contemptuous  indifferet 
both  as  to  the  justice  of  their  ck 
and  the  consequences  of  their  ans 
Scotland,  it  was  replied,  might  x 
haps  have  no  right  to  bring 
sovereign  to  a  public  trial,  but  t 
circumstance  could  not  affect  the  ri 
of  England.  As  the  English  par 
ment  did  not  intend  to  trench  on 
liberties  of  others,  it  would  not  j 
mit  others  to  trench  upon  its  o' 
The  recollection  of  the  evils  inflic 
on  the  nation  by  the  misconduct 
the  king,  and  the  consciousness  t 
they  had  deserved  the  anger  of  ( 
by  their  neglect  to  punish  his  offen- 
had  induced  them  to  bring  him 
justice,  a  course  which  they  doub 
not  God  had  already  approved,  j 
would  subsequently  reward  by 
establishment  of  their  liberties.  T 
Scots  had  now  the  option  of  be 
freemen  or  slaves;  the  aid  of  E 
land  was  offered  for  the  vindicat 
of  their  rights  ;  if  it  were  refus 
let  them  beware  how  they  entailed 
themselves  and  their  posterity 
miseries  of  continual  war  >vith  tL 
nearest  neighbour,  and  of  slav 
under  the  issue  of  a  tyrant.* 

The  Scottish  commissioners, 
reply,  hinted  that  the  present  a 
not  a  full  parliament ;  objected  to  i 
alteration  in  the  government  by  ki 
lords,  and  commons ;  desired  that 
impediment  should  be  opposed  to 
lawful  succession  of  Charles  II. ;  i 
ended  by  protesting  that,  if  si 
things  were  done,  the  Scots  w 
free  before  God  and  man  from  " 


them  then  presently  to  enter  on  the  b 
ness." — Baliour,  iii.  386. 

2  See  the  instructions  in  Balfour,  iii.  8 
and  Clarendon,  iii.  280. 

3  Balfour,  iii.  387.     Clarendon,  iii.  284 
*  Journals,  Feb.  17,  20.    Clarendon, 

282. 


.D.  1649.] 


ASSASSINATION  OF  DOEISLAUS. 


129 


uilt,  the  blood,  the  calamities,  which 

might    cost    the    two    kingdoms. 

.  laving   delivered   this    paper,  they 

,  astened  to  Gravesend.    Their  object 

as  to  proceed  to  the  United  Pro- 

inces,  and  offer  the  Scottish  crown 

u  certain  conditions  to  the  young 

.  ing.    But  the  English   leaders  re- 

>  olved   to   interrupt   their    mission. 

'he  answer  which  they  had  given 

i  ,-as  voted  a  scandalous  libel,  framed 

■i  jr  the  purpose  of  exciting  sedition ; 

V  iie  commissioners  were  apprehended 

'"  t  Gravesend   as  national  offenders, 

i  nd  Captain  Dolphin  received  orders 

k  D  conduct  them  under  a  guard  to  the 

ii  rentiers  of  Scotland.' 

This  insult,  which,  though  keenly 
elt,  was  tamely  borne,  might  retard, 
t  could  not  prevent,  the  purposes  of 
he  Scottish  parhameut.  The  earl  of 
!^assillis,  with  four  new  commissioners, 
vas  appointed  to  proceed  to  Holland, 
vhere  Charles,  under  the  protection 
>f  his  brother-in-law,  the  prince  of 
)range,  had  resided  since  the  death 
)f  his  father.-  His  court  consisted  at 
irst  of  the  few  individuals  whom  that 
nonarch  had  placed  around  him,  and 
vhom  he  now  swore  of  his  privy 
jouncil.  It  was  soon  augmented  by 
.he  earl  of  Lanark,  who,  on  the  death 
j(  his  brother,  became  duke  of  Hamil- 
:on,  the  earl  of  Lauderdale,  and  the 
3arl  of  Callendar,  the  chiefs  of  the 
Scottish  Engagers ;  these  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  ancient  Scottish  royalists, 
Montrose,  Kinnoul,  and  Seaforth,  and 
in  a  few  days  appeared  Cassillis,  with 
his  colleagues,  and  three  deputies 
from  the  church  of  Scotland,  who 
brought  with  them  news  not  likely 


^  Journals,  Feb.  26,  28.  Whitelock,  384. 
Balfour,  iii.  388,  389.  Carte,  Letters,  i.  233. 
Dolphin  received  a  secret  instruction  not 
to  dismiss  Sir  John  Chiesley,  but  to  keep 
•  him  as  a  hostage,  till  he  knew  that  Mr. 
Bowe,  the  English  agent  in  Edinburgh,  was 
not  detained.— Council  Book,  March  2. 

'  "Whatever  may  have  been  the  policy  of 

Arg^le,  he   most  certainly  promoted  this 

-noBsion,  and  "overswayed   the  opposition 

to  it  by  hia   reason,  authority,  and  dUi- 

8 


to  insure  them  a  gracious  reception,, 
that  the  parliament,  at  the  petition  of 
the  kirk,  had  sent  to  the  scaffold  the 
old  marquess  of  Huntly,  forfeited 
for  his  adhesion  to  the  royal  cause  in 
the  year  1G45.  All  professed  to  have 
in  view  the  same  object — the  restora- 
tion of  the  young  king;  but  all  were 
divided  and  alienated  from  each  other 
by  civil  and  religious  bigotry.  By  the 
commissioners,  the  Engagers,  and  by 
both,  Montrose  and  his  friends  were 
shunned  as  traitors  to  their  country, 
and  sinners  excom.municated  by  the 
kirk.  Charles  was  perplexed  by  the 
conflicting  opinions  of  these  several 
advisers.  Both  the  commissioners  and 
Engagers,  hostile  as  they  were  to  each 
other,  represented  his  taking  of  the 
covenant  as  an  essential  condition ; 
while  Montrose  and  his  English 
counsellors  contended  that  it  would 
exasperate  the  Independents,  offend 
the  friends  of  episcopacy,  and  cut  off 
all  hope  of  aid  from  the  Catholics, 
who  could  not  be  expected  to  hazard 
their  lives  in  support  of  a  prince 
sworn  to  extirpate  their  religion.^ 

While  the  question  was  yet  in  de- 
bate, an  event  happened  to  hasten  the 
departure  of  Charles  from  the  Hague. 
Dr.  Dorislaus,  a  native  of  Holland, 
but  formerly  a  professor  of  Gresham 
College,  and  recently  employed  to 
draw  the  charge  against  the  king, 
arrived  as  envoy  from  the  parliament 
to  the  States.  That  very  evening, 
while  he  sat  at  supper  in  the  inn, 
six  gentlemen  with  drawn  swords 
entered  the  room,  dragged  him  from 
his  chair,  and  murdered  him  on  the 
floor.''  Though  the  assassins  were  suf- 


gence." — Baillie,  ii.  353. 

3  Clar.  iii.  247—292.  Baillie,  ii.  333. 
Carte,  Letters,  i.  233—263.  In  addition  to 
the  covenant,  the  commissioners  required 
the  banishment  of  Montrose,  from  which, 
they  were  induced  to  recede,  and  the  limi- 
tation of  the  king's  followers  to  one  hun- 
dred persons.— Carte,  Letters,  i.  264,  265, 
266,  268,  271. 

*  Clarendon,    iii.    293.     Whitelock,    401. 

Journals,  May  10.    The  parliament  settled 

K 


130 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  I 


fered  to  escape,  it  was  soon  knovra 
that  they  were  Scotsmen,  most  of 
them  followers  of  Montrose ;  and 
Charles,  anticipating  the  demand  of 
justice  from  the  English  parliament, 
gave  his  final  answer  to  the  commis- 
sioners, that  he  was,  and  always  had 
been,  ready  to  provide  for  the  security 
of  their  religion,  the  union  between 
the  kingdoms,  and  the  internal  peace 
and  prosperity  of  Scotland ;  but  that 
their  other  demands  were  irrecon- 
cilable with  his  conscience,  his  liberty, 
and  his  honour.  They  acknowledged 
that  he  was  their  king ;  it  was,  there- 
fore, their  duty  to  obey,  maintain 
and  defend  him;  and  the  performance 
of  this  duty  he  should  expect  from 
the  committee  of  estates,  the  assembly 
of  the  kirk,  and  the  whole  nation  of 
Scotland.  They  departed  with  this 
unsatisfactory  answer;  and  Charles, 
leaving  the  United  Provinces,  hastened 
to  St.  Germain  in  France,  to  visit  the 
queen  his  mother,  with  the  intention 
of  repairing,  after  a  short  stay,  to  the 
army  of  the  royalists  in  Ireland.* 

That  the  reader  may  understand 
the  state  of  Ireland,  he  must  look 
back  to  the  period  when  the  despair 
or  patriotism  of  Ormond  surrendered 
to  the  parliament  the  capital  of  that 
kingdom.  The  nuncio,  Rinuccini,  had 
then  seated  himself  in  the  chair  of 
the  president  of  the  supreme  council 
at  Kilkenny ;  but  his  administration 
was  soon  marked  by  disasters,  which 


two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  on  the  son, 
and  gave  five  hundred  pounds  to  each  of 
the  daughters  of  Dorislans. — Ibid.  May  16. 
Two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  was  given 
towards  his  funeral. — CouncU  Book,  May  11, 

1  Balfour,  iii.  405;  and  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Church  and 
EJngdome  of  Scotland  with  his  Majestie  at 
the  Hague.  Edinburgh,  printed  by  Evan 
Tyler,  1649. 

2  Enshworth,  823,  916.  In  the  battle  of 
Dnngan  Hill,  at  the  first  charge  the  com- 
mander of  the  Irish  cavalry  was  slain ;  his 
men  immediately  fled  ;  the  infantry  repelled 
Beveral  charges,  and  retired  into  a  bog, 
where  they  offered  to  capitulate.    Colonel 


enabled  his  rivals  to  undermine  ai 
subvert  his  authority.    The  Cathol 
army  of  Leinster,  under  Preston,  w 
defeated  on  Dungan  Hill  by  Jon< 
the  governor  of  Dubhn,  and  that 
Munster,  under  the  Viscount  Taa 
at  Clontarf,  by  the  Lord  Inchiquh 
To  Rinuccini  himself  these  misfc 
tunes  appeared  as  benefits,  for  he  d 
trusted  Preston  and  Taafe  on  accou 
of  their  attachment  to  Ormond ;  ai 
their  depression  served  to  exalt  1 
friend    and    protector,    Owen    E 
O'Neil,  the   leader   of  the   men 
Ulster.    But   from  such  beginnin 
the    nation    at   large   anticipated 
succession  of  similar  calamities;  1 
adversaries  obtained  a  majority  in  t 
general   assembly  ;  and  the  nunc 
aft«r  a  declaration  that  he  advanc 
no  claim  to  temporal  authority,  pr 
dently  avoided  a  forced  abdicatic 
by  offering  to  resign  his  office, 
new    council,    consisting,    in    eqi 
number,  of  men  chosen  out  of  t 
two  parties,  was  appointed;  and  ■ 
marquess  of  Antrim,  the  Lord  M 
kerry,    and    Geoffrey   Brown,   w. 
despatched  to  the  queen  mother,  a 
her  son  Charles,  to  solicit  assistai 
in  money  and  arms,  and  to  requ 
that  the  prince  would  either  coi 
and  reside  in  Ireland,  or  appoint 
Catholic  lieutenant  in  his  place.    A 
trim  hoped  to  obtain  this  high  ofl: 
for  himself;  but  his  colleagues  w( 
instructed  to  oppose  his  pretensic 


Flower  said  he  had  no  authority  to  gtt 
quarter,  but  at  the  same  time  ordered 
men  to  stand  to  their  arms,  and  preset 
the  lives  of  the  earl  of  Westmeath,  Li' 
tenant-General  Byrne,  and  several  offic 
and  soldiers  who  repaired  to  his  colon 
"  In  the  mean  time  the  Scotch  colonel  Ti 
burn,  and  Colonel  Moor,  of  Bankha 
regiments,  without  mercy  put  the  rest 
the  sword."  Thev  amounted  to  betwt 
three  and  four  thousand  men. — Bellin 
History  of  the  late  Warre  in  Ireland,  J 
ii.  96.  I  mention  this  instance  to  sh 
that  Cromwell  did  not  introduce  the  pr 
tice  of  massacre.  He  followed  his  pi 
cessors,  whose  avowed  object  it  wae 
terminate  the  natives. 


pr 

1 


.D.  1648.] 


STATE  OF  IRELAND. 


131 


and  to  acquiesce  in  the  re-appoint- 
ment of  the  marquess  of  Ormond.* 

During  the  absence  of  these  envoys, 
the  Lord  Inchiquin  unexpectedly  de- 
clared, with  his  army,  in  favour  of 
the  king  against  the  parliament,  and 
instantly  proposed  an  armistice  to 
the  confederate  CathoUcs,  as  friends 
to  the  royal  cause.  By  some  the  over- 
:ure  was  indignantly  rejected.  Inchi- 
luin,  they  said,  had  been  their  most 
Ditter  enemy;  he  had  made  it  his 
iehght  to  shed  the  blood  of  Irishmen, 
md  to  pollute  and  destroy  their  altars. 
Besides,  what  pledge  could  be  given 
:or  the  fidelity  of  a  man  who,  by 
repeatedly  changing  sides,  had  already 
«hown  that  he  would  always  accom- 
nodate  his  conscience  to  his  interest  ? 
[t  were  better  to  march  against  him 
low  that  he  was  without  allies ;  and, 
when  he  should  be  subdued,  Jones 
»Tith  the  parliamentary  army  would 
lecessarily  fall.  To  this  reasoning  it 
.Tas  replied,  that  the  expedition  would 
•equire  time  and  money ;  that  provi- 
;ion  for  the  free  exercise  of  religion 
night  be  made  in  the  articles ;  and 
;hat,  at  a  moment  when  the  Catholics 
solicited  a  reconciliation  with  the 
dng,  they  could  not  in  honour  de- 
stroy those  who  drew  the  sword  in 
lis  favour.  In  defiance  of  the  re- 
nonstrances  made  by  Rinuccini  and 
3ight  of  the  bishops,  the  treaty  pro- 
ceeded ;  and  the  nuncio  believing,  or 
pretending  to  believe,  that  he  was 
I  prisoner  in  Kilkenny,  escaped  in 
jhe  night  over  the  wall  of  the  city, 
ind  was  received  at  Maryborough 
tvith  open  arms  by  his  friend  O'Neil. 
The  council  of  the  Catholics  agreed 
!:o  the  armistice,  and  sought  by  re- 
pea;ted  messages  to  remove  the  objec- 


1  Philopater  Irenaens,  50 — 60.  Castle- 
haven,  Memoirs,  83. 

*  See  Desiderata  Cur.  Hib.  ii.  511 ;  Carte, 
ii.  20,  31—36 ;  Belling,  in  his  MS.  History 
of  the  late  War  in  Ireland,  part  iv.  1—40. 
S«  has  -nserted  most  of  the  papers  which 
paasea  between  the  parties  in  this  work. 
See  a^ao   Philopater   Irenseus,  i,  60,  86  j 


tions  of  the  nuncio.  But  zeal  or 
resentment  urged  him  to  exceed  his 
powers.  He  condemned  the  treaty, 
excommunicated  its  abettors,  and 
placed  under  an  interdict  the  towns 
in  which  it  should  be  admitted.  But 
his  spiritual  weapons  were  of  little 
avail.  The  council,  with  fourteen 
bishops,  appealed  from  his  censures; 
the  forces  under  Taafe,  Clanricard, 
and  Preston,  sent  back  his  messen- 
gers; and,  on  the  departure  of  O'Neil, 
he  repaired  to  the  town  of  Galway, 
where  he  was  sure  of  the  support  of 
the  people,  though  in  opposition  to 
the  sense  of  the  mayor  and  the  mer- 
chants. As  a  last  effort,  he  summoned 
a  national  synod  at  Galway ;  but  the 
council  protested  against  it;  Clanri- 
card surrounded  the  town  with  his 
army;  and  the  inhabitants,  opening 
the  gates,  made  their  submission.^ 

War  was  now  openly  declared  be- 
tween the  two  parties.  On  the  one 
hand,  Jones  in  Dublin,  and  Monk  in 
Ulster,  concluded  truces  with  O'Neil, 
that  he  might  be  in  a  better  condition 
to  oppose  the  common  enemy ;  on  the 
other,  Inchiquin  joined  with  Preston 
to  support  the  authority  of  the  coun- 
cil against  O'Neil.  Inroads  were  re- 
ciprocally made;  towns  were  taken 
and  retaken;  and  large  armies  were 
repeatedly  brought  in  face  of  each 
other.  The  council,  however,  began 
to  assume  a  bolder  tone:  they  pro- 
claimed O'Neil  a  rebel  and  traitor; 
and,  on  the  tardy  arrival  of  Ormond 
with  the  commission  of  lord  lieute- 
nant, sent  to  Einuccini  himself  an 
order  to  quit  the  kingdom,  with  the 
information  that  they  had  accused 
him  to  the  pope  of  certain  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors.'    But;  he 


ii.  90,  94 ;  Walsh,  History  and  Vindication, 
App.  33—40;  Ponoe,  90. 

'  The  charge  may  be  seen  in  Philopater 
Iren.  i.  150— 160;  Clarendon,  viii.  68.  Ox- 
ford, 1726.  It  is  evident  that  the  condnct 
of  Einuccini  in  breaking  the  first  peace  was 
not  only  reprehensible  in  itself,  but  pro- 
ductive of  the  most  calamitous  consequences 
K  2 


132 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAP.  IT. 


continued  to  issue  his  mandates  in 
defiance  of  their  orders  and  threats; 
nor  was  it  till  after  the  new  pacifica- 
tion between  Charles  and  the  con- 
federates had  been  published,  and  the 
execution  of  the  king  had  fixed  the 
public  opinion  on  the  pernicious  re- 
sult of  his  counsels,  that  shame  and 
apprehension  drove  him  from  Ireland 
to  France,  whence,  after  a  few  months, 
he  M^as  recalled  to  E/ome. 

The  negotiation  between  Ormond 
and  the  Catholics  had  continued  for 
three  months ;  in  January  the  danger 
which  threatened  the  royal  person 
induced  the  latter  to  recede  from 
their  claims,  and  trust  to  the  future 
gratitude  and  honour  of  their  sove- 
reign. They  engaged  to  maintain  at 
their  own  expense  an  army  of  seven- 
teen thousand  five  hundred  men,  to 
be  employed  against  the  common 
enemy ;  and  the  king,  on  his  part, 
consented  that  the  free  exercise  of 
the  Catholic  worship  should  be  per- 
mitted ;  that  twelve  commissioners 
of  trust  appointed  by  the  assembly 
should  aid  the  lord  lieutenant  in 
the  internal  administration  ;  that  the 
Court  of  Wards  and  several  other 
grievances  should  be  abolished;  that 
a  parliament  should  be  called  as  soon 
as  the  majority  of  commissioners 
might  deem  it  expedient,  and  in  that 


both  to  the  cause  of  royalty  and  the  civil 
and  religious  interests  of  the  Irish  Catho- 
lics. The  following  is  the  ground  on  which 
he  attempta  to  justify  himself.  Laying  it 
down  as  an  undeniable  truth  that  the  Irish 
people  had  as  good  a  right  to  the  establish- 
ment of  their  religion  in  their  native  coun- 
try, as  the  Covenanters  in  Scotland,  or  the 
Presbyterians  in  England,  he  maintains 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  make  this  the  great 
object  of  his  proceedings.  When  the  peace 
was  concluded,  Charles  was  a  prisoner  in 
the*  hands  of  the  Scots,  who  had  solemnly 
sworn  to  abolish  the  Cathohc  religion ;  and 
the  English  royalists  had  been  subdued  by 
the  parliament,  which  by  repeated  votes 
and  declarations  had  bound  itself  to  extir- 
pate the  Irish  race,  and  parcel  out  the 
island  among  foreign  adventurers.  Now 
there  was  no  human  probability  that  Charles 
would  ever  be  restored  to  his  throne,  but  on 
such  conditions  as  the  parliament  and  the 
Scots  should  prescribe ;  and  that,  on  their 


parliament  the  persecuting  laws  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  with  others 
injurious  to  the  trade  and  commerce 
of  Ireland,  should  be  repealed,  and 
the  independence  of  the  Irish  on 
the  English  parliament  should  be 
established.' 

The  royal  interest  was  now  pre- 
dominant in  Ireland.  The  fleet  under 
Prince  Rupert  rode  triumphant  off 
the  coast ;  the  parliamentary  com- 
manders, Jones  in  Dublin,  Monk  in 
Belfast,  and  Coote  in  Londonderry, 
were  almost  confined  within  the 
limits  of  their  respective  garrisons ; 
and  Inchiquin  in  Munster,  the  Scot- 
tish regiments  in  Ulster,  and  the 
great  body  of  the  Catholics  adhering 
to  the  supreme  council,  had  pro- 
claimed the  king,  and  acknowledged 
the  authority  of  his  lieutenant.  It 
was  during  this  favourable  stat«  of 
things  that  Charles  received  and  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  of  Ormond  :  but 
his  voyage  was  necessarily  delayed 
through  want  of  money,  and  his 
ardour  was  repeatedly  checked  by 
the  artful  insinuation  of  some  among 
his  counsellors,  who  secretly  feared 
that,  if  he  were  once  at  the  head  of 
a  Catholic  army,  he  would  listen  to 
the  demands  of  the  Catholics  for  the 
establishment  of  their  religion.'  On 
the  contrary,  to  the  leaders  in  Lon- 


demand,  he  would,  after  some  struggle, 
sacrifice  the  Irish  Catholics,  was  plain  from 
what  had  passed  in  his  diiferent  negotiations 
with  the  parliament,  from  his  disavowal  of 
Glamorgan's  commission,  and  from  the 
obstinacy  with  which  his  lieutenant,  Or- 
mond, had  opposed  the  claims  of  the  con- 
federates. Hence  he  inferred  that  a  peace, 
which  left  the  estabhshment  of  religion  tO 
the  subsequent  determination  of  the  king, 
afforded  no  security,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
was  au  abandonment  of  the  cause  for  vrid&i 
the  Catholics  had  associated ;  and  that  it 
therefore  became  him,  holding  the  situation 
which  he  did,  to  oppose  it  by  every  meana 
in  his  power. — MS.  narrative  of  Kinuccini's 
proceedings,  written  to  be  delivered  to  the 
pope  ;  and  Ponce,  271. 

1  Phil.  Iren.  i.  166.  Walsh,  App.  43—64. 
Whitelock,  391.  Charles  approved  and 
promised  to  observe  this  peace. — Carte't 
Letters,  ii.  367. 

1  Carte,  Letters,  i.  258,  262. 


H 


.D.  1649.]      CEOMWELL  MADE  LOED-LIEUTENANT. 


133 


don,  the  danger  of  losing  Ireland 
became  a  source  of  the  most  perplex- 
ing solicitude.  The  office  of  lord 
lieutenant  was  offered  to  Cromwell. 
He  affected  to  hesitate ;  at  his  request 
two  officers  from  each  corps  received 
orders  to  meet  him  at  Whitehall,  and 
seek  the  Lord  in  prayer ;  and,  after  a 
delay  of  two  weeks,  he  condescended 
to  submit  his  shoulders  to  the  burthen, 
because  he  had  now  learned  that  it 
was  the  will  of  Heaven.*  His  de- 
mands, however,  were  so  numerous, 
the  preparations  to  be  made  so  ex- 
tensive, that  it  was  necessary  to  have 
recourse  in  the  interval  to  other  ex- 
pedients for  the  preservation  of  the 
forces  and  places  which  still  admitted 
the  authority  of  the  parliament.  One 
of  these  was  to  allure  to  the  cause  of 
the  Independents  the  Cathohcs  of  the 
two  kingdoms ;  for  which  purpose, 
the  sentiments  of  Sir  Kenelm  Digby 
and  Sir  John  Winter  were  sounded, 
and  conferences  were  held,  through 
the  agency  of  the  Spanish  ambassador, 
with  0'E.eilly  and  Quin,  two  Irish 
ecclesiastics.  It  was  proposed  that 
toleration  should  be  granted  for  the 
exercise  of  the  Catholic  worship, 
without  any  penal  disqualifications, 
and  that  the  Catholics  in  return 
should  disclaim  the  temporal  preten- 
sions of  the  pope,  and  maintain  ten 
thousand  men  for  the  service  of  the 
commonwealth. 

In  aid  of  this  project,  Digby,  Winter, 
and  the  Abbe  Montague  were  suffered 
to  come  to  England  under  the  pre- 
tence of  compounding  for  their 
estates;  and  the  celebrated  Thomas 
White,  a  secular  clergyman,  pub- 
lished a  work  entitled, "  The  Grounds 
of  Obedience  and  Government,"  to 
show  that  the  people  may  be  released 
from  their  obedience  to  the  civil 
magistrate  by  his  misconduct;  and 


that,  when  he  is  once  deposed 
(whether  justly  or  unjustly  makes 
no  difference),  it  may  be  for  the  com- 
mon interest  to  acquiesce  in  his 
removal,  rather  than  attempt  his  re- 
storation. 

That  this  doctrine  was  satisfactory 
to  the  men  in  power,  cannot  be 
doubted;  but  they  had  so  often  re- 
proached the  late  king  with  a  coalition 
with  the  papists,  that  they  dared  not 
to  make  the  experiment,  and  after 
some  time,  to  blind  perhaps  the  eyes 
of  the  people,  severe  votes  were  passed 
against  Digby,  Montague,  and  Winter, 
and  orders  were  given  for  the  appre- 
hension of  priests  and  Jesuits.^ 

In  Ireland  an  attempt  was  made  to 
fortify  the  parliamentary  party  with 
the  friendly  aid  of  O'Neil.  That 
chieftain  had  received  proposals  from 
Ormond,  but  his  jealousy  of  the  com- 
missioners of  trusts,  his  former  adver- 
saries, provoked  him  to  break  off  the 
treaty  with  the  lord  lieutenant,  and 
to  send  a  messenger  of.  his  own  with 
a  tender  of  his  services  to  Charles. 
Immediately  the  earl  of  Castlehaven, 
by  order  of  Ormond,  attacked  and 
reduced  his  garrisons  of  Marybo- 
rough and  Athy;  and  O'Neil,  in 
revenge,  listened  to  the  suggestions  of 
Monk,  who  had  retired  before  the 
superior  force  of  the  Scottish  royahsts 
from  Belfast  to  Dundalk.  A  cessation 
of  hostilities  was  concluded  for  three 
months;  and  the  proposals  of  the 
Irish  chieftain,  modified  by  Monk, 
were  transmitted  to  England  for  the 
ratification  of  parhament.  By  the 
"grandees"  it  was  thought  impru- 
dent to  submit  them  to  an  examina- 
tion, which  would  make  them  public ; 
but  the  answer  returned  satisfied  the 
contracting  parties :  Monk  supplied 
O'Neil  with  ammunition,  and  O'Neil 
undertook  to  intercept  the  commu- 


1  Journals,  March  30.    Whitelock,  389, 
391,  392. 
*  On  this  obscure  subject  may  be  con< 


suited  Walker,  ii.  150 ;  Carte's  Collection  of 
Letters,  i.  216,  219,  221,  222,  224,  267,  272, 
297 ;  ii.  363,  364 ;  and  the  Journala,  Aug.  31, 


234 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  IV. 


nication  between  the  Scottish  regi- 
ments of  the  north  and  the  grand 
army  under  Ormond  in  the  heart  of 
the  kingdom.' 

Though  the  parliament  had  ap- 
pointed Cromwell  lord  lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  and  vested  the  supreme 
authority,  both  civil  and  military,  in 
his  person  for  three  years,  he  was  still 
unwilling  to  hazard  his  reputation 
and  his  prospects  in  a  dangerous  ex- 
pedition without  the  adequate  means 
of  success.  Out  of  the  standing  army 
of  forty-five  thousand  men,  with 
whose  Slid  England  was  now  governed, 
he  demanded  a  force  of  twelve  thou- 
sand veterans,  with  a  plentiful  supply 
of  provisions  and  military  stores,  and 
the  round  sum  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  in  ready  money .^  On  the 
day  of  his  departure,  his  friends  assem- 
bled at  Whitehall;  three  ministers 
solemnly  invoked  the  blessing  of  God 
on  the  arms  of  his  saints;  and  three 
ofl&cers,  Gofi*,  Harrison,  and  the  lord 
heutenant  himself,  expounded  the 
scriptures  "  excellently  well,  and  per- 
tinently to  the  occasion."  After 
these  outpourings  of  the  spirit,  Crom- 
well mounted  his  carriage,  drawn  by 
six  horses.  He  was  accompanied  by 
the  great  ofl&cers  of  state  and  of  the 
army;  his  life-guard,  eighty  young 
men,  all  of  quality,  and  several  hold- 
ing commissions  as  majors  and  colo- 


1  O'Neil  demanded  liberty  of  conscience 
for  himself,  his  followers,  and  their  pos- 
terity ;  the  undisturbed  possession  of  their 
lands,  as  long  as  they  remained  faithful  to 
the  parliament ;  and,  in  return  for  his  ser- 
vices, the  restoration  of  his  ancestor's 
estate,  or  an  equivalent.  (See  both  his 
draft,  and  the  corrected  copy  by  Monk,  in 
PhUop.  Iren.  i,  191,  and  in  WaUier,  ii.  233 
— 238.)  His  agent,  on  his  arrival  in  London, 
was  asked  by  the  grandees  why  he  applied 
to  them,  and  refused  to  treat  with  Ormond. 
He  replied,  because  the  late  king  had  always 
made  them  fair  promises ;  but,  when  they 
had  done  him  service,  and  he  could  make 
better  terms  with  their  enemies,  had  always 
been  ready  to  sacrifice  them.  Why  then 
did  not  O'Neil  apply  to  the  parliament 
sooner  ?  Because  the  men  in  power  then 
bad  Bwom  to  extirpate  them ;  but  those  in 


nels,  delighted  the  spectators  with 
their  splendid  uniforms  and  gallant 
bearing ;  and  the  streets  of  the  metro- 
polis resounded,  as  he  drove  towards 
Windsor,  with  the  acclamations  d" 
the  populace  and  the  clangour  of 
military  music.^'  It  had  been  fixed 
that  the  expedition  should  sail  from 
Mnford  Haven;  but  the  impatience 
of  the  general  was  checked  by  the 
reluctance  and  desertion  of  his  men. 
The  recent  transaction  between  Monk 
and  O'Neil  had  difi"used  a  spirit  of 
distrust  through  the  army.  It  was 
pronounced  an  apostasy  from  the 
principles  on  which  they  had  fought. 
The  exaggerated  horrors  of  the  mas- 
sacre in  1641  were  recalled  to  mind ; 
the  repeated  resolutions  of  parliament 
to  extirpate  the  native  Irish,  and  the 
solemn  engagement  of  the  army  to 
revenge  the  blood  which  had  been 
shed,  were  warmly  discussed ;  and  the 
invectives  of  the  leaders  against  the 
late  king,  when  he  concluded  a  peace 
with  the  confederate  Cathohcs,  were 
contrasted  with  their  present  back- 
sliding, when  they  had  taken  the  men 
of  Ulster  for  their  associates  and 
for  their  brethren  in  arms.  To  ap- 
pease the  growing  discontent,  parlia- 
ment annulled  the  agreement.  Monk, 
who  had  returned  to  England,  wag 
pubUcly  assured  that,  if  he  escaped 
the  punishment  of  his  indiscretion. 


power  now  professed  toleration  and  liberty 
of  conscience. — Ludlow,  i.  255.  The  agre»i 
ment  made  with  him  by  Monk  was  rejected 
(Aug.  10),  because,  if  we  believe  Ludlow, 
the  Ulster  men  had  been  the  chief  actors  in 
the  murder  of  the  Enghsh,  and  liberty  of 
religion  would   prove  dangerous   to  public 

{)eaoe.  But  this  rejection  happened  much 
ater.  It  is  plain  that  Jones,  Monk,  Coot^ 
and  O'Neil  understood  that  the  agreemeqt 
would  be  ratified,  though  it  was  delayed.— 
Walker,  ii.  198,  231,  245.  See  King's  PamplH 
lets,  428,  435,  437. 

2  Cromwell  received  three  thousand 
pounds  for  his  outfit,  ten  pounds  per  day  as 
general  while  he  remained  in  England,  and 
two  thousand  pounds  per  quarter  in  Irelancif 
besides  his  salary  as  lord  lieutenant.— 
Council  Book,  July  12,  No.  10. 
^  Whitelock  413.  Leicester's  Journal,  Ii* 


.D.  1649.] 


BATTLE  OF  RATHMINES. 


135 


was  on  account  of  his  past  services 
ad  good  intentions.  Peters  from  the 
ulpit  employed  his  eloquence  to  re- 
love  the  blame  from  the  grandees; 
ad,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  sequel, 
romises  were  made,  not  only  that 
le  good  cause  should  be  supported, 
ut  that  the  duty  of  revenge  should 
e  amply  discharged.' 

While  the  army  was  thus  detained 
1  the  neighbourhood  of  Milford 
laven,  Jones,  in  Dublin,  reaped 
ae  laurels  which  Cromwell  had 
estined  for  himself.  The  royal  army 
dvanced  on  both  banks  of  the  Liffy  to 
he  siege  of  that  capital;  and  Ormond, 
'om  his  quarters  at  Pinglass,  ordered 
ertain  works  to  be  thrown  up   at 

place  called  Bogotrath.  His  object 
'as  to  exclude  the  horse  of  the  gar- 
ison  from  the  only  pasturage  in  their 
ossession ;  but  by  some  mishap,  the 
working  party  did  not  reach  the  spot 
ill  an  hour  before  sunrise;  and  Jones, 
allying  from  the  walls,  overpowered 
he  guard,  and  raised  an  alarm  in  the 
amp.  The  confusion  of  the  royahsts 
ncouraged  him  to  follow  up  his  suc- 
ess.  Eegiment  after  regiment  was 
•eaten :  it  was  in  vain  that  Ormond, 
xoused  from  his  sleep,  flew  from  post 
o  post ;  the  different  corps  acted 
without  concert ;  a  general  panic 
insued,  and  the  whole  army  on  the 
ight  bank  fled  in  every  direction. 
Che  artillery,  tents,  baggage,  and 
'immunition  fell  into  the  hands  of 
'ihe  conquerors,  with  two  thousand 
prisoners,  three  hundred  of  whom 
*  vera  massacred  in  cold  blood  at  the 
^te  of  the  city.  This  was  called  the 
)attle  of  Rathmines,  a  battle  which 
lestroyed  the  hopes  of  the  Irish 
'•oyalists  and  taught  men  to  doubt 
he  abilities  of  Ormond.    At  court, 


1  WaJker,  ii.  230,  243.    Whitelock,  416. 
tuMester's  Journal,  82. 

iEing's  Pamphlets,  No.  434,  xxi.  Wliite- 
look,  410,  1,  2,  4,  5,  7,  9.  Clarendon,  viii, 
92,  93.  Carte,  Letters,  ii.  394,  402,  408. 
"  ii.  346.  Ludlow,  i,  257, 258.  Ormond, 


his  enemies  ventured  to  hint  sus- 
picions of  treason;  but  Charles,  to 
silence  their  murmurs  and  assure 
him  of  the  royal  favour,  sent  him  the 
order  of  the  garter. ^ 

The  news  of  this  important  victory 
hastened  the  departure  of  Cromwell. 
He  sailed  from  Milford  with  a  single 
division ;  his  son-in-law,  Ireton,  fol- 
lowed with  the  remainder  of  the  army, 
and  a  fortnight  was  allowed  to  the 
soldiers  to  refresh  themselves  after 
their  voyage.  The  campaign  was 
opened  with  the  siege  of  Drogheda. 
Ormond  had  thrown  into  the  town  a 
garrison  of  two  thousand  five  hundred 
chosen  men,  under  the  command  of 
Sir  Arthur  i^ston,  an  oflBcer  who  had 
earned  a  brilliant  reputation  by  his 
services  to  the  royal  cause  in  England 
during  the  civil  war.  On  the  eighth 
day  a  sufBcient  breach  had  been  ef- 
fected in  the  wall:  the  assailants  on 
the  first  attempt  were  driven  back 
with  immense  loss.  They  returned  a 
second,  perhaps  a  third,  time  to  the 
assault,  and  their  perseverance  was  at 
last  crowned  with  success.  But  strong 
works  with  ramparts  and  pallisades 
had  been  constructed  within  the 
breach,  from  which  the  royalists 
might  have  long  maintained  a  san- 
guinary, and  perhaps  doubtful  con- 
flict. These  intrenchment^,  however, 
whether  the  men  were  disheartened 
by  a  sudden  panic,  or  deceived  by 
offers  of  quarter— for  both  causes  have 
been  assigned— the  enemy  was  suf- 
fered to  occupy  without  resistance. 
Cromwell  (at  what  particular  moment 
is  uncertain)  gave  orders  that  no  one 
belonging  to  the  garrison  should  be 
spared;  and  Aston,  his  officers  and 
men,  having  been  previously  disarmed, 
were  put  to  the  sword.    Erom  thence 


before  his  defeat,  confidently  predicted  the 
fall  of  Dublin  (Carte,  Letters,  ii.  383,  389, 
391)  ;  after  it,  he  repeatedly  asserts  that 
Jones,  to  magnify  his  own  services,  makes 
the  royalists  amount  to  eighteen,  whereas, 
in  reality,  they  were  only  eight,  thousand 
men.— Ibid.  402,  413. 


136 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


the  conquerors,  stimulated  by  revenge 
and  fanaticism,  directed  their  fury 
against  the  townsmen,  and  on  the 
next  morning  one  thousand  unre- 
sisting victims  were  immolated  to- 
gether within  the  walls  of  the  great 
church,  whither  they  had  fled  for 
protection.'  From  Drogheda  the  con- 
queror led  his  men,  flushed  with 
slaughter,  to  the  siege  of  Wexford. 
The  mayor  and  governor  offered  to 
capitulate ;  but  whilst  their  commis- 
sioners were  treating  with  Cromwell, 
an  officer  perfidiously  opened  the 
castle  to  the  enemy;  the  adjacent 
wall  was  immediately  scaled;  and, 
after  a  stubborn  but  unavailing  re- 
sistance in  the  market-place,  Wexford 
was  abandoned  to  the  mercy  of  the 
assailants.  The  tragedy,  so  recently 
acted  at  Drogheda,  was  renewed.  No 
distinction  was  made  between  the 
defenceless  inhabitant  and  the  armed 
soldier;  nor  could  the  shrieks  and 
prayers  of  three  hundred  females, 
who  had  gathered  round  the  great 
cross,  preserve  them  from  the  swords 
of  these  ruthless  barbarians.  By 
Cromwell  himself,  the  number  of 
the  slain  is  reduced  to  two,  by  some 
writers  it  has  been  swelled  to  five, 
thousand.^ 

Ormond,  unable  to  interrupt  the 
bloody  career  of  his  adversary,  waited 
with  impatience  for  the  determination 
of  O'Neil.  Hitherto  that  chieftain 
bad  faithfully  performed  his  engage- 
ments with  the  parliamentary  com- 
manders. He  had  thrown  impedi- 
ments in  the  way  of  the  royalists ; 
he  had  compelled  Montgomery  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Londonderry,  and 
had   rescued    Coote   and   his   small 


I  See  Carte's  Ormond,  ii.  84 ;  Carte,  Let- 
ters, iv.  412;  PMlop,  Iren.  i.  120;  White- 
lock,  428;  Ludlow,  i.  261;  Lynch,  Cam- 
brensis  Eversus,  in  fine;  King's  Pamph. 
441,  447 ;  Ormond  in  Carte's  Letters,  ii. 
412 ;  and  Cromwell  in  Carlyle's  Letters  and 
Speeches,  i.  457.        -  See  Appendix,  SSS. 

s  Council  Book,  Aug.  6,  No.  67,  68,  69,70. 
Jonrn.  Aug.  10,  24.  Walker,  ii.  245—248. 
KiDg'a  Pamphlets,  No.  436  zi. ;  437,  xxxiii. 


army,  the  last  hope  of  the  parliame 
in  Ulster,  from  the  fate  which  seem 
to  await  them.  At  first  the  lead( 
in  London  had  hesitated,  now  aft  ' 
the  victory  of  Eathmines  they  pu 
licly  refused  to  ratify  the  treat: 
made  with  him  by  their  officer 
Sfcung  with  indignation,  O'Neil  f 
cepted  the  offers  of  Ormond,  a: 
marched  from  Londonderry  to  jc 
the  royal  army ;  but  his  progress  w 
retarded  by  sickness,  and  he  died 
Clocknacter  in  Cavan.  His  office 
however,  fulfilled  his  intentions ;  t 
arrival  of  the  men  of  Ulster  reviv 
the  courage  of  their  associates;  a 
the  English  general  was  successive 
foiled  in  his  attempts  upon  Du 
cannon  and  Waterford.  His  for( 
already  began  to  suffer  from  the  i 
clemency  of  the  season,  when  Lo 
Broghill,  who  had  lately  return 
from  England,  debauched  the  fideli 
of  the  regiments  under  Lord  Incl 
quin.  The  garrisons  of  Cork,  Yough 
Bandon,  and  Kinsale,  declared  for  t 
parliament,  and  Cromwell  seized  t 
opportunity  to  close  the  campaif 
and  place  his  followers  in  wint 
quarters.* 

But  inactivity  suited  not  his  poll' 
or  inclination.  After  seven  wee 
of  repose  he  again  summoned  the 
into  the  field;  and  at  the  head 
twenty  thousand  men,  well  appoint* 
and  disciplined,  confidently  antic 
pated  the  entire  conquest  of  Irelan 
The  royalists  were  destitute  of  mone 
arms,  and  ammunition ;  a  pestilent! 
disease,  introduced  with  the  cargo 
a  ship  from  Spain,  ravaged  their  qua 
ters ;  in  the  north,  Charlemont  alor 
acknowledged  the  royal  authority ;  i 


The  reader  must  not  confound  this  Owen  Bi 
O'Neil  with  another  of  the  same  name,  oi 
of  the  regicides,  who  claimed  a  debt  of  fi' 
thousand  and  sixty-five  pounds  sevente* 
shilhngs  and  sixpence  ot  the  pariiamer 
and  obtained  an  order  for  it  to  be  paid  o 
of  the  forfeited  lands  in  Ireland.— Joor 
1653,  Sept.  9. 

*  Phil.  Iren.  i.  231.    Carte's  Ormond, 
102.    Desid.  Curios.  Hib.  ii.  621. 


D.  1650.] 


SUCCESS  OF  CROMWELL. 


137 


einster  and  Munster,  almost  every 
ace  of  importance  had  been  wrested 
om  them  by  force  or  perfidy ;  and 
en  in  Connaught,  their  last  refuge, 
ternal  dissension  prevented  that 
lion  which  alone  could  save  them 
om  utter  destruction.  Their  mis- 
rtunes  caUed  into  action  the  fac- 
ms  which  had  lain  dormant  since 
le  departure  of  the  nuncio.  The 
icent  treachery  of  Inchiquin's  forces 
id  engendered  feelings  of  jealousy 
id  suspicion;  and  many  contended 
lat  it  was  better  to  submit  at  once 
t  the  conqueror  than  to  depend  on 
le  doubtful  fidelity  of  the  lord  lieute- 
mt.  Cromwell  met  with  little  re- 
stance  :  wherever  he  came,  he  held 
at  the  promise  of  life  and  liberty  of 
jnscience ;'  but  the  rejection  of  the 
3er,  though  it  were  afterwards  ac- 
3pted,  was  punished  with  the  blood 
f  the  ofQcers,  and,  if  the  place  were 
iken  by  force,  with  indiscriminate 
aughter."  Proceeding  on  this  plan, 
ne  day  granting  quarter,  another 
utting  the  leaders  only  to  the  sword, 
nd  on  the  next  immolating  the  whole 
arrison,  hundreds  of  human  beings 
t  a  time,  he  quickly  reduced  most  of 
tie  towns  and  castles  in  the  three 
ounties  of  Limerick,  Tipperary,  and 
Qlkenny.  But  this  bloody  policy  at 
angth  recoiled  upon  its  author.  Men, 
yith  no  alternative  but  victory  or 
.eath,  learned  to  fight  with  the 
inergy  of  despair.  At  the  siege  of 
Kilkenny  the  assailants,  though  twice 
epulsed  from  the  breach,  were,  by 


1  Liberty  of  conscience  he  explained  to 
aean  liberty  of  internal  belief,  not  of  ei- 
ernal  worslup. — See  his  letter  in  Phil.  Iren. 

270. 

*  The  Irish  commanders  disdained  to 
■mitate  the  cruelty  of  their  enemies.  "I 
ook,"  says  Lord  Castlehaven,  "Athy  by 
>tonn,  with  all  the  garrison  (seven  hundred 
nen)  prisoners.  I  made  a  present  of  them 
o  Cromwell,  desiring  him  by  letter  that  he 
vonld  do  the  like  with  me,  as  any  of  mine 
should  fall  in  his  power.  But  he  little  valued 
ny  civility.  For,  in  a  few  days  after,  he 
besieged  Gouvan ;  and  the  soldiers  mutiny- 
ng,  and  giving  up   the  place  with  their 


the  timidity  of  some  of  the  inha- 
bitants, admitted  within  the  walls; 
yet,  so  obstinate  was  the  resistance  of 
the  garrison,  that  to  spare  liis  own 
men,  the  general  consented  to  grant 
them  honourable  terms.  Erom  Kil- 
kenny he  proceeded  to  the  town  of 
Clonmel,  where  Hugh,  the  son  of  the 
deceased  O'Neil,  commanded  with 
one  thousand  two  hundred  of  the  best 
troops  of  Ulster.  The  duration  of 
the  siege  exhausted  his  patience ;  the 
breach  was  stormed  a  second  time ; 
and,  after  a  conflict  of  four  hours,  the 
English  were  driven  back  with  con- 
siderable loss.  The  garrison,  how- 
ever, had  expended  their  ammuni- 
tion; they  took  advantage  of  the 
confusion  of  the  enemy  to  depart 
during  the  darkness  of  the  night; 
and  the  townsmen  the  next  morning, 
keeping  the  secret,  obtained  from 
Cromwell  a  favourable  capitulation.^ 
This  was  his  last  exploit  in  Ireland. 
Erom  Clonmel  he  was  recalled  to 
England,  to  undertake  a  service  of 
greater  importance  and  difficulty,  to 
which  the  reader  must  now  direct  his 
attention. 

The  young  king,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, had  left  the  Hague  on  his  cir- 
cuitous route  to  Ireland,  whither  he 
had  been  called  by  the  advice  of  Or- 
mond  and  the  wishes  of  the  royalists. 
He  was  detained  three  months  at  St. 
Germains  by  the  charms  of  a  mistress 
or  the  intrigues  of  his  courtiers,  nor 
did  he  reach  the  island  of  Jersey  till 
long  after  the   disastrous   battle   of 


ofScers,  he  caused  the  governor,  Hammond, 
and  some  other  officers,  to  be  put  to  death." 
— Castlehaven,  107.  Ormond  also  says,  in 
one  of  his  letters,  "  the  next  day  Bathfarn- 
ham  was  taken  by  storm,  and  all  that  were 
in  it  made  prisoners  ;  and  though  five  hun- 
dred soldiers  entered  the  castle  before  any 
officer  of  note,  yet  not  one  creature  was 
killed;  which  I  tell  you  by  the  way,  to 
observe  the  difference  betwixt  our  and  tho 
rebels  making  use  of  a  victory." — Carte, 
Letters,  ii.  408. 

3  Whitelock,  449,  456.    Castlehaven,  108-. 
Ludlow,  i.  265.    Perfect  Politician,  70. 


138 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  3 


Bathmines.  That  event  made  his 
further  progress  a  matter  of  serious 
discussion ;  and  the  diflBculty  was 
increased  by  the  arrival  of  Wynram  of 
Libberton,  with  addresses  from  the 
parliament  and  the  kirk  of  Scotland. 
The  first  offered,  on  his  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  authority  as  a  parlia- 
ment, to  treat  with  him  respecting 
the  conditions  proposed  by  their 
former  commissioners  ;  but  the  latter, 
in  language  unceremonious  and  in- 
sulting, laid  before  him  the  sins  of 
his  youth ;  his  refusal  to  allow  the 
Son  of  God  to  reign  over  him  in  the 
pure  ordinances  of  church  govern- 
ment and  worship;  his  cleaving  to 
counsellors  who  never  had  the  glory 
of  God  or  the  good  of  his  people  be- 
fore their  eyes ;  his  admission  to  his 
person  of  that  "fugacious  man  and 
excommunicate  rebel,  James  Gra- 
ham," and,  above  all,  "  his  giving  the 
royal  power  and  strength  to  the 
beast,"  by  concluding  a  peace  "  with 
the  Irish  papists,  the  murderers  of  so 
many  Protestants."  They  bade  him 
remember  the  iniquities  of  his  father's 
house,  and  be  assured  that,  unless  he 
laid  aside  the  "  service-book,  so  stuffed 
with  Eomish  corruptions,  for  the 
reformation  of  doctrine  and  worship 
agreed  upon  by  the  divines  at  West- 
minster," and  approved  of  the  cove- 
nant in  his  three  kingdoms,  without 
which  the  people  could  have  no 
security  for  their  religion  or  liberty, 
he  would  find  that  the  Lord's  anger 
was  not  turned  away,  but  that  his 
hand  was  still  stretched  against  the 
royal  person  and  his  familj;.' 

This  coarse  and  intemperate  lecture 
was  not  calculated  to  make  a  convert 
of  a  young  and  spirited  prince.  In- 
stead of  giving  an  answer,  he  waited 
to  ascertain  the  opinion  of  Or- 
mond ;   and  at  last,  though  inclina- 


1  Clar.  state  Papers,  iji.  App.  89—92. 
Carte's  Letters,  i.  323.  Whitelock,  429. 
Tlie  address  of  the  kirk  was  composed  by 
Mr.  Wood,  and  disapproved  l^the  more 


tion  prompted  him  to  throw  himst 
into  the  arms  of  his  Irish  adheren 
he  reluctantly  submitted  to  the  a 
thority  of  that  officer,  who  declart 
that  the  only  way  to  preserve  Irelai 
was  by  provoking  a  war  betwC' 
England  and  Scotland.-  Charles  nc 
condescended  to  give  to  the  conve 
tion  the  title  of  estates  of  parliamei 
appointed  Breda,  a  small  town,  t: 
private  patrimony  of  the  prince 
Orange,  for  the  place  of  treaty ;  ai 
met  there  the  new  commissioners,  tl 
earls  of  CassiDis  and  Lothian,  wi' 
two  barons,  two  burgesses,  and  thr 
ministers.  Their  present  scarcely  d 
fered  from  their  former  demand 
nor  were  they  less  unpalatable  to  tl 
king.  To  consent  to  them  appear< 
to  him  an  apostasy  from*  the  principl 
for  which  his  father  fought  and  die< 
an  abandonment  of  the  Scottish  friem 
of  his  family  to  the  mercy  of  his  ta 
their  enemies.  On  the  other  hant 
the  prince  of  Orange  importuned  M 
to  acquiesce ;  many  of  his  counsello; 
suggested  that,  if  he  were  once  on  tl 
throne,  he  might  soften  or  subdue  tl 
obstinacy  of  the  Scottish  parliameni 
and  his  mother,  by  her  letters,  e: 
horted  him  not  to  sacrifice  to  his  fee 
ings  this  his  last  resource,  the  onlyr» 
maining  expedient  for  the  recovery  < 
his  three  kingdoms.  But  the  kk 
had  still  another  resource ;  he  sougl 
delays;  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  tl 
efforts  of  his  friends  in  the  north 
Scotland;  and  he  continued  to  indui. 
a  hope  of  being  replaced  without  coi 
ditions  on  the  ancient  throne  of  h: 
ancestors.^ 

Before  the  king  left  St.  Germain 
he  had  given  to  Montrose  a  commit 
sion  to  raise  the  royal  standard  i 
Scotland.  The  fame  of  that  noblema 
secured  to  him  a  gracious  receptio; 
from  the    northern    sovereigns;   h 


moderate.— Baillie,  ii.  839,  846. 

3  Carte's  Letters,  i.  333,  840. 

3  Carte's  Letters,  i.  338,  855.    WMtelool 
430.    Clarendon,  iii.  343. 


1650.] 


DEFEAT  OF  MONTROSE. 


139 


ed  each  court  in  succession ;  and 
1  obtained  permission  to  levy  men, 
received  aid  either  in  money  or  in 
;ary  stores.  In  autumn  he  de- 
:)hed  the  first  expedition  of  twelve 
sand  men  from  Gottenburg  under 
Lord  Kinnoul ;  but  the  winds  and 
}S  fought  against  the  royalists; 
ral  sail  were  lost  among  the  rooks ; 

when  Kinnoul  landed  at  Kirk- 
,  in  the  Orkneys,  he  could  muster 

eighty  officers  and  one  hundred 
mon  soldiers  out  of  the  whole 
iber.  But  Montrose  was  not  to 
.ppalled  by  ordinary  difficulties, 
ing  received  from  the  new  king  the 
;r  of  the  garter,  he  followed  with 
hundred  men,  mostly  foreigners; 
;d  them  to  the  wreck  of  the  first 
edition,  and  to  the  new  levies,  and 
L  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
rce  of  more  than  one  thousand 
.  His  banner,  on  which  was 
ted  a  representation  of  the  late 
;  decapitated,  with  this  motto, 
dge  and  avenge  my  cause,  O  Lord," 
intrusted  to  young  Menzies  of 
oddels,  and  a  declaration  was  cir- 
ted  through  the  Highlands,  call- 
upon  all  true  Scotsmen  to  aid  in 
blishing  their  king  upon  the 
)ne,  and  in  saving  him  from  the 
ohery  of  those  who,  if  they  had 
in  their  power,  would  sell  him  as 
r  had  sold  his  father,  to  English 
jIs.  Having  transported  his  whole 
e  from  Holm  Sound  to  the  north- 
extremity  of  Caithness,  he  tra- 
;ed  that  and  the  neighbouring 
nty  of  Sutherland,  calling  on  the 
-ves  to  join  the  standard  of  their 
jreign.  But  his  name  had  now 
that  magic  influence  which  suc- 
had  once  thrown  around  it :  and 
several  clans  shunned  his  approach 
3Ugh  fear,  or  watched  his  progress 
Des.  In  the  mean  time  his  declara- 
1  had  been  solemnly  burnt  by  the 
igman  in  the  capital;  the  pulpits 
i  poured  out  denunciations  against 
"  rebel  and  apostate  Montrose,  the 


viperous  brood  of  Satan,  and  the  ac- 
cursed of  God  and  the  kirk ;"  and  a 
force  of  four  thousand  regulars  had 
been  collected  on  Brechin  Moor  under 
the  command  of  General  Leslie,  who 
was  careful  to  cut  ofi"  every  source  of 
information  from  the  royalists.  Mon- 
trose had  reached  the  borders  of  Eoss- 
shire,  when  Colonel  Strachan,  who 
had  been  sent  forward  to  watch  his 
motions,  learned  in  Corbiesdale  that 
the  royalists,  unsuspicious  of  danger, 
lay  at  the  short  distance  of  only  two 
miles.  Calling  his  men  around  him 
under  the  cover  of  the  long  broom  on 
the  moor,  he  prayed,  sang  a  psalm, 
and  declared  that  he  had  consulted 
the  Almighty,  and  knew  as  assuredly 
as  there  was  a  God  in  Heaven,  that 
the  enemies  of  Christ  were  delivered 
into  their  hands.  Then  dividing  his 
small  force  of  about  four  hundred 
men  into  several  bodies,  he  showed  at 
first  a  single  troop  of  horse,  whom  the 
royahsts  prepared  to  receive  with  their 
cavalry;  but  after  a  short  interval, 
appeared  a  second,  then  a  third,  then 
a  fourth ;  and  Montrose  believing  that 
Leslie's  entire  army  was  advancing, 
ordered  the  infantry  to  take  shelter 
among  the  brushwood  and  stunted 
trees  on  a  neighbouring  eminence. 
But  before  this  movement  could  be 
executed,  his  horse  were  broken,  and 
his  whole  force  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the 
enemy.  The  standard-bearer  with 
several  officers  and  most  of  the  natives 
were  slain ;  the  mercenaries  made  a 
show  of  resistance,  and  obtained 
quarter ;  and  Montrose,  whose  horse 
had  been  killed  under  him,  accom- 
panied by  Kinnoul,  wandered  on  foot, 
without  a  guide,  up  the  valley  of  the 
Kyle,  and  over  the  mountains  of 
Sutherland.  Kinnoul,  unable  to  bear 
the  hunger  and  fatigue,  was  left  and 
perished ;  Montrose,  on  the  third  day, 
obtained  refreshment  at  the  hut  of  a 
shepherd ;  and,  being  afterwards  dis- 
covered, claimed  the  protection  of 
Maoleod  of  Assynt,  who  had  formerly 


140 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAT 


served  under  him  in  the  royal  army. 
But  the  fideUty  of  the  laird  was  not 
proof  against  temptation ;  he  sold  the 
king's  lieutenant  for  four  hundred 
bolls  of  meal ;  and  Argyle  and  his  as- 
sociates, almost  frantic  with,  joy,  passed 
an  act  to  regulate  the  ignominious 
treatment  to  which  their  captive 
should  be  subjected,  the  form  of  the 
judgment  to  be  pronounced,  and  the 
manner  of  his  subsequent  execution. 
When  Montrose  reached  the  capital, 
he  found  the  magistrates  in  their 
robes  waiting  to  receive  him.  Eirst 
the  royal  ofl&cers,  twenty-three  in 
number,  were  ranged  in  two  files,  and 
ordered  to  walk  forward  manacled  and 
bareheaded ;  next  came  the  hangman 
with  his  bonnet  on  his  head,  dressed 
in  the  livery  of  his  office,  and  mounted 
on  his  horse  that  drew  a  vehicle  of 
new  form  devised  for  the  occasion; 
and  then  on  this  vehicle  was  seen 
Montrose  himself,  seated  on  a  lofty 
form,  and  pinioned,  and  uncovered. 
The  procession  paraded  slowly  through 
the  city  from  the  Watergate  to  the 
common  gaol,  whilst  the  streets  re- 
sounded with  shouts  of  triumph,  and 
with  every  expression  of  hatred  which 
religious  or  political  fanaticism  could 
inspire.' 

From  his  enemies  Montrose  could 
expect  no  mercy ;  but  his  death  was 
hastened,  that  the  king  might  not 
have  time  to  intercede  in  his  favour. 
The  following  day,  a  Sunday,  was 
indeed  given  to  prayer;  but  on  the 
next  the  work  of  vengeance  was  re- 
sumed, and  the  captive  was  summoned 
before  the  parliament.  His  features, 
pale  and  haggard,  showed  the  fatigue 
and  privations  which  he  had  endured ; 
but  his  dress  was  splendid,  his  mien 
fearless,  his  language  calm,  firm,  and 
dignified.    To  the  chancellor,  who,  in 


^  Carte's  Letters,  i.  345.  Balfour,  iii. 
432,  439;  iv.  8—13.  Whitelock,  435,  452, 
453,  454,  455.  Clarendon,  iii.  348—353. 
Laing,  iii.  443.  The  neighbonring  clans 
ravaged  the  lauds  of  Assynt  to  r«yenge  the 


a  tone  of  bitterness  and  reproba 
enumerated  the  ofiences  with  y, 
he  was  charged,  he  replied,  that ! 
the  king  had  condescended  to 
with  them  as  estates,  it  became  i 
subject  to  dispute   their  autho 
but  that  the  apostasy  and  rebe 
with   which    they   reproached 
were,  in  his  estimation,  acts  of  ( 
Whatever  he  had  done,  either  ii 
last  or  present  reign,  had  been 
with  the  sanction  of  the  sever 
If  he  had  formerly  taken  up  am 
had  been  to  divert  his  countrj 
from  the  impious  war  which 
waged  against  the  royal  authori 
England;  if  now,  his  object  w; 
accelerate   the   existing    negoti: 
between  them  and  their  new  ; 
As  a  Christian,  he  had  always 
ported  that  cause  which  his  consci 
approved;   as   a   subject,  he  al 
fought  in  support  of  his  prince ; 
as   a  neighbour,  he  had  frequ( 
preserved  the  lives  of  those  whc 
forfeited  them  against  him  in 
The  chancellor,  in  return,  de 
him  a  murderer  of  his  fellow-sul 
an  enemy  to  the  covenant 
peace  of  the  kingdom,  and  an  a^ 
whose  ambition  had  helped  to 
the  father,  and  was  now  emploj 
the  destruction  of  the  son. 
ment,  which  had  been  passed  i^ 
liament  some  days  before,  wj 
pronounced  by  the   dempster,' 
Ja.nes  Graham  should  be  hange* 
the  space  of  three  hours  on  a  gi 
thirty  feet  high,  that  his  head  sh 
be  fixed  on  a  spike  in  Edinburgh 
arms  on  the  gates  of  Perth  or  l 
ling,  his  legs  on  those  of  Glasgow 
Aberdeen,  and  his  body  be  inte 
by  the  hangman  on  the  burrown 
unless  he  were   previously  rele 
from  excommunication  by  the  1 


fate  of  Montrose,  and  the  parliament  | 
in  return  to  Macleod  twenty  th 
pounds  Scota  out  of  the  fines  to  be  le' 
the  royalists  in  Caithness  and  Orl 
Balf.  ir.  62,  56. 


1650.] 


EXECUTION  OF  MONTllOSE. 


141 


ing  this  trying  scene,  his  ene- 
i  eagerly  watched  his  demeanour, 
ce,  if  we  may  beUeve  report,  he 
heard  to  sigh,  and  his  eyes  occa- 
ally  wandered  along  the  cornice 
tie  hall.    But  he  stood  before  them 

and  collected;  no  symptom  of 
;urbation  marked  his  counte- 
ce,  no  expression  of  complaint 
impatience  escaped  his  lips;  he 
wed  himself  superior  to  insult,  and 
cared  at  the  menaces  of  death, 
he  same  high  tone  of  feeling  sup- 
ted  the  unfortunate  victim  to  the 

gasp.  When  the  ministers  ad- 
aished  him  that  his  punishment 
his  world  was  but  a  shadow  of  that 
ich  awaited  him  in  the  next,  he 
ignantly  replied,  that  he  gloried 
lis  fate,  and  only  lamented  that  he 
I  not  hmbs  sufficient  to  furnish 
ry  city  in  Christendom  with  proofs 
his  loyalty.  On  the  scaffold,  he 
intained  the  uprightness  of  his 
iduct,  praised  the  character  of  the 
!sent  king,  and  appealed  from  the 
isures  of  the  kirk  to  the  justice  of 
faven.  As  a  last  disgrace,  the  exe- 
ioner  hung  round  his  neck  his  late 
ilaration,  with  the  history  of  his 
mer  exploits.  He  smiled  at  the 
dice  of  his'  enemies,  and  said  that 
ij  had  given  him  a  more  brilliant 
3oration  than  the  garter  with  which 
had  been  honoured  by  his  soveregn. 
ontrose,  by  his  death,  won  more 
oselytes  to  the  royal  cause  than  he 
d  ever  made  by  his  victories.  He 
IS  in  his  thirty-eighth  year.' 


Balfour,  iv.  13,  15,  16,  19—23.  Wishart, 
h  Clar,  iii.  353—356.  Whiteloek,  456. 
lonel  Hurry,  whom  tho  reader  has  seen 
ocessively  serving  under  the  king  and  the 
rhament  in  the  ciyil  war;  Spotiswood, 
3  grandson  of  the  archbishop  of  that 
me ;  Sir  W.  Hay,  who  had  been  for- 
ted  as  a  Catholic  in  1647  ;;  Sibbald,  the 
afidential  envoy  of  Montrose,  and  several 
hers,  were  beheaded.  Of  the  common 
Idiera,  some  were  given  to  different  lords 

be  fishermen  or  miners,   and  the  rest 
crolled  in  regiments  in  the  French  service, 
Balfour,  iv.  18,  27,  28,  32,  33,  44. 
2  Carte,  iv.  626. 


Long  before  this  the  commissioners 
from  both  parties  had  met  at  Breda ; 
and,  on  the  very  day  of  the  opening 
of  the  conferences,  Charles  had  de- 
spatched an  order  to  Montrose  to 
proceed  according  to  his  instructions, 
and  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  success 
of  the  negotiation  at  Breda  depended 
on  the  success  of  his  arms  in  Scot- 
land.* A  month  afterwards  he  com- 
mended in  strong  terms  the  loyalty  of 
Lord  Napier,  and  urged  him  to  re- 
pair without  delay  to  the  aid  of  his 
lieutenant.^  It  is  impossible  after 
this  to  doubt  of  his  approbation  of 
the  attempt;  but,  when  the  news 
arrived  of  the  action  at  Corbiesdale, 
his  eyes  were  opened  to  the  danger 
which  threatened  him;  the  estates, 
in  the  insolence  of  victory,  might 
pass  an  act  to  exclude  him  at  once 
from  the  succession  to  the  Scottish 
throne.  Acting,  therefore,  after  the 
unworthy  precedent  set  by  his  father 
respecting  the  powers  given  to 
Glamorgan,  he  wrote  to  the  parlia- 
ment, protesting  that  the  invasion 
made  by  Montrose  had  been  expressly 
forbidden  by  him,  and  begging  that 
they  "would  do  him  the  justice  to 
believe  that  he  had  not  been  accessory 
to  it  in  the  least  degree ;"  in  confirma- 
tion of  which  the  secretary  at  the 
same  time  assured  Argyle  that  the 
king  felt  no  regret  for  the  defeat  of  a 
man  who  had  presumed  to  draw  the 
sword  "  without  and  contrary  to  the 
royal  command."  *  These  letters  ar- 
rived too  late  to  be  of  injury  to  the 


3  Napier's  Montrose,  ii.  528.  Yet  on 
May  5th  the  kisg  signed  an  article,  stipu- 
lating that  Montrose  should  lay  down  hie 
arms,  receiving  a  lull  indemnity  for  all  that 
was  past. — Carte,  iv.  630.  This  article 
reached  Edinburgh  before  the  execution  of 
Montrose,  and  was  kept  secret.  I  see  not, 
however,  what  benefit  he  could  claim  from 
it.  He  had  not  laid  down  arms  in  obe- 
dience to  it ;  for  he  had  been  defeated  a 
week  before  it  was  signed. 

*  Balfour,  iv.  24,  25.  Yet  on  May  15th 
Charles  wrote  to  Montrose  to  act  according 
to  the  article  in  the  last  note.— Ibid. 


142 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap 


unfortunate  victim,  whose  limbs  were 
already  bleaching  on  the  gates  of  the 
principal  towns  in  Scotland ;  but  the 
falsehood  so  confidently  put  forth 
must  cover  with  infamy  the  prince 
who  could  thus,  to  screen  himself 
from  the  anger  of  his  enemies, 
calumniate  the  most  devoted  of  his 
followers,  one  who  had  so  often 
perilled,  and  at  length  forfeited,  his 
life  in  defence  of  the  throne. 
t  Charles  had  now  no  resource  but  to 
sjubmit  with  the  best  grace  to  the 
demands  of  the  Scots.  He  signed  the 
treaty,  binding  himself  to  take  the 
Scottish  covenant  and  the  solemn 
league  and  covenant ;  to  disavow  and 
declare  null  the  peace  with  the  Irish, 
and  never  to  permit  the  free  exercise 
of  the  Catholic  religion  in  Ireland,  or 
any  other  part  of  his  dominions ;  to 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  all  par- 
liaments held  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  late  war ;  and  to  govern,  in 
civil  matters,  by  advice  of  the  parlia- 
ment, in  religious,  by  that  of  the 
kirk.'  These  preliminaries  being 
settled,  he  embarked  on  board  a  small 
squadron  furnished  by  the  prince  of 
Orange,  and,  after  a  perilous  naviga- 
tion of  three  weeks,  during  which  he 
had  to  contend  with  the  stormy 
weather,  and  to  elude  the  pursuit  of 
the  parliamentary  cruisers,  he  arrived 
in  safety  in  the  Frith  of  Cromarty. 
The  king  was  received  with  the 
honours  due  to  his  dignity ;  a  court 
with  proper  officers  was  prepared  for 
him  at  Falkland,  and  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds  Scots,  or 
nine  thousand  pounds  English,  was 
voted  for  the  monthly  expense  of  his 
household.  But  the  parliament  had 
previously  passed  an  act  banishing 
from  Scotland  several  of  the  royal 
favourites  by  name,  and  excluding 
the  "  engagers  "  from  the  verge  of  the 
court,  and   all  employment  in  the 


1  Thnrloe,  i.  147. 

=»  Balfour,  iv.  4,1,  60,  61, 


state.  After  repeated  applicati 
the  duke  of  Buckingham,  the  I 
Wilmot,  and  a  few  English  serva 
who  took  the  covenant,  obtained 
mission  to  remain  with  the  k 
many  of  the  Scottish  exiles  embr; 
the  opportunity  to  withdraw  f 
notice  into  the  western  isles,  or 
more  distant  parts  of  the  country. 
It  was  the  negotiation  between 
Scots  and  their  noniinal  king 
arrested  Cromwell  in  the  caree 
victory,  and  called  him  away  from 
completion  of  his  conquest, 
rulers  of  the  commonwealth  t 
aware  of  the  intimate  connec 
which  the  solemn  league  and  c< 
nant  had  produced  between  the  I 
lish  Presbyterians  and  the  kirl 
Scotland,  whence  they  naturally 
ferred  that,  if  the  pretender  to 
English  were  once  seated  on 
Scottish  throne,  their  own  po 
would  be  placed  on  a  very  precari 
footing.  From  the  first  they 
watched  with  jealousy  the  unfrier 
proceedings  of  the  Scottish  pai'^j 
ment.  Advice  and  persuasion  ll 
been  tried,  and  had  failed.  Tl 
remained  the  resource  of  war;  j 
war,  it  was  hoped,  would  either 
pel  the  Scots  to  abandon  the  cli 
of  Charles,  or  reduce  Scotlan( 
a  province  of  the  commonwe 
Fairfax,  indeed  (he  was  suppose 
be  under  the  influence  of  a  Pre 
terian  wife  and  of  the  Presbytai 
ministers),  disapproved  of  the 
sign  :^  but  his  disapprobation,  th< 
lamented  in  public,  was  privau 
hailed  as  a  benefit  by  those  who  n 
acquainted  with  the  aspiring  deo 
of  Cromwell,  and  built  on  his  eli 
tion  the  flattering  hope  of  their  ( 
greatness.  By  their  means,  as  s 
as  the  lord  lieutenant  had  put 
troops  into  winter  quarters,  an  or^ 
was  obtained  from  parliament  for  1 


78.    -RTiitelock, 
66,67,73,77,    356,357. 
I 


Clarendon,  iii. 
3  Whitelockj  41 


i 


).  1659.] 


INVASION  OF  SCOTLAND. 


143 


attend  his  duty  in  the  house ;  but 
resumed  his  military  operations^ 
i  two  months  were  suffered  to 
pse  before  he  noticed  the  command 
the  supreme  authority,  and  con- 
icended  to  make  an  unmeaning 
jlogy  for  his  disobedience.  On  the 
lewal  of  the  order,  he  left  the  com- 
,nd  in  Ireland  to  Ireton,  and,  re- 
•ning  to  England,  appeared  in  his 
t.  He  was  received  with  acclama- 
Qs ;  the  palace  of  St.  James's  was 
)tted  for  his  residence,  and  a  valu- 
e  grant  of  lands  was  voted  as  a 
vard  for  his  eminent  services.  In 
3W  days  followed  the  appointment 
Fairfax  to  the  oflB.ce  of  commander- 
chief,  and  of  Cromwell  to  that  of 
utenant-general  of  the  army  de- 
ned  to  be  employed  in  Scotland, 
ch  signified  his  "readiness  to  ob- 
ve  the  orders  of  the  house ;"  but 
irfax  at  the  same  time  revealed  his 
ret  and  conscientious  objections  to 
)  council  of  state.  A  deputation  of 
3  members,  Cromwell,  Lambert, 
irrison,  Whitelock,  and  St.  John, 
ited  on  him  at  his  house ;  the  con- 
ence  was  opened  by  a  solemn  invo- 
ion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
•ee  officers  prayed  in  succession 
:h  the  most  edifying  fervour.  Then 
irfax  said  that,  to  his  .mind,  the 
rasion  of  Scotland  appeared  a 
ilation  of  the  solemn  league  and 
/enant  which  he  had  sworn  to 
serve.  It  was  replied,  that  the 
ots  themselves  had  broken  the 
~gue  by  the  invasion  of  England 
der  the  duke  of  Hamilton;  and 
at  it  was  always  lawful  to  prevent 

2  hostile  designs  of  another  power, 
it  he  answered  that  the  Scottish 
rliament  had  given  satisfaction  by 

3  punishment  of  the  guilty ;  that 
eprobabihtyof  hostile  designs  ought 


■  WMtelock,  460,  462,  Ludlow  saya,  "  he 
;ed  his  part  so  to  the  life,  that  I  really 
)iight  him  in  earnest ;  but  the  conse- 
ence  made  it  snSiciently  evident  that  he 
dno  such  intention"  (1.272).    Hatchin- 


indeed  to  lead  to  measures  of  precau- 
tion, but  that  certainty  was  required 
to  justify  actual  invasion.  No  im- 
pression was  made  on  his  mind ;  and, 
though  Cromwell  and  his  brother 
ofl&cers  earnestly  solicited  him  to 
comply,  "there  was  cause  enough,'* 
says  one  of  the  deputation,  "  to 
believe  that  they  did  not  overmuch 
desire  it."'  The  next  day  another 
attempt  ended  with  as  little  success ; 
the  lord  general,  alleging  the  plea  of 
infirm  health  and  misboding  con- 
science, sent  back  the  last  commission, 
and  at  the  request  of  the  house,  the 
former  also ;  and  the  chief  command 
of  all  the  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised 
by  order  of  parliament,  was  conferred 
on  Oliver  Cromwell.  Thus  this  ad- 
venturer obtained  at  the  same  time 
the  praise  of  moderation  and  the 
object  of  his  ambition.  Immediately 
he  left  the  capital  for  Scotland ;  and 
Fairfax  retired  to  his  estate  in  York- 
shire, where  he  lived  with  the  privacy 
of  a  country  gentleman,  till  he  once 
more  drew  the  sword,  not  in  support 
of  the  commonwealth,  but  in  favour 
of  the  king.= 

To  a  spectator  who  considered  the 
preparations  of  the  two  kingdoms, 
there  could  be  little  doubt  of  the 
result.  Cromwell  passed  the  Tweed 
at  the  head  of  sixteen  thousand  men, 
most  of  them  veterans,  all  habituated 
to  military  discipline,  before  the  raw 
levies  of  the  Scots  had  quitted  their 
respective  shires.  By  order  of  the 
Scottish  parliament,  the  army  had 
been  fixed  at  thirty  thousand  men; 
the  nominal  command  had  been  given 
to  the  earl  of  Leven,  the  real,  on 
account  of  the  age  and  infirmities  of 
that  officer,  to  his  relative,  David 
Leslie,  and  instructions  had  been 
issued  that  the  country  between  Ber- 


son,  who  was  present  on  one  of  these  occa- 
sions ,  thought  him  sincere. — Hutchin  son,  315. 
2  Whitelock,  438,  450,  457.  Journals, 
Jan.  8,  Feb.  25,  March  30,  April  15,  May  2, 
7,  30,  June  4, 12, 14,  25, 26. 


344 


THE  COIVIMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


wick  and  the  capital  should  be  laid 
waste,  that  the  cattle  and  provisions 
should  be  removed  or  destroyed,  and 
that  the  inhabitants  should  abandon 
their  homes  under  the  penalties  of 
infamy,  confiscation,  and  death.  In 
aid  of  this  measure,  reports  were  in- 
dustriously circulated  of  the  cruelties 
exercised  by  Cromwell  in  Ireland ; 
that,  wherever  he  came,  he  gave 
orders  to  put  all  the  males  between 
sixteen  and  sixty  to  death,  to  deprive 
all  the  boys  between  six  and  sixteen 
of  their  right  hands,  and  to  bore  the 
breasts  of  the  females  with  red-hot 
irons.  The  English  were  surprised  at 
the  silence  and  desolation  which 
reigned  around  them;  for  the  only 
human  beings  whom  they  met  on 
their  march  through  this  wilderness, 
were  a  few  old  women  and  children, 
who  on  their  knees  solicited  mercy. 
But  Cromwell  conducted  them  by 
the  sea-coast ;  the  fleet  daily  supplied 
them  with  provisions,  and  their  good 
conduct  gradually  dispelled  the  ap- 
prehensions of  the  natives.'  They 
found  the  Scottish  levies  posted  be- 
hind a  deep  intrenchment,  running 
from  Edinburgh  to  Leith,  fortified 
with  numerous  batteries,  and  flanked 
by  the  cannon  of  the  castle  at  one 
extremity,  and  of  the  harbour  at  the 
other.  Cromwell  employed  all  his 
art  to  provoke,  Leslie  to  avoid,  an 
engagement.  It  was  in  vain  that  for 
more  than  a  month  the  former 
marched  and  countermarched ;  that 
he  threatened  general,  and  made 
partial  attacks.  Leslie  remained 
fixed  within  his  lines;  or,  if  he 
occasionally  moved,  watched  the  mo- 
tions of  the  enemy  from  the  nearest 
mountains,  or  interposed  a  river  or 
morass  between  the  two  armies.    The 


1  Whitelock,  465,  466,  468.  Perfect 
Ditirnal,  No.  324.  See  the  three  declara- 
tions :  that  of  the  parliament  on  the  march- 
ing of  the  army ;  of  the  army  itself,  ad- 
dressed "  to  all  that  are  saints  and  par- 
takers of  the  faith  of  God's  elect  in  Scot- 


English  began  to  be  exhausted  w 
fatigue ;  sickness  thinned  their  ran 
the  arrival  of  provisions  depended 
the  winds  and  waves ;  and  Cromv 
was  taught  to  fear,  not  the  valour 
the  enemy,  but  the-  prudence  of  tl 
general.^ 

The  reader  will  already  have 
served  how  much  at  this  period 
exercises  of  religion  were  mixed 
with  the  concerns  of  state  and  e 
the  operations  of  war.    Both  par 
equally  believed  that  the  result 
the  expedition  depended  on  the  ^ 
of  the  Almighty,  and  that    it  \ 
therefore,  their  duty  to  propitiate 
anger   by   fasting    and    humiliati 
In  the    English    army  the  oflSc 
prayed   and  preached:  they  "sa 
tified  the  camp,"'  and  exhorted 
men  to  unity  of  mind  and  godhi 
of  life.    Among  the  Scots  this  d 
was  discharged  by  the  ministers ;  ; 
so  fervent  was  their  piety,  so  merci 
their  zeal,  that,  in  addition  to  tL 
prayers,  they  occasionally  comp 
the  young  king  to  listen  to  six 
sermons   on   the   same  day,  di 
which  he  assumed  an  air  of  gra 
and  displayed  feelings   of  devo 
which  ill-accorded  with  his  real 
position.     But  the  English  ha< 
national  crime  to  deplore ;  by  pui 
ing  the  late  king,  tJiey  had  atone 
the  evils  of  the  civil  war ;  the  S 
on  the  contrary,  had  adopted  his 
without  any  real  proof  of  his  c 
version,    and   therefore   feared   1 
they  might  draw  down  on  the  co 
try  the  punishment  due  to  his 
and  those  of  his  family.    It  happe 
that  Charles,  by  the  advice  of  the 
of   Eglinton,  presumed  to  visit 
army  on  the  Links  of  Leith. 
was  received  with  shouts  of  eni 


land ;"    and,    the    third,    from    Croa 
dated    at    Berwick,   in   the   Parliama 
History,  xix.  276,   298,  310;  EJng'i 
phlets,  473. 

2  Balfour,  iv.  87,  88,  90.    Whitelc 
468. 


.D.  1650.] 


EXPIATOEY  DECLARATION. 


145 


asm  by  the  soldiers,  who,  on  their 
nees,  pledged  the  health  of  their 
Dung  sovereign ;  but  the  committee 
f  the  kirk  complained  that  his  pre- 
;nce  led  to  ebriety  and  profaneness, 
ad  he  received  a  request,  equiva- 
•nt  to  a  command,  to  quit  the  camp, 
he  next  day  a  declaration  was  made, 
lat  the  company  of  malignants,  en- 
igers,  and  enemies  to  the  covenant, 
mid  not  fail  of  multiplying  the 
idgments  of  God  upon  the  land ;  an 
iquiry  was  instituted  into  the  cha- 
icters  of  numerous  individuals ;  and 
ighty  officers,  with  many  of  their 
len,  were  cashiered,  that  they  might 
ot  contaminate  by  their  presence 
le  army  of  the  saints.'  Still  it  was 
)r  Charles  Stuart,  the  chief  of  the 
lalignants,  that  they  were  to  fight, 
nd  therefore  from  him,  to  appease 
Qe  anger  of  the  Almighty,  an  ex- 
iatory  declaration  was  required  in 
he  name  of  the  parliament  and  the 
irk. 

In  this  instrument  he  was  called 
pon  to  lament,  in  the  language  of 
enitence  and  self-abasement,  his 
ither's  opposition  to  the  work  of  God 
nd  to  the  solemn  league  and  cove- 
ant,  which  had  caused  the  blood  of 
he  Lord's  people  to  be  shed,  and  the 
lolatry  of  his  mother,  the  toleration 
f  which  in  the  king's  house  could 
lot  fail  to  be  a  high  provocation 
gainst  him  who  is  a  jealous  God, 
isiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon 
he  children ;  to  declare  that  he  had 
ubscribed  the  covenant  with  sin- 
erity  of  heart,  and  would  have  no 
riends  nor  enemies  but  those  who 
vere  friends  or  enemies  to  it;  to 
cknowledge  the  sinfulness  of  the 
reaty  with  the  bloody  rebels  in  Ire- 
and,  which  he  was  made  to  pro- 
lounce  null  and  void;  to  detest 
>opery  and  prelacy,  idolatry  and 
leresy,  schism  and  profaneness ;  and 


to  promise  that  he  would  accord  to  a 
free  parliament  in  England  the  pro- 
positions of  the  two  kingdoms,  and 
reform  the  church  of  England  ac- 
cording to  the  plan  devised  by  the 
assembly  of  divines  at  Westminster .'-^ 
When  first  this  declaration,  so 
humbling  to  his  pride,  so  offensive 
to  his  feelings,  was  presented  to 
Charles  for  his  signature,  he  returned 
an  indignant  refusal;  a  little  reflec- 
tion induced  him  to  solicit  the  advice 
of  the  council,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
principal  ministers.  But  the  godly 
refused  to  wait ;  the  two  committees 
of  the  kirk  and  kingdom  protested 
that  they  disowned  the  quarrel  and 
interest  of  every  malignant  party, 
disclaimed  the  guilt  of  the  king  and 
his  house,  and  would  never  prosecute 
his  interest  without  his  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  sins  of  his  family  and  of 
his  former  ways,  and  his  promise  of 
giving  satisfaction  to  God's  people  in 
both  kingdoms.  This  protestation 
was  printed  and  furtively  sent  to  the 
English  camp;  the  officers  of  the 
army  presented  to  the  committee  of 
estates  a  remonstrance  and  supplica- 
tion expressive  of  their  adhesion ;  and 
the  ministers  maintained  from  their 
pulpits  that  the  king  was  the  root 
of  malignancy,  and  a  hypocrite,  who 
had  taken  the  covenant  without  an 
intention  of  keeping  it.  Charles, 
yielding  to  his  own  fears  and  the 
advice  of  his  friends,  at  the  end  of 
three  days  subscribed,  with  tears,  the 
obnoxious  instrument.  If  it  were 
folly  in  the  Scots  to  propose  to  the 
young  prince  a  declaration  so  repug- 
nant to  his  feelings  and  opinions,  it 
was  greater  folly  still  to  believe  that 
professions  of  repentance  extorted 
with  so  much  violence  could  be  sin- 
cere or  satisfactory ;  yet  his  subscrip- 
tion was  received  with  expressions  of 
joy  and  gratitude  ;  both  the  army  and 


1  Balfour,  iv.  86,  89. 

»  Balfour,  iv.  92.    Whitelock, 
8 


declaration  by  the  ting's  majesty  to  his 
subjects  of  the  kingdoms  of  Scotland,  Eng- 
land, and  Ireland."    Printed  1650. 


146 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  1 


the  city  observed  a  solemn  fast  for 
the  sins  of  the  two  kings,  the  father 
and  the  son ;  and  the  ministers,  now 
that  the  anger  of  Heaven  had  been 
appeased,  assured  their  hearers  of  an 
easy  victory  over  a  "blaspheming 
general  and  a  sectarian  army." ' 

If  their  predictions  were  not  veri- 
fied, the  fault  was  undoubtedly  their 
own.  The  caution  and  vigilance  of 
Leslie  had  triumphed  over  the  skill 
and  activity  of  "the  blasphemer." 
Cromwell  saw  no  alternative  but 
victory  or  retreat :  of  the  first  he  had 
no  doubt,  if  he  could  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  enemy ;  the  second  was 
a  perilous  attempt,  when  the  passes 
before  him  were  pre-occupied,  and  a 
more  numerous  force  was  hanging  on 
his  rear.  At  Musselburgh,  having 
sent  the  sick  on  board  the  fleet  (they 
sufi'ered  both  from  the  "disease  of  the 
country,"  and  from  fevers  caused  by 
exposure  on  the  Pentland  hills),  he 
ordered  the  army  to  march  the  next 
morning  to  Haddington,  and  thence 
to  Dunbar;  and  the  same  night  a 
meteor,  which  the  imagination  of  the 
beholders  likened  to  a  sword  of  fire, 
was  seen  to  pass  over  Edinburgh  in  a 
south-easterly  direction,  an  evident 
presage,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Scots, 
that  the  flames  of  war  would  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  remotest  extremity  of 
England.^  At  Dunbar,  Cromwell 
posted  his  men  in  the  vicinity  of 
Broxmouth  House;  Leshe  with  the 
Scots  moving  along  the  heights  of 
Lammermuir,  occupied  a  position 
on  the  Doon  Hill,  aloout  two  miles  to 
the  south  of  the  invaders;  and  the 


1  Balfour,  iv.  91,  93,  95.  The  En^rUah 
parliament  in  their  answer  exclaim  :  "What 
a  blessed  and  hopeful  change  ia  wrought  in 
a  moment  in  this  young  king  !  How  hearty 
is  he  become  to  the  cause  of  God  and  the 
work  of  reformation.  How  readily  doth 
he  swallow  down  these  bitter  piUs,"  which 
are  prepared  for  and  urged  upon  him,  as 
necessary  to  effect  that  desperate  cure 
under  which  his  affairs  lie  I  But  who  sees 
not  the  gross  hypocrisy  of  this  whole  trans- 
action, and  the  saody  and  rotten  foaudation 


advanced   posts  of  the  armies  we; 
separated    only  by  a   ravine  of  tl 
depth  and  breadth  of  about  thirty  fet 
Cromwell  was  not   ignorant  of  tl 
danger  of  his  situation ;  he  had  eve 
thought  of  putting  the  infantry  c 
board  the  fleet,  and  of  attempting 
escape  with  the  cavalry  by  the  on 
outlet,  the  high  road  to  Berwick ;  bi 
the  next  moment  he  condemned  tl 
thought  as  "  a  weakness  of  the  fles 
a  distrust  in  the  power  of  the  A 
mighty ;"   and  ordered  the  army  " 
seek  the  Lord,  who  would  assured 
find   a   way   of  deliverance  for  1: 
faithful  servants."    On  the  other  sii 
the  committees  of  the  kirk  and  estat 
exulted  in  the  prospect  of  executii 
the   vengeance   of  God   upon  "t' 
sectaries;"  and  afraid  that  the  eneo 
should  escape,  compelled  their  genei 
to  depart  from  his  usual  caution,  ai 
to  make  preparation  for  battle.  Croi 
well,  with  his  officers,  had  spent  pa 
of  the  day  in  calling  upon  the  Lo^ 
while  he  prayed,  the  enthusiast 
an  enlargement  of  the  heart,  a  bu 
ancy  of  spirit,  which  he  took  for 
infalhble   presage    of  victory;    i 
beholding  through  his  glass  the  ] 
tion  in  the  Scottish  camp,    he 
claimed,  "  They  are  coming   doi 
the  Lord  hath  delivered  them  i 
our  hands."  ^    During  the  night, 
advanced  the  army  to  the  edge  of 
ravine ;  and  at  an  early  hour  in 
morning  the  Scots  attempted  to  se 
the  pass  on  the  road  from  Dunbar 
Berwick.    After  a  sharp  contest,  t 
Scottish  lancers,  aided  by  their  ari 
lery,  charged  down  the  hill,  drove  t 


of  all  the  resolutions  flowing  hereupon 
— See  Parliamentary  History,  lii.  359 — E 

2  Balfour,  iv.  94. 

'  Sagredo,  the  Venetian  ambassador, 
his  relation  to  the  senate,  says  that  Cn 
well  pretended  to  have  been  assured  of 
victory  by  a  supernatural  voice.  Prima' 
venisse  alia  battagUa,  diede  cuore  ai  i 
con  assJcurargli  la  vittoria  predettaglj 
Dio,  con  una  voce,  che  lo  aveva  a 
notte  riscosBO  dal  sonno.  MS.  copy  il 
posseasiou. 


..D.  1650.]        BATTLE  OF  DUNBAEr-"THE  START." 


147 


)rigade  of  English  cavalry  from  its 
(osition,  and  broke  through  the  in- 
antry,  which  had  advanced  to  the 
upport  of  the  horse.  At  that  moment 
he  sun  made  its  appearance  above 
he  horizon ;  and  Cromwell,  turning 
o  his  own  regiment  of  foot,  ex- 
rlaimed,  "Let  the  Lord  arise,  and 
catter  his  enemies."  They  instantly 
noved  forward  with  their  pikes  level- 
ed; the  horse  rallied ;  and  the  enemy's 
ancers  hesitated,  broke,  and  fled.  At 
,hat  moment  the  mist  dispersed,  and 
ihe  first  spectacle  which  struck  the 
ijes  of  the  Scots,  was  the  route  of 
ieir  cavalry.  A  sudden  panic  in- 
itantly  spread  from  the  right  to  the 
eft  of  their  line ;  at  the  approach  of 
;he  English  they  threw  down  their 
inns  and  ran.  Cromwell's  regiment 
aalted  to  sing  the  117th  Psalm ;  but 
:he  pursuit  was  continued  for  more 
shan  eight  miles ;  the  dead  bodies  of 
:hree  thousand  Scots  strewed  their 
aative  soil;  and  ten  thousand  pri- 
soners, with  the  artillery,  ammu- 
nition, and  baggage,  became  the  re- 
ward of  the  conquerors.' 

Cromwell  now  thought  no  more  of 
his  retreat.  He  marched  back  to  the 
capital;  the  hope  of  resistance  was 
abandoned;  Edinburgh  and  Leith 
opened  their  gates,  and  the  whole 
country  to  the  Forth  submitted  to 
the  will  of  the  English  general.  Still 
the  presumption  of  the  six  ministers 
who  formed  the  committee  of  the 
-  kirk  was  not  humbled.  Though  their 
predictions  had  been  falsified,  they 
were  still  the  depositaries  of  the 
secrets  of  the  Deity ;  and,  in  a  "  Short 
Declaration  and  Warning,"  they  an- 
nounced to  their  countrymen  the 
thirteen  causes  of  this  national  cala- 
mity,   the    reasons  why  "God   had 


1  Carte's  Letters,  i.  381.  Whitelock,  470, 
471.  Ludlow,  i.  283.  Balfour,  iv.  97.  Seve- 
ral proceedings.  No.  50.  Pari.  Hist.  xix. 
343—352,  478.  Cromwelliana,  89.  Of  the 
prisoners,  five  thousand  one  hundred,  some- 
thing more  than  one-half,  being  wounded, 
were  dismissed  to  their  homes,  the  other 


veiled  for  a  time  his  face  from  the 
sons  of  Jacob."  It  was  by  the  general 
profaneness  of  the  land,  by  the  mani- 
fest provocations  of  the  king  and  the 
king's  house,  by  the  crooked  and  pre- 
cipitant ways  of  statesmen  in  the 
treaty  of  Breda,  by  the  toleration  of 
mahgnants  in  the  king's  household, 
by  sufiering  his  guard  to  join  in  the 
battle  without  a  previous  purgation, 
by  the  diflidence  of  some  officers  who 
refused  to  profit  by  advantages  fur- 
nished to  them  by  God,  by  the  pre- 
sumption of  others  who  promised 
victory  to  themselves  without  eyeing 
of  God,  by  the  rapacity  and  oppres- 
sion exercised  by  the  soldiery,  and  by 
the  carnal  self-seeking  of  men  in. 
power,  that  God  had  been  provoked 
to  visit  his  people  with  so  direful  and 
yet  so  merited  a  chastisement.'^ 

To  the  young  king  the  defeat  at 
Dunbar  was  a  subject  of  real  and 
ill-dissembled  joy.  Hitherto  he  bad 
been  a  mere  puppet  in  the  hands 
of  Argyle  and  his  party ;  now  their 
power  was  broken,  and  it  was  not 
impossible  for  him  to  gain  the  as- 
cendancy. He  entered  into  a  nego- 
tiation with  Murray,  Huntly,  Athol, 
and  the  numerous  royalists  in  the 
Highlands;  but  the  secret,  without 
the  particulars,  was  betrayed  to 
Argyle,  probably  by  Buckingham, 
who  disapproved  of  the  project ;  and 
all  the  cavaliers  but  three  received  an 
order  to  leave  the  court  in  twenty-four 
hours — the  kingdom  in  twenty  days. 
The  vigilance  of  the  guards  prevented 
the  execution  of  the  plan  which  had 
been  laid ;  but  one  afternoon,  under 
pretence  of  hawking,  Charles  escaped 
from  Perth,  and  riding  forty-two 
miles,  passed  the  night  in  a  miserable 
hovel,  called  Clova,  in  the  braes  of 


half  were  driven  "like  turkies"  into  Eng- 
land. Of  these,  one  thousand  six  hundred 
died  of  a  pestilential  disease,  and  five  hun- 
dred were  actually  sick  on  Oct.  31. — White- 
lock,  471.    Old  Pari.  Hist.  xix.  417. 

2  Balfour,  It.  98—107. 
L  2 


148 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap,  r 


Angus.  At  break  of  day  he  was 
overtaken  by  Colonel  Montgomery, 
who  advised  him  to  return,  while  the 
Viscount  Dudhope  urged  him  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  mountains,  where  he 
would  be  joined  by  seven  thousand 
armed  men.  Charles  wavered:  but 
Montgomery  directed  his  attention 
to  two  regiments  of  horse  that  waited 
at  a  distance  to  intercept  his  progress, 
and  the  royal  fugitive  consented  to 
return  to  his  former  residence  in 
Perth.i 

The  Start  (so  this  adventure  was 
called)  proved,  however,  a  warning  to 
the  committee  of  estates.  They  pru- 
dently admitted  the  apology  of  the 
king,  who  attributed  his  flight  to  in- 
formation that  he  was  that  day  to 
have  been  delivered  to  Cromwell; 
they  allowed  him,  for  the  first  time, 
to  preside  at  their  deliberations ;  and 
they  employed  his  authority  to  pacify 
the  royalists  in  the  Highlands,  who 
had  taken  arms  in  his  name  under 
Huntly,  Athol,  Seaforth,  and  Mid- 
dleton.  These,  after  a  long  nego- 
tiation, accepted  an  act  of  indemnity, 
and  disbanded  their  forces.^ 

•  In  the  mean  while  Cromwell  in  his 
quarters  at  Edinburgh  laboured  to 
unite  the  character  of  the  saint  with 
that  of  the  conqueror ;  and,  sur- 
rounded as  he  was  with  the  splendour 
of  victory,  to  surprise  the  world  by  a 
display  of  modesty  and  self-abase- 
ment. To  his  friends  and  flatterers, 
who  fed  his  vanity  by  warning  him 
to  be  on  his  guard  against  its  sugges- 
tions, he  replied,  that  he  "  had  been 
a  dry  bone,"  and  was  "  still  an  unpro- 


1  Balfour,  iv.  109,  113,  lU.  Baillie,  ii. 
356.  Whitelock,  476.  Miscellanea  Aulica, 
152.  It  seems  probable  from  some  letters 
published  in  the  correspondence  of  Mr. 
Secretary  Nicholas,  that  Charles  had 
planned  his  escape  from  the  "  villany  and 
hypocrisy"  of  the  party,  as  early  as  the  day 
of  the  battle  of  Dunbar. — Evelyn's  Mem. 
Ti.  181—186,  octavo. 

2  Balfour,  iv.  118,  123,  129—135,  160. 
Baillie,  ii.  356.  A  minister,  James  Guthrie, 
in  defiance  of  the  committee  of  estates,  ez- 


fitable  servant,"  a  mere  instrumer 
in  the  hands  of  Almighty  power ;  ; 
God  had  risen  in  his  wrath,  if  he  ha 
bared  his  arm  and  avenged  his  caus< 
to  him,  and  to  him  alone,  belonge 
the  glory .3    Assuming  the  office  of 
missionary,  he  exhorted  his  officers  i 
daily  sermons  to  love  one  another,  t 
repent  from  dead  works,  and  to  pra 
and  mourn  for  the  blindness  of  thei 
Scottish  adversaries ;  and,  pretendin 
to  avail  himself  of  his  present  leisun 
he  provoked  a  theological  controvers 
with  the  ministers  in  the  castle  ( 
Edinburgh,  reproaching   them  wit 
pride  in  arrogating  to  themselves  th 
right  of  expounding  the  true  sense  ( 
the   solemn    league    and   covenant 
vindicating  the  claim  of  laymen  t 
preach  the  gospel  and  exhibit  thei 
spiritual  gifts  for  the  edification  ( 
their  brethren ;  and  maintaining  tha 
after  the  solemn  fasts  observed  b 
both  nations,  after  their  many  an 
earnest  appeals  to  the  God  of  an 
the  victory  gained  at  Dunbar  mi 
be  admitted  an  evident  manifestati 
of  the  divine  will  in  favour  of 
English  commonwealth.  Finding  tl 
he  made  no  proselytes  of  his  opj 
nents,  he  published  his  arguments 
the  instruction  of  the  Scottish  peop| 
but  his  zeal  did  not  escape  suspicic 
and  the  more  discerning  believed  tl 
under  the  cover  of  a  religious  conti 
versy,  he  was  in  reality  tamperin" 
with  the  fidelity  of  the  governor.* 

In  a  short  time  his  attention  wa 
withdrawn  to  a  more  important  con 
troversy,  which  ultimately  spread  th 
flames  of  rehgious  discord  throughou 


communicated  Middleton;  and  such  xrt 
the  power  of  the  kirk,  that  even  when  th 
king's  party  was  superior,  Middleton  w» 
compelled  to  do  penance  in  sackcloth  in  th 
church  of  Dundee,  before  he  could  obtai 
absolution,  preparatory  to  his  taking  a  ( 
mand  in  the  army.— Baillie,  357.  Balfo 
240. 

'  See    a  number  of  letters  in  Milt 
State  Papers,  18—35. 

*  Thurloe  i.  158—163. 


i.D.  1650.] 


RELIGIOUS  CONTROVEESIES. 


149 


ihe  nation.  There  had  all  along  ex- 
sted  a  number  of  Scots  who  approved 
)f  the  execution  of  the  late  king,  and 
jondemned  even  the  nominal  autho- 
rity given  to  his  son.  Of  these  men, 
brmidable  by  their  talents,  still  more 
brmidable  by  their  fanatidsm,  the 
eaders  were  Wariston,  the  clerk 
•egister  in  the  parliament,  and  Gil- 
espie  and  Guthrie,  two  ministers  in 
he  kirk.  In  parliament  the  party, 
:hough  too  weak  to  control,  was  sufi&- 
)iently  strong  to  embarrass,  and  occa- 
lionally  to  influence,  the  proceedings; 
n  the  kirk  it  formed  indeed  the 
ninority,  but  a  minority  too  bold  and 
ioo  numerous  to  be  rashly  irritated 
)r  incautiously  despised. '  After  the 
iefeat  at  Dunbar,  permission  was 
jheerfully  granted  by  the  committee 
)f  estates  for  a  levy  of  troops  in  the 
issociated  counties  of  Renfrew,  Ayr, 
jalloway,  Wigton,  and  Dumfries, 
-hat  part  of  Scotland  where  fana- 
icism  had  long  fermented,  and  the 
nost  rigid  notions  prevailed.  The 
Tusade  was  preached  by  Gillespie; 
lis  efforts  were  successfully  seconded 
3y  the  other  ministers,  and  in  a 
ihort  time  four  regiments  of  horse, 
amounting  almost  to  five  thousand 
nen,  were  raised  under  Strachan, 
tCerr,  and  two  other  colonels.  The 
•eal  design  now  began  to  unfold 
tself.  First,  the  officers  refused  to 
ierve  under  Leslie;  and  the  parlia- 
ment consented  to  exempt  them  from 
lis  authority.  Next,  they  hinted 
loubts  of  the  lawfulness  of  the  war  in 
vhich  they  were  engaged ;  and  Crom- 
vell,  in  whose  army  Strachan  had 
ought  at  Preston,  immediately  opened 
I  correspondence  with  him.^  Then 
»me  the  accident  of  "  the  Start," 
vhich  embittered  and  emboldened 
■he  zeal  of  the  fanatics ;  and  in  a 
ong  remonstrance,  subscribed  by 
uinisters  aud  elders,  by  officers  and 


1  Baillie,  ii.  353. 

»  Baillie,    ii.    350  —  352.     Strachan    was 
nUing  to  give  assurance  not  to  molest  Eng- 


soldiers,  and  presented  in  their  name 
to  Charles  and  the  committee  of 
estates,  they  pronounced  the  treaty 
with  the  king  unlawful  and  sinful, 
disowned  his  interest  in  the  quarrel 
with  the  enemy,  and  charged  the 
leading  men  in  the  nation  with  the 
guilt  of  the  war,  which  they  had  pro- 
voked by  their  intention  of  invading 
England.  The  intemperate  tone  and 
disloyal  tendency  of  this  paper,  whilst 
it  provoked  irritation  and  alarm  at 
Perth,  induced  Cromwell  to  advancd 
with  his  army  from  Edinburgh  to 
Glasgow  and  Hamilton.  But  the 
western  forces  (so  they  were  called) 
withdrew  to  Dumfries,  where  a  meet- 
ing was  held  with  Wariston,  and  a 
new  draught  of  the  remonstrance,  in 
language  still  more  energetic  and 
vituperative,  was  adopted.  On  the 
return  of  Cromwell  to  the  capital,  his 
negotiation  with  the  officers  was  re- 
sumed, while  Argyle  and  his  friends 
laboured  on  the  opposite  side  to 
molhfy  the  obstinacy  of  the  fanatics. 
But  reasoning  was  found  useless ;  the 
parliament  condemned  the  remon- 
strance as  a  scandalous  and  seditious 
libel;  and,  since  Strachan  had  re- 
signed his  commission,  ordered  Mont- 
gomery with  three  new  regiments  to 
take  the  command  of  the  whole  force. 
Kerr,  however,  before  his  arrival,  had 
led  the  western  levy  to  attack  Lambert 
in  his  quarters  at  Hamilton  ;  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  designedly  if  v/e  may 
believe  report,  and  his  whole  army  was 
dispersed.  Soon  afterwards  Strachan, 
with  sixty  troopers,  passed  over  to 
Lambert,  and  the  associated  counties, 
left  without  defence,  submitted  to  the 
enemy.  Still  the  framers  and  advo- 
cates of  the  remonstrance,  though 
they  knew  that  it  had  been  con- 
demned by  the  state  and  the  kirk, 
though  they  had  no  longer  an  army 
to  draw  the  sword   in  its   support, 


land  in  the  king's  quarrel.  Cromwell  insisted 
that  Charles  should  be  banished  by  act  of 
parliament,  or  imprisoned  for  life. — lb.  352. 


156 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap,  n 


adhered  pertinaciously  to  its  princi- 
ples ;  the  unity  of  the  Scottish  church 
was  rent  in  twain,  and  the  separation 
was  afterwards  widened  by  a  resolu- 
tion of  the  assembly,  that  in  such  a 
crisis  all  Scotsmen  might  be  employed 
in  the  service  of  the  country.*  Even 
their  common  misfortunes  failed  to 
reconcile  these  exasperated  spirits; 
and  after  the  subjugation  of  their 
country,  and  under  the  yoke  of  civil 
servitude,  the  two  parties  still  con- 
tinued to  persecute  each  other  with 
all  the  obstinacy  and  bitterness  of  re- 
ligious warfare.  The  royalists  obtained 
the  name  of  Public  Resolutioners ; 
their  opponents,  of  Protestors  or  Ee- 
monstrants.2 

Though  it  cost  the  young  prince 
many  an  internal  struggle,  yet  ex- 
perience had  taught  him  that  he  must 
soothe  the  religious  prejudices  of  the 
kirk,  if  he  hoped  ever  to  acquire  the 
preponderance  in  the  state.  On  the 
first  day  of  the  new  year,  he  rode  in 
procession  to  the  church  of  Scone, 
where  his  ancestors  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  receive  the  Scottish  crown : 
there  on  his  knees,  with  his  arm 
upraised,  he  swore  by  the  Eternal  and 
Almighty  God  to  observe  the  two 
covenants ;  to  establish  the  presbyte- 
rial  government  in  Scotland  and  in  his 
family ;  to  give  his  assent  to  acts  for 
establishing  it  in  his  other  dominions ; 
to  rule  according  to  the  law  of  God 
and  the  lovable  laws  of  the  land  ;  to 
abolish  and  withstand  all  false  reli- 
gions; and  to  root  out  all  heretics 
and  enemies  of  the  true  worship  of 
God,  convicted  by  the  true  church  of 
God.  Argyle  then  placed  the  crown 
upon  his  head,  and  seated  him  on  the 
throne,  and  both  nobility  and  people 
swore  allegiance  to  him  "  according  to 


1  With  the  exception  of  persons  "  excom- 
municated, forfeited,  notoriously  profane, 
or  flagitious,  and  professed  enemies  and 
opposers  of  the  covenant  and  cause  of 
Cfod." — Wodrow,  Introd.  iii. 

»  Baillie,  ii.  348,  364-364.  Balfour,  iv. 
136,  141—160,  173—178,  187,  180.    White- 


the  national  covenant,  and  the  solemn 
league  and  covenant."  At  the  com 
mencement,  during  the  ceremonj 
and  after  the  conclusion,  Douglas,  th 
minister,  addressed  the  king,  re 
minding  him  that  he  was  king  b 
compact  with  his  people;  that  hi 
authority  was  hmited  by  the  law  c 
God,  the  laws  of  the  people,  and  th 
association  of  the  estates  with  him  ii 
the  government ;  that,  though  ever; 
breach  did  not  dissolve  the  compact 
yet  every  abuse  of  power  to  the  sub 
version  of  religion,  law,  or  liberty 
justified  opposition  in  the  people 
that  it  was  for  him,  by  his  observanc 
of  the  covenant,  to  silence  those  wh 
doubted  his  sincerity ;  that  the  evil 
which  had  afflicted  his  family  aros 
out  of  the  apostasy  of  his  father  am 
grandfather ;  and  that,  if  he  imitate( 
them,  he  would  find  that  the  contro 
versy  between  him  and  God  was  no 
ended,  but  would  be  productive  o 
additional  calamities.  The  reade 
may  imagine  what  were  the  feeling 
of  Charles  while  he  listened  to 
admonitions  of  the  preacher,  and  whi 
he  swore  to  perform  conditions  whi<i 
his  soul  abhorred,  and  which  he  kn« 
that  on  the  first  opportunity  he  shot 
break  or  elude.^  But  he  passed  wi 
credit  through  the  ceremony ;  t| 
coronation  exalted  him  in  the  eyes  \ 
the  people ;  and  each  day  brought 
him  fresh  accessions  of  influence  aiM 
authority.  The  kirk  delivered  Strachai 
as  a  traitor  and  apostate  to  the  devil 
and  the  parliament  forefaulted  hi 
associates,  of  whom  several  hastens 
to  make  their  peace  by  a  solemn  re 
cantation.  Deprived  of  their  support 
the  Campbells  gradually  yielded  t» 
the  superior  influence  of  the  Hamil 
tons.    Vexation,  indeed,  urged  then 


lock,  475,  476,  477,  484.    Sydney  Papers,  ii 
670.    Burnet's  Hamiltons,  425. 

»  See  "The  Forme  and  Order  of  th 
Coronation  of  Charles  II.,  as  it  was  acta' 
and  done  at  Scoune,  the  first  day  of  Jaan 
ary,  1661."    Aberdene,  1651. 


.r.  1651.] 


CROMWELL  DEFEATS  THE  SCOTS. 


161 


0  reproach  the  king  with  incon- 
tancy  and  ingratitude-;  but  Charles, 
fhile  he  employed  every  art  to  lull 
he  jealousy  of  Argyle,  steadily  pur- 
ued  his  purpose ;  his  friends,  by  sub- 
aitting  to  the  humbling  ceremony  of 
ublic  penance,  satisfied  the  severity 
f  the  kirk ;  and  by  the  repeal  of  the 
ct  of  classes,  they  were  released  from 
11  previous  forfeitures  and  disqua- 
Ications.  In  April  the  king,  with 
jeslie  and  Middleton  as  his  lieute- 
ants,  took  the  command  of  the  army, 
/hich  had  been  raised  by  new  levies 
o  twenty  thousand  men,  and  having 
)rtified  the  passages  of  the  Forth, 
waited  on  the  left  bank  the  motions 
f  the  enemy.^ 

Li  the  mean  while  Cromwell  had 
btained  possession  of  the  castle  of 
idinburgh,  through  the  perfidy  or 
ae  timidity  of  the  governor.  Tan- 
illon  had  been  taken  by  storm,  and 
)unbarton  had  been  attempted,  but 
«  defences  were  too  strong  to  be 
irried  by  force,  and  its  garrison  too 
onest  to  be  corrupted  with  money.* 
n  February  the  lord  general  was 
ifflicted  with  an  ague,  so  ruinous  to 
is  health,  and  so  obstinate  in  its 
uration,  that  in  May  he  obtained 
ermission  to  return  to  England,  with 
le  power  of  disposing  according  to 
is  judgment  of  the  chief  command.^ 

rapid  and  unexpected  improvement 
iduoed  him  to  remain ;  and  in  July 
e  marched  with  his  army  towards 


i  Carte,  Letters,  ii.  26,  27.  Balfour,  iv. 
10,  268,  281,  301,  It  appears  from  this 
Titer  that  a  great  number  of  the  colonels 
f  regiments  were  royalists  or  engagers 
?.  210,  213).  The  six  brigades  of  horse 
3em  to  have  been  divided  equally  between 
Id  Covenanters  and  royalists.  The  seventh 
as  not  given  to  any  general,  but  would  be 
:nnmanded  by  Hamilton,  as  the  eldest 
3lonel.— Ibid.  299—301,  It  is  therefore 
a  that  with  the  king  for  commander- 
i-chief,  the  royalists  had  the  complete 
scendancy, 

•  Balfour,  iv.  229,   249,   296,    Baillie,  ii. 
«. 

The  council  had  sent  two  physicians  to 
ttend  him.  His  answer  to  Bradshaw  of 
Ivoh  24th  runs  in  his  usual  style.  "  Indeed, 


Stirling.  The  Scots  faced  him  in 
their  intrenched  camp  at  Torwood; 
he  turned  aside  to  Glasgow;  they 
took  a  position  at  Kilsyth ;  he 
marched  back  to  Falkirk;  and  they 
resumed  their  position  at  Torwood. 
While  by  these  movements  the  Eng- 
lish general  occupied  the  attention 
of  his  opponents,  a  fleet  of  boats  had 
been  silently  prepared  and  brought 
to  the  Queensferry;  a  body  of  men 
crossed  the  frith,  and  fortified  a  hill 
near  Inverkeithing  ;  and  Lambert 
immediately  followed  with  a  more 
numerous  division.  The  Scots  de- 
spatched Holburn  with  orders  to  drive 
the  enemy  into  the  sea ;  he  was  himself 
charged  by  Lambert  with  a  superior 
force,  and  the  flight  of  his  men  gave 
to  the  English  possession  of  the  fertile 
and  populous  county  of  Fife.  Crom- 
well hastened  to  transport  his  army 
to  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and 
advance  on  the  rear  of  the  Soots. 
They  retired :  Perth,  the  seat  of 
government,  was  besieged;  and  in  a 
few  days  the  colours  of  the  common- 
wealth floated  on  its  walls,* 

In  the  Scottish  leaders  the  progress 
of  the  English  excited  the  most  fear- 
ful anticipations ;  to  Charles  it  sug- 
gested the  execution  of  what  had  long 
been  his  favourite  object.  The  country 
to  the  south  was  clear  of  the  enemy ; 
and  a  proclamation  to  the  army  an- 
nounced his  resolve  of  marching  into 
England,  accompanied  by  such  of  his 


my  lord,  your  service  needs  not  me,  I  am 
a  poor  creature,  and  have  been  a  dry  bone, 
and  am  still  an  unprofitable  servant  to  my 
master  and  to  you." — New  Pari.  Hist.  iii. 
1363. 

*  Balfour,  313.  Journals,  May  27.  Leices- 
ter's Journal,  109,  Whitelock,  490,  494, 
497,  498,  499.  Heath,  392,  393.  According 
to  Balfour,  the  loss  on  each  side  was  •'  almost 
alyke,"  about  eight  hundred  men  killed  j 
according  to  Lambert,  the  Scots  lost  two 
thousand  killed,  and  fourteen  hundred  taken 
prisoners  ;  the  English  had  only  eight  men 
slain ;  "  so  easy  did  the  Lord  grant  them 
that  mercy," — Whitelock,  501,  I  observe 
that  in  all  the  despatches  of  the  commanders 
for  the  commonwealth  their  loss  is  mira- 
culoosly  trifling. 


152 


THE  CO^IMONWEALTH. 


[chap,  r 


Scottish  subjects  as  were  willing  to 
share  the  fortunes  and  the  perils  of 
their  sovereign.  The  boldness  of  the 
attempt  dazzled  the  judgment  of 
some ;  and  the  confidence  of  the 
young  king  dispelled  the  apprehen- 
sions of  others.  Their  knowledge  that, 
in  case  of  failure,  he  must  expect  to 
meet  with  the  same  fate  as  his  father, 
justified  a  persuasion  that  he  possessed 
secret  assurances  of  a  powerful  co- 
operation from  the  royalists  and  the 
Presbyterians  of  England.  Argjde 
(nor  was  it  surprising  after  the  de- 
cline of  his  influence  at  court)  solicited 
and  obtained  permission  to  retire  to 
his  own  home ;  a  few  other  chieftains 
followed  his  example  ;  the  rest  ex- 
pressed their  readiness  to  stake  their 
lives  on  the  issue  of  the  attempt,  and 
the  next  morning  eleven,  some  say 
fourteen,  thousand  men  began  their 
march  from  Stirling,  in  the  direction 
of  Carlisle.' 

Cromwell  was  surprised  and  em- 
barrassed. The  Scots  had  gained  three 
days'  march  in  advance,  and  his  army 
was  unprepared  to  follow  them  at  a 
moment's  notice.  He  wrote  to  the 
parliament  to  rely  on  his  industry 
and  despatch ;  he  sent  Lambert  from 
Pifeshire  with  three  thousand  cavalry 
to  hang  on  the  rear,  and  ordered 
Harrison  with  an  equal  number  from 
Newcastle,  to  press  on  the  flank  of 
the  enemy;  and  on  the  seventh  day 
led  his  army  of  ten  thousand  men  by 
the  eastern  coast,  in  the  direction  of 
York.  The  reduction  of  Scotland,  a 
more  easy  task  after  the  departure  of 
the  royal  forces,  was  left  to  the  activity 
of  Monk,  who  had  five  thousand  in- 
fantry and  cavalry  under  his  com- 
mand.'^ 

So  rapid  was  the  advance  of  Charles, 
that  he  traversed  the  lowlands  of  Scot- 
land, and  the  northern  counties  in 


'  Leicester's  Journal,  110.  Whitelock, 
501.     Clarendon,  iii.  397. 

-  Leicester's  Jom-aal,  iii.  117.  BaUbor, 
iv.  314. 


England,  without  meeting  a  singl 
foe.  Lambert  had  joined  Harriso 
near  Warrington ;  their  united  forct  jj 
amounted  to  nine  thousand  men ;  an  \ 
their  object  was  to  prevent  the  pa; 
sage  of  the  Mersey.  But  they  arrive 
too  late  to  break  down  the  bridgt 
and,  after  a  few  charges,  formed  i 
battle  array  on  Knutsford  Heati 
The  king,  leaving  them  on  the  lef 
pushed  forward  till  he  reached  Woi 
cester,  where  he  was  solemnly  pre 
claimed  by  the  mayor,  amidst  th 
loud  acclamations  of  the  gentleme 
of  the  county,  who,  under  a  suspicio 
of  their  loyalty,  had  been  confine 
in  that  city  by  order  of  the  council.' 
At  the  first  news  of  the  royal  marcl 
the  leaders  at  Westminster  abaudone 
themselves  to  despair.  They  believe 
that  Cromwell  had  come  to  a  privat 
understanding  with  the  king;  that  tb 
Scots  would  meet  with  no  oppositio 
in  their  progress ;  and  that  the  Cava 
hers  would  rise  simultaneously  i 
every  part  of  the  kingdom.*  I'ror 
these  terrors  they  were  relieved  b 
the  arrival  of  despatches  from  th 
general,  and  by  the  indecision  of  th 
royalists,  who,  unprepared  for  th 
event,  had  hitherto  made  no  move 
ment;  and  with  the  revival  of  the! 
hopes  the  council  assumed  a  tone  c 
defiance,  which  was  supported  b 
measures  the  most  active  and  ener 
getic.  The  declaration  of  .Charle;- 
containing  a  general  pardon  to  ai 
his  subjects,  with  the  exception  o 
Cromwell,  Bradshaw,  and  Cook,  wa 
burnt  in  London  by  the  hands  of  th' 
hangman  ;  and  a  counter  procla 
mation  was  published,  pronouncin; 
Charles  Stuart,  his  aiders  and  abettors 
guilty  of  high  treason.  All  corre 
spondence  with  him  was  forbiddei 
under  the  jjenalty  of  death;  it  wa 
ordered  that  all  persons  known  o 


3  Leicester's  Journal,  113,  lU.    White 
lock,  502,  503.    Clarendon,  iii.  102. 

*  Hutchinsou,  32G. 


D.  1651.] 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  EARL  OF  DERBY. 


153 


ispected  of  attachment  to  his  cause 
lould  be  placed  in  custody,  or  con- 
aed  to  their  own  houses;  and  the 
.ilitia  of  several  counties,  "  tried  and 
)dly  people,"  were  called  forth,  and 
arched  towards  the  expected  scene 
'action.'  But  Charles  had  to  con- 
tnd,  not  only  with  the  activity  of 
s  enemies,  but  with  the  fanaticism 
'  his  followers.    The  Presbyterians 

Lancashire  had  promised  to  rise, 
id  Massey,  a  distinguished  officer  of 
lat  persuasion,  was  sent  before  to 
•ganize  the  levy ;  but  the  committee 

the  kirk  forbade  him  to  employ 
ly  man  who  had  not  taken  the 
)venant ;  and,  though  Charles  an- 
alled  their  order,  the  English 
inisters  insisted  that  it  should  be 
oeyed.  Massey  remained  after  the 
•my  had  passed,  and  was  joined  by 
■le  earl  of  Derby,  with  sixty  horse 
id  two  hundred  and  sixty  foot,  from 
le  Isle  of  Man.  A  conference  was 
3ld  at  Wigan ;  but  reasoning  and 
itreaty  were  employed  in  vain;  the 
inisters  insisted  that  all  the  Catho- 
3S  who  had  been  enrolled  should  be 
jsmissed;  and  that  the  salvation  of 
le  kingdom  should  be  intrusted  to 
le  elect  of  God,  who  had  taken  the 
)venant.  In  the  mean  while  Crom- 
ell  had  despatched  Colonel  Lilbume, 
ith  his  regiment  of  horse,  into  the 
)imty,  and  ordered  reinforcements 
)  join  him  from  Yorkshire  and 
iheshire.  Derby,  with  the  concur- 
mce  of  the  royalists  in  Manchester, 
>ndertook  to  surprise  Lilbume  in 
is  quarters  near  that  town,  but  was 
himself  surprised  by  Lilbume,  who 
larched  on  the  same  day  to  observe 
le  earl's  motions.  They  met  unex- 
ectedly  in  the  lane  leading  from 
horley  to  Wigan.  The  heads  of  the 
pposite  columns  repeatedly  charged 


Journals,  Aug.  12. 

Whitelock,    503,    504.     Clarendon,    iu. 
,  403.    Memoirs  of  the  Stanleys,  112— 


each  other ;  but  the  desperate  courage 
of  the  Cavaliers  was  foiled  by  the 
steadiness  and  discipline  of  their 
opponents;  the  Lord  Widdrington, 
Sir  Thomas  Tildesly,  Colonel  Throck- 
morton, Boynton,  Trollop,  and  about 
sixty  of  their  followers  were  slain, 
and  above  three  hundred  privates 
made  prisoners.  The  earl  himself, 
who  had  received  several  slight 
wounds  on  the  arms  and  shoulders, 
fled  to  Wigan,  with  the  enemy  at  his 
heels.  Observing  a  house  open,  he 
flung  himself  from  his  horse,  and 
sprung  into  the  passage.  A  female 
barred  the  door  behind  him;  the 
pursuers  were  checked  for  an  instant; 
and  when  they  began  to  search  the 
house,  he  had  already  escaped  through 
the  garden.  Weak  with  fatigue  and 
the  loss  of  blood,  he  wandered  in  a 
southerly  direction,  concealing  him- 
self by  day,  and  travelling  by  night, 
till  he  found  a  secure  asylum  in. 
a  retired  mansion,  called  Boscobel 
House,  situate  between  Brewood  and 
Tong  Castle,  and  the  property  of 
Mrs.  Cotton,  a  Catholic  recusant  and 
royalist.  There  he  was  received  and 
secreted  by  William  Penderell  and 
his  wife,  the  servants  intrusted  with 
the  care  of  the  mansion ;  and  having 
recovered  his  strength,  was  conducted 
by  the  former  to  the  royal  army  at 
Worcester.' 

The  occurrences  of  each  day  added 
to  the  disappointment  of  Charles  and 
the  confidence  of  his  enemies.  He 
had  summoned  by  proclamation  all 
his  male  subjects  between  the  age  of 
sixteen  and  sixty  to  join  his  standard 
at  the  general  muster  of  his  forces,  on 
the  26th  of  August,  in  the  Pitchcroft, 
the  meadows  between  the  city  and 
the  river.  A  few  of  the  neighbouring 
gentlemen   with   their   tenants,  not 


114,  Journals,  Aug.  29.  Leicester's  Jour- 
nal, 116.  Boscobel  6—8.  Boscobel  after- 
wards belonged  to  Bas.  Fitzherbert,  Mrs. 
Cotton's  son-in-laTT. 


154 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  3 


two  hundred  iu  number,  obeyed  the 
call ;'  and  it  was  found  that  the  whole 
amount  of  his  force  did  not  exceed 
twelve  (or  according  to  Cromwell, 
sixteen)'^  thousand  men,  of  whom 
one-sixth  part  only  was  composed  of 
Englishmen.  But  while  a  few  strag- 
gling royalists  thus  stole  into  his 
quarters,  as  if  it  were  to  display  by 
their  paucity  the  hopelessness  of  his 
cause,  the  daily  arrival  of  hostile 
reinforcements  swelled  the  army  in 
the  neighbourhood  to  more  than 
thirty  thousand  men.  At  length 
Cromwell  arrived,  and  was  received 
with  enthusiasm.  The  royalists  had 
broken  down  an  arch  of  the  bridge 
over  the  Severn  at  Upton ;  but  a  few 
soldiers  passed  on  a  beam  in  the 
night;  the  breach  was  repaired,  and 
Lambert  crossed  with  ten  thousand 
men  to  the  right  bank.  A  succession 
of  partial  but  obstinate  actions  al- 
ternately raised  and  depressed  the 
hopes  of  the  two  parties;  the  grand 
attempt  was  reserved  by  the  lord 
general  for  his  auspicious  day,  the 
3rd  of  September,  on  which  twelve 
months  before  he  had  defeated  the 
Scots  at  Dunbar.  On  that  morning 
Fleetwood,  who  had  advanced  from 
Upton  to  Powick,  was  ordered  to  force 
the  passage  of  the  Team,  while  Crom- 
well, to  preserve  the  communication, 
should  throw  a  bridge  of  boats  across 
the  Severn  at  Bunshill,  near  the  con- 
fluence of  the  two  rivers.  About  one 
in  the  afternoon,  while  Charles  with 
his  staff  observed  from  the  tower  of 
the  cathedral  the  positions  of  the 
enemy,  his  attention  was  drawn  by 
a  discharge  of  musketry  near  Powick. 
He  descended  immediately,  rode  to 
the  scene  of  action,  and  ordered 
IVIontgomery  with  a  brigade  of  horse 


1  They  were  Lord  Talbot,  eon  to  the  earl 
of  Shrewsbury,  "with  about  sixty  horse; 
Mr.  Mervin  Toachet,  Sir  John  Packington, 
Sir  Walter  Blount,  Sir  Ralph  Clare,  Mr. 
Ralph  Sheldon,  of  Beoly,  Mr.  John  Wash- 
born,  of  Wichinford,  with  forty  hont ;  Mr. 


and  foot  to  defend  the  line  of  t 
Team  and  oppose  the  formation 
the  bridge.  After  a  long  and  sa 
guinary  struggle,  Fleetwood  effect 
a  passage  just  at  the  moment  wh 
Cromwell,  having  completed  the  woi 
moved  four  regiments  to  his  assistant 
The  Scots,  though  urged  by  superi 
numbers,  maintained  the  most  c 
stinate  resistance;  they  disputed  eve 
field  and  hedge,  repeatedly  charg 
with  the  pike  to  check  the  advan 
of  the  enemy,  and,  animated  by  t 
shouts  of  the  combatants  on  t 
opposite  bank,  sought  to  protract  t 
contest  with  the  vain  hope  that, 
occupying  the  forces  of  Eleetwoc 
they  might  insure  the  victory 
their  friends,  who  were  engaged  wi 
Cromwell. 

That  commander,  as  soon  as  he  h 
secured  the  communication  across  t 
river,  ordered  a  battery  of  heavy  gu 
to  play  upon  Port  Eoyal,  a  wo 
lately  raised  to  cover  the  Sidbu 
gate  of  the  city,  and  led  his  troc 
in  two  divisions  to  Perrywood  a: 
Red-hill.  To  Charles  this  seemed 
favourable  opportunity  of  defeati 
one  half  of  the  hostile  force,  wh 
the  other  half  was  separated  from 
by  the  Severn.  Leading  out  the  wh( 
of  his  disposable  infantry,  with  t 
duke  of  Hamilton's  troop  of  horse,  a 
the  Enghsh  volunteers,  he  march 
to  attack  the  enemy  in  their  positic 
and  fought  at  the  head  of  the  Hig 
landers  with  a  spirit  worthy  of 
prince  who  staked  his  life  for  t 
acquisition  of  a  crown.  Fortune  J 
voured  his  first  efforts.  The  mihi 
regiments  shrunk  from  the  sho( 
and  the  guns  of  the  enemy  becai 
the  prize  of  the  assailants.  But  Cro5 
well  had  placed  some  veteran  b( 


Thomas  Hornyhold,  of  Blackmore-pai 
with  forty  horse ;  Mr.  Thomas  Acton,  J 
Robert  Blount,  of  Kenswick,  Mr.  Kob- 
Wigmore,  of  Lucton,  Mr.  F.  Knotsfo; 
Mr.  Peter  Blount,  and  divers  others.' 
Boscobel,  10.       '  Gary's  Memorials,  ii.  3* 


l6ol.J 


BATTLE  OF  WOECESTER. 


155 


3I1S  m  reserve.  They  restored  the 
le;  and  the  royalists,  in  their  turn, 
m  to  retreat.  Still  they  remained 
•roken,  availing  themselves  of  every 
antage  of  the  ground  to  check  the 
aay,  and  anxiously  expecting  the 
of  their  cavalry,  which,  under  the 
imand  of  Leslie,  had  remained  in 
city.  Erom  what  cause  it  hap- 
ed  is  unknown ;  but  that  officer 
not  appear  on  the  field  till  the 
le  was  lost,  and  the  infantry, 
ble  to  resist  the  superior  pressure 
lie  enemy,  was  fleeing  in  confusion 
he  gate  under  the  shelter  of  the 
.  The  fugitives  rallied  in  Friar- 
et,  and  Charles,  riding  among 
n,  endeavoured  by  his  words  and 
ures  to  re-animate  their  courage, 
iiead  of  a  reply,  they  hung  down 
r  heads,  or  threw  away  their 
.8.  "  Then  shoot  me  dead,"  ex- 
med  the  distressed  prince,  "  rather 
1  let  me  live  to  see  the  sad  con- 
lences  of  this  day."  But  his  despair 
as  unavailing  as  had  been  his  en- 
ities ;  and  his  friends  admonished 
I  to  provide  for  his  safety,  for  the 
my  had  already  penetrated  within 
walls. 

Ve  left  Fleetwood  on  the  right 
k  pushing  the  Scots  slowly  before 
1.  At  length  they  resigned  the 
le  of  resistance;  their  flight  opened 
lim  the  way  to  St.  John's,  and  its 
id  commander  yielded  at  the  first 
imons.  On  the  other  bank,  Crom- 
l  stormed  the  Fort  Royal,  put  its 
anders,  fifteen  hundred  men,  to 
t  sword,  and  turned  the  guns  upon 
t  city.  Within  the  walls  irremedia- 


These  were  the  earl  of  Cleveland,  Sir 
les  Hamilton,  Colonel  Careless,  and 
tains  Hornyhold,  Giffard,  and  Kemble. 
oscobel,  20. 

See  Blount,  Boseobel,  14r— 22 ;  White- 
3  c,  507,  508 ;  Bates,  part  ii.  221 ;  Pari. 
-  t.  IX.  40, 44—55 ;  Ladlow,  i.  314.  Nothing 
<  be  more  incorrect  than  Clarendon's 
i  ount  of  this  battle,  iii.  409.  Even  Crom- 
"  I  owns  that  "it  was  as  stiff  a  contest 
!  four  or  five  hours  as  ever  he  had  seen," 
•  ary's  Memorials,  ii.  356. 


ble  confusion  prevailed,  and  the  enemy 
began  to  pour  in  by  the  quay,  the 
castle  hill,  and  the  Sidbury  gate. 
Charles  had  not  a  moment  to  spare. 
Placing  himself  in  the  midst  of  the 
Scottish  cavalry,  he  took  the  northern 
road  by  the  gate  of  St.  Martin's, 
while  a  few  devoted  spirits,  with  such 
troopers  as  dared  to  follow  them, 
charged  down  Sidbury-street  in  the 
contrary  direction.*  They  accom- 
plished their  purpose.  The  royal 
party  cleared  the  walls,  while  thet/ 
arrested  the  advance,  and  distracted 
the  attention  of  the  enemy.  It  was 
past  the  hour  of  sunset ;  and  before 
dark  all  resistance  ceased.  Colonel 
Drummond  surrendered  the  castle  hill 
on  conditions;  the  infantry  in  the 
street  were  killed  or  led  prisoners  to 
the  cathedral ;  and  the  city  was  aban- 
doned during  the  obscurity  of  the 
night  to  the  licentious  passions  of  the 
victors.'^ 

In  this  disastrous  battle  the  slain 
on  the  part  of  the  royalists  amounted 
to  three  thousand  men,  the  taken  to 
a  still  greater  number.  The  cavalry 
escaped  in  separate  bodies;  but  so 
depressed  was  their  courage,  so  be- 
wildered were  their  counsels,  that 
they  successively  surrendered  to 
smaller  parties  of  their  pursuers. 
Many  officers  of  distinction  attempted, 
single  and  disguised,  to  steal  their 
way  through  the  country;  but  of 
these  the  Scots  were  universally  be- 
trayed, by  their  accent,  whilst  the 
English,  for  the  most  part,  effected 
their  escape.^  The  duke  of  Hamilton 
had  been  mortally  wounded  on  the 


3  Thus  the  duke  of  Buckingham  was  con- 
ducted by  one  Mathews,  a  carpenter,  to 
Bilstrop,  and  thence  to  Brooksby,  the  seat 
of  Lady  Tilliers,  in  Leicestershire ;  Lord 
Talbot  reached  his  father's  house  at  Long- 
ford in  time  to  conceal  himself  in  a  close 
place  in  one  of  the  outhouses.  His  pur- 
suers found  his  horse  yet  saddled,  and 
searched  for  him  during  four  or  five  days  in 
vain.  May  was  hidden  twenty-one  days  in 
a  hay-mow  belonging  to  Bold,  a  husband- 
man, at  Chessardine,  during  all  which  time 


156 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


field  of  battle;  the  earls  of  Derby, 
E-othes,  Cleveland,  Kelly,  and  Lau- 
derdale ;  the  lords  Sinclair,  Kenmure, 
and  Grandison ;  and  the  generals 
Leslie,  Massey,  Middleton,  and  Mont- 
gomery, were  made  prisoners,  at  dif- 
ferent times  and  in  separate  places. 
But  the  most  interesting  inquiry  re- 
garded the  fortune  of  the  young  king. 
Though  the  parliament  offered  a  re- 
ward of  one  thousand  pounds  for  his 
person,  and  denounced  the  penalties 
of  treason  against  those  who  should 
afford  him  shelter ;  though  parties  of 
horse  and  foot  scoured  the  adjacent 
counties  in  search  of  so  valuable  a 
prize;  though  the  magistrates  received 
orders  to  arrest  every  unknown  per- 
son, and  to  keep  a  strict  watch  on  the 
sea-ports  in  their  neighbourhood,  yet 
no  trace  of  his  flight,  no  clue  to  his 
retreat,  could  be  discovered.  Week 
after  week  passed  away;  of  almost 
every  other  individual  of  note  the 
fate  was  ascertained ;  that  of  Charles 
Stuart  remained  an  impenetrable 
mystery.  At  last,  when  a  belief  pre- 
vailed, both  among  his  friends  and 
foes,  that  he  had  met  with  death  from 
the  peasantry,  ignorant  of  his  person 
and  quality,  the  intelligence  arrived, 
that  on  the  17th  of  October,  forty- 
four  days  after  the  battle,  he  had 
landed  in  safety  at  Fecamp,  on  the 
coast  of  Normandy. 

The  narrative  of  his  adventures 
during  this  period  of  suspense  and 
distress  exhibits  striking  instances  of 
hair-breadth  escapes  on  the  part  of 
the  king,  and  of  unshaken  fidelity  on 
that  of  his  adherents.  During  the 
night  after  the  battle  he  found  him- 
self in   the   midst  of  the   Scottish 


a  party  of  soldiers  was  qnartcred  in  the 
house, — Boscobel,  35—87,  Of  the  prisoners, 
eight  suffered  death,  by  judgment  of  a 
court-martial  sitting  at  (jhester.  One  of 
these  was  the  gallant  earl  of  Derby,  who 

E leaded  that  quarter  had  been  grunted  to 
im  by  Captain  Edge,  and  quarter  ought  to 
be  respected  by  a  court-martial.  It  was 
answered  that  quarter  could  be  granted  to 
enemies  only,  not  to  traitors.    He  offered 


cavalry,  a  body  of  men  too  numer< 
to  elude  pursuit,  and  too  dispirited 
repel  an  enemy.  Under  cover  of  i 
darkness,  he  separated  from  th 
with  about  sixty  horse;  the  earl 
Derby  recommended  to  him,  fri 
his  own  experience,  the  house 
Boscobel  as  a  secure  retreat;  a 
Charles  Gifiard  undertook,  with  1 
aid  of  his  servant  Yates,  to  condi 
him  to  Whiteladies,  another  hoi 
belonging  to  Mrs.  Cotton,  and  not; 
distant  from  Boscobel,  At  an  ea 
hour  in  the  morning,  after  a  ride 
five-and-twenty  miles,  they  reacl 
Whiteladies;  and  while  the  oth 
enjoyed  a  short  repose  from  th 
fatigue,  the  king  withdrew  to 
inner  apartment,  to  prepare  him* 
for  the  character  which  he  had  b( 
advised  to  assume.  His  hair  was  < 
close  to  the  head,  his  hands  and  f 
were  discoloured,  his  clothes  w 
exchanged  for  the  coarse  and  thr© 
bare  garments  of  a  labourer,  and 
heavy  wood-bill  in  his  hand  announ< 
his  pretended  employment.  At  si 
rise  the  few  admitted  to  the  sec 
took  their  leave  of  him  with  tei 
and,  summoning  their  companions 
horseback,  rode  away,  they  scare 
knew  whither,  but  with  the  cheer: 
hope  that  they  should  draw  i 
attention  of  the  enemy  from  i 
retreat  of  the  king  to  the  pursuit 
themselves.  In  less  than  an  houi 
troop  of  horse  from  Cotsal,  under  1 
command  of  Colonel  AshenhiU 
arrived  at  Whiteladies;  but  the  ki 
was  already  gone;  a  fruitless  seaj 
only  provoked  their  impatience,  s 
they  hastily  followed  the  track  of 
other  fugitives. 


to  surrender  his  Islo  of  Man  in  ■  . 
for  his  life,  and  petitioned  for  '•  i.  -  ;. 
the  lord   general'H,    and  the  p,ir;      -' 
mercy."     But  his  petition  was  not  (  ■ 
by  Lenthall  before  it  was  too  late      r 
read  in  the  house  on  the  evo  oi  iii^  ti 
tion,  which  took  place  at  Bolton,  in  1 
cashire,  Oct,  15,  1651.— State  Trials,  t. 
Heath,     302.      Leicester's    Journul, 
Journals,  Oct.  14. 


JL. 


iGol.J 


THE  KING'S  ADVENT  [TEES. 


157 


harles  was  now  in  the  bands,  and 
rely  at  the  mercy,  of  four  bro- 
•s  (John,  the  fifth,  had  taken 
-ge  of  the  Lord  Wilmot),  labour- 
men,  of  the  name  of  Penderell, 
of  Yates,  his  former  guide,  who 
married  a  sister  of  the  Pen- 
ills.  He  could  not  conceal  from 
self  that  their  poverty  might 
ce  them  more  accessible  to  temp- 
on;  but  Derby  and  Giffard  had 
jured  him  to  dismiss  such 
lights;  they  were  men  of  tried 
lity,  who,  born  in  the  domain,  and 
1  in  the  principles  of  a  loyal  and 
hoUc  family,  had  long  been  suc- 
;fully  employed  in  screening  priests 
Cavaliers  from  the  searches  of  the 
1  magistrates  and  military  officers.' 
one  of  them,  sumamed  the  trusty 
hard,  he  was  led  into  the  thickest 
t  of  the  adjoining  wood,  while  the 
ers  posted  themselves  at  conve- 
at  stations,  to  descry  and  announce 
approach  of  the  enemy.  The  day 
wet  and  stormy ;  and  Eichard, 
sntive  to  the  accommodation  of  his 
rge,  who  appeared  sinking  under 
fatigue,  caused  by  his  efforts  in  the 
tie  and  the  anxiety  of  his  flight, 
3ad  a  blanket  for  him  under  one  of 
largest  trees,  and  ordered  the  wife 
fates  to  bring  him  the  best  refresh- 
ttt  which  her  house  could  afford, 
irles  was  alarmed  at  the  sight 
this  unexpected  visitant.  Eeco- 
ing  himself,  he  said,  "  Good  woman, 
you  be  faithful  to  a  distressed 
ralier  ?  "—  "  Yes,  sir,"  she  replied. 


The  Penderells,  whom  this  event  has 
odueed  to  the  notice  of  the  reader,  were 
[inally  sLr  brothers,  born  at  Hobbal 
-nge,  in  the  parish  of  Tong.  John, 
>rge,  and  Thomas  served  in  the  armies 
Charles  I.    Thomas  was  killed  at  Stowe  ; 

other  two  survived  the  war,  and  were 
ployed  as  woodwards  at   Boscobel.     Of 

remaining  three,  William  took  care  ot 
house ;  Humphrey  worked  at  the  mill, 

Richard  rented  part  of  Hobbal  Grange, 
er  the  Restoration,  the  five  brothers 
ted  on  the  king  at  Whitehall  on  the  13th 
fune,  1660,  and  were  graciously  received, 
i  dismifised  with  a  princely  reward.    A 


"  and  I  will  die  sooner  than  betray 
you."  He  was  afterwards  visited 
by  Jane,  the  mother  of  the  Pende- 
rells. The  old  woman  kissed  his 
hands,  fell  on  her  knees,  and  blessed 
God  that  he  had  chosen  Aer  sons  to 
preserve,  as  she  was  confident  they 
would,  the  life  of  their  sovereign. 

It  had  been  agreed  between  the 
king  and  Wilmot,  that  each  should 
make  the  best  of  his  way  to  London, 
and  inquire  for  the  other  by  the  name 
of  Ashburnham,  at  the  Three  Cranes 
in  the  Vintry.  By  conversation  with 
his  guardian,  Charles  was  induced  to 
adopt  a  different  plan,  and  to  seek  an 
asylum  among  the  Cavaliers  in  Wales, 
till  a  ship  could  be  procured  for  his 
transportation  to  France.  About  nine 
in  the  evening  they  left  the  wood 
together  for  the  house  of  Mr.  Wolf, 
a  Catholic  recusant  at  Madeley,  not 
far  from  the  Severn;  but  an  acci- 
dental alarm  lengthened  their  road, 
and  added  to  the  fatigue  of  the  royal 
wanderer.*  They  reached  Madeley 
at  midnight ;  Wolf  was  roused  from 
his  bed,  and  the  strangers  obtained 
admission.  But  their  host  felt  no 
small  alarm  for  their  safety.  Troops 
were  frequently  quartered  upon  him ; 
two  companies  of  militia  actually  kept 
watch  in  the  village,  and  the  places 
of  concealment  in  his  house  had  been 
recently  discovered.  As  the  approach 
of  daylight  made  it  equally  dangerous 
to  pro(;eed  or  turn  back,  he  secreted 
them  behind  the  hay  in  an  adjoining 
barn,  and  despatched  messengers  to 


pension  was  also  granted  to  them  and  their 
posterity.  In  virtue  of  which  grant  two  of 
their  descendants,  Calvin  Beaumont  Win- 
stanley  and  John  Lloyd,  were  placed  on 
the  pension  list  on  6th  of  July,  1846,  for  the 
sum  of  twenty-five  pounds  to  each. 

2  The  mill  at  Evelyn  was  filled  with  fugi- 
tives from  the  battle  :  the  miller,  espying 
Charles  and  his  guide,  and  afraid  of  a  dis- 
covery, called  out  "  rogues ;"  and  they, 
supposing  him  an  enemy,  turned  up  a  miry 
lane,  running  at  their  utmost  speed. — 
Boscobel,  47.  Account  from  the  Pepys  MS. 
p.  16. 


158 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHi 


examine  the  pi^sages  of  the  river. 
Their  report  that  all  the  bridges  were 
guarded;  and  all  the  boats  secured, 
compelled  the  unfortunate  prince 
to  abandon  his  design.  On  the 
return  of  darkness  he  placed  himself 
again  under  the  care  of  his  trusty 
guide,  and  with  a  heavy  and  mis- 
boding  heart,  retraced  his  steps  to- 
wards his  original  destination,  the 
house  at  Boscobel. 

At  Boscobel  he  found  Colonel  Care- 
less, one  of  those  devoted  adherents 
who,  to  aid  his  escape  from  Wor- 
cester, had  charged  the  enemy  at  the 
opposite  gate.  Careless  had  often 
provoked,  and  as  often  eluded,  the 
resentment  of  the  Eoundheads ;  and 
experience  had  made  him  acquainted 
with  every  loyal  man,  and  every 
place  of  concealment,  in  the  country. 
By  his  persuasion  Charles  consented 
to  pass  the  day  with  him  amidst  the 
branches  of  an  old  and  lofty  oak.' 
This  celebrated  tree,  which  was  after- 
wards destroyed  to  satisfy  the  vene- 
ration of  the  Cavaliers,  grew  near  to 
the  common  path  in  a  meadow-field, 
which  lay  in  the  centre  of  the  wood. 
It  had  been  partially  lopped  a  few 
years  before,  and  the  new  shoots  had 
thrown  round  it  a  thick  and  luxu- 
riant foliage.  Within  this  cover  the 
king  and  his  companion  passed  the 
day.  Invisible  themselves,  they  occa- 
sionally caught  a  glimpse  of  the  red- 
coats (so  the  soldiers  were  called) 
passing  among  the  trees,  and  some- 
times saw  them  looking  into  the  mea- 
dow. Then:  friends,  William  Pen- 
derell   and   his   wife,  whom  Charles 


1  Thia  day  Humphrey  Penderell,  the 
miller,  went  to  Skefual  to  pay  taxes,  but  in 
reality  to  learn  news.  He  was  taken  before 
a  military  officer,  who  knew  that  Charles 
had  been  at  Whiteladies,  and  tempted,  with 
threats  and  promises,  to  discover  where  the 
king  was;  but  nothing  could  be  extracted 
from  him,  and  he  was  allowed  to  return. — 
Boscobel,  55.  This,  I  suspect,  to  bo  the 
true  story  ;  but  Charles  himself,  when  he 
mentions  the  proposal  made  to  Humphrey, 
attributes  it  to  a  man,  at  whose  house  he 


called  my  dame  Joan,  stationed 
selves  near,  to  give  warning  of  df 
he  pretending  to  be  employed 
duty  as  woodward,  and  she  ii 
labour  of  gathering  sticks  for 
But  there  arose  no  cause  of  i 
diate  alarm;  the  darkness  o; 
night  relieved  them  from  theii 
ous  and  irksome  confinement; 
Charles,  having  on  his  retui 
the  house  examined  the  hiding- 
resolved  to  trust  to  it  for  his  1 
security."* 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  he 
within  doors  or  in  the  garden.  B 
thoughts  brooded  over  his  forlor 
desperate  condition;  and  the  i 
on  his  countenance  betrayed  tb 
easiness  of  his  mind.  Fortunat 
the  afternoon  he  received  by 
Penderell  a  welcome  message 
Lord  Wilmot,  to  meet  him  that 
at  the  house  of  Mr.  Whitgrea 
recusant  at  Moseley.  The  king' 
were  so  swollen  and  blistered  1 
recent  walk  to  and  from  M* 
that  he  gladly  accepted  the  ol 
Humphrey's  horse  from  the  miU 
did  the  appearance  of  the  mo] 
disgrace  that  of  the  steed.  He 
a  coat  and  breeches  of  coarse 
cloth,  both  so  threadbare  that  in 
places  they  appeared  white,  an 
latter  "  so  long  that  they  came 
to  the  garter;"  his  doublet  v 
leather,  old  and  soiled ;  his  shoes 
heavy  and  slashed  for  the  ease  < 
feet :  his  stockings  of  green  yar 
been  much  worn,  were  darned  s 
knees,  and  without  feet ;  and  a 
grey   steeple-crowned    hat,   wii 


had  changed  his  clothes.— Account  flee 
Pepys  MS.  p.  9. 

2  Careless  found  means  to  reach  I* 
and  cross  the  sea  to  Holland,  where  ' 
ried  the  first  news  of  the  king's  e- 
the  princess  of  Orange.  Charles  g:i 
for  his  coat  of  arms,  by  the  name  of  t 
an  oak  in  a  field,  or,  with  a  fesse, 
charged  with  three  royal  crowns,  tn 
his  crest  a  crown  of  oak  leaves,  » 
sword  and  sceptre,  crossed  saltier* 
Boscobel,  85. 


i 


I  .  leol.]  CHAELES'S  DISAPPOINTMENTS. 


159 


i  id  or  lining,  with  a  crooked  thorn 

I  ;k,  completed  the  royal  habiliments. 

I  8  six  brothers  attended  him  with 

I  as ;  two  kept  in  advance,  two  fol- 

I  ed  behind,  and  one  walked  on  each 

i  3.    He  had  not  gone  far  before  he 

oplained  to  Humphrey  of  the  heavy 

ing  pace  of  the  horse.  "  My  liege," 

.hed  the  miller,  "  you  do  not  recol- 

i;  that  he  carries  the  weight  of  three 

igdoms  on  his  back." 

i  It  Moseley,  cheered  by  the  com- 

I  ly  of  Wilinot,  and  the  attention  of 

'  iiitgreave   and   his  chaplain,  Mr. 

i  iddlestone,'  he  recovered  his  spirits, 

j  ,ght  the  battle  of  Worcester  over 

I  on,  and  declared  that,  if  he  could 

I I  a  few  thousand  men  who  had  the 
I  urage  to  stand  by  him,  he  would  not 
I  >itate  to  meet  his  enemies  a  second 
lie  in  the  field.  A  new  plan  of 
I  ape  was  now  submitted  to  his  ap- 
i  )lMi.tion.    The  daughter  of  Colonel 

I  ne,  of  Bentley,  had  obtained  from 
I )  governor  of  Stafford  a  pass  to  visit 
j  rs.  Norton,  a  relation  near  Bristol, 
i  arles  consented  to  assume  the  cha- 
5ter  of  her  servant,  and  Wiimot 
[mrted  on  the  following  night  to 
ike  arrangements  for  his  reception, 
the  mean  time,  to  guard  against  a 
rprise,  Huddlestone  constantly  at- 
ided  the  king;  Whitgreave  occa- 
■aally  left  the  house  to  observe  what 
ssed  in  the  street;  and  Sir  John 
•eston,  and  two  other  boys,  the  pu- 
s  of  Huddlestone,  were  stationed  as 
atinels  at  the  garret  windows.-  But 
e  danger  of  discovery  increased 
ery  hour.  The  confession  of  a  cor- 
•t,  who  had  accompanied  him,  and 
»s  afterwards  made  prisoner,  di- 
ilged  the  fact  that  Charles  had  been 
"t  at  Whiteladies ;  and  the  hope  of 
ward  stimulated  the  parhamentary 


Mr  .Whitgreave  had  served  as  lieutenant, 
ttddlestoue  as  gentleman  volunteer  in  the 
mies  of  Charles  I.  The  latter  was  of 
9  family  at  Hutton  John,  in  Cumberland. 

aving  the  service,  he  took  orders,  and 
«  at  this  time  a  secular  priest,  living  with 
r.  "Whitgreave.    He  afterwards  became  a 


officers  to  new  and  more  active  exer- 
tions. The  house  at  Boscobel,  on  the 
day  after  the  king's  departure,  was 
successively  visited  by  two  parties  of 
the  enemy ;  the  next  morning  a  second 
and  more  rigorous  search  was  made  at 
Whiteladies ;  and  in  the  afternoon  the 
arrival  of  a  troop  of  horse  alarmed  the 
inhabitants  of  Moseley.  As  Charles, 
Whitgreave,  and  Huddlestone,  were 
standing  near  a  window,  they  observed 
a  neighbour  run  hastily  into  the  house, 
and  in  an  instant  heard  the  shout  of 
"  Soldiers,  soldiers  !"  from  the  foot  of 
the  staircase.  The  king  was  imme- 
diately shut  up  in  the  secret  place ; 
all  the  other  doors  were  thrown  open, 
and  Whitgreave  descending,  met  the 
troopers  in  front  of  his  house.  They 
seized  him  as  a  fugitive  cavalier  from 
Worcester;  but  he  convinced  them 
by  the  testimony  of  his  neighbours, 
that  for  several  weeks  he  had  not 
quitted  Moseley,  and  with  much  diffi- 
culty prevailed  on  them  to  depart 
without  searching  the  house. 

That  night  Charles  proceeded  to 
Bentley.  It  took  but  little  time  to 
transform  the  woodcutter  into  a  do- 
mestic servant,  and  to  exchange  his 
dress  of  green  jump  for  a  more  decent 
suit  of  grey  cloth.  He  departed  on 
horseback  with  his  supposed  mistress 
behind  him,  accompanied  by  her 
cousin,  Mr.  Lassells;  and,  after  a 
journey  of  three  days,  reached  Ab- 
botsleigh,  Mr.  Norton's  house,  with- 
out interruption  or  danger.  Wiimot 
stopped  at  Sir  John  Winter's,  a  place 
in  the  neighbourhood.  On  the  road 
he  had  occasionally  joined  the  royal 
party,  as  if  it  were  by  accident ;  more 
generally  he  preceded  or  followed  them 
at  a  short  distance.  He  rode  with  a 
hawk  on  his  fist,  and  dogs  by  his  side  : 


Benedictine  monk,  and  was  appointed  one 
of  the  queen's  chaplains. 


Though  ignorant  of  the  quality  of  the 

^g  by 

calUng  themselves  his  life-guard. — Boscobel, 

78. 


stranger,    the    boys    amused  the 


160 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  1 


and  the  boldness  of  his  manner  as 
effectually  screened  him  from  dis- 
covery as  the  most  skilful  disguise. 

The  king,  on  his  arrival,  was  indulged 
with  a  separate  chamber,  under  pre- 
tence of  indisposition;  but  the  next 
morning  he  found  himself  in  the  com- 
pany of  two  persons,  of  whom  one  had 
been  a  private  in  his  regiment  of 
guards  at  Worcester,  the  other  a  ser- 
vant in  the  palace  at  Richmond,  when 
Charles  lived  there  several  years  be- 
fore. The  first  did  not  recognize  him, 
though  he  pretended  to  give  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  person;  the  other,  the 
moment  the  king  uncovered,  recol- 
lected the  features  of  the  prince,  and 
communicated  his  suspicions  to  Las- 
sells.  Charles,  with  great  judgment 
sent  for  him,  discovered  himself  to 
him  as  an  old  acquaintance,  and  re- 
quired his  assistance.  The  man  (he 
was  butler  to  the  family)  felt  himself 
honoured  by  the  royal  confidence,  and 
■endeavoured  to  repay  it  by  his  services. 
He  removed  to 'a  distance  from  the 
king  two  individuals  in  the  house  of 
known  republican  principles ;  he  in- 
quired, though  without  success,  for  a 
ship  at  Bristol  to  carry  him  to  France 
or  Spain ;  and  he  introduced  Lord 
Wilmot  to  his  chamber  at  the  hour  of 
midnight.  There  they  sat  in  council, 
and  resolved  that  the  king  should  re- 
move the  next  day  to  the  house  of 
Colonel  Windham,  a  Cavalier  whom 
he  knew,  at  Trent,  near  Sherburn; 
that  a  messenger  should  be  despatched 
to  prepare  the  family  for  his  arrival ; 
and  that  to  account  for  the  sudden  de- 
parture of  Miss  Lane,  a  counterfeit 
letter  should  be  delivered  to  her,  stat- 
ing that  her  father  was  lying  at  the 
point  of  death.  The  plan  succeeded ; 
she  was  suffered  to  depart,  and  in  two 
days  the  prince  reached  his  destina- 
tion. The  following  morning  Miss 
Lane  took  her  leave,  and  hastened 
back  with  Lassells  to  Bentley.' 

^  This  lady  received  a  reward  of  one 
thousand  pounds  for  her  services,  by  order 


In  his  retirement  at  Trent,  Char! 
began  to  indulge  the  hope  of  a  spec 
liberation  from  danger.    A  ship  ^ 
hired  at  Lyme  to  convey  a  noblem 
and  his  servant    (Wilmot   and  t 
king)  to  the  coast  of  France ;  the  ho 
and  the  place  of  embarkation  w( 
fixed ;  and  a  widow,  who  kept  a  sm 
inn  at  Charmouth,  consented  to  fi 
nish  a  temporary  asylum  to  a  gent 
man  in  disguise,  and  a  young  fem 
who  had  just  escaped  from  the  custc 
ofa  harsh  and  unfeeling  guardian.  1 
next  evening  Charles  appeared  in  a  s 
vant's  dress,  with  Juliana  Coning.' 
riding  behind  him,  and  accompan 
by  Wilmot  and  AVindham.    The  h 
tess  received  the  supposed  lovers  w 
a  hearty  welcome ;  but  their  patie? 
was  soon  put  to  the  severest  trial ; 
night  passed  away,  no  boat  ente 
the  creek,  no  ship  could  be  descr 
in  the  offing ;  and  the  disappointm 
gave  birth  to  a  thousand  jealou 
and  apprehensions.    At  dawn  of  ' 
the  whole  party  separated;  W^iln 
with  a  servant,  going  to  Lyme  to 
quire  after  the  master  of  the  ves; 
Charles,  with   his  companions,  j, 
ceeding  to  Bridport  to  wait  the  rett 
of  Wilmot.    In   Bridport  he  foi 
fifteen  hundred  soldiers  preparing 
embark  on  an  expedition  against  J 
sey;  but,  unwilling  to  create  a 
by  seeking  to  eschew  an  imagii 
danger,  he  boldly  pushed  for  ware 
the  inn,  and  led  the  horses  throi 
the  crowd  with  a  rudeness  which  i 
voked  complaint.    But  a  new  dar 
awaited  him  at  the  stable.  The  hos 
challenged  him  as  an  old  acquainta: 
pretending  to  have  known  him  in 
service  of  Mr.  Potter,  at  Exeter.    ' 
fact  was  that,  during  the  civil : 
Charles  had  lodged  at  that  gentlem 
house.    He  turned  aside  to  con 
his  alarm ;  but  had  sufficient  pies( 
of  mind  to  avail  himself  of  the  pai 
mistake  of  the  hostler,  and  to  re 


of    the   two   tiouses.— C.    Journals, 
December  19,  21. 


LP.  1651.] 


CHARLES  ESCAPES  TO  FEANCE. 


IGl 


True,  I  once  lived  a  servant  with  Mr, 
Potter ;  but  as  I  have  no  leisure  now, 
ve  will  renew  our  acquaintance  on  my 
eturn  to  London  over  a  pot  of  beer." 
After  dinner,  the  royal  party  joined 
.Vilmot  out  of  the  town.  The  master 
f  the  ship  had  been  detained  at  home 
y  the  fears  and  remonstrances  of  his 
sife,  and  no  promises  could  induce  him 
0  renew  his  engagement.  Confounded 
nd  dispirited,  Charles  retraced  his 
teps  to  Trent ;  new  plans  were  fol- 
3wed  by  new  disappointments ;  a 
9cond  ship,  provided  by  Colonel 
*hilips  at  Southampton,  was  seized 
)r  the  transportation  of  troops  to 
ersey;  and  mysterious  rumours  in 
tie  neighbourhood  rendered  unsafe 
he  king's  continuance  at  Colonel 
Vindham's.'  At  Heale,  the  residence 
f  the  widow  Hyde,  near  Salisbury, 
e  found  a  more  secure  retreat  in  a 
iding-place  for  five  days,  during 
>hich  Colonel  Gunter,  through  the 
gency  of  Mansel,  a  loyal  merchant, 
ngaged  a  collier,  lying  at  New  Shore- 
am.  Charles  hastened  through  Ham- 
leton  to  Brighton,  where  he  sat  down 
)  supper  with  Philips,  Gunter,  Man- 
j1,  and  Tattershall,  the  master  of  the 
essel.  At  table,  Tattershall  kept  his 
7es  fixed  on  the  king ;  after  supper, 
e  called  Mansel  aside  and  complained 
f  fraud.  The  person  in  grey  was  the 
ing ;  he  knew  him  well,  having  been 
etained  by  him  in  the  river,  when, 
5  prince  of  Wales,  he  commanded  the 
Dyal  fleet  in  1648.  This  information 
as  speedily  communicated  to  Charles, 
ho  took  no  notice  of  it  to  Tattershall ; 
ut,  to  make  sure  of  his  man,  contrived 
)keep  the  party  drinking  and  smok- 
ig  round  the  table  during  the  rest  of 
le  night. 

Before  his  departure,  while  he  was 
;anding  alone  in  a  room,  the  landlord 
atered,  and,  going  behind  him,  kissed 
is  hand,  which  rested  on  the  back  of 


^  A  reward  of  one  thousand  pounds  was 
Rerwards  given  to  Windham. — C.  Journals, 
>ec.  17,  1660. 

*  For  the  history  of  the  king's  escape, 


a  chair,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "  I 
have  no  doubt  that,  if  I  live,  1  shall 
be  a  lord,  and  my  wife  a  lady."  Charles 
laughed,  to  show  that  he  understood 
his  meaning,  and  joined  the  company 
in  the  other  apartment.  At  four  in 
the  morning  they  all  proceeded  to 
Shoreham;  on  the  beach  his  other 
attendants  took  their  leave,  AYilmot 
accompanied  him  into  the  bark.  There 
Tattershall,  falling  on  his  knee,  so- 
lemnly assured  him,  that  whatever 
might  be  the  consequence,  he  would 
put  him  safely  on  the  coast  of  France. 
The  ship  floated  with  the  tide,  and 
stood  with  easy  sail  towards  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  as  if  she  were  on  her  way  to 
Deal,  to  which  port  she  was  bound. 
But  at  five  in  the  afternoon,  Charles, 
as  he  had  previously  concerted  with 
Tattershall,  addressed  the  crew.  He 
told  them  that  he  and  his  companion 
were  merchants  in  distress,  flying  from 
their  creditors ;  desired  them  to  join 
him  in  requesting  the  master  to  run 
for  the  French  coast ;  and,  as  a  further 
argument,  gave  them  twenty  shillings 
to  drink.  Tattershall  made  many  ob- 
jections ;  but,  at  last,  with  apparent 
reluctance,  took  the  helm,  and  steered 
across  the  Channel.  At  daybreak  they 
saw  before  them  the  small  town  of 
Fecamp,  at  the  distance  of  two  miles ; 
but  the  tide  ebbing,  they  cast  anchor, 
and  soon  afterwards  descried  to  lee- 
ward a  suspicious  sail,  which,  by  her 
manner  of  working,  the  king  feared, 
and  the  master  believed,  to  be  a  pri- 
vateer from  Ostend.  She  afterwards 
proved  to  be  aFrench  hoy ;  but  Charles 
waited  not  to  ascertain  the  fact ;  the 
boat  was  instantly  lowered,  and  the  two 
adventurers  were  rowed  safely  into  the 
harbour.^ 

The  king's  deliverance  was  a  subject 
of  joy  to  the  nations  of  Europe,  among 
whom  the  horror  excited  by  the  death 
of  the  father  had  given  popularity  to 


see  Blount's  Boscobel,  with  Claustrnm 
Eegale  reseratum;  the  Whitgreave  manu- 
script, printed  in  the  Retrospective  Eeview, 
liv.  26,  Father  Huddlestone's  relation ;  the 
M 


162 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  I 


the  exertions  of  the  son.  In  his  expe- 
dition into  England  they  had  followed 
him  with  wishes  for  his  success ;  after 
his  defeat  at  Worcester  they  were  agi- 
tated with  apprehensions  for  his  safety. 
He  had  now  eluded  the  hunters  of  his 
life;  he  appeared  before  them  with 
fresh  claims  on  their  sympathy,  from 
the  spirit  which  he  had  displayed  in 
the  field,  and  the  address  with  which 
he  had  extricated  himself  from  danger. 
His  adventures  were  listened  to  with 
interest ;  and  his  conduct  was  made 
the  theme  of  general  praise.  That  he 
should  be  the  heir  to  the  British 
crowns,  was  the  mere  accident  of  birth ; 
that  he  was  worthy  to  wear  them,  he 
owed  to  the  resources  and  energies  of 
his  own  mind.  In  a  few  months,  how- 
ever, the  delusion  vanished.  Charles 
had  borne  the  blossoms  of  promise; 
they  were  blasted  under  the  withering 
influence  of  pleasure  and  dissipation. 
But  from  the  fugitive  prince  we 
must  now  turn  back  to  the  victorious 
general,  who  proceeded  from  the  field 
of  battle  in  triumph  to  London.  The 
parliament  seemed  at  a  loss  to  express 
its  gratitude  to  the  man  to  whose 
splendid  services  the  commonwealth 
owed  its  preservation.  At  Ailesbury 
Cromwell  was  met  by  a  deputation  of 
the  two  commissioners  of  the  great 
seal,  the  lord  chief  justice,  and  Sir 
Gilbert  Pickering ;  to  each  of  whom, 
in  token  of  his  satisfaction,  he  made  a 
present  of  a  horse,  and  of  two  Scots- 
men selected  from  his  prisoners.    At 


True  Narrative  and  Eelation  in  the  Har- 
leian  Miscellany,  iv.  441,  an  account  of  his 
majesty's  escape  from  Worcester,  dictated 
to  Mr.  Pepys  by  the  king  himself,  and  the 
narrative  given  by  Bates  in  the  second  part 
of  his  Elenchus.  In  addition  to  these,  we 
have  a  narrative  by  Clarendon,  who  pro- 
fesses to  have  derived  his  information  from 
Charles  and  the  other  actors  in  the  trans- 
action, and  asserts  that  "  it  is  exactly  true  ; 
that  there  is  nothing  in  it,  the  verity  whereof 
can  justly  be  suspected"  (Car.  Hist.  iii. 
427,  428)  ;  yet,  whoever  will  compare  it 
with  the  other  accounts  will  see  that  much 
of  great  interest  has  been  omitted,  and 
much  so  disfigured  as  to  bear  little  resem- 
blance to  the  truth.    It  must  be  that  the 


Acton  he  was  received  by  the  speak' 
and  the  lord  president,  attended  I 
members  of  parliament   and  of  tl 
council,  and  by  the  lord  mayor  wil 
the  aldermen  and  sheriffs ;  and  hea} 
from  the  recorder,  in  an  address 
congratulation,  that  he  was  destine 
"to  bind  kings  in  chains,  and  the 
nobles  in  fetters  of  iron."    He  e: 
tered  the  capital  in  the  state  carriag 
was  greeted  with  the  acclamations 
the  people  as  the  procession  passi 
through  the  city,  and  repaired  to  tl 
palace   of    Hampton    Court,    whe 
apartments   had   been  fitted  up  f 
him   and   his  family  at  the   pub] 
expense.    In  parhament  it  was  pr 
posed   that   the   3rd   of   Septemb 
should  be  kept  a  holiday  for  ever 
memory  of  his  victory ;  a  day  w 
appointed  for  a  general  thanksgivin 
and  in  addition  to  a  former  grant 
lands  to  the  amount  of  two  thousai 
five   hundred    pounds    per   annui 
other  lands  of  the  value  of  four  tho 
sand  pounds  were  settled  on  hini 
proof    of    the    national     gratitu( 
Cromwell    received    these    honou 
with  an  air  of  profound   humihi 
He  was   aware   of  the  necessity 
covering  the  workings  of  ambiti' 
within  his   breast  vnth.  the  veil 
exterior  self-abasement;   and  thei 
fore  professed  to  take  no  merit 
himself,  and  to  see  nothing  in  wh 
he  had  done,  but  the  hand  of  t 
Almighty  fighting  in  behalf  of  1 
faithful  servants.^ 


historian,  writing  in  banishment,  and  a 
great  distance  of  time,  trusted  to  his  in 
gination  to  supply  thedefect  of  his  memo: 
—See  Appendix,'  TTT.  See  also  Gunte. 
narrative  in  Gary,  ii.  430. 

'  Whitelock,  509.  Ludlow,  i.  372.  Hefti 
301.  Journals,  Sept.  6,  9,  11,  19.  "Nt 
day,  13th,  the  common  prisoners  wf 
brought  through  Westminster  to  Tut! 
fields— a  sadder  spectacle  was  never  se 
except  the  miserable  place  of  their  defeat 
and  there  sold  to  several  merchants,  a 
sent  to  the  Barbadoes."— Heath,  301.  T 
teen  hundred  were  granted  as  slaves  to  t 
Guinea  merchants,  and  transported  to  t 
Gold  Coast,  in  Africa.— Farl.  Hiat.  iii.  13: 


163 


CHAPTER  V. 


VIGILANCE     OF     THE     GOVERNMENT — II.     SUBJUGATION      OF      IRELAND — III.     OF 

SCOTLAND — IV.    NEGOTIATION   WITH    PORTUGAL V.    WITH    SPAIN VI.   WITH   THB 

UNITED     PROVINCES — NAVAL      WAR AMBITION      OP     CROMVVELL — EXPULSION     OF 

PARLIAMENT CHARACTER     OF     ITS     LEADING     MEMBERS — SOME     OF     ITS     ENACT- 
MENTS. 


In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have 
Uowed  the  fortunes  of  Charles 
tiuart,  from  his  landing  in  Scotland 
•  his  defeat  at  Worcester  and  his 
cape  to  the  continent ;  we  may  now 
ok  hack  and  direct  our  attention 
some  of  the  more  important  events 
hich  occurred  during  the  same 
jriod  in  England  and  Ireland. 
1.  The  reader  is  aware  that  the 
■rm  of  government  established  in 
ngland  was  an  oligarchy.  A  few 
idividuals,  under  the  cover  of  a 
ominal  parliament,  ruled  the  king- 
)m  with  the  power  of  the  sword, 
ould  the  sense  of  the  nation  have 
?en  collected,  there  cannot  be  a 
Dubt  that  the  old  royalists  of  the 
avalier,  and  the  new  royalists  of 
le  Presbyterian  party,  would  have 
•rmed  a  decided  majority ;  but  they 
ere  awed  into  silence  and  submis- 
on  by  the  presence  of  a  standing 
rmy  of  forty-five  thousand  men; 
id  the  maxim  that  "power  gives 
ght"  was  held  out  as  a  sufficient 
)ason  why  they  should  swear  fidelity 
(the  commonwealth.'  This  numerous 
•my,  the  real  source  of  their  security, 
roved,  however,  a  cause  of  constant 
)hcitude  to  the  leaders.  The  pay 
I  the  officers  and  men  was  always 
I  arrear ;  the  debentures  which  they 
jceived  could  be  seldom  exchanged 


*  See  Marchmont  Needham'a  "Case  of 
le  Commonwealth  Stated."  4to.  London, 
360. 

*  Journals,  1649,  April  18,  Oct.  4;  1650, 
Carch  30  j   1651,   Sept.  2,  Dec.  17  j  1652, 


for  money  without  the  loss  of  fifty, 
sixty,  or  seventy  per  cent.;  and  the 
plea  of  necessity  was  accepted  as  an 
excuse  for  the  illegal  claim  of  free 
quarters  which  they  frequently  exer- 
cised. To  supply  their  wants,  re- 
course was  therefore  had  to  additional 
taxation,  with  occasional  grants  from 
the  excise,  and  large  sales  of  forfeited 
property;'*  and,  to  appease  the  dis- 
content of  the  people,  promises  were 
repeatedly  made,  that  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  armed  force  should  be 
disbanded,  and  the  practice  of  free 
quarter  be  abolished.  But  of  these 
promises,  the  first  proved  a  mere 
delusion ;  for,  though  some  partial 
reductions  were  made,  on  the  whole 
the  amount  of  the  army  continued  to 
increase;  the  second  was  fulfilled; 
but  in  return,  the  burthen  of  taxa- 
tion was  augmented ;  for  the  monthly 
assessment  on  the  counties  gradually 
swelled  from  sixty  to  ninety,  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty,  and  in  conclu- 
sion to  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 
sand pounds.^ 

Another  subject  of  disquietude 
sprung  out  of  those  principles  of 
liberty  which,  even  after  the  sup- 
pression of  the  late  mutiny,  were 
secretly  cherished,  and  occasionally 
avowed,  by  the  soldiery.  Many,  in- 
deed, confided  in  the  patriotism,  and 


April  7. 

3  Jouraala,  1649,  April  7,  Aug.  1,  Dec.  7  j 
1650,  May  21,  Nov.  26;  1651,  April  16, 
Sept.  1,  Dec.  19;  1652,  Deo.  10;  16», 
Not.  24. 

H  2 


164 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


submitted  to  the  judgment,  of  their 
officers;  but  there  were  also  many 
who  condemned  the  existing  govern- 
ment as  a  desertion  of  the  good  cause 
in  which  they  had  originally  em- 
barked. By  the  latter  Lilburne  was 
revered  as  an  apostle  and  a  martyr ; 
they  read  with  avidity  the  publica- 
tions which  repeatedly  issued  from 
his  cell ;  and  they  condemned  as  per- 
secutors and  tyrants  the  men  who  had 
immured  him  and  his  companions  in 
the  Tower,  Preparations  had  been 
made  to  bring  them  to  trial  as  the 
authors  of  the  late  mutiny ;  but,  on 
more  mature  deliberation,  the  pro- 
ject was  abandoned,  and  an  act  was 
passed  making  it  treason  to  assert 
that  the  government  was  tyrannical, 
usurped,  or  unlawful.  No  enact- 
ments, however,  could  check  the 
hostility  of  Lilburne;  and  a  new 
pamphlet  from  his  pen,  in  vindica- 
tion of  "The  Legal  Fundamental 
Liberties  of  the  People,"  put  to  the 
test  the  resolution  of  his  opponents. 
They  shrunk  from  the  struggle;  it 
was  judged  more  prudent  to  forgive, 
or  more  dignified  to  despise,  his  efforts; 
and  on  his  petition  for  leave  to  visit 
his  sick  family,  he  obtained  his  dis- 
charge.* 

But  this  lenity  made  no  impression 
on  his  mind.  In  the  course  of  six 
weeks  he  publisheti  two  more  offen- 
sive tracts,  and  distributed  them 
among  the  soldiery.  A  new  mutiny 
broke  out  at  Oxford;  its  speedy 
suppression  emboldened  the  council; 
the  demagogue  was  reconducted  to 
his  cell  in  the  Tower;  and  Keble, 
with  forty  other  commissioners,  was 
appointed  to  try  him  for  his  last 
offence  on  the  recent  statute  of  trea- 
sons. It  may,  perhaps,  be  deemed  a 
weakness  in  Lilburne  that  he  now 
offered  on  certain  conditions  to  trans- 
port himself   to    America;    but  he 


1  Journals,  1649,  April  11 ,  May  12,  July  18. 
Council  Book,  May  2.     Whitelock,  414. 


redeemed  his  character  as  soon  as 
was  placed  at  the  bar.  He  repell 
with  scorn  the  charges  of  the  pi 
secutors  and  the  taunts  of  the  cou 
electrified  the  audience  by  freque 
appeals  to  Magna  Charta  and  t 
liberties  of  Englishmen,  and  stou* 
maintained  the  doctrine  that  the  ju 
had  a  right  to  judge  of  the  law  as  w 
as  of  the  fact.  In  was  in  vain  tl 
the  court  pronounced  this  opini 
"the  most  damnable  heresy  e^ 
broached  in  the  land,"  and  that  t 
government  employed  all  its  infl 
ence  to  win  or  intimidate  the  juroi 
after  a  trial  of  three  days,  Lilbur 
obtained  a  verdict  of  acquittal.'^ 

Whether  after  his  liberation  a 
secret  compromise  took  place,  is  v 
certain.  He  subscribed  the  enga^ 
ment,  and,  though  he  openly  ( 
plained  it  in  a  sense  conformable 
his  own  principles,  yet  the  pari 
ment  made  to  him  out  of  the  f< 
feited  lands  of  the  deans  and  chapt* 
the  grant  of  a  valuable  estate,  as 
compensation  for  the  cruel  tre: 
ment  which  he  had  formerly  suffer 
from  the  court  of  the  Star-chambe 
Their  bounty,  however,  wrought 
change  in  his  character.  He  was  si 
the  indomitable  denouncer  of  oppr- 
sion  wherever  he  found  it,  and  befc 
the  end  of  the  next  year  he  dr 
upon  himself  the  vengeance  of  l 
men  in  power,  by  the  distribution 
a  pamphlet  which  charged  Sir  Arth 
Hazlerig  and  the  commissioners 
Haberdashers'-hall  with  injustice  a 
tyranny.  This  by  the  house  v 
voted  a  breach  of  privilege,  and  t 
offender  was  condemned  in  a  fine 
seven  thousand  pounds  with  banis 
ment  for  life.  Probably  the  court 
Star-chamber  never  pronounced 
judgment  in  which  the  punishmt 
was  more  disproportionate  to  the  ' 
fence.    But  his  former  enemies  soug 


2  Journals,  1649,  Sept.  11,  Oct.  30.  "WTii 
lock,  424,  425.     State  Trials,  ii.  151. 

3  Whitelock,  486.   Journ.  1650,  July  16, 


A.D.  1652.] 


PLANS  OF  THE  EOYALISTS. 


165 


not  justice  on  the  culprit,  but  secu- 
rity to  themselves.  They  seized  the 
opportunity  of  freeing  the  govern- 
ment from  the  presence  of  a  man 
whom  they  had  so  long  feared ;  and, 
as  he  refused  to  kneel  at  the  bar 
while  judgment  was  pronounced,  they 
embodied  the  vote  in  an  act  of  par- 
hament.  To  save  his  life  Lilburne 
submitted;  but  his  residence  on  the 
continent  was  short :  the  reader  will 
soon  meet  with  him  again  in  Eng- 
land.' 

The  Levellers  had  boldly  avowed 
their  object;  the  royalists  worked  in 
the  dark  and  by  stealth;  yet  the 
council  by  its  vigilance  and  promp- 
titude proved  a  match  for  the  open 
hostility  of  the  one  and  the  secret 
machinations  of  the  other.  A  doubt 
may,  indeed,  be  raised  of  the  policy 
of  the  "  engagement,"  a  promise  of 
fidelity  to  the  commonwealth  without 
king  or  house  of  lords.  As  long  as  it 
was  confined  to  those  who  held  office 
under  the  government,  it  remained  a 
mere  question  of  choice ;  but  when  it 
was  exacted  from  all  Englishmen 
above  seventeen  years  of  age,  under  the 
penalty  of  incapacity  to  maintain  an 
action  in  any  court  of  law,  it  became 
to  numbers  a  matter  of  necessity, 
and  served  rather  to  irritate  than  to 
produce  security.^  A  more  efficient 
measure  was  the  permanent  estab- 
Ushment  of  a  high  court  of  justice  to 
inctuire  into  offences  against  the  state, 
to  which  was  added  the  organization 
of  a  system  of  espionage  by  Captain 
Bishop,  under  the  direction  of  Scot, 
a  member  of  the  coun  cil.  The  friends 
of  monarchy,  encouraged  by  the  cla- 
mour of  the  Levellers  and  the  pro- 
fessions of  the  Scots,  had  begun  to 
bold  meetings,  sometimes  under  the 
pretence  of  religious  worship,  some- 


1  Journals,  1651,  Dec.  23;  1652,  Jan.  15, 
20,  30.  Whiteloek,  520.  State  Trials,  v. 
407—415.        3  Leicester's  Journal,  97—101, 

^  Milton's  State  Papers,  35,  37,  39,  47,  49, 
50.  Baillie,  ii.  348.  Carte's  Letters,  i.  414. 
5  *  State  Trials,  v.  4.  Milton's  State  Papers, 


times  under  that  of  country  amuse- 
ments :  in  a  short  time  they  divided 
the  kingdom  into  districts  called  asso- 
ciations, in  each  of  which  it  was  sup- 
posed that  a  certain  number  of  armed 
men  might  be  raised ;  and  blank  com- 
missions with  the  royal  signature  were 
obtained,  to  be  used  in  appointing 
colonels,  captains,  and  lieutenants,  for 
the  command  of  these  forces.  Then 
followed  an  active  correspondence 
both  with  Charles  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  Scotland,  and  with  the  earl 
of  Newcastle,  the  Lord  Hopton,  and 
a  council  of  exiles,  first  at  Utrecht, 
and  afterwards  at  the  Hague.  By  the 
plan  ultimately  adopted,  it  was  pro- 
posed that  Charles  himself  or  Massey, 
leaving  a  sufficient  force  to  occupy 
the  English  army  in  Scotland,  should, 
with  a  strong  corps  of  cavalry,  cross 
the  borders  between  the  kingdoms; 
that  at  the  same  time  the  royalists  in 
the  several  associations  should  rise  in. 
arms,  and  that  the  exiles  in  Holland, 
with  five  thousand  English  and  Ger- 
man adventurers,  should  land  in 
Kent,  surprise  Dover,  and  hasten  to 
join  their  Presbyterian  associates,  in 
the  capital.^  But,  to  arrange,  and 
insure  the  co-operation  of  all  the 
parties  concerned  required  the  em- 
ployment of  numerous  agents,  of 
whom,  if  several  were  actuated  by 
principle,  many  were  of  doubtful 
faith  and  desperate  fortunes.  Some 
of  these  betrayed  their  trust;  some 
undertook  to  serve  both  parties,  and 
deceived  each ;  and  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that,  while  the  letters  of  the 
agents  for  the  royalists  often  passed 
through  the  hands  of  Bishop  himself, 
his  secret  papers  belonging  to  the 
council  of  state  were  copied  and  for- 
warded to  the  king.*  This  conse- 
quence however  followed,  that  the 


39,  47,  50,  57.  One  of  these  agents  em- 
ployed by  both  parties  was  a  Mrs.  Walters, 
alias  Hamlin,  on  whose  services  Bishop 
placed  great  reliance.  She  was  to  intro- 
duce herself  to  Cromwell  by  pronouncing 
the  word  ♦'  prosperity .'^^^^id. 


166 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap,  t 


plans  of  the  royalists  were  always 
discovered,  and  by  that  means  de- 
feated by  the  precautions  of  the 
council.  While  the  king  was  on  his 
way  to  Scotland,  a  number  of  blank 
commissions  had  been  seized  in  the 
possession  of  Dr.  Lewen,  a  civilian, 
who  suffered  the  penalty  of  death. 
Soon  afterwards  Sir  John  Gell,  Co- 
lonel Eusebius  Andrews,  and  Captain 
Benson,  were  arraigned  on  the  charge 
of  conspiring  the  destruction  of  the 
government  established  by  law.  They 
opposed  three  objections  to  the  juris- 
diction of  the  court :  it  was  contrary 
to  Magna  Charta,  which  gave  to  every 
freeman  the  right  of  being  tried  by 
his  peers ;  contrary  to  the  petition  of 
right,  by  which  courts-martial  (and 
the  present  court  was  most  certainly 
a  court-martial)  had  been  forbidden ; 
and  contrary  to  the  many  declarations 
of  parliament,  that  the  laws,  the 
rights  of  the  people,  and  the  courts 
of  justice,  should  be  maintained.  But 
the  court  repelled  the  objections; 
Andrews  and  Benson  suffered  death, 
and  Grell,  who  had  not  been  an  accom- 
plice, but  only  cognizant  of  the  plot, 
was  condemned  to  perpetual  impri- 
sonment, with  the  forfeiture  of  his 
property.' 

These  executions  did  not  repress 
the  eagerness  of  the  royalists,  nor 
relax  the  vigilance  of  the  council.  In 
the  beginning  of  December  the  friends 
of  Charles  took  up  arms  in  Norfolk, 
but  the  rising  was  premature  ;  a  body 
of  E/Oundheads  dispersed  the  insur- 
gents ;  and  twenty  of  the  latter  atoned 
for  their  temerity  with  their  lives. 
Still  the  failure  of  one  plot  did  not 
prevent   the  formation  of  another ; 


J  Whitelock,  464,  468,  473,  474.  Heath, 
269,  270.  See  mention  of  several  diaco- 
Teries  in  Carte's  Letters,  i.  443,  464,  472. 

~  "It  is  plaine  unto  mee  that  they  doe 
not  judge  us  a  lawfull  magistracy,  nor 
esteeme  anything  treason  that  is  acted  by 
them  to  destroy  us,  in  order  to  bring  the 
king  of  Scots  as  heed  of  the  covenant." — 
Vane  to  Cromwell,  of  "  Love  and  his  Bre- 
thren."   Milton's  State  Papers,  84. 


as  long  as  Charles  Stuart  was  in  Scot- 
land, the  ancient  friends  of  his  familj 
secretly  prepared  for  his  reception  ir 
England;  and  many  of  the  Presby 
terians,  through  enmity  to  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  Independents,  devote 
themselves  to  the  interests  of  th^ 
prince.-  This  party  the  council  re 
solved  to  attack  in  their  chief  bul 
wark,  the  city ;  and  Love,  one  of  th' 
most  celebrated  of  the  ministers,  wa 
apprehended  with  several  of  his  asso 
ciates.  At  his  trial,  he  sought  to  sav 
his  life  by  an  evasive  protestatioE 
which  he  uttered  with  the  most  im 
posing  solemnity  in  the  presence  o 
the  Almighty.  But  it  was  clearl; 
proved  against  him  that  the  meeting 
had  been  held  in  his  house,  the  mone; 
collected  for  the  royalists  had  beei 
placed  on  his  table,  and  the  letters  re 
ceived,  and  the  answers  to  be  returned 
had  been  read  in  his  hearing.  Afte 
judgment,  both  he  and  his  friend 
presented  petitions  in  his  favour 
respite  after  respite  was  obtained 
and  the  parliament,  as  if  it  had  feare 
to  decide  without  instructions,  re 
ferred  the  case  to  Cromwell  in  Scot 
land.  That  general  was  instantl 
assailed  with  letters  from  both  th 
friends  and  the  foes  of  Love ;  he  ws 
silent;  a  longer  time  was  grante 
by  the  house;  but  he  returned  n 
answer;  and  the  unfortunate  m: 
nister  lost  his  head  on  Tower-hi 
with  the  constancy  and  serenity  < 
a  martyr.  Of  his  associates,  only  on< 
Gibbons,  a  citizen,  shared  his  fate.' 

2.  To  Charles  it  had  been  whispere 
by  his  secret  advisers  that  the  wa 
between  the  parUament  and  the  Sco' 
would,  by  withdrawing  the  attentio 


3  Milton's  State  Papers,  50,  54,  66,  75,  7 
Whitelook,  4(92, 493,  495,  500.  State  Trial 
V.  43—294.  Heath,  288,  290.  Leicester 
Journal,  107,  115,  123.  A  report,  probab 
txnfounded,  was  spread  that  Cromwt 
granted  him  his  life,  but  the  despatch  w; 
waylaid,  and  detained,  or  destroyed  by  tl 
Cavahers,  who  bore  in  remembrance  Love 
former  hostility  to  the  royal  cause. — Kenn€ 
185. 


J).  1651.] 


TRANSACTIONS  IN  IRELAND. 


167 


f  the  council  from  Ireland,  allow  the 
oyal  party  to  resume  the  ascendancy 
a  that  kingdom.  But  this  hope 
uickly  vanished.  The  resources  of 
he  commonwealth  were  seen  to  mul- 
iply  with  its  wants ;  and  its  army  in 
reland  was  daily  augmented  by  re- 
ruits  in  the  island,  and  by  reinforoe- 
aents  from  England.  Ireton,  to 
rhom  Cromwell,  with  the  title  of 
i  Drd  deputy,  had  left  the  chief  com- 
oand,  pursued  with  little  interrup- 
ion  the  career  of  his  victorious  pre- 
lecessor.  Sir  Charles  Coote  met  the 
aen  of  Ulster  at  Letterkenny ;  after 
,  long  and  sanguinary  action  they 
vere  defeated  ;  and  the  next  day  their 
9ader,  MacMahon,  the  warrior  bishop 
>f  Clogher,  was  made  prisoner  by  a 
resh  corps  of  troops  from  Innis- 
dlling.'  Lady  Fitzgerald,  a  name  as 
Uustrious  in  the  military  annals  of 
reland  as  that  of  Lady  Derby  in 
hose  of  England,  defended  the  for- 
ress  of  Trecoghan,  but  neither  the 
iflforts  of  Sir  Robert  Talbot  within, 
lor  the  gallant  attempt  of  Lord 
^astlehaven  without,  could  prevent 
ts  surrender.^  Waterford,  Carlow, 
.nd  Charlemont  accepted  honourable 
londitions,  and  the  garrison  of  Dun- 
;annon,  reduced  to  a  handful  of  men 
)y  the  ravages  of  the  plague,  opened 
I  ts  gates  to  the  enemy.^  Ormond, 
i  nstead  of  facing  the  conquerors  in 
i  he  field,  had  been  engaged  in  a  long 
ind  irritating  controversy  with  those 
!  )f  the  Catholic  leaders  who  distrusted 
'  lis  integrity,  and  with  the  townsmen 
■~  )f  Limerick  and  Galway,  who  refused 
'  o  admit  his  troops  within  their  walls. 
Misfortune  had  put  an  end  to  his 
luthority;  his  enemies  remarked 
;hat,  whether  he  were  a  real  friend  or 
I  secret  foe,  the  cause  of  the  confede- 


rates had  never  prospered  under  his 
guidance ;  and  the  bishops  conjured 
him,  now  that  the  very  existence  of 
the  nation  was  at  stake,  to  adopt 
measures  which  might  heal  the  public 
dissensions  and  unite  all  true  Irish- 
men in  the  common  defence.  Since 
the  loss  of  Munster  by  the  defection 
of  Inchiquin's  forces,  they  had  enter- 
tained an  incurable  distrust  of  their 
English  aUies;  and  to  appease  their 
jealousy,  he  dismissed  the  few  English- 
men who  yet  remained  in  the  ser- 
vice. Finding  them  rise  in  their 
demands,  he  called  a  general  assembly 
at  Loughrea,  announced  his  inten- 
tion, or  pretended  intention,  of  quit- 
ting the  kingdom;  and  then,  at  the 
general  request,  and  after  some  demur, 
consented  to  remain.  Hitherto  the 
Irish  had  cherished  the  expectation 
that  the  young  monarch  would,  as 
he  had  repeatedly  promised,  come  to 
Ireland,  and  take  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment into  his  hands;  they  now,  to 
their  disappointment,  learned  that  he 
had  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
Scots,  their  sworn  and  inveterate 
enemies.  In  a  short  time,  the  con- 
ditions to  which  he  had  subscribed 
began  to  transpire;  that  he  had  en- 
gaged to  annul  the  lat«  pacification 
between  Ormond  and  the  Catholics, 
and  had  bound  himself  by  oath,  not 
only  not  to  permit  the  exercise  of  the 
Catholic  worship,  but  to  root  out  the 
Catholic  religion  wherever  it  existed, 
in  any  of  his  dominions.  A  general 
gloom  and  despondency  prevailed ; 
ten  bishops  and  ten  clergymen  as- 
sembled at  James-town,  and  their 
first  resolve  was  to  depute  two  of 
their  number  to  the  lord  lieutenant, 
to  request  that  he  would  put  in  exe- 
cution his  former  design  of  quitting 


-  Though  he  had  quarter  given  and  life 
promised,  Coote  ordered  him  to  be  hanged. 
Yet  it  was  by  MacMahon's  persuasion  that 
CyNeil  in  the  preceding  year  had  saved 
Coote  by  raising  the  siege  of  Londonderry. 
—Clarendon,  Short  View,  &c.,  in  vol.  vili. 
145—149.    But  Coote  conducted   the  war 


like  a  savage.    See  several  instances  at  the 
end  of  Lynch's  Cambrensis  Eversus. 

~  See  Castlehaven's  Memoirs,  120 — 124; 
and  Carte's  Ormond,  ii.  116. 

3  Heath,  267,  270.    Whitelock,  457,  459 
463,  464,  469. 


168 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  V 


the  kingdom,  and  would  leave  his 
authority  in  the  hands  of  a  Catholic 
deputy  possessing:  the  confidence  of 
the  nation.  Without,  however,  wait- 
ing for  his  answer,  they  proceeded  to 
frame  a  declaration,  in  which  they 
charged  Ormond  with  negligence,  in- 
capacity, and  perfidy ;  protested  that, 
though  they  were  compelled  by  the 
great  duty  of  self-preservation  to 
withdraw  from  the  government  of 
the  king's  lieutenant,  they  had  no 
intention  to  derogate  from  the  royal 
authority;  and  pronounced  that,  in 
the  existing  circumstances,  the  Irish 
people  were  no  longer  bound  by  the 
articles  of  the  pacification,  but  by  the 
oath  under  which  they  had  formerly 
associated  for  their  common  protec- 
tion. To  this,  the  next  day  they 
appended  a  form  of  excommunica- 
tion equally  aflFecting  all  persons  who 
should  abet  either  Ormond  or  Ireton, 
in  opposition  to  the  real  interests  of 
the  Catholic  confederacy.' 

The  lord  lieutenant,  however,  found 
that  he  was  supported  by  some  of  the 
prelates,  and  by  most  of  the  aris- 
tocracy. He  replied  to  the  synod  at 
James-town,  that  nothing  short  of 
necessity  should  induce  him  to  quit 
Ireland  without  the  order  of  the 
king ;  and  the  commissioners  of  trust 
expostulated  with  the  bishops  on  their 
imprudence  and  presumption.  But 
at  this  moment  arrived  copies  of  the 
declaration  which  Charles  had  been 
compelled  to  publish  at  Dunfermline, 


1  Ponce,  Vindiciae  Eversae,  236  —  257. 
Clarendon,  viii.  151,  154,  156.  Hibernia 
Dominicana,  691.    Carte,  ii.  118, 120, 123. 

2  Carte's  Letters,  i.  391.  Charles's  coun- 
sellors at  Breda  had  instilled  into  him  prin- 
ciples which  he  seems  afterwards  to  have 
cherished  through  life :  •'  that  honour  and 
conscience  were  bugbears,  and  that  the 
king  ought  to  govern  himself  rather  by  the 
rules  of  prudence  and  necessity." — Ibid. 
Nicholas  to  Ormond,  435.  At  first  Charles 
agreed  to  find  some  way  "how  he  might 
with  honour  and  justice  break  the  peace 
with  the  Irish,  ii"  a  free  parliament  in  Scot- 

and  should  think  it  fitting"  afterwards  "  to 


in  Scotland.  The  whole  populatior 
was  in  a  ferment.  Their  suspicions 
they  exclaimed,  were  now  verified 
their  fears  and  predictions  accom- 
plished. The  king  had  pronouncec 
them  a  race  of  "bloody  rebels;"  h( 
had  disowned  them  for  his  subjects 
he  had  annulled  the  articles  of  pacifi- 
cation, and  had  declared  to  the  whoU 
world  that  he  would  exterminate  theii 
religion.  In  this  excited  temper  o 
mind,  the  committee  appointed  bj 
the  bishops  published  both  the  decla 
ration  and  the  excommunication.  A 
single  night  intervened ;  their  passion: 
had  leisure  to  cool ;  they  repented  o 
their  precipitancy ;  and,  by  the  advice 
of  the  prelates  in  the  town  of  Galway 
they  published  a  third  paper,  sus 
pending  the  eflFect  of  the  other  two. 

Ormond's  first  expedient  was  t( 
pronounce  the  DunfermUne  declara 
tion  a  forgery;  for  the  king  fron 
Breda,  previously  to  his  voyage  t< 
Scotland,  had  solemnly  assured  hin 
that  he  would  never,  for  any  earthly 
consideration,  violate  the  pacification 
A  second  message  informed  him  tha 
it  was  genuine,  but  ought  to  be  con 
sidered  of  no  force,  as  far  as  it  con 
cerned  Ireland,  because  it  had  beer 
issued  without  the  advice  of  the  Irisl 
privy  council.^  This  communicatior 
encouraged  the  lord  lieutenant  U 
assume  a  bolder  tone.  He  professet 
himself  ready  to  assert,  that  both  th( 
king  and  his  officers  on  one  part,  anc 
the  Catholic  population  on  the  other 


break  it,  but  on  condition  that  it  should  no' 
be  published  till  he  had  acquainted  Ormont 
and  his  friends,  secured  them,  and  beei 
instructed  how  with  honour  and  justice  h( 
might  break  it  in  regard  of  the  breach  oi 
their  part"  (p.  396,  397).  Yet  a  little  before 
he  had  resolutely  declared  that  no  consi 
deration  should  induce  him  to  violate  th( 
same  peace  (p.  374,  379).  On  his  applica 
tion  afterwards  for  aid  to  the  pope,  he  ex 
cused  it,  saying,  "  fuisse  vim  manifestam 
jam  enim  statuerant  Sooti  presbyteran 
personam  suam  parliament©  Anglicanc 
tradere,  si  illam  declarationem  ab  ipsi; 
factam  non  approbasset."  Ex  original 
penes  me. 


1 .  1650.]       CLANRICARDE,  LORD-LIEUTENANT. 


169 


<3j  e  bound  by  the  provisions  of  the 
I  ity ;  but  he  previously  required 
t  the  commissioners  of  trust  should 
demn  the  proceedings  of  the  synod 
Fames-town,  and  join  with  him  in 
lishing  such  of  its  members  as 
uld  persist  in  their  disobedience. 
3y  made  proposals  to  the  prelates, 
I  received  for  answer,  that  protec- 
1  and  obedience  were  correlative  ; 
I,  therefore,  since  the  king  had 
)Ucly  excluded  them,  under  the 
ignation  of  ''  bloody  rebels,"  from 
protection,  they  could  not  under- 
ad  how  any  officer  acting  by  his 
■hority  could  lay  claim  to  their 
dience.* 

?his  answer  convinced  Ormond 
,t  it  was  time  for  him  to  leave 
land;  but,  before  his  departure, 
called  a  general  assembly,  and  se- 
fced  the  marquess  of  Clanricarde,  a 
jholic  nobleman,  to  command  as 
deputy.  To  Clanricarde,  whose 
ilth  was  infirm,  and  whose  habits 
re  domestic,  nothing  could  be  more 
welcome  than  such  an  appoint- 
nt.  Wherever  he  cast  his  eyes  he 
J  appalled  by  the  prospect  before 
a.  He  saw  three-fourths  of  Ireland 
the  possession  of  a  restless  and 
torious  enemy ;  Con  naught  and 
ire,  which  alone  remained  to  the 
alists,  were  depopulated  by  famine 
1  pestilence ;  and  political  and  re- 
ious  dissension  divided  the  leaders 
1  their  followers,  while  one  party 
ributed  the  national  disasters  to 
J  temerity  of  the  men  who  pre- 
ned  to  govern  under  the  curse 
excommunication ;  and  the  other 
irged  their  opponents  veith  con- 
iling  disloyal  and  interested  views 
der  the  mantle  of  patriotism  and 
igion.  Every  prospect  of  successful 
-istance  was  gone;  the  Shannon, 
3ir  present  protection  from  the  foe, 
uld  become  fordable  in  the  spring ; 


Ponce,  257—261. 

See  Clanricarde's  State  of  the  Nation,  in 

Memoirs,  part  ii.  p.  24. 


and  then  the  last  a.sylum  of  Irish 
independence  must  be  overrun.'^ 
Under  these  discouraging  circum- 
stances it  required  all  the  authority 
of  Ormond  and  Castlehaven  to  induce 
him  to  accept  an  office  which  opened 
no  prospect  of  emolument  or  glory, 
but  promised  a  plentiful  harvest  of 
contradiction,  hardship,  and  danger. 

In  the  assembly  which  was  held  at 
Loughrea,  the  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers disapproved  of  the  conduct  of 
the  synod,  but  sought  rather  to  heal 
by  conciliation  than  to  perpetuate 
dissension.  Ormond,  having  written 
a  vindication  of  his  conduct,  and  re- 
ceived an  answer  consoling,  if  not 
perfectly  satisfactory  to  his  feelings, 
sailed  from  Gralway ;  but  Clanricarde 
obstinately  refused  to  enter  on  the 
exercise  of  his  office,  till  reparation 
had  been  made  to  the  royal  authority 
for  the  insult  offered  to  it  by  the 
James-town  declaration.  He  re- 
quired an  acknowledgment,  that  it 
was  not  in  the  power  of  any  body  of 
men  to  discharge  the  people  from 
their  obedience  to  the  lord  deputy,  as 
long  as  the  royal  authority  was  vested 
in  him;  and  at  length  obtained  a 
declaration  to  that  effect,  but  with  a 
protestation,  that  by  it  "  the  confede- 
rates did  not  waive  their  right  to  the 
faithful  observance  of  the  articles  of 
pacification,  nor  bind  themselves  to 
obey  every  chief  governor  who  might 
be  unduly  nominated  by  the  king, 
during  his  unfree  condition  among 
the  Scots."  2 

Aware  of  the  benefit  which  the 
royahsts  in  Scotland  derived  from  the 
duration  of  hostilities  in  Ireland,  the 
parliamentary  leaders  sought  to  put  an 
end  to  the  protracted  and  sanguinary 
struggle.  Scarcely  had  Clanricarde 
assumed  the  government,  when  Grace 
and  Bryan,  two  Catholic  officers,  pre- 
sented themselves  to  the  assembly 


3  Carte,  ii.  137—140.    Walsh,  App.  75- 
137.    Belling  in  Poncium,  26. 


170 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAI 


with  a  message  from  Axtel,  the  go- 
vernor of  Kilkenny,  the  bearers  of  a 
proposal  for  a  treaty  of  submission. 
By  many  the  overture  was  hailed 
with  transport.  They  maintained 
that  nothing  but  a  general  negotiation 
could  put  an  end  to  those  private 
treaties  which  daily  thinned  their 
numbers,  and  exposed  the  more  reso- 
lute to  inevitable  ruin ;  that  the 
conditions  held  out  were  better  than 
they  had  reason  to  expect  now,  in- 
finitely better  than  they  could  expect 
hereafter.  Let  them  put  the  sincerity 
of  their  enemies  to  the  test.  If  the 
treaty  should  succeed,  the  nation 
would  be  saved;  if  it  did  not,  the 
failure  would  unite  all  true  Irishmen 
in  the  common  cause,  who,  if  they 
must  fall,  would  not  fall  unrevenged. 
There  was  much  force  in  this  reason- 
ing ;  and  it  was  strengthened  by  the 
testimony  of  officers  from  several 
quarters,  who  represented  that,  to 
negotiate  with  the  parliament  was 
the  only  expedient  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  people.  But  Clanricarde 
treated  the  proposal  with  contempt. 
To  entertain  it  was  an  insult  to  him, 
an  act  of  treason  against  the  king ; 
and  he  was  seconded  by  the  eloquence 
and  authority  of  Castlehaven,  who 
affected  to  despise  the  power  of  the 
enemy,  and  attributed  his  success  to 
their  own  divisions.  Had  the  as- 
sembly known  the  motives  which 
really  actuated  these  noblemen ;  that 
they  had  been  secretly  instructed  by 
Charles  to  continue  the  contest  at 
every  risk,  as  the  best  means  of 
enabling  him  to  make  head  against 
Cromwell;  that  this,  probably  the 
last  opportunity  of  saving  the  lives 
and  properties  of  the  confederates, 
was  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  mere 
chance  of  gaining  a  victory  for  the 
Scots,  their  bitter  and  implacable 
enemies,'    many   of    the  calamities 


1  Castlehaven's  MemoirB,  116, 119, 120. 
3  Compare  the  papers  in  the  second  part 


which  Ireland  was  yet  doomed 
suffer  would,  perhaps,  have  b 
averted.  But  the  majority  alio 
themselves  to  be  persuaded ;  the  : 
tion  to  negotiate  with  the  parlianc 
was  rejected,  and  the  penalties 
treason  were  denounced  by  the 
sembly,  the  sentence  of  excommi 
cation  by  the  bishops,  against  all  ■< 
should  conclude  any  private  trt 
with  the  enemy.  Limerick  and  ( 
way,  the  two  bulwarks  of  the  oo: 
deracy,  disapproved  of  this  vote, 
obstinately  refused  to  admit  garris 
witbin  their  walls,  that  they  mi 
not  be  overawed  by  the  military, 
remain  arbiters  of  their  own  fate. 
The  lord  deputy  was  no  soc 
relieved  from  this  difficulty,  thai 
found  himself  entangled  in  a  n( 
tiation  of  unusual  dehcacy  and  ] 
plexity.  About  the  close  of  the 
summer,  Ormond  had  despatched 
Lord  Taafe  to  Brussels,  with  insti 
tions,  both  in  his  own  name  and 
name  of  the  supreme  council,* 
soUcit  the  aid  of  the  duke  of  Lorra 
a  prince  of  the  most  restless  and 
triguing  disposition,  who  was  ac( 
tomed  to  sell  at  a  high  price 
services  of  his  army  to  the  nei 
bouring  powers.  The  duke  recei 
him  graciously,  made  him  a  pres 
of  five  thousand  pounds,  and  prom 
an  additional  aid  of  men  and  moi 
but  on  condition  that  he  should 
declared  protector  royal  of  Irek 
with  all  the  rights  belonging  to  \ 
office — rights  as  undefined  as 
office  itself  was  hitherto  unkno 
Taafe  hesitated,  but  was  encoura 
to  proceed  by  the  queen  mother, 
duke  of  York,  and  De  Vic,  the  Idi 
resident  at  Brussels.  They  arg 
that,  without  aid  to  the  Irish, 
king  must  succumb  in  Scotland ;  1 
the  duke  of  Lorraine  was  the  c 
prince  in  Europe  that  could  afl 


of  Clanricarde'8  Memoirs,  17,  18,  27  (f 
London,  1757),  with  Carta's  Ormond,  ii. 


0. 1651.] 


NEGOTIATION  AVITH  LORRAINE. 


171 


em  succour;  and  that  whatever 
ight  be  his  secret  projects,  they 
uld  never  be  so  prejudicial  to  the 
yal  interests  as  the  subjugation  of 
eland  by  the  parliament.'  Taafe, 
iwever,  took  a  middle  way,  and  per- 
aded  the  duke  to  send  De  Henin  as 
s  envoy  to  the  supreme  council, 
tth  powers  to  conclude  the  treaty 
Ireland. 

The  assembly  had  just  been  dis- 
issed  when  this  envoy  arrived.  By 
.e  people,  the  clergy,  and  the  nobi- 
}y,  he  was  received  as  an  angel 
ntfrom  heaven.  The  supply  of  arms 
id  ammunition  which  he  brought, 
ined  to  his  promise  of  more  effi- 
ent  succour  in  a  short  time,  roused 
lem  from  their  despondency,  and 
loouraged  them  to  indulge  the  hope 
'  making  a  stand  against  the  pres- 
! ire  of  the  enemy.  Clanricarde,  left 
ithout  instructions,  knew  not  how 
act.  He  dared  not  refuse  the  aid 
highly  prized  by  the  people ;  he 
ured  not  accede  to  demands  so  pre- 
dicial  to  the  king's  authority.  But 
the  title  of  protector  royal  sounded 
agratefully  in  his  ears,  it  was  heard 
ith  very  different  feelings  by  the 
>nfederates,  who  had  reason  to  con- 
ude  that,  if  the  contest  between 
romwell  and  the  Scots  should  ter- 
inate  in  favour  of  the  latter,  the 
"ish  Catholics  would  still  have  need 
'  a  protector  to  preserve  their  reli- 
.on  from  the  exterminating  fana- 
cism  of  the  kirk.     Clanricarde  was. 


i  Clanricarde,  4, 5,  17,  27.  Ormond  was 
90  of  the  same  opinion.  Ho  writes  to 
aafe  that  "  nothing  was  done  that  were  to 
3  wished  undone ;"  that  the  supreme 
>nncil  were  the  best  judges  of  their  own 
■ndition;  that  they  had  received  permis- 
on  from  the  king,  for  their  own  preserva- 
on,  "  even  to  receive  conditions  from  the 
tiemy,  which  must  be  much  more  contrary 
)  his  interests,  than  to  receive  helps  from 
ny  other  to  resist  them,  almost  upon  any 
Jrms."— Clanric.  33,  34.  There  is  in  the 
rjllection  of  letters  by  Carte,  one  from 
'rmond  to  Clanricarde  written  after  the 
attle  of  Worcester,  in  which  that  noble* 
lan  says  that  it  will  be  without  scruple  his 


however,  inexorable,  and  his  reso- 
lution finally  triumphed  over  the 
eagerness  of  his  countrymen  and  the 
obstinacy  of  the  envoy.  Prom  the 
latter  he  obtained  an  additional  sum 
of  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  on  the 
easy  condition  of  naming  agents  to 
conduct  the  negotiation  at  Brussels, 
according  to  such  instructions  as  they 
should  receive  from  the  queen  dow- 
ager, the  duke  of  York,  and  the  duke 
of  Ormond.  The  lord  deputy  rejoiced 
that  he  had  shifted  the  burthen  from 
his  shoulders.  De  Henin  was  satis- 
fied, because  he  knew  the  secret 
sentiments  of  those  to  whose  judg- 
ment the  point  in  question  had  been 
referred.' 

Taafe,  having  received  his  instruc- 
tions in  Paris  (but  verbal,  not  written 
instructions,  as  Clanricarde  had  re- 
quired), joined  his  colleagues.  Sir  Ni- 
cholas Plunket,  and  Geoffrey  Brown, 
in  Brussels,  and,  after  along  but 
ineffectual  struggle,  subscribed  to  the 
demands  of  the  duke  of  Lorraine.^ 
That  prince,  by  the  treaty,  engaged 
to  furnish  for  the  protection  of  Ire- 
land, all  such  supplies  of  arms,  money, 
ammunition,  shipping,  and  provi- 
sions, as  the  necessity  of  the  case 
might  require;  and  in  return  the 
agents,  in  the  name  of  the  people  and 
kingdom  of  Ireland,  conferred  on 
him,  his  heirs  and  successors,  the  title 
of  protector  royal,  together  with  the 
chief  civil  authority  and  the  com- 
mand of  the  forces,  but  under  the 


advice,  that  "fitting  ministers  be  sent  to 
the  pope,  and  apt  inducements  proposed  to 
him  for  his  interposition,  not  only  with  all 
princes  and  states."  The  rest  of  the  letter 
is  lost,  or  Carte  did  not  choose  to  publish 
it ;  but  it  is  plain  from  the  first  part  that  he 
thought  the  only  chance  for  the  restoration 
of  the  royal  authority  was  in  the  aid  to  be 
obtained  from  the  pope  and  the  Catholic 
powers. — Carte's  Letters,  i.  461. 

2  Clanricarde,  1—16. 

3  Id.  31,  58.  It  is  certain  from  anri- 
carde's  papers  that  the  treaty  was  not  con- 
eluded  till  after  the  return  of  Taafe  from 
Paris  (p.  58). 


172 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAl 


obligation  of  restoring  both,  on  the 
payment  of  his  expenses,  to  Charles 
Stuart,  the  rightful  sovereign.'  There 
cannot  be  a  doubt  that  each  party 
sought  to  overreach  the  other. 

Clanricarde  was  surprised  that  he 
heard  nothing  from  his  agents,  no- 
thing from  the  queen  or  the  duke 
of  Ormond.  After  a  silence  of  several 
months,  a  copy  of  the  treaty  arrived. 
He  read  it  with  indignation;  he 
asserted  that  the  envoys  had  trans- 
gressed their  instructions ;  he  threat- 
ened to  declare  them  traitors  by  pro- 
clamation. But  Charles  had  now- 
arrived  in  Paris  after  the  defeat  at 
Worcester,  and  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  whole  intrigue.  He  praised 
the  loyalty  of  the  deputy,  but  sought 
to  mitigate  his  displeasure  against  the 
three  agents,  exhorted  him  to  receive 
them  again  into  his  confidence,  and 
advised  him  to  employ  their  services, 
as  if  the  treaty  had  never  existed.  To 
the  duke  of  Lorraine  he  despatched 
the  earl  of  Norwich,  to  object  to  the 
articles  which  bore  most  on  the  royal 
authority,  and  to  re-commence  the 
negotiation.^  But  the  unsuccessful 
termination  of  the  Scottish  war 
taught  that  prince  to  look  upon  the 
project  as  hopeless;  while  he  hesi- 
tated, the  court  of  Brussels  obtained 
proofs  that  he  was  intriguing  with  the 
French  minister;  and,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  Europe,  he  was  suddenly 
arrested  in  Brussels,  and  conducted  a 
prisoner  to  Toledo  in  Spain.^ 
iH  Clanricarde,  hostile  as  he  was  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  duke  of  Lorraine, 
had  availed  himself  of  the  money 
received  from  that  prince  to  organize 
a  new  force,  and  oppose  every  obstacle 
in  his  power  to  the  progress  of  the 
enemy.  Ireton,  who  anticipated  no- 
thing less  than  the  entire  reduction 
of  the  island,  opened  the  campaign 
with  the  siege  of  Limerick.    The  con- 


1  Clanricarde,  34. 

2  Id.  36—41,  47,  50—54  58.    Also  Ponce, 


ditions  which  he  oflfered  were  refu 
i  by  the  inhabitants,  and,  at  tl 
request,  Hugh  O'Neil,  with  tL 
thousand  men,  undertook  the  defe  i 
of  the  city,  but  with  an  understa  i 
ing  that  the  keys  of  the  gates  and  i 
government  of  the  place  should 
main  in  the  possession  of  the  maj 
Both  parties  displayed  a  valour  ; 
obstinacy  worthy  of  the  prize 
which  they  fought.  Though  L4 
Broghill  defeated  Lord  Muskerry, 
Catholic  commander  in  Munst 
though  Coote,  in  defiance  of  CI 
ricarde,  penetrated  from  the  north' 
extremity  of  Connaught,  as  far 
Athenree  and  Portumna;  thoi 
Ireton,  after  several  fruitless  attemj 
deceived  the  vigilance  of  Castlehav 
and  established  himself  on  the  ri 
bank  of  the  Shannon ;  and  thoug] 
party  within  the  walls  laboured 
represent  their  parliamentary  enen 
as  the  advocates  of  universal  tole 
tion ;  nothing  could  shake  the  C' 
stancy  of  the  citizens  and  the  garris 
They  harassed  the  besiegers 
repeated  sorties ;  they  repelled  ev 
assault;  and  on  one  occasion  ti 
destroyed  the  whole  corps,  which  1 
been  landed  on  "  the  island."  £■> 
after  the  fatal  battle  of  Worcester 
a  second  summons  they  returne< 
spirited  refusal.  But  in  Octobe 
reinforcement  of  three  thousand  n 
from  England  arrived  in  the  can 
a  battery  was  formed  of  the  hei 
cannon  landed  from  the  shipping 
the  harbour ;  and  a  wide  breach 
the  wall  admonished  the  inhabita 
to  prepare  for  an  assault.  In  t 
moment  of  suspense,  with  the  dre; 
ful  example  of  Drogheda  and  W 
ford  before  their  eyes,  they  met  at  i 
town-hall.  It  was  in  vain  that  0'^ 
remonstrated ;  that  the  bishops 
Limerick  and  Emly  entreated  a 
threatened.  Stretch,  the  mayor,  gt 


111—124. 
3  Thurloe,  ii.  90,  115, 127, 136,  611. 


.D.  1651.] 


DEATH  OF  IRETON. 


173 


le  keys   to  Colonel  Fanning,  who 
;ized  St.  John's  gate,   turned    the 
innon  on  the  city,  and  admitted  two 
undred  of  the  besiegers.    A  treaty 
as  now  concluded;  and  if  the  gar- 
son  and  inhabitants  preserved  their 
ves  and  property,  it  was  by  abandon- 
ig  twenty-two   individuals   to   the 
lercy  of  the  conqueror.     Of  these 
tme   made   their   escape:    Terence 
'Brien,  bishop  of  Emly,  Wallis,  a 
ranciscan  friar,  Major-General  Pur- 
•\],  Sir/Godfrey  Galway,  Baron,  a 
ember  of  the  council,  Stretch,  the 
ayor  of  the  city,  with  Fanning  him- 
If,  and  Higgin,  were  immolated  as 
atonement  for  the  obstinate  resist- 
ice  of  the  besiegers.'     By  Ireton 
'Neil  was  also  doomed  to  die,  but 
e  officers  who  formed  the  court,  in 
[miration  of  his  gallantry,  sought  to 
ve  his  life.    Twice  they  condemned 
m  in  obedience  to  the  commaHiJer- 
■chief,  who  pronounced  his  spirited 
fence  of  Clonmel  an  unpardonable 
ime  against  the  state ;  but  the  third 
ne  the  deputy  was  persuaded  to 
ive  them  to  the  exercise  of  their 
m  judgment ;  and  they  pronounced 
favour  of  their  brave  but  unfor- 
nate  captive.     Ireton  himself  did 
it   long  survive.    When   he  edn- 
mned  the  bishop  of  Emly  to  die, 
at  prelate  had  exclaimed,  "  I  appeal 
the  tribunal  of  God,  and  sumraou 
ee  to  meet  me  at  that  bar."    By 
iny  these  words  were  deemed  pro- 
letic ;  for  in  less  than  a  month  the 
3torious    general  fell  a   victim   to 
e  pestilential  disease  which  ravaged 
e  west   of  Ireland.      His    death 
oved  a  severe  loss  to  the  common- 
ialth,  not  only  on  account  of  his  abi- 


See  the  account  of  their  execution  in 
,  100, 101  of  the  Descriptio  Eegni  Hiber- 
e  per  Antonium  Prodinum,  Eoma?,  1721, 
rork  made  up  of  extracts  from  the  origi- 
l  work  of  Bruodin,  Propugnaculum  Ca- 
Jlicae  Veritatis,  Pragae,  166y.  The  extract 
Terred  to  in  this  note  is  taken  from  1.  iv. 
XV.  of  the  original  work. 
'  Ludlow,  i.  283,  296,  298,  299,  300,  307, 


lities  as  an  officer  and  a  statesman, 
but  because  it  removed  the  principal 
check  to  the  inordinate  ambition  of 
Cromwell.^ 

During  the  next  winter  the  con- 
federates had  leisure  to  reflect  on 
their  forlorn  condition.  Charles,  in- 
deed, a  second  time  an  exile,  solicited 
them  to  persevere;^  but  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  persuade  men  to  hazard  their 
lives  and  fortunes  without  the  re- 
motest prospect  of  benefit  to  them- 
selves or  to  the  royal  cause ;  and  in 
the  month  of  March  Colonel  Fitz- 
patric,  a  celebrated  chieftain  in  the 
county  of  Meath,  laid  down  his  arms, 
and  obtained  in  return  the  possession 
of  his  lands.  The  example  alarmed 
the  confederates ;  and  Clanricarde,  in 
their  name,  proposed  a  general  capi- 
tulation :  it  was  refused  by  the  stern 
policy  of  Ludlow,  who  assumed  the 
command  on  the  death  of  Ireton ;  a 
succession  of  surrenders  followed; 
and  O'Dwyer,  the  town  of  Galway, 
Thurlogh  O'Neil,  and  the  earl  of 
Westmeath,  accepted  the  terms  dic- 
tated by  the  enemy;  which  were 
safety  for  their  persons  and  personal 
property,  the  restoration  of  part  of 
their  landed  estates,  according  to  the 
qualifications  to  be  determined  by 
parliament,  and  permission  to  reside 
within  the  commonwealth,  or  to 
ent^r  with  a  certain  number  of  fol- 
lowers into  the  service  of  any  foreign 
prince  in  amity  with  England.  The 
benefit  of  these  articles  did  not  extend 
to  persons  who  had  taken  up  arms  in 
the  first  year  of  the  contest,  or  had 
belonged  to  the  first  general  assembly, 
or  had  committed  murder,  or  had 
taken  orders  in  the  church  of  Rome. 


310,  316—324.  Heath,  304,  305.  Ireton's 
letter,  printed  by  Field,  1651.  Carte,  ii.  154. 
The  parliament  ordered  Ireton's  body  to  be 
interred  at  the  public  expense.  It  was  con- 
veyed from  Ireland  to  Bristol,  and  thence 
to  London,  lay  in  state  in  Somerset  House, 
and  on  February  6th  was  buried  in  Henry 
the  Seventh's  chapel.— Heath,  305. 
3  Clanricarde,  51. 


174 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


fCHAP. 


There  were,  however,  several  who,  in 
obedience  to  the  instructions  received 
from  Charles,  resolved  to  continue 
hostilities  to  the  last  extremity.  Lord 
Muskerry  collected  jfive  thousand 
men  on  the  borders  of  Cork  and 
Kerry,  but  was  obliged  to  retire  before 
his  opponents :  his  strong  fortress  of 
Eoss  opened  its  gates ;  and,  after  some 
hesitation,  he  made  his  submission. 
In  the  north,  Clanricarde  reduced 
Ballyshannon  and  Donegal;  but 
there  his  career  ended;  and  Coote 
drove  him  into  the  isle  of  Carrick, 
where  he  was  compelled  to  accept  the 
usual  conditions.  The  last  chieftain 
of  note  who  braved  the  arms  of  the 
commonwealth,  was  Colonel  Eichard 
Grace ;  be  beat  up  the  enemy's  quar- 
ters ;  but  was  afterwards  driven  across 
the  Shannon  with  the  loss  of  eight 
hundred  of  his  followers.  Colonel 
Sanchey  pursued  him  to  his  favourite 
retreat :  his  castle  of  Inchlough  sur- 
rendered, and  Grace  capitulated  with 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty  men.'  There 
still  remained  a  few  straggling  parties 
on  the  mountains  and  amidst  the 
morasses,  under  McHugh,  and  Byrne, 
and  O'Brian,  and  Cavanagh:  these, 
however,  were  subdued  in  the  course 
of  the  winter ;  the  Isle  of  Inisbouffin 
received  a  garrison,  and  a  new  force, 
which  appeared  in  Ulster,  under  the 
Lord  Inniskilling,  obtained,  what  was 


1  On  thi3  gallant  and  honourable  officer, 
who  on  several  subsequent  occasions  dis- 
played the  most  devoted  attachment  to  the 
house  of  Stuart,  see  a  very  interesting 
article  in  Mr.  Sheffield  Grace's  *'  Memoirs 
of  the  family  of  Grace,"  p.  27. 

2  Ludlow,  i.  341,  344,  347,  352,  354,  357, 
359,  360.  Heath,  310,  312,  324,  333,  344. 
Journals,  April  8,  21  ;  May  18,  25 ;  Aug.  18. 

3  Journals,  Jan.  30,  June  15,  Jidy  9. 
Lambert's  wife  and  Lreton's  widow  met  in 
the  park.    The  first,  as  her  husband  was  in 

Eossession,  claimed  the  precedency,  and  the 
ktter  complained  of  the  grievance  to  Crom- 
well, her  father,  whose  patent  of  lord- 
lieutenant  was  on  the  point  of  expiring.  He 
refused  to  have  it  renewed ;  and,  as  there 
could  be  no  deputy  where  there  was  no 
principal,  Lambert's  appointment  of  deputy 
was   in   consequence   reYoked.    But  Mrs. 


chiefly  sought,  the  usual  articles 
transportation.  The  subjugation 
Ireland  was  completed.'-^ 

3.  Here,    to    prevent    subsequc 
interruption,  I    may  be   allowed 
describe  the  state  of  this  unhap 
country,  while  it  remained  under  t  ^ 
sway  of  the  commonwealth.  j 

On  the  death  of  Ireton,  Lambq 
had  been  appointed  lord  deputy ;  I 
by  means  of  a  female  intrigue  he  t 
set  aside  in  favour  of  Fleetwood,  w 
had   married  lreton's  widow.^ 
Fleetwood  was  assigned  the  comma 
of  the  forces  without  a  colleague ;  I 
in    the    civil    administration   w 
joined  with  him  four  other  comn 
sioners,  Ludlow,  Corbett,  Jones,  s 
Weaver.    By  their  instructions  tl 
were  commanded  and  authorized 
observe,  as  far  as  it  was  possible, 
laws  of  England  in  the  exercise  of  • 
government  and  the  administrat 
of  justice;  to  "endeavour  the 
mulgation   of  the   gospel,    and 
power  of  true  religion  and  holines- 
to  remove  all  disaflfected  or  suspec 
persons    from    oflB.ce;    to  allow 
papist    or   delinquent   to   hold  i 
place  of  trust,  to  practise  as  barris 
or  solicitor,  or  to  keep  school  for 
education  of  youth;  to  impose  mont 
assessments  not  exceeding  forty  th 
sand  pounds  in  amount  for  the  p 
ment  of  the  forces,  and  to  impri 


jd 


Ireton  was  not  content  with  this  triui 
over  her  rival.  She  married  Fleetw( 
obtained  for  him,  through  her  father's 
terest,  the  chief  command  in  place  of  L 
bert,  and  returned  with  him  to  her  for 
station  in  Ireland.  Cromwell,  howe 
paid  for  the  gratification  of  his  daught 
vanity.  That  he  might  not  forfeit 
friendship  of  Lambert,  whose  aid  was 
cessary  for  his  ulterior  designs,  he  preset 
him  with  a  considerable  sum  to  defray 
charges  of  the  preparations  which  he 
made  for  his  intended  voyage  to  Irelam 
Ludlow,  i.  355,  360.  Hutchinson,  196.  I 
bert,  however,  afterwards  discovered  ' 
Cromwell  had  secretly  instigated  Tane 
Hazlerig  to  oppose  his  going  to  IreL 
and,  iu  revenge,  joined  with  them  to  dej 
Eichard  CromweU  for  the  sin  of  his  fet 
— Thurloe,  yii.  660. 


D.  1652.]    TRANSPLANTATION  OF  IRISH  CATHOLICS. 


175 


r  discharge  any  person,  or  remove 
im  from  his  dwelHng  into  any  other 
ace  or  country,  or  permit  him  to 
iturn  to  his  dweUing,  as  they  should 
:e  cause  for  the  advantage  of  the 
)mmonwealth.* 

I.  One  of  the  first  cares  of  the  com- 
issioners  was  to  satisfy  the  claims  of 
mgeance.  In  the  year  1644  the  Ca- 
:olic  nobility  had  petitioned  the  king 
lat  an  inquiry  might  be  made  into 
le  murders  alleged  to  have  been  per- 
)trated  on  each  side  in  Ireland,  and 
lat  justice  might  be  executed  on  the 
fenders  without  distinction  of  coun- 
y  or  religion.  To  the  conquerors 
appeared  more  expedient  to  confine 
le  inquiry  to  one  party;  and  a  high 
lurt  of  justice  was  established  to  try 
atholics  charged  with  having  shed 
te  blood  of  any  Protestant  out  of 
tttle  since  the  commencement  of 
e  rebellion  in  1641.  Donnellan,  a 
itive,  was  appointed  president,  with 
mmissary-general  Eeynolds,  and 
)ok,  who  had  acted  as  solicitor  at  the 
ial  of  Charles  I.,  for  his  assessors. 
ae  court  sat  in  great  state  at  Kil- 
iuny,  and  thence  made  its  circuit 
rough  the  island  by  Waterford, 
Drk,  Dublin,  and  other  places.  Of 
e  justice  of  its  proceedings  we  have 
)t  the  means  of  forming  a  satisfac- 
ry  notion ;  but  the  cry  for  blood  was 
0  violent,  the  passions  of  men  wer  > 
0  much  excited,  and  the  forms  of 
oceeding  too  summary  to  allow  the 
dges  to  weigh  with  cool  and  cautious 
scrimination  the  difierent  cases 
lich  came  before  them.  Lords 
uskerry  and  Clanmaliere,  with  Mac- 
rthy  Eeagh,  whether  they  owed  it 
their  innocence  or  to  the  influence 
friends,  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
quitted;  the  mother  of  Colonel 
tzpatric  was  burnt;  Lord  Mayo, 
)lonels  Tool,  Bagnal,  and  about  two 


^  Jonrnala,  Aug.  24. 

'  Lndlow,  ii.  2,  5,  8—11,  Heath,  332, 333. 
'  According  to  Petty  (p.  187),  six  thou- 
id  boys   and  women  were   sent  away. 


hundred  more,  suffered  death  by  the 
axe  or  by  the  halter.  It  was,  however, 
remarkable,  that  the  greatest  de- 
ficiency of  proof  occurred  in  the  pro- 
vince where  the  principal  massacres 
were  said  to  have  been  committed.  Of 
the  men  of  Ulster,  Sir  Phelim  O'Neil 
is  the  only  one  whose  conviction  and 
execution  have  been  recorded.^ 

II.  Cromwell  had  not  been  long  in 
the  island  before  he  discovered  that  it 
was  impossible  to  accomplish  the  ori- 
ginal design  of  extirpating  the  Catho- 
lic population;  and  he  therefore 
adopted  the  expedient  of  allowing  their 
leaders  to  expatriate  themselves  with 
a  portion  of  their  countrymen,  by 
entering  into  the  service  of  foreign 
powers.  This  plan  was  followed  by 
his  successors  in  the  war,  and  was  per- 
fected by  an  act  of  parliament,  banish- 
ing all  the  Catholic  officers.  Each 
chieftain,  when  he  surrendered,  stipu- 
lated for  a  certain  number  of  men; 
every  facility  was  furnished  him  to 
complete  his  levy;  and  the  exiles 
hastened  to  risk  their  lives  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Catholic  powers  who  hired 
them ;  many  in  that  of  Spain,  others 
of  Prance,  others  of  Austria,  and  some 
of  the  republic  of  Venice.  Thus  the 
obnoxious  population  was  reduced  by 
the  number  of  thirty,  perhaps  forty 
thousand  able-bodied  men;  but  it 
soon  became  a  question  how  to  dis- 
pose of  their  wives  and  families,  of 
the  wives  and  families  of  those  who 
had  perished  by  the  ravages  of  disease 
and  the  casualties  of  war,  and  of  the 
multitudes  who,  chased  from  their 
homes  and  employments,  were  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  utter  destitution. 
These  at  different  times,  to  the  amount 
of  several  thousands,  were  collected  in 
bodies,  driven  on  shipboard,  and  con- 
veyed to  the  West  Indies.^  Yet  with 
all  these  drains  on  the  one  party,  and 


Lynch  (Cambrensis  ETersus,  in  fine)  says 
that  they  were  sold  for  slaves.  Bruodin,  in 
his  Propngnaculum  (Pragae,  anno  1669), 
numbers  the  exiles  at  one  hundred  thousand. 


176 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAU 


the  continual  accession  of  English  and 
Scottish  colonists  on  the  other,  the 
Cathohc  was  found  to  exceed  the  Pro- 
testant population  in  the  proportion 
of  eight  to  one.'  Cromwell,  when  he 
had  reached  the  zenith  of  his  power, 
had  recourse  to  a  new  expedient.  He 
repeatedly  sohcited  the  fugitives,  who, 
in  the  reign  of  the  late  king,  had  set- 
tled in  New  England,  to  abandon 
their  plantations  and  accept  of  lands 
in  Ireland.  On  their  refusal,  he  made 
the  same  offer  to  the  Vaudois,  the 
Protestants  of  Piedmont,  but  was 
equally  unsuccessful.  They  preferred 
their  native  valleys,  though  under  the 
government  of  a  Catholic  sovereign, 
whose  enmity  they  had  provoked,  to 
the  green  fields  of  Erin,  and  all  the 
benefits  which  they  might  derive  from 
the  fostering  care  and  religious  creed 
of  the  protector .- 

III.  By  an  act,  entitled  an  act  for 
the  settlement  of  Ireland,  the  parlia- 
ment divided  the  royalists  and  Catho- 
lics into  different  classes,  and  allotted 
to  each  class  an  appropriate  degree  of 
punishment.  Forfeiture  of  life  and 
estate  was  pronounced  against  all  the 
great  proprietors  of  lands,  banishment 
against  those  who  had  accepted  com- 
missions ;  the  forfeiture  of  two-thirds 
of  their  estates  against  all  who  had 
borne  arms  under  the  confederates  of 


Ultra  centum  millia  omnis  sexu3  et  aetatis,  e 
quibus  aliquot  millia  in  diveraas  Americae 
tabaccarias  insulas  relegata  sunt  (p.  692). 
In  a  letter  in  my  possession,  written  in 
1656,  it  is  said  :  Catholicos  pauperes  plenis 
navibus  mittunt  in  Barbados  et  insulas 
Americae.  Credo  jam  sexaginta  millia  abi- 
Tisse.  Expulsis  enim  ab  initio  in  Hispaniam 
et  Belgium  maritis,  jam  uxores  et  proles  in 
Americam  destinantur. — After  the  conquest 
of  Jamaica  in  1655,  the  protector,  that  he 
might  people  it,  resolved  to  transport  a 
thousand  Irish  boys  and  a  thousand  Irish 
girls  to  the  island.  At  first,  the  young 
women  only  were  demanded ;  to  which  it  is 
replied  :  '*  Although  we  must  use  force  in 
taking  them  up,  yet,  it  being  so  much  for 
their  own  good,  and  Ukely  to  be  of  so  great 
advantage  to  the  public,  it  is  not  in  the 
least  doubted  that  you  may  have  such  num- 
ber  of  them  as  you  shall  think  fit." — Thur- 
.loe,  iv.  23.    In  the  next  letter  H.  Cromwell 


the  king's  lieutenant,  and  the 
feiture  of  one-third  against  all  per  ^ 
whomsoever  who  had  not  been  in 
actual  service  of  parliament,  or 
not  displayed  their  constant  i 
affection  to  the  commonwealtl 
England.  This  was  the  doom  of 
sons  of  property  ;  to  all  others,  w 
estates,  real  and  personal,  did 
amount  to  the  value  of  ten  poun 
full  and  free  pardon  was  gracio 
offered.^ 

Care,  hovi'ever,  was  taken  that 
third  parts,  which  by  this  act  wei 
be  restored  to  the  original  propria 
were  not  to  be  allotted  to  them  oi 
their  former  estates,  but  "  in  t 
places  as  the  parliament,  for  the  e 
effectual  settlement  of  the  peaci 
the  nation,  should  think  fit 
point."  When  the  first  plan  of  e> 
mination  had  failed,  another  pr( 
was  adopted  of  confining  the  Cat) 
landholders  to  Connaught  and  C 
beyond  the  river  Shannon,  and  ol 
viding  the  remainder  of  the  isl 
Leinster,  Munster,  and  Ulster,  an 
Protestant  colonists.  This,  it  was 
would  prevent  the  quarrels  w 
must  otherwise  arise  between  the 
planters  and  the  ancient  owner 
would  render  rebellion  more  diff" 
and  less  formidable;  and  it  w 
break  the  hereditary  influence  ol 


e  £  a 

eacl 
to  1 


says :  "  I  think  it  might  be  of  like  advai 
to  your  affairs  there,  and  ours  here,  ii 
should  think  fit  to  send  one  thousanc 
hundred  or  two  thousand  young  bo^i 
twelve  or  fourteen  years  of  age  to  the 
aforementioned.  We  could  well  spare  t 
and  they  would  be  of  use  to  you  ;  and 
knows,  but  it  may  be  a  means  to  make 
Englishmen,  I  mean  rather  Christiai 
(p.  40).  Thurloe  answers  :  "Thecomn 
of  the  council  have  voted  one  thoi 
girls,  and  as  many  youths,  to  be  take 
for  that  purpose"  (p.  75). 

1  Petty,  Polit.  Arithmetic,  29. 

2  Hutchinson,  Hist,  of  Massachusetts 
Thurloe,  iii.  459, 

8  Journals,  Aug.  12,  1652.  Scobel 
197.  Ludlow,  i.  370.  In  the  Appen. 
have  copied  this  act  correctly  froD 
original  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  L 
Esq.     See  Appendix  UUU. 


A.r.  1663.] 


FIRST  ACT  OF  SETTLEMENT. 


177 


chiefs  over  their  septs,  and  of  the  land- 
'  lords  over  their  tenants.  Accordingly 
the  little  parliament,  called  by  Crom- 
well and  his  officers,  passed  a  second 
act,  which  assigned  to  all  persons, 
I  claiming  under  the  qualifications  de- 
scribed in  the  former,  a  proportionate 
quantity  of  land  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Shannon;  set  aside  the  counties 
of  Limerick,  Tipperary,  and  Water- 
ford  in  IMunster,  of  King's  County, 
Queen's  County,  West  Meath,  and 
East  Meath  in  Leinster,  and  of  l)o^vn, 
Antrim,  and  Armagh  in  Ulster,  to 
satisfy  in  equal  shares  the  English  ad- 
venturers who  had  subscribed  money 
in  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  and 
the  arrears  of  the  army  that  had  served 
in  Ireland  since  Cromwell  took  the 
command;  reserved  for  the  future 
disposal  of  the  government  the  for- 
feitures in  the  counties  of  Dublin, 
Cork,  Kildare,  and  Carlow;  and 
charged  those  in  the  remaining  coun- 
ties with  the  deficiency,  if  there  should 
be  any  in  the  first  ten,  with  the  liqui- 
dation of  several  public  debts,  and 
with  the  arrears  of  the  Irish  army 
contracted  previously  to  the  battle  of 
Rathmines. 

To  carry  this  act  into  execution, 
the  commissioners,  by  successive  pro- 
clamations, ordered  all  persons  who 
claimed  under  qualifications,  and  in 
addition,  all  who  had  borne  arms 
against  the  parliament,  to  "remove 
and  transplant "  themselves  into  Con- 
naught  and  Clare  before  the  first  of 
^May,  1654.^  How  many  were  pre- 
vailed upon  to  obey,  is  unknown ;  but 
that  they  amounted  to  a  considerable 
number  is  plain  from  the  fact  that 
the  lands  allotted  to  them  in  lieu  of 
their  third  portions  extended  to  more 
than  eight  hundred  thousand  English 


^  Bee  on  this  questioa,  "  The  Great  Sub- 
ject of  Transplantation  in  Ireland  dis- 
coased,"  1654.  Laurence,  "The  Interest 
^  England  in  the  Irish  Transplantation 
«ated,"  1654;  and  the  answer  to  Laurence  by 
Vincent  Gookin,  the  author  of  the  first  tract. 
8 


acres.  Many,  however,  refused.  Re- 
tiring into  bogs  and  fastnesses,  they 
formed  bodies  of  armed  men,  and  sup- 
ported themselves  and  their  followers 
by  the  depredations  which  they  com- 
mitted on  the  occupiers  of  their 
estates.  They  were  called  Rapparees 
and  Tories  ;*  and  so  formidable  did 
they  become  to  the  new  settlers,  that 
in  certain  districts,  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  pounds  was  offered  for  the 
head  of  the  leader  of  the  band,  and 
that  of  forty  pounds  for  the  head  of 
any  one  of  the  privates.^ 

To  maintain  this  system  of  spolia- 
tion, and  to  coerce  the  vindictive  pas- 
sions of  the  natives,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  establish  martial  law,  and  to 
enforce  regulations  the  most  arbitrary 
and  oppressive.  No  Catholic  was  per- 
mitted to  reside  within  any  garrison 
or  market  town,  or  to  remove  more 
than  one  mile  from  his  own  dwelUng 
without  a  passport  describing  his  per- 
son, age,  and  occupation ;  every  meet- 
ing of  four  persons  besides  the  family 
was  pronounced  an  illegal  and  trea- 
sonable assembly ;  to  carry  arms,  or 
to  have  arms  at  home,  was  made  a 
capital  offence ;  and  any  transplanted 
Irishman,  who  was  found  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Shannon,  might  be  put  to 
death  by  the  first  person  who  met 
him,  without  the  order  of  a  magistrate. 
Seldom  has  any  nation  been  reduced 
to  a  state  of  bondage  more  galling  and 
oppressive.  Under  the  pretence  of 
the  violation  of  these  laws,  their  feel- 
ings were  outraged,  and  their  blood 
was  shed  with  impunity.  They  held 
their  property,  their  liberty,  and  their 
lives,  at  the  will  of  the  petty  despots 
around  them,  foreign  planters,  and 
the  commanders  of  military  posts,  who 
were  stimulated  by  revenge  and  in- 


2  This  celebrated  party  name,  "  Tory,"  is 
derived  from  ••  toruighim,"  to  pursue  for 
the  sake  of  plimder,— O'Connor,  Bib.  Stow- 
eAsis,  ii.  460. 

s  Burton's  Diary,  ii.  210. 

N 


178 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  v. 


terest  to  depress  and  exterminate  the 
native  poptdation.' 

IV.  The  religion  of  the  Irish  proved 
an  additional  source  of  solicitude  to 
their  fanatical  conquerors.  By  one  of 
the  articles  concluded  with  Lord 
Westmeath,  it  was  stipulated  that  all 
the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  should  en- 
joy the  benefit  of  an  act  lately  passed 
in  England  "  to  relieve  peaceable  per- 
sons from  th«  rigours  of  former  acts 
in  matters  of  religion  ;'*  and  that  no 
Irish  recusant  should  be  compelled  to 
assist  at  any  form  of  service  contrary 
to  his  conscience.  When  the  treaty 
was  presented  for  ratification,  this 
concession  shocked  and  scandalized 
the  piety  of  the  saints.  The  first  part 
was  instantly  negatived ;  and,  if  the 
second  was  carried  by  a  small  majority 
through  the  efforts  of  Martin  and 
Vane,  it  was  with  a  proviso  that  "  the 
article  should  not  give  any  the  least 
allowance,  or  countenance,  or  tolera- 
tion, to  the  exercise  of  the  Catholic 
worship  in  any  manner  whatsoever."" 

In  the  spirit  of  these  votes,  the  civil 
commissioners  ordered  by  proclama- 
tion all  CathoUc  clergymen  to  quit 
Ireland  within  twenty  days,  under  the 
penalties  of  high  treason,  and  forbade 
all  other  persons  to  harbour  any  such 
clergymen  under  the  pain  of  death. 
Additional  provisions  tending  to  the 
same  object  followed  in  succession. 
Whoever  knew  of  the  concealment 
of  a  priest,  and  did  not  reveal  it  to  the 
proper  authorities,  was  made  liable  to 
the  punishment  of  a  public  whipping 
and  the  amputation  of  his  ears ;  to  be 
absent  on  a  Sunday  from  the  service 
at  the  parish  church,  subjected  the 
offender  to  a  fine  of  thirty  pence ;  and 
the  magistrates  were  authorized  to 
take  away  the  children  of  Catholics 


1  Bruodin,  693.  Hibernia  Dominicana, 
706,  2  Journals,  1652,  June  1. 

*  Hibernia  Dominicana,  707.  Bruodin, 
696.  Porter,  Compendium  Annalium  Ec- 
clesiasticorum  (Romae,  169  •),  P-  292. 

*  3iS.  letters  in  my  possession.    Bruodin, 


and  send  them  to  England  for  educa- 
tion, and  to  tender  the  oath  of  abju- 
ration to  all  persons  of  the  age  of  on( 
and  twenty  years,  the  refusal  of  whicl 
subjected  them  to  imprisonmem 
during  pleasure,  and  to  the  forfeiture 
of  two-thirds  of  their  estates  real  anc 
personal.^ 

During  this  period  the  CathoU< 
clergy  were  exposed  to  a  persecutioi 
far  more  severe  than  had  ever  beei 
previously  experienced  in  the  island 
In  former  times  the  chief  governor 
dared  not  execute  with  severity  th' 
laws  against  the  Catholic  priesthood 
and  the  fugitives  easily  found  securit; 
on  the  estates  of  the  great  landed  pro 
prietors.  But  now  the  Irish  peopl 
lay  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  their  con 
querors ;  the  military  were  distribute* 
in  small  bodies  over  the  country 
their  vigilance  was  sharpened  by  re 
ligious  antipathy  and  the  hope  of  re 
ward;  and  the  means  of  detectio 
were  facilitated  by  the  prohibition  c 
travelling  without  a  licence  from  th 
magistrates.  Of  the  many  priest 
who  still  remained  in  the  countr: 
several  were  discovered,  and  forfeite 
their  lives  on  the  gallows ;  those  wh 
escaped  detection  concealed  then 
selves  in  the  caverns  of  the  mountain 
or  in  lonely  hovels  raised  in  the  mid; 
of  the  morasses,  whence  they  issue 
during  the  night  to  carry  the  consob 
tions  of  religion  to  the  huts  of  the 
oppressed  and  suffering  countrymen 

3.  In  Scotland  the  power  of  tl 
commonwealth  was  as  firmly  est; 
blished  as  in  Ireland.  When  CroD  ;: 
well  hastened  in  pursuit  of  the  kir 
to  Worcester,  he  left  Monk  wit 
eight  thousand  men  to  complete  tl 
conquest  of  the  kingdom.  Monk  ii 
vested  Stirling ;  and  the  Highlande 


696.  A  proclamation  was  also  issued  orde 
ing  all  nuns  to  marry  or  leave  Ireland.  Th 
were  successively  transported  to  Belgio: 
France,  and  Spain,  where  they  were  Ik 
pitably  received  in  the  convents  oC  tin 
respective  orders. 


LD.  1651.] 


SUBJUGATION  OF  SCOTLAND. 


17» 


/yho  composed  the  garrison,  alarmed 
jy  the  explosion  of  the  shells  from 
ihe  batteries,  compelled  the  governor 
:o  capitulate.  The  maiden  castle, 
jvhich  had  never  been  violated  by 
;he  presence  of  a  conqueror,'  sub- 
nitted  to  the  English  "sectaries;" 
md,  what  was  still  more  humbhng 
io  the  pride  of  the  nation,  the  royal 
•obes,  part  of  the  regalia,  and  the 
national  records,  were  irreverently 
x)m  from  their  repositories,  and  sent 
X)  London  as  the  trophies  of  victory. 
Thence  the  English  general  marched 
brward  to  Dundee,  where  he  received 
I  proud  defiance  from  Lumsden,  the 
governor.  During  the  preparations 
br  the  assault,  he  learned  that  the 
Scottish  lords,  whom  Charles  had  in- 
"justed  with  the  government  in  his 
jbsence,  were  holding  a  meeting  on 
:;he  moor  at  Ellet,  in  Angus.  By  his 
Drder,  six  hundred  horse,  under  the 
solonels  Alured  and  Morgan,  aided, 
is  it  was  beheved,  by  treachery,  sur- 
prised them  at  an  early  hour  in  the 
Horning.  Three  hundred  prisoners 
ivere  made,  including  the  two  com- 
mittees of  the  estates  and  the  kirk, 
several  peers,  and  all  the  gentry  of 
uhe  neighbourhood;  and  these,  with 
such  other  individuals  as  the  general 
ieemed  hostile  and  dangerous  to  the 
commonwealth,  followed  the  regalia 
md  records  of  their  country  to  the 
English  capital.  At  Dundee  a  breach 
was  soon  made  in  the  wall ;  the  de- 
fenders shrunk  from  the  charge  of 
the  assailants ;  and  the  governor  and 
garrison  were  massacred.     I   must 


1  "Haee  nobis  invicta  tulenmt  cenhim 
sex  proavi,  1617,"  was  the  boasting  inscrip- 
tion which  King  James  had  engraved  on  the 
wall.  —  Clarke's  official  account  to  the 
Speaker,  in  Gary,  ii.  327.    Echard,  697. 

*  Heath,  301,  302.  Whitelock,  508.  Jour- 
aaU,  Aug.  27.  Milton's  S.  Pap.  79.  Bal- 
foar,  iv.  314,  315.  "  Mounche  commaundit 
all,  of  quhataummeuer  sex,  to  be  putt  to  the 
edge  of  the  suord.  Ther  wer  800  inhabi- 
tants and  souldiers  killed,  and  about  200 
women  and  children.  The  plounder  and 
buttie   they  gatte  in  the  toune,  exceided 


leave  it  to  the  imagination  of  the 
reader  to  supply  the  suflFerings  of  the 
inhabitants  from  the  violence,  the 
lust,  and  the  rapacity  of  their  vic- 
torious enemy.  In  Dundee,  on  ac- 
count of  its  superior  strength,  many 
had  deposited  their  most  valuable 
effects ;  and  all  these,  with  sixty  ships 
and  their  cargoes  in  the  harbour,  be- 
came the  reward  of  the  conquerors,^ 

Warned  by  this  awful  example,  St. 
Andrews,  Aberdeen,  and  Montrose 
opened  their  gates  ;  the  earl  of 
Huntly  and  Lord  Balcarras  sub- 
mitted :  the  few  remaining  fortresses 
capitulated  in  succession ;  and  if 
Argyle,  in  the  midst  of  his  clan, 
maintained  a  precarious  and  tem- 
porary independence,  it  was  not  that 
he  cherished  the  expectation  of 
evading  the  yoke,  but  that  he  sought 
to  draw  from  the  parliament  the 
acknowledgment  of  a  debt  which  he 
claimed  of  the  English  government.- 
To  destroy  the  prospect,  by  showing 
the  hopelessness  of  resistance,  the 
army  was  successively  augmented  to 
the  amount  of  twenty  thousand  men;* 
citadels  were  marked  out  to  be  built 
of  stone  at  Ayr,  Leith,  Perth,  and 
Inverness ;  and  a  long  chain  of  mili- 
tary stations  drawn  across  the  High- 
lands served  to  curb,  if  it  did  not 
tame,  the  fierce  and  indignant  spirit 
of  the  natives.  The  parliament  de- 
clared the  lands  and  goods  of  the 
crown  pubhc  property,  and  confiscated 
the  estates  of  all  who  had  joined  the 
king  or  the  duke  of  Hamilton  in  their 
invasions   of  England,    unless   they 


2  millions  and  a  halffe"  (about  200,000^.). 
That,  however,  the  whole  garrison  was  not 
put  to  the  sword  appears  from  the  mention 
in  the  Journals  (Sept.  12)  of  a  list  of  offi- 
cers made  prisoners,  and  from  Monk's  letter 
to  Cromwell.  "There  was  killed  of  the 
enemy  about  500,  and  200  or  thereabouts 
taken  prisoners.  The  stubboi-nness  of  the 
people  enforced  the  soldiers  to  plunder  the 
town."-r-Cary'8  Memorials,  ii.  351. 

3  Balfour,  iv.  315.    Heath,  304,  308,  SIO, 
313.    Whitelock,  514,  534,  543. 

*  Journals,  Dec.  2, 1652. 
N  2 


180 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAP.  "\ 


were  engaged  in  trade,  and  worth  no 
more  than  five  pounds,  or  not  engaged 
in  trade,  and  worth  only  one  hundred 
pounds.  All  authority  derived  from 
any  other  source  than  the  parliament 
of  England  was  abolished  by  proclama- 
tion ;  the  diflFerent  sheriffs,  and  civil 
officers  of  doubtful  fidelity,  were 
removed  for  others  attached  to  the 
commonwealth;  a  yearly  tax  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  pounds 
was  imposed  in  lieu  of  free  quarters 
lor  the  support  of  the  army;  and 
Enghsh  judges,  assisted  by  three  or 
four  natives,  were  appointed  to  go  the 
circuits,  and  to  supersede  the  courts 
of  session.'  It  was  with  grief  and 
shame  that  the  Scots  yielded  to  these 
innovations;  though  they  were  at- 
tended with  one  redeeming  benefit, 
the  prevention  of  that  anarchy  and 
bloodshed  which  must  have  followed, 
had  the  Cavaliers  and  Covenanters, 
with  forces  nearly  balanced,  and  pas- 
sions equally  excited,  been  left  to 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  each  other. 
But  they  were  soon  threatened  with 
what  in  their  eyes  was  a  still  greater 
evil.  The  parliament  resolved  to  incor- 
porate the  two  countries  into  one  com- 
monwealth, without  kingly  govern- 
ment or  the  aristocratical  influence 
of  a  house  of  peers.  This  was  thought 
to  fill  up  the  measure  of  Scottish 
misery.  There  is  a  pride  in  the  in- 
dependence of  his  country,  of  which 
even  the  peasant  is  conscious ;  but  in 
this  case  not  only  national  but  reli- 
gious feeUngs  were  outraged.  With 
the  civil  consequences  of  an  union 


1  Ludlow,  345.  Heath,  313,  326.  White- 
lock,  528,  542.  Journals,  Nov.  19.  Leices- 
ter's Journal,  129.  The  English  judges 
were  astonished  at  the  spirit  of  litigation 
and  revenge  which  the  Scots  displayed 
during  the  circuit.  More  than  one  thousand 
individuals  were  accused  before  them  of 
adultery,  incest,  and  other  offences,  which 
they  had  been  obliged  to  confess  in  the  kirk 
during  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years. 
When  no  other  proof  was  brought,  the 
charge  was  dismissed.  In  like  manner  sixty 
persons    were    charged    with    witchcraft. 


which  would  degrade  Scotland  to  tl 
state  of  a  province,  the  ministers  i| 
their  ecclesiastical  capacity  had  n 
concern ;  but  they  forbade  the  peop] 
to  give  consent  or  support  to  th 
measure,  because  it  was  contrary  t 
the  covenant,  and  tended  "to  dra 
with  it  a  subordination  of  the  kir 
to  the  state  in  the  things  ( 
Christ."  2  The  parliamentary  con 
missioners  (they  were  eight,  with  S 
John  and  Vane  at  their  head),  secui 
of  the  power  of  the  sword,  deride 
the  menaces  of  the  kirk.  They  coi 
vened  at  Dalkeith  the  representativ< 
of  the  counties  and  burghs,  who  wei 
ordered  to  bring  with  them  full  powei 
to  treat  and  conclude  respecting  tl: 
incorporation  of  the  two  countrie 
Twenty-eight  out  of  thirty  shires,  ao 
forty-four  out  of  fifty-eight  burgh 
gave  their  cousent ;  and  the  resu 
was  a  second  meeting  at  Edinburg] 
in  which  twenty-one  deputies  wei 
chosen  to  arrange  the  conditions  wit 
the  parliamentary  commissioners  : 
Westminster.  There  conferences  wei 
held,  and  many  articles  discussed;  bu 
before  the  plan  could  be  amicab. 
ad justed,  the  parliament  itself,  wit 
all  its  projects,  was  overturned  by  tl 
successful  ambition  of  Cromwell.^ 

4.  From  the  conquest  of  Irelan 
and  Scotland  we  may  now  turn  1 
the  transactions  between  the  con 
monwealth  and  foreign  powers.  Tt 
king  of  Portugal  was  the  first  wb 
provoked  its  anger,  and  felt  its  vei 
geance.  At  an  early  period  in  164! 
Prince  Eupert,  with  the  fleet  whic 


These  were  also  acquitted ;  for,  though  thf 
had  confessed  the  offence,  the  confessic 
had  been  drawn  from  them  by  torture, 
was  usual  to  tie  up  the  supposed  witch  I 
the  thumbs,  and  to  whip  her  till  she  coi 
fessed ;  or  to  put  the  flame  of  a  candle  i 
the  soles  of  the  feet,  between  the  toes,  ( 
to  parts  of  the  head,  or  to  make  the  accuse 
wear  a  shirt  of  hair  steeped  in  vinegar,  & 
—See  Whitelock,  543,  544,  545,  547,  548. 

2  Whitelock,  521.    Heath,  307. 

3  Journals,  1652,  March  16, 24, 26,  April : 
May  14,  Sept.  15,  29,  Oct.  29,  Nov.  23. 


A.D.  1651.]  TRANSACTIONS  WITH  PORTUGAL. 


181 


had  revolted  from  the  parUament  to 
the  late  king,  sailed  from  the  Texel, 
swept  the  Irish  Channel,  and  inflicted 
severe  injuries  on  the  English  com- 
merce. Vane,  to  whose  industry  had 
been  committed  the  care  of  the  naval 
department,  made  every  exertion  to 
equip  a  formidable  armament,  the 
command  of  which  was  given  to  three 
military  officers,  Blake,  Dean,  and 
Popham.  Eupert  retired  before  this 
superior  force  to  the  harbour  of  Kin- 
sale;  the  batteries  kept  his  enemies 
at  bay ;  and  the  Irish  supplied  him 
with  men  and  provisions.  At  length 
the  victories  of  Cromwell  by  land 
admonished  him  to  quit  his  asylum ; 
and,  with  the  loss  of  three  ships, 
he  burst  through  the  blockading 
squadron,  sailed  to  the  coast  of  Spain, 
and  during  the  winter  months  sought 
shelter  in  the  waters  of  the  Tagus. 
'In  spring,  Blake  appeared  with 
eighteen  men-of-war  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river;  to  his  request  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  attack  the  pirate 
lit  his  anchorage,  he  received  from 
the  king  of  Portugal  a  peremptory 
refusal ;  and,  in  his  attempt  to  force 
liis  way  up  the  river  he  was  driven 
back  by  the  fire  from  the  batteries. 
[n  obedience  to  his  instructions,  he 
revenged  himself  on  the  Portuguese 
jrade,  and  Don  John,  by  way  of 
reprisal,  arrested  the  English  mer- 
jhants  and  took  possession  of  their 
jflFects.  Alarmed,  however,  by  the 
osses  of  his  subjects,  he  compelled 
Eupert  to  quit  the  Tagus,'  and  de- 
iipatched  an  envoy,  named  Guimaraes, 
io  solicit  an  accommodation.  Every 
oaper   which    passed    between    this 


1  Thurloe,  i.  134,  142,  155.  Heath,  254, 
!56,  275.  Whitelock,  406,  429,  449, 463,  475. 
Clarendon,  iii.  338.  Eupert  sailed  into  the 
viediterranean,  and  maintained  himself  by 
tiracy,  capturing  not  only  English  but 
Spanish  and  Genoese  ships.  All  who  did 
lot  fayour  him  wera  considered  as  enemies, 
driven  from  the  Mediterranean  by  the  Eng- 
ish,  he  sailed  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he 
aflicted  greater  losses  on  the  Spanish  than 
he   English   trade.      Here    his    brother, 


minister  and  the  commissioners  was 
submitted  to  the  parliament,  and  by 
it  approved,  or  modified,  or  rejected. 
Guimaraes  subscribed  to  the  pre- 
liminaries demanded  by  the  council, 
that  the  English  merchants  arrested 
in  Portugal  should  be  set  at  liberty, 
that  they  should  receive  an  indemni- 
fication for  their  losses,  and  that  the 
king  of  Portugal  should  pay  a  sum  of 
money  towards  the  charges  of  the 
English  fleet;  but  he  protracted  the 
negotiation  by  disputing  dates  and 
details,  and  was  haughtily  commanded 
to  quit  the  territory  of  the  common- 
wealth. Humbling  as  it  was  to  Don 
John,  he  had  no  resource ;  the  Conde 
de  Camera  was  sent,  with  the  title  of 
ambassador  extraordinary ;  he  assented 
to  every  demand;  but  the  progress 
of  the  treaty  was  interrupted  by  the 
usurpation  of  Cromwell,  and  another 
year  elapsed  before  it  was  concluded. 
By  it  valuable  privileges  were  granted 
to  the  English  traders ;  four  commis- 
sioners,— two  English  and  two  Portu- 
guese, were  appointed  to  settle  all 
claims  against  the  Portuguese  govern- 
ment ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  an 
English  commissary  should  receive 
one-half  of  all  the  duties  paid  by 
the  English  merchants  in  the  ports 
of  Portugal,  to  provide  a  sufficient 
fund  for  the  liquidation  of  the  debt.= 

5.  To  Charles  I.  (nor  will  it  surprise 
us,  if  we  recollect  his  treatment  of 
the  Infanta)  the  court  of  Spain  had 
always  behaved  with  coldness  and 
reserve.  The  ambassador  Cardenas 
continued  to  reside  in  London,  even 
after  the  king's  execution,  and  was 
the  first  foreign  minister  whom  the 


Prince  Maurice,  perished  in  a  storm ;  and 
Rupert,  unable  to  oppose  his  enemies  with 
any  hope  of  success,  returned  to  Europe, 
and  ancnored  in  the  harbour  of  Nantes,  in 
March,  1652.  He  sold  his  two  men-of-war 
to  Cardinal  Mazarin.— Heath,  337.  White- 
lock,  552.     Clarendon,  iii,  513,  520. 

•^  Journals,  1650,  Dec.  17 ;  1651,  April  4, 
11,  23,  May  7,  13,  16  j  1652,  Sept.  30, 
Dee.  1«;  1653,  Jan.  5.  Whitelock,  488. 
Dumont,  vi.  p.  ii.  82. 


182 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  V 


parliament  honoured  with  a  public 
audience.  He  made  it  his  chief  object 
to  cement  the  friendship  between  the 
commonwealth  and  his  own  country, 
fomented  the  hostility  of  the  former 
against  Portugal  and  the  United  Pro- 
vinces, the  ancient  enemies  of  Spain, 
and  procured  the  assent  of  his  sove- 
reign that  an  accredited  minister  from 
the  parliament  should  be  admitted  by 
the  court  of  Madrid.  The  individual 
selected  for  this  office  was  Ascham, 
a  man  who,  by  his  writings,  had  ren- 
dered himself  peculiarly  obnoxious  to 
the  royalists.  He  landed  near  Cadiz, 
proceeded  under  an  escort  for  his 
protection  to  Madrid,  and  repaired  to 
an  inn,  till  a  suitable  residence  could 
be  procured.  The  next  day,  while  he 
was  sitting  at  dinner  with  Riba,  a 
renegado  friar,  his  interpreter,  six 
Enghshmen  entered  the  house ;  four 
remained  below  to  watch ;  two  burst 
into  the  room,  exclaiming,  "Welcome, 
gallants,  welcome;"  and  in  a  moment 
both  the  ambassador  and  the  int-er- 
preter  lay  on  the  floor  weltering  in 
their  blood.  Of  the  assassins,  one,  a 
servant  to  Cottington  and  Hyde,  the 
envoys  from  Charles,  fled  to  the  house 
of  the  Venetian  ambassador,  and 
escaped;  the  other  five  took  refuge 
in  a  neighbouring  cbapel,  whence, 
by  the  king's  order,  they  were  con- 
ducted to  the  common  gaol.  When 
the  criminal  process  was  ended,  they 
all  received  judgment  of  death.  The 
crime,  it  was  acknowledged,  could 
not  be  justified ;  yet  the  public  feel- 
ing was  in  favour  of  the  criminals: 
the  people,  the  clergy,  the  foreign 
ambassadors,  all  sought  to  save  them 
from  punishment;  and,  though  the 
right  of  sanctuary  did  not  afibrd  pro- 
tection to  murderers,  the  king  was, 
but  with  diflBiculty,  persuaded  to  send 
them  back  to  their  former  asylum. 
Here,  while  they  remained  within  its 


precincts,  they  were  safe ;  but  th( 
moment  they  left  the  sanctuary,  theb 
lives  became  forfeited  to  the  law 
The  people  supplied  them  with  pro 
visions,  and  offered  the  means  o 
escape.  They  left  Madrid ;  the  polic< 
pursued ;  Sparkes,  a  native  of  Hamp 
shire,  was  taken  about  three  mile 
from  the  city,  and  the  parliament 
unable  to  obtain  more,  appeared  t( 
be  content  with  the  blood  of  thi 
single  victim.' 

6.  These  negotiations  ended  peace 
ably;  those  between  the  common 
wealth  and  the  United  Provinces 
though  commenced  with  friendl: 
feeling?,  led  to  hostilities.  It  migh 
have  been  expected  that  the  Dutch 
mindful  of  the  glorious  struggle  fo 
liberty  maintained  by  their  fathers 
and  crowned  with  success  by  th« 
treaty  of  Munster,  would  have  viewec 
with  exultation  the  triumph  of  tht 
English  repubUcans,  But  Willian 
the  Second,  prince  of  Orange,  ha( 
married  a  daughter  of  Charles  I. 
his  views  and  interests  were  espouse( 
by  the  military  and  the  people ;  an( 
his  adherents  possessed  the  ascendanc: 
in  the  States  General  and  in  all  th' 
provincial  states,  excepting  those  o 
West  Friesland  and  Holland.  As  Ion; 
as  he  lived,  no  atonement  could  b 
obtained  for  the  murder  of  Dorislauf 
no  audience  for  Strickland,  the  resi 
dent  ambassador,  though  that  favou 
was  repeatedly  granted  to  Boswel 
I  the  envoy  of  Charles.*  However,  ii 
November  the  prince  died  of  th 
small-pox  in  his  twenty-fourth  year 
and  a  few  days  later  his  widow  wa 
delivered  of  a  son,  William  III.,  th 
same  who  subsequently  ascended  th 
throne  of  England.  The  infancy  c 
his  successor  emboldened  the  demo  • 
cratical  party ;  they  abolished  th  « 
oflSce  of  stadtholder,  and  recovered  th  ' 
ascendancy  in  the  government.    Oi  ^ 


-  Compare  Clarendon,  iiL  369,  with  the 
Papers  in  Thurloe,  i.  148—153,  203,  and 


Harleian  Miscellany,  iv.  280. 
2  Thurloe,  i.  112,  113,  114,  124; 


.D.  1651.]         TEANSACTIONS  WITH  THE  STATES. 


183 


the  news  of  this  revolution,  the  coun- 
cil advised  that  St.  John,  the  chief 
justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and 
Strickland,  the  former  envoy,  should 
be  appointed  ambassadors  extraordi- 
nary to  the  States  General.  St.  John, 
with  the  fate  of  Ascham  before  his 
eyes,  sought  to  escape  this  dangerous 
mission;  he  alleged  the  infirmity  of 
his  health  and  the  insalubrity  of  the 
3limate;  but  the  parliament  derided 
liis  timidity,  and  his  petition  was  dis- 
missed on  a  division  by  a  considerable 
majority.* 

Among    the    numerous    projects 

;vhich  the  English  leaders  cherished 

inder  the  intoxication  of  success,  was 

hat  of  forming,  by  the  incorporation 

)f  the  United    Provinces  with  the 

jommonwealth,  a  great  and  powerful 

•epublic,  capable  of  striking  terror 

nto  all  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe. 

3ut  so  many  diflQculties  were  fore- 

een,  so  many  objections  raised,  that 

he  ambassadors  received  instructions 

0  confine  themselves  to  the   more 

ober  proposal  of  "  a  strict  and  inti- 

aate  alliance  and  union,  which  might 

ive  to  each  a  mutual  and  intrinsical 

nterest"   in   the   prosperity  of  the 

ther.    They  made  their  public  entry 

Qto  the  Hague  with  a  parade  and 

etinue    becoming   the    representa- 

ives  of  a  powerful  nation ;   but  ex- 

emal  splendour  did  not  check  the 

opular  feeling,  which  expressed  it- 

qU  by  groans  and  hisses,  nor  intimi- 

ate  the  royalists,  who  sought  every 

ccasion   of    insulting   "the   things 

ailed    ambassadors."*      The    States 

ad  not  forgotten  the  oflFensive  delay 


1  Journals,  1651,  Jan.  21,  23,  28. 

Tims  they  are  perpetually  called  in  the 
orrespondence  of  the  royalists. — Carte's 
'alters,  i,  447,  469;  ii.  11.  Strickland's 
■amnits  were  attacked  at  his  door  by  six 
wafers  with  drawn  swords  j  an  attempt 
u  made  to  break  into  St.  John's  bed- 
umber;  Edward,  son  to  the  queen  of 
ohemia,  pubUcly  called  the  ambassadors 
}^es  and  dogs;  and  the  young  duke  of 
ork  accidentally  meeting  St.  John,  who 


of  the  parliament  to  answer  their 
embassy  of  intercession  for  the  life  of 
Charles  I.;  nor  did  they  brook  the 
superiority  which  it  now  assumed, 
by  prescribing  a  certain  term  within 
which  the  negotiation  should  be  con- 
cluded. Pride  was  met  with  equal 
pride;  the  ambassadors  were  com- 
pelled to  solicit  a  prolongation  of 
their  powers,  and  the  treaty  began  to 
proceed  with  greater  rapidity.  The 
English  proposed  a  confederacy  for 
the  preservation  of  the  liberties  of 
each  nation  against  all  the  enemies  of 
either  by  sea  and  land,  and  a  renewal 
of  the  whole  treaty  of  1495,  with  such 
modifications  as  might  adapt  it  to 
existing  times  and  circumstances. 
The  States,  having  demanded  in  vain 
an  explanation  of  the  proposed  con- 
federacy, presented  a  counter  project; 
but  while  the  different  articles  re- 
mained under  discussion,  the  period 
prefixed  by  the  parliament  expired, 
and  the  ambassadors  departed.  To 
whom  the  failure  of  the  negotiation 
was  owing  became  a  subject  of  con- 
troversy. The  Hollanders  blamed 
the  abrupt  and  supercilious  carriage 
of  St.  John  and  his  colleague;  the 
ambassadors  charged  the  States  with 
having  purposely  created  delay,  that 
they  might  not  commit  themselves 
by  a  treaty  with  the  commonwealth, 
before  they  had  seen  the  issue  of  the 
contest  between  the  king  of  Scotland 
and  Oliver  Cromwell.^ 

In  a  short  time  that  contest  was 
decided  in  the  battle  of  Worcester, 
and  the  States  condescended  to  be- 
come petitioners  in  their  turn.  Their 


refused  to  give  way  to  him,  snatched  the 
ambassador's  hat  ofif  his  head  and  threw  it 
in  his  face,  saying,  "Learn,  parricide,  to 
respect  the  brother  of  your  king."  *'  I 
scorn,"  he  repUed,  "to  acknowledge  either, 
you  race  of  vagabonds."  The  duke  drew 
his  sword,  but  mischief  was  prevented  by 
the  interference  of  the  spectators. — New 
Pari.  Hist.  iii.  1,  364. 

3  Thurloe,  i.  179,  183,  188—195.  Heath, 
285—287.  Carte's  Letters,  i.  464.  Leices- 
ter's Journal,  107.    Pari.  History,  zi.  496. 


184 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


ambassadors  arrived  in  England  with 
the  intention  of  resuming  the  nego- 
tiation where  it  had  been  interrupted 
by  the  departure  of  St.  John  and  his 
colleague.  But  circumstances  were 
now  changed;  success  had  enlarged 
the  pretensions  of  the  parliament; 
and  the  British,  instead  of  shunning, 
courted  a  trial  of  strength  with  the 
Belgic  lion.  First,  the  Dutch  mer- 
chantmen were  visited  under  the 
pretext  of  searching  for  munitions  of 
war,  which  they  were  carrying  to  the 
enemy:  and  then,  at  the  represen- 
tation of  certain  merchants,  who  con- 
ceived themselves  to  have  been  in- 
jured by  the  Dutch  navy,  letters  of 
marque  were  granted  to  several  indi- 
viduals, and  more  than  eighty  prizes 
brought  into  the  English  ports.^  In 
addition,  the  navigation  act  had  been 
passed  and  carried  into  execution,  by 
which  it  was  enacted  that  no  goods, 
the  produce  of  Africa,  Asia,  and  Ame- 
rica, should  be  imported  into  this 
country  in  ships  which  were  not  the 
property  of  England  or  its  colonies ; 
and  that  no  produce  or  manufac- 
ture of  any  part  of  Europe  should 
be  imported,  unless  in  ships  the 
property  of  England  or  of  the  coun- 
try of  which  such  merchandise  was 
the  proper  growth  or  manufacture.^ 
Hitherto  the  Dutch  had  been  the 
common  carriers  of  Europe ;  by  this 
act,  the  offspring  of  St.  John's  resent- 
ment, one  great  and  lucrative  branch 
of  their  commercial  prosperity  was 
lopped  off,  and  the  first,  but  fruitless 
demand  of  the  ambassadors  was  that, 
if  not  repealed,  it  should  at  least  be 
suspended  during  the  negotiation. 


1  It  seems  probable  that  the  letters  of 
marqne  were  granted  not  against  the  Dutch, 
but  the  French,  as  had  been  done  for  some 
time,  and  that  the  Dutch  vessels  were  de- 
tained under  pretence  of  their  having 
French  property  on  board.  Suivant  les 
pretextes  de  reprisailles  contra  les  Fran9oi3 
et  autres. — Dumont,  vi.  ii.  32. 

2  An  exception  was  made  in  favour  of 
commodities  from  the  Levant  seas,  the  East 
Indies,  and  the  ports  of  Spain  and  Portugal, 


The  Dutch  merchants  had  sol 
cited  permission  to  indemnify  ther 
selves  by  reprisals ;  but  the  Stat 
ordered  a  numerous  fleet  to  1 
equipped,  and  announced  to  all  tl 
neighbouring  powers  that  their  o 
ject  was,  not  to  make  war,  but 
afford  protection  to  their  commerc 
By  the  council  of  state,  the  commui 
cation  was  received  as  a  menace :  tl 
English  ships  of  war  were  ordered 
exact  in  the  narrow  seas  the  sac 
honour  to  the  flag  of  the  commo 
wealth  as  had  been  formerly  paid 
that  of  the  king ;  and  the  ambass 
dors  were  reminded  of  the  claim  of  i 
demnification  for  the  losses  sustain 
by  the  English  in  the  East  Indi' 
of  a  free  trade  from  Middleburgh 
Antwerp,  and  of  the  tenth  herri; 
which  was  due  from  the  Dutch  fisht 
men  for  the  permission  to  exerc; 
their  trade  in  the  British  seas. 

While  the   conferences   were   j 
pending.  Commodore  Young  met 
fleet  of  Dutch  merchantmen  unc 
convoy  in  the  Channel ;  and,  after 
sharp  action,  compelled  the  men-' 
war  to  salute  the  English  flag, 
few  days    later  the  celebrated  V 
Tromp  appeared  with  two-and-foi 
sail  in  the    Downs.     He  had  be 
instructed  to  keep  at  a  proper  d 
tance  from  the  English  coast,  neitl 
to  provoke  nor  to  shun  hostility,  a 
to  salute  or  not  according  to  his  o 
discretion;   but   on   no   account 
yield  to  the  newly-claimed  right 
search.'    To    Bourne,   the    Engl: 
commander,    he   apologized   for 
arrival,  which,  he  said,  was  not  w 
any  hostile  design,  but  in  consequer 


which  might  be  imported  from  the  ns 
places  of  trading,  though  they  were  not 
growth  of  the  said  places.  The  penalty  > 
the  forfeiture  of  the  ship  and  cargo,  < 
moiety  to  the  commonwealth,  the  other 
the  informer.— New  Pari.  Hist.  iii.  1374. 

3  Le  Clerc,  i.  315.    The  Dutch  seem 
have  argued  that  the  salute  had  forme 
been    rendered  to  the  king,    not   to 
nation. 


i.D.  1662.] 


HOSTILITIES  WITH  THE  STATES. 


186 


of  tlie  loss  of  several    anchors  and 
sables   on  the  opposite  coast.     The 
Qext  day  he  met  Blake  oflF  the  har- 
bour of  Dover ;  an  action  took  place 
between  the  rival  commanders ;  and, 
when  the  fleets  separated  in  the  even- 
ing, the  English  cut  off  two  ships  of 
:  thirty  guns,  one  of  which  they  took, 
the  other  they  abandoned,  on  account 
3f  the  damage  which  it  had  received. 
It  was  a  question  of  some  import- 
i  mce  who   was   the   aggressor.     By 
i  Blake  it  was  asserted  that  Van  Tromp 
;  aad  gratuitously  come  to  insult  the 
[  Elnglish  fleet  in  its  own  roads,  and 
5  aad    provoked    the    engagement   by 
irin  g  the  first  broadside.    The  Dutch- 
nan  replied  that  he  was  cruizing  for 
ihe   protection   of  trade ;    that   the 
'  rt^eather  had  driven  him  on  the  Eng- 
ish  coast;  that  he  had  no  thought 
)f  fighting  till  he  received  the  fire  of 
Blake's  ship;  and  that,  during  the 
iction,  he  had  carefully  kept  on  the 
iefensive,  though  he  might  with  his 
jreat  superiority  of  force  have  anni- 
lilated  the  assailants.' 

The  reader  will  probably  think, 
hat  those  who  submitted  to  solicit 
he  continuance  of  peace  were  not 
I  he  first  to  seek  the  commencement 
,  )f  hostilities.  Immediately  after  the 
iction  at  sea,  the  council  ordered  the 
English  commanders  to  pursue,  at- 
ack,  and  destroy  all  vessels  the  pro- 
)erty  of  the  United  Provinces ;  and, 
n  the  course  of  a  month,  more  than 
eventy  sail  of  merchantmen,  besides 
everal  men-of-war,  were  captured, 
tranded,  or  burnt.  The  Dutch,  on 
he  contrary,  abstained  from  reprisals ; 
heir  ambassadors  thrice  assured  the 
S  iouncil  that  the  battle  had  happened 


#  1  The  great  argument  of  the  parliament 
i  a  their  declaration  is  the  following  :  Tromp 
;-  ame  out  of  his  way  to  meet  the  English 
leet,  and  fired  on  Blake  without  provoca- 
ion;  the  States  did  not  punish  him,  but 
etained  him  in  the  command ;  therefore  he 
«ted  by  their  orders,  and  the  war  was 
legun  hj  them.  Each  of  these  assertions 
f^as  denied  on  the  other  side.  Tromp 
bowed  the  reaaona  which  led  him  into  the 


without  the  knowledge,  and  to  the 
deep  regret  of  the  States ;  and  on 
each  occasion  earnestly  deprecated 
the  adoption  of  hasty  and  violent 
measures,  which  might  lead  to  con- 
sequences highly  prejudicial  to  both 
nations.  They  received  an  answer, 
which,  assuming  it  as  proved  that  the 
States  intended  to  usurp  the  rights 
of  England  on  the  sea,  and  to  destroy 
the  navy,  the  bulwark  of  those  rights, 
declared  that  it  was  the  duty  of  par- 
liament to  seek  reparation  for  the 
past,  and  security  for  the  future.' 

Soon  afterwards  Pauw,  the  grand 
pensionary,  arrived.  He  repeated 
with  the  most  solemn  asseverations 
from  his  own  knowledge  the  state- 
ment of  the  ambassadors;  proposed 
that  a  court  of  inquiry,  consisting  of 
an  equal  number  of  commissioners 
from  each  nation,  should  be  ap- 
pointed, and  exemplary  punishment 
inflicted  on  the  officer  who  should  be 
found  to  have  provoked  the  engage- 
ment, and  demanded  that  hostilities 
should  cease,  and  the  negotiation  be 
resumed.  Eeceiving  no  other  answer 
than  had  been  already  given  to  his 
colleagues,  he  asked  what  was  meant 
by  "reparation  and  security;"  and 
was  told  by  order  of  parliament,  that 
the  English  government  expected  full 
compensation  for  all  the  charges  to 
which  it  had  been  put  by  the  prepara- 
tions and  attempts  of  the  States,  and 
hoped  to  meet  with  security  for  the 
future  in  an  alliance  which  should 
render  the  interests  of  both  nations 
consistent  with  each  other.  These,  it 
was  evident/were  conditions  to  which 
the  pride  of  the  States  would  refuse 
to  stoop;  Pauw  demanded  an  audi- 


track  of  the  English  fleet ;  and  the  States 
asserted,  from  the  evidence  before  them, 
that  Tromp  had  ordered  his  sails  to  be 
lowered,  and  was  employed  in  getting  ready 
his  boat  to  compliment  the  English  admiral 
at  the  time  when  he  received  a  broadside 
from  the  impatience  of  Blake. — Dumont,  vi. 
p.  ii.  33.  Le  Clerc,  i.  315,  317.  Basnag*, 
i.  254.  Heath,  315— 320. 
2  Heath,  320,321. 


w 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap 


ence  of  leave  of  the  parliament ;  and 
all  hope  of  reconciliation  vanished.' 

If  the  Dutch  had  hitherto  solicited 
peace,  it  was  not  that  they  feared  the 
result  of  war.  The  sea  was  their 
native  element ;  and  the  fact  of  their 
maritime  superiority  had  long  been 
openly  or  tacitly  acknowledged  by  all 
the  powers  of  Europe.  But  they  wisely 
judged  that  no  victory  by  sea  could 
repay  them  for  the  losses  which  they 
must  sustain  from  the  extinction  of 
their  fishing  trade,  and  the  suspension 
of  their  commerce.^  For  the  com- 
monwealth, on  the  other  hand,  it  was 
fortunate  that  the  depredations  of 
Prince  Rupert  had  turned  the  atten- 
tion of  the  leaders  to  naval  concerns. 
Their  fleet  had  been  four  years  in  com- 
mission :  the  officers  and  men  were  actu- 
ated by  the  same  spirit  of  civil  liberty 
and  rehgious  enthusiasm  which  dis- 
tinguished the  land  army ;  Ayscue 
had  just  returned  from  the  reduction 
of  Barbadoes  vrith  a  powerful  squa- 
dron ;  and  fifty  additional  ships  were 
ordered  to  be  equipped,  an  object  easily 
accomplished  at  a  time  when  any  mer- 
chantmen capable  of  carrying  guns 
could,  with  a  few  alterations,  be  con- 
verted into  a  man-of-war.^  Ayscue 
with  the  smaller  division  of  the  fleet 
remained  at  home  to  scour  the  Chan- 
nel. Blake  sailed  to  the  north,  cap- 
tured the  squadron  appointed  to  pro- 
tect the  Dutch  fishing-vessels,  exacted 
from  the  busses  the  duty  of  every 
tenth  herring,  and  sent  them  home 
with  a  prohibition  to  fish  again  with- 
out a  license  from  the  English  govern- 
ment. In  the  mean  while  Van  Tromp 
sailed  from  the  Texel  with  seventy 


1  Compare  the  declaration  of  parliament 
of  July  9  with  that  of  the  States  General  of 
July  23,  Aug.  2.  See  also  Whitelock,  537 ; 
Heath,  315—322  ;  the  Journals,  June  5,  11, 
26, 30;  and  Le  Clerc,  i.  318—321. 

*  The  fishery  employed  in  various  ways 
one  hundred  thousand  persons. — Le  Clerc, 
321. 

'  From  a  list  of  hired  merchantmen  con- 
Terted  into  men-of-war,  it  appears  that  a 


men-of-war.  It  was  expected  in  B 
land  that  he  would  sweep  the  Engl 
navy  from  the  face  of  the  ocean.  ] 
first  attempt  was  to  surprise  Aysc 
who  was  saved  by  a  calm  followed 
a  change  of  wind.  He  then  sai 
to  the  north  in  search  of  Blake.  I 
his  fleet  was  dispersed  by  a  stor 
five  of  his  frigates  fell  into  the  hai 
of  the  English ;  and  on  his  reti 
he  was  received  with  murmurs  a 
reproaches  by  the  populace.  Ind 
nant  at  a  treatment  which  he  1 
not  deserved,  he  justified  his  condi 
before  the  States,  and  then  laid  do 
his  commission.'' 

De  Ruyter,  a  name  almost  equa 
illustrious  on  the  ocean,  was  appoint 
his  successor.  That  officer  sailed 
the  mouth  of  the  Channel,  took  unc 
his  charge  a  fleet  of  merchantm 
and  on  his  return  was  opposed 
Ayscue  with  nearly  an  equal  for 
The  English  commander  burst  throu 
the  enemy,  and  was  followed  by  ni 
sail ;  the  rest  of  the  fleet  took  no  sin 
in  the  action,  and  the  convoy  escape 
The  blame  rested  not  with  Aysci 
but  with  his  inferior  officers ;  but  t 
council  took  the  opportunity  to  ] 
him  aside,  not  that  they  doubted  1 
courage  or  abilities,  but  because 
was  suspected  of  a  secret  leaning 
the  royal  cause.  To  console  him  ] 
his  disgrace,  he  received  a  present 
three  hundred  pounds,  with  a  gra 
of  land  of  the  same  annual  rent 
Ireland.^ 

De  Witte  now  joined  De  Euyt 
and  took  the  command.  Blake  i 
cepted  the  challenge  of  battle,  a: 
night  alone  separated  the  combatan 


ship  of  nine  hundred  tons  burthen  mad- 
man-of-war  of  sixty  guns;    one  of   sr- 
hundred  tons,  a  man-of-war  of  forty 
four  hundred,  of  thirty-four  ;  two  huDi' 
of  twenty ;  one  hundred,  often;  siit;. 
eight ;  and  that  about  five  or  six  men  v. 
allowed   for   each    gun.  —  Journals,    ] 
May  29. 

♦  Whitelock,  538,  539,  640,  5^il.    Heai 
322.    Le  Clerc,  i.  321. 

'5  Heath,  323.    Le  Clerc,  i.  322. 


).  1652.1 


NAVAL  ENGAGEMENTS. 


187 


le  next  morning  the  Dutch  fled,  and 
re  pursued  as  far  as  the  Goree. 
eir  ships  were  in  general  of  smaller 
nensions,  and  drew  less  water  than 
)se  of  their  adversaries,  who  dared 
fc  follow  among  the  numerous 
id-banks  with  which  the  coast  is 
.dded.» 

31ake,  supposing  that  naval  opera- 
ns  would  be  suspended  during  the 
Iter,  had  detached  several  squadrons 
different  ports,  and  was  riding  in 
i  Downs  with  thirty-seven  sail, 
en  he  was  surprised  by  the  appear- 
36  of  a  hostile  fleet  of  double  that 
mber,  under  the  command  of  Yan 
omp,  whose  wounded  pride  had 
;n  appeased  with  a  new  commission, 
mistaken  sense  of  honour  induced 
i  Enghsh  admiral  to  engage  in  the 
equal  contest.  The  battle  raged 
m  eleven  in  the  morning  till  night, 
e  English,  though  they  burnt  a 
ige  ship  and  disabled  two  others,  lost 
}  sail,  either  sunk  or  taken;  and 
ike,  under  cover  of  the  darkness, 
I  up  the  river  as  far  as  Leigh.  Van 
3mp  sought  his  enemy  at  Harwich 
1  Yarmouth;  returning,  he  in- 
ted  the  coast  as  he  passed;  and 
itinued  to  cruise  backwards  and 
wards  from  the  North  Foreland  to 
'■  Isle  of  Wight.=^ 

The  parliament  made  every  exertion 
wipe  away  this  disgrace.  The  ships 
re  speedily  refitted ;  two  regiments 

infantry  embarked  to  serve  as 
rines;  a  bounty  was  offered  for 
unteers  ;  the  wages  of  the  seamen 
L-e  raised ;  provision  was  made  for 
■ir  families  during  their  absence  on 
vice ;  a  new  rate  for  the  division  of 
ze-money  was  established ;  and,  in 

of  Blake,  two  ofl&cers,  whose  abili- 
}  had  been  already  tried,  Deane  and 
mk,  received  the  joint  command 
uhe  fleet.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
•tch  were  intoxicated  with  their 


Hetfth,  326.    Ludlow,  i.  367.   Whitelock, 
.    Le  Clerc,  i.  324. 
Heatli,  329.    Ludlow,  ii.  3.    Neftville, 


success ;  they  announced  it  to  the 
world  in  prints,  poems,  and  publica- 
tions ;  and  Van  Tromp  affixed  a  broom 
to  the  head  of  his  mast  as  an  emblem 
of  his  triumph.  He  had  gone  to  the 
Isle  of  Ehee  to  take  the  homeward- 
bound  trade  under  his  charge,  with 
orders  to  resume  his  station  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  to  prevent 
the  egress  of  the  English.  But  Blake 
had  already  stationed  himself  with 
more  than  seventy  sail  across  the 
Channel,  opposite  the  Isle  of  Port- 
land, to  intercept  the  return  of  the 
enemy.  On  the  18th  of  February  the 
Dutch  fleet,  equal  in  number,  with 
three  hundred  merchantmen  under 
convoy,  was  discovered  near  Cape  La 
Hogue,  steering  along  .the  coast 
of  France.  The  action  was  main- 
tained with  the  most  desperate  obsti- 
nacy. The  Dutch  lost  six  sail,  either 
sunk  or  taken,  the  English  one,  but 
several  were  disabled,  and  Blake  him- 
self was  severely  wounded. 

The  following  morning  the  enemy 
were  seen  opposite  Weymouth,  drawn 
up  in  the  form  of  a  crescent  covering 
the  merchantmen.  Many  attempts 
were  made  to  break  through  the  line, 
and  so  imminent  did  the  danger  ap- 
pear to  the  Dutch  admiral,  that  he 
made  signal  for  the  convoy  to  shift  for 
themselves.  The  battle  lasted  at  in- 
tervals through  the  night ;  it  was  re- 
newed with  greater  vigour  near  Bou- 
logne in  the  morning,  till  Van  Trorap, 
availing  himself  of  the  shallowness  of 
the  coast,  pursued  his  course  home- 
ward unmolested  by  the  pursuit  of 
the  enemy.  The  victory  was  decidedly 
with  the  English;  the  loss  in  men 
might  be  equal  on  both  sides;  but 
the  Dutch  themselves  acknowledged 
that  nine  of  their  men-of-war  and 
twenty-four  of  the  merchant-vessels 
had  been  either  sunk  or  captured.^ 

This   was   the   last   naval  victory 


3  Heath,  335.    Whitelock,  551.     Leices- 
ter's Journal,  138.    Le  Clerc,  i.  328.    Bas- 


188 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap 


achieved  under  the  auspices  of  the 
parliament,  which,  though  it  wielded 
the  powers  of  government  with  an 
energy  that  surprised  the  several  na- 
tions of  Europe,  was  doomed  to  bend 
before  the  superior  genius  or  ascend- 
ancy of  Cromwell.  When  that  ad- 
venturer first  formed  the  design  of 
seizing  the  supreme  authority,  is  un- 
certain ;  it  was  not  till  after  the  vic- 
tory at  Worcester  that  he  began  gra- 
dually and  cautiously  to  unfold  his 
object.  He  saw  himself  crowned  with 
the  laurels  of  conquest ;  he  held  the 
command  in  chief  of  a  numerous  and 
devoted  army ;  and  he  dwelt  with  his 
family  in  a  palace  formerly  the  resi- 
dence of  the  English  monarchs.  His 
adversaries  had  long  ago  pronounced 
him,  in  all  but  name,  "  a  king ;"  and 
his  friends  were  accustomed  to  address 
him  in  language  as  adulatory  as  ever 
gratified  the  ears  of  the  most  absolute 
sovereign.*  His  importance  was  per- 
petually forced  upon  his  notice  by  the 
praise  of  his  dependants,  by  the 
foreign  envoys  who  paid  court  to  him, 
and  by  the  royalists  who  craved  his 
protection.  In  such  circumstances  it 
cannot  be  surprising  if  the  victorious 
general  indulged  the  aspirings  of  am- 
bition ;  if  the  stern  repubUcan,  how- 
ever he  might  hate  to  see  the  crown 
on  the  brows  of  another,  felt  no  re- 
pugnance to  place  it  upon  his  own. 

The  grandees  of  the  army  felt  that 
they  no  longer  possessed  the  chief 
sway  in  the  government.  War  had 
called  them  away  to  their  commands 
in  Scotland  and  Ireland ;  and  during 
their  absence,  the  conduct  of  affairs 
had  devolved  on  those  who,  in  contra- 
distinction, were  denominated  the 
statesmen.    Thus,  by  the  course  of 


nage,  i.  298—301.  By  the  English  admirala 
the  loss  of  the  Dutch  was  estimated  at 
eleven  men-of-war  and  thirty  merchant-men. 
1  The  general  ofBcers  conclude  their  de- 
spatchss  to  him  thus  :  "  We  humbly  lay 
ourselves  with  these  thoughts,  in  this  emer- 
gency, at  your  excellency  s  feet." — Milton's 
State  Papers,  71.    The  miniaters  uf  liew- 


events,  the  servants  had  grown  i 
masters,  and  the  power  of  the  sen 
had  obtained  the  superiority  over 
power  of  the  sword.  Still  the  offic 
in  their  distant  quarters  jealoi 
watched,  and  severely  criticised 
conduct  of  the  men  at  Westmins 
With  want  of  vigour  in  directing 
miUtary  and  naval  resources  of 
country,  they  could  not  be  charg 
but  it  was  complained  that  they  n 
lected  the  internal  economy  of  gove 
ment ;  that  no  one  of  the  objects 
manded  in  the  "  agreement  of 
people "  had  been  accompUshed ;  i 
that,  while  others  sacrificed  tl 
health  and  their  lives  in  the  servic 
the  commonwealth,  all  the  emc 
ments  and  patronage  were  mono 
lized  by  the  idle  drones  who  remah 
in  the  capital.'-* 

On  the  return  of  the  lord-gene 
the  council  of  officers  had  been 
estabUshed  at  Whitehall ;  and  tl 
discontent  was  artfully  employed 
Cromwell  in  furtherance  of  his  o 
elevation.  W^hen  he  resumed  his  £ 
in  the  house,  he  reminded  the  m( 
hers  of  their  indifference  to  two  m 
sures  earnestly  desired  by  the  couni 
the  act  of  amnesty  and  the  termi 
tion  of  the  present  parUament.  B 
for  each  of  these  objects  had  been 
troduced  as  far  back  as  1649;  1 
after  some  progress,  both  were  suffe 
to  sleep  in  the  several  committc 
and  this  backwardness  of  the  "  stal 
men,"  was  attributed  to  their  wis! 
enrich  themselves  by  forfeitures,  i 
to  perpetuate  their  power  by  j 
petuating  the  parliament.  The  in 
ence  of  Cromwell  revived  both  qi 
tions.  An  act  of  oblivion  was  obtain 
which,  with  some  exceptions,  pardoi 


castle  make  "  their  hamble  addresses  to 
godly  wisdom,"  and  present  "  their  hun 
suits  to  God  and  hia  excellency"  (ibid, 
and  the  petitioners  from  different  coui 
solicit  him  to  mediate  for  them  to  the 
liament,  "  because  God  has  not  jyit 
sword  in  his  hand  in  vain." — Whitelock, 
2  -Whitelock,  WJ). 


I 


D.  1663.] 


DISCONTENT  OF  THE  MILITARY. 


189 


offences  committed  before  the  battle 
Worcester,  and  relieved  the  minds 
the  royalists  from  the  apprehension 
additional  forfeitures.  On  the 
estion  of  the  expiration  of  parlia- 
3nt,  after  several  warm  debates,  the 
riod  had  been  fixed  for  the  3rd  of 
ovember,  1C54,  a  distance  of  three 
ars,  Avhich,  perhaps,  was  not  the  less 
Basing  to  Cromwell,  as  it  served  to 
ow  how  unwilling  his  adversaries 
!re  to  resign  their  power.  The  in- 
'val  was  to  be  employed  in  deter- 
.ning  the  qualifications  of  the  suc- 
sding  parliament.' 
In  the  winter,  the  lord-general 
lied  a  meeting  of  officers  and  mem- 
rs  at  the  house  of  the  speaker ;  and 
must  have  excited  their  surprise 
len  he  proposed  to  them  to  de- 
lerate,  whether  it  were  better  to 
:ablish  a  republic,  or  a  mixed  form 
monarchical  government.  The 
icers  in  general  pronounced  in 
7our  of  a  republic,  as  the  best  secu- 
y  for  the  liberties  of  the  people ;  the 
vyers  pleaded  unanimously  for  a 
aited  monarchy,  as  better  adapted 
the  laws,  the  habits,  and  the  feel- 
2s  of  Englishmen.  With  the  latter 
omwell  agreed,  and  inquired  whom 
that  case  they  would  choose  for 
ag.  It  was  replied,  either  Charles 
uart  or  the  Duke  of  York,  provided 
ey  would  comply  with  the  demands 
the  parliament ;  if  they  would  not, 
9  young  duke  of  Gloucester,  who 
uld  not  have  imbibed  the  despotic 
tions  of  his  elder  brothers.  This 
iS  not  the  answer  which  Cromwell 
ight :  he  heard  it  with  uneasiness ; 
d,  as  often  as  the  subject  was  re- 
med,  diverted  the  conversation  to 
ne  other  question.  In  conclusion, 
gave  his  opinion,  that,  "  somewhat 
a  monarchical  government  would 
most  effectual,  if  it  could  be  esta- 
shed  with  safety  to  the   liberties 


Joarnala,  1651,  Nov.  4,  14,  15,  18,  27  j 
•>2,Feb.  24. 


of  the  people,  as  Englishmen  and 
Christians."  2  That  the  result  of  the 
meeting  disappointed  his  expectations, 
is  evident ;  but  he  derived  from  it  this 
advantage,  that  he  had  ascertained  the 
sentiments  of  many,  whose  aid  he 
might  subsequently  require.  None 
of  the  leaders  from  the  opposite  party 
appear  to  have  been  present. 

Jealous,  however,  of  his  designs,  "the 
statesmen"  had  begun  to  fight  him 
with  his  own  weapons.  As  the  com- 
monwealth had  no  longer  an  enemy 
to  contend  with  on  the  land,  they 
proposed  a  considerable  reduction  in 
the  number  of  the  forces,  and  a  pro- 
portionate reduction  of  the  taxes 
raised  for  their  support.  The  motion 
was  too  reasonable  in  itself,  and  too 
popular  in  the  country,  to  be  resisted 
with  safety :  one-fourth  of  the  army 
was  disbanded,  and  the  monthly  as- 
sessment lowered  from  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  pounds  to  ninety- 
thousand  pounds.  Before  the  expira- 
tion of  six  months,  the  question  of  a 
further  reduction  was  brought  for- 
ward ;  but  the  council  of  war  took  the 
alarm,  and  a  letter  from  Cromwell  to 
the  speaker  induced  the  house  to  con- 
tinue its  last  voto.  In  a  short  time 
it  was  again  mentioned ;  but  the  next 
day  six  officers  appeared  at  the  bar  of 
the  house  with  a  petition  from  the 
army,  which,  under  pretence  of  pray- 
ing for  improvements,  tacitly  charged 
the  members  with  the  neglect  of  their 
duty.  It  directed  their  attention  to 
the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  the 
reform  of  the  law,  the  removal  from 
office  of  scandalous  and  disaffected 
persons,  the  abuses  in  the  excise  and 
the  treasury,  the  arrears  due  to  the 
army,  the  violation  of  articles  granted 
to  the  enemy,  and  the  qualifications 
of  future  and  successive  parliaments. 
Whitelock  remonstrated  with  Crom- 
well on   the   danger   of  permitting 


2  Whitelock,  516. 


190 


•  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[cha: 


armed  bodies  to  assemble  and  peti- 
tion.   He  slighted  the  advice.' 

Soon  afterwards  the  lord-general 
requested  a  private  and  confidential 
interview  with  that  lawyer.  So  vio- 
lent, he  observed,  was  the  discontent 
of  the  army,  so  imperious  the  conduct 
of  the  parliament,  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  prevent  a  collision  of 
interests,  and  the  subsequent  ruin  of 
the  good  cause,  unless  there  were 
established  "  some  authority  so  full 
and  so  high "  as  to  be  able  to  check 
these  exorbitances,  and  to  restrain 
both  the  army  and  the  parUament. 
Whitelock  replied,  that,  for  the  army, 
his  excellency  had  hitherto  kept  and 
would  continue  to  keep  it  in  due 
subordination ;  but  with  respect  to 
the  parliament,  reliance  must  be 
placed  on  the  good  sense  and  virtue 
of  the  majority.  To  control  the 
supreme  power  was  legally  impos- 
sible. All,  even  Cromwell  himself, 
derived  their  authority  from  it.  At 
these  words  the  lord-general  abruptly 
exclaimed,  "  What,  if  a  man  should 
take  upon  him  to  be  king?"  The 
commissioner  answered  that  the  title 
would  confer  no  additional  benefit  on 
his  excellency.  By  his  command  of 
the  army,  his  ascendancy  in  the  house, 
and  his  reputation,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  he  already  enjoyed,  without 
the  envy  of  the  name,  all  the  power 
of  a  king.  When  Cromwell  insisted 
that  the  name  would  give  security  to 
his  followers,  and  command  the  re- 
spect of  the  people,  Whitelock  re- 
joined, that  it  would  change  the  state 


5  Whitelock,  5-il.  Journals,  1651,  Dec. 
19  ;  1653,  Juno  15,  Aug.  12,  13. 

2  Henry,  duke  of  Gloucester,  and  the 
Princess  Elizabeth  were  in  England  at  the 
last  king's  death.  In  1650  the  council  pro- 
posed to  send  the  one  to  his  brother  in 
Scotland,  and  the  other  to  her  sister  in 
Holland,   allowing  to    each    one  thousand 

Sounds  per  annum,  as  long  as  they  shoold 
ehave  inoffensively. — Journals,  1650,  July 
24,  Sept.  11.  But  Elizabeth  died  on  Sept.  8 
of  the  same  year,  and  Henry  remained 
tinder  the  charge  of  Mildmay,  governor  of 
Carls  brook  Castle,   till  a  short   time  after 


of  the  controversy  between  the 
ties,  and  convert  a  national  inl 
personal  quarrel.  His  friends 
cheerfully  fought  with  him  to  < 
blish  a  republican  in  place  of  a 
narchical  government;  would  1 
equally  fight  with  him  in  favou 
the  house  of  Cromwell  against 
house  of  Stuart?^  In  concluj 
Cromwell  conjured  him  to  give 
advice  without  disguise  or  quaU 
tion,  and  received  this  answer,  "  A: 
a  private  treaty  with  the  son  of 
late  king,  and  place  him  on  the  thr 
but  on  conditions  which  shall  SC' 
to  the  nation  its  rights,  and  to  y 
self  the  first  place  beneath  the  thro 
The  general  coldly  observed  th 
matter  of  such  importance  and  < 
culty  deserved  mature  considera 
They  separated ;  and  Whitelock 
discovered  that  he  had  forfeite( 
confidence.^ 

At  length  Cromwell  fixed  on  a 
to  accompUsh  his  purpose  by 
curing  the  dissolution  of  the  pi 
ment,  and  vesting  for  a  time 
sovereign  authority  in  a  counc 
forty  persons,  vrith  himself  at 
head.  It  was  his  wish  to  efieot 
quietly  by  the  votes  of  parlia 
—his  resolution  to  effecf  it  by 
force,  if  such  votes  were  ref 
Several  meetings  were  held  bj 
officers  and  members  at  the  lod 
of  the  lord-general  in  Whit. 
St.  John  and  a  few  others  gave 
assent ;  the  rest,  under  the  guic 
of  Whitelock  and  Widdringtor 
Glared  that  the  dissolution  wou 


this  conference,  when  Cromwell,  as 
looked  on  the  young  prince  as  a  riv, 
vised  his  tutor,  Lovell,  to  ask  permiss 
convey  him  to  his  sister,  the  princ 
Orange.  It  was  granted,  with  the  s 
five  hundred  pounds  to  defray  the  e? 
of  the  journey. — Leicester's  Journa. 
Heath,  331.    Clarendon,  iii.  525,  526. 

»  Whitelock,  548—551.  Were  the 
of  this   conversation    committed  t 
immediately,  or  after  the  Kestoratio] 
credit  due  to  them  depends  on  this 
stance. 


D.  1653.]    CROMWELL  EXPELS  THE  PARLIAMENT. 


191 


mgerous,  and  the  establishment  of 
le  proposed  council  unwarrantable. 
1  the  mean  time,  the  house  resumed 
.e  consideration  of  the  new  repre- 
ntative  body,  and  several  quaUfica- 
ms  were  voted ;  to  all  of  which  the 
ficers  raised  objections,  but  chiefly 
the  "  admisssion  of  neuters/'  a  pro- 
3t  to  strengthen  the  government  by 
e  introduction  of  the  Presbyterian 
terest.'  "Never,"  said  Cromwell, 
shall  any  of  that  judgment,  who 
,ve  deserted  the  good  cause,  be 
mitted  to  power."  On  the  last 
3eting,  held  on  the  19th  of  April,  ail 
ese  points  were  long  and  warmly 
bated.  Some  of  the  officers  de- 
ired  that  the  parhament  must  be 
solved  "  one  way  or  other;"  but 
e  general  checked  their  indiscretion 
d  precipitancy;  and  the  assembly 
oke  up  at  midnight,  with  an  under- 
nding  that  the  leading  men  on 
)h  side  should  resume  the  subject 
the  morning.- 

It  an  early  hour  the  conference 
s  recommenced,  and  after  a  short 
le  interrupted,  inconsequence  of  the 
leipt  of  a  notice  by  the  general  that 
was  the  intention  of  the  house  to 
nply  with  the  desires  of  the  army, 
is  was  a  mistake:  the  opposite 
rty,  led  by  Vane,  who  had  dis- 
rered  the  object  of  Cromwell,*  had 
leed  resolved  to  pass  a  bill  of  disso- 
ion,  not,  however,  the  bill  proposed 
the  officers,  but  their  own  bill, 
itaining  all  the  obnoxious  provi- 
os ;  and  to  pass  it  that  very  morn- 
,',  that  it  might  obtain  the  force  of 
7  before    their   adversaries   could 


From  Ludlow  (ii.  435)  it  appears  that 
this  bill  the  number  of  members  for 
oughs  was  reduced,  of  representatives 
counties  increased.  The  qualification  of 
elector  was  the  possession  for  his  own 
of  an  estate  real  or  personal  of  the  value 
two  hundred  pounds.  —  Journ.  30th 
rch,  1653.  It  is  however  singular  that 
agh  the  house  continued  to  sit  till 
ril  19th — the  only  entry  on  the  journals 
pecting  this  bill  occurs  on  the  13th — 
lung  it  a  qualification  of  the  candidates 


have  time  to  appeal  to  the  power  of 
the  sword.3  While  Harrison  "most 
sweetly  and  humbly"  conjured  them 
to  pause  before  they  took  so  important 
a  step,  Ingoldsby  hastened  to  inform 
the  lord  general  at  Whitehall.  His 
resolution  was  immediately  formed; 
and  a  company  of  musketeers  re- 
ceived orders  to  accompany  him  to 
the  house. 

At  this  eventful  moment,  big  with 
the  most  important  consequences 
both  to  himself  and  his  country, 
whatever  were  the  workings  of  Crom- 
well's mind,  he  had  the  art  to  conceal 
them  from  the  eyes  of  the  beholders. 
Leaving  the  military  in  the  lobby,  he 
entered  the  house,  and  composedly 
seated  himself  on  one  of  the  outer 
benches.  His  dress  was  a  plain  suit 
of  black  cloth,  with  grey  worsted 
stockings.  For  a  while  he  seemed  to 
listen  with  interest  to  the  debate; 
but,  when  the  speaker  was  going  to 
put  the  question,  he  whispered  to 
Harrison,  "  This  is  the  time :  I  must 
do  it  :"  and  rising,  put  off  his  hat  to 
address  the  house.  At  first  his  lan- 
guage was  decorous  and  even  lauda- 
tory. Gradually  he  became  more 
warm  and  animated :  at  last  he 
assumed  all  the  vehemence  of  passion, 
and  indulged  in  personal  vituperation. 
He  charged  the  members  with  self- 
seeking  and  profaneness;  with  the 
frequent  denial  of  justice,  and  nume- 
rous acts  of  oppression;  with  idol- 
izing the  lawyers,  the  constant  advo- 
cates of  tyranny ;  with  neglecting  the 
men  who  had  bled  for  them  in  the 
field,  that  they  might  gain  the  Pres- 


that  they  should  be  "persons  of  known 
integrity,  fearing  God.  and  not  scandalous 
in  their  conversation." — Journal,  ibid. 

2  Compare  Whitelock's  narrative  of  this 
meeting  (p.  55i)  with  Cromwell's,  in  Milton's 
State  Papers,  109. 

3  These  particulars  may  be  fairly  collected 
from  AVhitelock,  554,  compared  with  the 
declaration  of  the  officers,  and  Cromwell's 
speech  to  his  parliament.  The  intention  to 
disaolve  themselves  is  also  asserted  by 
Hazlerig.— Burton's  Diary,  ui.  98. 


192 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAl 


byterians  who  had  apostatized  from 
the  cause ;  and  with  doing  all  this  in 
order  to  perpetuate  their  own  power, 
and  to  replenish  their  own  purses. 
But  their  time  was  come ;  the  Lord 
had  disowned  them;  he  had  chosen 
more  worthy  instruments  to  perform 
his  work.  Here  the  orator  was  inter- 
rupted by  Sir  Peter  Wentworth,  who 
declared  that  he  never  before  heard 
language  so  unparliamentary,  lan- 
guage, too,  the  more  offensive,  because 
it  was  addressed  to  them  by  their  own 
servant,  whom  they  had  too  fondly 
cherished,  and  whom,  by  their  unpre- 
cedented bounty,  they  had  made  what 
he  was.  At  these  words  Cromwell 
put  on  his  hat,  and,  springing  from 
his  place,  exclaimed,  "Come,  come, 
sir,  I  will  put  an  end  to  your  prating," 
For  a  few  seconds,  apparently  in  the 
most  violent  agitation,  he  paced 
forward  and  backward,  and  then, 
stamping  on  the  floor,  added,  "You 
are  no  parliament.  I  say  you  are  no 
parliament:  bring  them  in,  bring 
them  in."  Instantly  the  door  opened, 
and  Colonel  Worseley  entered,  fol- 
lowed by  more  than  twenty  mus- 
keteers. "This,"  cried  Sir  Henry 
Vane,  "is  not  honest.  It  is  against 
morality  and  common  honesty."  "  Sir 
Henry  Vane,"  replied  Cromwell,  "  O 
Sir  Henry  Vane !  The  Lord  deliver 
me  from  Sir  Henry  Vane !  He  might 
have  prevented  this.  But  he  is  a 
juggler,  and  has  not  common  honesty 
himself."  From  Vane  he  directed  his 
discourse  to  Whitelock,  on  whom  he 
poured  a  torrent  of  abuse;  then 
pointing  to  Challoner,  "There,"  he 
cried,  "  sits  a  drunkard ;"  next,  to 
Marten  and  Wentworth,  "  There  are 
two  whoremasters ; "  and  afterwards, 
selecting  different  members  in  suc- 
cession»  described  them  as  dishonest 
and  corrupt  livers,  a  shame  and  a 
scandal  to  the  profession  of  the  gospel. 
Suddenly,  however,  checking  himself. 


1  See  the  several  accounts  in  Whitelock, 
664;  Ludlow,  ii.  19,  23;  Leicester's  Journal, 


he  turned  to  the  guard,  and  ord( 
them  to  clear  the  house.  At  tl 
words  Colonel  Harrison  took 
speaker  by  the  hand,  and  led  ] 
from  the  chair ;  Algernon  Sidney 
next  compelled  to  quit  his  seat ; 
the  other  members,  eighty  in  num 
on  the  approach  of  the  military,  : 
and  moved  towards  the  door.  Cr^ 
well  now  resumed  his  discourse, 
is  you,"  he  exclaimed,  "that  h 
forced  me  to  do  this.  I  have  sou 
the  Lord  both  day  and  night,  that 
would  rather  slay  me,  than  put  mc 
the  doing  of  this  work."  Alderr 
Allen  took  advantage  of  these  w( 
to  observe,  that  it  was  not  yet  too 
to  undo  what  had  been  done; 
Cromwell  instantly  charged  him  v 
peculation,  and  gave  him  into  cust< 
When  all  were  gone,  fixing  his  ey( 
the  mace,  "  What,"  said  he,  "  s 
we  do  with  this  fool's  bauble  ?  H 
carry  it  away."  Then,  taking  the 
of  dissolution  from  the  clerk,  he 
dered  the  doors  to  be  locked,  s 
accompanied  by  the  miUtary,  retur 
to  Whitehall. 

That  afternoon  the  members  of 
council  assembled  in  their  usual  p 
of  meetin  g.    Bradsha w  had  j  ust  ta 
the    chair,    when    the    lord-gen 
entered,  and  told  them,  that  if  1 
wer6   there   as   private   individi 
they  were  welcome;   but,   if  as 
council  of  state,  they  must  know 
the   parUament  was   dissolved, 
with  it  also  the  council.    "  Sir," 
plied  Bradshaw,  with  the  spirit  o 
ancient    Roman,    "  we    have  ht 
what   you   did    at    the   house 
morning,  and  before  many  hour; 
England  will  know  it.    But,  sir, 
are  mistaken  to  think  that  the  pa 
ment  is  dissolved.    No  power  ui 
heaven  can  dissolve  them  but  tb 
selves.     Therefore  take   you 
of  that."     After  this  protest 
withdrew.' 


139 ;  Hutchinson,  332 ;  Several  Procea 
No.  186;  and  Burton's  Diary,  iii.  98. 


,D.  1053.]    DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT. 


19S 


Thus,  by  the  parricidal  hands  of  its 
wn  children,  perished  the  long  par- 
ament,  which,  under  a  variety  of 
)rms,  had,  for  more  than  twelve 
ears,  defended  and  invaded  the  liber- 
es  of  the  nation.  It  fell  without  a 
ruggle  or  a  groan,  unpitied  and  un- 
igretted.  The  members  slunk  away 
)  their  homes,  where  they  sought  by 
ibmission  to  purchase  the  forbear- 
ice  of  their  new  master ;  and  their 
irtisans,  if  partisans  they  had,  re- 
•rved  themselves  in  silence  for  a  day 
'  retribution,  which  came  not  before 
romwell  slept  in  his  grave.  The 
>yalists  congratulated  each  other  on 
I  event  which  they  deemed  a  pre- 
iratory  step  to  the  restoration  of  the 
ng ;  the  army  and  navy,  in  nume- 
us  addresses,  declared  that  they 
Duld  live  or  die,  stand  or  fall,  with 
e  lord-general,  and  in  every  part  of 
e  couHtry  the  congregations  of  the 
ints  magnified  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
dich  had  broken  the  mighty,  that 

lieu  of  the  sway  of  mortal  men, 
he  fifth  monarchy,  the  reign  of 
irist,  might  be  established  upon 
rth."' 

It  would,  however,  be  unjust  to  the 
3mory  of  those  who  exercised  the 
preme  power  after  the  death  of  the 
ng,  not  to  acknowledge  that  there 
isted  among  them  men  capable  of 
elding  with   energy  the   destinies 

a  great  empire.  They  governed 
ly  four  years;  yet,  under  their 
spices,  the  conquests  of  Ireland  and 
otland  were  achieved,  and  a  navy 
IS  created,  the  rival  of  that  of 
alland  and  the  terror  of  the  rest  of 
irope.-^  But  there  existed  an  essen- 
1  error  in  their  form  of  govern- 
int.  Deliberative  assemblies  are 
vays  slow  in  their  proceedings ;  yet 


Whitelock,    5.55—558.    Milton's    State 
pera,  90—97.    Ellis,  Second  Series,  iii. 

■  "We  intended,"  says  Scot,  "to  have 
le  off  with  a  good  savour,  but  we  stayed 
end  the  Dutch  vrar,    We  might  have 


the  pleasure  of  parliament,  as  the 
supreme  power,  was  to  be  taken  on 
every  subject  connected  with  the 
foreign  relations,  or  the  internal  ad- 
ministration of  the  country ;  and 
hence  it  happened,  that,  among  the 
immense  variety  of  questions  which 
came  before  it,  those  commanded  im- 
mediate attention  which  were  deemed 
of  immediate  necessity;  while  the 
others,  though  often  of  the  highest 
importance  to  the  national  welfare, 
were  first  postponed,  then  neglected, 
and  ultimately  forgotten.  To  this 
habit  of  procrastination  was  perhaps 
owing  the  extinction  of  its  authority. 
It  disappointed  the  hopes  of  the 
country,  and  supplied  Cromwell  with 
the  most  plausible  argument  in  de- 
fence of  his  conduct. 

Of  the  parliamentary  transactions 
up  to  this  period,  the  principal  have 
been  noticed  in  the  preceding  pages. 
I  shall  add  a  few  others  which  may 
be  thought  worthy  the  attention  of 
the  reader.  1.  It  was  complained 
that,  since  the  abolition  of  the 
spiritual  tribunals,  the  sins  of  incest, 
adultery,  and  fornication  had  been 
multiplied,  in  consequence  of  the 
impunity  with  which  they  might  be 
committed  ;  and,  at  the  prayer  of  the 
godly,  they  were  made  criminal  of- 
fences, cognizable  by  the  criminal 
courts,  and  punishable,  the  two  first 
with  death,  the  last  with  three 
months'  imprisonment.  But  it  was 
predicted  at  the  time,  and  experience 
verified  the  prediction,  that  the  se- 
verity of  the  punishment  would  defeat 
the  purpose  of  the  law.  2.  Scarcely  a 
petition  wag  presented,  which  did  not, 
among  other  things,  pray  for  the  re- 
formation of  the  courts  of  justice; 
and   the   house,   after   several   long 


brought  them  to  oneness  vrith  us.  Their 
ambassadors  did  desire  a  coalition.  This 
we  might  have  done  in  four  or  five  months. 
We  never  bid  fairer  for  being  masters  of 
the  whole  world."  — Burton's  Diary,  iii. 
112. 

O 


194 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap. 


debates,  acquiesced  in  a  measure,  un- 
derstood to  be  only  the  forerunner  of 
several  others,  that  the  law-books 
should  be  written,  and  law  proceed- 
ings be  conducted,  in  the  English 
language.'  3.  So  enormous  were  the 
charges  of  the  commonwealth,  arising 
from  incessant  war  by  sea  or  land, 
that  questions  of  finance  continually 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  house. 
There  were  four  principal  sources  of 
revenue ;  the  customs,  the  excise,  the 
sale  of  fee-farm  rents,'  of  the  lands  of 
the  crown,  and  of  those  belonging  to 
the  bishops,  deans,  and  chapters,  and 
the  sequestration  and  forfeiture  of 
the  estates  of  papists  and  dehnquents. 
The  ordinances  for  the  latter  had 
been  passed  as  early  as  the  year  1643, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  seven  suc- 
ceeding years,  the  harvest  had  been 
reaped  and  gathered.  Still  some 
gleanings  might  remain ;  and  in 
1650,  an  act  was  passed  for  the  better 
ordering  and  managing  such  estates ; 
the  former  compositions  were  sub- 
jected to  examination ;  defects  and 
concealments  were  detected ;  and  pro- 
portionate fines  were  in  numerous 
cases  exacted.  In  1651,  seventy  indi- 
viduals, most  of  them  of  high  rank, 
all  of  opulent  fortunes,  who  had  im- 
prudently displayed  tiheir  attachment 
to  the  royal  cause,  were  condemned 
to  forfeit  their  property,  both  real 
and  personal,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  commonwealth.  The  fatal  march 
of  Charles  to  Worcester  furnished 
grounds  for  a  new  proscription  in 
1652.  First  nine-and-twenty,  then  six 
hundred  and  eighty-two  royalists  were 
selected  for  punishment.  It  was 
enacted  that  those  in  the  first  class 


I  Journals,  May  10,  Not.  22.  Whitelock, 
478—483. 

*  The  clear  annual  income  from  the  fee- 
farm  rents  amounted  to  seven  ty-seren  thou- 
sand pounds.  In  Jan.  1851,  twenty-five 
thousand  three  hundred  pounds  of  this 
income  had  been  sold  for  two  hundred  and 
twentr-iive  thousand  six  hundred  and  fiftj 
pounds. — Journals,  Jan.  8. 


should  forfeit  their  whole  propen 
while  to  those  in  the  second,  the  rij 
of  pre-emption  was  reserved  at  i 
rate  of  one-third  part  of  the  cL 
value,  to  be  paid  within  four  montl 
4.  During  the  late  reign,  as  k 
as  the  Presbyterians  retained  tb 
ascendancy  in  parUament,  they  < 
forced  with  all  their  power  uniform 
of  worship  and  doctrine.  The  cle 
of  the  established  church  were  ejec 
from  their  livings,  and  the  profess 
of  the  CathoUc  faith  were  condemi 
to  forfeit  two-thirds  of  their  propei 
or  to  abjure  their  religion.  Nor  ' 
the  proof  of  recusancy  to  depend 
formerly,  on  the  slow  process  of  j 
sentation  and  conviction;  bare  & 
picion  was  held  a  sufficient  groi 
for  the  sequestrator  to  seize  his  pr 
and  the  complainant  was  told  that 
had  the  remedy  in  his  own  hands 
might  take  the  oath  of  ab^urat 
When  the  Independents  succeeds 
the  exercise  of  the  supreme  pow 
both  the  persecuted  parties  indul 
a  hope  of  more  lenient  treatnn 
and  both  were  disappointed.  The 
dependents,  indeed,  proclaimed  tl^ 
selves  the  champions  of  religi 
Uberty:  they  repealed  the  stati 
imposing  penalties  for  absence  fi 
church ;  and  they  declared  that  i 
were  free  to  serve  God  accordinj 
the  dictates  of  conscience.  Yet  ti| 
notions  of  toleration  were  very  c^ 
fined :  they  refused  to  extend  it  elH 
to  prelacy  or  popery,  to  the  servioi 
the  church  of  England,  or  of 
church  of  Rome.  The  ejected  cleii 
men  were  still  excluded  from 
pulpit,  and  the  Catholics  were  ■ 
the  victims  of  persecuting  statu 


>  Journals,  1651,  July  16;  1652,  AOf 
Nov.  18.  Scobell,  156,  210.  If  any  of 
last  were  papists,  and  afterwards  disp^ 
of  their  estates  thus  redeemed,  they  ^ 
ordered  to  banish  themselves  from  t 
native  country,  under  the  penalty  ot  ha 
the  laws  against  popery  executed  a^ 
them  with  the  utmost  severity.— Addft. 
of  Not.  18,  1663. 


J).  1661.] 


EELIGIOUS  INTOLERANCE. 


195 


n  1650,  an  act  was  passed  offering  to 
lie  discoverers  of  priests  and  Jesuits, 
r  of  their  receivers  and  abettors,  the 
line  reward  as  had  been  granted 
)  the  apprehenders  of  highwaymen, 
mmediately  officers  and  informers 
ere  employed  in  every  direction; 
le  houses  of  Catholics  were  broken 
pen  and  searched  at  all  hours  of  the 
ay  and  night ;  many  clergymen  were 
jprehended,  and  several  were  tried, 
id  received  judgment  of  death.  Of 
lese  only  one,  Peter  Wright,  chaplain 
>  the  marquess  of  Winchester,  suf- 
red.  The  leaders  shrunk  from  the 
lium  of  such  sanguinary  exhibitions, 
id  transported  the  rest  of  the  pri- 
ners  to  the  continent.' 
But  if  the  zeal  of  the  Independents 
as  more  sparing  of  blood  than 
lat  of  the  Presbyterians,  it  was  not 
ferior  in  point  of  rapacity.    The 


1  Challoaer,  ii.  346.  MS,  papers  in  my 
sseasion.  See  Appendix,  WWW. 
^  In  1650  the  annual  rents  of  Catholics  in 
saession  of  the  sequestrators  were  re- 
rned  at  sixty-two  thousand  and  forty- 
jht  pounds  seventeen  shillings  and  three- 
nee  three  farthings.     It  should,  however, 

observed  that  thirteen  counties  were  not 
eluded. — Journ.  Dec.  17. 
^  In  proof  I  may  be  allowed  to  mention 
e  instance  of  a  Catholic  servant  maid,  an 
phan,  who,  during  a  servitude  of  seven- 
?n  years,   at  seven  nobles  a  year,  had 

'ed   twenty  pounds.    The  sequeetrators, 
ving  discovered  with  whom,  she  had  de- 


ordinances  for  sequestration  and  for- 
feiture were  executed  with  unrelent- 
ing severity.*  It  is  difficult  to  say 
which  suflfered  from  them  most  cruelly 
— families  with  small  fortunes  who 
were  thus  reduced  to  a  state  of 
penury;  or  husbandmen,  servants, 
and  mechanics,  who,  on  their  refusal 
to  take  the  oath  of  abjuration,  were 
deprived  of  two-thirds  of  their  scanty 
earnings,  even  of  their  household 
goods  and  wearing  apparel.^  The  suf- 
ferers ventured  to  solicit  from  parha- 
ment  such  indulgence  as  might  be 
thought  "consistent  with  the  public 
peace  and  their  comfortable  sub- 
sistence in  their  native  country." 
The  petition  was  read:  Sir  Henry 
Yane  spoke  in  its  favour;  but  the 
house  was  deaf  to  the  voice  of  reason 
and  humanity,  and  the  prayer  for 
relief  was  indignantly  rejected.* 


posited  her  money,  took  two-thirds,  thirteen 
pounds  six  shillings  and  eightpenee,  for  the 
use  of  the  commonwealth,  and  left  her  the 
remainder,  six  pounds  thirteen  and  four- 
pence.  In  March,  1653,  she  appealed  to 
the  commissioners  at  Haberdashers'  Hall, 
who  replied  that  they  could  afford  her  no 
relief,  unless  she  took  the  oath  of  abjura- 
tion. See  this  and  many  other  cases  in  the 
•'  Christian  Moderator,  or  Persecution  for 
Eeligion,  condemned  by  the  Light  of  Na- 
ture, the  Law  of  God,  and  Evidence  of  our 
own  Principles,"  p.  77—84.  London,  1662. 
*  Journals,  1662,  June  30.  The  petition 
is  in  the  Christian  Moderator,  p.  59. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


OXWBLL     CALLS     THE     "LITTLE     PARLIAMENT'' DISSOLVES     IT MAKES     HIMSELP 

PBOTECTOR SCBJOaATION     OP      THE      SCOTTISH      ROYALISTS — PEACE      WITH     THE 

DT7TCH — XEW     PARLIAMENT — ITS      DISSOLUTION — INSURRECTION      IN      ENGLAND— 
BKBACH   WITH    SPAIN TROUBLES    IN    PIEDMONT TREATY   WITH    PRANCE. 


Wboeyer  has  studied  the  character 
Cromwell,  will  have  remarked  the 
xiety  with  which  he  laboured  to 
aoeal  his  real  designs   from  the 


notice  of  his  adherents.  If  credit 
were  due  to  his  assertions,  he  cherished 
none  of  those  aspiring  thoughts  which 
agitate  the  breasts  of  the  ambitiou£ ; 
o  2 


196 


THE  PEOTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  V' 


the  consciousness  of  his  Aveakness 
taught  him  to  shrink  from  the  re- 
sponsibihty  of  power;  and  at  every 
step  in  his  ascent  to  greatness,  he 
affected  to  sacrifice  his  own  feeUngs 
to  the  judgment  and  importunity  of 
others.  But  in  dissolving  the  late 
parliament  he  had  deviated  from  this 
his  ordinary  course:  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  come  boldly  forward  by  the 
obstinacy  or  the  policy  of  his  oppo- 
nents, who  during  twelve  months 
had  triumphed  over  his  intrigues, 
and  were  preparing  to  pass  an  act 
which  would  place  new  obstacles  in 
his  path.  Now,  however,  that  he  had 
forcibly  taken  into  his  own  hands  the 
reins  of  government,  it  remained  for 
him  to  determine  whether  he  should 
retain  them  in  his  grasp,  or  deliver 
them  over  to  others.  He  preferred 
the  latter ;  for  the  maturity  of  time 
was  not  yet  come:  he  saw  that,  among 
the  officers  who  bhndly  submitted  to 
be  the  tools  of  his  ambition,  there 
were  several  who  would  abandon  the 
idol  of  their  worship,  whenever  they 
should  suspect  him  of  a  design  to 
subvert  the  public  hberty.  But  if  he 
parted  with  power  for  the  moment,  it 
was  in  such  manner  as  to  warrant 
the  hope  that  it  would  shortly  return 
to  him  under  another  form,  not  as 
won  by  the  sword  of  the  military,  but 
as  deposited  in  his  hands  by  the  judg- 
ment of  parliament. 

It  could  not  escape  the  sagacity  of 
the  lord-general  that  the  fanatics, 
with  whose  aid  he  had  subverted  the 
late  government,  were  not  the  men  to 
be  intrusted  with  the  destinies  of  the 
three  kingdoms ;  yet  he  deemed  it  his 
interest  to  indulge  them  in  their  wild 
notions  of  civil  and  religious  reforma- 
tion, and  to  suffer  himself  for  a  while 
to  be  guided  by  their  counsels.   Their 


'  Printed    by  Henry  Hilla  and  Thomae 
Brewster,  printers  to  the  army,  1653. 

2  Ludlow,  ii.  24.     Thurloe,  i.  289,  395. 
Sir  H.  Vane,  after  all  the  affronts  which  he 


first  measure  was  to  publish  a  Yin 
dication  of  their  Proceedings.'  Th 
long  parliament  they  pronounced  in 
capable  "  of  answering  those  end 
which  God,  his  people,  and  the  who! 
nation,  expected."  Had  it  been  pei 
mitted  to  sit  a  day  longer,  it  woul 
"at  one  blow  have  laid  in  the  du; 
the  interest  of  all  honest  men  and  ( 
their  glorious  cause."  In  its  plac 
the  council  of  war  would  "call  1 
the  government  persons  of  approve 
fidelity  and  honesty;"  and  therefoi 
required  "public  officers  and  mini: 
ters  to  proceed  in  their  respecti^ 
places,"  and  conjured  "those  wl: 
feared  and  loved  the  name  of  tl 
Lord,  to  be  instant  with  him  dr 
and  night  in  their  behalf." « 

They  next  proceeded  to  establish 
council  of  state.    Some  proposed  th: 
it  should   consist  of  ten   member 
some  of  seventy,  after  the  model 
the  Jewish  Sanhedrim ;  and  others 
thirteen,  in  imitation  of  Christ  ani 
his  twelve  apostles.    The  last  proje^ 
was  adopted  as  equally  scriptural,  ai 
more  convenient.    AVith   Cromwe 
in  the  place  of  lord  president,  we 
joined  four  civihans  and  eight  office 
of  high  rank ;  so  that  the  army  stf^ 
retained  its  ascendancy,  and  the  coui 
cil  of  state  became  in  fact  a  militai 
council. 

From  this  moment  for  some  montl 
it  would  have  embarrassed  any  m: 
to  determine  where  the  supren 
power  resided.  Some  of  the  judg 
were  superseded  by  others :  new  cor 
missioners  of  the  treasury  and  a 
miralty  were  appointed ;  even  tl 
monthly  assessment  of  one  hundri 
and  twenty  thousand  pounds  w 
continued  for  an  additional  half- yea 
and  yet  these  and  similar  acts, 
of  them   belonging   to   the  highi 


had  received,  was   offered  a  place  in  t    I 
council ;    but  he  replied  that,  though  t 
reign  of  the  saints  was  begun,  he  woi 
defer  his  share  in  it  till  he  should  go 
heaven. — Thurloe,  i.  266. 


A.D.  165-3.] 


CEOMWELL'S  PAELIAMENT. 


197 


authority  in  the  state,  appeared  to 
emanate  from  different  sources ;  these 
from  the  council  of  war,  those  from 
the  council  of  state,  and  several  from 
the  lord-general  himself,  sometimes 
with  the  advice  of  one  or  other,  some- 
times without  the  advice  of  either  of 
these  councils.' 

At  the  same  time  the  public  mind 
was  agitated  by  the  circulation  of 
reports  the  most  unfounded,  and  the 
advocacy  of  projects  the  most  contra- 
dictory. This  day  it  was  rumoured 
that  Cromwell  had  offered  to  recall 
the  royal  family,  on  condition  that 
Charles  should  marry  one  of  his 
daughters ;  the  next,  that  he  intended 
to  ascend  the  throne  himself,  and,  for 
that  purpose,  had  already  prepared 
the  insignia  of  royalty.  Here,  signa- 
tures were  solicited  to  a  petition  for 
the  re-establishment  of  the  ancient 
constitution ;  there,  for  a  government 
by  successive  parliaments.  Some  ad- 
dresses declared  the  conviction  of  the 
subscribers  that  the  late  dissolution 
was  necessary ;  others  prayed  that  the 
members  might  be  allowed  to  return 
to  the  house,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
legally  dissolving  themselves  by  their 
own  authority.  In  the  mean  while, 
the  lord-general  continued  to  wear 
the  mask  of  humility  and  godliness ; 
he  prayed  and  preached  with  more 
than  his  wonted  fervour;  and  his 
piety  was  rewarded,  according  to  the 
report  of  his  confidants,  with  fre- 
quent communications  from  the  Holy 
Spirit.'  In  the  month  of  May  he 
spent  eight  days  in  close  consultation 
with  his  military  divan;  and  the  re- 
I  suit  was  a  determination  to  call  a  new 
parliament,  but  a  parliament  modelled 
I  on  principles  unknown  to  the  history 
I  of  this  or  of  any  other  nation.   It  was 


1  Whitelock,  556,  557,  559.  Leicester's 
Journal,  142.    Merc.  Polit.  No.  157. 

2  Thurloe,  i.  256,  289,  306. 

'  Thurloe,  i.  395.  Compare  the  list  of 
the  members  in  Heath,  350,  with  the  letters 
in  Milton's  State  Papers  92,  94, 96. 


to  be  a  parliament  of  saints,  of  men 
who  had  not  offered  themselves  as 
candidates,  or  been  chosen  by  the 
people,  but  whose  chief  qualification 
consisted  in  holiness  of  life,  and  whose 
call  to  the  office  of  legislators  came 
from  the  choice  of  the  council.  With 
this  view  the  ministers  took  the  sense 
of  the  "  congregational  churches  "  in 
the  several  counties :  the  returns  con- 
tained the  names  of  the  persons, "  faith- 
ful, fearing  God,  and  hating  covetous- 
ness,"  who  were  deemed  qualified  for 
this  high  and  important  trust;  and 
out  of  these  the  council  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  lord-general  selected  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  representa- 
tives for  England,  six  for  Wales,  six 
for  Ireland,  and  five  for  Scotland.' 
To  each  of  them  was  sent  a  wTit  of 
summons  under  the  signature  of 
Cromwell,  requiring  his  personal  at- 
tendance at  Whitehall  on  a  certain 
day,  to  take  upon  himself  the  trust, 
and  to  serve  the  office  of  member  for 
some  particular  place.  Of  the  sur- 
prise with  which  the  writs  were 
received  by  many,  the  reader  may 
judge.  Yet,  out  of  the  whole  number, 
two  only  returned  a  refusal :  by  most 
the  very  extraordinary  manner  of 
their  election  was  taken  as  a  suf- 
ficient proof  that  the  call  was  from 
heaven." 

On  the  appointed  day,  the  4th  of 
July,  one  hundred  and  twenty  of 
these  faithful  and  godly  men  attended 
in  the  council-chamber  at  Whitehall. 
They  were  seated  on  chairs  round  the 
table;  knd  the  lord-general  took  his 
station  near  the  middle  window,  sup- 
ported on  each  side  by  a  numerous 
body  of  officers.  He  addressed  the 
company  standing,  and  it  was  be- 
lieved by  his  admirers,  perhaps  by 


*  Thurloe,  i.  274.  Whitelock,  547.  "  It 
was  a  great  satisfaction  and  encouragement 
to  some  that  their  names  had  been  pre- 
sented as  to  that  service,  by  the  churches 
and  other  godly  persons." — Exact  Eelatiou 
of  the  Proceedings,  &c,  of  the  last  Parlia- 
ment, 16.54,  p.  2. 


198 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  71 


himself,  "that the  Spirit  of  God  spoke 
in  him  and  by  him."  Having  vindi- 
cated in  a  long  narrative  the  disso- 
lution of  the  late  parliament,  he  con- 
gratulated the  persons  present  on  the 
high  ofl&ce  to  which  they  had  been 
called.  It  was  not  of  their  own  seek- 
ing :  it  had  come  to  them  from  God 
by  the  choice  of  the  army,  the  usual 
channel  through  which  in  these  latter 
days  the  Divine  mercies  had  been 
dispensed  to  the  nation.  He  would  not 
charge  them,  but  he  would  pray  that 
they  might  "  exercise  the  judgment 
of  mercy  and  truth,"  and  might  "  be 
faithful  with  the  saints,"  however 
those  saints  might  differ  respecting 
forms  of  worship.  His  enthusiasm 
kindled  as  he  proceeded;  and  the 
visions  of  futurity  began  to  open  to 
his  imagination.  It  was,  he  exclaimed, 
marvellous  in  his  eyes;  they  were 
called  to  war  with  the  Lamb  against 
his  enemies ;  they  were  come  to  the 
threshold  of  the  door,  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  promises  and  prophecies ; 
God  was  about  to  bring  his  people  out 
of  the  depths  of  the  sea ;  perhaps  to 
bring  the  Jews  home  to  their  station 
out  of  the  isles  of  the  sea^  "  God," 
he  exclaimed,  "  shakes  the  mountains, 
and  they  reel;  God  hath  a  high  hill, 
too,  and  his  hill  is  as  the  hill  of 
Bashan ;  and  the  chariots  of  Gt)d  are 
twenty  thousand  of  angels ;  and  God 
will  dwell  upon  this  hill  for  ever." 
At  the  conclusion  "  of  this  grave, 
Christian,  and  seasonable  speech,"  he 
placed  on  the  table  an  instrument 
under  his  own  hand  and  seal,  intrust- 
ing to  them  the  supreme  authority 
for  the  space  of  fifteen  months  from 
that  day,  then  to  be  transmitted  by 


1  Proceedings,  No.  197.  Pari.  Hist.  ix. 
153.  Milton's  State  Papers,  106.  This  last 
appears  to  me  a  more  faitbfid  copy  than  that 
printed  by  authority. 

2  They  have  been  generallr  described  as 
men  in  trade,  and  of  no  edacation ;  and 
becaose  one  of  them,  Praise-Ood  Barebone, 
was  a  leather-dealer  in  Fleet-street,  the 
asBemblyis  generally  known  by  the  dene- 


them  to  another  assembly,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  they  should  previouslj 
have  chosen, '- 

The  next  day  was  devoted  by  the 
new  representatives  to  exercises  o 
reUgion,  not  in  any  of  the  churches 
of  the  capital,  but  in  the  room  where 
the  late  parliament  was  accustomec 
to  sit.  Thirteen  of  the  most  giftec 
among  them  successively  prayed  anc 
preached,  from  eight  in  the  morning 
till  six  in  the  evening;  and  severa 
affirmed  "  that  they  had  never  en^ 
joyed  so  much  of  the  spirit  and  pre 
sence  of  Christ  in  any  of  the  meet 
ings  and  exercises  of  reUgion  in  al 
their  hves,  as  they  did  on  that  day." 
As  it  was  solely  to  their  reputatioi 
for  superior  godliness  that  the  ma 
jority  of  the  members  owed  thei 
election,  the  lord-general  probabl; 
expected  from  them  little  oppositioi 
to  his  measures ;  but  they  no  soone 
appUed  to  business,  than  he  saw  rea 
son  to  be  alarmed  at  the  promptituds 
and  resolution  which  they  displayed 
Though  not  distinguished  by  thei 
opulence,  they  were  men  of  indl 
pendent  fortunes;*  during  the  lal 
revolutions  they  had  learned  to  thinj 
for  themselves  on  the  momentoB 
questions  which  divided  the  nation 
and  their  fanaticism,  by  convertin 
their  opinions  into  matters  of  col 
science,  had  superadded  an  obstinaa 
of  character  not  easily  to  be  subduen 
To  Cromwell  himself  they  alway* 
behaved  with  respect.  They  invite 
him  with  four  of  his  officers  to  sit  a 
a  member  among  them;  and  the 
made  him  the  offer  of  the  palace  c 
Hampton  Court  in  exchange  for  hi 
house  of  N  ewhall.    But  they  believe 


mination  of  Barebone's  parliament. — Heatl 
360.  It  is,  however,  observed  by  one  * 
them,  that  "if  all  had  not  very  balk 
estates,  yet  thev  had  free  estates,  ao 
were  not  of  broken  fortunes,  or  such  « 
owed  great  sums  of  money,  and  stood  i 
need  of  privilege  and  protection  aa  foi 
merly."— Exact  Belation,  19.  See  ail 
Whitelock,  669. 


i.D.  1653.] 


PROSECUTION  OF  LILBURNE. 


199 


md  showed  that  they  were  the 
tnasters.  They  scorned  to  submit  to 
uhe  dictation  of  their  servants;  and 
if  they  often  followed  the  advice,  they 
as  often  rejected  the  recommendations 
ind  amended  the  resolutions  of  the 
30uncil  of  state. 

One  of  the  first  subjects  which  en- 
gaged their  attention  was  a  cont-est, 
in  which  the  lord-general,  with  all 
his  power,  was  foiled  by  the  boldness 
Df  a  single  individual.  At  the  very 
moment  when  he  hoped  to  reap  the 
fruit  of  his  dissimulation  and  in- 
brigues,  he  found  himself  unexpect- 
edly confronted  by  the  same  fearless 
and  enterprising  demagogue,  who,  at 
the  birth  of  the  commonwealth,  had 
publicly  denounced  his  ambition,  and 
excited  the  soldiery  against  him.  Lil- 
burne,  on  the  dissolution  of  the  long 
parliament,  had  requested  permission 
of  Cromwell  to  return  from  banish- 
ment. Receiving  no  answer,  he  came 
over  at  his  own  risk,— a  bold  but 
imprudent  step ;  for  what  indulgence 
could  he  expect  from  that  powerful 
adventurer,  whom  he  had  so  often 
denounced  to  the  nation  as  "  a  thief, 
a  robber,  an  usurper,  and  a  mur- 
derer ?  *'  On  the  day  after  his  arrival 
in  the  capital  he  was  committed  to 
Newgate.  It  seemed  a  case  which 
might  safely  be  intrusted  to  a  jury. 
His  return,  by  the  act  of  banishment 
had  been  made  felony;  and  of  his 
identity  there  could  be  no  doubt. 
But  his  former  partisans  did  not 
abandon  him  in  his  distress.  Peti- 
tions with  thousands  of  signatures 
were  presented,  praying  for  a  respite  of 
the  trial  till  the  meeting  of  the  par- 
liament; and  Cromwell,  willing,  per- 
haps, to  shift  the  odium  from  himself 
to  that  assembly,  gave  his  consent. 
Lilburne  petitioned  the  new  parlia- 
ment ;  his  wife  petitioned ;  his  friends 


1  It  appears  from  Clarendon's  Letters  at 
the  time,  that  Lilburne  was  intimate  with 
Buckingham,  and  that  Buckingham  pro- 
fessed to  expect  much  from  him  in  behalf 


from  the  neighbouring  counties  peti- 
tioned ;  the  apprentices  in  London 
did  not  only  petition,  they  threatened. 
But  the  council  laid  before  the  house 
the  depositions  of  spies  and  informers 
to  prove  that  Lilburne,  during  his 
banishment,  had  intrigued  with  the 
royalists  against  the  commonwealth ; ' 
and  the  prisoner  himself,  by  the  in- 
temperance of  his  publications,  c-on- 
tributed  to  irritate  the  members. 
They  refused  to  interfere;  and  he 
was  arraigned  at  the  sessions,  where, 
instead  of  pleading,  he  kept  his  pro- 
secutors at  bay  during  five  successive 
days,  appealing  to  Magna  Charta  and 
the  rights  of  Englishmen,  producing 
exceptions  against  the  indictment, 
and  demanding  his  oyer,  or  the  speci- 
fication of  the  act  for  his  banishment, 
of  the  judgment  on  which  the  act  was 
founded,  and  of  the  charge  which  led 
to  that  judgment.  The  court  was 
perplexed.  They  knew  not  how  to 
refuse ;  for  he  claimed  it  as  his  right, 
and  necessary  for  his  defence.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  could  not  grant 
it,  because  no  record  of  the  charge  or 
judgment  was  known  to  exist. 

After  an  adjournment  to  the  next 
sessions,  two  days  were  spent  in  argu- 
ing the  exceptions  of  the  prisoner, 
and  his  right  to  the  oyer.  At  length, 
on  a  threat  that  the  court  would  pro- 
ceed to  judgment,  he  pleaded  not 
guilty.  The  trial  lasted  three  days. 
His  friends,  to  the  amount  of  several 
thousands,  constantly  attended ;  some 
hundreds  of  them  were  said  to  be 
armed  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing 
him,  if  he  were  condemned;  and 
papers  were  circulated,  that  if  Lil- 
burne perished,  twenty  thousand 
individuals  would  perish  with  him. 
Cromwell,  to  encourage  the  court, 
posted  two  companies  of  soldiers  in 
the   immediate   vicinity;    quartered 


of  the  royal  cause ;  while,  on  the  contrary. 
Clarendon  believed  that  Lilburne  would  do 
nothing  for  it,  and  Buckingham  not  much 
more. — Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  75,  79,  98. 


200 


THE  PJIOTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  "^  I 


three  regiments  of  infantry,  and  one 
of  cavalry,  in  the  city ;  and  ordered  a 
numerous  force  to  march  tovrards  the 
metropolis.  The  particulars  of  the 
trial  are  lost.  We  only  know  that 
the  prosecutors  were  content  with 
showing  that  Lilburne  was  the  person 
named  in  the  act;  that  the  court 
directed  the  jury  to  speak  only  to 
that  fact ;  and  that  the  prisoner  made 
a  long  and  vehement  defence,  deny- 
ing the  authority  of  the  late  parlia- 
ment to  banish  him,  because  legally, 
it  had  expired  at  the  king's  death,  and 
because  the  House  of  Commons  was 
not  a  court  of  justice ;  and,  main- 
taining to  the  jury,  that  they  were 
judges  of  the  law  as  well  as  of  the 
fact;  that,  unless  they  believed  him 
guilty  of  crime,  they  could  not  con- 
scientiously return  a  verdict  which 
would  consign  him  to  the  gallows; 
and  that  an  act  of  parliament,  if  it 
were  evidently  unjust,  was  essentially 
void,  and  no  justification  to  men  who 
pronounced  according  to  their  oaths. 
At  a  late  hour  at  night  the  jury  de- 
clared him  not  guilty ;  and  the  shout 
of  triumph,  received  and  prolonged 
by  his  partisans,  reached  the  ears  of 
Cromwell  at  Whitehall. 

It  was  not,  however,  the  intention 
of  the  lord-general  that  his  victim 
should  escape.  The  examination  of 
the  judges  and  jurymen  before  the 
council,  with  a  certified  copy  of  cer- 
tain opprobrious  expressions,  used  by 
Lilburne  in  his  defence,  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  house,  and  an  order  was 
obtained  that,  notwithstanding  his 
acquittal,  he  should  be  confined  in 
the  Tower,  and  that  no  obedience 
should  be  paid  to  any  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  issued  from  the  court  of  Upper 
Bench  in  his  behalf.     These    mea- 


I  See  Thurloe,  i.  324,  367,  368,  369.  429, 
430,  435,  411,  U2,  451,  453  ;  Exact  fielation, 

S.  5 ;  Whitelock,  558,  560,  561,  663,  591 ; 
ournals,  July  13, 14.  Aug.  2, 22,  27,  Nov.  26. 
In  1656  or  1657  thia  turbulent  demagogue 
joined  the    society  of   Friends.    He  died 


sures  gave  great  offence.  It  was  cor 
plained,  and  with  justice,  that  tl 
men  who  pretended  to  take  up  an 
against  the  king  in  support  of  tl 
liberties  of  Enghshmen,  now  ma^ 
no  scruple  of  trampling  the  sac 
liberties  under  foot,  whenever 
suited  their  resentment  or  interest.' 

In  the  prosecution  and  punis 
ment  of  Lilburne,  the  parliame 
was  unanimous ;  on  most  other  poin 
it  was  divided  into  two  parties  di 
tinctly  marked;  that  of  the  Ind 
pendents,  who,  inferior  in  numbc 
superior  in  talents,  adhered  to  tl 
lord-general  and  the  council ;  and  th 
of  the  Anabaptists,  who,  guided  I 
religious  and  political  fanaticisi 
ranged  themselves  under  the  bann 
of  Major-General  Harrison  as  the 
leader.  These  "  sectaries"  anticipat( 
the  reign  of  Christ  with  his  sain 
upon  earth;  they  believed  then 
selves  called  by  God  to  prepare  tl 
way  for  this  marvellous  revolutioi- 
and  they  considered  it  their  duty  1| 
commence  by  reforming  all  the  abi 
which  they  could  discover  either 
church  or  state.^ 

In  their  proceedings  there 
much  to  which  no  one,  who 
embarked  with  them  in  the  sa 
cause,  could  reasonably  object.  Tl 
established  a  system  of  the  most  rig 
economy ;  the  regulations  of 
excise  were  revised ;  the  constitutio  ^ 
of  the  treasury  was  simplified  an 
improved;  unnecessary  offices  wer 
totally  abolished,  and  the  salaries  ( 
the  others  considerably  reduced ;  tb 
public  accounts  were  subjected  to  th 
most  rigorous  scrutiny;  new  facil: 
ties  were  given  to  the  sale  of  tb 
lands  now  considered  as  national  pre 
perty.    Provision  was  made  for  th 


Aug.  29,  1657,  at  Eltham,  whence,  oa  ik 
3l8t,  the  body  of  the  meek  Quaker  m 
conveyed  for  sepulture  to  the  new  churoll 
yard  adjoining  to  Bedlam.— CromwelliaM 
p.  168. 
2  Thurloe,  i.  392,  396,  501,  515,  523. 


D.  1653.1       PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  PARLIAMENT. 


201 


ture  registratioa  of  marriages, 
rths,  and  deaths.'  But  the  fana- 
}ism  of  their  language,  and  the 
travagance  of  their  notions,  exi)osed 
em  to  ridicule;  their  zeal  for  re- 
rm,  by  interfering  with  the  interests 
several  different  bodies  at  the  same 
ne,  multiplied  their  enemies ;  and, 
fore  the  dissolution  of  the  house, 
ey  had  earned,  justly  or  unjustly, 
e  hatred  of  the  army,  of  the  lawyers, 
the  gentry,  and  of  the  clergy. 

1,  It  was  with  visible  reluctance 
at  they  voted  the  monthly  tax  of 
le  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
lunds  for  the  support  of  the  mili- 
ry  and  naval  establishments.  They 
jre,  indeed,  careful  not  to  complain 
the  amount ;  their  objections  were 
.inted  against  the  nature  of  the  tar, 
d  the  inequality  of  the  assessments  ;2 
it  this  pretext  could  not  hide  their 
•al  object  from  the  jealousy  of  their 
versaries,  and  their  leaders  were 
•enly  charged  with  seeking  to  re- 
ice  the  number  of  the  army,  that 
ey  migtft  lessen  the  influence  of 
e  general. 

2.  From  the  collection  of  the  taxes 
ey  proceeded  to  the  administration 


'  For  the  validity  of  marriage,  if  the 
rties  were  minors,  was  required  the  con- 
at  of  the  parents  or  guardians,  and  the 
e  of  sixteen  in  the  male,  of  fourteen  in 
3  female ;  and  in  all  cases  that  the  names 
the  parties  intending  to  be  married 
ould  be  given  to  the  registrar  of  the 
rish,  whose  duty  it  was  to  proclaim  them, 
cording  to  their  wish,  either  in  the  church 
:er  the  morning  exercise  on  three  succes- 
e  Lord's  days,  or  in  the  matrket-place  on 
ree  successive  market-days.  Having  re- 
ived from  him  a  certificate  of  the  procla- 
itions,  containing  any  exceptions  which 
ght  have  been  made,  they  were  to  exhibit 
to  a  magistrate,  and,  before  him,  to 
jdge  their  faith  to  each  other  "in  the 
esence  of  God,  the  searcher  of  hearts." 
ift  religious  ceremony  was  optional,  the 
'  il  necessary  for  the  civil  effects  of  mar- 
■  tge. — See  the  Journals  for  the  month  of 
I  igust,  and  Scobell. 
-  In  some  places  men  paid  but  two ;  in 
hers,  ten  or  twelve  shillings  in  the  pound. 
Exact  Relation,  10.  The  assessments  feU 
the  owners,  not  on  the  tenants.— Thurloe, 


of  the  law.  In  almost  every  petition 
presented  of  late  years  to  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  nation,  complaints 
had  been  made  of  the  court  of  Chan- 
cery, of  its  dilatory  proceedings,  of 
the  enormous  expense  which  it  en- 
tailed on  its  suitors,  and  of  the  sus- 
picious nature  of  its  decisions,  so  liable 
to  be  influenced  by  the  personal  par- 
tialities and  interests  of  the  judge.' 
The  long  parliament  had  not  ven- 
tured to  grapple  with  the  subject; 
but  this,  the  little  parliament,  went 
at  once  to  the  root  of  the  evil,  and 
voted  that  the  whole  system  should 
be  abolished.  But  then  came  the 
appalling  difficulty,  how  to  dispose  of 
the  causes  actually  pending  in  the 
court,  and  how  to  substitute  in  its 
place  a  less  objectionable  tribunal. 
Three  bills  introduced  for  that  pur- 
pose were  rejected  as  inapplicable  or 
insufficient :  the  committee  prepared 
a  fourth;  it  was  read  twice  in  one 
day,  and  committed,  and  would  pro- 
bably have  passed,  had  not  the  sub- 
sequent proceedings  been  cut  short 
by  the  dissolution  of  the  parliament.* 
3.  But  the  reformers  were  not  con- 
tent with  the  abolition  of  a  single 


3  '•  It  was  confidently  reported  by  knowing 
gentlemen  of  worth,  that  there  were  de- 
pending in  that  coui-t  23,000  (2  or  3,000  ?) 
causes  ;  that  some  of  them  had  been  there 
depending  five,  some  ten,  some  twenty, 
some  thirty  years  ;  and  that  there  had  beea 
spent  in  causes  many  hundreds,  nay  thou- 
sands of  pounds,  to  the  utter  undoing  of 
many  families." — Exact  Relation,  12. 

*  Journals,  Aug.  5,  Oct.  17,  22,  IS'ov.  3. 
Exact  Relation,  12—15.  The  next  year, 
however,  Cromwell  took  the  task  into  his 
own  hands  ;  and  in  1655  published  an 
ordinance,  consisting  of  sixty-seven  articles, 
"  for  the  better  regulating  and  limiting  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  nigh  court  of  Chancery." 
Widdrington  and  Whitelock,  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  great  seal,  and  Lenthall, 
master  of  the  rolls,  informed  him  by  letter, 
that  they  had  sought  the  Lord,  but  did  not 
feel  themselves  free  to  act  according  to  the 
ordinance.  The  protector  took  the  seals 
from  the  two  first,  and  gave  them  to  Fiennes 
and  Lisle ;  Lenthall  overcame  his  scruples, 
and  remained  in  office. — See  the  ordinance 
in  Scobell,  324;  the  objections  to  it  in 
Whitelock,  621. 


202 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap. 


court;  they  resolved  to  cleanse  the 
whole  of  the  Augean  stable.  What, 
they  asked,  made  up  the  law?  A 
voluminous  collection  of  statutes, 
many  of  them  almost  unknown,  and 
many  inapplicable  to  existing  circum- 
stances ;  the  dicta  of  judges,  perhaps 
ignorant,  frequently  partial  and  in- 
terested ;  the  reports  of  cases,  but  so 
contradictory  that  they  were  regu- 
larly marshalled  in  hosts  against  each 
other;  and  the  usages  of  particular 
districts,  only  to  be  ascertained 
through  the  treacherous  memories 
of  the  most  aged  of  the  inhabitants. 
Englishmen  had  a  right  to  know  the 
laws  by  which  they  were  to  be  go- 
verned; it  was  easy  to  collect  from 
the  present  system  all  that  was 
really  useful ;  to  improve  it  by  neces- 
sary additions;  and  to  comprise  the 
whole  within  the  small  compass  of  a 
pocket  volume.  With  this  view,  it 
was  resolved  to  compose  a  new  body 
of  law;  the  task  was  assigned  to  a 
committee;  and  a  commencement 
was  made  by  a  revision  of  the  statut-es 
respecting  treason  and  murder.^  But 
these  votes  and  proceedings  scattered 
alarm  through  the  courts  at  West- 
minster, and  hundreds  of  voices,  and 
almost  as  many  i)ens,  were  employed 
to  protect  from  ruin  the  venerable 
fabric  of  English  jurisprudence.  They 
ridiculed  the  presumption  of  these 
ignorant  and  fanatical  legislators, 
ascribed  to  them  the  design  of  sub- 
stituting the  law  of  Moses  for  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  conjured  the 
I)eople  to  unite  in  defence  of  their 
own  "  birthright  and  inheritance,"  for 
the  preservation  of  which  so  many 
miseries  had  been  endured,  so  much 
blood  had  been  shed.- 


4.  From   men   of  professed  sc 
tity  much    had    been    expected 
favour  of  religion.    The  sincerit; 
their  zeal  they  proved  by  the  d 
convincing  test, — an  act  for  the  ex  , 
pation  of  popish  priests  and  Jest  i 
and  the  disposal  of  two-thirds  of  I 
real  and  personal  estates  of  po 
recusants.'    After   this    prelimii 
skirmish  with  antichrist,  they  ] 
ceeded  to  attack  Satan  himself 
his   stronghold"   of  advowsons.    J 
was,    they    contended,    contrary  I 
reason,  that   any  private  indivif 
should  possess  the  power  of  impo 
a  spiritual  guide  upon  his  neighbor 
and  therefore  they  resolved  that  ; 
sentations  should  be  abolished, 
the  choice  of  the  minister  be  ve 
in  the  body  of  the  parishioner.- 
vote  which   taught   the  patrons  j 
livings  to  seek  the  protection  of  J 
lord-general  against  the  oppressic 
the   parliament.     From   advowi 
the  next  step  was  to  tithes.    Afe 
commencement  of  the  session,  afti 
long  debate,  it  was  geneAilly  uu 
stood  that  tithes  ought  to  be  d 
away  with,  and  in  their  place  a  a 
pensation  be  made  to  the  improi 
tors,  and  a  decent  maintenance 
provided  for  the  clergy.    The  g 
subject  of  dispute  was,  which  q 
tion  should  have  the  precedeuo( 
point  of  time,  the  abolition  of 
impost,  or  the   substitution   of' 
equivalent.      For    five    months 
committee  intrusted  with  the  sul 
was  silent^  now,  to  prevent,  as  it 
thought,  the  agitation  of  the 
tion  of  advowsons,  they  present 
f report  respecting  the  method  of  e§ 
ing  scandalous,  and  settling   goi 
ministers ;  to  which  they  appeo* 


1  Journals,  Aug.  18,  19,  Oct.  20.  Exact 
Belation,  15—18. 

2  The  charge  of  wishing  to  introduce  the 
law  of  God  was  frequently  repeated  bj 
Cromwell.  It  owed  its  existence  to  this, 
that  manv  would  not  allow  of  the  punish- 
ment of  death  for  theft,  or  of  the  distinc- 
tion between    manslaughter    and  murder, 


.2 


because  no  such  things  are  to  be  foni 
the  law  of  Moses.— Exact  Relation,  17. 
'  To  procure  ready  money  for  the  ' 
sury,  it  was  proposed  to  allow  recusan 
redeem  the  two-thirds  for  their  lives,  at 
years'  purchase.  This  amendment  pa 
but  with  great  opposition,  on  the 
that  it  amounted  to  a  toleration  of  ." 
—Ibid.  11.     Thurloe,  i.  C53. 


1653. 


FANATICISM  OF  THE  ANABAPTISTS. 


203 


ir  own  opinion,  that  incumbents, 
bors,  and  impropriators  had  a  pro- 
ty  in  tithes.  This  report  provoked 
lebate  of  five  days.  When  the 
;stion  was  put  on  the  first  part, 
ugh  the  committee  had  mustered 
the  force  of  the  Independents  in 
favour,  it  was  rejected  by  a  ma- 
ty of  two.  The  second  part,  re- 
cting  the  property  in  tithes,  was  not 
.  to  the  vote ;  its  fate  was  supposed 
)e  included  in  that  of  the  former ; 
I  it  was  rumoured  through  the 
ital  that  the  parliament  had  voted 

abolition  of  tithes,  and  with  them 
the  ministry,  which  derived  its 
intenance  from  tithes.^ 
lere  it  should  be  noticed,  that  on 
ry  Monday  during  the  session, 
ikes  and  Powell,  two  Anabapist 
achers,  had  delivered  weekly  lec- 
es  to  numerous  audiences  at  Black- 
its.  They  were  eloquent  enthu- 
i;ts,  commissioned,  a.s  tbey  fancied, 
the  Almighty,  anu  learless  of  any 
thly  tribunal.  They  introduced 
D  their  sermons  most  of  the  sub- 
^  discussed  in  parliament,  and 
ocated  the  principles  of  their  sect 
h  a  force  and  extravagance  which 
rmed  Cromwell  and  the  council, 
air  favourite  topic  was  the  Dutch 
.'.  Grod,  they  maintained,  had  given 
hand  into  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
i;  it  was  to  be  the  landing-place 

the  saints,  whence  they  should 
•ceed  to  pluck  the  w of  Baby- 

from  her  chair  and  to  establish 

kingdom  of  Christ  on  the  conti- 
it ;  and  they  threatened  with  every 
d  of  temporal  and  everlasting  woe 

man  who  should  advise  peace  on 

mother  terms  than  the  incorpora- 

a  of  the  United  Provinces  with 

commonwealth     of    England.^ 


Journals,  July  15—19,  Nov.  17,  Dec.  Ij 
10.    Exact  Kelation.  418—424. 
l  Beverning,  one  of  the  Dutch  ambas- 

Son,  went  to  the  meeting  on  one  of 
36  occasions.  In  a  letter,  he  says  : — 
'  he  scope  and  intention  is  to  preach 
i  n  governments,  and  to  stir  up  the  people 


"When  it  was  known  that  Cromwell 
had  receded  from  this  demand,  their 
indignation  stripped  the  pope  of  many 
of  those  titles  with  which  he  had  so 
long  been  honoured  by  the  Protestant 
churches,  and  the  lord-general  was 
publicly  declared  to  be  the  beast  in 
the  Apocalypse,  the  old  dragon,  and 
the  man  of  sin.  UnwilUng  to  invade 
the  liberty  of  religious  meetings,  he 
for  some  time  bore  these  insults  with 
an  air  of  magnanimity:  at  last  he 
summoned  the  two  preachers  before 
himself  and  the  council.  But  the 
heralds  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  quailed 
not  before  the  servants  of  an  earthly- 
commonwealth :  they  returned  re- 
buke for  rebuke,  charged  Cromwell 
with  an  unjustifiable  assumption  of 
power,  and  departed  from  the  con- 
ference unpunished  and  unabashed.^ 

By  the  pubUc  the  sermons  at  Black- 
friars  were  considered  as  explanatory 
of  the  views  and  principles  of  the 
Anabaptists  in  the  house.  The  ene- 
mies of  these  reformers  multiplied 
daily  :  ridicule  and  abuse  were  poured 
upon  them  from  every  quarter ;  and 
it  became  evident  to  all  but  them- 
selves that  the  hour  of  their  fall  was 
rapidly  approaching.  Cromwell,  their 
maker,  had  long  ago  determined  to 
reduce  them  to  their  original  no- 
thing ;  and  their  last  vote  respecting 
the  ministry  appeared  to  furnish  a 
favourable  opportunity.  The  next 
day,  the  Sunday,  he  passed  with  his 
friends  in  secret  consultation;  on 
the  Monday  these  friends  mustered 
in  considerable  numbers,  and  at  an 
early  hour  took  their  seats  in  the 
house.  Colonel  Sydenham  rose.  He 
reviewed  all  the  proceedings  of  the 
parliament,  condemned  them  as  cal- 
culated tQ  injure   almost  every  in- 


against  the  united  Netherlands.  Being 
then  in  the  assembly  of  the  saints,  I  heard 
one  prayer,  two  sermons.  But,  good  God ! 
what  cruel  and  abominable,  and  most  horrid 
trumpets  of  fire,  murder,  and  flame." — 
Thurloe,  i.  442. 
3  Thurloe,  i.  442,  534, 645,  560,  591,  621. 


2M 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[chap 


terest  in  the  state,  and,  declaring  that 
he  would  no  longer  sit  in  so  useless 
an  assembly,  moved  that  the  house 
should  proceed .  to  Whitehall,  and 
dehver  back  the  supreme  power  into 
the  hands  of  him  from  whom  it  was 
derived.  The  motion  was  seconded 
and  opposed;  but  the  Independents 
had  come  to  act,  not  to  debate.  They 
immediately  rose:  the  speaker,  who 
was  in  the  secret,  left  the  chair ;  the 
Serjeant  and  the  clerk  accompanied 
him,  and  near  fifty  members  followed 
in  a  body.  The  reformers,  only 
twenty-seven  in  number  (for  most  of 
them  had  not  yet  arrived),  gazed  on 
each  other  with  surprise ;  their  first 
resource  was  to  fall  to  prayer;  and 
they  were  employed  in  that  holy 
exercise,  when  Gofi"  and  White,  two 
oflBlcers,  entered,  and  requested  them 
to  withdraw.  Being  required  to  show 
their  warrant,  they  called  in  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers.  No  resistance  was 
now  ofiered ;  the  military  cleared  the 
house,  and  the  keys  were  left  with 
the  guard.  ^ 

In  the  mean  while  the  speaker, 
preceded  by  the  mace,  and  followed 
by  Sydenham  and  his  friends,  walked 
through  the  street  to  Whitehall.  In 
the  way,  and  after  his  arrival,  he  was 
joined  by  several  members,  by  some 
through  curiosity,  by  others  through 
fear.  At  Whitehall,  a  form  of  re- 
signation of  the  supreme  power  was 
hastily  engrossed  by  the  clerk,  sub- 
scribed by  the  speaker  and  his  fol- 
lowers,  and   tendered   by   them   to 


1  Exact  Eelation,  25,  26.  True  Narra- 
tive, 3.  Thurloe,  i.  730.  I  adopt  the 
nnmber  given  by  Mansel,  as  he  could  have 
no  motive  to  diminish  it. 

»  Exact  Relation,  26.  True  Narrative,  4. 
Ludlow,  ii.  33.  Clarendon,  iii..  484.  Thur- 
loe, i.  754.  The  author  of  this  new  con- 
stitution is  not  known.  Ludlow  tells  us 
that  it  was  first  communicated  bv  Lambert 
to  a  council  of  field  oflBcers.  When  some 
objections  were  made,  he  replied,  that  the 
general  was  willing  to  consider  any  amend- 
ments which  might  be  proposed,  but  would 
not  depart  from  the  project  itself.    Some, 


Cromwell.  The  lord-general  pu 
an  air  of  surprise;  he  was  not 
pared  for  such  an  offer,  he  would 
load  himself  with  so  heavy  a  hurt 
But  his  reluctance  yielded  to  th< 
monstrances  and  entreaties  of  I 
bert  and  the  ofiicers,  and  the  ins 
ment  was  laid  in  a  chamber  of 
palace  for  tbe  convenience  of  ; 
members  as  had  not  yet  the  op 
tunity  of  subscribing  their  na 
On  the  third  day  the  signat 
amounted  to  eighty,  an  absolute 
jority  of  the  whole  house ;  on 
fourth,  a  new  constitution  was 
lished,  and  Cromwell  obtained 
great  object  of  his  ambition,- 
ofiice  and  authority,  though  wit 
the  title,  of  king.^ 

On   that   day,  about  one   in 
afternoon,  the  lord-general  rep; 
in  his  carriage   from  the  palac 
Westminster  Hall,  through  two 
of  military,  composed   of  five 
raents   of  loou  and  three  of  by 
The  procession  formed  at  the  ( 
Before  him  walked  the  aldermeiij 
judges,  two  commis.sioners  of  thej 
seal,  and  the   lord  mayor;   b« 
him  the  two  councils  of  state  a^ 
the  army.     They  mounted   to 
court  of  Chancery,  where  a  cha 
state  with  a  cushion  had  been  pi 
on   a   rich  carpet.      Cromwell 
dressed  in  a  suit  and  cloak  of  \ 
velvet,  with  long  boots,  and  a  m 
gold  band  round  his  hat.    He 
his  place  before  the  chair,  betit 
the  two  commissioners;   the  jw 


therefore,  suggested  that,  after  the  ^ 
of  the  present  lord-general,  the  civile 
military  government  should  be  kept 
rate,  and  that  no  protector  should  b* 
ceeded  by  any  of  his  relatives.  This 
so  much  offence,  that,  at  a  second  md 
Lambert,  having  informed  them  tha 
lord-general  would  take  care  of  the 
administration,  dismissed  them  to 
respective  commands. — Ludlow,  ii.  8? 
is  to  this,  perhaps,  that  the  Dutch  v 
sador  alludes,  when  he  says  that  Croi 
desisted  from  his  project  of  being  dec 
king  on  acoouut  of  the  displeasure  0 
officers.— Thurloe,  i.  644. 


3.  lGo3.] 


CROMWELL  MADE  PEOTECTOE. 


205 


tod  in  a  half-circle  behind  it,  and 
3  civic  officers  ranged  themselves  on 
3  right,  the  military  on  the  left, 
e  of  the  court. 

Lambert  now  came  forward  to  ad- 
3SS  the  lord-general.  He  noticed 
3  dissolution  of  the  late  parliament, 
served  that  the  exigency  of  the 
le  required  a  strong  and  stable 
^ernment,  and  prayed  his  excel- 
:cy  in  the  name  of  the  army  and  of 
)  three  nations  to  accept  the  office 
protector  of  the  commonwealth, 
omwell,  though  it  was  impossible 
conceal  the  purpose  for  which  he 
i  come  thither,  could  not  yet  put 
the  habit  of  dissimulation ;  and  if, 
3r  some  demur,  he  expressed  his 
isent,  it  was  with  an  appearance  of 
uctance  which  no  one  present  could 
ieve  to  be  real. 

Tessop,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the 
mcil,  was  next  ordered  to  read  the 
istrument  of  government,"  con- 
ing of  forty-two  articles.  1.  By  it 
'  legislative  power  was  invested  in 
)rd-protector  and  parliament,  but 
h  a  provision  that  every  act  passed 
the  parliament  should  become  law 
;he  expiration  of  twenty  days,  even 
hout  the  consent  of  the  protector ; 
less  he  could  persuade  the  house 
the  reasonableness  of  his  objec- 
as.  The  parliament  was  not  to  be 
ourned,  prorogued,  or  dissolved, 
hout  its  own  consent,  within,  the 
t  five  months  after  its  meeting ; 
I  a  new  parUament  was  to  be  called 
I  bin  three  years  after  the  dissolu- 
I  a  of  the  last.  The  number  of  the 
mbers  was  fixed  according  to  the 
n  projected  by  Vane  at  the  close  of 
long  parUament,  at  four  hundred 
England,  thirty  for  Scotland,  and 
rty  for  Ireland.  Most  of  the 
oughs  were  disfranchised,  and  the 
tuber  of  county  members  was  in- 


j  creased.  Every  person  possessed  of 
real  or  personal  property  to  the  value 
of  two  hundred  pounds  had  a  right. 
to  vote,'  unless  he  were  a  malignant 
or  delinquent,  or  professor  of  the 
Catholic  faith ;  and  the  disqualifica- 
tions to  which  the  electors  were  sub- 
ject attached  also  to  the  persons 
elected.  2.  The  executive  power  was 
made  to  reside  in  the  lord-protector 
acting  with  the  advice  of  his  council. 
He  possessed,  moreover,  the  power  of 
treating  with  foreign  states  with  the 
advice,  and  of  making  peace  or  war 
with  the  consent,  of  the  council.  To 
him  also  belonged  the  disposal  of  the 
military  and  naval  power,  and  the 
appointment  of  the  great  officers  of 
state,  with  the  approbation  of  parlia- 
ment, and,  in  the  intervals  of  parlia- 
ment, with  that  of  the  council,  but 
subject  to  the  subsequent  approbation 
of  the  parliament.  3.  Laws  could 
not  be  made,  nor  taxes  imposed,  but 
by  common   consent  in  parliament. 

4.  The  civil  list  was  fixed  at  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds,  and  a  yearly 
revenue  ordered  to  be  raised  for  the 
support  of  an  army  of  thirty  thousand 
men,  two-thirds  infantry,  and  one- 
third  cavalry,  with  such  a  navy  as  the 
lord-protector  should  think  necessary. 

5.  All  who  professed  faith  in  God  by 
Jesus  Christ  were  to  be  protected  in 
the  exercise  of  their  religion,  with  the 
exception  of  prelatists,  papists,  and 
those  who  taught  licentiousness  under 
the  pretence  of  religion.  6.  The  lord- 
general  Cromwell  was  named  lord- 
protector  ;  his  successors  were  to  be 
chosen  by  the  council.  The  first  par- 
liament was  to  assemble  on  the  3rd  of 
the  following  December ;  and  till  that 
time  the  lord-protector  was  vested 
with  power  to  raise  the  moneys  ne- 
cessary for  the  public  service,  and  to 
make  ordinances  which  should  have 


During  the  long  parliament  this  qualifi- 
J  on  had  been  adopted  on  the  motion  of 
J  mwell,  in  place  of  a  clause  recommended 
1  ".he  committee,  which  gave  the  elective 


franchise  under  different  regulations  to 
freeholders,  copyholders,  tenants  for  life, 
and  leaseholders, —  See  Journals,  30th 
March,  1653. 


206 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[CHU 


the  force  of  law,  till  orders  were  taken 
in  parliament  respecting  the  same. 

At  the  conclusion,  Cromwell,  rais- 
ing his  right  hand  and  his  eyes  to 
heaven  with  great  solemnity,  swore 
to  observe,  and  cause  to  be  observed, 
all  the  articles  of  the  instrument; 
and  Lambert,  falUng  on  his  knees, 
ofiFered  to  the  protector  a  civic  sword 
in  the  scabbard,  which  he  accepted, 
laying  aside  his  own,  to  denote  that 
he  meant  to  govern  by  constitutional, 
and  not  by  military,  authority.  He 
then  seated  himself  in  the  chair,  put 
on  his  hat  while  the  rest  stood  un- 
covered, received  the  seal  from  the 
commissioners,  the  sword  from  the 
lord  mayor,  delivered  them  back 
again  to  the  same  individuals,  and 
having  exercised  these  acts  of  sove- 
reign authority,  returned  in  pro- 
cession to  his  carriage,  and  repaired 
in  state  to  Whitehall.  The  same  day 
the  establishment  of  the  government 
by  a  lord-protector  and  triennial  par- 
liaments, and  the  acceptance  of  the 
protectorship  by  the  lord-general, 
were  announced  to  the  public  by  pro- 
clamation, with  all  the  ceremonies 
hitherto  used  on  the  accession  of  a 
new  monarch.* 

It  cannot  be  supposed  that  this 
elevation  of  Cromwell  to  the  supreme 
power  was  viewed  with  satisfaction  by 
any  other  class  of  men  than  his 
brethren  in  arms,  who  considered 
his  greatness  their  own  work,  and 
expected  from  his  gratitude  their 
merited  reward.  But  the  nation  was 
surfeited  with  revolutions.  Men  had 
suffered  so  severely  from  the  ravages 
of  war  and  the  oppression  of  the 
mihtary;  they  had  seen  so  many 
instances  of  punbhment  incurred  by 
resistance  to  the  actual  possessors  of 
power ;  they  were  divided  and  subdi- 
vided into  so  many  parties,  jealous 


J  Wliitelock,  571—578.  Tharloe,  i,  639, 
dil.  Ludlow,  ii.  40.  The  alteration  in  tlie 
repreeentatioD,  wiii«h  had  beea  proposed 


and  hateful  of  each  other ;  that 
readily   acquiesced    in    any   ch< 
which  promised  the  return  of  ti 
quiUity  in   the   place  of  solicill 
danger,  and  misery.    The  prote^ 
however,  did  not  neglect  the  m 
of  consolidating  his  own  autho  \ 
Availing  himself  of  the  powert 
trusted  to  him  by  the  "  instrumt 
he  gave  the  chief  commands  in 
army   to   men   in  whom   he  c 
confide;  quartered  the  troops  in 
manner  best  calculated  to  put  d 
any  insurrection;   and,    among 
multitude   of  ordinances  which 
published,  was  careful  to  repeal 
acts  enforcing  the  Engagement 
forbid  all  meetings  on  racecourse 
at  cockpits ;  to  explain  what  offe 
should  be  deemed  treason  against 
government ;  and  to  establish  a 
court  of  justice  for  the  trial  of  t 
who  might  be  charged  with  v 
offences. 

He  could  not,  however,  be  ignd 
that,  even  among  the  former  i 
panions  of  his  fortunes,  the  men^ 
had  fought  and  bled  by  his  side,  i 
were    several    who,   much    as 
revered  the  general,  looked  on 
protector    with    the    most    cc 
abhorrence.     They   were    stub! 
unbending  republicans,  partly 
political,  partly  from  religious,  pi 
pie.    To  them  he  affected  to  unb 
himself  without  reserve.  He  wasn 
he  protested,  the  same  humble  i 
vidual    they    had    formerly   kn^ 
him.    Had  he  consulted  his  own  i 
ings,  "he  would  rather  have  ta 
the  staff  of  a  shepherd"  than 
dignity  of  protector.    Necessity 
imposed  the  oflBoe  upon  him ;  he 
sacrificed  his  own  happiness  to  ] 
serve  his  countrymen  from  anaj 
and  ruin ;  and  as  he  now  bor 
burthen  with  reluctance,  he 


in  th«  long  parliament,  was  eenera 
sidered  an  improTOment. — Clar.   Hi 
495. 


D.  1654] 


EXECUTION  OF  ROYALISTS. 


207 


7  it  down  with  joy,  the  moment  he 
uld  do  so  with  safety  to  the  nation, 
at  this  language  made  few  proselytes, 
ley  had  too  often  already  been  the 
ipes  of  his  hypocrisy,  the  victims  of 
eir  own  credulity ;  they  scrupled 
•t,  both  in  pubhc  companies,  and 
Dm  the  pulpit,  to  pronounce  him 
I  dissembling  perjured  villain ;"  and 
ey  openly  threatened  him  with  "  a 
)rse  fate  than  had  befallen  the  last 
rant."  If  it  was  necessary  to  silence 
ese  declaimers,  it  was  also  dan- 
rous  to  treat  them  with  severity. 
0  proceeded  with  caution,  and 
Ddified  his  displeasure  by  circum- 
mces.  Some  he  removed  from  their 
mmissions  in  the  army  and  their 
Inistry  in  the  church;  others  he 
i  not  permit  to  go  at  large,  till  they 
d  given  security  for  their  subse- 
ent  behaviour ;  and  those  who 
-oved  less  tractable,  or  appeared 
ore  dangerous,  he  incarcerated  in 
e  Tower.  Among  the  last  were 
arrison,  formerly  his  fellow-labourer 
the  dissolution  of  the  long  parlia- 
mt,  now  his  most  implacable  enemy; 
d  Feakes  and  Powell,  the  Anabap- 
t  preachers,  who  had  braved  his 
jentment  during  the  last  parlia- 
3nt.  Symson,  their  colleague,  shared 
eir  imprisonment,  but  procured  his 
>erty  by  submission.' 
To  the  royalists,  as  he  feared  them 
e,  he  showed  less  forbearance, 
larles,  who  still  resided  in  Paris, 
lintained  a  constant  correspondence 
th  the  friends  of  his  family  in  Eng- 
id,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  pre- 
•ving  a  party  ready  to  take  advantage 
any  revolution  in  his  favour,  and 
deriving  from  their  loyalty  advances 


Thnrloe,  i,  641,  643;  ii.  67,  68.    White- 
;k,  580,  582,  596.    Ludlow,  ii.  47. 

'  Clarendon  informs  Nicholas  (June  12), 
it  in  reality  no  one  secret  had  been  be- 
yed  or  discovered. — Clar.  Papers,  iii.  247. 
t  this  is  doubtful ;  for  Willis,  one  of  the 
ninittee  called  "  the  sealed  knot,"  who 
3  imprisoned,  but  discharged  in  Septem- 


of  money  for  his  own  support  and 
that  of  his  followers.  Among  the 
agents  whom  he  employed,  were  men 
who  betrayed  his  secrets,  or  pretended 
secrets,  to  his  enemies,^  or  who  seduced 
his  adherents  into  imaginary  plots, 
that  by  the  discovery  they  might 
earn  the  gratitude  of  the  protector. 
Of  the  latter  class  was  an  individual 
named  Henshaw,  who  had  repaired 
to  Paris,  and  been  refused  what  he 
solicited,  admission  to  the  royal  pre- 
sence. On  his  return,  he  detailed  to 
certain  royalists  a  plan  by  which  the 
protector  might  be  assassinated  on 
his  way  to  Hampton  Court,  the 
guards  at  Whitehall  overpowered, 
the  town  surprised,  and  the  royal 
exile  proclaimed.  Men  were  found 
to  listen  to  his  suggestions ;  and  when 
a  sufficient  number  were  entangled 
in  the  toil,  forty  were  apprehended 
and  examined.  Of  these,  many  con- 
sented to  give  evidence;  three  were 
selected  for  trial  before  the  High 
Court  of  Justice.  Fox,  one  of  the  three, 
pleaded  guilty,  and  thus,  by  giving 
countenance  to  the  evidence  of  Hen- 
shaw, deserved  and  obtained  his  par- 
don. Vowell,  a  schoolmaster,  and 
Gerard,  a  young  gentleman  two-and- 
twenty  years  of  age,  received  judg- 
ment of  death.  The  first  suflFered  on 
the  gallows,  glorying  that  he  died 
a  martyr  in  the  cause  of  royalty, 
Grerard,  before  he  was  beheaded,  pro- 
tested in  the  strongest  terms  that, 
though  he  had  heard,  he  had  never 
approved  of  the  design.^  In  the 
depositions,  it  was  pretended  that 
Charles  had  given  his  consent  to  the 
assassination  of  the  protector.  Though 
Cromwell  professed  to  disbelieve  the 


ber  (Perfect  Account,    No.  194),    proved 
afterwards  a  traitor. 

3  State  Trials,  v,  517—540,  Thurloe,  ii. 
416,  446,  447.  Whitelock,  591,  592,  593. 
Henshaw  was  not  produced  on  the  trial.  It 
was  pretended  that  he  had  escaped.  But 
we  learn  from  Thurloe  that  he  was  safe  ia 
the  Tower,  and  so  Gerard  suspected  in  his 
speech  on  the  scaffold. 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap. 


charge,  yet  as  a  measure  of  self-defence 
he  threatened  the  exiled  prince  that,  if 
any  such  attempt  were  encouraged, 
he  should  have  recourse  to  retaliation, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  intimated  that 
it  would  be  no  difficult  matter  for 
him  to  execute  his  threat.  • 

On  the  same  scaffold,  but  an  hour 
later,  perished  a  foreign  nobleman, 
only  nineteen  years  old,  Don  Pan- 
taleon  Sa,  brother  to  Guimaraes,  the 
Portuguese  ambassador.  SLx  months 
before,  he  and  Gerard,  whose  execu- 
tion we  have  just  noticed,  had  quar- 
relled in  the  New  Exchange.  Pan- 
taleon,  the  next  evening,  repaired  to 
the  same  place  with  a  body  of  armed 
followers;  a  fray  ensued;  Green  way, 
a  person  unconcerned  in  the  dispute, 
was  killed  by  accident  or  mistake; 
and  the  Portuguese  fled  to  the  house 
of  the  ambassador,  whence  they  were 
conducted  to  prison  by  the  military. 
The  people,  taking  up  the  affair  as 
a  national  quarrel,  loudly  demanded 
the  blood  of  the  reputed  murderers. 
On  behalf  of  Pantaleon  it  was  argued: 
1.  That  he  was  an  ambassador,  and 
therefore  answerable  to  no  one  but 
his  master ;  2.  That  he  was  a  person 
attached  to  the  embassy,  and  there- 
fore covered  by  the  privilege  of  his 
principal.  But  the  instrument  which 
he  produced  in  proof  of  the  first 
allegation  was  no  more  than  a  written 
promise  that  he  should  succeed  his 
brother  in  office ;  and  in  reply  to  the 
second,  it  was  maintained  that  the 
privilege  of  an  ambassador,  whatever 


jit  might  be,  was  personal,  and 
not  extend  to  the  individuals  in 
suite.    At  the  bar,  after  several 
fusals,  he  was  induced  by  the  th 
of  the  peine  forte  et  dure  to  plead 
guilty ;  and  his  demand  of  counsel    i 
account  of  his  ignorance  of  Eng 
law,  was  rejected,  on  the  ground  1  \ 
the  court  was  "of  counsel  equa 
the  prisoner  and  the  commonweal  i 
He  was  found  guilty,  and  condemi  ( 
with  four  of  his  associates.    To  tl    ■ 
of  these  the  protector  granted  a  ] 
don ;  but  no  entreaties  of  the  sev 
ambassadors  could  prevail  in  fav 
of  Pantaleon.    He  was  sacrificed 
we  believe  one  of  them,  to  the  clam 
of  the  people,  whose  feelings  wert 
excited,  that  when  his  head  fell 
the  scaffold,  the  spectators  proclaii 
their  joy  by  the  most  savage  yell 
exultation."-'    It  was  the  very  daj 
which  his  brother,  perhaps  to  j 
pitiate  the  protector,  had  signed 
treaty  between  the  two  nations. 

These  executions  had  been  precei 
by  one  of  a  very  different  descriptj 
Colonel  Worsley  had  apprehend 
Catholic  clergyman,  of  the  nam< 
Southwortb,  who,  thirty-seven  y< 
before,  had  been  convicted  at  I 
caster,  and  sent  into  banishnu 
The  old  man  (he  had  passed 
seventy-second  year),  at  his  arrai 
ment,  pleaded  that  he  had  ta 
orders  in  the  church  of  Rome, 
was  innocent  of  any  treason.  '1 
recorder  advised  him  to  withdraw 
plea,  and  gave  him  four  hours 


1  Cromwell  did  not  give  credit  to  the 
plots  for  marderinp  bim. — Thurloe,  ii.  512, 
533.  Clarendon  wntea  thus  on  the  subject 
to  his  fri«nd  liicholas :  "  I  do  assure  you  upon 
mv  credit,  I  do  not  know,  and  upon  my  con- 
fidence, the  kine  does  not,  of  any  such 
design.  Many  wud,  foolish  persons  propose 
wild  things  to  the  king,  which  he  civilly  dis- 
countenances, and  then  they  and  their 
friends  brag  what  they  hear,  or  could  do ; 
and,  no  doubt,  in  some  such  noble  rage 
that  hath  now  fallen  out  which  they  talk  so 
much  of  at  London,  and  by  which  many 
honest  men  are  in  prieon,  of  which  whole 
matter  the  king  knows  no  more  than  secre- 


tary Nicholas  doth."— Clar.  Papers,  iii. 
See,  however,  the  accoimt  of  Sexby's 
in  the  next  chapter. 

2  See  in  State  Trials,  v.  461—51 
numerous  collection  of  authorities 
opinions  respecting  this  case.  Also  ; 
536.  That  Pantaleon  and  his  friends^ 
armed,  cannot  be  denied :  was  it  for 
venf  e  H  So  it  would  appear  from  the  i 
tion  in  Somers's  Tracts,  iii.  65 ;  WhitdJ 
569;  and  State  Trials,  v.  482.  Wi 
solely  for  defence  ?  Such  is  the  evideni 
Metham  (Thurloe,  ii.  222),  and  the  assei 
of  Pantaleon  at  his  death.— Whitelool 
595. 


.D.  1654.] 


DISCONTENT  IN  IRELAND 


209 


onsideration.  But  Southworth  still 
wned  that  he  was  a  Catholic  and  in 
rders;  judgment  of  death  was  pro- 
ounced ;  and  the  protector,  notwith- 
:anding  the  urgent  solicitations  of 
le  French  and  Spanish  ambassadors, 
3Solved  that  he  should  suffer.  It 
as  not  that  Cromwell  approved  of 
mguinary  punishments  in  matters  of 
sUgion,  but  that  he  had  no  objection 
)  purchase  the  good- will  of  the  godly 
y  shedding  the  blood  of  a  priest, 
'he  fate  of  this  venerable  man 
tcited  the  sympathy  of  the  higher 
.asses.  Two  hundred  carriages  and 
crowd  of  horsemen  followed  the 
urdle  on  which  he  was  drawn  to  the 
lace  of  execution.  On  the  scafiFold, 
e  spoke  with  satisfaction  of  the  man- 
or of  his  death,  but  at  the  same  time 
ointed  out  the  inconsistency  of  the 
len  who  pretended  to  have  taken  up 
rms  for  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
!  3t  shed  the  blood  of  those  who  dif- 
ired  from  them  in  religious  opinions. 
[e  suflfered  the  usual  punishment  of 
aitors.' 

The  intelligence  of  the  late  revolu- 
on  had  been  received  by  the  military 
I  Ireland  and  Scotland  with  open 
lurmurs  on  the  part  of  some,  and 
suspicious  acquiescence  on  that  of 
ihers.  In  Ireland,  Fleetwood  knew 
ot  how  to  reconcile  the  conduct  of 
is  father-in-law  with  his  own  princi- 
les,  and  expressed  a  wish  to  resign 
t  le  government  of  the  island;  Ludlow 
!  id  Jones,  both  stanch  republicans, 
» loked  on  the  protector  as  a  hypocrite 
id  an  apostate,  and  though  the  latter 
as  more  cautious  in  his  language,  the 
■rmer  openly  refused  to  act  as  civil 
)ramissioner  under  the  new  con- 
itution;  and  in  most  of  the  garri- 
)ns  several  of  the  principal  oflScers 
lade  no  secret  of  their  dissatisfac- 
on  :  in  one  case  they  even  drew 
p  a  remonstrance  against  "the  go- 


>  Thurloe,  ii.  406.    Whitelock,  592.    Chal- 
ner,  ii.  354.    Kcaresborough's  Collec.  MS. 


vernment  by  a  single  person."  But 
Cromwell  averted  the  storm  which 
threatened  him,  by  his  prudence  and 
firmness.  He  sent  his  son  Henry  on 
a  visit  to  Fleetwood,  that  he  might 
learn  the  true  disposition  of  the  mili- 
tary ;  the  more  formidable  of  his 
opponents  were  silently  withdrawn 
to  England ;  and  several  of  the 
others  found  themselves  suddenly 
but  successively  deprived  of  their 
commands.  In  most  cases  interest 
proved  more  powerful  than  principle; 
and  it  was  observed  that  out  of  the 
numbers  who  at  first  crowded  to  the 
Anabaptist  conventicle  at  Dublin  as 
a  profession  of  their  political  creed, 
almost  all  who  had  anything  to  lose, 
gradually  abandoned  it  for  the  more 
courtly  places  of  worship.  Even  the 
Anabaptists  themselves  learned  to 
believe  that  the  ambition  of  a  private 
individual  could  not  defeat  the  de- 
signs of  the  Lord,  and  that  it  was 
better  for  men  to  retain  their  situa- 
tions under  the  protector,  than,  by 
abandoning  them,  to  deprive  them- 
selves of  the  means  of  promoting  the 
service  of  God,  and  of  hastening  the 
reign  of  Christ  upon  earth.'^ 

In  Scotland  the  spirit  of  disafiection 
equally  prevailed  among  the  superior 
officers;  but  their  attention  was 
averted  from  political  feuds  by  mili- 
tary operations.  In  the  preceding 
years,  under  the  appearance  of  general 
tranquillity,  the  embers  of  war  had 
continued  to  smoulder  in  the  High- 
lands :  they  burst  into  a  flame  on  the 
departure  of  Monk  to  take  the  com- 
mand of  the  English  fleet.  To  Charles 
in  France,  and  his  partisans  in  Scot- 
land, it  seemed  a  favourable  moment ; 
the  earls  of  Glencairn  and  Balcarras 
were  successively  joined  by  Angus, 
Montrose,  Athol,  Seaforth,  Kenmure, 
and  Lorn,  the  son  of  Argyle;  and 
Wogan,  an  enterprising  officer,  land- 


2  Thurloe,  ii.  149,  150,  162,  214. 


210 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


CHAP.  -^ 


ing  at  Dover,  raised  a  troop  of  loyalists 
in  London,  and  traversing  England 
imder  the  colours  of  the  common- 
wealth, reached  in  safety  the  quarters 
of  his  Scottish  friends.  The  number 
of  the  royalists  amounted  to  some 
thousands :  the  nature  of  the  country 
and  the  affections  of  the  natives  were 
in  their  favour ;  and  their  spirits  were 
supported  by  the  repeated,  but  falla- 
cious, intelligence  of  the  speedy  ar- 
rival of  Charles  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  force.  A  petty,  but 
most  destructive  warfare  ensued .  Ro- 
bert Lilburne,  the  English  com- 
mander, ravaged  the  lands  of  all  who 
favoured  the  royalists ;  the  royalists, 
those  of  all  who  remained  neuter,  or 
aided  their  enemies.  But  in  a  short 
time,  personal  feuds  distracted  the 
councils  of  the  insurgents;  and  as 
the  right  of  Glencairn  to  the  chief 
command  was  disputed,  Middleton 
arrived  with  a  royal  commission, 
which  all  were  required  to  obey. 
'  To  Middleton  the  protector  opposed 
Monk.  It  was  the  policy  of  the 
former  to  avoid  a  battle,  and  ex- 
haust the  strength  of  his  adversary  by 
marches  and  counter-marches  in  a 
mountainous  country,  without  the 
convenience  of  roads  or  quarters ;  but 
in  an  attempt  to  elude  his  pursuer, 
Middleton  was  surprised  at  Loch 
Garry  by  the  force  under  Morgan; 
his  men,  embarrassed  in  the  defile, 
were  slain  or  made  prisoners;  and 
his  loss  taught  the  royalist  leaders  to 
deserve  mercy  by  the  promptitude  of 
their  submission.  The  earl  of  TulU- 
bardine  set  the  example;  Glencairn 
followed ;  they  were  imitated  by  their 
associates ;  and  the  lenity  of  Monk 
contributed  as  much  as  the  fortune 
of  war  to  the  total  suppression  of  the 
insurgents.'  Cromwell,  however,  did 
not  wait  for  the  issue  of  the  contest. 


1  See  the  ratification  of  the  surrenders  of 
Tnllibardine,  Glencairn,  Heriot,  Forrester, 
Kenmure,  Montrose,  and  Seaforth,  dated  at 
different' times  between  Aug.  24  and  Jan.  10, 


Before  Monk  had  joined  the  army, 
published  three  ordinances,  by  whic 
of  his  supreme  authority,  he  incc 
porated  Scotland  with  England,  s 
solved  the  natives  from  their  &\ 
giance  to  Charles  Stuart,  abolish 
the  kingly  office  and  the  Scotti 
parliament,  with  all  tenures  a 
superiorities  importing  servitude  a 
vassalage ;  erected  courts-baron 
supply  the  place  of  the  jurisdictic 
which  he  had  taken  away,  and  grant 
a  free  pardon  to  the  nation,  with  t 
exception  of  numerous  individus 
whom  he  subjected  to  different  ( 
grees  of  punishment.  Thus  the  wh( 
frame  of  the  Scottish  constitution  ^ 
subverted:  yet  no  one  ventured 
remonstrate  or  oppose.  The  spi 
of  the  nation  had  been  broken.  T 
experience  of  the  past,  and  the  p; 
sence  of  the  military,  convinced  t 
people  that  resistance  was  fruitle 
of  the  nobility,  many  languisl 
within  the  walls  of  their  prisons 
England ;  and  the  others  were  grou 
to  the  dust  by  the  demands  of  th 
creditors,  or  the  exactions  of  the 
questrators ;  and  even  the  kirk,  whi 
had  so  often  bearded  kings  on  th 
thrones,  was  taught  to  feel  that 
authority,  however  it  might  bo 
of  its  celestial  origin,  was  no  mat 
for  the  earthly  power  of  the  Engl 
commonwealth.'^  Soon  after  Cro 
well  had  called  his  little  parliame 
the  general  assembly  of  the  kirk  n 
at  the  usual  place  in  Edinburgh ;  a 
Dickson,  the  moderator,  had  beg 
his  prayer,  when  Colonel  Cottei 
leaving  two  troops  of  horse  and  t 
companies  of  foot  at  the  door,  entei 
the  house  and  inquired  by  what  i 
thority  they  sat  there?  Was  it 
authority  of  the  parliament,  or  of  t 
commander  of  the  forces,  or  of  t 
English  judges  in  Scotland?     T 


in  the  Council  Book,  1655,  Feb.  7. 

2  Scobell,  289,  293—295.  Whitelock,  6 
597,599.  Burnet,  i.  58—61.  Baillie.ii.S 
381.    Milton,  State  Papers,  130,  131. 


1654.] 


DISSOLUTION  0¥  SCOTTISH  KIRK. 


211 


lodei-ator  meekly  but  firmly  replied, 
hat  they  formed  a  spiritual  court, 
stablished  by  God,  recognised  by 
iw,  and  supported  by  the  solemn 
3ague  and  covenant.  But  this  was  a 
uiguage  which  the  soldier  did  not,  or 
rould  not,  understand.  Mounting  a 
ench,  he  declared  that  there  existed 
0  authority  in  Scotland  which  was 
ot  derived  from  the  parliament  of 
England ;  that  it  was  his  duty  to  put 
own  every  illegal  assumption  of 
ower;  and  that  they  must  imme- 
iately  depart  or  suffer  themselves  to 
e  dragged  out  by  the  military  under 
is  command.  No  one  offered  to 
3sist :  a  protestation  was  hastily  en- 
2red  on  the  minutes  ;  and  the  whole 
ody  was  marched  between  two  files 
f  soldiers  through  the  streets,  to  the 
arprise,  and  grief,  and  horror  of  the 
iihabitants.  At  the  distance  of  a 
lile  from  the  city,  Cotterel  discharged 
lem  with  an  admonition,  that  if  any 
f  them  were  found  in  the  capital 
rter  eight  o'clock  on  the  following 
lorning,  or  should  subsequently  pre- 
ime  to  meet  in  greater  numbers 
lan  three  persons  at  one  time,  they 
ould  be  punished  with  imprison - 
lent,  as  disturbers  of  the  public 
eace.  "  Thus,"  exclaims  Baillie, 
our  general  assembly,  the  glory  and 
a^ngth  of  our  church  upon  earth,  is 
y  your  soldiery  crushed  and  trode 
nder  foot.  For  this  our  hearts  are 
id,  and  our  eyes   run  down  with 

Yet  after  this  they  were  permitted 
3  meet  in  synods  and  presbyteries, 
Q  indulgence  which  they  owed  not 
D  the  moderation  of  their  adversaries, 
ut  to  the  policy  of  Vane,  who  argued 
bat  it  was  better  to  furnish  them 


1  B»mie,  ii.  370. 

*  Baillie,  371—376,  360.  Barnet,  i,  62. 
yiulst  Baillie  weeps  over  the  state  of  the 
irk,  Kirkton  exults  at  the  progress  of  the 
oapel.  "I  verily  believe,"  he  writes, 
there  were  more  souls  converted  unto 
hrist  in  that  short  period  of  time  than  in 


with  the  opportunity  of  quarrelling 
among  themselves,  than,  by  establish- 
ing a  compulsory  tranquillity,  allow 
them  to  combine  gainst  the  com- 
monwealth: for  the  ministers  were 
still  divided  into  resolutioners  and 
protestors,  and  the  virulence  of  this 
religious  feud  appeared  to  augment 
in  proportion  as  the  parties  were  de- 
prived of  real  power.  The  resolu- 
tioners were  the  more  numerous,  and 
enjoyed  a  greater  share  of  popular 
favour ;  but  the  protestors  were  ene- 
mies of  Charles  Stuart,  and  therefore 
sure  of  the  protection  of  the  govern- 
ment. Hence  it  happened  that  in 
every  struggle  for  the  possession  of 
churches— and  such  struggles  con- 
tinually happened  between  the  two 
parties  —  the  protestors  were  inva- 
riably supported  against  the  voice 
of  the  people  by  the  swords  of  the 
military."^ 

By  foreign  powers  the  recent  ele- 
vation of  Cromwell  was  viewed  with- 
out surprise.  They  were  aware  of  his 
ambition,  and  had  anticipated  his 
success.  All  who  had  reason  to  hope 
from  his  friendship  or  to  fear  from 
his  enmity,  offered  their  congratu- 
lations, and  ambassadors  and  envoys 
from  most  of  the  princes  of  Europe 
crowded  to  the  court  of  the  protector. 
He  received  them  with  all  the  state 
of  a  sovereign.  From  his  apartments 
in  the  Cockpit  he  had  removed  with 
his  family  to  those  which  in  former 
times  had  been  appropriated  to  the 
king ;  they  were  newly  furnished  in 
the  most  costly  and  magnificent  style ; 
and  in  the  banqueting-room  was 
placed  a  chair  of  stato  on  a  platform, 
raised  by  three  steps  above  the  floor. 
Here  the  protector  stood  to  receive 


any  season  since  the  Eeformation.  Minia- 
ters  were  painful,  people  were  diligent.  At 
their  solemn  communions  many  congrega- 
tions met  in  great  multitudes,  "some  dozen 
of  ministers  used  to  preach,  and  the  people 
continued  as  it  were  in  a  sort  of  trance  (so 
serious  were  they  in  spiritual  exercises)  for 
three  days  at  least."— Kirkton,  54,  55. 
P  2 


212  *« 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[chap. 


the  ambassadors.  They  were  in- 
structed to  make  three  reverences, 
one  at  the  entrance,  the  second  in  the 
midway,  and  the  third  at  the  lower 
step,  to  each  of  which  Cromwell  an- 
swered by  a  slight  inclination  of  the 
head.  When  they  had  delivered  their 
speeches,  and  received  the  reply  of 
the  protector,  the  same  ceremonial 
was  repeated  at  their  departure.  On 
one  occasion  he  was  requested  to  per- 
mit the  gentlemen  attached  to  the 
embassy  to  kiss  his  hand;  but  he 
advanced  to  the  upper  step,  bowed  to 
each  in  succession,  waved  his  hand, 
and  withdrew.  On  the  conclusion 
of  peace  with  the  States,  the  ambas- 
sadors received  from  him  an  invita- 
tion to  dinner.  He  sat  alone  on  one 
side  of  the  table,  they,  with  some 
lords  of  the  council  on  the  other. 
Their  ladies  were  entertained  by  the 
lady  protectress.  After  dinner,  both 
parties  joined  in  the  drawing-room ; 
pieces  of  music  were  performed,  and 
a  psalm  was  sung,  a  copy  of  which 
Cromwell  gave  to  the  ambassadors, 
observing  that  it  was  the  best  paper 
that  had  ever  passed  between  them. 
The  entertainment  concluded  with  a 
walk  in  the  gallery.' 

This  treaty  with  the  United  Pro- 
vinces was  the  first  which  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  protector,  and 
was  not  concluded  till  repeated  vic- 
tories had  proved  the  superiority  of 
the  English  navy,  and  a  protracted 
negotiation  had  exhausted  the  pa- 
tience of  the  States.  In  the  preceding 
month  of  May  the  hostile  fleets,  each 
consisting  of  about  one  hundred  sail, 
had  put  to  sea,  the  English  com- 
manded by  Monk,  Dean,  Penn,  and 
Lawson  ;  the  Dutch  by  Van  Tromp, 
De  Ruyter,  De  Witte,  and  Evertsens. 


1  Clarendon  PaperB,  iii.  240.  Thurloe, 
i.  50,  69,  154,  267.  It  appears  from  the 
Council  Book  that  the  quarterly  expense  of 
the  protector's  family  amounted  to  thirty- 
five  thousand  pounds.     1655.  March  14. 

2  Whitelock,  657.  Ludlow,  ii.  27.  Heath, 
344.    Le  Clerc,  i.  333.    Basnage,  i.  307.    It 


AVhile  Monk  insulted  the  coast 
Holland,  Van  Tromp  cannonaded  t 
town  of  Dover.  They  afterwards  n 
each  other  off  the  North  Forelai 
and  the  action  continued  the  wh' 
day.  The  enemy  lost  two  sail; 
the  part  of  the  English,  Dean  v 
killed  by  a  chain-shot.  He  fell 
the  side  of  Monk,  who  instantly  spr€ 
his  cloak  over  the  dead  body,  that  t 
men  might  not  be  alarmed  at  the  f; 
of  their  commander. 

The  battle  was  renewed  the  n< 
morning.  Though  Blake,  w 
eighteen  sail,  had  joined  the  Engl 
in  the  night.  Van  Tromp  foug 
with  the  most  determined  cc 
rage;  but  a  panic  pervaded 
fleet;  his  orders  were  disobeyf 
several  captains  fled  from  the  super 
fire  of  the  enemy ;  and  ultimate 
the  Dutch  sought  shelter  within  1 
Wielings,  and  along  the  shallow  co 
of  Zeeland.  They  lost  one-and-twei 
sail;  thirteen  hundred  men  wt, 
made  prisoners,  and  the  number! 
killed  and  wounded  was  great  in 
portion.' 

Cromwell  received  the  news  of 
victory  with  transports  of 
Though  he  could  claim  no  share] 
the  merit  (for  the  fleet  owed  its 
cess  to  the  exertions  of  the  gove 
ment  which  he  had  overturned), 
was  aware  that  it  would  shed  a  lua 
over  his  own  administration 
the  people  were  publicly  called  uj 
to  return  thanks  to  the  Almighty : 
so  signal  a  favour.  It  was  obser 
that  on  this  occasion  he  did  not 
mand  but  invite ;  and  the  distincti 
was  hailed  by  his  admirers  as  a  pr( 
of  the  humility  and  single-mindedn< 
of  the  lord-general.^^ 

To  the  States,  the  defeat  of  th( 


appears  from  the  letters  in  Thurloe,  tt  ■ 
the  English  fought  at  the  distance  of  hL 
cannon-shot,  till  the  enemy  fell  into  CO 
fusion,  and  began  to  fly,  when  their  disabi 
ships  were  surrounded,  and  captured  by  I 
English  frigates.— Thurloe,  i.  269,  270,  81 
277,  278.  »  Whitelock,  668| 

1 


i 


A.D.  1653.]      DEFEAT  AND  DEATH  OJP  VAN  TEOMP. 


213 


fleet  proved  a  subject  of  the  deepest 
regret.  It  was  not  the  loss  of  men 
and  ships  that  they  deplored ;  such 
loss  might  soon  be  repaired ;  but  it 
degraded  them  in  the  eyes  of  Europe, 
by  placing  them  in  the  posture  of 
suppliants  deprecating  the  anger  of  a 
victorious  enemy.  In  consequence 
of  the  importunate  entreaties  of  the 
merchants,  they  had  previously  ap- 
pointed ambassadors  to  make  pro- 
posals of  peace  to  the  new  govern- 
ment; but  these  ministers  did  not 
quit  the  coast  of  Holland  till  after 
the  battle  ;  and  their  arrival  in  Eng- 
land at  this  particular  moment  was 
universally  attributed  to  a  conviction 
of  inferiority  arising  from  the  lat« 
defeat.  They  were  introduced  with 
due  honour  to  his  excellency  and  the 
council;  but  found  them  unwilling 
to  recede  from  the  high  demands 
formerly  made  by  the  parliament. 
As  to  the  claim  of  indemnification  for 
the  past,  the  ambassadors  maintained 
that,  if  a  balance  were  struck  of  their 
respective  losses,  the  Dutch  would  be 
found  the  principal  sufferers ;  and  to 
the  demand  of  security  for  the  future, 
fchey  replied,  that  it  might  be  obtained 
by  the  completion  of  that  treaty, 
which  had  been  interrupted  by  the 
mdden  departure  of  St.  John  and 
Strickland  from  the  Hague.  The 
jbstinacy  of  the  council  induced  the 
imbassadors  to  demand  passports  for 
:heir  return  ;  but  means  were  found 
;o  awaken  in  them  new  hopes,  and  to 
imuse  them  with  new  proposals.  In 
;he  conferences,  Cromwell  generally 
)ore  the  principal  part.  Sometimes 
le  chided  the  ambassadors  in  no  very 
•ourteous  terms;  sometimes  he  de- 
cribed  with  tears  the  misery  occa- 
ioned  by  the  war ;  but  he  was  always 
•areful  to  wrap  up  his  meaning  in 
uch  obscurity,  that  a  full  month 
lansed  before  the  Dutch  could  dis- 


■iee  on  tliis  subject  a  multitude  of  origi- 
Papere  in  Thurloe,  i.  268,  284,  302,  308, 


tinctly  ascertain  his  real  demands. 
They  were  then  informed  that  Eng- 
land would  waive  the  claim  of  pecu- 
niary compensation,  provided  Van 
Tromp  were  removed  for  a  while  from 
the  command  of  their  fleet,  as  an 
acknowledgment  that  he  was  the 
aggressor;  but  that,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  expected  that  the  States 
should  consent  to  the  incorporation 
of  the  two  countries  into  one  great 
maritime  power,  to  be  equally  under 
the  same  government,  consisting  of 
individuals  chosen  out  of  both.  This 
was  a  subject  on  which  the  ambas- 
sadors had  no  power  to  treat ;  and  it 
was  agreed  that  two  of  their  number 
should  repair  to  the  Hague  for  addi- 
tional instructions.' 

But,  a  few  days  before  their  depar- 
ture, another  battle  had  been  fought 
at  sea,  and  another  victory  won  by 
the  English.  For  eight  weeks  Monk 
had  blockaded  the  entrance  of  the 
Texel ;  but  Van  Tromp,  the  moment 
his  fleet  was  repaired,  put  to  sea,  and 
sought  to  redeem  the  honour  of  the 
Belgic  flag.  Each  admiral  commanded 
about  one  hundred  sail ;  and  as  long 
as  Tromp  lived,  the  victory  hung  in 
suspense ;  he  had  burst  through  the 
English  line,  and  returned  to  his  first 
station,  when  he  fell  by  a  musket- 
shot:  then  the  Dutch  began  to 
waver ;  in  a  short  time  they  fled,  and 
the  pursuit  continued  till  midnight. 
That  which  distinguished  this  from 
every  preceding  action  was  the  order 
issued  by  Monk  to  make  no  prizes, 
but  to  sink  or  destroy  the  ships  of  the 
enemy.  Hence  the  only  trophies  of 
victory  were  the  prisoners,  men  who 
had  been  picked  up  after  they  had 
thrown  themselves  into  the  water,  or 
had  escaped  in  boats  from  the  wrecks. 
Of  these,  more  than  a  thousand  were 
brought  to  England,  a  sufficient 
proof  that,  if  the  loss  of  the  enemy 


315,   316,  340,  362,  370,  372,  3S1,  382 
401. 


214 


THE  PEOTECTORATE. 


[chap.  A 


did  not  amount  to  twenty  sail,  as 
stated  by  Monk,  it  exceeded  nine  small 
vessels,  the  utmost  allowed  by  the 
States.' 

During  the  absence  of  the  other 
ambassadors,  Cromwell  sought  several 
private  interviews  with  the  third  who 
remained,  Beverning,  the  deputy 
from  the  States  of  Holland ;  and  the 
moderation  with  which  he  spoke  of 
the  questions  in  dispute,  joined  to  the 
tears  with  which  he  lamented  the 
enmity  of  two  nations  so  similar  in 
their  political  and  religious  principles, 
convinced  the  Dutchman  that  an 
accommodation  might  be  easily  and 
promptly  attained.  At  his  desire  his 
colleagues  returned ;  the  conferences 
were  resumed;  the  most  cheering 
hopes  were  indulged ;  when  suddenly 
the  English  commissioners  presented 
seven-and-twenty  articles,  conceived 
in  a  tone  of  insulting  superiority,  and 
demanding  sacrifices  painful  and  de- 
grading. A  few  days  later  the  par- 
liament was  dissolved ;  and  as  it  was 
evident  that  the  interests  of  the  new 
protector  required  a  peace,  the  ambas- 
sadors began  to  aflfect  indiflferenoe  on 
the  subject,  and  demanded  passports 
to  depart.  Cromwell,  in  his  turn, 
thought  proper  to  yield;  some  claims 
were  abandoned;  others  were  modi- 
fied, and  every  question  was  adjusted, 
with  the  exception  of  this,  whether 
the  king  of  Denmark,  the  ally  of  the 
Dutch,  who,  to  gratify  them,  had 
seized  and  confiscated  twenty-three 
English  merchantmen  in  the  Baltic, 
should  be  comprehended  or  not  in 
the  treaty.  The  ambassadors  were  at 
Gravesend  on  their  way  home,  when 
Cromwell  proposed  a  new  expedient, 
which  they  approved.  They  pro- 
ceeded,  however,   to   Holland;    ob- 


1  Le  Clerc,  i.  335.  Basnace,  i.  313.  Seve- 
r»l  Proce«dinp«,  No.  197.  Perfect  Diurnal, 
No,  187.    Thurloe,  i.  392,  420,  448. 


s  Thurloe,  i.  670,  607,  616,  624,  643,  650; 
ii.  9,  19,  28,  36,  74,  75,  123,  137,  195,  197. 


tained  the  approbation  of  the  sevei 
states,  and  returned  to  put  an  end 
the  treaty.  But  here  again,  to  the 
surprise,  new  obstacles  arose.  Bh 
verning  had  incautiously  boasted  ( 
his  dexterity ;  he  had,  so  he  pretende 
compelled  the  protector  to  lower  1: 
demands  by  threatening  to  break « 
the  negotiation ;  and  Cromwell  nc 
turned  the  tables  upon  him  by  pla, 
ing  a  similar  game.  At  the  sametir 
that  he  rose  in  some  of  his  demanc 
he  equipped  afieet  of  one  hundr' 
sail,  and  ordered  several  regiments 
embark.  The  ambassadors,  awa 
that  the  States  had  made  no  provisi( 
to  oppose  this  formidable  armamei 
reluctantly  acquiesced;  and  on  tl 
5th  of  April,  after  a  negotiation  of  t< 
months,  the  peace  was  definitive 
signed.^ 

By  this  treaty  the  English  cabin 
silently  abandoned  those  lofty  pr 
tensions  which  it  had  originally  pi 
forth.  It  made  no  mention  of  uj 
demnity  for  the  past,  of  security  f 
the  future,  of  the  incorporation 
the  two  states,  of  the  claim  of  seard 
of  the  tenth  herring,  or  of  the  en 
elusion  of  the  prince  of  Orange  fra 
the  office  of  stadtholder.  To  tha 
humihating  conditions  the  pride 
the  States  had  refused  to  submi 
and  Cromwell  was  content  to  aco«! 
two  other  articles,  which,  while  tb 
appeared  equally  to  afiect  the  tij 
nations,  were  in  reality  direct* 
against  the  Stuart  family  and  i 
adherents.  It  was  stipulated  tbl 
neither  commonwealth  should  hai 
hour  or  aid  the  enemies,  rebels,  < 
exiles  of  the  other ;  but  that  eithf 
being  previously  required,  shoui 
order  such  enemies,  rebels,  or  e:  " 
to    leave    its    territory,   under 


Le  Clerc,  i.  340—343.  During  the  wbtii 
ueg^otiation,  it  appears  from  these  pape 
that  the  despatches  of  and  to  the  amM 
sadors  were  opened,  and  copies  of  alma 
all  the  resolutions  taken  by  tne  States  pr 
cured,  by  the  council  of  state. — See  pi 
ticularly  Thurloe,  ii.  99,  163. 


i.D.  1654.] 


SECRET  TREATY  WITH  HOLLAND. 


215 


)enalty  of  death,  before  the  expira- 
ion  of  twenty-eight  days.  To  the 
iemand,  that  the  same  respect  which 
lad  been  paid  to  the  flag  of  the  king 
;hould  be  paid  to  that  of  the  common- 
vealth,  the  Dutch  did  not  object, 
rhe  only  questions  which  latterly 
•etarded  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty 
•elated  to  the  compensation  to  be 
nade  to  the  merchants  for  the  depre- 
lations  on  their  trade  in  the  East 
.'ndies  before,  and  the  detention  of 
heir  ships  by  the  king  of  Denmark 
luring  the  war.  It  was,  however, 
igreed  that  arbitrators  should  be 
;hosen  out  of  both  nations,  and  that 
•ach  government  should  be  bound  by 
heir  award.'  These  determined  that 
he  island  of  Polerone  should  be  re- 
tored,  and  damages  to  the  amount  of 
ine  hundred  and  seventy  thousand 
lounds  should  be  paid  to  the  English 
3ast-India  Company ;  that  three 
housand  six  hundred  and  fifteen 
•ounds  should  be  distributed  among 
he  heirs  of  those  who  suflfered  at 
Lmboyna;  and  that  a  compensation 
f  ninety-seven  thousand  nine  hun- 
jed  and  seventy-three  pounds  should 
>€  made  to  the  traders  to  the  Baltic.^ 
On  one  subject,  in  the  protector's 
slimation  of  considerable  import- 
nce,  he  was  partially  successful. 
Possessed  of  the  supreme  power 
iimself,  he  considered  Charles  as  a 
■ersonal  rival,  and  made  it  his  policy 
0  strip  the  exiled  king  of  all  hope  of 
oreign  support.  From  the  prince  of 
)range,  so  nearly  allied  to  the  royal 
unily,  Cromwell  had  little  to  fear 


'  Dumont,  v.  part  ii.  74. 

*  See  the  award,  ibid.  85,  88.  By  Sagredo, 
he^  Venetian  ambassador,  who  resided 
tiring  the  war  at  Amsterdam,  we  are  told 
bat  the  Dutch  acknowledged  the  loss  of 
ne  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
len-of-war  and  merchantmen;  and  that 
tie  expense  of  this  war  exceeded  that  of 
aeir  twenty  years'  hostilities  with  Spain, 
le  states  that  their  inferiority  arose  from 
aree  causes :  that  the  English  ships  were 
f  greater  bulk;  the  English  cannon  were 
f  brass,  and  of  a  larger  calibre ;  and  the 
umber  of   prizes    made   by  the    English 


during  his  minority;  and,  to  render 
him  incapable  of  benefiting  the  royal 
cause  in  his  more  mature  age,  the 
protector  attempted  to  exclude  him 
by  the  treaty  from  succeeding  to 
those  high  oflSces  which  might  almost 
be  considered  hereditary  in  his  family 
The  determined  refusal  of  the  States 
had  induced  him  to  withdraw  the 
demand;  but  he  intrigued,  through 
the  agency  of  Beverning,  with  the 
leaders  of  the  Louvestein  party ;'  and 
obtained  a  secret  article,  by  which 
the  states  of  Holland  and  West 
Friesland  promised  never  to  elect 
the  prince  of  Orange  for  their  stadt- 
holder,  nor  suffer  him  to  have  the 
chief  command  of  the  army  and  navy. 
But  the  secret  transpired;  the  other 
states  highly  resented  this  clandestine 
negotiation;  complaints  and  remon- 
strances were  answered  by  apologies 
and  vindications :  an  open  schism  was 
declared  between  the  provinces,  and 
every  day  added  to  the  exasperation 
of  the  two  parties.  On  the  whole, 
however,  the  quarrel  was  favourable 
to  the  pretensions  of  the  young 
prince,  from  the  dislike  with  which 
the  people  viewed  the  interference  of 
a  foreign  potentate,  or  rather,  as 
they  termed  him,  of  an  usurper,  in 
the  internal  arrangements  of  the  re- 
public.'' 

The  war  in  which  the  rival  crowns 
of  France  and  Spain  had  so  long 
been  engaged,  induced  both  Louis  and 
Philip  to  pay  their  court  to  the  new 
protector.  Alonzo  de  Cardenas,  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  had  the  advan- 


at  the  commencement  crippled  the  maritime 
resources  of  their  enemies. — Eelazione,  MS. 
Le  Clerc  states  that  the  Dutch  employed 
one  hundred  thousand  men  in  the  herring- 
fishery  (i.  321). 

*  The  leaders  of  the  republicans  were  so 
called,  because  they  had  been  confined  in 
the  castle  of  Louvestein,  whence  they  were 
discharged  on  the  death  of  the  late  prince 
of  Orange. 

*  Dumont,  79.  Thurloe,  vol.  ii.  iii, 
Vaughan,  i.  9,  11.  La  Deduction,  or  De- 
fence of  the  States  in  Holland,  in  Le  Clerc, 
i.  345;  and  Basnage,  i,  342. 


216 


THE  PEOTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  -V 


tage  of  being  on  the  spot.  He  waited 
on  Cromwell  to  present  to  him  the 
congratulations  of  his  sovereign,  and 
to  offer  to  him  the  support  of  the 
Spanish  monarch,  if  he  should  feel 
desirous  to  rise  a  step  higher,  and 
assume  the  style  and  office  of  king. 
To  so  flattering  a  message,  a  most 
courteous  answer  was  returned;  and 
the  ambassador  proceeded  to  propose 
an  alliance  between  the  two  powers, 
of  which  the  great  object  should  be 
to  confine  within  reasonable  bounds 
the  ambition  of  France,  which,  for  so 
many  years,  had  disturbed  the  tran- 
quillity of  Europe.  This  was  the  sole 
advantage  to  which  Philip  looked ;  to 
Cromwell  the  benefit  would  be,  that 
France  might  be  compelled  to  refuse 
aid  and  harbour  to  Charles  Stuart 
and  his  followers ;  and  to  contract  the 
obUgation  of  maintaining  jointly  with 
Spain  the  protector  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  three  kingdoms.  Crom- 
well listened,  but  gave  no  answer ;  he 
appointed  commissioners  to  discuss 
the  proposal,  but  forbade  them  to 
make  any  promise,  or  to  hold  out  any 
hope  of  his  acquiescence.  When  Don 
Alonzo  communicated  to  them  the 
draft  of  a  treaty  which  he  had  all  but 
concluded  with  the  deputies  appointed 
by  the  late  parliament,  he  was  asked 
whether  the  king  of  Spain  would 
consent  to  a  free  trade  to  the  West 
Indies,  would  omit  the  clause  re- 
specting the  Inquisition,  reduce  to  an 
equality  the  duties  on  foreign  mer- 
chandise, and  give  to  the  English 
merchant  the  pre-emption  of  the 
Spanish  wool.  He  replied,  that  his 
master  would  as  soon  lose  his  eyes  as 
suffer  the  interference  of  any  foreign  i 


power  on  the  two  first  questions ; 
to  the  others,  satisfactory  adjustmei 
might  easily  be  made.  This  w 
sufficient  for  the  present,  Cromw* 
affected  to  consider  the  treaty  at  ; 
end;  though  the  real  fact  was,  th 
he  meditated  a  very  different  proje 
in  his  own  mind,  and  was  carei 
not  to  be  precluded  by  prematu 
arrangements.* 

The   French   ambassador,  thou 
he  commenced  his  negotiation  und 
less  propitious  auspices,  had  the  a 
dress  or  good  fortune  to  conduct  it 
a  more  favourable  issue.     That  t 
royal  family  of  France,  from  its  rel 
tionship  to  that  of  England,  was  i 
disposed  towards  the  commonweall 
there   could  be   no  doubt;  but 
inclinations  were  controlled  by  t 
internal  feuds  which  distracted,  a 
the  external  war  which  demand( 
the   attention   of  the    governmei 
The  first  proof  of  hostility  was  su 
posed  to  be  given  before  the  death , 
the  king,   by   a  royal    arret  prol 
biting  the  importation  into  France  i 
English  woollens  and  silks ;  and 
was  afterwards  met  by  an  order 
parliament    equally  prohibiting 
importation  into  England  of  Frer 
woollens,  silks,  and  wines.    The 
leged  infraction  of  these  commerc 
regulations  led  to  the  arrest  and  si] 
sequent  condemnation  of  vessels 
longing  to  both  nations ;  each  govei 
ment  issued  letters-of-marque  to  tH 
sufferers  among  its  subjects ;  and  tl^ 
naval  commanders  received  instrui 
tions  to  seek  that  compensation  f< 
the  individuals  aggrieved  which  til 
latter  were  unable  to  obtain  of  them 
selves.-    Thus  the  maritime  trade 


1  Thurloe,  i.  705,  759,  760.  Dumont,  v. 
part  ii,  p.  106.  The  clause  respecting  the 
Inquisition  was  one  which  secured  the  Eng- 
lish traders  from  being  molested  by  that 
court,  on  condition  that  they  gave  no  scan- 
dal,— modo  ne  dent  scandalum.  This  con- 
dition Cromwell  wished  to  be  withdrawn. 

2  See  the  instructions  to  Popham.  "  In 
respect  that  many  of  the  English  so  spoiled 


are  not  able  to  undergo  the  charge  of  setti 
forth  ships  of  their  own  to  make  seizoi ' 

by  such  letters-of-marque; you  sh«< 

as  in  the  way  and  execution  of  justi* 
eeize,  arrest,  &c.  such  ships  and  vessels 
the  said  French  king,  or  any  of  his  subjec 

as  you  shall  think  fit, and  the  sat 

keep  in  your  cu3tody,  till  the  parliame 
declare  their  further  resolution  coDCemi 
the  same." — Thurloe,  i.  144. 


CAPTURE  OF  DUNKIRK. 


217 


)th  countries  was  exposed  to  the 
jpredations  of  private  and  national 
uisers,  while  their  respective  go- 
Tnments  were  considered  as  remain - 
g  at  peace.  But  in  1G51,  when  the 
irdinal  Mazarin  had  been  banished 
om  France,  it  was  resolved  by 
romwell,  who  had  recently  won  the 
;ttle  of  Worcester,  to  tempt  the 
leUty  of  d'Estrades,  the  governor  of 
unkirk  and  a  dependant  on  the 
iled  minister.  An  officer  of  the 
rd-general's  regiment  made  to 
Estrades  the  offer  of  a  considerable 
m,  on  condition  that  he  would  de- 
•er  the  fortress  into  the  hands  of  the 
aglish ;  or  of  the  same  sum,  with 
e  aid  of  a  miUtary  force  to  the  car- 
Qal,  if  he  preferred  to  treat  in  the 
.me  of  his  patron.  The  governor 
mplained  of  the  insult  offered  to  his 
•nour;  but  intimated  that,  if  the 
iglish  wished  to  purchase  Dunkirk, 
e  proposal  might  be  addressed  to 
>  sovereign.  The  hint  was  taken, 
d  the  offer  was  made,  and  debated 
the  royal  council  at  Poictiers.  The 
rdinal,  who  returned  to  France  at 
e  very  time,  urged  its  acceptance ; ' 
it  the  queen-mother  and  the  other 
unsellors  were  so  unwilling  to  give 
e  English  a  footing  in  France,  that 

acquiesced  in  their  opinion,  and  a 
fusal  was  returned.  Cromwell  did 
t  fail  to  resent  the  disappointment. 
'  the  facility  which  he  afforded  to 
e  Spanish  levies  in  Ireland,  their 
my  in  Flanders  was  enabled  to  re- 
ce  Gravelines,  and  soon  afterwards 
invest  Dunkirk.    That  fortress  was 

the  point  of  capitulating,  when  a 

ench  flotilla  of  seven  sail,  carrying 

)m  twenty  to  thirty  guns  each,  and 

I  len  with  stores  and  provisions,  was 

1  scried  stealing  along  the  shore  to 


\    Here  Louis  XIY.,  to  whom  we  are  in- 

■  Jted  for  this  anecdote,  observes,  that  it 

s  the  cardinal's   maxim   de  pourvoir,  a 

-'Ique  prix  qu'il  fut,  aui  affaires  presentea, 

"suado  que  les  maux  a  venir  trouveroient 

;  r  reifiede  dans  I'avenir  meme. — (Euvres 


its  relief.  Blake,  who  had  received 
secret  orders  from  the  council,  gave 
chase ;  the  whole  squadron  was  cap- 
tured, and  the  next  day  Dunkirk 
opened  its  gates. '■^  By  the  French 
court  this  action  was  pronounced  an 
unprovoked  and  unjustifiable  injury; 
but  Mazarin  coolly  calculated  the 
probable  consequences  of  a  war,  and, 
after  some  time,  sent  over  Bordeaux, 
under  the  pretence  of  claiming  the 
captured  ships,  but  in  reality  to  oppose 
the  intrigues  of  the  agents  of  Spain, 
of  the  prince  of  Conde,  and  of  the 
city  of  Bordeaux,  who  laboured  to 
obtain  the  support  of  the  common- 
wealth in  opposition  to  the  French 
court.-' 

Bordeaux  had  been  appointed  am- 
bassador to  the  parliament ;  after  the 
inauguration  of  Cromwell,  it  became 
necessary  to  appoint  him  ambassador 
to  his  highness  the  protector.  But 
in  what  style  was  Louis  to  address 
the  usurper  by  letter?  "Mon  cou- 
sin" was  offered  and  refused;  "mon 
frere,"  which  Cromwell  sought,  was 
offensive  to  the  pride  of  the  monarch; 
and,  as  a  temperament  between  the 
two,  "monsieur  le  protecteur"  was 
given  and  accepted.  Bordeaux  pro- 
posed a  treaty  of  amity,  by  which  all 
letters-of-marque  should  be  recalled, 
and  the  damages  suffered  by  the  mer- 
chants of  the  two  nations  be  referred 
to  foreign  arbitrators.  To  thwart  the 
efforts  of  his  rival,  Don  Alonzo,  aban- 
doning his  former  project,  brought 
forward  the  proposal  of  a  new  com- 
mercial treaty  between  England  and 
Spain.  Cromwell  was  in  no  haste  to 
conclude  with  either.  He  was  aware 
that  the  war  between  them  was  the 
true  cause  of  these  applications ;  that 
he  held  the  balance  in  his  hand,  and 


de  Louis  XIV.  i,  170. 

2  Ibid.  168—170.    See  also  Heath,  325  j 
Thurloe,  i.  214;  Whitelock,  543. 

3  Journals,  14  Dec.  1652.    Clar.  Pap.  iii. 
105,  123,  132.    Thurloe,  i.  436. 


218 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap. 


that  it  was  in  his  power  at  any  mo- 
ment to  indine  it  in  favour  of  either 
of  the  two  crowns.  His  determina- 
tion, indeed,  had  long  been  taken  i 
but  it  was  not  his  purpose  to  let  it 
transpire;  and  when  he  was  asked 
.the  object  of  the  two  great  armaments 
preparing  in  the  English  ports,  he 
refused  to  give  any  satisfactory  expla- 
nation,' 

In  this  state  of  the  treaty,  its 
further  progress  was  for  a  while  sus- 
pended by  the  meeting  of  the  pro- 
tector's first  parliament.  He  had 
summoned  it  for  the  3rd  of  Sep- 
tember, his  fortunate  day,  as  he  per- 
haps believed  himself,  as  he  certainly 
wished  it  to  be  believed  by  others. 
But  the  3rd  happened  in  that  year 
to  fall  on  a  Sunday ;  and,  that  the 
Sabbath  might  not  be  profaned  by 
the  agitation  of  worldly  business,  he 
requested  the  members  to  meet  him 
at  sermon  in  Westminster  Abbey  on 
the  following  morning.  At  ten  the 
procession  set  out  from  Whitehall.  It 
was  opened  by  two  troops  of  life- 
guards ;  then  rode  some  hundreds  of 
gentlemen  and  officers,  bareheaded, 
and  in  splendid  apparel;  immedi- 
ately before  the  carriage  walked  the 
pages  and  lackeys  of  the  protector  in 
rich  liveries,  and  on  each  side  a  cap- 
tain of  the  guard;  behind  it  came 
Clajrpole,  master  of  the  horse,  leading 
a  charger  magnificently  caparisoned, 
and  Claypole  was  followed  by  the 
great  officers  of  state  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  council.  The  personal 
appearance  of  the  protector  formed  a 
striking  contrast  with  the  parade  of 
the  procession.  He  was  dressed  in  a 
plain  suit,  after  the  fashion  of  a  coun- 
try gentleman,  and  was  chiefly  dis- 
tinguished from  his  attendants  by  his 
superior  simplicity,  and  the  privilege 


1  Thurloe,  i.  760 ;  ii.  61,  113,  228,  559,  587. 
An  obstacle  was  opposed  to  the  proereas  of 
the  treaty  by  the  conduct  of  De  Baas,  a 
dependant  on  Mazarin,  and  sent  to  aid  Bor- 
deaux with  his  advice.  After  some  time,  it 
was  discovered  that  this  man  (whether  by 


of  wearing  his  hat.    After  sermon, 
placed  himself  in  the  chair  of  s^ 
in  the  Painted  Chamber,  while 
members    seated   themselves,    ur 
vered,  on  benches  ranged  along 
walls.    The  protector  then  rose,  t 
off  his  hat,  and  addressed  them  i:  i 
speech  which  lasted  three  hours, 
was,  after  his  usual  style,  verbose, 
volved,  and  obscure,  sprinkled  v 
quotations  from  Scripture  to  refr 
the  piety  of  the  saints,  and  seaso 
with  an  affectation  of  modesty  to 
arm  the  enmity  of  the  republic; 
He  described  the  state  of  the  nai 
at  the  close  of  the  last  parliam< 
It  was  agitated  by  the  principle^ 
the  Levellers,  tending  to  reduce 
to  an  equality;    by  the  doctrine: 
the  Fifth-monarchy  men,  subver; 
of  civil     government;   by   religi 
theorists,  the  pretended  champion 
Hberty  of  conscience,  who  condem 
an  established  ministry  as  Babyloi  i 
and  antichristian ;  and  by  swarnM 
Jesuits,  who  had  settled  in  Eum 
an  episcopal  jurisdiction  to  pef 
the  people.    At  the  same  time^ 
naval  war  with  Holland  absorbd 
the  pecuniary  resources,  while  a  c 
mercial  war  with  France  and  ] 
tugal  cramped   the  industry  of 
nation.    He  then  bade  them  coni 
this  picture  with  the  existing  sta 
things.    The  taxes  had  been  redu 
judges  of  talent  and  integrity  had  b  ' 
placed  upon  the  bench ;  the  hurt 
of  the  commissioners    of  the  gi 
seal  had  been  lightened  by  the 
moval  of  many  descriptions  of  cat 
from  the  court  of  Chancery  to 
ordinary  courts  of  law;  and  "a  f 
had  been  put  to  that  heady  way 
every  man  who  pleased  to  becom 
preacher."     The  war  with  Holl 
had  terminated  in  an  advantage  - 


order  of  the  minister,  or  at  tho  solicit 
of  the  royalists,  is  uncertain)  was  intri| 
with  the  "malcontents.  Cromwell  comj 
Kim  to  return  to  France.— Thurloe,  ii 
351,  412,  437. 


.  1654.1 


NEW  PARLIAMENT. 


219 


,ce;   treaties    of    commerce    and 

ity  had  been  concluded  with  Den- 

rk  and  Sweden  ;^  a  similar  treaty, 

ich  would  place  the  British  trader 

end  the  reach  of  the  Inquisition, 

I  been  signed  with  Portugal,  and 

»ther  was   in   progress  with   the 

bassador  of  the  French  monarch. 

us  had  the  government  brought 

three  nations  by  hasty  strides  to- 

•ds  the  land  of  promise :  it  was  for 

parliament  to  introduce  them  into 

The  prospect  was  bright  before 

m;  let  them   not  look  back   to 

onions  and  flesh-pots  of  Egypt. 

spoke    not    as  their    lord,   but 

i  ir  fellow-servant,  a  labourer  with 

I  m  in  the  same  good  work ;  and 

jild    therefore    detain    them    no 

ger,  but  desire  them  to  repair  to 

ir  own  house,  and  to  choose  their 

aker.2 

!'o  procure  a  parliament  favourable 
his  designs,  all  the  power  of  the 
ernment  had  been  employed  to 
uence  the  elections ;  the  returns 
.  been  examined  by  a  committee 
,he  council,  under  the  pretext  of 
ng  that  the  provisions  of  the  "  in- 
iment"  were  observed;  and  the 
sequence  was,  that  the  Lord  Grey 
jrroby.  Major  Wildman,  and  some 
er  noted  republicans,  had  been  ex- 
ded  by  command  of  the  protector, 
il  he  found  himself  unable  to 
uld  the  house  to  his  wishes.    By 


That  with  Sweden  was  negotiated  by 
iteloek,  who  had  been  sent  on  that  mis- 
i  a^nst  his  will  by  the  influence  of 
mwell.  The  object  was  to  detach 
■den  from  the  interest  of  France,  and 
age  it  to  maintain  the  liberty  of  trade  in 

Baltic,  against  Denmark,  which  was 
er  the  influence  of  Holland.  It  was 
eluded  April  11.  After  the  peace  with 
land,  the  Danish  monarch  hastened  to 
esse  the  protector;  the  treaty  which, 
ugh  said  by  Cromwell  to  be  already  con- 
Jed,  was  not  signed  till  eleven  days  after- 
ds,  stipulated  that  the  English  traders 
uld  pay  no  other  customs  or  dues  than 

Dutcn.  Thus  they  were  enabled  to 
'ort  naval  stores  on  the  same  terms, 
le  before,  on  account  of  the  heavy 
ies,  they  bought  them  at  second  hand  of 


the  court,  Lenthall  was  put  in  nomi- 
nation for  the  office  of  speaker;  by 
the  opposition,  Bradshaw,  the  boldest 
and  most  able  of  the  opposite  party. 
After  a  short  debate,  Lenthall  was 
chosen,  by  the  one,  because  they 
knew  him  to  be  a  timid  and  a  time- 
serving character ;  by  the  other,  be- 
cause they  thought  that,  to  place  him 
in  the  chair,  was  one  step  towards  the 
revival  of  the  long  parliament,  of 
which  he  had  been  speaker.  But  no 
one  ventured  to  propose  that  he 
should  be  offered,  according  to  an- 
cient custom,  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
supreme  magistrate;  This  was  thought 
to  savour  too  much  of  royalty .^ 

It  was  not  long  before  the  relative 
strength  of  the  parties  was  ascer- 
tained. After  a  sharp  debate,  in  which 
it  was  repeatedly  asked  why  the 
members  of  the  long  parliament  then 
present  should  not  resume  the  au- 
thority of  which  they  had  been  ille- 
gally deprived  by  force,  and  by  what 
right,  but  that  of  the  sword,  one  man 
presumed  to  "  command  his  com- 
manders," the  question  was  put,  that 
the  house  resolve  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee, to  determine  whether  or  not 
the  government  shall  be  in  a  single 
person  and  a  parliament ;  and,  to  the 
surprise  and  alarm  of  Cromwell,  it 
was  carried  against  the  court  by  a 
majority  of  five  voices.*  The  leaders 
of  the   opposition   were   Bradshaw, 


the  Dutch.— See  the  treaties  in  Dumont,  t, 
part  ii.  p.  80,  92. 

2  Compare  the  official  copy  printed  by 
G.  Sawbridge,  1654,  with  the  abstract  by 
Whitelock  (599,  600),  and  by  Bordeaux 
(Thurloe,  ii.  518).  See  also  Journals, 
Sept.  3,  4. 

3  It  appears  from  the  Council  Book  (1664, 
Aug.  21),  that  on  that  day  letters  were 
despatched  to  the  sheriffs,  containing  the 
names  of  the  members  who  had  been  ap- 
proved by  the  council,  with  orders  to  give 
them  notice  to  attend.  The  letters  to  the 
more  distant  places  were  sent  first,  that 
they  might  aU  be  received  about  the  same 
time. 

*  Journals,  Sept.  8.  Many  of  those  who 
voted  in  the  majority  did  not  object  to  the 
authority  of  the  protector,  but  to  the  aonrce 


220 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[CHiJ 


Hazlerig,  and  Scot,  who  now  con- 
tended in  the  committee  that  the 
existing  government  emanated  from 
an  incompetent  authority,  and  stood 
in  opposition  to  the  solemn  deter- 
mination of  a  legitimate  parliament ; 
while  the  protectorists,  with  equal 
warmth,  maintained  that,  since  it  had 
been  approved  by  the  people,  the  only 
real  source  of  power,  it  could  not  be 
subject  to  revision  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people.  The  debate 
lasted  several  days,  during  which  the 
commonwealth  party  gradually  in- 
creased in  number.  That  the  execu- 
tive power  might  be  profitably  dele- 
gated to  a  single  individual,  was  not 
disputed  ;  but  it  was  contended  that, 
of  right,  the  legislative  authority 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  parlia- 
ment. The  officers  and  courtiers, 
finding  that  the  sense  of  the  house 
was  against  them,  dropped  the  ques- 
tion of  right,  and  fled  to  that  of  expe- 
diency; in  the  existing  circumstances, 
the  public  safety  required  a  check 
on  the  otherwise  unbounded  power  of 
parliament ;  that  check  could  be  no 
other  than  a  co-ordinate  authority, 
possessing  a  negative  voice  ;  and  that 
authority  was  the  protector,  who  had 
been  pointed  out  to  them  by  Provi- 
dence, acknowledged  by  the  people  in 
their  addresses,  and  confirmed  by  the 
conditions  expressed  in  the  inden- 
tures of  the  members.  It  was  re- 
plied, that  the  inconveniency  of  such 


from  which  it  emanated, — a  written  instru- 
ment, the  author  of  which  was  unknown. 
They  wished  it  to  be  settled  on  him  by  act 
of  parliament. — Thurloe,  ii.  606. 

1  See  introduction  to  Burton's  Diary, 
xxiv. — iixii. 

=*  It  is  remarkable  that,  in  noticing  the 
despotism  of  the  long  parliament,  he  makes 
mention  of  the  very  same  thing,  which  his 
enemy  Lilburne  urged  against  it :  •'by 
taking  the  judgment,  both  in  capital  and 
criminal  things,  to  themselves,  who  in 
former  times  were  not  known  to  exercise 
such  a  judicature."  He  boldly  maintains 
that  they  meant  to  perpetuate  themselves 
by  filling  up  vacancies  as  they  occurred, 
and  had  made  several  applications  to  him  to 
obtain  his  consent.    He  adds,  "  Poor  men. 


a  check  had  induced  the  natio 
abolish  the  kingly  government ; 
the  addresses  of  the  people  exprc 
their  joy  for  their  deliverance  : 
the  incapacity  of  the  little  parlian 
not  their  approbation  of  the 
government;  that  Providence  ( 
permits  what  it  disapproves ;  and 
the  indentures  were  an  artifice  ol 
court,  which  could  not  have  for' 
bind  the  supreme  power.  To  re 
cile  the  disputants,  a  compro 
between  the  parties  had  been  plan 
but  Cromwell  would  not  suffer 
experiment  to  be  tried.*  Ha 
ordered  Harrison,  whose  parti 
were  collecting  signatures  to  a  ; 
tion,  to  be  taken  into  custody 
despatched  three  regiments  to  oc( 
the  principal  posts  in  the  city, 
commanded  the  attendance  of 
house  in  the  Painted  Chan 
There,  laying  aside  that  ton' 
modesty  which  he  had  hitherto 
sumed,  he  frankly  told  the  men: 
that  his  calling  was  from  God, 
testimony  from  the  people ;  and 
no  one  but  God  and  the  people  sh  < 
ever  take  his  office  from  him.  It 
not  of  his  seeking;  God  knew  thi 
was  his  utmost  ambition  to  leac^ 
life  of  a  country  gentleman;  but^ 
perious  circumstances  had  impos  * 
upon  him.  The  long  parliai  i 
brought  their  dissolution  upon  tl 
selves  by  despotism,  the  little  pa 
ment  by  imbecility.*    On  each  c 


under  this  arbitrary  power,  were  d 
like  flocks  of  sheep  by  forty  in  a  mor 
to  the  confiscation  of  goods  and  est 
without  any  man  being  able  to  give  a  n 
that  two  of  them  had  deserved  to  for 
shilling.  I  tell  you  the  truth ;  and  laj 
and  many  persons  whose  faces  I  see  ir 
place,  were  exceedingly  grieved  at 
things,  and  knew  not  which  way  to  he 
but  by  their  mournings,  and  giving 
negatives  when  the  occasion  served, 
notice  this  passage,  because  since  thi 
covery  of  the  sequestrators'  papers  i 
been  thought,  from  the  regularity 
which  their  books  were  kept,  and 
seeming  equity  of  their  proceedings 
they  are  entered,  that  little  injustice 
done. 


.  1654] 


COERCION  OF  THE  MEMBERS. 


221 


I  he  found  himself  invested  with 
Dlute  power  over  the  military,  and, 
ough  the  military,  over  the  three 
ions.  But  on  each  occasion  he 
1  anxious  to  part  with  that  power  ; 
.  if,  at  last,  he  had  acquiesced  in 

instrument  of  government,  it  was 
ause  it  made  the  parliament  a 
ck  on  the  protector,  and  the  pro- 
,or  a  check  on  the  parliament, 
it  he  did  not  bring  himself  into  his 
sent  situation,  he  had  God  for  a 
aess  above,  his  conscience  for  a 
aess  within,  and  a  cloud  of  wit- 
hes without;  he  had  the  persons 
)  attended  when  he  took  the  oath 
fidelity  to  "the  instrument;"  the 
oers  of  the  army  in  the  three 
ions,  who  testified  their  approba- 
i  by  their  signatures;  the  city  of 
•  idon,  which  feasted  him;  the 
nties,  cities,  and  boroughs,  that 

sent  him  addresses ;  the  judges, 
^trates,  and  sherifis,  who  acted 
lis  commission ;  and  the  very  men 
>  now  stood  before  him,  for  they 
le  there  in  obedience  to  his  writ, 

under  the  express  condition  that 
e  persons  so  chosen  should  not 
e  power  to  change  the  govern- 
it  as  settled  in  one  single  person 
the  parliament."  He  would, 
refore,  have  them  to  know,  that 
•things were  fundamental:  1.  That 

supreme  power  should  be  vested 
I  single  person  and  parliament ; 
ihat  the  parliament  should  be  suc- 
ive,  and  not  perpetual;  3.  that 
■her  protector  nor  parliament 
■le  should  possess  the  uncontrolled 
imand  of  the  military  force ;  and 
hat  liberty  of  conscience  should 
enced  round  with  such  barriers  as 
ht  exclude  both  profaneness  and 


Printed  by  G.  Sawbridge,  1654. 

Tharloe,  ii.  606.   Whitelock,  605.   Jour- 

n  ,  Sept.  5—18,    Fleetwood,  from  Dublin, 

^    Thurloe,  "  How  cam  it  to  passe,  that 

■  teste  was  not  at  the  first  sitting  of 

e?"    (ii.   620.)     See  in  Archaeol. 

,  a  letter  showing  that  several,  who 


persecution.  The  other  articles  of 
the  instrument  were  less  essential; 
they  might  be  altered  with  circum- 
stances; and  he  should  always  be 
ready  to  agree  to  what  vras  reasonable. 
But  he  would  not  permit  them  to  sit, 
and  yet  disown  the  authority  by  which 
they  sat.  For  this  purpose  he  had 
prepared  a  recognition  which  he  re- 
quired them  to  sign.  Those  who 
refused  would  be  excluded  the  house ; 
the  rest  would  find  admission,  and 
might  exercise  their  legislative  power 
without  control,  for  his  negative  re- 
mained in  force  no  longer  than  twenty* 
days.  Let  them  limit  his  authority  if 
they  pleased.  He  would  cheerfully 
submit,  provided  he  thought  it  for 
the  interest  of  the  people.' 

The  members,  on  their  returu, 
found  a  guard  of  soldiers  at  the  door 
of  the  house,  and  a  parchment  for 
signatures  lying  on  a  table  in  the 
lobby.  It  contained  the  recognition 
of  which  the  protector  had  spoken ;  a 
pledge  that  the  subscribers  would 
neither  propose  nor  consent  to  alter 
the  government,  as  it  was  settled  in 
one  person  and  a  parliament.  It  was 
immediately  signed  by  Lenthall,  the 
speaker;  his  example  was  followed 
by  the  court  party ;  and  in  the  course 
of  a  few  days  almost  three  hundred 
names  were  subscribed.  The  stanch 
republicans  refused  ;  yet  the  sequel 
showed  that  their  exclusion  did  not 
give  to  the  court  that  ascendancy 
in  the  house  which  had  been  anti- 
cipated.* 

About  this  time  an  extraordinary 
accident  occurred.  Among  the  pre- 
sents which  Cromwell  had  received 
from  foreign  princes,  were  six  Fries- 
land  coach-horses  from  the  duke  of 


refused  to  subscribe  at  first  through  motives 
of  conscience,  did  so  later.  This  was  in 
consequence  of  a  declaration  that  the  recog- 
nition did  not  comprehend  all  the  forty-two 
articles  in  "the  instrument,"  but  only  what 
concerned  the  government  by  a  single  per- 
son and  successive  parliaments, — See  Jour- 
nals, Sept,  14. 


222 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[CHA 


Oldenburg.  One  day,  after  he  had 
dined  with  Thurloe  under  the  shade 
in  the  park,  the  fancy  took  him  to 
try  the  mettle  of  the  horses.  The 
secretary  was  compelled  to  enter  the 
carriage;  the  protector,  forgetful  of 
his  station,  mounted  the  box.  The 
horses  at  first  appeared  obedient  to 
the  hand  of  the  new  coachman ;  but 
the  too  frequent  application  of  the 
lash  drove  them  into  a  gallop,  and  the 
protector  was  suddenly  precipitated 
from  his  seat.  At  first,  he  lay  sus- 
pended by  the  pole  with  his  leg 
'entangled  in  the  harness;  and  the 
explosion  of  a  loaded  pistol  in  one 
of  his  pockets  added  to  the  fright  and 
the  rapidity  of  the  horses ;  but  a 
fortunate  jerk  extricated  his  foot 
from  his  shoe,  and  he  fell  under  the 
body  of  the  carriage  without  meeting 
with  injury  from  the  wheels.  He  was 
immediately  taken  up  by  his  guards, 
who  followed  at  full  speed,  and  con- 
veyed to  Whitehall;  Thurloe  leaped 
from  the  door  of  the  carriage,  and 
escaped  with  a  sprained  ancle  and 
some  severe  bruises.  Both  were  con- 
fined to  their  chambers  for  a  long 
time ;  but  by  many  their  confinement 
was  attributed  as  much  to  policy 
as  to  indisposition.  The  Cavaliers 
diverted  themselves  by  prophesying 
that,  as  his  first  fall  had  been  from 
a  coach,  the  next  would  be  from  a 
cart:  to  the  public,  the  explosion  of 
the  pistol  revealed  the  secret  terrors 
which  haunted  his  mind,  that  sense 
of  insecurity,  those  fears  of  assassina- 
tion, which  are  the  usual  meed  of 
inordinate  and  successful  ambition.' 


1  Heath,  363.  Thurloe,  u.  652,  663,  672. 
Ludlow,  ii.  63.    Vanghan,  i.  69. 

2  Thurloe,  i.  668,  681,  685.  Whitelock, 
607.  Journals,  Nov.  30.  Though  the  house 
was  daily  occupied  with  the  important  ques- 
tion of  the  government,  it  found  leisure  to 
inquire  into  the  theological  opinions  of  John 
Biddle,  who  may  be  styled  the  father  of  the 
English  Unitarians.  He  had  been  thrice 
imprisoned  by  the  long  parliament,  and  was 
at  last  liberated  by  the  act  of  oblivion  in 
1652.    The   republication    of  his   opinions 


The  force  so  lately  put  upoi 
parliament,  and  the  occasion  of 
force,  had  opened  the  eyes   ol 
most  devoted  among  his  adhe; 
His  protestations  of  disinterestet 
his  solemn  appeals  to  Heaven  u  i 
timony  of  his  wish  to  lead  the  ]  \ 
a  private  gentleman,  were  contr 
with  his  aspiring  and  arbitrary 
duct ;  and  the  house,  though  dep 
of  one-fourth   of  its   number, 
contained  a  majority  jealous  c 
designs   and    anxious    to    limi 
authority.    The  accident  which   , 
placed  his  life  in  jeopardy  nati  i 
led  to  the  consideration  of  the  p  i 
ble  consequences  of  his  death; 
to  sound  the  disj)osition  of  the  : 
bers,  the  question  of  the  succt 
was  repeatedly,  though  not  fon 
introduced.    The   remarks  whi 
provoked   afibrded  httle  encoi; 
ment  to  his  hopes;  yet,  wher 
previous  arrangements  had  been  i 
and  all  the  dependants  of  the  go  g 
ment  had  been  mustered,  Lanw 
having  in  a  long  and  studied  S}- 
detailed  the  evils  of  elective,  the 
fits  of  hereditary  succession,  n 
that  the  office  of  protector  shoui 
limited  to  the  family  of  OHver  C 
well,  according  to  the  knovrn  I 
inheritance.    To  the  surprise  an 
mortification  of  the  party,  the 
was  negatived  by  a  division  ol 
hundred  against  eighty  voices ;  it 
was  resolved  that,  on  the  dea| 
the  protector,  his  successor  shoui 
chosen  by  the  parliament  if  it 
sitting,  and   by  the  council  ii 
absence  of  parliament.- 


attracted  the  notice  of  the  present  : 
ment :  to  the  questions  put  to  him 
speaker,  he  replied,  that  he  could  no 
find  in  Scripture  that  Christ  or  the 
Ghost  is  called  God;  and  it  was  re 
that  he  should  be  committed  to  the 
house,  and  that  a  bill  to  punish  him  f  I 
be  prepared.  The  dissolution  saved  hi^ 
and  by  application  to  the  Upper  Ben- 
recovered  his  liberty ;  but  was  again  ar 
in  1655,  and  sent  to  the  isle  of  Soil 
remain  for  life  in  the  castle  of  St. 


i 


).  1655.]    CEOMWELL  DISSOLVES  THE  PARLIAMENT. 


223 


This  experiment  had  sufficiently 
Dved  the  feelings  of  the  majority, 
rare,  however,  of  their  relative 
akness,  they  were  careful  to  give 
omwell  no  tangible  cause  of  oflFence. 
they  appointed  committees  to  re- 
e  the  ordinances  which  he  had 
blished,  they  aflfected  to  consider 
}m  as  merely  provisional  regula- 
ns,  supplying   the   place  of  laws 

the  meeting  of  parliament.  If 
3y  examined  in  detail  the  forty- 
0  articles  of  "  the  instrument," 
ecting  some,  and  amending  others, 
iy  still  withheld  their  unhallowed 
nds  from  those  subjects  which  he 
d  pronounced  sacred,— the  four 
movable  pillars  on  which  the  new 
■flstitution  was  built.    Cromwell,  on 

part,  betrayed  no  symptom  of 
patience ;  but  waited  quietly  for 
3  moment  when  he  had  resolved 
break  the  designs  of  his  adversaries, 
ey  proceeded  with  the  revision  of 
le  instrument ;"  their  labours  were 
.bodied  in  a  bill,  and  the  bill  was 
td  a  third  time.  During  two  days 
5  courtiers  prolonged  the  debate  by 
iving  a  variety  of  amendments ;  on 
)  third  Cromwell  summoned  the 
use  to  meet  him  in  the  Painted 
amber.  Displeasure  and  contempt 
re  marked  on  his  countenance; 
i  the  high  and  criminatory  tone 
dch  he  assumed  taught  them  to 
\  how  inferior  the  representatives 
the  people  were  to  the  representa- 
e  of  the  army. 

They  appeared  there,  he  observed, 
■fch  the  speaker  at  their  head,  as  a 
•use  of  parliament.  Yet,  what  had 
3y  done  as  a  parliament?  He  never 
d  played,  he  never  would  play,  the 
iter;  and  therefore  he  would  tell 
3m  frankly,  they  had  done  nothing, 
r  five  months  they  had  passed  no 
1,  had  made  no  address,  had  held  no 
imnunication  with  him.    As  far  as 


concerned  them,  he  had  nothing  to 
do  but  to  pray  that  God  would 
enhghten  their  minds  and  give  a 
blessing  to  their  labours.  But  had 
they  then  done  nothing  ?  Yes :  they 
had  encouraged  the  Cavaliers  to  plot 
against  the  commonwealth,  and  the 
Levellers  to  intrigue  with  the  Cava- 
liers, By  their  dissension  they  had 
aided  the  fanatics  to  throw  the  nation 
into  confusion,  and  by  the  slowness 
of  their  proceedings  had  compelled 
the  soldiers  to  Uve  at  free  quarters 
on  the  country.  They  supposed  that 
he  sought  to  make  the  protectorship 
hereditary  in  his  family.  It  was  not 
true;  had  they  inserted  such  a  pro- 
vision in  "the  instrument,"  on  that 
ground  alone  he  would  have  rejected 
it.  He  spoke  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
who  would  not  be  mocked,  and  with 
the  satisfaction  that  his  conscience 
did  not  belie  his  assertion.  The  dif- 
ferent revolutions  which  had  happened 
were  attributed  to  his  cunning.  How 
blind  were  men  who  would  not  see 
the  hand  of  Providence  in  its  merciful 
dispensations,  who  ridiculed  as  the 
visions  of  enthusiasm  the  observations 
"  made  by  the  quickening  and  teach- 
ing Spirit ! "  It  was  supposed  that 
he  would  not  be  able  to  raise  money 
without  the  aid  of  parliament.  But 
"he  had  been  inured  to  difficulties, 
and  never  found  God  failing  when 
he  trusted  in  him."  The  country 
would  willingly  pay  on  account  of 
the  necessity.  But  was  not  the  ne- 
cessity of  his  creation  ?  No :  it  was 
of  God;  the  consequence  of  God's 
providence.  It  was  no  marvel,  if  men 
who  lived  on  their  masses  and  service- 
books,  their  dead  and  carnal  worship, 
were  strangers  to  the  works  of  God ; 
but  for  those  who  had  been  instructed 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  adopt  the  same 
language,  and  say  that  men  were  the 
cause  of  these  things,  when  God  had 


imwell  discharged   him  in  1658;  but  he    the  short  account;  Journals,  Dec.  12,  13, 
•  Agun  sent  to  Newgate,  in  1662,  where    1664  j  Wood,  iii.  594;  and  Biog.  Brit, 
died  the  same  year. — See  Vita  Bidelli, 


224 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP, 


done  them,  t'ois  was  more  than  the  | 
Lord  would  bear.  But  that  he  might  | 
trouble  them  no  longer,  it  was  his 
duty  to  tell  them  that  their  con- 
tinuance was  not  for  the  benefit  of 
the  nation,  and  therefore  he  did  then 
and  there  declare  that  he  dissolved 
the  parliament.' 

This  was  a  stroke  for  which  his 
adversaries  were  unprepared,  "The 
instrument"  had  provided  that  the 
parliament  should  continue  to  sit 
during  five  months,  and  it  still  wanted 
twelve  days  of  the  expiration  of  that 
term.  But  Cromwell  chose  to  under- 
stand the  clause  not  of  calendar  but 
of  lunar  months,  the  fifth  of  which 
had  been  completed  on  the  preceding 
evening.  Much  might  have  been  urged 
against  such  an  interpretation ;  but  a 
military  force  was  ready  to  support 
the  opinion  of  the  protector,  and  pru- 
dence taught  the  most  reluctant  of 
his  enemies  to  submit. 

The  conspiracies  to  which  he  had 
alluded  in  his  speech,  had  been 
generated  by  the  impatience  of  the 
two  opposite  parties,  the  republicans 
and  the  royalists.  Of  the  republicans 
some  cared  little  for  religion,  others 
were  rehgious  enthusiasts,  but  both 
were  united  in  the  same  cause  by  one 
common  interest.  The  first  could  not 
forgive  the  usurpation  of  Cromwell, 
who  had  reaped  the  fruit,  and  de- 
stroyed the  object,  of  their  labours ; 
the  second  asked  each  other  how  they 
could  conscientiously  sit  quiet,  and 
allow  so  much  blood  to  have  been 
spilt,  and  treasure  expended,  so  many 
tears  to  have  been  shed,  and  vows 
offered  in  vain.  If  they  "hoped  to 
look  with  confidence  the  King  of 
terrors  in  the  face,  if  they  sought  to 
save  themselves  from  the  bottomless 
pit,  it  was  necessary  to  espouse  once 
more   the   cause   of  Him  who  had 


^  Printed  by  Henry  Hills,  printer  to  hia 
highness  the  lord-protector,  1654.  White- 
lock,  610—618.    Journals,  January  19,  20, 


called  them  forth  in  their  genera 
to  assert  the  freedom  of  the  pe 
and  the  privileges  of  parliamer 
Under   these   different    impressi 
pamphlets  were  published   expo 
the  hypocrisy  and  perjuries  of 
protector ;  letters  and  agitators  pa 
from  regiment  to  regiment ;  and 
jects  were  suggested  and  enterta 
for  the  surprisal  of  Cromwell's  pei 
and  the  seizure  of  the  castle  of  E 
burgh,    of    Hull,    Portsmouth, 
other  places  of  strength.    But  it 
not  easy  for  the  repubhcans  to  dec 
the  vigilance,  or  elude  the  gras 
their   adversary'.     He   dismissed 
oflacers  of  doubtful  fideUty  from  1 
commands  in  the  army,  and  sec 
the  obedience  of  the  men  by  the 
stitution  of  others  more  devote 
his  interest;  by   his  order,  Co) 
Wildman  was  surprised  in  the 
act  of  dictating   to   his  secretsu 
declaration  against  the  governni 
of  the  most  offensive  and  inflafii 
tory  tendency;  and  Lord   Grei 
Groby,  colonels  Alured,  Overton, 
others,  were  arrested,  of  whom  ; 
remained  long  in  confinement,  oi 
were  permitted  to  go  at   largei 
giving   security  for   their   peao«( 
behaviour.^ 

The  other  conspiracy,  though : 
extensive  in  its  ramifications,  pi 
equally  harmless  in  the  result.  Ai 
the  royalists,  though  many  hac 
signed  themselves  to  despair,  i 
were  still  many  whose  enthus 
discovered  in  each  succeeding  ( 
a  new  motive  for  hope  and  exulta 
They  listened  to  every  tale  v 
flattered  their  wishes,  and  persi 
themselves,  that  on  the  first  att 
against  the  usurper  they  woul 
joined  by  all  who  condemnec 
hypocrisy  and  ambition.  It  w; 
vain    that    Charles    from    Co! 


2  See  Thurloe,  iii.  29 ;  and  Milton's 
Papers,  133. 

^  Thurloe,  iii.  passim.  Whitelock, 
620.    Sates,  290,  291. 


..D.  1656.] 


CONSPIRACIES. 


225 


vhere  he  had  fixed  his  court,  recom- 
nended  caution ;  that  he  conjured 
lis  adherents  not  to  stake  his  and 
heir  hopes  on  projects,  by  which, 
dthout  being  serviceable  to  him, 
hey  would  compromise  their  own 
;afety.  They  despised  his  warnings ; 
hey  accused  him  of  indolence  and 
ipathy ;  they  formed  associations,  col- 
ected  arms,  and  fixed  the  14th  of 
^'ebruary  for  simultaneous  risings  in 
aost  counties  of  England.'  The  day 
vas  postponed  to  March  7;  but 
>harles,  at  their  request,  proceeded 
Q  disguise  to  Middleburgh  in  Zee- 
and,  that  he  might  be  in  readiness 

0  cross  over  to  England ;  and  Lord 
Yilmot,  lately  created  earl  of  Roches- 
3r,  with  Sir  Joseph  Wagstaff,  arrived 
3  take  the  command  of  the  insurgents, 
he  first  in  the  northern,  the  second 

1  the.westem,  counties.  It  was  the 
itention   of  Wagstaff   to    surprise 

I  Winchester  during  the  assizes ;  but 

;  le  unexpected  arrival  of  a  troop  of 

ivalry  deterred  him  from  the  attempt, 

[e  waited  patiently  till  the  judges 

roceeded  to  Salisbury ;  and,  learning 

lat  their  guard  had  not  accompanied 

lem,  entered  that  city  with  two  hun- 

red  men  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morn- 

ig  of  Monday.    The  main  body  with 

leir  leader  took  possession  of  the 

arket-place,    while    small    detach- 

ents  brought  away  the  horses  from 

e  several  inns,  liberated  the  pri- 

ners  in  the  gaol,  and  surprised  the 

;eriff  and  the  two  judges  in  their 

ids.    At  first  Wagstaff  gave  orders 

hat  these  three  should  be  immediately 

inged ;  for  they  were  traitors  acting 

ider  the  authority  of  the  usurper ; 

^  pretending  to  relent,  he  dis- 

arged  the  judges  on  their  parole, 

it  detained  the  sheriff  a  prisoner, 

cause  he  had  refused  to  proclaim 

'larles  Stuart.    At  two  in  the  after- 


•  Clarendon  (Hist.   iii.   552)   is  made  to 
(i«n  the  18th  of  April  for  the  day  of 
n^ ;  but  all  the  documents,  as  well  as  his 
a  narrative,  prove  this  to  be  an  error. 
8 


noon  he  left  Salisbury,  but  not  before 
he  had  learned  to  doubt  of  the  result. 
Scarcely  a  man  had  joined  him  of  the 
crowd  of  gentlemen  and  yeomen  whom 
the  assizes  had  collected  in  the  town ; 
and  the  Hampshire  royalists,  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  horse,  had 
not  arrived  according  to  their  pro- 
mise. From  Salisbury  the  insurgents 
marched  through  Dorsetshire  into  the 
county  of  Devon.  Their  hopes  grew 
fainter  every  hour ;  the  further  they 
proceeded  their  number  diminished; 
and,  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day, 
they  reached  South  Molton  in  a  state 
of  exhaustion  and  despondency.  At 
that  moment,  Captain  Crook,  who 
had  followed  them  for  several  hours, 
charged  into  the  town  with  a  troop  of 
cavalry.  Hardly  a  show  of  resistance 
was  made;  Penruddock,  Grove,  and 
Jones,  three  of  the  leaders,  with  some 
fifty  others,  were  made  prisoners ; 
the  rest,  of  whom  Wagstaff  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  one,  aided  by  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  effected  their 
escape.^ 

The  Hampshire  royalists  had  com- 
menced their  march  for  Salisbury, 
when,  learning  that  Wagstaff'  had 
left  that  city,  they  immediatety  dis- 
persed. Other  risings  at  the  same 
time  took  place  in  the  counties  of 
Montgomery,  Shropshire,  Notting- 
ham, York,  and  Northumberland, 
but  everywhere  ^vith  similar  results. 
The  republicans,  ardently  as  they 
desired  to  see  the  protector  humbled 
in  the  dust,  were  unwilling  that  his 
ruin  should  be  effected  by  a  party 
whose  ascendancy  appeared  to  them 
a  still  more  grievous  evil.  The  in- 
surgents were  ashamed  and  alarmed 
at  the  paucity  of  their  numbers ;  pru- 
dence taught  them  to  disband  before 
they  proceeded  to  acts  of  hostility ; 
and  they  slunk  away  in  secrecy  to 


2  Whitelock,  620.  Thurloe,  iii.  263,  295, 
306.  Heath,  367.  Clarendon,  iii.  651,  560, 
Ludlow,  ii.  69.    Vaughan,  i.  Ii9. 


226 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  T 


their  homes,  that  they  might  escape 
the  proof,  if  not  the  suspicion,  of 
guilt.  Even  Eochester  himself,  san- 
guine as  he  was  by  disposition,  re- 
nounced the  attempt;  and,  with  his 
usual  good  fortune,  was  able  to  thread 
back  his  way,  through  a  thousand 
dangers,  from  the  centre  of  Yorkshire 
to  the  court  of  the  exiled  sovereign  at 
Cologne.' 

Whether  it  was  through  a  feeling 
of  shame  or  apprehension  of  the  con- 
sequences, Cromwell,  even  under  the 
provocations  which  he  had  received, 
ventured  not  to  bring  to  trial  any  of 
the  men  who  had  formerly  fought  by 
his  side,  and  now  combined  against 
him  because  he  trampled  on  the  liber- 
ties of  the  nation.  With  the  royalists 
it  was  otherwise.  He  knew  that  their 
sufferings  would  excite  little  commise- 
ration in  those  whose  favour  he 
sought ;  and  he  was  anxious  to  inti- 
midate the  more  eager  by  the  punish- 
ment of  their  captive  associates. 
Though  they  had  surrendered  under 
articles,  Penruddock  and  Grove  were 
beheaded  at  Exeter;  about  fifteen 
others  suffered  in  that  city  and  in 
Salisbury;  and  the  remainder  were 
sent  to  be  sold  for  slaves  in  Barba- 
does.2  To  these  executions  succeeded 
certain  measures  of  precaution.  The 
protector  forbade  all  ejected  and  se- 
questered clergymen  of  the  church  of 
England  to  teach  as  schoolmasters  or 
tutors,  or  to  preach  or  use  the  church 
service  as  ministers  either  in  public 
or  private :  ordered  all  priests  belong- 
ing to  the  church  of  Eome  to  quit  the 
kingdom  under  the  pain  of  death; 
banished  all  Cavaliers  and  Catholics 
to  the  distance  of  twenty  miles  from 
the  metropolis;  prohibited  the  pub- 
lication in  print  of  any  news  or  intel- 
ligence without  permission  from  the 
secretary  of  state ;  and  placed  in  con- 
finement most   of  the  nobility  and 


j  principal  gentry  in  England,  till  th( 
could  produce  bail  for  their  good  b 
haviour  and  future  appearance.    1 
addition,  an  ordinance  was  publish( 
that  "  all  who  had  ever  borne  ara 
for  the  king,  or  declared  themselv 
to  be  of  the  royal  party,  should  1 
decimated,  that  is,  pay  a  tenth  part 
all  the  estate  which  they  had  left, 
support  the  charge  which  the  cot 
monwealth  was  put  to  by  the  unquie 
ness  of  their  temper,  and  the  ju 
cause   of  jealousy  which  they   hi 
administered."    It  is  difiicult  to  co 
ceive  a  more  iniquitous  impositio 
It  was  subversive  of  the  act  of  oblivi( 
formerly  procured  by  Cromwell  hii 
self,  which  pretended  to  aboUsh  t 
memory  of  all  past  offences  ;  contra 
to  natural  justice,  because  it  involv 
the  innocent  and  guilty  in  the  sar 
punishment;  and  productive  of  t 
most  extensive  extortions,  because  t 
commissioners  included   among  t 
enemies  of  the  commonwealth  thj 
who  had  remained  neutral  betwi 
the  parties,  or  had  not  given  sal 
faction  by  the  promptitude  of  tli 
services,  or  the  amount  of  their  a 
tributions.     To  put  the   cUmax 
these  tyrannical  proceedings,  he 
vided  the  country  into  eleven,  anc^ 
one   period,   into  fourteen,  militi 
governments,  under  so  many  ofl&oi 
with,  the  name  and  rank  of  maj 
generals,    giving  them  authority 
raise  a  force  within  their  respectoi 
jurisdictions,  which  should  serve 
on  particular  occasions;  to  levy 
decimation   and  other  pubUc 
to  suppress  tumults  and  insurrecti( 
to  disarm  all  papists  and  CavaUe 
to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  mir 
ters  and  schoolmasters ;  and  to  arr( 
imprison,  and  bind  over,  all  dangen 
and  suspected   persons.     Thus,  t 
long  and   sanguinary   struggle,  ( 
ginally  undertaken   to  recover   ■ 


vyj 

cti3 
aUel 


'  "VMiitelock,      618, 
Clarendon,  iii.  580. 


Heath,    368. 


2  Stat©  Trialfl,  t.  767—790. 


A.D.  1654.J 


CEOMWELL  BREAKS  WITH  SPAIN. 


liberties  of  the  country,  terminated 
in  the  establishment  of  a  military 
despotism.  The  institutions  which 
had  acted  as  restraints  on  the  power 
of  preceding  sovereigns  were  super- 
seded or  abolished ;  the  legislative,  as 
well  as  the  executive  authority,  fell 
into  the  grasp  of  the  same  indivi- 
dual; and  the  best  rights  of  the 
people  were  made  to  depend  on  the 
mere  pleasure  of  an  adventurer,  who, 
under  the  mask  of  dissimulation,  had 
5eized,  and  by  the  power  of  the  sword 
retained,  the  government  of  three 
kingdoms.  • 

From  domestic  occurrences,  we  may 
low  turn  to  those  abroad.  During 
jhe  last  year,  the  two  armaments 
vhich  had  so  long  engaged  the  atten- 
ion  of  the  European  nations,  had 
ailed  from  the  English  ports.  Their 
eal,  but  secret,  destination  was  to 
nvade  the  American  colonies  and 
urprise  the  Plate  fleet  of  Spain,  the 
Qost  ancient  and  faithful  ally  of  the 
ommon wealth.  To  justify  the  mea- 
ure,  it  was  argued  in  the  council 
hat,  since  America  was  not  named  in 
he  treaties  of  1604  and  1630,  hos- 
iUties  in  America  would  be  no  in- 
•action  of  those  treaties;  that  the 
paniards  had   committed  depreda- 

ons  on  the  English  commerce  in  the 
Vesfr  Indies,  and  were  consequently 
able  to  reprisals;  that  they  had 
ained  possession  of  these  countries 
y  force  against  the  will  of  the  na- 


1  Sagredo,  who  had  lately  arrived  ag  am- 
iasador  extraordinary,  thus  describes  the 
3wer  of  Cromwell: — "Non  fa  earo  del 
ime,  gli  basta  possedere  I'autorita  e  la 
jtenza,  senza  comparazione  majore  non 
ilo  di  qaanti  re  siano  stati  in  Inghilterra, 
a  di  quanti  monarchi  stringono  presenta- 
ente  alcnn  scetro  nel  mondo.  Smentite 
legge  fondamentali  del  regno,  egli  e  il 
>lo  legislatore  :  tutti  i  govemi  escono  dalle 
le  mane,  e  quelli  del  consiglio,  per  entrarvi, 
JTono  essere  nominati  da  sua  altezza,  n"e 
)8aono  divenir  grandi,  se  non  da  lui  inal- 
iti.  E  perche  alcuno  non  abbia  modo  di 
ladagnar  autorita  sopra  I'armata,  tutti  gli 
'ftnzamenti,  senza  passar  per  alcun  mezzo, 
>no  da  lui    dirrettamente    conosciuti." — 


tives,  and  might,  therefore,  be  justly 
dispossessed  by  force ;  and,  lastly,  that 
the  conquest  of  these  transatlantic 
territories  would  contribute  to  spread 
the  light  of  the  gospel  among  the 
Indians  and  to  cramp  the  resources 
of  popery  in  Europe.^  That  such 
flimsy  pretences  should  satisfy  the 
judgment  of  the  protector  is  impro- 
bable :  his  mind  was  swayed  by  very 
diflerent  motives  —  the  prospect  of 
reaping,  at  a  small  cost,  an  abundant 
harvest  of  wealth  and  glory,  and  the 
opportunity  of  engaging  in  foreign 
service  the  officers  of  whose  fidehty 
at  home  he  had  good  reason  to  be 
jealous. 

The  Spanish  cabinet,  arguing  from, 
circumstances,  began  to  suspect  his 
object,  and,  as  a  last  effort,  sent  the 
marquess  of  Leyda  ambassador  extra- 
ordinary to  the  court  of  London.  He 
was  graciously  received,  and  treated 
with  respect;  but  in  defiance  of  his 
most  urgent  solicitations,  could  not, 
during  five  months,  obtain  a  positive 
answer  to  his  proposals.  He  repre- 
sented to  the  protector  the  services 
which  Spain  had  rendered  to  the  com- 
monwealth ;  adverted  to  the  conduct 
of  De  Baas,  as  a  proof  of  the  insidious 
designs  of  Mazarin ;  maintained  that 
the  late  insurrection  had  been  par- 
tially instigated  by  the  intrigues  of 
France ;  and  that  French  troops  had 
been  collected  on  the  coast  to  accom- 
pany Charles  Stuart  to  England,  if 


Sagredo,  MS. 

2  Thurloe,  i.  760,  761 ;  ii.  54,  154,  570, 
Ludlow,  ii.  51,  105.  The  article  of  the 
treaty  of  1630,  on  which  CromweU  rested 
his  claim  of  a  free  trade  to  the  Indies,  was 
the  first,  establishing  peace  between  all  the 
suhjects  of  the  two  crowns  (subditos  quos- 
cumque)  :  that  which,  the  Spaniards  alleged, 
was  the  seventh,  in  which  as  the  king  of 
Spain  would  not  consent  to  a  free  trade  ta 
America,  it  was  confined  to  those  countries 
in  which  such  free  trade  had  been  exercised 
before  the  war  between  Elizabeth  of  Eng- 
land and  Philip  of  Spain — words  which  ex- 
cluded America  as  effectually  as  if  it  had 
been  named.— See  Dumont,  iv.  part  ii. 
p.  621. 

Q2 


228 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  VI. 


life  friends  had  not  been  so  quickly 
suppressed ;  and  concluded  by  offer- 
ing to  besiege  Calais,  and,  on  its  reduc- 
tion, to  cede  it  to  Cromwell,  provided 
lie,  on  his  part,  would  aid  the  prince 
of  Conde  in  his  design  of  forcing  his 
way  into  Bordeaux  by  sea.  At  length, 
wearied  with  delays,  and  esteeming  a 
longer  residence  in  England  a  dis- 
grace to  his  sovereign,  he  demanded 
passports,  and  was  dismissed  with 
many  compliments  by  the  protector.' 
In  the  mean  while,  Blake,  who 
commanded  one  of  the  expeditions, 
had  sailed  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
where  he  received  many  civilities 
from  the  Spanish  authorities.  Thence 
he  proceeded  up  the  Mediterranean, 
capturing,  under  pretence  of  reprisals, 
the  French  vessels,  whether  mer- 
chantmen or  men-of-war,  and  seeking, 
but  in  vain,  the  fleet  under  the  duke 
of  Guise.  Returning  to  the  south, 
he  appeared  before  Algiers,  and  ex- 
torted from  that  government  an  illu- 
sory promise  of  respect  to  the  English 
flag.  Erom  Algiers  he  proceeded  to 
Tunis.  To  his  demands  the  Dey  re- 
plied: "There  are  Goletta,  Porto 
Ferino,  and  my  fleet ;  let  him  destroy 
them  if  he  can."  Blake  departed, 
returned  unexpectedly  to  Porto  Fe- 
rino, silenced  the  fire  of  the  castle, 
entered  the  harbour,  and  burnt  the 
wholeflotillaof  nine  men-of-war.  This 
exploit  induced  the  Dey  of  Tripoli  to 
purchase  the  forbearance  of  the  Eng- 
lish by  an  apparent  submission;  his 
Tunisian  brother  deemed  it  prudent 
to  follow  his  example ;  and  the  chas- 
tisement of  the  pirates  threw  an  addi- 
tional lustre  on  the  fame  of  the 
protector.  There  still  remained,  how- 
ever, the  great  but  concealed  object 
of  the  expedition,— the  capture  of  the 
Plate  fleet  laden  vnth  the  treasures 


of  the  Indies;  but  Blake  was  com- 
pelled to  remain  so  long  before  Cadi2 
that  the  Spaniards  discovered  his  de- 
sign;  and  Philip,   though   he  pro- 
fessed to  think  the  protector  incapable 
of  so  dishonourable  a  project,  per- 
mitted   the    merchants   to   arm   ir 
defence   of  their    property.      Mor( 
than  thirty  ships  were  manned  witl 
volunteers :   they  sailed  from  Cadi; 
under  the  command  of  Don  Pablo: 
de  Contreras,  and  continued  for  som< 
days  in  sight  of  the  English  fleet ;  bu 
Pablos  was  careful  to  give  no  offence 
and  Blake,  on  the  reperusal  of  hi 
instructions,  did  not  conceive  himsel 
authorized  to  begin  the  attack.    Afte 
a  long  and  tedious  cruise,  he  receivei 
intelligence  that  the  galleons,  his  des 
tined  prey,  were  detained  in  the  har 
hour  of  Carthagena,  and  returned  t 
England  with  a  discontented  min 
and  shattered  constitution.   In  regar 
to  the  principal  object,  the  expeditio 
had  failed ;  but  this  had  never  bee 
avowed ;  and  the  people  were  taugl 
to  rejoice  at  the  laurels  won  in  tb 
destruction  of  the  Tunisian  fleet,  an 
the  lesson  given  to  the  piratical  tribe 
on  the  northern  coast  of  Africa.'^ 

The  other  expedition  consisted  «  ; 
thirty  sail  and  a  military  force  «  \ 
three  thousand  men,  under  the  joii  i 
command  of  Penn,  as  admiral,  an  | 
of  Venables,  as  general.    They  spei 
several  weeks  among  the  English  se 
tlements  in  the  West  Indies,  and  I 
the  promise  of  plunder   allured  1 
their  standard  many  of  the  planter 
and  multitudes  of  the  English,  See 
tish,  and  Irish  royalists,  who  had  be( 
transported  thither   as  prisoners 
war.    When  they  reached  Hispanic] 
Venables  numbered  ten  thousand  m( 
under  his  command;  and,  had  tl 
fleet  boldly  entered  the  harbour 


^  Thurloe,  i.  761 ;  ii.  54, 154, 570.  Dnmont,  I  state  of  the  ships,  and  of  the  privatio   i 


part  u.  106. 

^  See  in  particular  Blate's  letters  in 
Thurloe,  iii.  232,  390,  541,  611,  620,  718 ; 
iv.  19.    He  complains  bitterly  of  the  bad 


suffered  by  the  men,  from  the  neglect  oft 
commissioners  of  the  navy.  The  prot< 
tor's  instructions  to  him  are  in  Thark 
i.  724. 


AD.  1654.]    EXPEDITION  TO  THE  MEDITEEEANEAN. 


229 


San  Domingo,  it  was  believed  that 
the  town,  unprepared  for  resistance, 
must  have  immediately  submitted. 
But  the  greater  part  of  the  army  was 
landed  at  a  point  about  forty  miles 
distant ;  the  expectations  of  the  men 
were  disappointed  by  a  proclamation, 
declaring  that  the  plunder  was  to  be 
considered  the  public  property  of  the 
commonwealth;  the  length  of  the 
march,  the  heat  of  the  climate,  and 
the  scarcity  of  water  added  to  the 
general  discontent,  and  almost  a  fort- 
night elapsed  before  the  invaders 
were  able  to  approach  the  defences  of 
the  place.  Their  march  lay  through  a 
thick  and  lofty  wood;  and  the  ad- 
vance suddenly  found  itself  in  front 
of  a  battery  which  enfiladed  the  road 
to  a  considerable  distance.  On  the 
first  discharge,  the  men  rushed  back 
on  a  regiment  of  foot ;  that,  partaking 
in  the  panic,  on  a  squadron  of  horse ; 
and,  while  the  infantry  and  cavalry 
were  thus  wedged  together  in  inex- 
tricable confusion,  the  Spanish  marks- 
men kept  up  a  most  destructive  fire 
irom  behind  the  trees  hning  the  road. 
After  a  long  effort,  the  wood  was 
cleared  by  a  body  of  seamen  who 
served  among  the  infantry,  and  dark- 
ness put  an  end  to  the  action,  in 
which  not  fewer  than  a  thousand 
men  had  fallen.  In  the  morning 
the  EngUsh  retired  to  their  last 
encampment,  about  ten  miles  from 
the  town. 

Here  Venables  called  a  council  of 
officers,  who,  having  previously  sought 
the  Lord,  determined  to  "purge"  the 
army.  Some  of  the  runaways  were 
hanged;  the  officer  who  commanded 


1  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  46—52.  Thurloe,  iii, 
504,  509,  689,  755  ;  iv.  28.  Bates,  367.  Penn 
and  Venables  having  resigned  their  com- 
missions, were  discharged. — Council  Book, 
1655,  Oct.  26,  31.  It  appears  from  the 
papers  in  Thurloe,  that  Cromwell  paid  great 
attention  to  the  prosperity  of  the  West 
Indian  colonies,  as  affording  facilities  to 
future  attempts  on  the  American  continent. 
To  increase  the  population,  he  had,  as  the 
reader  is  already  aware,  forcibly  taken  up  a 


the  advance  was  broken,  and  sent  on 
board  the  hospital  ship  to  wait  on  the 
sick ;  the  loose  women  who  had  fol- 
lowed the  army  were  apprehended 
and  punished ;  and  a  solemn  fast  was 
proclaimed  and  observed.  But  no 
fasting,  praying,  or  purging  could 
restore  the  spirits  of  men  humbled 
by  defeat,  enfeebled  by  disease,  and 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  feeding 
on  the  horses  belonging  to  the  ca- 
valry. The  attempt  was  abandoned ; 
but,  on  their  return,  the  two  com- 
manders made  a  descent  on  the  island 
of  Jamaica.  The  Spanish  settlers, 
about  five  hundred,  fled  to  the  moun- 
tains; a  capitulation  followed;  and 
the  island  was  ceded  to  England. 
Could  its  flourishing  condition  in  a 
subsequent  period  have  been  foreseen, 
this  conquest  might  have  consoled 
the  nation  for  the  loss  at  Hispaniola, 
and  the  disgrace  of  the  attempt.  But 
at  that  time  Jamaica  was  deemed  an 
inconsiderable  acquisition ;  the  failure 
of  the  expedition  encouraged  men  to 
condemn  the  grounds  on  which  it 
had  been  undertaken ;  and  Cromwell, 
mortified  and  ashamed,  vented  his 
displeasure  on  Penn  and  Venables, 
the  two  commanders,  whom,  on  their 
arrival,  he  committed  to  the  Tower.^ 
To  many  it  seemed  a  solecism  in 
politics,  that,  when  the  protector 
determined  to  break  with  Spain,  he 
did  not  attempt  to  sell  his  services  to 
the  great  enemy  of  Spain,  the  king 
of  Prance.  For  reasons  which  have 
never  been  explained,  he  took  no  ad- 
vantage of  this  circumstance;  in- 
stead of  urging,  be  seemed  anxious 
to  retard,  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty 


thousand  young  girls  in  Ireland,  and  sent 
them  to  Jamaica ;  in  1656,  while  Sagredo 
was  in  London,  he  ordered  aU  females  of  dis- 
orderly lives  to  be  arrested  and  shipped  for 
Barbadoes  for  the  like  purpose.  Twelve  hun- 
dred were  sent  in  three  ships.  Ho  veduto 
prima  del  mio  partire  piu  squadre  di  soldati 
andar  per  Londra  cercando  donne  di  allegra 
vita,  imbarcandone,  1,200  sopre  tre  vascelli 
per  tragittarle  all'  isola,  a  fine  di  far  pro- 
pagazione.— Sagredo,  MS. 


9» 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[CHAP.  VL 


T»ith  tliat  power ;  after  each  conces- 1 
sion,  he  brought  forward  new  and 
more  provoking  demands;  and,  as  if  he 
sought  to  prevail  by  intimidation,  com- 
missioned Blake  to  ruin  the  French 
commerce,  and  to  attack  the  French 
fleet,  in  the  Mediterranean.  By 
Louis  these  insults  were  keenly  felt ; 
but  his  pride  yielded  to  his  interest; 
expedients  were  found  to  satisfy  all 
the  claims  of  the  protector;  and  at 
length  the  time  for  the  signature  of 
the  treaty  was  fixed,  when  an  event 
occurred  to  furnish  new  pretexts 
for  delay,  that  event,  which  by  Pro- 
testants has  been  called  the  massacre, 
by  Catholics  the  rebellion,  of  the 
Yaudois. 

About  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
*'poor  men  of  Lyons"  penetrated 
into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  where 
they  were  cherished  in  obscurity  till 
the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and 
were  then  exchanged  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, first  for  Lutheranism,  and  then 
for  the  creed  publicly  taught  at  Ge- 
neva. The  duke  of  Savoy  by  succes- 
sive grants  confirmed  to  the  natives 
ihid  free  exercise  of  their  rehgion,  on 
condition  that  they  should  confine 
themselves  within  their  ancient 
limits;'  but  complaints  were  made 
that  several  among  the  men  of  An- 
grogna  had  abused  their  privileges  to 
form  settlements  and  establish  their 
worship  in  the  plains ;  and  the  court 
of  Turin,  wearied  with  the  conflicting 
statements  of  the  opposite  parties, 
referred  the  decision  of  the  dispute  to 
the  civilian,  Andrea  Gastaldo.*  After 
along  and  patient  hearing,  he  pro- 
nounced a  definitive  judgment,  that 
Lucerna  and  some  other  places  lay 
without  the  original  boundaries,  and 


s?« 


These  were  the  four   districts  of  An- 
jgna,  Villaro,  Bobbio,  and  Rorata. — Siri, 
iel  Mercurio,  overo  Historia  de'  Correnti 
Tempi,    Firenze,  1682,  torn,  iv.  p.  827. 

2  Gilles,  Paatore  de  la  Torre,  p.  72.  Ge- 
a«ve,  1644;  and  Eorengo,  Memorie  His- 
toriche,  p.  8,  1648. 


that  the  intruders  should  withdraw 
under  the  penalties  of  forfeiture  and 
death.  At  the  same  time,  however, 
I)ermission  was  given  to  them  to  sell 
for  their  own  profit  the  lands  which 
they  had  planted,  though  by  law  these 
lands  had  become  the  property  of  the 
sovereign.^ 

The  Vaudois  were  a  race  of  hardy, 
stubborn,  half-civilized  mountaineers, 
whose  passions  were  readily  kindled, 
and  whose  resolves  were  as  violent  as 
they  were  sudden.  At  first  they  sub- 
mitted sullenly  to  the  judgment  of 
Gastaldo,  but  sent  deputies  to  Turin, 
to  remonstrate:  in  a  few  days  ; 
solemn  fast  w^as  proclaimed ;  th( 
ministers  excommunicated  every  in- 
dividual who  should  sell  his  lands  ir 
the  disputed  territory ;  the  natives  o; 
tke  valleys  under  the  dominion  of  th( 
king  of  Prance  met  those  of  the  valley^ 
belonging  to  the  duke  of  Savoy ;  botl, 
bound  themselves  by  oath  to  stand  by 
each  other  in  their  common  defenc 
and  messengers  were  despatched  to  so| 
cit  aid  and  advice  from  the  church  ( 
Geneva  and  the  Protestant  cantons  i 
Switzerland.  The  intelligence  ala 
the  Marquess  Pianeze,  the  chief] 
nister  of  the  duke ;  who,  to  suppi 
the  nascent  confederacy,  marcM 
from  Turin  with  an  armed  for 
reduced  La  Torre,  into  which  t| 
insurgents  had  thrown  a  garrison 
six  hundred  men,  and,  having  niad< 
an  offer  of  pardon  to  all  who  shoul( 
submit,  ordered  his  troops  to  fix  theL 
quarters  in  Bobbio,  Villaro,  and  thi 
lower  part  of  Angrogna.  It  had  pre 
viously  been  promised  that  the] 
should  be  peaceably  received;  bu 
the  inhabitants  had  already  retire( 
to  the  mountains  with  their  cattl( 
and   provisions;    and    the    soldier 


*  The  decree  of  Qastaldo  is  in  Mori 
History  of  the  Evangelical  Cbarches  in 
Valleys  of  Piedmont,  p.  303.  The  groo 
of  that  decree  are  at  p.  408,  the  object' 
to  it  at  p.  423.  See  also  Siri,  xv.  827,  ' 
Chiesa,  Corona  Beale  di  Savoia,  i.  150 ; 
nina,  iii.  324;  Guichenon,  iii.  139. 


.D.  1655.] 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  YAUDOIS. 


231 


ud  no  ether  accommodation  than 

bare  walls.     Quarrels  soon  fol- 

<j  .ved  between  the  parties ;  one  act  of 

jffence  was  retaliated  with  another ; 

and  the  desire  of  vengeance  provoked 

a   war   of  extermination.     But  the 

i: Hilary  were  in   general  successful; 

;    the   natives  found    themselves 

pelled   to   flee   to   the  summits 

he  loftiest  mountains,  or  to  seek 

-ge  in  the  valleys   of  Dauphine, 

i.L.ong  a  people  of  similar  habits  and 

religion.' 

Accounts  of  these  transactions,  but 
accounts  teeming  with  exaggeration 
:nid  improbabihties,  were  transmitted 
to  the  different  Protestant  states 
by  the  ministers  at  Greneva.  They 
represented  the  duke  of  Savoy  as  a 
bigoted  and  intolerant  prince ;  the 
A'audois  as  an  innocent  race,  whose 
only  crime  was  their  attachment  to 
the  reformed  faith.  They  implored 
the  Protestant  powers  to  assume  the 
defence  of  their  persecuted  brethren, 
and  called  for  pecuniary  contribu- 
tions to  save  from  destruction  by 
famine  the  remnant  which  had 
escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword.^  In 
England  the  cause  was  advocated  by 


i  Siri,  XV.  827—833.    It  would  be  a  diffi- 
cult task  to  determine  by  whom,  after  the 
reduction  of  La  Torre,  the  first  blood  was 
wantonly  drawn,    or  to  which    party  the 
blame  of  superior  cruelty  really  belongs. 
The  authorities  on  each  side  are  interested, 
i    and  therefore  suspicious  :  the  provocations 
I    alleged  by  the  one  are  as  warmly  denied  hj 
the  other ;  and  to  the  ravages  of  the  mih- 
[    tary  in  Angrogna  and  Lucema,  are  opposed 
the  massacres  of  the  Catholics  in  Perousa 
I    and  San  Martino.    In  favour  of  the  Vaudois 
I    may  be  consulted  Leger,  Histoire  Generals 
'    des  Eglises  Evang^liques,   &e.  (he  was  a 
(    principal    instigator     of    these    troubles) ; 
Stouppe,  Collection  of  the  several  papers 
sent   to  his  highness,  &c.    London,  1655 ; 
Sabandiensis    in    Keformatam    HeUgionem 
Perseeutionis    Brevis    Narratio,     Londini, 
1665 ;  Morland,  326 — 384,  and  the  papers  in 
Thurloe,  iii.  361,  384,  412,  416,  430,  444,  459, 
538.    Against  them— A  Short  and  Faithful 
Account  of  the  late  Commotions,  &c.,  with 
some  reflections  on  Mr.  Stouppe's  Collected 
Papers,  1655  ;  Morland,  387—404 ;  Siri,  xv. 
827—843,  and  Thurloe,  iii.  413,  464,  475,  490, 
502,  535,  617,  626,  656, 
-  The  infidelity  of  these  reports  is  ac- 


the  press  and  from  the  pulpit ;  a  so- 
lemn fast  was  kept,  and  the  passions  of 
the  people  were  roused  to  enthusiasm. 
The  ministers  in  a  body  waited  on 
Cromwell  to  recommend  the  Yaudois 
to  his  protection;  the  armies  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland  presented  ad- 
dresses, expressive  of  their  readiness 
to  shed  their  blood  in  so  sacred  a 
cause ;  and  all  classes  of  men,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  hastened  to 
contribute  their  money  towards  the 
support  of  the  Piedmontese  Protes- 
tants. It  was  observed  that,  among 
those  who  laboured  to  inflame  the 
prejudices  of  the  people,  none  were 
more  active  than  the  two  ambas- 
sadors from  Spain,  and  Stouppe,  the 
minister  of  the  French  church  in 
London.^  Both  had  long  laboured 
to  prevent  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty  with  Prance;  and  they  now 
hoped  to  effect  their  purpose,  because 
Savoy  was  the  ally  of  Prance,  and  the 
principal  barbarities  were  said  to  have 
been  perpetrated  by  troops  detached 
from  the  Prench  army.'' 

These  events  opened  a  flattering 
prospect  to  the  vanity  of  Cromwell. 
By  his  usurpation  he  had  forfeited  all 


knowledged  by  Morland,  the  protector's 
agent,  in  a  confidential  letter  to  secretary 
Thurloe.  "  The  greatest  difficulty  I  meet 
with  is  in  relation  to  the  matter  of  fact  in 
the  beginning  of  these  troubles,  and  during 
the  time  of  the  war.  For  I  find,  upon  dili- 
gent search,  that  many  papers  and  books 
which  have  been  put  out  in  print  on  this 
subject,  even  by  some  ministers  of  the 
valleys,  are  lame  in  many  particulars,  and 
in  many  things  not  conformable  to  truth." 
—Thurloe,  iv.  417, 

3  Thurloe,  iii,  470,  680.     Siri,  xv.  468.; 

*  Under  Pianeze  were  some  troops  de- 
tached from  the  French  army  commanded 
by  Prince  Thomas  of  Savoy,  It  was  re- 
ported that  a  regiment  of  Irish  Catholics 
formed  a  part  of  this  detachment ;  and  to 
them  were  attributed,  of  course,  the  most 
horrible  barbarities. — Leger,  iii.  Stouppe, 
Preface.  Thurloe,  iii,  412,  459,  460.  On 
inquiry,  it  was  discovered  that  these  sup- 
posed Irishmen  were  English.  "  The  Irish 
regiment  said  to  be  there  was  the  earl  of 
Bristol's  regiment,  a  small  and  weak  one, 
most  of  them  being  English.  I  hear  not 
such  complaints  of  them  as  you  set  forth." 
—Thurloe,  iii.  50. 


232 


THE  PKOTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  VI 


claim  to  the  title  of  the  champion  of 
civil  liberty ;  he  might  still  come  for- 
ward, in  the  sight  of  Europe,  in  the 
more  august  character  of  the  protec- 
tor of  the  reformed  faith.  His  first 
care  was  to  make,  through  Stouppe, 
a  promise  to  the  Vaudois  of  his  sup- 
port, and  an  offer  to  transplant  them 
to  Ireland,  and  to  settle  them  on  the 
lauds  of  the  Irish  Catholics ;  of  which 
the  first  was  accepted  with  expres- 
sions of  gratitude,  and  the  other  re- 
spectfully decUned.i  He  next  soli- 
cited the  king  of  France  to  join  with 
him  in  mediating  between  the  duke 
of  Savoy  and  his  subjects  of  the 
valleys;  and  received  for  answer, 
that  Louis  had  already  interposed  his 
good  offices,  and  had  reason  to  expect 
a  favourable  result.  Lastly,  he  sent 
Morland,  as  ambassador  to  Turin, 
where  he  was  honourably  received, 
and  entertained  at  the  duke's  ex- 
pense. To  his  memorial  in  favour  of 
the  Vaudois,  it  was  replied,  that  out  of 
compliment  to  Cromwell,  their  rebel- 
lion, though  unprovoked,  should  be 
forgiven ;  but  his  further  interference 
was  checked  by  the  announcement 
that  the  particulars  of  the  pacification 
had  been  wholly  referred  to  Servien, 
the  French  ambassador.' 

At  home,  Cromwell  had  signified 
his  intention  of  postponing  the  sig- 
nature of  the  treaty  with  France  till 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  opinion 
of  Louis  on  the  subject  of  the  trou- 
bles in  Piedmont.  Bordeaux  remon- 
strated against  this  new  pretext  for 
delay ;  he  maintained  that  the  ques- 
tion bore  no  relation  to  the  matter 


1  Thurloe,  iii.  459. 

2  Thurloe,  iii.  528,  608,  636,  656,  672.  Siri, 
ibid.    Vaugh.  243. 

3  Thurloe,  iii.  469,  470,  475,  535,  568,  706, 
724,  742,  745.    Siri,  xv.  843. 

♦  The  Protestant  cantons  of  Switzerland 
had  sent  Colonel  Mey  to  England,  offering 
to  raise  an  army  in  aid  of  the  Vaudois,  if 
Cromwell  would  furnish  a  subsidy  of  ten 
thousand  pounds  per  month. — Siri,  Mer- 
curic, XV.  472.    In  consequence  Downing 


of  the  treaty :  that  the  king  of  France 
would  never  interfere  with  the  in- 
ternal administration  of  an  inde- 
pendent state;  that  the  duke  o! 
Savoy  had  as  good  a  right  to  make 
laws  for  his  Protestant  subjects,  a' 
the  English  government  for  the  Ca- 
tholics of  the  three  kingdoms;  and 
that  the  Vaudois  were  in  reality  rebels 
who  had  justly  incurred  the  resent- 
ment of  their  sovereign.  But  Crom- 
well was  not  to  be  diverted  from  hi^ 
purpose.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
ambassador  asked  for  a  final  answer : 
that  he  demanded  an  audience  oi 
leave  preparatory  to  his  departure. 
At  last  he  was  relieved  from  his  per- 
plexity by  an  order  to  announce  that 
the  duke,  at  the  request  of  the  king 
of  France,  had  granted  an  amnesty  to 
the  Vaudois,  and  confirmed  their 
ancient  privileges ;  that  the  boon  had 
been  gratefully  received  by  the  insur- 
gents; and  that  the  natives  of  the 
valleys,  Protestants  and  Catholics, 
had  met,  embraced  each  other  with 
tears,  and  sworn  to  live  in  perpetual 
amity  together.  The  unexpected 
intelligence  was  received  by  Crom- 
well with  a  coldness  which  betrayed 
his  disappointment.^  But,  if  the 
pacification  broke  the  new  projects 
which  he  meditated,*  it  served  to 
raise  his  fame  in  the  estimation  of 
Europe;  for  it  was  evident  that  the 
Vaudois  owed  the  favourable  condi- 
tions which  they  obtained,  not  so 
much  to  the  good-will  of  Louis,  as  to 
his  anxiety  that  no  pretext  should 
remain  for  the  future  interference  of 
the  protector.5 


was  despatched  as  envoy  to  these  cantons; 
but  the  pacification  was  already  concluded: 
and  on  his  arrival  at  Geneva,  he  receivea 
orders,  dated  Aug.  30,  to  return  imme- 
diately.—Thurloe,  iii.  692,  694 ;  iv.  31.  Still 
the  design  was  not  abandoned,  but  intrusted 
to  Morland,  who  remained  at  Geneva,  to 
distribute  the  money  from  England.  What 
were  his  secret  instructions  may  be  seen, 
ibid.  p.  326. 

5  The  conditions  may  be  seen  in  Morland^ 
652  ;  Dumont,  vi.  part  ii.  p.  114;  and  Legerj 


..  1656.]       TREATY  WITH  FEANCE  CONCLUDED. 


3ut  though  tranquillity  was  re- 
red  in  Piedmont,  Cromwell  was 
1  unwilling  to  conclude  the  treaty- 
he  had  ascertained  what  impres- 
1  had  been  made  on  the  king 
Spain  by  the  late  attempt  on 
spaniola.  To  Philip,  already  en- 
ed  in  war  with  Prance,  it  was 
nful  to  add  so  powerful  an  adver- 
jr  to  the  number  of  his  enemies; 
i  the  affront  was  so  marked,  so 
ust,  so  unprovoked,  that  to  submit 
t  in  silence  was  to  subscribe  to  his 
a  degradation.  He  complained,  in 
oified  language,  of  the  ingratitude 
L  injustice  of  the  English  govern- 
Qt;  contrasted  with  its  conduct 
own  most  scrupulous  adhesion 
h  to  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of 
treaties  between  the  kingdoms; 
ered  that  all  ships,  merchandise, 
property  belonging  to  the  sub- 
s  of  the  commonwealth  should  be 
ued  and  secured  in  every  part  of 
dominions,  and  instructed  his 
aassador  in  London  to  remonstrate 
.  take  his  leave.'  The  day  after 
passport  was  delivered  to  Don 
inzo,  Cromwell  consented  to  the 
lature  of  the  treaty  with  Prance, 
provided,  that  the  maritime  hos- 
Aes,  which  had  so  long  harassed 

The  subscription  for  the  Vaudois,  of 
ch  two  thousand  pounds  was  given  by 

protector,  amounted  to  thirty-eight 
isand  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
nds  four  shilHngs  and  twopence.      Of 

Bum  twenty-five  thousand  eight  hundred 

twenty-eight  pounds  eight  shUlinga  and 
;3pence  was  sent  at  different  times  to 

valleys;  four  hundred  and  sixty-three 
nds  seventeen  shillings  was  charged  for 
enses;  and  about  five  hundred  pounds 

found  to  be  clipt  or  counterfeit  money. 
oumals,  11  July,  1659. 

Thurloe,  iv.  19,  20,  21,  82,  91. 

IXninont,  vi.  part  ii,  p.  121.  In  the  body 
he  treaty,  neither  the  king  nor  the  pro- 
•  or  is  named;  all  the  articles  are  stipu- 


the  trade  of  the  two  nations,  should 
cease ;  that  the  relations  of  amity  and 
commerce  should  be  restored;  and, 
by  a  separate,  and  therefore  called  a 
secret,  article,  that  Barriere,  agent  for 
the  prince  of  Conde,  and  nine  other 
Prenchmen,  equally  obnoxious  to  the 
Prench  ministry,  should  be  perpetu- 
ally excluded  from  the  territory  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  that  Charles 
Stuart,  his  brother  the  duke  of  York, 
Ormond,  Hyde,  and  fifteen  other 
adherents  of  the  exiled  prince,  should, 
in  the  same  manner,  be  excluded 
from  the  kingdom  of  Prance.^  The 
protector  had  persuaded  himself  that, 
if  the  house  of  Stuart  was  to  be 
restored,  it  must  be  through  the  aid 
of  Prance;  and  he  hoped,  by  the 
addition  of  this  secret  article,  ta 
create  a  bitter  and  lasting  enmity 
between  the  two  families.  Nor  was 
he  content  with  this.  As  soon  as  the 
ratifications  had  been  exchanged,  he 
proposed  a  more  intimate  alliance  be- 
tween England  and  Prance.  Bordeaux 
was  instructed  to  confine  himself  in 
his  reply  to  general  expressions  of 
friendship.  He  might  receive  any 
communications  which  were  offered ; 
he  was  to  make  no  advances  on  the 
part  of  his  sovereign. 


lated  between  the  commonwealth  of  England 
and  the  kingdom  of  France.  In  the  pre- 
amble, however,  the  king  of  France  is  men- 
tioned, and  in  the  first  place,  but  not  as  if 
this  arose  from  any  claim  of  precedency; 
for  it  merely  relates,  that  the  most  Christian 
king  sent  his  ambassador  to  England,  and 
the  most  serene  lord,  the  protector,  ap- 
pointed commissioners  to  meet  him.  When 
the  treaty  was  submitted  to  Bordeaux,  pre- 
viously to  his  signature,  he  discovered  an 
alteration  in  the  usual  title  of  his  sovereign. 
Rex  Gallorum  (the  very  title  afterwards 
adopted  by  the  National  Assembly),  instead 
of  Eex  Galliarum,  and  on  that  account  re- 
fused to  sign  it.  After  a  long  contestation, 
he  yielded  to  the  arguments  of  the  Dutch 
ambassador.— Thurloe,  iv.  115. 


234 


CHAPTER    VII. 


POVERTY   AKD   CHARACTER   OF   CHAKI^S   STUAKT — WAR    WITH    SPAIN — PABLIAia 

EXCLUSION    OF  MEUBEBS PUNISHMBNT  OF    NATLOK — PROPOSAL  TO  MAKE  CIM 

WELL    KING HIS    HESITATION    AND    REFUSAL NEW    CONSTITUTION — SINDERCC 

SEXBY ALLIANCE    WITH    FRANCE — PARLIAMENT    OF    TWO    HOUSES^-OPPOSir 

IN    THE     COMMONS — DISSOLUTION REDUCTION     OF     DUNKIRK— SICKNESS     OF    1 

PROTECTOR — HIS    DEATH   AND   CHARACTER. 


The  reader  is  aware  that  the  young 
king  of  Scots,  after  his  escape  from 
Worcester,  had  returned  to  Paris, 
defeated  but  not  disgraced.  The 
spirit  and  courage  which  he  had 
displayed  were  taken  as  an  earnest  of 
future  and  more  successful  efforts ;  and 
the  perilous  adventures  which  he  had 
encountered  threw  a  romantic  interest 
round  the  character  of  the  royal  exile. 
But  in  Paris  he  found  himself  with- 
out money  or  credit,  followed  by  a 
crowd  of  faithful  dependants,  whose 
indigence  condemned  them  to  suffer 
the  most  painful  privations.  His 
mother,  Henrietta,  herself  in  no  very 
opulent  circumstances,  received  him 
into  her  house  and  to  her  table ; 
after  the  lapse  of  six  months,  the 
Prench  king  settled  on  him  a  monthly 
allowance  of  six  thousand  francs;' 
and  to  this  were  added  the  casual 
supplies,  furnished  by  the  loyalty  of 
his  adherents  in  England,  and  his 
share  of  the  prizes  made  by  the 
cruisers  under  his  flag.*  Yet,  with 
all  these  aids,  he  was  scarcely  able  to 
satisfy  the  more  importunate  of  his 

1  Clar.  iii.  441.  Thirteen  francs  were 
equivalent  to  an  English  pound. 

'  His  claim  was  one-fifteenth,  that  of  the 
duke  of  York,  as  admiral,  one-tenth.  See 
a  collection  of  letters,  almost  exclosivelj  on 
that  Bubiect,  between  Sir  Edward  Hyde  and 
Sir  Richard  Browne. — Evelyn's  Mem.  v. 
241,  etseq. 

^  Clarendon  Pap.  iii.  120, 124.  "  I  do  not 
know  that  any  man  is  yet  dead  for  want  of 
bread  :  which  really  I  wonder  at.  I  am 
sure  the  king  owes  for  all  he  hath  eaten 


creditors,  and  to  dole  out  an  oc 
sional  pittance  to  his  more  immedi 
followers.  Prom  their  private  cor 
spondence  it  appears  that  the  m 
favoured  among  them  were  at  a  1 
to  procure  food  and  clothing.^ 

Yet,  poor  as  he  was,  Charles  1 
been  advised  to  keep  up  the  nn 
and  appearance  of  a  court.    He  ] 
his  lord-keeper,  his  chancellor  of 
exchequer,  his  privy  councillors,! 
most  of  the  ofiBcers  allotted  to  a : 
establishment;  and  the  eagerne 
pursuit,  the  competition  of  int 
with  which  these  nominal  di^ 
were  sought   by  the  exiles,  fi 
scenes  which  cannot  fail  to  excit 
smile  or  the  pity  of  an  indiff<^ 
spectator.    But  we  should  remei 
that  they  were  the  only  object 
open  to  the  ambition  of  these 
that  they  offered  scanty,  yet  desii 
salaries  to  their  poverty;  and  t: 
they  held  out  the  promise  of  m 
substantial  benefits  on  the  restorat 
of  the  king,  an  event  which,  h( 
ever  distant   it  might  seem  to 
apprehension  of  others,  was  alw 


since  April :  and  I  am  not  acquainted  t 
one  servant  of  his  who  hath  a  pistole  io 
pocket.  Five  or  six  of  as  eat  together 
meal  a  day  for  a  pistole  a  week :  but  ll 
us  owe  for  Ood  knows  how  many  week 
the  poor  woman  that  feeds  us."— CL 
Papers,  iii.  174,  June  27,  1663.  "  I 
shoes  and  shirts,  and  the  marqae 
Ormond  is  in  no  better  condition, 
help  then  can  we  give  our  friends  ?' 
229,  AprU  3,  1654.  See  also  Carte's : 
ii.  461. 


1656.]        CONDUCT  OF  CHAELES  IN  FRANCE. 


235 


r  in  the  belief  of  the  more  ardent 
dists.' 

mong  these  competitors  for  place 
e  two,  who  soon  acquired,  and 
retained,  the  royal  confidence, 
marquess  of  Ormond  and  Sir 
rard  Hyde.  Ormond  owed  the 
inction  to  the  lustre  of  his  family, 
princely  fortune  which  he  had 
in  the  royal  cause,  his  long 
Ligh  unsuccessful  services  in  Ire- 
i,  and  the  high  estimation  in 
ch  he  had  been  held  by  the  late 
larch.  In  talent  and  application 
ie  was  sux)erior  to  any  of  his  col- 
;ues.  Charles  I.  had  appointed 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and 
nsellor  to  the  young  prince,  and 
son  afterwards  confirmed  by  his 
choice  the  judgment  of  his  father, 
de  had  many  enemies ;  whether  it 
that  by  his  hasty  and  imperious 
per  he  gave  cause  of  offence,  or 
b  unsuccessful  suitors,  aware  of  his 
aence  with  the  king,  attributed  to 
counsels  the  failure  of  their  peti- 
ts.  But  he  was  not  wanting  in  his 
I  defence ;  the  intrigues  set  on  foot 
remove  him  from  the  royal  ear 
e  defeated  by  his  address  ;  and  the 
rges  brought  against  him  of  dis- 
ction  and  treachery  were  so  vic- 
ously  refuted,  as  to  overwhelm  the 
iser  with  confusion  and  disgrace.^ 
'he  expectations,  however,  which 
tries  had  raised  by  his  conduct  in 
?land  were  soon  disappointed.  He 
ned  to  lose  sight  of  his  three  king- 
is  amidst  the  gaieties    of  Paris. 


Ciarendou  Pap.  iii.  83,  99,  106,  136,  162, 
187,  et  passim.    Clarendon,  History, 

34,  435,  453. 

Clarendon,    iii.     138,    510,    515  —  520. 

sdowne's  Works,  ii.  236 — 241,  quoted  by 

ris,  iv.  153.    Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  84, 

138, 188,  200,  229. 

Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  159, 170. 

She   was    previoasly    the    mistress   of 

)nel  Bobert  Sydney  ;  and  her  son  bore 

reat  a  resemblance  to  that  officer,  that 
doke    of   York    always    looked    upon 

aey  as  the  father.— Life  of  James,  i. 
Junes,  in  his  instructions  to  his  son, 


His  pleasures  and  amusements  en- 
grossed his  attention  ;  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  he  could  be  drawn  to 
the  consideration  of  business ;  and,  if 
he  promised  to  devote  a  few  hours  on 
each  Friday  to  the  writing  of  lettersand 
the  signature  of  despatches,  he  often 
discovered  sufficient  reasons  to  free 
himself  from  the  burthen.^  But  that 
which  chiefly  distressed  his  advisers 
was  the  number  and  publicity  of  his 
amours  ;  and,  in  particular,  the  utter 
worthlessness  of  one  woman,  who  by 
her  arts  had  won  his  affection,  and  by 
her  impudence  exercised  the  control 
over  his  easy  temper.  This  was  Lucy 
Walters,  or  Barlow,  the  mother  of  a 
child,  afterwards  the  celebrated  duke 
of  Monmouth,  of  whom  Charles 
believed  himself  to  be  the  father.* 
Ormond  and  Hyde  laboured  to  dis- 
solve this  disgraceful  connection. 
They  represented  to  the  king  the 
injury  which  it  did  to  the  royal  cause 
in  England,  where  the  appearances  at 
least  of  morality  were  so  highly  re- 
sx)ected ;  and,  after  several  temporary 
separations,  they  prevailed  on  Walters 
to  accept  an  annuity  of  four  hundred 
pounds,  and  to  repair  with  her  child 
to  her  native  country.  But  Cromwell 
sent  her  back  to  France  ;  and  she 
returned  to  Paris,  where  by  her  lewd- 
ness she  forfeited  the  royal  favour, 
and  shortened  her  own  days.  Her 
son  was  taken  from  her  by  the  Lord 
Crofts,  and  placed  under  the  care  of 
the  Oratorians  in  Paris.' 
But  if  Charles  was  incorrigible  in 


says,  "All  the  knowing  world,  as  well  as 
myself,  had  many  eouTincing  reasons  to 
think  he  was  not  the  king's  son,  but  Kobert 
Sydney's."  Macpherson's  Papers,  i.  77. 
Evelyn  calls  Barlow  "  a  browne,  beautiful, 
bold,  but  insipid  creature." — Diary,  ii.  11. 

5  James,  i.  492;  Clarendon's  Own  Life, 
205.  Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  180.  Thurloe, 
V.  169,  178 ;  vii.  325.  Charles,  in  the  time 
of  his  exile,  had  also  children  by  Catherine 
Peg  and  Elizabeth  Killigrew. — See  Sand- 
ford,  646,  647,  In  the  account  of  Barlow's 
discharge  from  the  Tower,  by  Whitelock, 
we  are  told  that  she  called  herself  the  wife 
of  Charles  (Whitelock,  649) ;  in  the  Met- 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHA.P. 


the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  he  proved  a 
docile  pupil  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
On  one  hand,  the  Catholics,  on  the 
other,  the  Presbyterians,  urged  him 
by  letters  and  messages  to  embrace 
their  respective  modes  of  worship. 
The  former  maintained  that  he  could 
recover  the  crown  only  through  the 
aid  of  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  and 
had  no  reason  to  expect  such  aid 
while  he  professed  himself  a  member 
of  that  church  which  had  so  long 
persecuted  the  English  Catholics.' 
The  others  represented  themselves 
as  holding  the  destiny  of  the  king 
in  their  hands ;  they  were  royahsts  at 
heart,  but  how  could  they  declare  in 
favour  of  a  prince  who  had  apos- 
tatized from  the  covenant  which  he 
had  taken  in  Scotland,  and  whose 
restoration  would  probably  re-establish 
the  tyranny  of  the  bishops  ?'  The  king's 
advisers  repelled  these  attempts  with 
warmth  and  indignation.  They  ob- 
served to  him  that,  to  become  a 
Catholic  was  to  arm  all  his  Pro- 
testant subjects  against  him ;  to  be- 
come a  Presbyterian,  was  to  alienate 
all  who  had  been  faithful  to  his  father, 
both  Protestants  of  the  church  of 
England  and  Cathohcs.  He  faithfully 


curias  Politicus,  she  is  styled  his  "  wife  or 
mistress." — Ellis,  new  series,  iii.  352. 

1  Yet  he  made  application  in  1654  to  the 
pope,  throDgh  Goswin  Nickel,  general  of 
the  order  ot  Jesuits,  for  a  large  sum  of 
money,  which  might  enable  him  to  contend 
for  his  kingdom  at  the  head  of  an  army  of 
Irish  Catholics  ;  promising,  in  case  of  suc- 
cess, to  grant  the  free  exercise  of  the  Ca- 
tholic religion ,  and  every  other  indulgence 
which  could  be  reasonably  asked.  The  rea- 
son alleged  for  this  application  was  that  the 
power  of  Cromwell  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  the  most  tempting  oflPers  had  been  made 
to  Charles  by  the  Presbyterians  :  but  the 
Presbyterians  were  the  most  cruel  enemies 
of  the  Catholics,  and  he  would  not  owe  his 
restoration  to  them,  till  he  had  sought  and 
been  refused  the  aid  of  the  Catholic  powers. 
From  the  original,  dated  at  Cologne,  17th 
Nov.  1654,  N.s.,  and  subscribed  by  Peter 
Talbot,  afterwards  Catholic  archbishop  of 
Dublin,  ex  mandato  expresso  Kegis  Britan- 
niarum.  It  was  plainly  a  scheme  on  the 
part  of  Charles  to  procure  money;  and 
probably  failed  of  success. 


followed  their  advice ;  to  both  pai 
he  promised,  indeed,  every  indu^< 
in  point  of  religion  which  they  C' 
reasonably  desire ;  but  avowed,  at 
same  time,  his  determination  to 
and  die  a  member  of  that  churc 
defence  of  which  his  father  had  foi 
and  suffered.  It  is  not,  however, 
probable  that  these  applications, ' 
the  arguments  by  which  they  ■> 
supported,  had  a  baneful  influenc 
the  mind  of  the  king.  They  ere 
in  him  an  indifference  to  relii 
truth,  a  persuasion  that  men  al^ 
model  their  belief  according  to  1 
interest.^ 

As  soon  as  Cardinal  Mazarin  b 
to  negotiate  with  the  protector, 
friends   of    Charles    persuaded 
to  quit  the  French  territory.    Bj 
French   minister   the   proposal 
gratefully  received;  he  promised 
royal  fugitive  the  continuation  o 
pension,  ordered  the  arrears   t 
immediately  discharged,  and  pai 
for  the  next  half-year  in  adi 
Charles  fixed  his  residence  at  Cc 
where  he  remained  for  almc 
years,  till  the  rupture  between! 
land  and  Spain  called  him  agail 
activity.*    After  some  previous] 


2  Both  these  parties  were  equally  ( 
of  having  the  young  duke  of  Glouc^ 
their  religion. — Clar.  Pap.  iii.  153,  la 
queen  mother  placed  him  under  the  j 
Montague,  her  almoner,  at  Pontois* 
Charles  sent  Ormond,  who  brought 
away  to  Cologne. — Clar.  Hist.  iii. 
Papers,  iii.  256—260.    Evelyn,  v.  205, 

3  Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  163,  161,  256 
298,  316  ;  Hist.  iii.  443. 

♦  8even  thousand  two  hundred  pi 
for  twelve  months'  arrears,  and  three 
sand  six  hundred  for  six  in  advance.— 
Pap.  iii.  293. 

5  While  Charles  was  at  Cologne,  h' 
surrounded  by  spies,  who  supplied  Cro: 
with  copious  information,  though  it  i 
bable  that  they  knew  little  more  tha 
public  reports  in  the  town.  On  one 
siou  the  letters  were  opened  at  the 
office,  and  a  despatch  was  found 
person  named  Manning  to  Thurloe. 
questioned  before  Charles,  Manoii 
fessed  that  he  received  an  ample] 
tenance  from  the  protector,  but  de 
himself  on  the  ground  that  he  waa 


1656.] 


ACCOUNT  OF  COLONEL  SEXEY. 


237 


on,  he  repaired  to  the  neighbour- 
i  of  Brussels,  and  offered  himself 
I  valuable  ally  to  the  Spanish 
arch.  He  had  it  in  his  power  to 
the  Enghsh  and  Irish  regiments 
he  French  service  to  his  own 
dard ;  he  possessed  numerous  ad- 
■nts  in  the  Enghsh  navy;  and, 
I  the  aid  of  money  and  ships,  he 
dd  be  able  to  contend  once  more 
;.he  crown  of  his  fathers,  and  to 
b  the  usurper  on  equal  terms 
Snglish  ground.  By  the  Spanish 
isters  the  proposal  was  entertained, 
with  their  accustomed  slowness. 
7  had  to  consult  the  cabinet  at 
Irid ;  they  were  unwilling  to  com- 
themselves  so  far  as  to  cut  off  all 
)  of  reconciliation  with  the  pro- 
)r ;  and  they  had  already  accepted 
offers  of  another  enemy  to  Crom- 
,  whose  aid,  in  the  opinion  of  Don 
izo,  the  late  ambassador,  was  pre- 
Dle  to  that  of  the  exiled  king.* 
lis  enemy  was  Colonel  Sexby. 
had  risen  from  the  ranks  to  the 
e  of  adjutant-general  in  the  par- 
entary  army  :  and  his  contempt 
anger  and  enthusiasm  for  liberty 
so  far  recommended  him  to  the 
ce  of  Cromwell,  that  the  adjutant 
occasionally  honoured  with  a 
3  in  the  councils,  and  a  share  in 
bed,  of  the  lord-general.  But 
3y  had  attached  himself  to  the 
e,  not  to  the  man ;  and  his  ad- 
ition,  as  soon  as  Cromwell  apo- 
zed  from  his  former  principles, 
converted  into  the  most  deadly 
ed.  On  the  expulsion  of  the  long 
iament,  he  joined  Wildman  and 
Levellers:  Wildman  was  appre- 
led ;  but  Sexby  eluded  the  vigi- 
e  of  the  pursuivants,  and  traversed 
country  in  disguise,  everywhere 


•ommunicate    nothing    but    what    was 

.    That  this  plea  was  true,   appeared 

.  his  despatch,  which  was  filled  with  a 

iled  account  of  a  fictitious  debate  in  the 

I  eil:   but  the  falsehoods  which  he  had 

i  to  England  had  occasioned  the  arrest 

i  imprisonment  of  several  royalists,  and 


I  distributing  pamphlets,  and  raising 
I  up  enemies  to  the  protector.  In  the 
j  month  of  May,  165.5,  he  repaired  to 
I  the  court  at  Brussels.  To  the  arch- 
j  duke  and  the  count  of  Euensaldagna, 
j  he  revealed  the  real  object  of  the  secret 
expedition  under  Venables  and  Penn ; 
and  offered  the  aid  of  the  English 
Levellers  for  the  destruction  of  a 
man,  the  common  enemy  of  the  liber- 
ties of  his  country  and  of  the  rights 
of  Spain.  They  were  a  numerous  and 
determined  band  of  patriots ;  they 
asked  no  other  aid  than  money  and 
the  co-operation  of  the  English  and 
Irish  troops  in  the  Spanish  service; 
and  they  were  ready,  for  security,  to 
deliver  a  strong  maritime  fortress  into 
the  hands  of  their  allies.  Fuensal- 
dagna  hesitated  to  give  a  positive 
answer  before  an  actual  rupture  had 
taken  place ;  and  at  his  recommenda- 
tion Sexby  proceeded  to  Madrid.  At 
first  he  was  received  with  coldness; 
but  the  news  from  Hispaniola  esta- 
blished his  credit;  the  value  of  his 
information  was  now  acknowledged; 
he  obtained  the  sum  of  forty  thousand 
crowns  for  the  use  of  his  party,  and 
an  assurance  was  given  that,  as  soon 
as  they  should  be  in  possession  of  the 
port  which  he  had  named,  six  thou- 
sand men  should  sail  from  Flanders 
to  their  assistance.  Sexby  returned 
to  Antwerp,  transmitted  several  large 
sums  to  his  adherents,  and,  though 
Cromwell  at  length  obtained  informa- 
tion of  the  intrigue,  though  the  last 
remittance  of  eight  hundred  pounds 
had  been  seized,  the  intrepid  Leveller 
crossed  over  to  England,  made  his 
arrangements  with  his  associates,  and 
returned  in  safety  to  the  continent.'^ 

It  now  became  the  object  of  the 
Spanish  ministers,  who  had,  at  last. 


Manning  was  shot  as  a  traitor  at  Duynwald, 
in  the  territory  of  the  duke  of  Neuburg. — 
Clar.  iii.  563—569.  Whitelock,  633.  Thurloe, 
iv.  293.  1  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  275,  279,  286. 

2  Clarend.  Pap.  iii.  271,  272,  274,  277,  281, 
285.  Thurloe,  iv.  698 ;  v.  37,  100,  319,  349  j 
vi.  829—833.    Carte's  Letters,  ii,  85,  103. 


238 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap. 


accepted  the  offer  of  Charles,  to  effect  j 
an  union  between  him  and  Sexby, ' 
that,  by  the  co-operation  of  the  Le- 
vellers with  the  royalists,  the  common 
enemy  might  more  easily  be  subdued. 
Sexby  declared  that  he  had  no  objec- 
tion to  a  limited  monarchy,  provided 
it  were  settled  by  a  free  parliament. 
He  believed  that  his  friends  would 
have  none;  but  he  advised  that  at 
the  commencement  of  the  attempt, 
the  royalists  should  make  no  mention 
of  the  king,  but  put  forth  as  their 
object  the  destruction  of  the  usurper 
and  the  restoration  of  pubUc  hberty. 
Charles,  on  the  other  hand,  was  wil- 
ling to  make  use  of  the  services  of 
Sexby;  but  he  did  not  beUeve  that 
his  means  were  equal  to  his  profes- 
sions, and  he  saw  reason  to  infer, 
from  the  advice  which  he  had  given, 
that  his  associates  were  enemies  to 
royalty.' 

The  negotiation  between  the  king 
and  the  Spanish  ministers  began  to 
alarm  both  Cromwell  and  Mazarin. 
The  cardinal  anticipated  the  defection 
of  the  British  and  Irish  regiments  in 
the  French  service;  the  protector 
foresaw  that  they  would  probably  be 
employed  in  a  descent  upon  England. 
It  was  resolved  to  place  the  duke  of 
York  in  opposition  to  his  brother. 
That  young  prince  had  served  with 
Ms  regiment  during  four  campaigns, 
under  the  Marshal  Turenne ;  his  pay 
as  colonel,  and  his  pension  of  six 
thousand  pistoles,  amply  provided  for 
his  wants;  and  his  bravery  in  the 
field  had  gained  him  the  esteem  of 
the  general,  and  rendered  him  the 
idol  of  his  countrymen.  Instead  of 
banishing  him,  according  to  the  secret 
article,  from  France,  Mazarin,  vnth 
the  concurrence  of  Cromwell,  offered 
him  the  appointment  of  captain- 
general  in  the  army  of  Italy.  By 
James  it  was  accepted  with  gratitude 


1  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  303,  311,  312, 315—317. 

2  Of   the    flight    of    James,    Clarendon 
makes  no  mention  in  bis  History.    He  even 


and  enthusiasm;  but  Charles  c 
manded  him  to  resign  the  office, 
to  repair  immediately  to  Bruges, 
obeyed  ;  his  departure  was  folio 
by  the  resignation  of  most  of  the 
tish  and  Irish  officers  in  the  Fre 
army;  and,  in  many  instances, 
men  followed  the  example  of  t 
leaders.  Defeated  in  this  insta 
Cromwell  and  Mazarin  had  reoo 
to  another  intrigue,  of  which 
secret  springs  are  concealed  from 
sight.  It  was  insinuated  by  some 
tended  friend  to  Don  Juan,  the 
governor  of  the  Netherlands, 
little  reliance  was  to  be  placed 
James,  who  was  sincerely  attache 
France,  and  governed  by  Sir  J 
Berkeley,  the  secret  agent  of  the  Frt 
court,  and  the  known  enemy  of  E 
and  his  party.  In  consequence, 
real  command  of  the  royal  iorces 
given  to  Marsin,  a  foreigner ;  an  < 
of  fidelity  to  Spain  was,  with  the  ■ 
sent  of  Charles,  exacted  from 
officers  and  soldiers;  and  in  a 
days  James  was  first  requested 
then  commanded  by  his  brothe: 
dismiss  Berkeley.  The  young  pr 
did  not  refuse;  but  he  immedie 
followed  Berkeley  into  Holland, ' 
the  intention  of  passing  through  < 
many  into  France.  His  depar 
was  hailed  with  joy  by  Cromwell, 
wrote  a  congratulatory  letter  to 
zarin  on  the  success  of  this  intrij 
it  was  an  object  of  dismay  to  Cha 
who  by  messengers  entreated 
commanded  James  to  return. 
Breda,  the  prince  appeared  to  1 
tate.  He  soon  afterwards  retr 
his  steps  to  Bruges,  on  a  promise 
the  past  should  be  forgotten ;  Be 
ley  followed ;  and  the  triumph  o( 
fugitives  was  completed  by  the 
vation  of  the  obnoxious  favour! 
the  peerage.'* 
We  may  now  return  to  Engl 


seeks  to  persuade  his  reader  that  the 
was  compelled  to  leave  France  in  c 
quence  of  the  secret  article  (iii.  610, 


;57.]     PROGRESS  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 


239 


the  Spanish  war  had  excited 
1  discontent.  By  the  friends  of 
iTimon wealth  Spain  was  consi- 
is  theirmost  ancient  and  faithful 
he  merchants  complained  that 
ide  with  that  country,  one  of  the 
lucrative  branches  of  British 
amerce,  was  taken  out  of  their 
ids  and  given  to  their  rivals  in 
>lland :  and  the  saints  believed  that 
failure  of  the  expedition  to  His- 
liola  was  a  sufficient  proof  that 
:aven  condemned  this  breach  of  the 
ity  between  the  two  states.  It  was 
Uttle  purpose  that  Cromwell,  to 
dicate  his  conduct,  published  a 
nifesto,  in  which  having  enume- 
ed  many  real  or  pretended  injuries 
ibarbarities  inflicted  on  Englishmen 
the  Spaniards  in  the  "West  Indies, 
contended  that  the  war  was  just, 
1  honourable,  and  necessary.  His 
mies,  royalists,  Levellers,  Anabap- 
s,  and  republicans,  of  every  descrip- 
a,  did  not  suflfer  the  clamour  against 
.1  to  subside ;  and,  to  his  surprise,  a 
uest  was  made  by  some  of  the  cap- 
is  of  another  fleet  collected  at 
rtsmouth,  to  be  informed  of  the 
ect  of  the  expedition.  If  it  were 
tined  against  Spain,  their  con- 
mces  would  compel  them  to  de- 
the  service.  Spain  was  not  the 
mding  party ;  for  the  instances  of 
;ression  enumerated  in  the  mani- 
X)  were  well  known  to  have  been  no 
re  than  acts  of  self-defence  against 
depredations  and  encroachments 
English  adventurers.*  To  suppress 
s  dangerous  spirit,  Desborough  has- 


)««,  iii.  Sapplement,  badx.),  thongh  it 
lain  from  the  Memoirs  of  James,  that  he 

unwillingly,  in  obedience  to  the  absolute 
unand  of  his  brother. — James,  i.  270. 
rendon  makes  the  enmity  between  him- 

and  Berkeley  arise  from  his  opposition 
'  Berkeley's  claim  to  the  mastership  of  the 
irt  of  Wards  (Hist.  440 ;  Papers,  ibid.) ; 
Qes,  from  Clarendon's  iadviee  to  Lady 
rton  to  reject  Berkeley's  proposal  of 
rrisee.— James,  i.  273.  That  the  removal 
Berkeley  originated  with  Mazarin,  and 
required  by  Fuensaldagna,    who  em- 


tened  to  Portsmouth :  some  of  the 
officers  resigned  their  commissions, 
others  were  superseded,  and  the  fleet 
at  length  sailed  under  the  joint  com- 
mand of  Blake  and  Montague,  of 
whom  the  latter  possessed  the  pro- 
tector's confidence,  and  was  probably 
employed  as  a  spy  on  the  conduct 
of  his  colleague.  Their  destination 
in  the  first  place  was  Cadiz,  to  destroy 
the  shipping  in  the  harbour,  and  to 
make  an  attempt  on  that  city,  or  the 
rock  of  Gibraltar.  On  their  arrival, 
they  called  a  council  of  war ;  but  no 
pilot  could  be  found  hardy  or  con- 
fident enough  to  guide  the  fleet 
through  the  winding  channel  of  the 
Caraccas;  and  the  defences  of  both 
Cadiz  and  Gibraltar  presented  too 
formidable  an  aspect  to  allow  a  hope 
of  success  without  the  co-operation  of 
a  military  force.*  Abandoning  the 
attempt,  the  two  admirals  proceeded 
to  Lisbon,  and  extorted  from  the  king 
of  Portugal  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  formerly  concluded  by  his  am- 
bassador, with  the  payment  of  the 
stipulated  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
pounds.  Thence  they  returned  to 
Cadiz,  passed  the  straits,  insulted  the 
Spaniards  in  Malaga,  the  Moors  in 
Sallee,  and  after  a  fruitless  cruise  of 
more  than  two  months,  anchored  a 
second  time  in  the  Tagus.^  It  hap- 
pened, that  just  after  their  arrival 
Captain  Stayner,  with  a  squadron  of 
frigates,  fell  in  with  the  Spanish  fleet 
of  eight  sail  from  America.  Of  these 
he  destroyed  four,  and  captured  two, 
one  of  which  was  laden  with  trea- 


ployed  Lord  Bristol  and  Bennet  for  that  pur- 
pose, appears  from  Cromwell's  letter  to  the 
cardinal  (Thurloe,  v.  736)  ;  Bristol's  letter 
to  the  king  (Clar.  Papers,  iii.  318),  and  Cla- 
rendon's account  of  Berkeley  (ibid.  Supple- 
ment, Irxir.)-  See  also  ibid.  317—324;  and 
the  Memoirs  of  James,  i.  266—293. 

1  Thurloe,  iv.  571.    See  also  582,  589,  594, 
Carte's  Letters,  ii.  87, 90,  92,  95. 

2  Thurloe,  v.  67,  133. 

3  Ibid.  i.  726-730;  v.  68,  113,  257,  286, 
Vaughan,  i.  446. 


240 


THE  PEOTECTORATE. 


[CHAP."\ 


sure.  Montague,  who  came  home 
with  the  prize,  valued  it  in  his  de- 
spatch at  two  hundred  thousand 
pounds;  the  pubhc  prints  at  two 
millions  of  ducats ;  and  the  friends  of 
Cromwell  hailed  the  event  "as  a 
renewed  testimony  of  God's  presence, 
and  some  witness  of  his  acceptance  of 
the  engagement  against  Spain."' 

The  equipment  of  this  fleet  had 
exhausted  the  treasury,  and  the  pro- 
tector dared  not  impose  additional 
taxes  on  the  country  at  a  time  when 
his  right  to  levy  the  ordinary  revenue 
was  disputed  in  the  courts  of  law. 
On  the  ground  that  the  parliamentary 
grants  were  expired,  Sir  Peter  TVent- 
worth  had  refused  to  pay  the  assess- 
ment in  the  country,  and  Coney,  a 
merchant,  the  duties  on  imports  in 
London.  The  commissioners  imposed 
fines,  and  distrained;  the  aggrieved 
brought  actions  against  the  collectors. 
Cromwell,  indeed,  was  able  to  sup- 
press these  proceedings  by  imprisoning 
the  counsel  and  intimidating  their 
clients;  but  the  example  was  dan- 
gerous; the  want  of  money  daily 
increased ;  and,  by  the  advice  of  the 
council,  he  consented  to  call  a  par- 
liament to  meet  on  the  1/th  of  Sep- 
tember.^ 

The  result  of  the  elections  revealed 
to  him  the  alarming  secret,  that  the 
antipathy  to  his  government  was 
more  deeply  rooted,  and  more  widely 
spread,  than  he  had  previously  ima- 


1  Thurloe,  399,  433,  509,  524.  Carte's 
Letters,  ii.  114.  It  appears  from  a  letter  of 
Colonel  White,  that  the  silver  in  pigs 
weighed  something  more  than  forty  thou- 
sand pounds,  to  which  were  to  be  added 
some  chests  of  wrought  plate. — Thnrloe, 
642.  Thurloe  himself  says  all  was  plundered 
to  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds,  or  three  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling  (557).  The  ducat  was  worth  nine 
shillings. 

'■^  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  96,  103, 109.  Ludlow, 
-ii.  80,  82.  Clar.  Hist.  iii.  649.  See  also  A 
Narrative  of  the  Proceedings  in  the  Case  of 
Mr.  G.  Coney,  hj  8.  Selwood,  gent.  1655. 
The  Jews  had  onered  Cromwell  a  consider- 
able sum  for  permission  to  settle  and  trade 


gined.      In   Scotland    and    Irela 
indeed,    the    electors    obsequiov 
chose  the  members  recommended 
the   council;   but   these  were   c 
quered  countries,  bending  under 
yoke    of    military    despotism. 
England,  the  whole  nation  was  i; 
ferment;    pamphlets   were    clanc 
tinely  circulated,  calling  on  the  e 
tors  to  make  a  last  struggle  in  defe 
of  their  liberties  ;  and  though  Yi 
Ludlow,  and  Eich  were  taken  i 
custody; 3   though  other  repubh 
leaders   were   excluded   by  crim: 
prosecutions,  though   the  Cavali 
the  Cathohcs,  and  all  who  had 
glected  to  aid  the  cause  of  the  par 
ment,  were  disqualified  from  vol 
by  "the  instrument ;"  though  a  d 
tary  force  was  employed  in  Lon 
to  overawe  the  proceedings,  and 
whole  influence  of  the  governn 
and  of  the  army  was  openly  exei 
in  the  country,  yet  in  several  co 
ties  the  court  candidates  were  wh( 
and  in  most,  partially,  rejected.    ; 
Cromwell  was   aware   of  the  ej 
which  he  had  committed  in  the, 
parliament.    He  resolved  that  i 
of  his  avowed  opponents  shouU 
allowed  to  take  possession  of  t 
seats.    The  returns  were  laid  bq 
the  council;  the  majors-general 
ceived  orders  to  inquire  into  the  i 
tical  and  religious  characters  of 
elected ;  the  reports  of  these  offi«i 
were  carefully  examined ;  and  a  - 


in  England.   Commissioners  were  appoli 
to  confer  with  their  agent  Manasseh 
Israel,  and  a  council  of  divines  was 
suited  respecting  the  lawfulness  of  the 
ject.     The  opposition  of  the  merchants 
theologians   induced    him   to    pause; 
Mr.  Ellis  has  shown  that  he  afterwards 
them  silently  under  his  protection. — Coi 
Book,   14th  Nov.,  1655.    Thurloe,  iv. 
388.     Bates,  371.    Ellis,  iv.  2.    Marten 
made  an  ineffectual  attempt  in  their  fa 
at  the  commencement  of  the  commonwe; 
—Wood's  Atheu.  Oi.  iii.  1239. 


3  The  proceedings  on  these  occasionfl 
be  seen  in  Ludlow,  ii.  116 — 123 
Trials,  v.  791. 


asions  d 
andSl 

m 


i.P.1657.] 


SPEECH  OP  THE  PEOTECTOE. 


241 


ivas  made  of  nearly  one  hundred  per- 
»ns  to  be  excluded  under  the  pretext 
)f  immorality  or  delinquency.' 

On   the   appointed  day,  the  pro- 

ector,  after  divine  service,  addressed 

he   new   "representatives"   in   the 

Painted  Chamber.     His  real  object 

vas  to  procure  money  ;  and  with  this 

'iew  he  sought  to  excite  their  alarm, 

,nd  to  inflame  their  religious  anti- 

)athies.   He  enumerated  the  enemies 

f  the  nation.     The  first  was   the 

jpaniard,  the  natural   adversary  of 

England,  because  he  was  the  slave  of 

be  pope,  a  child  of  darkness,  and 

onsequently    hostile   to   the    light, 

linded  by  superstition,  and  anxious 

3  put  down  the  things  of  God ;  one 

dth  whom  it  was  impossible  to  be  at 

eace,  and  to  whom,  in  relation  to 

Qis  country,  might  be  applied  the 

ords    of    Scripture,    "  I   will   put 

amity  between  thy   seed  and  her 

}ed."   There  was  also  Charles  Stuart, 

ho,  with  the  aid  of  the  Spaniard  and 

le  duke  of  Neuburg,  had  raised  a 

)rmidable  army  for  the  invasion  of 

le  island.    There  were  the  papists 

ad  Cavaliers,  who  had  already  risen, 

ad  were  again  ready  to  rise  in  favour 

r  Charles  Stuart.     There  were  the 

levellers,  who  had  sent  an  agent  to 

le  court  of  Madrid,  and  the  Fifth- 

lonarchy-men,  who  sought  an  union 

ith  the  Levellers  against  him,  "a 

^conciliation   between    Herod   and 

ilate,  that  Christ  might  be  put  to 

jath."     The   remedies— though   in 

lis  part  of  his  speech  he  digressed  so 

^equently  as  to  appear  loth  to  come 

»  the  remedies— were,  to  prosecute 


the  war  abroad,  and  strengthen  the 
hands  of  the  government  at  home ;  to 
lo^e  no  time  in  questions  of  inferior 
moment,  or  less  urgent  necessity,  but 
to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  re- 
venue, and  to  raise  ample  supplies. 
In  conclusion,  he  explained  the 
eighty-fifth  psalm,  exclaiming,  "  If 
pope  and  Spaniard,  and  devil,  and  all 
set  themselves  against  us,  though  they 
should  compass  us  about  like  bees, 
yet  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  we  shall 
destroy  them.  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
with  us,  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our 
refuge."  2 

From  the  Painted  Chamber  the 
members  proceeded  to  the  house.  A 
military  guard  was  stationed  at  the 
door,  and  a  certificate  from  the  coun- 
cil was  required  from  each  individual 
previously  to  his  admission.^  The 
excluded  members  complained  by 
letter  of  this  breach  of  parliamentary 
privilege.  A  strong  feeling  of  disap- 
probation was  manifested  in  several 
parts  of  the  house ;  the  clerk  of  the 
commonwealth  in  Chancery  received 
orders  to  lay  all  the  returns  on  the 
table ;  and  the  council  was  requested 
to  state  the  grounds  of  this  novel  and 
partial  proceeding.  Fiennes,  one  of 
the  commissioners  of  the  great  seal, 
replied  that  the  duty  of  inquiry  into 
the  qualifications  of  the  members  was, 
by  the  "instrument,"  vested  in  the 
lords  of  the  council,  who  had  dis- 
charged that  trust  according  to  the 
best  of  their  judgment.  An  animated 
debate  followed ;  that  such  was  the 
provision  in  "  the  instrument "  could  ( 
not  be  denied  ;*  but  that  the  council 


1  Thorloe,  v.  269,  317,  328,  329,  337,  341, 
3,  349,  424. 

*  Introduction  to  Burton's  Diary,  cxlviii. 
cixxix.  Journala,  Sept.  17.  THurloe,  v. 
.7.  That  the  king's  army,  which  Cromwell 
i:aggerated  to  the  amount  of  eight  thou- 
i.na  men,  did  not  reach  to  more  than  one 
oosand,  is  twice  asserted  by  Thurloe 
mself,  605,  672. 

f  The  certificates  which  had  been  dis- 
iboted  to  the  favoured  members  were  in 
is  form :— "  Sept.  17,   1656,     County   of 


.    These  are  to  certify  that  A.B.is 

returned  by  indenture  one  of  the  knights  to 
serve  in  this  parliament  for  the  said  county, 
and  is  approved  by  his  highness's  council. 
Nath.  Taylor,  clerk  of  the  commonwealth  in 
Chancery." 

*  In  the  draft  of  the  "  instrnment,"  as  it 
was  amended  in  the  last  parliament,  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  council  in  this  matter 
was  confined  to  the  charge  of  delinquency, 
and  its  decision  was  not  final,  but  subject 
to  the  approbation  of  the  house.— Journals, 
E 


242 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap.  V 


should  decide  on  secret  information, 
and  without  the  knowledge  of  the  in- 
dividuals who  were  interested,  seemed 
contrary  to  the  first  principles  of 
justice.  The  court,  however,  could 
now  command  the  votes  of  the  ma- 
jority, and  a  motion  that  the  house 
should  pass  to  the  business  of  the 
nation  was  carried  by  dint  of  num- 
bers. Several  members,  to  show  their 
disapprobation,  voluntarily  seceded, 
and  those,  who  had  been  excluded  by 
force,  published  in  bold  and  indig- 
nant language  an  appeal  to  the  justice 
of  the  people.' 

Having  weeded  out  his  enemies, 
Cromwell  had  no  reason  to  fear  oppo- 
sition to  his  pleasure.  The  house 
passed  a  resolution  declaratory  of  the 
justice  and  policy  of  the  war  against 
Spain,  and  two  acts,  by  one  of  which 
were  annulled  all  claims  of  Charles 
Stuart  and  his  family  to  the  crown, 
by  the  other  were  provided  additional 
safeguards  for  the  person  of  the  chief 
governor.  With  the  same  unanimity, 
a  supply  of  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds  was  voted;  but  when  the 
means  of  raising  the  money  came 
under  consideration,  a  great  diversity 
of  opinion  prevailed.  Some  proposed 
to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the 
treasury,  some  to  adopt  improvements 
in  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  others 
recommended  an  augmentation  of 
the  excise,  and  others  a  more  econo- 
mical system  of  expenditure.  In  the 
discussion  of  these  questions  and  of 
private  bills,  week  after  week,  month 
after  month,  was  tediously  and  fruit- 
lessly consumed;  though  the  time 
limited  by  the  instrument  was  past, 
still  the  money  bill  had  made  no  pro- 
I ;  and,  to  add  to  the  impatience 


1654,  Nov.  29.      Bat  that  draft  had  not 
received  the  protector's  assent. 

1  The  nature  of  the  charges  against  the 
members  may  be  seen  in  Thurloe,  v.  371, 
383.  In  the  Journals,  seventy-nine  names 
only  are  mentioned  (Journals,  1656, 
Sept.  19),  but  ninety<eight  are  affixed  to 


of  Cromwell,  a  new  subject  v 
accidentally  introduced,  which,  a- 
strongly  interested  the  passions,  a 
sorbed  for  some  time  the  attention 
the  house.- 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  George  F( 
the  son  of  a  weaver  at  Drayton,  wi 
a  mind  open  to  religious  impressioi 
had  accompanied  some  of  his  frien 
to  a  neighbouring  fair.     The  noi 
the  revelry,  and  the  dissipation  whi 
he  witnessed,  led  him  to  thoughts 
seriousness   and    self-reproach ;'  a 
the  enthusiast  heard,  or  persuad 
himself  that   he   heard,  an  inwa 
voice,  calling  on  him  to  forsake  I 
parents'  house,  and  to  make  himsel 
stranger  in  his  own  country.    Doc 
to  the  celestial  admonition,  he  beg 
to  lead  a  soUtary  life,  wandering  frr 
place  to  place,  and  clothed  from  ht 
to  foot  in  garments  of  leather.  He  rt 
the  Scriptures  attentively,  studied  t 
mysterious  visions  in  the  Apocalyp 
and  was  instructed  in  the  real  m< 
ing  by  Christ   and  the  Spirit, 
first,  doubts  and  fears  haunted 
mind,  but  when  the  time  of  trial 
past,  he  found  himself  inebriated  i 
spiritual   deUghts,   and  received 
assurance  that  his  name  was  wri 
in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life.    At 
same  time,  he  was  forbidden  by 
Lord  to  employ  the  plural  pron 
you  in  addressing  a  single  person 
bid  his  neighbour  good  even  or  gc 
morrow,  or  to  uncover  the  head, 
scrape  with  the  leg  to  any  mor 
being.    At  length,  the  Spirit  mo^ 
him  to  impart  to  others  the  heavei 
doctrines  which  he  had  learned. 
1G47,  he  preached  for  the  first  ti 
at  Duckenfield,  not  far  from  Mj 
Chester;  but  the  most  fruitful  sa 


the  appeal  in  Whitelock,  651—653.  In  b 
lists  occur  the  names  of  Anthony 
Cooper,  who  afterwards  became  Crom* 
intimate  adviser,  and  of  several  others! 
subsequently  solicited  and  obtained  i 
tiiicates.  ' 

*  Journals,  passim ;  Thurloe,  v.  472,1 
52 1,  684, 672,  694.    See  Appendix, 


.D.  1657.] 


JAMES  NAYLOR. 


243 


f  his  labours  was  at  Swarthmoor, 
ear  Ulverston.  His  disciples  fol- 
)wed  his  example ;  the  word  of  the 
pirit  was  given  to  women  as  well  as 
len;  and  the  preachers  of  both 
3xes,  as  well  as  many  of  their  follow- 
rs,  attracted  the  notice  and  the  cen- 
ires  of  the  civil  magistrate.  Their 
3fusal  to  uncover  before  the  bench 
as  usually  punished  with  a  fine,  on 
18  ground  of  contempt ;  their  reli- 
ious  objection  to  take  an  oath,  or  to 
ay  tithes,  exposed  them  to  protracted 
eriods  of  imprisonment;  and  they 
ere  often  and  severely  whipped  as 
agrants,  because,  for  the  purpose  of 
reaching,  they  were  accustomed  to 
ander  through  the  country.  To 
lese  suflFerings,  as  is  always  tlae  case 
ith  persecuted  sects,  calumny  was 
ided ;  and  they  were  falsely  charged 
ith  denying  the  Trinity,  with  dis- 
wuing  the  authority  of  government, 
Qd  with  attempting  to  debauch  the 
delity  of  the  soldiers.  Still,  in  de- 
ance  of  punishment  and  calumny, 
le  Quakers,  so  they  were  called,  per- 
ivered  in  their  profession;  it  was 
leir  duty,  they  maintained,  to  obey 
le  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and 
ley  submitted  with  the  most  edify- 
ig  resignation  to  the  consequences, 
owever  painful  they  might  be  to 
8sh  and  blood.' 

Of  the  severities  so  wantonly  exer- 
ised  against  these  religionists  it  is 
iflScult  to  speak  with  temper ;  yet  it 
lust  be  confessed  that  their  doctrine 
f  spiritual  impulses  was  likely  to 
iad  its  disciples  of  either  sex,  whose 


1  Fox,  Journal,  i.  29,  et  seq,;  Sewel,  i.  24, 
1, 34,  passim. 

*  "  William  Simpsoa  was  moved  of  the 
ord  to  go  at  several  times,  for  three  years, 
^aked  and  barefoot  before  them,  as  a  sign 
ato  them  in  markets,  courts,  towns,  cities, 
>  priests'  houses,  and  to  great  men's 
oosea  ;  so  shall  they  all  be  stripped  naked 
1  lie  was  stripped  naked.  And  sometimes 
e  was  moved  to  put  on  hair  sackcloth,  and 
)  besmear  his  face,  and  to  tell  them  so 
oold  the  Lord  besmear  all  their  religion, 
3  he  was  besmeared.    Great  sufferings  did 


minds  were  weak  and  imaginations 
active,  to  extravagances  at  the  same 
time  ludicrous  and  revolting.^  Of 
this,  James  Naylor  furnished  a  strik- 
ing instance.  He  had  served  in  the 
army,  and  had  been  quarter-master 
in  Lambert's  troop,  from  which  office 
he  was  discharged  on  account  of 
sickness.3  He  afterwards  became  a 
disciple  of  George  Fox,  and  a  leading 
preacher  in  the  capital;  but  he 
"despised  the  power  of  God"  in  his 
master,  by  whom  he  was  reprimanded, 
and  listened  to  the  delusive  flattery 
of  some  among  his  female  hearers, 
who  were  so  captivated  with  his 
manner  and  appearance,  as  to  per- 
suade themselves  that  Christ  was 
incorporated  in  the  new  apostle.  It 
was  not  for  him  to  gainsay  what 
the  Spirit  had  revealed  to  them.  He 
believed  himself  to  be  set  as  a  sign  of 
the  coming  of  Christ :  and  he  accepted 
the  worship  which  was  paid  to  him, 
not  as  ofiered  to  James  Naylor,  but 
to  Christ  dwelling  in  James  Naylor. 
Under  this  impression,  during  part  of 
his  progress  to  Bristol,  and  at  his 
entrance  into  that  city,  he  rode  on 
horseback  with  a  man  walking  bare- 
headed before  him,  two  females  hold- 
ing his  bridle  on  each  side,  and  others 
attending  him,  one  of  whom,  Dorcas 
Erbury,  maintained  that  he  had 
raised  her  to  life  after  she  had  been 
dead  the  space  of  two  days.  These 
occasionally  threw  scarfs  and  hand- 
kerchiefs before  him,  and  sang,  "Holy, 
holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts : 
Hosanna  in  the  highest;  holy,  holy. 


that  poor  man  undergo,  sore  whipping  with 
horsewhips  and  coachwhips  on  his  bar© 
body,  grievous  stonings  and  imprisonments 
in  three  years  time  before  the  king  came  in, 
that  they  might  have  taken  warning,  but 
they  would  not." — Fox,  Journal,  i.  572. 

3  Lambert  spoke  of  him  with  kindness 
during  the  debate  :  "  He  was  two  years  my 
quarter-master,  and  a  very  useful  person. 
We  parted  with  him  with  very  great  regret. 
He  was  a  man  of  very  unblameable  life  and 
conversation." — Burton's  Diary,  i.  33. 
£  2 


244 


THE  PEOTECTORATE. 


[chap.  VI 


holy,  is  the  Lord  God  of  Israel." 
They  were  apprehended  by  the  mayor, 
and  sent  to  London  to  be  examined 
by  a  committee  of  the  parUament. 
The  house,  having  heard  the  report 
of  the  committee,  voted  that  Naylor 
vras  guilty  of  blasphemy.  The  next 
consideration  was  his  punishment; 
the  more  zealous  moved  that  he 
should  be  put  to  death ;  but  after  a 
debate  which  continued  during  eleven 
days,  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  divi- 
sion of  ninety-six  to  eighty-two.  Yet 
the  punishment  to  which  he  was 
doomed  ought  to  have  satisfied  the 
most  bigoted  of  his  adversaries.  He 
stood  with  his  neck  in  the  pillory  for 
two  hours,  and  was  whipped  from 
Palace  Yard  to  the  Old  Exchange, 
receiving  three  hundred  and  ten 
lashes  in  the  way.  Some  days  later 
he  was  again  placed  in  the  pillory; 
and  the  letter  B  for  blasphemer  was 
burnt  on  his  forehead,  and  his  tongue 
was  bored  with  a  red-hot  iron.'  From 
London  the  house  ordered  him  to  be 
conducted  to  Bristol,  the  place  of  his 
offence.  He  entered  at  Lamford's 
Gate,  riding  on  the  bare  back-  of  a 
horse  with  his  face  to  the  tail ;  dis- 
mounted at  Rockley  Gate,  and  was 
successively  whipped  in  five  parts  of 
the  city.  His  admirers,  however, 
were  not  ashamed  of  the  martyr.  On 
every  occasion  they  attended  him 
bareheaded ;  they  kissed  and  sucked 
his  wounds;  and  they  chanted  with 
him  passages  from  the  Scriptures. 
On  his  return  to  London,  he  was 
committed  to  solitary  confinement, 
without  pen,  ink,  or  paper,  or  fire,  or 
candle,  and  with  no  other  sustenance 
than  what  he  might  earn  by  his  own 
industry.  Here  the  delusion  under 
which   he  laboured   gradually  wore 


^  "  This  day  I  and  B.  went  to  see  Naylor's 
tongue  bored  through,  and  him  marked  on 
the  forehead.  He  put  out  his  tongue  very 
■willingly,* but  shrinked  a  little  when  the  iron 
came  upon  his  forehead.  He  was  pale  when 
be  came  out  of  the  pillory,  but  high-coloured 
after  tongue-boring.    He  behaved  himself 


away ;  he  acknowledged  that  his  mii 
had  been  in  darkness,  the  cons 
quence  and  punishment  of  spiritu 
pride;  and  declared  that,  inasmu* 
as  he  had  given  advantage  to  the  c 
spirit,  he  took  shame  to  himself.  1 
"  the  rump  parliament "  he  was  afte 
wards  discharged ;  and  the  society 
Friends,  by  whom  he  had  been  d 
owned,  admitted  him  again  on  pre 
of  his  repentance.  But  his  sufferin 
had  injured  his  health.  In  1660 
was  found  in  a  dying  state  in 
field  in  Huntingdonshire,  and  short 
afterwards  expired.^ 

While  the  parliament  thus  spe 
its  time   in   the   prosecution  of 
offence  which  concerned  it  not,  Cro) 
well  anxiously  revolved  in  his  o^ 
mind  a  secret   project   of  the  fi 
importance  to  himself  and  the  cou 
try.    To   his   ambition,   it  was  i 
sufficient  that  he  actually  posses. 
the  supreme  authority,  and  exefcii 
it  with  more  despotic  sway  than 
of  his  legitimate  predecessors ;  he 
sought  to  mount  a  step  higher 
encircle  his  brows  with  a  diadem, 
to  be  addressed   with  the   title 
majesty.    It  could  not  be,  that  va 
alone   induced   him   to   hazard 
attachment  of  his  friends  for  the  i 
of  mere  parade  and  empty  sound, 
had  rendered  the  more  modest  titl 
protector  as  great  and  as  formidi 
as  that  of  king,  and,  though  uncrown 
had  treated  on  a  footing  of  equal 
with  the   proudest  of  the  crowi 
heads  in  Europe.     It  is  more  p 
bable  that  he  was  led  by  conside 
tions  of  interest.    He  knew  that 
nation  was  weary  of  change :  he  & 
with  what  partiality  men  contini 
to  cling  to  the  old  institutions ;  a 
he,  perhaps,  trusted  that  the  e? 


very  handsomely  and  patiently"  (p. 
Burton's  Diary,  where  the  report  of  i 
debates  on    Kaylor    occupies    almost 
hundred  and  forty  pages). 

2  Journals,   Dec.   6—17;    1659,   Sej 
Sewell,  260—273,  283,  293.    State  Tr 
810—842.    Merc.  Polit.  No.  34. 


LJ).  165/.]    CEOMWELL'S  MESSAGE  TO  PARLIAMENT. 


245 


Dlishment  of  an  hereditary  monarchy, 
^vith  a  house  of  peers,  though  under  a 
aew  dynasty,  and  with  various  modi- 
ications,  might  secure  the  possession 
)f  the  crown,  not  only  to  himself,  but 
ilso  to  his  posterity.  However  that 
nay  be,  he  now  made  the  acquisition 
)f  the  kingly  dignity  the  object  of  his 
ioUcy.  For  this  purpose  he  consulted 
irst  with  Thurloe,  and  afterwards 
vith  St.  John  and  Pierpoint ; '  and 
he  manner  in  which  he  laboured  to 
^tify  his  ambition  strikingly  dis- 
)lays  that  deep  dissimulation  and 
labitual  hypocrisy,  which  form  the 
listinguishing  traits  of  his  character. 
The  first  opportunity  of  preparing 
he  pubho  mind  for  this  important 
•Iteration  was  furnished  by  the  recent 
)roceedings  against  Naylor,  which 
lad  provoked  considerable  discontent, 
lot  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the 
lunishment  (for  rigid  notions  of  reli- 
ion  had  subdued  the  common  feel- 
Qgs  of  humanity),  but  on  account  of 
he  judicial  authority  exercised  by 
he  house — an  authority  which  ap- 
eared  subversive  of  the  national 
.berties,  Eor  of  what  use  was  the 
ight  of  trial,  if  the  parliament  could 
3t  aside  the  ordinary  courts  of  law  at 
:s  pleasure,  and  inflict  arbitrary 
unishment  for  any  supposed  offence, 
dthout  the  usual  forms  of  inquiry  ? 
is  long  as  the  question  was  before  the 
ouse,  Cromwell  remained  silent; 
ut  when  the  first  part  of  the  judg- 
aent  had  been  executed  on  the  un- 
ortunate  sufferer,  he  came  forward 
1  quality  of  guardian  of  the  public 
ights,  and  concluded  a  letter  to  the 
oeaker  with  these  words :  "  We, 
eing  intrusted  in  the  present  govern- 
lent  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  these 
ations,  and  not  knowing  how  far 
ich  proceedings  (wholly  without  us) 
lay  extend  in  the  consequences  of  it, 
0  desire  that  the  house  will  let  us 


1  Thurloe,  V.  694;  Ti.  20,  37. 


know  the  ground  and  reason  where- 
upon they  have  proceeded."  This 
message  struck  the  members  with 
amazement.  Few  among  them  were 
wilhng  to  acknowledge  that  they  had 
exceeded  their  real  authority ;  all 
dreaded  to  enter  into  a  contest  with 
the  protector.  The  discussion  lasted 
three  days ;  every  expedient  that  had 
been  suggested  was  ultimately  re- 
jected :  and  the  debate  was  adjourned 
to  a  future  day,  when,  with  the  secret 
connivance  of  Cromwell,  no  motion 
was  made  to  resume  it.^  He  had 
already  obtained  his  object.  The 
thoughts  of  men  had  been  directed 
to  tlae  defects  of  the  existing  con- 
stitution, and  to  the  necessity  of 
establishing  checks  on  the  authority 
of  the  house,  similar  to  those  which 
existed  under  the  ancient  govern- 
ment. 

In  a  few  days  a  bill  was  introduced 
which,  under  the  pretence  of  pro- 
viding money  for  the  support  of  the 
militia,  sought  to  confirm  the  past  pro- 
ceedings of  the  majors-general,  and 
to  invest  them  with  legal  authority 
for  the  future.  The  protector  was 
aware  that  the  country  longed  to  be 
emancipated  from  the  control  of  these 
military  governors;  for  the  attain- 
ment of  his  great  object  it  was  his 
interest  to  stand  well  with  all  classes 
of  people ;  and,  therefore,  though  he 
was  the  author  of  this  unpopular 
institution,  though  in  his  speech  at 
the  opening  of  the  parliament  he  had 
been  eloquent  in  its  praise,  though  he 
had  declared  that,  after  his  experi- 
ence of  its  utility,  "  if  the  thing  were 
undone,  he  would  do  it  again ; "  he 
now  not  only  abandoned  the  majors- 
general  to  their  fate,  he  even  in- 
structed his  dependants  in  the  house 
to  lead  the  opposition  against  them. 
As  soon  as  the  bill  was  read  a  first 
time,  his  son-in-law,  Claypole,  who 


2  Burton's  Diary,  i.  246- 
270-282,  296. 


3,  260-264, 


246 


THE  PEOTECTORATE. 


[CHA.P.  VI 


seldom  spoke,  rose  to  express  his  dis- 
sent, and  was  followed  by  the  Lord 
Broghill,  known  as  the  confidential 
counsellor  of  the  protector.  The 
decimation-tax  was  denounced  as  un- 
jtist,  because  it  was  a  violation  of  the 
act  of  oblivion,  and  the  conduct  of 
the  majors-general  was  compared  to 
the  tyranny  of  the  Turkish  bashaws. 
These  officers  defended  themselves 
irith  spirit;  their  adversaries  had 
recourse  to  personal  crimination ; ' 
and  the  debate,  by  successive  adjourn- 
ments, occupied  the  attention  of  the 
house  during  eleven  days.  In  con- 
clusion, the  bill  was  rejected  by  a 
numerous  majority ;  and  the  majors- 
general,  by  the  desertion  of  Cromwell, 
found  themselves  exposed  to  actions  at 
law  for  the  exercise  of  those  powers 
which  they  had  accepted  in  obedience 
to  his  command.'^ 

While  this  question  was  still  pend- 
ing, it  chanced  that  a  plot  against  the 
protector's  life,  of  which  the  parti- 
culars will  be  subsequently  noticed, 
was  discovered  and  defeated.  The 
circumstance  furnished  an  oppor- 
tunity favourable  to  his  views;  and 
the  re-establishment  of  "  kingship " 
was  mentioned  in  the  house,  not  as  a 
project  originating  from  him,  but  as 
the  accidental  and  spontaneous  sug- 
gestion of  others.  Goflfe  having  ex- 
pressed a  hope  that  parliament  would 
provide  for  the  preservation  of  the 
protector's  person,  Ashe,  the  member 
for  Somersetshire  exclaimed,  "J  would 
add  something  more — that  he  would 
be  pleased  to  take  upon  him  the  go- 
vernment according  to  the  ancient 
constitution.    That  would  put  an  end 


i  Among  others,  Harry  Cromwell,  the 
protector's  nephew,  said  he  was  ready  to 
name  some  among  the  majors  general  who 
had  acted  oppressively.  It  was  supposed 
that  these  words  would  bring  him  into  dis- 
grace at  court.  "  But  Harry,"  says  a  pri- 
vate letter,  "  goes  last  night  to  his  highness, 
and  stands  to  what  he  had  said  manfully 
Aod  wisely;  and,  to  make  it  appear  he 
spake  not  without  book,  had  his  black  book 


to  these  plots,  and  fix  our  libertii 
and  his  safety  on  an  old  and  su] 
foundation."  The  house  was  take 
by  surprise  :  many  reprehended  tl 
temerity  of  the  speaker ;  by  many  h 
suggestion  was  applauded  and  a] 
proved.  He  had  thrown  it  out  to  ti 
the  temper  of  his  colleagues :  and  tl: 
conversation  which  it  provoke 
served  to  point  out  to  Cromwell  tl 
individuals  from  whom  he  might  e: 
pect  to  meet  with  opposition.' 

The  detection   of  the  conspira* 
was  followed  by  an  address  of  congr 
tulation  to  the  protector,  who  on  b 
part  gave  to  the  members  a  prince 
entertainment    at    Whitehall.      ^ 
their  next  meeting  the  question  w 
regularly   brought   before   them  " 
Alderman  Pack,  who  boldly  unde 
took  a  task   which  the  timidity 
Whitelock  had  declined.    Eising 
his  place,  he  offered  to  the  housf 
paper,  of  which  he   gave  no  oth 
explanation  than   that  it  had  be< 
placed  in  his  hands,  and  "  tended  - 
the  settlement  of  the  country."    fl 
purport,  however,  was  already  kno^ 
or  conjectured;   several   officers  i 
stantly  started  from  their  seats,  a 
Pack  was  violently  borne  down, 
the  bar.    But,  on  the  restoratioi 
order,  he  found  himself  supported! 
Broghill,  Whitelock,  and  Glynn, 
with  them,  by  the  whole  body  of    V 
lawyers  and  the  dependants  of  t 
court.  The  paper  was  read :  it  was  ( 
titled,  "  An  humble  Address  and  I 
monstrance,"  protesting  against  t 
existing  form  of  government,  wh; 
depended  for  security  on  the  odic 
institution    of    majors-general,  a 


and  papers  ready  to  make  good  what 
said.  His  highness  answered  him  in  r 
lery,  and  took  a  rich  scarlet  cloak  from 
back,  and  gloves  from  his  hands,  and  g 
them  to  Harry,  who  strutted  with  his  i 
cloak  and  gloves  into  the  house  this  d»y. 
Thurloe,  iv.  liO. 

2  Journals,  Jan.  7,  8,  12,  19,  20,  21,  j 
29.    Burton's  Diary,  310—320. 

3  Burton's  Diary,  303—366 


1657.] 


BOLD  COUNSEL  OP  LAMBERT. 


247 


iding  that  the  protector  should 
ime  a  higher  title,  and  govern,  as 
lad  been  done  in  times  past,  with 
he  advice   of  two  houses  of  parlia- 
uent.    The  opposition  (it  consisted 
if  the  chief  officers,  the  leading  mem- 
ers  in  the  council,  and  a  few  repre- 
eutatives  of  counties)  threw  every 
bstacle  in  the  way  of  its  supporters ; 
ut  they  were  overpowered  by  num- 
ers ;  the  house  debated  each  article 
n  succession,  and  the  whole  project 
vas  finally   adopted,  but  with  the 
mission  of  the  remonstrance,   and 
mder    the    amended    title    of   the 
Humble  Petition  and  Advice."  ^ 
is  long  as  the  question  was  before 
1  lament,  Cromwell  bore  himself  in 
lie  as  if  he  were  unconcerned  in 
lie  result ;  but  his  mind  was  secretly 
larassed   by  the  reproaches  of  his 
riends  and  by  the  misgivings  of  his 
onscience.    He  saw  for  the  first  time 
narshalled  against  him  the  men  who 
lad  stood  by  him  in  his  different  for- 
unes,  and  whom  he  had  bound  to  his 
nterest  by  marriages  and  preferment. 
At  their  head  was  Lambert,  the  com- 
mander of  the  army  in  England,  the 
dol  of  the  military,  and  second  only 
:o  himself  in  authority.    Then  came 
Desborough,  his  brother-in-law,  and 
major-general  in  five  counties,  and 
Fleetwood,  the  husband  of  his  daugh- 
ter Bridget,  and  lord-deputy  of  Ire- 
land.^   Lambert,  at  a  private  meeting 
of  officers,  proposed  to  bring  up  five 
regiments  of  cavalry,  and  compel  the 
house  to  confirm  both  the  "instru- 
ment,"   and    the    establishment    of 
^majors-general.  This  bold  counsel  was 
approved;  but  the  next  morning  his 
colleagues,  having  sought  the  Lord  in 
prayer,  resolved  to  postpone  its  exe- 
cution till  they  had  ascertained  the 


1  Journals,  Jan,  19,  Feb.  21,  23,  24,  25. 
Thurloe,  \i.  74,  78,  Whitelock,  665,  666. 
Ludlow,  ii.  128.     Burton's  Diary,  iii.  160. 

'  Desborough  and  Fleetwood  passed  from 
the  inns  of  court  to  the  army.  The  first 
married  Anne,  the  protector's  sister;  the 
second,    Bridget,    his    daughter    and    the 


real  intention  of  the  protector;  and 
Lambert,  warned  by  their  indecision, 
took  no  longer  any  part  in  their 
meetings,  but  watched  in  silence  the 
course  of  events.^  The  other  two,  on 
the  contrary,  persevered  in  the  most 
active  opposition ;  nor  did  they  suffer 
themselves  to  be  cajoled  by  the  arti- 
fices of  the  protector,  who  talked  in 
their  hearing  with  contempt  of  the 
crown  as  a  mere  bauble,  and  of  Pack 
and  his  supporters  as  children,  whom 
it  might  be  prudent  to  indulge  with 
"a  rattle."* 

The  marked  opposition  of  these 
men  had  given  energy  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  inferior  officers,  who 
formed  themselves  into  a  permanent 
council  under  the  very  eyes  of  Crom- 
well, passed  votes  in  disapprobation 
of  the  proposed  alteration,  and  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  waited  on 
him  to  acquaint  him  with  their  sen- 
timents,* He  replied,  that  there  was 
a  time  when  they  felt  no  objection  to 
the  title  of  king ;  for  the  army  had 
offered  it  to  him  with  the  original 
instrument  of  government.  He  had 
rejected  it  then,  and  had  no  greater 
love  for  it  now.  He  had  always  been 
the  "drudge"  of  the  officers,  had 
done  the  work  which  they  imposed 
on  him,  and  had  sacrificed  his  opi- 
nion to  theirs.  If  the  present  par- 
liament had  been  called,  it  was  in 
opposition  to  his  individual  judgment ; 
if  the  bill,  which  proved  so  injurious 
to  the  majors-general,  had  been 
brought  into  the  house,  it  was  con- 
trary to  his  advice.  But  the  officers 
had  overrated  their  own  strength ; 
the  country  called  for  an  end  to  all 
arbitrary  proceedings;  the  punishment 
of  Naylor  proved  the  necessity  of  a 
check  on  the  judicial  proceedings  of 


widow  of  Ireton,  Suspicious  of  his  prin- 
ciples, Cromwell  kept  him  in  England, 
while  Henry  Cromwell,  with  the  rank  of 
major-general,  held  the  government  of  Ire- 
land.—Noble,  i.  103  ;  ii.  243,  336,  338, 

3  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  333.         *  Ludlow,  ii.  J31. 

5  Thurloe,  tI.  93,  94, 101,  219. 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP,  vi; 


the  parliament,  and  that  check  could 
only  be  procured  by  investing  the 
protector  with  additional  authority. 
This  answer  made  several  proselytes ; 
but  the  majority  adhered  pertina- 
ciously to  their  former  opinion.' 

Nor  was  this  spirit  confined  to  the 
army;  in  all  companies  men  were 
heard  to  maintain  that,  to  set  up 
monarchy  again  was  to  pronounce 
condemnation  on  themselves,  to  ac- 
knowledge themselves  guilty  of  all 
the  blood  which  had  been  shed  to  put 
it  down.  But  nowhere  did  the  pro- 
posal excite  more  cordial  abhorrence 
than  in  the  conventicles  of  the  Fifth- 
monarchy-men.  In  their  creed  the 
protectorate  was  an  impiety,  kingship 
a  sacrilegious  assumption  of  the  au- 
thority belonging  to  the  only  King, 
the  Lord  Jesus.  They  were  his  wit- 
nesses foretold  in  the  Apocalypse; 
they  had  now  slept  their  sleep  of 
three  years  and  a  half;  the  time  was 
come  when  it  was  their  duty  to  rise 
and  avenge  the  cause  of  the  Lord. 
In  the  conventicles  of  the  capital  the 
lion  of  Judah  was  chosen  for  their 
military  device ;  arms  were  prepared, 
and  the  day  of  rising  was  fixed.  They 
amounted,  indeed,  to  no  more  than 
eighty  men ;  but  they  were  the  cham- 
pions of  Him  who,  "  though  they 
might  be  as  a  worm,  would  enable 
them  to  thrash  mountains."  The  pro- 
jects of  these  fanatics  did  not  escape 
the  penetrating  eye  of  Thurloe,  who, 
for  more  than  a  year,  had  watched 
all  their  motions,  and  was  in  posses- 
sion of  all  their  secrets.  Their  pro- 
ceedings were  regulated  by  five  per- 
sons, each  of  whom  presided  in  a 
separate  conventicle,  and  kept  his 
followers  in  ignorance  of  the  names 
of  the  brethren  associated  under  the 
four  remaining  leaders.  A  fruitless 
attempt   was   made  to   unite   them 


^  For  this  extraordinary  speech  we  are 
indebted  to  the  industry  of  Mr.  Kutt. — 
Barton's  Diary,  i.  382. 

a  Whitel.  655.    Thurloe,  vi.  163, 184—188, 


with  the  Levellers.  But  the  Leveller 
trusted  too  much  to  worldly  wisdom 
the  fanatics  wished  to  begin  th 
strife,  and  to  leave  the  issue  to  thai 
Heavenly  King.  The  appointed  da 
came :  as  they  proceeded  to  the  plac 
of  rendezvous,  the  soldiers  of  th 
Lord  were  met  by  the  soldiers  ( 
the  protector ;  twenty  were  mad 
prisoners ;  the  rest  escaped,  with  th 
loss  of  their  horses  and  arms,  whic 
were  seized  in  the  depot."-^ 

In  the  mean  while  the  new  form  c 
government  had  received  the  sanctio: 
of  the  house.  Cromwell,  when  it  wa 
laid  before  him,  had  recourse  to  hi 
usual  arts,  openly  refusing  that  fo 
which  he  ardently  longed,  and  se 
cretly  encouraging  his  friends  to  per 
sist,  that  his  subsequent  acquiescenc 
might  appear  to  proceed  from  a  sens 
of  duty,  and  not  from  the  lust  c 
power.  At  first,  in  reply  to  a  Ion 
tedious  harangue  from  the  speakei 
he  told  them  of  "the  consternatioi 
of  his  mind  "  at  the  very  thought  c 
the  burthen ;  requested  time  "  to  as" 
counsel  of  God  and  his  own  heart ; 
and,  after  a  pause  of  three  day- 
replied  that,  inasmuch  as  the  ne\ 
constitution  provided  the  best  securi 
ties  for  the  civil  and  religious  libertii 
of  the  people,  it  had  his  unqualifie 
approbation;  but  as  far  as  regardei 
himself,  "he  did  not  find  it  in  hi 
duty  to  God  and  the  country  to  ur 
dertake  the  charge  under  the  new  titl 
which  was  given  him."^  His  frienu 
refused  to  be  satisfied  with  this  an 
swer:  the  former  vote  was  renewei 
and  the  house,  waiting  on  him  in 
body,  begged  to  remind  him,  that  i 
was  his  duty  to  listen  to  the  advice  o 
the  great  council  of  the  three  nation.^ 
He  meekly  replied,  that  he  still  ha 
his  doubts  on  one  point;  and  thai^ 
till  such  doubts  were  removed. 


3  Merc.    Pol.    No.    355.      Mr.   Rutt 
discovered  and  inserted  both  speeohefl] 
length  in  Burton's  Diary,  i.  397—418. 


D.  16o7.]         CROMWELL  OFFERED  THE  CROWN. 


nscience  forbade  him  to  assent ;  but 
at  he  was  willing  to  explain  his 
asons,  and  to  hear  theirs,  and  to 
■pe  that  in  a  friendly  conference 
e  means  might  be  discovered  of 
penciling  their  opposite  opinions, 
d  of  determining  on  that  which 
ight  be  most  beneficial  to  the  coun- 

In  obedience  to  this  intimation,  a 
mmittee  of  the  house  was  appointed 

receive  and  solve  the  scruples  of 
e  protector.  To  their  surprise,  they 
jnd  him  in  no  haste  to  enter  on 
e  discussion.  Sometimes  he  was  in- 
>posed,  and  could  not  admit  them ; 
ten  he  was  occupied  with  important 
isiness ;  on  three  occasions  they  ob- 
ined  an  interview.  He  wished  to 
gue  the  question  on   the  ground 

expedience.  If  the  power  were 
e  same  under  a  protector,  where, 

asked,  could  be  the  use  of  a  king  ? 
le  title  would  offend  men,  who,  by 
eir  former  services,  had  earned  the 
?ht  to  have  even  their  prejudices 
spected.  Neither  was  he  sure  that 
e  re-establishment  of  royalty  might 
•t  be  a  falling  off  from  that  cause 

which  they  had  engaged,  and  from 
at  Providence  by  which  they  had 
en  so  marvellously  supported.  It 
IS  true,  that  the  Scripture  sanctioned 
e  dignity  of  king ;  but  to  the  testi- 
ony  of  Scripture  might  be  opposed 
<he  visible  hand  of  God,"  who,  in 
e  late  contest, "  had  eradicated  king- 
ip."  It  was  gravely  replied,  that 
rotector  was  a  new,  King  an  ancient, 
le ;  the  first  had  no  definite  meap- 
g,  the  latter  was  interwoven  with 
I  our  laws  and  institutions ;  the 
»wers  of  one  were  unknown  and 
ible  to  alteration,  those  of  the  other 
certained  and  limited  by  the  law 

custom  and  the  statute  law.    The 


^  Thurloe,  i.  751,  756.  Pari.  Hi3t.  iii. 
93—1495.    Burton'3  Diary,  i.  417. 

'  See  Monarchy  asserted  to  be  the  most 
iicient  and  Legal  Fornx  of  Government, 
^  1660;  Walker,  Kesearches,  Historical 


abolition  of  royalty  did  not  originally 
enter  into  the  contemplation  of  par- 
liament—the objection  was  to  the 
person,  not  to  the  office— it  was  after- 
wards effected  by  a  portion  only  of 
the  representative  body ;  whereas,  its 
restoration  was  now  sought  by  a 
greater  authority— the  whole  parlia- 
ment of  the  three  kingdoms.  The 
restoration  was,  indeed,  necessary, 
both  for  his  security  and  theirs;  as 
by  law  all  the  acts  of  a  king  in  pos- 
session, but  only  of  a  king,  are  good  and 
valid.  Some  there  were  who  pretended 
that  king  and  chief  magistrate  were 
synonymous ;  but  no  one  had  yet 
ventured  to  substitute  one  word  for 
the  other  in  the  Scriptures,  where  so 
many  covenants,  promises,  and  pre- 
cepts are  annexed  to  the  title  of  king. 
Neither  could  the  "visible  hand  of 
God"  be  alleged  in  the  present  case ; 
for  the  visible  hand  of  God  had 
eradicated  the  government  by  a  single 
person  as  clearly  as  that  by  a  king. 
Cromwell  promised  to  give  due  at- 
tention to  these  arguments ;  to  his 
confidential  friends  he  owned  that 
his  objections  were  removed;  and,  at 
the  same  time,  to  enlighten  the  igno- 
rance of  the  public,  he  ordered  a 
report  of  the  conferences  to  be  pub- 
lished.'^ 

The  protector's,  however,  was  not 
one  of  those  minds  that  resolve 
quickly  and  execute  promptly.  He 
seldom  went  straight  forward  to  his 
object,  but  preferred  a  winding  cir- 
cuitous route.  He  was  accustomed 
to  view  and  review  the  question  in 
all  its  bearings  and  possible  conse- 
quences, and  to  invent  fresh  causes 
of  delay,  till  he  occasionally  incurred 
the  suspicion  of  irresolution  and 
timidity.3  Instead  of  returning  a 
plain  and  decisive  answer,  he  sought 


and  Antiquarian,  i.  1 — 27 ;  Barton's  Diary, 
App.  ii.  493 ;  Thurloe,  Ti.  219  ;  Whitelock, 
565  ;  Journals,  April  9—21. 

3  "  Every  wise  man  out  of  doors  won- 
ders at  the  delay.''— Thurloe,  tI.  243 ;  also 
Claren.  Papers,  iii.  339. 


250 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap,  t 


to  protract  the  time  by  requesting 
the  sense  of  the  house  on  different 
passages  in  the  petition,  on  the  in- 
tended amount  of  the  annual  income, 
and  on  the  ratification  of  the  ordi- 
nances issued  by  himself,  and  of  the 
acts  passed  by  the  little  parliament. 
By  this  contrivance  the  respite  of  a 
fortnight  was  obtained,  during  which 
he  frequently  consulted  with  Brog- 
hill,  Pierpoint,  Whitelock,  Wolseley, 
and  Thurloe.'  At  length  it  was  whis- 
pered at  court  that  the  protector  had 
resolved  to  accept  the  title ;  and  im- 
mediately Lambert,  Fleetwood,  and 
Desborough  made  to  him,  in  their 
own  names  and  those  of  several 
others,  the  unpleasant  declaration, 
that  they  must  resign  their  com- 
missions, and  sever  themselves  from 
his  councils  and  service  for  ever. 
His  irresolution  returned :  he  had 
promised  the  house  to  give  a  final  an- 
swer the  next  morning ;  in  the  morn- 
ing he  postponed  it  to  five  in  the 
evening,  and  at  that  hour  to  the 
following  day.  The  officers  observed, 
and  resolved  to  profit  by,  the  impres- 
sion which  they  had  made ;  and  early 
in  the  morning  Colonel  Mason,  with 
six-and-twenty  companions,  offered  to 
the  parliament  a  petition,  in  which 
they  stated  that  the  object  of  those 
with  whom  the  measure  originated 
was  the  ruin  of  the  lord-general  and 
of  the  best  friends  of  the  people, 
and  conjured  the  house  to  support 
the  good  old  cause  in  defence  of 
which  the  petitioners  were  ready  to 
sacrifice  their  lives.  This  bold  step 
subdued  the  reluctance  of  the  pro- 
tector. He  abandoned  the  lofty  hopes 
to  which  he  had  so  long,  so  pertina- 
ciously clung,  despatched  Fleetwood 
to  the  house   to   prevent  a  debate. 


*  "  In  these  meetings,"  says  Whitelock, 
"laying  aside  his  greatness,  he  would  be 
exceedinj:ly  familiar  with  us,  and,  by  way 
of  diversion,  would  make  verses  with  us, 
and  every  one  must  try  his  fancy.  He 
commonly  called  for  tobacco,  pipes,  and  a 
candle,  and  would  now  and  tnen  take  to- 


and  shortly  afterwards  summoned  1 
members  to  meet  him  at  TV'hiteh; 
Addressing  them  with  more  than 
usual  embarrassment,  he  said,  tl 
neither  his  own  reflections  nor  1 
reasoning  of  the  committee  had  0( 
vinced  him  that  he  ought  to  acc< 
the  title  of  king.  If  he  were 
accept  it,  it  would  be  doubtingly 
he  did  it  doubtingly,  it  would  not 
of  faith ;  and  if  it  were  not  of  fai 
it  would  be  a  sin.  "Wherefore," 
concluded,  "  I  cannot  undertake  1 
government  with  that  title  of  ki 
and  this  is  mine  answer  to  this  gr 
and  weighty  business."  ^ 

Thus  ended  the  mighty  farce  wh 
for  more  than  two  months  held 
suspense  the  hopes  and  fears  of  th 
nations.  But  the  friends  of  Cromvr 
resumed  the  subject  in  parliame 
It  was  observed  that  he  had  i 
refused  to  administer  the  governmc 
under  any  other  title;  the  name 
king  was  expunged  for  that  of  p 
tector ;  and  with  this  and  a  few  mi 
amendments,  the  "humble  petiti 
and  advice"  received  the  sanction 
the  chief  magistrate.  The  inaugii 
tion  followed.  On  the  platform,  rai 
at  the  upper  end  of  Westminster  H. 
and  in  front  of  a  magnificent  chair 
state,  stood  the  protector  ;  while  i 
speaker,  with  his  assistants,  inve- 
him  with  a  purple  mantle  lined  v 
ermine,  presented  him  with  a  h. 
superbly  gilt  and  embossed,  gir 
sword  by  his  side,  and  placed  a  see] 
of  massive  gold  in  his  hand.  As  s 
as  the  oath  had  been  administer 
Manton,  his  chaplain,  pronounced 
long  and  fervent  prayer  for  a  blessi 
on  the  protector,  the  parliament,  a 
the  people.  Rising  from  prayer,  Cro 
well  seated  himself  in  a  chair :  on  1 


bacco  himself.    Then  he  would  fall  agaii 
his  serious  and  great  business"  (65G). 

2  Thorloe,  vi.  261,  267,  281,  291.  Jo 
nals,  April  21— May  12.  Pari.  Hist. 
1498— 150:i.  Ludlow,  ii.  131.  Clar.  Pi^ 
iii.  343. 


).  1057.] 


NEW  POEM  OF  GOVEENMENT. 


251 


at  some  distance,  sat  the  French, 
left,  the  Dutch,  ambassador;  on 
ie  stood  the  earl  of  Warwick 

lie  sword  of  the  commonwealth, 
lie  other,  the  lord  mayor,  with 
it  of  the  city ;  and  behind  arranged 
?mselves  the  members  of  the  pro- 
tor's  family,  the  lords  of  the  council, 
d  Lisle,  Whitelock,  and  Montague, 
:'h  of  the  three  bearing  a  drawn 
ord.  At  a  signal  given,  the  trumpets 
mded ;  the  heralds  proclaimed  the 
le  of  the  new  sovereign ;  and  the 
3ctators  shouted,  "Long  live  his 
,'hness!  God  save  the  lord-pro- 
tor  ! "  He  rose  immediately,  bowed 
the  ambassadors,  and  walked  in 
te  through  the  hall  to  his  carriage.- 
That  which  distinguished  the  pre- 
it  from  the  late  form  of  govern- 
?nt  was  the  return  which  it  made 
yards  the  more  ancient  institutions 
the  country.  That  return,  indeed, 
d  wrung   from  Cromwell  certain 

-sions  repugnant  to  his  feelings 

-iibition,  but  to  which  he  pro- 
■  ;.  was  reconciled  by  the  considera- 
■n  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 

might  be  modified  or  repealed. 

upreme  authority  was  vested  in 
.  protector;  but,  instead  of  ren- 
ring  it  hereditary  in  his  family,  the 
ost  which  he  could  obtain  was  the 
;ner  of  nominating  his  immediate 
ccessor.  The  two  houses  of  parlia- 
ent  were  restored ;  but,  as  if  it  were 
eant  to  allude  to  his  past  conduct, 
i  was  bound  to  leave  to  the  house  of 
ommons  the  right  of  examining  the 
lalifications  and  determining  the 
aims  of  the  several  representatives. 
0  him  was  given  the  power  of  nomi- 
iting  the  members  of  the  "other 


'  Whitelock,  622.  Merc.  PoUt.  Ifo.  369. 
arl.  Hist.  iii.  1514,  and  Prestwick's  Rela- 
JD.  App.  to  Barton's  Diary,  ii.  511.  Most 
'  the  oflBcers  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to 
le  protector.  Lambert  refused,  and  re- 
ined his  commissions,  which  brought  him 
'Out  six  thousand  pounds  per  annum, 
romwell,  however,  assigned  to  him  a 
?arly  pension  of  two  thousand  pounds.— 
udlow,  ii.  136. 


house"  (he  dared  not  yet  term  it  the 
house  of  Lords);  but,  in  the  first 
insta^nce,  the  persons  so  nominated 
were  to  be  approved  by  the  house  of 
representatives,  and  afterwards  by  the 
other  house  itself.  The  privilege  of 
voting  by  proxy  was  abolished,  and 
the  right  of  judicature  restrained 
within  reasonable  limits.  In  the 
appointment  of  councillors,  the  great 
oflBcers  of  state,  and  the  commanders 
of  the  forces,  many  of  the  restrictions 
sought  to  be  introduced  by  the  long 
parliament  were  enforced.  In  point 
of  religion,  it  was  enacted  that  a 
confession  of  faith  should  be  agreed 
upon  between  the  protector  and  the 
two  houses ;  but  that  dissenters  from 
it  should  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  the  free  exercise  of  their  worship, 
unless  they  should  reject  the  mystery 
of  the  Trinity,  or  the  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures,  or  profess  prelatic, 
or  popish,  or  blasphemous  doctrines. 
The  yearly  revenue  was  fixed  at 
one  million  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  of  which  no  part  was  to  be 
raised  l3y  a  land-tax ;  and  of  this  sum 
one  million  was  devoted  to  the  support 
of  the  army  and  navy,  and  three 
hundred  thousand  pounds  to  the 
expenses  of  the  civil  list;  but,  on 
the  remonstrance  of  the  protector, 
that  with  so  small  a  revenue  it  would 
be  impossible  to  continue  the  war, 
an  additional  grant  of  six  hundred 
thousand  pounds  was  voted  for  the 
three  following  years.  After  the  in- 
auguration, the  Commons  adjourned 
during  six  months,  that  time  might 
be  allowed  for  the  formation  of  the 
"other  house."' 
Having  brought  this  important  ses- 


2  Whitelock,  657,  663.  Pari.  Hist,  iii, 
1502 — 1511.  In  a  catalogue  printed  at  the 
time,  the  names  were  given  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty-two  members  of  this  parliament, 
who,  it  w»s  pretended,  "were  sons,  kins- 
men, servants,  and  otherwise  engaged  unto, 
and  had  places  of  profit,  oflSces,  salaries, 
and  advantages,  under  the  protector," 
sharing  annually  among  them  out  of  the 
public  money  the  incredible  sum  of  one 


252 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  V] 


sion  of  parliament  to  its  conclusion, 
we  may  now  revert  to  the  miscel- 
laneous occurrences  of  the  year. 
1.  Had  much  credit  been  given  to 
the  tales  of  spies  and  informers, 
neither  Cromwell  nor  his  adversary, 
Charles  Stuart,  would  have  passed  a 
day  without  the  dread  of  assassination. 
But  they  knew  that  such  persons  are 
•wont  to  invent  and  exaggerate,  in 
order  to  enhance  the  value  of  their 
services ;  and  each  had,  therefore, 
contented  himself  with  taking  no 
other  than  ordinary  precautions  for 
security.'  Cromwell,  however,  was 
aware  of  the  fierce,  unrelenting  dis- 
position of  the  Levellers ;  the  mo- 
ment he  learned  that  they  were 
negotiating  with  the  exiled  king  and 
the  Spaniards,  he  concluded  that  they 
had  sworn  his  destruction  ;  and  to 
oppose  their  attempts  on  his  life,  he 
selected  one  hundred  and  sixty  brave 
and  trusty  men  from  the  different 
regiments  of  cavalry,  whom  he  divided 
into  eight  troops,  directing  that  two 
of  these  troops  in  rotation  should  be 
always  on  duty  near  his  person.^ 
Before  the  end  of  the  year,  he  learned 
that  a  plot  had  actually  been  organized, 
that  assassins  had  been  engaged,  and 
that  his  death  was  to  be  the  signal 
for  a  simultaneous  rising  of  the 
Levellers  and  royalists,  and  the  sail- 
ing of  a  hostile  expedition  from  the 
coast  of  Flanders.  The  author  of  this 
plan  was  Sexby;  nor  will  it  be  too 


million  sixteen  thousand  three  hundred  and 
seventeen  pounds,  sixteen  shillings,  and 
eightpence. 

J  Thurloe's  Toluminous  papers  abound 
with  offers  and  warnings  connected  with 
this  subject. 

2  Thurloe,  iv.  567.  Carte,  Letters,  ii.  81. 
Their  pay  was  four  and  sixpence  per  day. — 
Ibid.  In  addition,  if  we  may  believe  Cla- 
rendon, he  had  always  several  beds  prepared 
in  different  chambers,  so  that  no  one  Knew 
in  what  particular  room  he  would  pass  the 
night— Hist.  iii.  646.  . 

3  That  both  Charles  and  Clarendon  knew 
of  the  design,  and  interested  themselves  in 
its  execution,  is  plain  from  several  letters. 
— Clar.  Pap.  iu.  311,  312,  315,  324,  327,  331, 
336.    ]^or  can  there  be  a  doubt  that  Cla- 


much  to  assert  that  it  was  not  on 
known,  but  approved  by  the  advise 
of  Charles  at  Bruges.  They  appoint^ 
an  agent  to  accompany  the  chief 
the  conspirators;  they  prepared  ■ 
take  every  advantage  of  the  murde: 
they  expressed  an  unfeigned  sorro 
for  the  failure  of  the  attempt.  Ii 
deed,  Clarendon,  the  chief  minist 
(he  had  lately  been  made  lord  chai 
cellor),  was  known  to  hold,  that  tl 
assassination  of  a  successful  rebel  « 
usurper  was  an  act  of  justifiable  ai 
meritorious  loyalty .^ 

Sexby  had  found  a  fit  instrumei 
for  his  purpose  in  Syndercombe, 
man  of  the  most  desperate  courag 
formerly  a  quarter-master  in  the  anr 
in  Scotland,  and  dismissed  on  accoui 
of  his  political  principles.  Havir 
admitted  a  man  of  the  name  of  Cec 
as  his  associate,  he  procured  seve 
guns  which  would  carry  a  number « 
balls,  hired  lodgings  in  places  net 
which  the  protector  was  likely  1 
pass,  bribed  Took,  one  of  the  lift 
guardsmen,  to  give  information  of  h 
motions,  and  bought  the  fleetest  horsi 
for  the  purpose  of  escape.  Yet  all  h 
designs  were  frustrated,  either  by  tl 
multitude  of  the  spectators,  or  tb 
vigilance  of  the  guards,  or  by  soni 
unforeseen  and  unlucky  acciden 
At  the  persuasion  of  Wildman  I 
changed  his  plan ;  and  on  the  9th  ( 
January,  about  six  in  the  evenini 
entered  Whitehall  with  his  two  a( 


rendon  approved  of  such  murders.  It  i 
indeed,  true  that,  speaking  of  the  murdt 
of  Ascham,  when  he  was  at  Madrid,  he  saj 
that  he  and  his  colleague.  Lord  Cottingtoi 
abhorred  it.— Clar.  Hist.  iii.  351.  Ye 
from  his  private  correspondence,  it  appeal 
that  he  wrote  papers  in  defence  of  the  mui 
derers  (Clar.  Pap.  iii.  21,  23),  recommende 
them  as  "  brave  fellows,  and  honest  gentlt 
men"  (Ibid.  235,  236),  and  observed  t 
Secretary  Nicholas,  that  it  was  a  sad  an 
grievous  thing  that  the  princess  royal  hB 
not  supphed  Middleton  with  money,  "1 
a  worse  and  baser  thing  that  any  n 
should  appear  in  any  part  beyond  f 
under  the  character  of  an  agent  from  th 
rebels,  and  not  have  his  throat  cut."— Ibxo 
1«  1G52,  Feb.  20. 


0. 1657.] 


DEATH  OF  SYNDEECOMBE. 


253 


mplices;  he  unlocked  the  door  of 
e  chapel,  deposited  in  a  pew  a 
sket  filled  with  inflammable  ma- 
rials,  and  lighted  a  match,  which, 

was  calculated,  would  burn  six 
urs.  His  intention  was  that  the 
e  should  break  out  about  midnight ; 
t  Took  had  already  revealed  the 
jret  to  Cromwell,  and  all  three  were 
prehended  as  they  closed  the  door 
the  chapel.  Took  saved  his  hfe  by 
e  discovery,  Cecil  by  the  confession 

all  that  he  knew.  But  Synder- 
mbe  had  wisely  concealed  from  them 
e  names  of  his  associates  and  the 
rticulars  of  the  plan.  They  knew 
>t  that  certain  persons  within  the 
lace  had  undertaken  to  murder  the 
otector  during  the  confusion  likely 

be  caused  by  the  conflagration,  and 
at  such  measures  had  been  taken  as 

render  his  escape  almost  impossible, 
udercombe  was  tried;  the  judges 
ild  that  the  title  of  protector  was 

law  synonymous  with  that  of  king; 
d  he  was  condemned  to  suffer 
e  penalties  of  high  treason.  His 
•stinate  silence  defeated  the  anxiety 

the  protector  to  procure  further 
formation  respecting  the  plot ;  and 
■ndercombe,  whether  he  laid  violent 
mds  on  himself,  or  was  despatched 
■  the  order  of  government,  was  found 
ad  in  his  bed,  a  few  hours  before 
e  time  appointed  for  his  execution.^ 
2.  The  failure  of  this  conspiracy 
Duld  not  have  prevented  the  in- 
nded  invasion  by  the  royal  army 
Dm  Flanders,  had  not  Charles  been 
sappointed  in  his  expectations  from 
lother  quarter.    No  reasoning,  no 


^  See  Thurloe,  v.  774—777;  vi.  7,  53; 
ere.  Polit.  No.  345;  Bates,  Elen.  388; 
arendon  Pap.  iii.  324,  325,  327;  Claren. 
ist.  iii.  646;  and  the  several  authorities 
pied  in  the  State  Trials,  v.  842—871.  The 
'dy  was  opened,  and  the  surgeons  de- 
ired  that  there  existed  no  trace  of  poison 

the  stomach,  but  that  the  brain  was 
Qamed  and  distended  with  blood  in  a 
eater  degree  than  is   usual  in  apoplexy, 

any  known  disease.  The  jury,  by  the 
rection  of  the  lord  chief  justice,  returned 


entreaty,  could  quicken  the  charac- 
teristic slowness  of  the  Spanish  mi- 
nisters. Neither  fleet  nor  money  was 
ready ;  the  expedition  was  postponed 
from  month  to  month;  the  season 
passed  away,  and  the  design  was  de- 
ferred till  the  return  of  the  long  and 
darksome  nights  of  winter.  But 
Sexby's  impatience  refused  to  submit 
to  these  delays;  his  fierce  and  im- 
placable spirit  could  not  be  satisfied 
without  the  life  of  the  protector.  A  tract 
had  been  recently  printed  in  Holland, 
entitled  "Killing  no  Murder," which, 
from  the  powerful  manner  in  which 
it  was  written,  made  a  deeper  impres- 
sion on  the  public  mind  than  any 
other  literary  production  of  the  age. 
After  an  address  to  Cromwell,  and 
another  to  the  army,  both  conceived 
in  a  strain  of  the  most  poignant  and 
sarcastic  irony,  it  proceeds  to  discuss 
the  three  questions :  Whether  the 
lord-protector  be  a  tyrant  ?  Whether 
it  be  lawful  to  do  justice  on  him  by 
killing  him  ?  and,  whether  this,  if  it 
be  lawful,  will  prove  of  benefit  to  the 
commonwealth  ?  Having  determined 
each  question  in  the  afl&rmative,  it 
concludes  with  an  eulogium  on  the 
bold  and  patriotic  spirit  of  Synder- 
combe,  the  rival  of  Brutus  and  Cato, 
and  a  warning  that  "longus  ilium 
sequitur  ordo  idem  petentium  decus ;" 
that  the  protector's  own  muster-roll 
contains  the  names  of  those  who 
aspire  to  the  honour  of  delivering 
their  country;  that  his  highness  is 
not  secure  at  his  table  or  in  his  bed ; 
that  death  is  at  his  heels  wherever  he 
moves,  and   that  though   his    head 


a  verdict  that  "  he,  the  said  Miles  Synder- 
corabe,  a  certain  poisoned  powder  through 
the  nose  of  him,  the  said  Miles,  into  the 
head  of  him,  the  said  Miles,  feloniously, 
wilfully,  and  of  malice  aforethought,  did 
snuff  and  draw ;  by  reason  of  which  snuff- 
ing and  drawing  so  as  aforesaid,  into  the  head 
of  him,  the  said  Miles,  he  the  said  Miles, 
himself  did  mortally  poison,"  &c. — Ibid.  859. 
The  Levellers  and  royalists  maintained  that 
he  was  strangled  by  order  of  Cromwell. — 
Clar.  iii.  647. 


254 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.    ( 


reaches  the  clouds,  he  shall  perbh 
like  his  own  dung,  and  they  that  have 
seen  him  shall  exclaim,  Where  is  he  ? 
Of  this  tract  thousands  of  copies  were 
sent  by  Sexby  into  England;  and, 
though  many  were  seized  by  the 
officers,  yet  many  found  their  way 
into  circulation.'  Having  obtained 
a  sum  of  one  thousand  four  hun- 
dred crowns,  he  followed  the  books 
to  organize  new  plots  against  the 
life  of  the  protector.  But  by  this 
time  he  was  too  well  known.  All  his 
steps  in  Holland  were  watched;  his 
departure  for  England  was  an- 
nounced ;  emissaries  were  despatched 
in  every  direction ;  and  within  a  few 
weeks  he  was  apprehended  and  incar- 
cerated in  the  Tower.  There  he  dis- 
covered, probably  feigned,  symptoms 
of  insanity.  To  questions  respecting 
himself  he  answered  with  apparent 
frankness  and  truth,  that  he  had 
intrigued  with  the  Spanish  court, 
that  he  had  supplied  Syndercombe 
with  money,  that  he  had  written  the 
tract,  "Killing  no  Murder;"  nor 
was  there,  he  said,  anything  unlawful 
in  these  things,  for  the  protectorate 
had  not  then  been  established  by  any 
authority  of  parliament ;  but,  when- 
ever he  was  interrogated  respecting 
the  names  and  plans  of  his  associates, 
his  answers  became  wild  and  incohe- 
rent, more  calculated  to  mislead  than 
to  inform,  to  create  suspicion  of  the 
friends,  than  to  detect  the  machina- 
tions of  the  enemies,  of  the  govern- 
ment. He  was  never  brought  to 
trial,  but  died,  probably  by  violence, 
in  the  sixth  month  of  his  imprison- 
;i^Mj^  h  ment.2 

"   During  the  winter  Blake  con- 


•J      2    ( 


Thurloe,  vi.  315. 

Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  322,  338,  357. 
Mere.  Pol.  39.  Thurloe,  vi.  33,  182,  315, 
425,  560,  829.  Clarendon  assures  us  that 
Sexby  was  an  illiterate  person,  which  is 
a  sumcient  proof  that  he  was  not  the  real 
author  of  the  tract,  though  he  acknow- 
ledged  it  for  his  own  in  the  Tower,  pro- 
bably to  deceive  the  protector.  The  writer, 
whoever  he  was,  kept  bis  secret^  at  least 


tinned  to  blockade  Cadiz:  in  sp 
he  learned  that  the  Plate  fleet  f 
Peru  had  sought  an  asylum  in 
harbour  of  Santa  Cruz,  in  the  is 
of  Teneriflfe.     There  the  merch 
men,  ten  in  number,  were   mo( 
close  to  the  shore,  in  the  form  < 
crescent;  while  the  six  galleons 
their  front  formed  a  parallel  lin 
anchor  in  deeper  water.  The  entri 
of  the  bay  was  commanded  by 
guns  of  the  castle;   seven  batk 
erected  at  intervals  along  thelx 
protected  the  rest  of   the  harlx 
and  these  were  connected  witht 
other  by  covered  ways   lined   ^ 
musketry.      So   confident    was 
governor  when  he  surveyed  these 
parations,  that,  in  the  pride  of 
heart,  he  desired  a  Dutch  captai 
inform  the  English  admiral  that 
was  welcome  to  come  whenever 
durst.    Blake  came,  examined  the 
fences,   and,    according   to   cust 
proclaimed  a  solemn  fast.    At  ei 
the  next  morning  Stayner  took 
lead  in  a  frigate ;  the  admiral  foil 
in  the  larger  ships;  and  the 
fleet  availing  itself   of   a  favoi 
wind,  entered  the  harbour  un( 
tremendous  shower  of  balls  and  sh> 
Each  vessel  immediately  fell  into 
allotted  station ;  and,  while  some 
gaged  the  shipping,  the  rest  dira 
their  fire  against  the  batteries.    ' 
Spaniards,  though  fewer  in  nuic 
of  ships,  were  superior  in  that  of  m 
their  hopes  were  supported  by  the 
which  they  received  from  the  la 
and  during  four  hours  they  fou 
with   the  most  determined  brav( 
Driven  from  the  galleons,  the  or« 
retreated  to  the  second  Une  of  m 


at  first ;  for  Clarendon  writes  to  Secre* 
Nicholas,  that  he  cannot  imagine  who  oc 
write  it.— Clar,  Papers,  iii.  343.  Byat 
historians  it  has  been  attributed  to  C 
tain  Titus  ;  nor  shall  we  think  this  iinj 
bable,  if  we  recollect  that  Titus  was, 
Holland,  constantly  in  the  company 
Sexby,  till  the  departure  of  the  latter 
England.— Ibid.  331,  335.  Evelyn  assert 
in  his  Diary,  ii.  210,  8vo. 


D.  1657.J 


ALLIANCE  WITH  FEANCE. 


255 


lantmen,  and  renewed  the  contest 
U  they  were  finally  compelled  to 
,ve  themselves  on  the  shore.  At 
TO  in  the  afternoon  every  Spanish 
dp  was  in  possession  of  the  Enghsh, 
id  in  flames.  Still  there  remained 
le  difficulty  of  working  the  fleet  out 
:  the  harbour  in  the  teeth  of  the 
Ue.  About  sunset  they  were  out  of 
jach  of  the  guns  from  the  forts ;  the 
ind,  by  miracle,  as  Blake  persuaded 
imself,  veered  to  the  south-west,  and 
le  conquerors  proceeded  trium- 
hantly  out  to  sea.  This  gallant 
3tion,  though  it  failed  of  securing 
le  treasure  which  the  protector 
aiefly  sought,  raised  the  reputation 
f  Blake  in  every  part  of  Europe, 
i  nfortunately  the  hero  himself  lived 
ot  to  receive  the  congratulations 
f  his  country.  He  had  been  dur- 
ig  a  great  part  of  three  years  at 
ja;  the  scurvy  and  dropsy  wasted 
is  constitution ;  and  he  expired  in 
is  fifty-ninth  year,  as  his  ship,  the 
t.  George,  entered  the  harbour  of 
'ly  mouth.* 

Blake  had  served  with  distinction 
1  the  army  during  the  civil  war ; 
ad  the  knowledge  of  his  talents  and 
itegrity  induced  the  parliamentary 
jaders  to  intrust  him  with  the  com- 
land  of  the  fleet.  For  maritime 
ictics  he  relied  on  the  experience  of 
thers ;  his  plans  and  his  daring  were 
xclusively  his  own.  He  may  claim 
tie  peculiar  praise  of  having  dispelled 
n  illusion  which  had  hitherto 
ramped  the  operations  of  the  British 
lavy— a  persuasion  that  it  was  little 
hort  of  madness  to  expose  a  ship  at 
ea  to  the  fire  from  a  battery  on 
shore.     The  victories  of  Blake  at 


Vaughan,    ii.    176.       Heath,    391,  402. 
Jchard,  725.    Journals,  May  28,  29. 

2  Thurloe,  vi.  63,  86,  115,  124.  To  avoid 
lisputea,  the  treaty  was  written  in  the 
jatin  language,  and  the  precedency  was 
riven  to  Louis  in  one  copy,  to  Cromwell 
u  the  other.  In  the  diplomatic  collec- 
ion  of  Dumont,  vi.  part  ii.  178,  is  pub- 
ished  a  second  treaty,  said  to  have  been 


Tunis  and  Santa  Cruz  served  to  esta- 
blish the  contrary  doctrine ;  and  the 
seaijien  learned  from  his  example  to 
despise  the  danger  which  had  hitherto 
been  deemed  so  formidable.  Though 
Cromwell  prized  his  services,  he 
doubted  his  attachment;  and  a  sus- 
picion existed  that  the  protector  did 
not  regret  the  death  of  one  who  pro- 
fessed to  fight  for  his  country,  not  for 
the  government.  But  he  rendered 
that  justice  to  the  dead,  which  he 
might  perhaps  have  retused  to  the 
living,  hero.  He  publicly  acknow- 
ledged his  merit,  honouring  his  bones 
with  a  funeral  at  the  national  ex- 
pense, and  ordering  them  to  be  in- 
terred at  Westminster,  in  Henry  the 
Seventh's  chapel.  In  the  next  reign 
the  coffin  was  taken  from  the  vault, 
and  deposited  in  the  churchyard. 

4.  The  reader  is  aware  of  Crom- 
well's anxiety  to  form  a  more  intimate 
alliance  with  Louis  XIV.  For  this 
purpose  Lookhart,  one  of  the  Scottish 
judges,  who  had  married  his  niece,  and 
received  knighthood  at  his  band,  pro- 
ceeded to  France.  After  some  dis- 
cussion, a  treaty,  to  last  twelve 
months,  was  concluded;^  and  Sir 
John  Reynolds  landed  at  Calais  with 
an  auxiliary  force  of  six  thousand 
men,  one  half  in  the  pay  of  the  king, 
the  other  half  in  that  of  the  protector. 
But  as  an  associate  in  the  war,  Crom- 
well demanded  a  share  in  the  spoil, 
and  that  share  was  nothing  less  than 
the  possession  of  Mardyke  and  Dun- 
kirk, as  soon  as  they  could  be  reduced 
by  the  alhes.  To  this  proposal  the 
strongest  opposition  had  been  made 
in  the  French  cabinet.  Louis  was 
reminded  of  the  injuries  which  the 


signed  on  May  9th,  N.S.  If  it  were  genuine, 
it  would  disclose  gigantic  projects  of  aggran- 
dizement on  the  part  of  the  two  powers. 
But  it  is  clearly  a  forgery.  We  have  de- 
spatches from  Lockhart  dated  on  the  day 
of  the  pretended  signature,  and  other  de- 
spatches for  a  year  afterward ;  yet  none  of 
them  make  the  remotest  allusion  to  this 
treaty;  several  contain  particulars  incon- 
sistent with  it. 


256 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  VII 


English,  the  natural  enemies  of 
Prance,  had  inflicted  on  the  country 
in  the  reigns  of  his  predecessors. 
Dunkirk  would  prove  a  second  Calais ; 
it  would  open  to  a  foreign  foe  the  way 
into  the  heart  of  his  dominions.  But 
he  yielded  to  the  superior  wisdom  or 
ascendancy  of  Mazarin,  who  replied 
that,  if  France  refused  the  offer,  it 
would  be  accepted  with  a  similar 
sacrifice  by  Spain;  that,  supposing 
the  English  to  be  established  on  that 
coast  at  all,  it  was  better  that  they 
should  be  there  as  friends  than  as 
enemies ;  and  that  their  present  co- 
operation would  enable  him  either 
to  drive  the  Spaniards  out  of  the 
Netherlands,  or  to  dictate  to  them 
the  terms  of  peace.*  The  combined 
force  was  placed  under  the  command 
of  the  celebrated  Turenne,  who  was 
opposed  by  the  Spaniards  under  Don 
Juan,  with  the  British  exiles,  com- 
manded by  the  duke  of  York,  and  the 
JBVench  exiles,  by  the  prince  of  Conde. 
The  English  auxiUaries,  composed  of 
veteran  regiments,  supported  the  re- 
putation of  their  country  by  their 
martial  appearance  and  exemplary 
discipline;  but  they  had  few  oppor- 
tunities of  displaying  their  valour; 
and  the  summer  was  spent  in  a 
tedious  succession  of  marches  and 
countermarches,  accompanied  mth 
no  brilliant  action  nor  important 
result.  Cromwell  viewed  the  opera- 
tions of  the  army  with  distrust  and 
impatience.  The  French  ministry 
seemed  in  no  haste  to  redeem  their 
pledge  with  respect  to  the  reduction 
of  Dunkirk,  and  to  his  multiplied  re- 
monstrances uniformly  opposed  this 
unanswerable  objection,  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  Turenne,  the  best  judge, 
the  attempt  in  the  existing  circum- 
stances must  prove  ruinous  to  the 
allies.  At  last  he  would  brook  no 
longer  delay ;  the  army  marched  into 


the  neighbourhood  of  the  town,  anc 
the  fort  of  Mardyke  capitulated  aftei 
a   siege   of    three    days.      But   the 
Spaniards    lay   strongly   intrenched 
behind  the  canal  of  Bergues,  betweet 
Mardyke  and  Dunkirk ;  and  by  com- 
mon consent  the  design  was  aban- 
doned, and  the  siege  of  Gravelinej 
substituted  in  its  place.     Scarcely 
however,  had   the    combined   armj 
taken  a  position  before  it,  when  th( 
sluices  were  opened,  the  country  wa.' 
inundated,   and   Turenne   dismissed 
his  forces  into  winter  quarters.    Mar- 
dyke received  a  garrison,  partly  o; 
English,  and  partly  of  French,  undei 
the  command  of  Sir  John  Reynolds 
but  that  ofi&cer  in  a  short  time  in- 
curred the  suspicion  of  the  protector. 
The  duke  of  York,  from  his  former 
service  in  the  French  army,  was  well 
known  to  some  of  the  French  oflicers. 
They  occasionally  met  and  exchanged 
compliments  in  their  rides,  he  from 
Dunkirk,  they  from  Mardyke.    By 
one  of  them  Reynolds  soUcited  per- 
mission to  pay  his   respects  to  the 
young  prince.    He  was  accompanied 
by  Crew,  another  officer ;  and,  though 
he  pretended  that  it  was  an  accidental 
civiUty,    found    the   opportunity   of 
whispering  an   implied  offer  of  his 
services    in   the   ear   of  the   duke. 
Within  a  few  days   he   received  an 
order  to  wait  on   the  protector  in 
London   in   company  with    Colonel 
White,   who   had    secretly   accused 
him ;  but  both  were  lost  on  the  God- 
win Sands,  through  the  ignorance  or 
the  stupidity  of  the  captain.' 

At  home  the  public  attention  was 
absorbed  by  a  new  and  most  interest- 
ing spectacle.  The  parliament  met 
on  the  day  to  which  it  had  been 
adjourned,  but  it  was  now  divided 
according  to  the  ancient  form  into 
two  houses.  Sixty-two  individuals 
had  been  summoned  to  the  upper 


>  OEuvres  de  Louis  XIV.  i.  171. 

»  Thurloe,  vi.  231,  287,  426,  512,  538/642, 


30,  637,  665,  676,  731.    Memoirs  of  JameSi 
317-328. 


A.D.  1658.] 


CLAIMS  OF  THE  UPPER  HOUSE. 


house,  and  the  writs,  as  they  were 
copies  of  those  formerly  issued  by  the 
sovereign,  were  held  to  confer  in  like 
manner  the  privileges  of  an  hereditary 
peerage,  subject  to  certain  exceptions 
specified  in  the  "  petition  and  advice." ' 
The  Commons,  at  the  call  of  the 
usher  of  the  black  rod,  proceeded  to 
the  house  of  Lords,  where  they  found 
his  highness  seated  under  a  canopy  of 
state.  His  speech  began  with  the 
ancient  address :  "  My  lords  and  gen- 
tlemen of  the  House  of  Commons." 
It  was  short,  but  its  brevity  was  com- 
pensated by  its  piety,  and  after  an  ex- 
position of  the  eighty-fifth  psalm,  he 
referred  his  two  houses  for  other  par- 
ticulars to  Fiennes,  the  lord-keeper, 
who,  in  a  long  and  tedious  harangue, 
praised  and  defended  the  new  in- 
stitutions. After  the  departure  of 
the  Commons,  the  Lords  spent  their 
time  in  inquiries  into  the  privi- 
leges of  their  house.  Cromwell  had 
summoned  his  two  sons,  Eichard 
and  Henry,  seven  peers  of  royal  crea- 
tion, several  members  of  his  council, 
some  gentlemen  of  fortune  and  family, 
with  a  due  proportion  of  lawyers 
and  officers,  and  a  scanty  sprinkling 
of  persons  known  to  be  disafiected  to 
his  government.  Of  the  ancient 
peers  two  only  attended,  the  lords 
Eure  and  Ealconberg,  of  whom  the 
latter  had  recently  married  Mary, 
the  protector's  daughter ;  and  of  the 
other  members,  nine  were  absent 
through  business  or  disinclination. 
As  their  journals  have  not  been  pre- 
served, we  have  little  knowledge  of 
their  proceedings.' 


1  Thurloe,  yi.  752. 

2  Joamals,  Jan.  7,  20.  Whitelock,  666, 
668.  The  speech  of  Piennes  is  reported 
in  the  Journals,  Jan.  25.  See  the  names 
and  characters  of  those  who  attended,  in 
*'A  Second  Narrative  of  the  late  Parlia- 
ment (so  called),  &c.,  printed  in  the  fifth 
year  of  England's  Slavery  under  its  new 
Monarchy,  1658,"  "  They  spent  their  time 
in  little  matters,  Buch  as  choosing  of  com- 
jnittees  ;  and  among  other  things,  to  con- 
sider of  the  privileges  and  jurisdiction  of 

8 


In  the  lower  house,  the  interest  of 
the  government  had  declined  by  the 
impolitic  removal  of  the  leading 
members  to  the  house  of  Lords,  and 
by  the  introduction  of  those  who, 
having  formerly  been  excluded  by 
order  of  Cromwell,  now  took  their 
seats  in  virtue  of  the  article  which 
reserved  to  the  house  the  right  of  in- 
quiry into  the  qualifications  of  its 
members.  The  opposition  was  led  by 
two  men  of  considerable  influence  and 
undaunted  resolution,  Hazlerig  and 
Scot.  Both  had  been  excluded  at  the 
first  meeting  of  this  parliament,  and 
both  remembered  the  affront.  To 
remove  Hazlerig  from  a  place  where 
his  experience  and  eloquence  ren- 
dered him  a  formidable  adversary, 
Cromwell  had  called  him  to  the  upper 
house;  but  he  refused  to  obey  the 
writ,  and  took  his  seat  among  the 
Commons.^  That  a  new  house  was  to 
be  called  according  to  the  articles  of 
the  "  petition  and  advice,"  no  one 
denied ;  but  who,  it  was  asked,  made 
its  members  lords?  who  gave  them 
the  privileges  of  the  ancient  peerage  ? 
who  empowered  them  to  negative  the 
acts  of  that  house  to  which  they  owed 
their  existence  ?  Was  it  to  be  borne 
that  the  children  should  assume  the 
superiority  over  their  parents;  that 
the  nominees  of  the  protector  should 
control  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  the  depositaries  of  the  su- 
preme power  of  the  nation?  It  was 
answered  that  the  protector  had 
called  them  lords;  that  it  was  the 
object  of  "the  petition  and  advice" 
to  re-establish  the  "second  estate;" 


their  house,  (good  wise  souls ! )  before  they 
knew  what  their  house  was,  or  should  be 
called."— Ibid.  7.  The  peers  who  refused  to 
attend,  were  the  earls  of  Mulgrave,  War- 
wick, and  Manchester,  the  Viscount  Say 
and  Sele,  and  the  Lord  Wharton. 

3  Hazlerig  made  no  objection  to  the  oath 
which  bound  him  to  be  faithful  to  the  pro- 
tector. But  the  sense  which  he  attached 
to  it  is  singular  :  "  I  will  be  faithful,''  said 
he,  "  to  the  lord-protector's  person.  I  will 
murder  no  man."— Burton's  Diary,  ii,  347. 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  VII. 


and  that,  if  any  doubt ,  remained,  it 
were  best  to  amend  the  "  instrument," 
by  giving  to  the  members  of  the 
other  house  the  title  of  lords,  and  to 
the  protector  that  of  king.  Cromwell 
sought  to  soothe  these  angry  spirits. 
He  read  to  them  lectures  on  the 
benefit,  the  necessity,  of  unanimity. 
Let  them  look  abroad.  The  papists 
threatened  to  swallow  up  all  the 
Protestants  of  Europe.  England  was 
the  only  stay,  the  last  hope  of  reli- 
gion. Let  them  look  at  home:  the 
Cavaliers  and  the  Levellers  were 
combined  to  overthrow  the  constitu- 
tion ;  Charles  Stuart  was  preparing 
an  invasion;  and  the  Dutch  had 
ungratefully  sold  him  certain  vessels 
for  that  purpose.  Dissension  would 
inevitably  draw  dovvTi  ruin  on  them- 
selves, their  liberties,  and  their  reli- 
gion. Eor  himself,  he  called  God, 
angels,  and  men,  to  witness  that  he 
sought  not  the  office  which  he  held. 
It  was  forced  upon  him :  but  he  had 
sworn  to  execute  its  duties,  and  he 
would  perform  what  he  had  sworn, 
by  preserving  to  every  class  of  men 
their  just  rights,  whether  civil  or 
religious.*  But  his  advice,  and  en- 
treaties, and  menaces  were  useless. 
The  judges  repeatedly  brought  mes- 
sages from  "  the  Lords  to  the  Com- 
mons," and  as  often  were  told,  that 
"  that  house  would  return  an  answer 
by  messengers  of  their  own."  Instead, 
however,  of  returning  answers,  they 
spent  their  whole  time  in  debating 
what  title  and  what  rights  ought  to 
belong  to  the  other  house.'^ 


Never,  perhaps  during  his  extraor- 
dinary career,  was  Cromwell  involved 
in  difficulties  equal  to  those  which 
I  surrounded  him  at  this  moment.  He 
could  raise  no  money  without  the 
consent  of  parliament,  and  the  pay  of 
the  army  in  England  was  five,  and  of 
that  in  Ireland  seven,  months  in 
arrear;  the  exiled  king  threatened 
a  descent  from  the  coast  of  Flanders, 
and  the  royalists  throughout  the 
kingdom  were  preparing  to  join  his 
standard ;  the  leaders  of  opposition  in 
parliament  had  combined  with  several 
officers  in  the  army  to  re-establish 
the  commonwealth,  "  without  a  single 
person  or  house  of  lords ;"  and  a  pre- 
paratory petition  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  signatures  was  circulated 
through  the  city.  Cromwell  consulted 
his  most  trusty  advisers,  of  whom 
some  suggested  a  dissolution,  others 
objected  the  want  of  money,  and  the 
danger  of  irritating  the  people.  Per- 
haps he  had  already  taken  his  reso-j 
lution,  though  he  kept  it  a  secrel 
within  his  own  breast;  perhaps  if 
might  be  the  result  of  some  suddei 
and  momentary  impulse ;'  but  on^ 
morning  he  unexpectedly  threw  him* 
self  into  a  carriage  with  two  horses 
standing  at  the  gates  of  Whitehall; 
and,  beckoning  to  six  of  His  guards  to 
follow,  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive 
to  the  parliament  house.  There  he 
revealed  his  purpose  to  Fleetwood, 
and  when  that  officer  ventured  to 
remonstrate,  declared  by  the  living 
God  that  he  would  dissolve  the  par- 
liament.   Sending  for  the  Commons, 


1  Mr.  Rutt  has  added  this  speech  to 
Burton's  Diary,  ii.  351 — 371.  I  may  remark 
that,  1.  The  protector  now  addressed  the 
members  by  tne  ambiguous  style  of  "  my 
lords  and  geotlemen  of  the  two  houses  of 
parliament."  2.  That  he  failed  in  proving 
the  danger  which,  as  he  pretended,  menaced 
Protestantism.  If,  in  the  north,  the  two 
Protestant  states  of  Sweden  and  Denmark 
were  at  war  with  each  other,  more  to  the 
south  the  Catholic  states  of  France  and 
Spain  were  in  the  same  situation.  3.  That 
the  vessels  sold  by  the  Dutch  were  six  flutes 
which  the  English  cruisers  afterwards  de- 


stroyed. 4.  That  from  this  moment  he  wae 
constantly  asserting  with  oaths  that  he 
sought  not  his  present  office.  How  could 
he  justify  such  oaths  in  his  own  mindf 
Was  it  on  the  fallacious  ground  that  what 
ho  in  reality  sought  was  the  office  of  king, 
not  of  protector  ? 

a  Journals,  Jan.  25, 29,  Feb.  1,3.  Burton's 
Diary,  ii.  371—464.  Thurloe,  i.  766;  Ti. 
767. 

^  "  Something  happoninc  that  mominf 
that  put  the  protei'  "  and  paa- 

sion  near  unto  ma  i  at  White 

hall  can  witness."— -  rative,  p.  8, 


A.D.  1658. 


FOURTH  PARLIAMENT  DISSOLVED. 


259 


he  addressed  them  in  an  angry  and 
expostulating  tone.  "  They,"  he  said, 
"  had  placed  him  in  the  high  situation 
in  which  he  stood ;  he  sought  it  not ; 
there  was  neither  man  nor  woman 
treading  on  English  ground  who  could 
say  he  did.  God  knew  that  he  would 
rather  have  lived  under  a  wood  side, 
and  have  tended  a  flock  of  sheep, 
than  have  undertaken  the  govern- 
ment. But,  having  undertaken  it 
at  their  request,  he  had  a  right  to 
look  to  them  for  aid  and  support. 
Yet  some  among  them,  God  was 
his  witness,  in  violation  of  their 
oaths,  were  attempting  to  establish 
a  commonwealth  ir  terest  in  the 
army;  some  had  receis  3d  commissions 
to  enlist  men  for  Charles  Stuart ; 
and  both  had  their  emissaries  at  that 
moment  seeking  to  raise  a  tumult,  or 
rather  a  rebellion,  in  the  city.  But 
he  was  bound  before  God  to  prevent 
such  disasters;  and,  therefore,"  he 
concluded,  "  I  think  it  high  time  that 
an  end  be  put  to  your  sitting ;  and  I 
do  dissolve  this  parliament ;  and  let 
God  judge  between  me  and  you." 
"  Amen,  amen,"  responded  several 
voices  from  the  ranks  of  the  oppo- 
sition.' 

This  was  the  fourth  parliament  that 
Cromwell  had  broken.  The  repub- 
licans indulged  their  resentment  in 
murmurs,  and  complaints,  and  me- 
naces; but  the  protector,  secure  of 
the  fidelity  of  the  army,  despised  the 
feeble  efforts  of  their  vengeance,  and 
encouraged  by  his  vigour  the  timidity 
of  his  counsellors.  Strong  patrols  of 
infantry   and   cavalry    paraded    the 


1  Journ.  Feb,  4.  Thurloe,  vi.  778,  779, 
781,  788.  Pari.  Hist.  iii.  1525.  By  the 
oath,  which  Cromwell  reproaches  them  with 
violating,  they  had  sworn  "to  be  true  and 
faithful  to  the  lord-protector  as  chief  magis- 
trate, and  not  to  contrive,  design,  or  at- 
tempt anything  against  his  person  or  lawful 
authority." 

2  «'i,"  says  Hacker,  "that  had  served 
him  fourteen  years,  and  had  commanded  a 
regiment  seven  years,  without  any  trial  or 
appeal,  with  the  breath  of  his  nostrils  I  was 


streets,  dispersing  every  assemblage 
of  people  in  the  open  air,  in  private 
houses,  and  even  in  conventicles  and 
churches,  for  the  purpose,  or  under 
the  pretext,  of  devotion.  The  colonel- 
major  and  several  captains  of  his 
own  regiment  were  cashiered  ;"'^  many 
of  the  Levellers  and  royalists  were 
arrested  and  imprisoned,  or  discharged 
upon  bail ;  and  the  lord-mayor,  alder- 
men, and  common-council  received 
from  Cromwell  himself  an  account  of 
the  danger  which  threatened  them 
from  the  invasion  meditated  by 
Charles  Stuart,  and  a  charge  to 
watch  the  haunts  of  the  discon- 
tented, and  to  preserve  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  city.  At  the  same 
time  his  agents  were  busy  in  procuring 
loyal  and  afifectionate  addresses  from 
the  army,  the  counties,  and  the  prin- 
cipal towns ;  and  these,  published  in 
the  newspapers  served  to  overawe  his 
enemies,  and  to  display  the  stability 
of  his  power.^ 

The  apprehension  of  invasion,  to 
which  Cromwell  so  frequently  alluded, 
was  not  entirely  groundless.  On  the 
return  of  the  winter,  the  royalists 
had  reminded  Charles  of  his  promise 
in  the  preceding  spring ;  the  king  of 
Spain  furnished  an  aid  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  crowns;  the  har- 
bour of  Ostend  was  selected  for  the 
place  of  embarkation ;  and  arms,  am- 
munition, and  transports  were  pur- 
chased in  Holland.  The  prince  him-, 
self,  mastering  for  a  while  his  habits 
of  indolence  and  dissipation,  appeared 
eager  to  redeem  his  pledge ;''  but  the 
more  prudent  of  his  advisers  conjured 


outed,  and  lost  not  only  my  place  but  Sk 
dear  friend  to  boot.  Five  captains  under 
my  command  were  outed  with  me,  because 
they  could  not  say  that  was  a  house  of 
lords." — Burton's  Diary,  iii.  166. 

3  Thurloe,  vi.  778,  7bl,  7S8 ;  vii.  4,  21,  32, 
49,  71.    Pari.  Hist.  iii.  1528, 

*  Still  Ormond  says  to  Hyde,  "  I  fear  his 
immoderate  delight  in  empty,  effeminate, 
and  vulgar  conversations  is  become  an  irre- 
sistible part  of  his  nature,  and  will  never 
suffer  him  to  animate  his  own  designs,  and 
s  2 


260 


THE  PEOTECTOKATE. 


[chap.  VII. 


him  not  to  risk  his  life  on  general 
assurances  of  support ;  and  the  mar- 
quess of  Ormond,  with  the  most  chi- 
valrous loyalty,  offered  to  ascertain  on 
the  spot  the  real  objects  and  resources 
of  his  adherents.  Pretending  to  pro- 
ceed on  a  mission  to  the  court  of  the 
duke  of  Neuburg,  that  nobleman, 
accompanied  by  O'Neil,  crossed  the 
sea,  landed  in  disguise  at  Westmarch 
on  the  coast  of  Essex,  and  hastened  to 
London.  There  continually  changin  g 
his  dress  and  lodgings,  he  contrived 
to  elude  the  suspicion  of  the  spies  of 
government,  and  had  opportunities  of 
conversing  with  men  of  different  par- 
ties; with  the  royalists,  who  sought 
the  restoration  of  the  ancient  mo- 
narchy ;  with  the  Levellers,  who  were 
willing  that  the  claims  of  the  king 
and  the  subject  should  be  adjusted  in 
a  free  parliament ;  with  the  moderate 
Presbyterians,  who,  guided  by  the 
earls  of  Manchester  and  Denbigh, 
with  Eossiter  and  Sir  Wilham  Wal- 
ler, offered  to  rely  on  the  royal  pro- 
mises ;  and  the  more  rigid  among  the 
same  religionists,  who,  with  the  lords 
Say  and  Eobarts  at  their  head,  de- 
manded the  confirmation  of  the  arti- 
cles to  which  the  late  king  had 
assented  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.  But 
from  none  could  he  procure  any  satis- 
factory assurances  of  support.  They 
were  unable  to  perform  what  they 
had  promised  by  their  agents.  They 
had  not  the  means,  nor  the  courage, 
nor  the  abiUties,  necessary  for  the 
undertaking.  The  majority  refused 
to   declare   themselves,   till    Charles 


others'  actions,  with  that  spirit  which  is 
requisite  for  his  quality,  and  ranch  more  to 
his  fortune."— p.  27,  Jan.  7, 1658.  Clar.  iii. 
387. 

J  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  118,  124,  130.  Clar. 
iii.  388,  392,  395.    Thurloe,  i.  718. 

2  The  knot  consisted  of  Willis,  Colonel 
Enssell,  Sir  William  Compton,  Edward  Vil- 
licrs,  and  Mr.  Broderick,  according  to 
several  letters  in  Clarendon;  according  to 
the  duke  of  York,  and  of  the  four  first, 
liord  Belasyse,  and  Lord*  Loughborough.— 
James,  i.  370. 


should  have  actually  landed  with  a 
respectable  force ;  and  the  most  san- 
guine required  a  pledge  that  he  would 
be  ready  to  sail  the  moment  he  heard 
of  their  rising,  because  there  was  no 
probability  of  their  being  able,  with- 
out foreign  aid,  to  make  head  against 
the  protector  beyond  the  short  space 
of  a  fortnight.' 

In  these  conferences  Ormond  fre- 
quently came  in  contact  with  Sir 
Eichard  Willis,  one  of  the  sealed 
knot,  and  standing  high  in  the  con- 
fidence of  Charles.^  Willis  uniformly 
disapproved  of  the  attempt.  The 
king's  enemies,  he  observed,  were  now 
ready  to  unshea*  h  their  swords  against 
each  other :  but  let  the  royal  banner 
be  once  unfurled,  and  they  would 
suspend  their  present  quarrel,  to  com- 
bine their  efforts  against  the  common 
enemy.  Yet  the  author  of  this  pru- 
dent advice  was,  if  we  may  believe 
Clarendon,  a  traitor,  though  a  traitor 
of  a  very  singular  description.  He  is 
said  to  have  contracted  with  Crom- 
well, in  consideration  of  an  annual 
stipend,  to  reveal  to  him  the  projects 
of  the  king  and  the  royalists ;  but  on 
condition  that  he  should  have  nd 
personal  communication  with  thet 
protector,  that  he  should  never  be 
compelled  to  mention  any  individual 
whose  name  he  wished  to  keep  secretj 
and  that  he  should  not  be  called  upoii 
to  give  evidence,  or  to  furnish  docu 
ments,  for  the  conviction  of  any  pri-  ] 
soner.'  It  is  believed  that  for  several 
years  he  faithfully  compUed  with  this 
engagement;  and  when  he  thought 


3  This  is  Clarendon's  account.  In  Thur. 
loe,  i.  757,  is  a  paper  signed  John  Foster, 
supposed  to  be  the  original  offer  made 
to  Thurloe  by  Willis.  He  there  demands 
that  no  one  but  the  protector  should 
be  acquainted  with  his  employment:  that 
he  should  never  be  brought  forward  as  a 
witness;  that  the  pardon  of  one  dear  friend 
should  be  granted  to  him ;  and  that  h»j 
should  receive  fifty  pounds  with  the  answerl^ 
five  hundred  pounds  on  his  first  intervien 
with  Thurloe,  and  five  hundred  poundi 
when  he  put  into  their  hands  any  of  thi 
conspirators  against  Cromwell's  person. 


A.D.  1658.] 


TEIALS  OF  THE  ROYALISTS. 


261 


that  Ormond  had  been  long  enough 
in  London,  he  informed  Cromwell  of 
the  presence  of  the  marquess  in  the 
capital,  but  at  the  same  moment  con- 
veyed advice  to  the  marquess  that 
orders  had  been  issued  for  his  appre- 
hension. This  admonition  had  its 
desired  effect.  Ormond  stole  away  to 
Shoreham  in  Sussex,  crossed  over  to 
Dieppe,  concealed  himself  two  months 
in  Paris,  and  then,  travelling  in 
disguise  through  France  to  Geneva, 
that  he  might  escape  the  notice  of 
Lockhart  andMazarin,  returned  along 
the  Ehine  to  join  his  master  in 
Flanders.^ 

There  was  little  in  the  report  of 
Ormond  to  give  encouragement  to 
Charles;  his  last  hopes  were  soon 
afterwards  extinguished  by  the  vigi- 
lance of  Cromwell.  The  moment  the 
thaw  opened  the  ports  of  Holland,  a 
squadron  of  English  frigates  swept 
the  coast,  captured  three  and  drove 
on  shore  two  flutes  destined  for  the 
expedition,  and  closely  blockaded  the 
harbour  of  Ostend.'  The  design  was 
again  postponed  till  the  winter ;  and 
the  king  resolved  to  solicit  in  person  a 
supply  of  money  at  the  court  of  the 
Spanish  monarch.  But  from  this 
journey  he  was  dissuaded  both  by 
Hyde  and  by  the  Cardinal  de  Eetz, 
who  pointed  out  to  him  the  superior 
advantage  of  his  residence  in  Flanders, 
where  he  was  in  readiness  to  seize 
the  first  propitious  moment  which 
fortune  should  offer.  In  the  mean 
time  the  cardinal,  through  his  agent 
in  Eome,  solicited  from  the  pope  pe- 
cuniary aid  for  the  king,  on  condition 
that  in  the  event  of  his  ascending  the 
throne  of  his  fathers,  he  should  re- 


''■  Clar.  Hist.  iii.  614—618,  667.  Claren- 
don's narrative  is  so  frequently  inaccurate, 
that  it  is  unsafe  to  give  credit  to  any  charge 
on  his  authority  alone  ;  but  in  the  present 
instance  he  relates  the  discovery  of  the 
treachery  of  Willis  with  such  circumstantial 
minuteness,  that  it  requires  a  considerable 
share  of  incredulity  to  doubt  of  its  being 
substantially  true ;  and  his  narrative  ia  con- 


lease  the  Catholics  of  his  three  king- 
doms from  the  intolerable  pressure  of 
the  penal  laws. 

The  transactions  of  this  winter,  the 
attempt  of  Syndercombe,  the  as- 
cendancy of  the  opposition  in  parlia- 
ment, and  the  preparations  of  the 
royalists  to  receive  the  exiled  king, 
added  to  habitual  indisposition,  had 
soured  and  irritated  the  temper  of  <■ 
Cromwell.  He  saw  that  to  bring  to  r 
trial  the  men  who  had  been  his  asso-  ' 
ciates  in  the  cause  might  prove  a  dan-  ' 
gerous  experiment;  but  there  was 
nothing  to  deter  him  from  wreaking 
his  vengeance  on  the  royalists,  and 
convincing  them  of  the  danger  of 
trespassing  any  more  on  his  patience 
by  their  annual  projects  of  insurrec- 
tion. In  every  county  all  who  had 
been  denounced,  all  who  were  even 
suspected,  were  put  under  arrest;  a 
new  high  court  of  justice  was  es- 
tablished according  to  the  act  of  1656; 
and  Sir  Henry  Slingsby,  Dr.  Hewet, 
and  Mr.  Mordaunt,  were  selected  for 
the  three  first  victims.  Slingsby,  a 
Catholic  gentleman  and  a  prisoner  at 
Hull,  had  endeavoured  to  corrupt  the 
fidelity  of  the  officers  in  the  garrison : 
who,  by  direction  of  the  governor, 
amused  the  credulity  of  the  old  man, 
till  he  had  the  imprudence  to  deliver 
to  them  a  commission  from  Charles 
Stuart.*  Dr.  Hewet  was  an  episco- 
palian divine,  permitted  to  preach  at 
St.  Gregory's,  and  had  long  been  one 
of  the  most  active  and  useful  of  the 
royal  agents  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
capital.  Mordaunt,  a  younger  brother  , 
of  the  earl  of  Peterborough,  had  also 
displayed  his  zeal  for  the  king,  by  ' 
maintaining  a  constant  correspond- 


firmed  by  James  II.  (Mem.   i.   370),  and 
other  documents  to  be  noticed  hereafter. 

2  Carte's     Letters,    ii.   126,    135.     Clar. 
Papers,  iii.  396. 

3  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  136—142,  145,    Clar. 
Pap.  iii.  401. 

*  Thurloe,  vi.  777,  780,  786,  870;  Tii.  46, 
47,  98. 


262 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  VII. 


enoe  with  the  marquess  of  Ormond, 
and  distributing  royal  commissions  to 
those  who  offered  to  raise  men  in 
favour  of  Charles.  Of  the  truth  of 
the  charges  brought  against  them, 
there  could  be  no  doubt ;  and,  aware 
of  their  danger,  they  strongly  pro- 
tested against  the  legality  of  the 
court,  demanded  a  trial  by  jury,  and 
appealed  to  Magna  Charta  and  several 
acts  of  parliament.  Slingsby  at  last 
pleaded,  and  was  condemned  ;  Hewet, 
under  the  pretence  that  to  plead  was 
to  betray  the  hberties  of  Englishmen, 
stood  mute ;  and  his  silence,  accord- 
ing to  a  recent  act,  was  taken  for  a 
confession  of  guilt.  Mordaunt  was 
more  fortunate.  Stapeley,  who,  to 
save  his  own  life,  swore  against  him, 
proved  an  unwilling  witness:  and 
Mallory,  who  was  to  have  supported 
the  evidence  of  Stapeley,  had  four  days 
before  been  bribed  to  abscond.  This 
deficiency  was  gladly  laid  hold  of  by 
the  majority  of  the  judges,  who  gave 
their  opinion  that  his  guilt  was  not 
proved ;  and,  for  similar  reasons, 
some  days  later  acquitted  two  other 
conspirators.  Sir  Humphrey  Bennet 
and  Captain  "Woodcock.  The  fact  is, 
they  were  weary  of  an  oflBce  which 
exposed  them  to  the  censure  of  the 
public ;  for  the  court  was  viewed  with 
hatred  by  the  people.  It  abolished 
the  trial  by  jury ;  it  admitted  no 
inquest  or  presentment  by  the  oaths 
of  good  and  faithful  men  ;  it  deprived 
the  accused  of  the  benefit  of  chal- 
lenge ;  and  its  proceedings  were  con- 
trary to  the  law  of  treason,  the  peti- 


1  Whitelock,  673,  674.  Thurloe,  vii.  159, 
164.  State  Trials,  t.  871,  883,  W7.  These 
trials  are  more  intereatin^  in  Clarendon, 
but  much  of  his  narrative  is  certainly,  and 
more  of  it  probably,  fictitious.  It  is  not 
true  that  Slingsbj's  offence  waa  committed 
two  years  before,  nor  that  llewett  was 
accused  of  visiting  the  king  in  Flanders, 
nor  that  Mallory  escaped  out  of  the  hall 
on  the  morning  of  the  trial.  (See  Claren. 
Hist.  iii.  619—624.)  Mallory's  own  account 
of  his  escape  is  in  Thurloe,  vii.  194 — 220. 

'  Ludlow,  ii.  148.    I  think  there  iB  acme 


tion  of  right,  and  the  very  oath  of 
government  taken  by  the  protector. 
Cromwell,  dissatisfied  with  these  ac- 
quittals, yielded  to  the  advice  of  the 
council,  and  sent  the  rest  of  the 
prisoners  before  the  usual  courts  of 
law,  where  several  were  found  guilty, 
and  condemned  to  suffer  the  penalties 
of  treason.^ 

Great  exertions  were  made  to  save 
the  lives  of  Slingsby  and  Hewet.  In 
favour  of  the  first,  it  was  urged  that 
he  had  never  been  suffered  to  com- 
pound, had  never  submitted  to  the 
commonwealth,  and  had  been  for 
years  deprived  both  of  his  property 
and  liberty,  so  that  his  conduct  should 
be  rather  considered  as  the  attempt 
of  a  prisoner  of  war  to  regain  his 
freedom,  than  of  a  subject  to  overturn 
the  government.  This  reasoning  was 
urged  by  his  nephew.  Lord  Falcon- 
berg,  who,  by  his  recent  marriage 
with  Mary  Cromwell,  was  beUeved 
to  possess  considerable  influence  with 
her  father.  The  interest  of  Dr.  Hewet 
was  espoused  by  a  more  powerful  ad.- 
vocate— by  Elizabeth,  the  best-beloved 
of  Cromwell's  daughters,  who  at  the 
same  time  was  in  a  delicate  and  pre- 
carious state  of  health.  But  it  was  in 
vain  that  she  interceded  for  the  mau 
whose  spiritual  ministrysheemployed; 
Cromwell  was  inexorable.  He  resolved 
that  blood  should  be  shed,  and  that 
the  royalists  should  learn  to  fear  his 
resentment,  since  they  had  not  been 
won  by  his  forbearance.  Both  suffered 
death  by  decapitation.' 

During  the  winter  the  gains  and 


reason  to  queHtion  those  sentiments  of 
loyalty  to  the  house  of  Stuart,  and  that 
affliction  and  displeasure  on  account  of  the 
execution  of  Hewet,  which  writers  attribute 
to  Elizabeth  Claypole.  In  a  letter  written 
by  her  to  her  sister-iu-law,  the  wife  of 
U.  Cromwell,  and  dated  only  four  days 
after  the  death  of  Hewet,  she  calls  on  her 
to  return  thanks  to  God  for  their  deliver- 
ance from  Hewet's  conspiracy :  "  for  ser- 
tingly  not  ondly  his  (Cromwell's)  famelj^l 
would  have  bin  ruined,  but  in  all  prob»<j 
billyti  the  hoi  nation  would  have  bin  inroUll 
in  blod."— June  12.    Thurloe,  vii.  171.- 


A.D.  1658.] 


BATTLE  or  THE  DUNES. 


263 


losses  of  the  hostile  armies  in  Flanders  | 
had  been  nearly  balanced.  If,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  duke  of  York  was  re- 
repulsed  with  loss  in  his  attempt  to 
storm  by  night  the  works  at  Mardyke; 
on  the  other,  the  Marshal  D'Aumont 
was  made  prisoner  with  fifteen  hun- 
dred men  by  the  Spanish  governor  of 
Ostend,  who,  under  the  pretence  of 
delivering  up  the  place,  had  decoyed 
him  within  the  fortifications.  In 
February,  the  offensive  treaty  between 
France  and  England  was  renewed  for 
another  year;  three  thousand  men, 
drafted  from  different  regiments,  were 
sent  by  the  protector  to  supply  the 
deficiency  in  the  number  of  his  forces ; 
and  the  combined  army  opened  the 
campaign  with  the  siege  of  Dunkirk. 
By  the  Spaniards  the  intelligence  was 
received  with  surprise  and  apprehen- 
sion. Deceived  by  false  information, 
they  had  employed  all  their  efforts  to 
provide  for  the  safety  of  Cambray. 
The  repeated  warnings  given  by 
Charles  had  been  neglected ;  the  ex- 
tensive works  at  Dunkirk  remained 
in  an  unfinished  state;  and  the  defence 
of  the  place  had  been  left  to  its 
ordinary  garrison  of  no  more  than 
one  thousand  men,  and  these  but 
scantily  supplied  with  stores  and  pro- 
visions. To  repair  his  error,  Don 
Juan,  with  the  consent  of  his  mentor, 
•the  Marquess  Caracena,  resolved  to 
hazard  a  battle ;  and,  collecting  a 
force  of  six  thousand  infantry,  and 
four  thousand  cavalry,  encamped  be- 
tween the  village  of  Zudcote  and  the 
lines  of  the  besiegers.  But  Turenne, 
aware  of  the  defective  organization  of 
the  Spanish  armies,  resolved  to  pre- 
vent the  threatened  attack;  and  the 
very  next  morning,  before  the  Spanish 
cannon  and  ammunition  had  reached 
the  camp,  the  allied  force  was  seen 
advancing  in  battle  array.  Don  Juan 
hastily  placed  his  men  along  a  ridge 
of  sand-hills  which  extended  from  the 
sea-coast  to  the  canal,  giving  the  com- 
mand of  the  right  wing  to  the  duke 


of  York,  of  the  left  to  the  prince  of 
Cond^,  and  reserving  the  centre  to 
himself.  The  battle  was  begun  by 
the  English,  who  found  themselves 
opposed  to  their  countryman,  the 
duke  of  York.  They  were  led  by 
Major-general  Morgan;  forLockhart, 
who  acted  both  as  ambassador  and 
commander-in-chief,  was  confined  by 
indisposition  to  his  carriage.  Their 
ardour  to  distinguish  themselves  in 
the  presence  of  the  two  rival  nations 
carried  them  considerably  in  advance 
of  their  allies ;  but,  having  halted  to 
gain  breath  at  the  foot  of  the  opposite 
sandhill,  they  mounted  with  im- 
petuosity, received  the  fire  of  the 
enemy,  and,  at  the  point  of  the  pike, 
drove  them  from  their  position.  The 
duke  immediately  charged  at  the 
head  of  the  Spanish  cavalry ;  but  one 
half  of  his  men  were  mowed  down  by 
a  well-directed  fire  of  musketry ;  and 
James  himself  owed  the  preservation 
of  his  life  to  the  temper  of  his  armour. 
The  advantage,  however,  was  dearly 
purchased:  in  Lockhart's  regiment 
scarcely  an  oflScer  remained  to  take 
the  command. 

By  this  time  the  action  had  com- 
menced on  the  left,  where  the  prince 
of  Cond^,  after  some  sharp  fighting, 
was  compelled  to  retreat  by  the  bank 
of  the  canal.  The  centre  was  never 
engaged  ;  for  the  regiment,  on  its 
extreme  left,  seeing  itself  flanked  by 
the  French  in  pursuit  of  Cond^,  pre- 
cipitately abandoned  its  position,  and 
the  example  was  successively  imitated 
by  the  whole  line.  But,  in  the  mean- 
while, the  duke  of  York  had  rallied 
his  broken  infantry,  and  while  they 
faced  the  English,  he  charged  the 
latter  in  flank  at  the  head  of  his  com- 
pany of  horse-guards.  Though  thrown 
into  disorder,  they  continued  to  fight, 
employing  the  butt-ends  of  their  mus- 
kets against  the  swords  of  their  adver- 
saries, and  in  a  few  minutes  several 
squadrons  of  French  cavalry  arrived 
,  to  their  aid.    James  was  surrounded ; 


264 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  tii. 


and,  in  despair  of  saving  himself  by 
flight,  he  boldly  assumed  the  character 
of  a  French  officer ;  rode  at  the  head 
of  twenty  troopers  toward  the  right 
of  their  army;  and,  carefully  threading 
the  different  corps,  arrived  without 
exciting  suspicion  at  the  bank  of  the 
canal,  by  which  he  speedily  effected 
his  escape  to  Furnes.'  The  victory 
on  the  part  of  the  allies  was  complete. 
The  Spanish  cavalry  made  no  effort 
to  protect  the  retreat  of  their  infantry ; 
every  regiment  of  which  was  succes- 
sively surrounded  by  the  pursuers, 
and  compelled  to  surrender.  By 
Turenne  and  his  officers  the  chief 
merit  of  this  brilhant  success  was 
cheerfully  allotted  to  the  courage  and 
steadiness  of  the  English  regiments ; 
at  Whitehall  it  was  attributed'  to  the 
prayers  of  the  lord-protector,  who,  on 
that  very  day,  observed  with  his  coun- 
cil a  solemn  fast  to  implore  the  bless- 
ing of  heaven  on  the  operations  of  the 
allied  army.^ 

Unable  to  oppose  their  enemies  in 
the  field,  the  Spanish  generals  pro- 
posed to  retard  their  progress  by  the 
most  obstinate  defence  of  the  different 
fortresses.  The  prince  de  Ligne  un- 
dertook that  of  Ipres ;  the  care  of 
Newport,  Bruges,  and  Ostend  was 
committed  to  the  duke  of  York ;  and 
Don  Juan  returned  to  Brussels  to 
hasten  new  levies  from  the  different 
provinces.  Within  a  fortnight  Dun- 
kirk capitulated,  and  the  king  of 
France,  having  taken  possession,  deli- 
vered the  keys  with  his  own  hand  to 
the  English  ambassador.  Gravehnes 
■was   soon   afterwards   reduced;   the 


*  Bee  the  account  of  this  battle  by  James 
himself,  in  his  Memoirs,  i.  338—358,-  also 
Thurloe,  vu.  155, 156,  159. 

-  "Trnly,"  says  Thurloe,  "I  never  was 
present  at  any  such  exercise,  where  I  saw 
a  greater  spirit  of  faith  and  prayer  poured 
forth."— Ibid.  15S.  "  The  Lord,"  says  Fleet- 
wood,  "  did  draw  forth  his  highness's  heart, 
to  set  apart  that  day  to  seek  the  Lordj  and 
indeed  there  was  a  very  good  spirit  appear- 
ing. Whilst  we  were  praying,  they  were 
fighting ;  and  the  Lord  hath  given  a  signal 


prince  de  Ligne  suffered  himself  to 
be  surprised  by  the  superior  activity 
of  Turenne ;  Ipres  opened  its  gates, 
and  all  the  towns  on  the  banks  of  the 
Lys  successively  submitted  to  the 
conquerors.  Seldom,  perhaps,  had 
there  occurred  a  campaign  more  dis- 
astrous to  the  Spanish  arms.^ 

In  the  eyes  of  the  superficial  ob- 
server, Cromwell  might  now  appear 
to  have  reached  the  zenith  of  power 
and  greatness.  At  home  he  had  dis- 
covered, defeated,  and  punished  all 
the  conspiracies  against  him ;  abroad, 
his  army  had  gained  laurels  in  the 
field;  his  fleet  swept  the  seas;  his 
friendship  was  sought  by  every  power ; 
and  his  mediation  was  employed  in 
settling  the  differences  between  both 
Portugal  and  Holland,  and  the  king  of 
Sweden  and  the  elector  of  Branden- 
burg. He  had  recently  sent  Lord 
Falconberg  to  compUment  Louis  XIV. 
on  his  arrival  at  Calais ;  and  in  a  few 
days  was  visited  by  the  duke  of  Crequi, 
who  brought  him  a  magnificent  sword 
as  a  present  from  that  prince,  and  by 
Mancini,  with  another  present  of 
tapestry  from  his  uncle,  the  Cardinal 
Mazarin.  But,  above  all,  he  was  now 
in  possession  of  Dunkirk,  the  great 
object  of  his  foreign  policy  for  the 
last  two  years,  the  opening  through 
which  he  was  to  accomplish  the  de- 
signs of  Providence  on  the  continent. 
The  real  fact,  however,  was  that  his 
authority  in  England  never  rested  on 
a  more  precarious  footing  than  at  the 
present  moment ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  go- 
vernment, joined  to  his  apprehensions 


answer.  And  the  Lord  hath  not  only  owned 
U8  iu  our  work  there,  but  in  our  waiting 
upon  him  in  our  way  of  prayer,  which  is 
indeed  our  old  experienced  approved  war 
in  all  our  straits  and  diflBculties." — Ibid. 
159. 

»  James,  Memoirs,  i.  359.  Thurloe,  vii. 
169,  176,  215.  If  we  may  believe  Tempi© 
(ii.  545),  Cromwell  now  saw  his  error  in 
aiding  the  French,  and  made  an  offer  of 
uniting  his  forces  with  those  of  Spain,  pro- 
vided the  siege  of  Calais  were  made  the- 
first  attempt  of  the  combined  army. 


.D.  1658.] 


CROMWELL'S  POVEETY. 


265 


tf  personal  violence,  and  the  pressure 

»f  domestic  affliction,  were  rapidly 

indermining   his    constitution,   and 

lurrying  him  from  the  gay  and  glit- 

«ring  visions  of  ambition  to  the  dark- 

j  less  and  silence  of  the  tomb. 

I    1.  Cromwell  was  now  reduced  to 

'  hat    situation   which,   to   the   late 

mfortunate  monarch,  had  proved  the 

;ource  of  so  many  calamities.    His 

expenditure  far  outran  his  income. 

Chough  the  last  parliament  had  made 

)rovision,  ample  provision,  as  it  was 

hen  thought,  for  the  splendour  of  his 

establishment,  and  for  all  the  charges 

I  )f  the  war,  he  had  already  contracted 

mormons  debts ;  his  exchequer  was 

i  requently  drained  to  the  last  shilling; 

md  his  ministers  were  compelled  to 

,'0  a-begging— such  is  the  expression 

I  )f  the   secretary  of  state — for  the 

:  temporary  loan  of  a  few  thousand 

i  rounds,  with  the  cheerless  anticipa- 

;ion  of  a  refusal.'    He  looked  on  the 

:  irmy,  the  greater  part  of  which  he  had 

1  quartered  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 

t  netropolis,  as  his  chief— his  only  sup- 

|x)rt  against  his  enemies;  and  while 

;he  soldiers  were  comfortably  clothed 

:  md  fed,  he  might  with  confidence 

•ely  on  their  attachment ;  but  now 

hat  their  pay  was  in  arrear,  he  had 

•eason  to  apprehend  that  discontent 

'  night  induce  them  to  listen  to  the 

suggestions  of  those  officers  who  sought 

!  ;o  subvert   his   power.    On   former 

)Ccasions,   indeed,  he   had    relieved 

i  limself  from  similar  embarrassments 

j  jy  the   imposition  of  taxes   by  his 

!  )wn  authority ;  but  this  practice  was 

i  JO  strongly  reprobated  in  the  petition 

'  md  advice,  and  he  had  recently  ab- 

.  iured  it  with  so  much  solemnity,  that 

ae  dared  not  repeat  the  experiment. 

3e  attempted  to  raise  a  loan  among 


1  Thurloe,  Tii.  99,  100,  144,  295. 

*  Thurloe,  vii.  662. 

3  Ibid.  146,  176,  192,  269.  The  committee 
consisted,  in  Thurloe's  words,  of  Lord 
Fiennes,  Lord  Fleetwood,  Lord  Desborow, 
Lord  Chamberlayne,  Lord  Whalley,  Mr. 
Comptroller,  Lord  Goffe,  Lord  Cooper,  and 


the  merchants  and  capitalists  in  the 
city;  but  his  credit  and  popularity 
were  gone ;  he  had,  by  plunging  into 
war  with  Spain,  cut  off  one  of  the 
most  plentiful  sources  of  profit,  the 
Spanish  trade;  and  the  number  of 
prizes  made  by  the  enemy,  amounting 
to  more  than  a  thousand,-  had  ruined 
many  opulent  houses.  The  application 
was  eluded  by  a  demand  of  security 
on  the  landed  property  belonging  to 
country  gentlemen.  There  remained 
a  third  expedient, — an  application  to 
parliament.  But  Cromwell,  like  the 
first  Charles,  had  learned  to  dread 
the  very  name  of  a  parliament.  Three 
of  these  assemblies  he  had  moulded 
according  to  his  own  plan,  and  yet 
not  one  of  them  could  he  render 
obsequious  to  his  will.  Urged,  how- 
ever, by  the  ceaseless  importunities  of 
Thurloe,  he  appointed  nine  council- 
lors to  inquire  into  the  means  of 
defeating  the  intrigues  of  the  repub- 
licans in  a  future  parliament;  the 
manner  of  raising  a  permanent  reven  ue 
from  the  estates  of  the  royalists ;  and 
the  best  method  of  determining  the 
succession  to  the  protectorate.  But 
among  the  nine  were  two  who,  aware 
of  his  increasing  infirmities,  began 
to  cherish  projects  of  their  own  ag- 
grandizement, and  who,  therefore, 
made  it  their  care  to  perplex  and  to 
prolong  the  deliberations.  The  com- 
mittee sat  three  weeks.  On  the  two 
first  questions  they  came  to  no  con- 
clusion ;  with  respect  to  the  third, 
they  voted,  on  a  division,  that  the 
choice  between  an  elective  and  an 
hereditary  succession  was  a  matter 
of  indifierence.  Suspicious  of  their 
motives,  Cromwell  dissolved  the  com- 
mittee.^ But  he  substituted  no  council 
in  its  place;  things  were  allowed  to 


himself  (p.  192).  On  this  selection  Henry 
Cromwell  observes  :  "  The  wise  men  wera 
but  seven ;  it  seems  yon  have  made  them 
nine.  And  having  heard  their  names,  I 
think  myself  better  able  to  guess  what 
they'll  do  than  a  much  wiser  man;  for  no 
very  wise  man  can  ever  imagine  it"  (p.  217). 


20; 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[chap,  ti 


take  their  course ;  the  embarrassment 
of  the  treasury  increased;  and  the 
irresolution  of  the  protector,  joined 
to  the  dangers  which  threatened  the 
government,  shook  the  confidence  of 
Thurloe  himself.  It  was  only  when 
he  looked  up  to  heaven  that  he  dis- 
covered a  gleam  of  hope,  in  the 
persuasion  that  the  God  who  had 
befriended  Cromwell  through  life, 
would  not  desert  him  at  the  close 
of  his  career.* 

2.  To  the  cares  of  government 
must  be  added  his  constant  dread  of 
assassination.  It  is  certainly  extra- 
ordinary that,  while  so  many  conspi- 
racies are  said  to  have  been  formed, 
no  attempt  was  actually  made  against 
his  person;  but  the  fact  that  such 
designs  had  existed,  and  the  know- 
ledge that  his  death  was  of  the  first 
importance  to  his  enemies,  convinced 
him  that  he  could  never  be  secure 
from  danger.  He  multiplied  his  pre- 
cautions. We  are  told  that  he  wore 
defensive  armour  under  his  clothes ; 
carried  loaded  pistols  in  his  pockets; 
sought  to  remain  in  privacy,  and, 
when  he  found  it  necessary  to  give 
audience,  sternly  watched  the  eyes 
and  gestures  of  those  who  addressed 
him.  He  was  careful  that  his  own 
motions  should  not  be  known  before- 
hand. His  carriage  was  filled  with 
attendants ;  a  numerous  escort  accom- 
panied him ;  and  he  proceeded  at  full 
speed,  frequently  diverging  from  the 
road  to  the  right  or  left,  and  gene- 
rally returning  by  a  different  route. 
In  his  palace  he  often  inspected  the 


'  Ibid.  153,  282.  295. 

-  So  says  Clarendon  (iii.  646),  Bates 
(Elench.  343),  and  Welwood  (p.  94);  but 
their  testimony  can  prove  nothing  more 
than  that  such  reports  were  current,  and 
obtained  credit,  among  the  royalists. 

*  The  following  passage  from  one  of 
Cromwell's  letters  to  his  daughter  Ireton, 
will  perhaps  surprise  the  reader,  "  Your 
sister  Claypole  is  (I  trust  in  mereve)  exer- 
cised with  some  perplexed  thoughts,  shee 
sees  her  owne  vanitye  and  carnal  minde, 
bewailinge  itt,  shee  seeks  after  (as  I  hope 


nightly  watch,  changed  his  bet 
chamber,  and  was  careful  that,  besidt 
the  principal  door,  there  should  I 
some  other  egress,  for  the  facility  ( 
escape.  He  had  ofted  faced  deal 
without  flinching  in  the  field;  bi 
his  spirit  broke  under  the  continu; 
fear  of  unknown  and  invisible  foe 
He  passed  the  nights  in  a  state 
feverish  anxiety ;  sleep  fled  from  h 
pillow;  and  for  more  than  a  ye: 
before  his  death  we  always  find  tl 
absence  of  rest  assigned  as  either  ti 
cause  which  produced,  or  a  circun 
stance  which  aggravated,  his  numeroi 
ailments.^ 

3.  The  selfishness  of  ambition  dqi^ 
not  exclude  the  more  kindly  feelinfi 
of  domestic  affection,  Cromwell  w  " 
sincerely  attached  to  his  childrec 
but,  among  them,  he  gave  the  pref 
renoe  to  his  daughter  Elizabeth  Cla; 
pole.  The  meek  disposition  of  tl 
young  woman  possessed  singul; 
charms  for  the  overbearing  spirit . 
her  father ;  and  her  timid  piety  readi 
received  lessons  on  mystical  theoloj 
from  the  superior  experience  of  tl 
lord-generaL^  But  she  was  now  dyh 
of  a  most  painful  and  internal  coe 
plaint,  imperfectly  understood  by  hi 
physicians ;  and  her  grief  for  the  Ic 
of  her  infant  child  added  to  the  poi 
nancy  of  her  sufferings.  Cromw< 
abandoned  the  business  of  state  th 
he  might  hasten  to  Hampton  Coui 
to  console  his  favourite  daughter.  1 
frequently  visited  her,  remained  loi 
in  her  apartment,  and,  whenever  : 
quitted  it,  seemed  to  be  absorbed 


alsoe)  that  wch  will  satisfie,  and  thus  to  b 
a  seeker,  is  to  be  of  the  best  sect  nexl 
finder,  and  such  an  one  shall  very  faythf 
humble  seeker  bee  at  the  end.  Hap) 
seeker,  happie  finder.  Who  ever  tast 
that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  without  soi 
sense  of  self-vanitye  and  badness?  W 
ever  tasted  that  graciousnesse  of  his,  a 
could  goe  lesse  in  desier,   and  lesse  th 

Eressinge    after    full    enjoyment  ?      De< 
art  presse  on  :    lett  not  husband,  lett  i 
anythinge  coole  thy  aflfections  after  Chril' 
&c.   &c.  &c.— Harris,   iii.   App.   515,  tii 
1814. 


A.D.  IG08.] 


ILLNESS  OF  CEOMWELL. 


the  deepest  melancholy.  It  is  not 
probable  that  the  subject  of  their 
private  conversatiou  was  exposed  to 
the  profane  ears  of  strangers.  We  are, 
however,  told  that  she  expressed  to 
him  her  doubts  of  the  justice  of  the 
good  old  cause,  that  she  exhorted 
him  to  restore  the  sovereign  authority 
to  the  rightful  owner,  and  that,  ocoa- 
sioually,  when  her  mind  was  wan- 
dering, she  alarmed  him  by  uttering 
cries  of  "  blood,"  and  predictions  of 
vengeance. 

4.  Elizabeth  died.  The  protector 
was  already  confined  to  his  bed  with 
the  gout,  and,  though  he  had  anti- 
cipated the  event,  some  days  elapsed 
before  he  recovered  from  the  shock. 
A  slow  fever  still  remained,  which 
was  pronounced  a  bastard  tertian. 
One  of  his  physicians  whispered  to  an- 
other, that  his  pulse  was  intermittent; 
the  words  caught  the  ears  of  the  sick 
man ;  he  turned  pale,  a  cold  perspi- 
ration covered  his  face ;  and,  request- 
ing to  be  placed  in  bed,  he  executed 
his  private  will.  The  next  morning 
he  had  recovered  his  usual  composure ; 
and  when  he  received  the  visit  of  his 
physician,  ordering  all  his  attendants 
to  quit  the  room  but  his  wife,  whom 
he  held  by  the  hand,  he  said  to  him : 
"  Do  not  think  that  I  shall  die ;  I  am 
sure  of  the  contrary."  Observing  the 
surprise  which  these  words  excited, 
he  continued :  "  Say  not  that  I  have 
lost  my  reason :  I  tell  you  the  truth. 
I  know  it  from  better  authority  than 
any  which  you  can  have  from  Galen 
or  Hippocrates.  It  is  the  answer  of 
God  himself  to  our  prayers;  not  to 
mine  alone,  but  to  those  of  others  who 
have  a  more  intimate  interest  in  him 
than  I  have."  2  The  same  commu- 
nication was  made  to  Thurloe,  and  to 
the  dififerent  members  of  the  protec- 
tor's family ;  nor  did  it  fail  to  obtain 
credit  among  men  who  believed  that 


"  in  other  instances  he  had  been 
favoured  with  similar  assurances,  and 
that  they  had  never  deceived  him."' 
Honce  his  chaplain  Goodwin  ex- 
claimed, "  O  Lord,  we  pray  not  for 
his  recovery ;  that  thou  hast  granted 
already;  what  we  now  beg  is  his 
speedy  recovery."'' 

In  a  few  days,  however,  their  con- 
fidence was  shaken.  For  change  of 
air  he  had  removed  to  Whitehall, 
till  the  palace  of  St.  James's  should 
be  ready  for  his  reception.  There  his 
fever  became  a  double  tertian,  and 
his  strength  rapidly  wasted  away. 
Who,  it  was  asked,  was  to  succeed 
him  ?  On  the  day  of  his  inaugura- 
tion he  had  written  the  name  of  his 
successor  within  a  cover  sealed  with 
the  protectorial  arms ;  but  that  paper 
had  been  lost  or  purloined,  or  de- 
stroyed. Thurloe  undertook  to  sug- 
gest to  him  a  second  nomination ; 
but  the  condition  of  the  protector, 
who,  if  we  believe  him,  was  always 
insensible  or  delirious,  afibrded  no 
opportunity.  A  suspicion,  however, 
existed,  that  he  had  private  reasons 
for  declining  to  interfere  in  so  delicate 
a  business.^ 

The  30th  of  August  was  a  tempes- 
tuous day :  during  the  night  the  vio- 
lence of  the  wind  increased  till  it 
blew  a  hurricane.  Trees  were  torn 
from  their  roots  in  the  park,  and 
houses  unroofed  in  the  city.  This 
extraordinary  occurrence  at  a  mo- 
ment when  it  was  thought  that  the 
protector  was  dying,  could  not  fail  of 
exciting  remarks  in  a  superstitious 
age ;  and,  though  the  storm  reached 
to  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  in 
England  it  was  universally  referred 
to  the  death-bed  of  the  protector. 
His  friends  asserted  that  God  would 
not  remove  so  great  a  man  from  this 
world  without  previously  warning  the 
nation  of  its  approaching  loss;  the 


1  Clar.    Hist.    iii.    617.    Bulstrode,    205. 
Heath,  408. 
.    2  Thurloe,  vii.  321,  340,  354,  355.    Bates, 


Elench,  413.       3  Thurloe,  vii.  355,  367,  376. 
*  Ludlow,  ii.  151. 
3  Thurloe,  355,  365,  366. 


268 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  TII 


Cavaliers  more  maliciously  main- 
tained that  the  devils, "  the  princes  of 
the  air,"  were  congregating  over 
Whitehall,  that  they  might  pounce  on 
the  protector's  soul.* 

On  the  third  night  afterwards, 
Cromwell  had  a  lucid  interval  of  con- 
siderable duration.  It  might  have 
been  expected  that  a  man  of  his  reli- 
gious disposition  would  have  felt 
some  compunctious  visitings,  when 
from  the  bed  of  death  he  looked  back 
on  the  strange  eventful  career  of  his 
past  life.  But  he  had  adopted  a 
doctrine  admirably  calculated  to  lull 
and  tranquillize  the  misgivings  of 
conscience.  "Tell  me,"  said  he  to 
Sterry,  one  of  his  chaplains,  "  Is  it 
possible  to  fall  from  grace  ?"  "  It  is 
not  possible,"  replied  the  minister. 
"Then,"  exclaimed  the  dying  man, 
"  I  am  safe ;  for  I  know  that  I  was 
once  in  grace."  Under  this  im- 
pression he  prayed,  not  for  himself, 
but  for  God's  people.  "  Lord,"  he  said, 
"  though  a  miserable  and  wretched 
creature,  I  am  in  covenant  with  thee 
through  thy  grace,  and  may  and  will 
come  to  thee  for  thy  people.  Thou 
hast  made  me  a  mean  instrument  to 
do  them  some  good,  and  thee  service. 
Many  of  them  set  too  high  a  value 
upon  me,  though  others  would  be 
glad  of  my  death.  Lord,  however 
thou  disposest  of  me,  continue,  and 
go  on  to  do  good  for  them.  Teach 
those  who  look  too  much  upon  thy 
instruments,  to  depend  more  upon 
thyself,  and  pardon  such  as  desire  to 
trample  upon  the  dust  of  a  poor  worm, 
for  they  are  thy  people  too."' 

Early  in  the  following  morning,  he 
relapsed  into  a  state  of  insensibility. 
It  was  his  fortunate  day,  the  3rd  of 
September,  a  circumstance  from  which 
his  sorrowing  relatives  derived  a  new 
source  of  consolation.    It  was,  they 

1  Clar.  646.  Bulstrode,  207.  Heath,  408. 
Noble,  i.  147,  note. 

2  Collection  of  Passages  concerning  his 
late  liighness   in    Time    of  his    Sickness, 


observed,  on  the  3rd  of  Septembe! 
that  he  overcame  the  Scots  at  Dun 
bar;  on  that  day,  he  also  overcame 
the  royalists  at  Worcester ;  and  o; 
the  same  day,  he  was  destined  ti 
overcome  his  spiritual  enemies,  au( 
to  receive  the  crown  of  victory  ii 
heaven.  About  four  in  the  afternooc 
he  breathed  his  last,  amidst  the  tears 
and  lamentations  of  his  attendants. 
"  Cease  to  weep,"  exclaimed  the  fana- 
tical Sterry,  "  you  have  more  reasor 
to  rejoice.  He  was  your  protector 
here;  he  will  prove  a  still  more 
powerful  protector,  now  that  he  h 
with  Christ  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father."  With  a  similar  confidence 
in  Cromwell's  sanctity,  though  in  8 
somewhat  lower  tone  of  enthusiasm 
the  grave  and  cautious  Thurloe  an- 
nounced the  event  by  letter  to  the 
deputy  of  Ireland.  "  He  is  gone  tc 
heaven,  embalmed  with  the  tears  oj 
his  people,  and  upon  the  wings  of  the 
prayers  of  the  saints."^ 

Till  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  when  that  wonderful 
man  arose,  who,  by  the  splendour  ol 
his  victories  and  the  extent  of  hie 
empire,  cast  all  preceding  adventurers 
into  the  shade,  the  name  of  Cromwell 
stood  without  a  parallel  in  the  history 
of  civilized  Europe.  Men  looked  with 
a  feeling  of  awe  on  the  fortunate  indi- 
vidual who,  without  the  aid  of  birth, 
or  wealth,  or  connections,  was  able  to 
seize  the  government  of  three  power- 
ful kingdoms,  and  to  impose  the  yoke 
of  servitude  on  the  necks  of  the  very 
men  who  had  fought  in  his  company 
to  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
less  arbitrary  sway  of  their  hereditary 
sovereign.  That  he  who  accomplished 
this  was  no  ordinary  personage,  all 
must  admit ;  and  yet,  on  close  investi- 
gation, we  shall  discover  little  that 
was  sublime  or  dazzling  in  his  cha- 


p.  12.  The  author  was  Underwood,  groom 
of  the  bedchamber.  See  also  a  letter  of 
H.  Cromwell,  Thurloe,  tH.  454;  Ludlow,  ii. 
153.        5  Ludlow,  ii.  153.    Thurloe,  vii.  373. 


i. 


.D.  1658.] 


CHAEACTEE  OF  CROMWELL. 


269 


racter.  Cromwell  was  not  the  meteor 
svhich  surprises  and  astounds  by  the 
rapidity  and  brilliancy  of  its  course. 
Cool,  cautious,  calculating,  he  stole  on 
with  slow  and  measured  pace;  and, 
while  with  secret  pleasure  he  toiled 
up  the  ascent  to  greatness,  laboured 
to  persuade  the  spectators  that  he 
was  reluctantly  borne  forward  by  an 
9xterior  and  resistless  force,  by  the 
inarch  of  events,  the  necessities  of  the 
state,  the  will  of  the  army,  and  even 
the  decree  of  the  Almighty.  He 
seems  to  have  looked  upon  dissimu- 
lation as  the  perfection  of  human 
wisdom,  and  to  have  made  it  the  key- 
stone of  the  arch  on  which  he  built 
iiis  fortunes.*  The  aspirations  of  his 
imbition  were  concealed  under  the 
pretence  of  attachment  to  "  the  good 
Did  cause ;"  and  his  secret  workings 
to  acquire  the  sovereignty  for  himself 
and  his  family  were  represented  as 
dndeavours  to  secure  for  his  former 
brethren  in  arms  the  blessings  of  civil 
:ind  religious  freedom,  the  two  great 
objects  which  originally  called  them 
.nto  the  field.  Thus  his  whole  conduct 
was  made  up  of  artifice  and  deceit. 
He  laid  his  plans  long  beforehand ;  he 
studied  the  views  and  dispositions  of 
ill  from  whose  influence  he  had  any 
ihing  to  hope  or  fear ;  and  he  em- 
ployed every  expedient  to  win  their 
iflFeciions,  and  to  make  them  the 
Dlind  unconscious  tools  of  his  policy. 
Por  this  purpose  he  asked  questions, 
or  threw  out  insinuations  in  their 
aearing;  now  kept  them  aloof  with 
m  air  of  reserve  and  dignity;  now 
put  them  oflF  their  guard  by  conde- 
scension, perhaps  by  buffoonery  ;•  at 
5ne  time,  addressed  himself  to  their 


vanity  or  avarice;  at  another,  ex- 
posed to  them  with  tears  (for  tears  he 
had  at  will),  the  calamities  of  the 
nation ;  and  then,  when  he  found 
them  moulded  to  his  purpose,  instead 
of  assenting  to  the  advice  which  he 
had  himself  suggested,  feigned  reluc- 
tance, urged  objections,  and  pleaded 
scruples  of  conscience.  At  length  he 
yielded;  but  it  was  not  till  he  had 
acquired  by  his  resistance  the  praise 
of  moderation,  and  the  right  of  attri- 
buting his  acquiescence  to  the  impor- 
tunity of  others  instead  of  his  own 
ambition.^ 

Exposed  as  he  was  to  the  continued 
machinations  of  the  royalists  and 
Levellers,  both  equally  eager  to  pre- 
cipitate him  from  the  height  to  which 
he  had  attained,  Cromwell  made  it 
his  great  object  to  secure  to  himself 
the  attachment  of  the  army.  To  it 
he  owed  the  acquisition,  through  it 
alone  could  he  insure  the  perma- 
nence, of  his  power.  Now,  for- 
tunately for  this  purpose,  that  army, 
composed  as  never  was  army  before  or 
since,  revered  in  the  lord-protector 
what  it  valued  mostly  in  itself,  the 
cant  and  practice  of  reUgious  enthu- 
siasm. The  superior  officers,  the 
subalterns,  the  privates,  all  held 
themselves  forth  as  professors  of  god- 
liness. Among  them  every  public 
breach  of  morality  was  severely  pu- 
nished; the  exercises  of  religious 
worship  were  of  as  frequent  recur- 
rence as  those  of  military  duty  ;•*  m 
council,  the  officers  always  opened 
the  proceedings  with  extemporary 
prayer;  and  to  implore  with  due 
solemnity  the  protection  of  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  was  held  an  indispensable 


1  See  proofs  of  his  dissimulation  in  Harris, 
iii.  93—103 ;  Hutchinson,  313. 

2  See  instances  in  Sates,  Elene.  344; 
Cowley,  95;  Ludlow,  i.  207;  Whitelock, 
656;  Btate  Trials,  v.  1131,  1199. 

3  See  Ludlow,  i.  272 ;  ii.  13,  14,  17. 

*  *'  The  disciphne  of  the  army  was  such 
that  a  man  would  not  be  suffered  to  remain 
there,  of  whom  we  could  take  notice  he 


was  guilty  of  such  practices." — Cromwell's 
speech  to  parliament  in  1654.  It  surprised 
strangers. — Certa  singuhs  diebus  turn  fun- 
dendis  Deo  precibus,  turn  audiendis  Dei 
praeconiis  erant  assignata  tempora. — Paral- 
lelum  Olivse  apud  Harris,  iii.  12.  E  certo 
ad  ogni  modo,  che  le  Truppe  vivono  con 
tanta  esatezza,  come  se  fossero  fraterie  de' 
religiosi.— Sagredo,  M.S. 


270 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


rCHAP.  VII. 


part  of  the  preparation  for  battle. 
Their  cause  they  considered  the  cause 
of  God ;  if  they  fought,  it  was  for  his 
glory ;  if  they  conquered,  it  was  by 
the  might  of  his  arm.  Among  these 
enthusiasts,  Cromwell,  as  he  held  the 
first  place  in  rank,  was  also  pre-emi- 
nent in  spiritual  gifts.'  The  fervour 
with  which  he  prayed,  the  unction 
with  which  he  preached,  excited  their 
admiration  and  tears.  They  looked 
on  him  as  the  favourite  of  God, 
under  the  special  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  honoured  with  com- 
munications from  heaven ;  and  he,  on 
his  part,  was  careful,  by  the  piety  of 
hia  language,  by  the  strict  decorum  of 
his.  court,  and  by  his  zeal  for  the 
diffusion  of  godUness,  to  preserve 
and  strengthen  such  impressions.  In 
minds  thus  disposed,  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  create  a  persuasion  that  the 
final  triumph  of  "their  cause"  de- 
pended on  the  authority  of  the  gene- 
ral under  whom  they  had  conquered ; 
while  the  full  enjoyment  of  that  reli- 
gious freedom  which  they  so  highly 
prized  rendered  them  less  jealous  of 
the  arbitrary  power  which  he  occa- 
sionally assumed.  In  his  public 
speeches,  he  perpetually  reminded 
them  that,  if  religion  was  not  the 
original  cause  of  the  late  civil  war, 
yet,  God  "soon  brought  it  to  that 
issue ;"  that  amidst  the  strife  of  battle, 
and  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
war,  the  reward  to  which  they  looked 
was  freedom  of  conscience ;  that  this 
freedom  to  its  full  extent  they  en- 
joyed under  his  government,  though 
they  could  never  obtain  it  till  they 
had  placed  the  supreme  authority  in 
his  hands.'    The  merit  which  he  thus 


1  Beligioso  al  eatremo  nell'  esteriore,  pre- 
dica  con  eloquenzs  ai  soldati,  li  persuade  a 
viTere  secondo  le  legge  d'  Idaio,  e  per 
render  piu  efBcace  la  persuasione,  si  serve 
ben  spesso  delle  lagrime,  piangendo  piii  li 
peccati  altrui,  che  li  proprii. — Ibid.  See 
also  Ladlow,  iii.  111. 

^  See  in  particular  his  speech  to  his  second 
parliament,  printed  by  Henry  Hills,  1654. 


arrogated  to  himself  was  admitted  tc 
be  his  due  by  the  great  body  of  the 
saints ;  it  became  the  spell  by  which 
he  rendered  them  blind  to  his  ambi- 
tion and  obedient  to  his  will ;  the 
engine  with  which  he  raised,  and 
afterwards  secured,  the  fabric  of  hif 
greatness. 

On  the  subject  of  civil  freedom,  the 
protector  could  not  assume  so  bold  a 
tone.  He  acknowledged,  indeed,  its 
importance;  it  was  second  only  tc 
religious  freedom;  but  if  second, 
then,  in  the  event  of  competition,  it 
ought  to  yield  to  the  first.  He  con- 
tended that,  under  his  government, 
every  provision  had  been  made  for 
the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  indi- 
viduals, so  far  as  was  consistent  witb 
the  safety  of  the  whole  nation.  He 
had  reformed  the  Chancery,  he  had 
laboured  to  abolish  the  abuses  of  the 
law,  he  had  placed  learned  and  up- 
right judges  on  the  bench,  and  he 
had  been  careful  in  all  ordinary  cases 
that  impartial  justice  should  be  admi- 
nistered between  the  parties.  This 
indeed  was  true ;  but  it  was  also  true 
that  by  his  orders  men  were  arrested 
and  committed  without  lawful  cause ; 
that  juries  were  packed;  that  pri- 
soners, acquitted  at  their  trial,  were 
sent  into  confinement  beyond  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  courts;  that 
taxes  had  been  raised  without  the 
authority  of  parliament;  that  a 
most  unconstitutional  tribunal,  the 
high  court  of  justice,  had  been  esta- 
bhshed ;  and  that  the  major-generals 
had  been  invested  with  powers  the 
most  arbitrary  and  oppressive.'  These 
acts  of  despotism  put  him  on  his 
defence;  and  in  apology  he  pleaded. 


3  "Judge  Belles,"  says  Challoner,  "was 
shuffled  out  of  hia  place.  Three  worthy 
lawyers  were  sent  to  the  Tower.  It  cost 
them  fifty  pounds  a-piece  for  pleading  • 
client's  cause.  One  Portman  was  impri- 
soned two  or  three  years  without  cause. 
Several  persons  were  taken  out  of  their 
beds,  and  carried  none  knows  whither."-^ 
Burton's  Diary,  iv.  47. 


.D.  looS.] 


CHAEACTEE  OF  CROMWELL. 


271 


s  every  despot  will  plead,  reasons  of 
tate,  the  necessity  of  sacrificing  a 
•art  to  preserve  the  whole,  and  his 
onvietion,  that  a  "  people  blessed  by 
Jod,  the  regenerated  ones  of  several 
udgments  forming  the  flock  and 
ambs  of  Christ,  would  prefer  their 
afety  to  their  passions,  and  their 
eal  security  to  forms,"  Nor  was 
his  reasoning  addressed  in  vain  to 
aen  who  had  surrendered  their 
udgments  into  his  keeping,  and  who 
elt  little  for  the  wrongs  of  others, 
,s  long  as  such  wrongs  were  repre- 
ented  necessary  for  their  own  welfare. 
Some  writers  have  maintained  that 
>omwell  dissembled  in  religion  as 
veil  as  in  politics ;  and  that,  when  he 
undescended  to  act  the  part  of  the 
aint,  he  assumed  for  interested  pur- 
)oses  a  character  wiiich  he  otherwise 
lespised.  But  this  supposition  is 
;ontradicted  by  the  uniform  tenor  of 
lis  life.    Long  before  he  turned  his 


attention  to  the  disputes  between  the 
king  and  the  parliament,  religious 
enthusiasm  had  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  his  mind;'  it  continually 
manifested  itself  during  his  long 
career,  both  in  the  senate  and  the 
field ;  and  it  was  strikingly  displayed 
in  his  speeches  and  prayers  on  the 
last  evening  of  his  life.  It  should, 
howe\'er,  be  observed,  that  he  made 
his  religion  harmonize  with  his  ambi- 
tion. If  he  believed  that  the  cause 
in  which  he  had  embarked  was  the 
cause  of  God,  he  also  believed  that 
!  God  had  chosen  him  to  be  the  suc- 
I  cessful  champion  of  that  cause.  Thus 
the  honour  of  God  was  identified 
Yidth  his  own  advancement,  and  the 
arts,  which  his  policy  suggested,  were 
sanctified  in  his  eyes  by  the  ulterior 
object  at  which  he  aimed— the  diffu- 
sion of  godliness,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  reign  of  Christ  among 
mankind.- 


1  Warwick,  249. 

2  The  Venetian  ambassador  observes  that 
luring  the  protectorate  London  wore  the 
ippearance  of  a  garrison  town,  where  no- 
ihing  was  to  be  seen  but  the  marching  of 
ioldiers,  nothing  to  be  heard  but  the  sound 
)f  drums  and  trumpets.  II  decoro  et  gran- 
iezza  di  Londra  ha  molto  cangiato  di  faccia, 
a  nobilta,  che  la  rendeva  conspicua,  sta 


divisa  per  la  campagna,  et  la  delecatezza 
della  corte  la  pivi  sontuosa  et  la  pivi  allegre 
del  mondo,  frequentata  da  principali  dame, 
et  abundante  nelli  piii  scelti  trattenementi, 
6  cangiata  al  presente  in  una  perpetua 
marchia  et  contramarchia,  in  un  incessante 
strepito  di  tamburri,  e  di  trembe,  et  in 
stuoio  numerosi  di  soldati  et  oflBciali  diversi 
ai  posti.— Sagredo.  See  also  an  intercepted 
letter  in  Thurloe,  ii,  670. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


RICHARD       CROMWBLL      PBOTECTOR — PARLIAMENT      CALLED — DISSOLVED — MILITARY 

GOVERNMENT — LONQ    PARLIAMENT  RESTORED — EXPELLED  AGAIN — RE-INSTATED 

MONK    IN    LONDON RE-ADMISSION    OF     EXCLUDED     MEMBERS LONG     PARLIAMENT 

UIS30LVED — THE   CONVENTION    PARLIAMENT — RESTORATION    OF    CHARLES    II. 


By  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Bourchier, 
Cromwell  left  two  sons,  Eichard 
and  Henry.  There  was  a  remark- 
able contrast  in  the  opening  career  of 
these  young  men.  During  the  civil 
war,  Eichard  lived  in  the  Temple, 
frequented  the  company  of  the  Cava- 
liers, and  spent  his  time  in  gaiety  and 


debauchery.  Henry  repaired  to  his 
father's  quarters,  and  so  rapid  was  his 
promotion,  that  at  the  age  of  twenty 
he  held  the  commission  of  captain  in 
the  regiment  of  guards  belonging  to 
Fairfax,  the  lord-general.  After  the 
establishment  of  the  commonwealth, 
Eichard  married,  and,  retiring  to  the 


272 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


rCHAP.  VI] 


house  of  bis  father-in-law,  at  Hursley 
in  Ilanipshirej  devoted  himself  to 
the  usual  pursuits  of  a  country  gen- 
tleman. Henry  accompanied  his 
father  in  the  reduction  of  Ireland, 
which  country  he  afterwards  go- 
verned, first  with  the  rank  of  major- 
general,  afterwards  with  that  of  lord- 
deputy.  It  was  not  till  the  second 
year  of  the  protectorate  that  Crom- 
well seemed  to  recollect  that  he  had 
an  elder  son.  He  made  him  a  lord 
of  trade,  then  chancellor  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  and  lastly  a  mem- 
ber of  the  new  house  of  peers.  As 
these  honours  were  far  inferior  to 
those  which  he  lavished  on  other 
persons  connected  with  his  family, 
it  was  inferred  that  he  entertained 
•a  mean  opinion  of  Richard's  abilities. 
A  more  probable  conclusion  is,  that 
he  feared  to  alarm  the  jealousy  of  his 
officers,  and  carefully  abstained  from 
doing  that  which  might  confirm  the 
general  suspicion,  that  he  designed 
to  make  the  protectorship  hereditary 
in  his  family. ' 

The  moment  he  expired,  the  council 
assembled,  and  the  result  of  their  de- 
liberation was  an  order  to  proclaim 
Eichard  Cromwell  protector,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  been  declared  by 
his  late  highness  his  successor  in  that 
dignity.^  Not  a  murmur  of  opposi- 
tion was  heard;  the  ceremony  was 
performed   in   all    places   after   the 


1  "  The  Lord  knows  my  desire  was  for 
Harry  and  his  brother  to  have  lived  private 
lives  in  the  country,  and  Harry  knows  this 
very  well ;  and  how  difficultly  I  was  per- 
suaded to  give  him  his  commission  for  Ire- 
land."— Letter  to  Fleetwood,  22nd  June, 
3655. 

-  There  appears  good  reason  to  doubt 
this  assertion.  Thurloe  indeed  (vii.  372) 
informs  Henry  Cromwell  that  his  father 
named  Richard  to  succeed  on  the  preceding 
Monday.  But  his  letter  was  written  after 
the  proclamation  of  Richard,  and  its  con- 
tents are  irreconcilable  with  the  letters 
written  before  it.  We  have  one  from  Lord 
Falconberg,  dated  on  Monday,  saying  that 
DO  Domination  had  been  made,  and  that 
Thurloe  had  promised  to  suggest  it,  but 
probably  would   not  perform  his  promise 


usual  manner  of  announcing  tl 
accession  of  a  new  sovereign ;  ar 
addresses  of  condolence  and  congr 
tulation  poured  in  from  the  am 
and  navy,  from  one  hundred  congr 
gational  churches,  and  from  tl 
boroughs,  cities,  and  counties, 
seemed  as  if  free-born  Britons  hr 
been  converted  into  a  nation  of  slave 
These  compositions  were  drawn  t 
in  the  highest  strain  of  adulatio 
adorned  with  forced  allusions  fro: 
Scripture,  and  with  all  the  extrav: 
gance  of  Oriental  hyperbole.  "  The 
sun  was  set,  but  no  night  had  folio  we 
They  had  lost  the  nursing  father,  I 
whose  hand  the  yoke  of  bondage  ht 
been  broken  from  the  necks  and  coi 
sciences  of  the  godly.  Providence  I 
one  sad  stroke  had  taken  away  tl 
breath  from  their  nostrils,  and  smi 
ten  the  head  from  their  shoulder; 
but  had  given  them  in  return  tl 
noblest  branch  of  that  renownc 
stock,  a  prince  distinguished  by  tl 
lovely  composition  of  his  person,  bi 
still  more  by  the  eminent  qualities  i 
his  mind.  The  late  protector  he 
been  a  Moses  to  lead  God's  peop 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  his  so 
would  be  a  Joshua  to  conduct  the: 
into  a  more  full  possession  of  trut 
and  righteousness.  Elijah  had  bee 
taken  into  heaven :  Elisha  remaine 
on  earth,  the  inheritor  of  his  maut 
and  his  spirit  !"-* 


(ibid.  365) ;  and  another  from  Thurloe  hir 
self  to  Henry  Cromwell,  stating  the  sar 
thing  as  to  the  nomination. — Ibid.  364. 
may  perhaps  be  said  that  Richard  w; 
named  on  the  Monday  after  the  letters  we 
written  ;  but  there  is  a  second  letter  fro 
Thurloe,  dated  on  the  Tuesday,  stating -th 
the  protector  was  still  incapable  of  pub: 
business,  and  that  matters  would,  he  foarc 
remain  till  the  death  of  his  highness  in  tl 
same  state  as  he  described  them  in  his  letti 
of  Monday.— Ibid.  366.  It  was  afterwar 
said  that  the  nomination  took  place  on  tl 
night  before  the  protector's  death,  in  t! 

Cresence  of  four  of  the  council  (Falcoi 
erg  in  Thurloe,  375,  and  Barwick,  ibi 
415);  but  the  latter  adds  that  many  doa) 
whether  it  ever  took  place  at  all. 
3  The  Scottish  ministers  in  Edinburgi 


A.I).  1658.1 


EICHAED  SUCCEEDS  HIS  FATHER. 


273 


The  royalists,  who  had  persuaded 
themselves  that  the  whole  fabric  of 
the  protectorial  power  would  fall  in 
pieces  on  the  death  of  Cromwell, 
beheld  with  amazement  the  general 
acquiescence  in  the  succession  of 
E/ichard;  and  the  foreign  princes, 
who  had  deemed  it  prudent  to  solicit 
the  friendship  of  the  father,  now  hast- 
ened to  offer  their  congratulations  to 
his  son.  Yet,  fair  and  tranquil  as 
the  prospect  appeared,  an  experienced 
eye  might  easily  detect  the  elements 
of  an  approaching  storm.  Meetings 
were  clandestinely  held  by  the  offi- 
cers ;  doubts  were  whispered  of  the 
nomination  of  Eichard  by  his  father ; 
and  an  opinion  was  encouraged  among 
the  military,  that,  as  the  common- 
wealth was  the  work  of  the  army,  so 
the  chief  ofl&ce  in  the  commonwealth 
belonged  to  the  commander  of  the 
army.  On  this  account  the  protec- 
torship had  been  bestowed  on  Crom- 
well ;  but  his  son  was  one  who  had 
never  drawn  his  sword  in  the  cause ; 
and  to  suffer  the  supreme  power  to 
devolve  on  him  was  to  disgrace,  to 
disinherit,  the  men  who  had  suffered 
so  severely,  and  bled  so  profusely,  in 
the  contest. 

These  complaints  had  probably 
been  suggested,  they  were  certainly 
fomented,  by  Fleetwood  and  his 
friends,  the  colonels  Cooper,  Berry, 
and  Sydenham.  Fleetwood  was  brave 
in  the  field ;  but  irresolute  in  council ; 
eager  for  the  acquisition  of  power, 
but  continually  checked  by  scruples 
of  conscience ;  attached  by  principle 
to  republicanism,  but  ready  to  ac- 
quiesce in  every  change,  under  the 
pretence  of  submission  to  the  decrees 
of  Providence.  Cromwell,  who  knew 
the  man,  had  raised  him  to  the  second 
command  in  the  army,  and  fed  his 


instead  of  joining  in  these  addresses,  prayed 
on  the  following  Sunday,  "that  the  Lord 
would  be  merctful  to  the  exiled,  and  those 
that  were  in  captivity,  and  cause  them  to 
return  with  sheaves  of  joy ;  that  he  would 
8 


ambition  with  distant  and  delusive 
hopes  of  succeeding  to  the  supreme 
magistracy.  The  protector  died,  and 
Fleetwood,  instead  of  acting,  hesi- 
tated, prayed,  and  consulted;  the 
propitious  moment  was  suffered  to 
pass  by ;  he  assented  to  the  opinion 
of  the  council  in  favour  of  Eichard ; 
and  then,  repenting  of  his  weakness, 
sought  to  indemnify  himself  for  the 
loss  by  confining  the  authority  of  the 
protector  to  the  civil  administration, 
and  procuring  for  himself  the  sole 
uncontrolled  command  of  the  army. 
Under  the  late  government,  the  meet- 
ings of  military  officers  had  been  dis- 
countenanced and  forbidden ;  now 
they  were  encouraged  to  meet  and 
consult ;  and,  in  a  body  of  more  than 
two  hundred  individuals,  they  pre- 
sented to  Eichard  a  petition,  by 
which  they  demanded  that  no  officer 
should  be  deprived,  but  by  sentence  of 
a  court-martial,  and  that  the  chief 
command  of  the  forces,  and  the 
disposal  of  commissions,  should  be 
conferred  on  some  person  whose  past 
services  had  proved  his  attachment  to 
the  cause.  There  were  not  wanting 
those  who  advised  the  protector  to 
extinguish  the  hopes  of  the  factious 
at  once  by  arresting  and  imprisoning 
the  chiefs ;  but  more  moderate  coun- 
sels prevailed,  and  in  a  firm  but  con- 
ciliatory speech,  the  composition  of 
Secretary  Thurloe,  he  replied  that,  to 
gratify  their  wishes,  he  had  appointed 
his  relative,  Fleetwood,  lieutenant- 
general  of  all  the  forces ;  but  that  to 
divest  himself  of  the  chief  command, 
and  of  the  right  of  giving  or  resuming 
commissions,  would  be  to  act  in  de- 
fiance of  the  "petition  and  advice,'' 
the  instrument  by  which  he  held  the 
supreme  authority.  For  a  short  time 
they  appeared  satisfied  ;  but  the  chief 


deliver  all  his  people  from  the  yoke  of 
Pharaoh,  and  task-masters  of  Egypt,  and 
that  he  would  cut  off  their  oppressors,  and 
hasten  the  time  of  their  deliverance," — 
Thurloe,  vii.  416. 

T 


274 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP,  YIII 


officers  continued  to  hold  meetings 
in  the  chapel  at  St.  James's  ostensibly 
for  the  purpose  of  prayer,  but  in  re- 
ality for  the  convenience  of  delibe- 
ration. Fresh  jealousies  were  excited ; 
it  was  said  that  another  commander 
(Henry  Cromwell  was  meant)  would 
be  placed  above  Fleetwood ;  Thurloe, 
Pierrepoint,  and  St.  John,  were 
denounced  as  evil  counsellors;  and 
it  became  evident  to  all  attentive 
observers  that  the  two  parties  must 
soon  come  into  collision.  The  pro- 
tector could  depend  on  the  armies  in 
Ireland  and  Scotland.  In  Ireland,  his 
brother  Henry  governed  without  an 
opponent ;  in  Scotland,  Monk,  by  his 
judicious  separation  of  the  troops, 
and  his  vigilance  in  the  enforcement 
of  discipline,  had  deprived  the  dis- 
contented of  the  means  of  holding 
meetings  and  of  corresponding  with 
each  other.  In  England  he  was 
assured  of  the  services  of  eight  colo- 
nels, and  therefore,  as  it  was  erro- 
neously supposed,  of  their  respective 
regiments,  forming  one  half  of  the 
regular  force.  But  his  opponents 
were  masters  of  the  other  half,  con- 
stituted the  majority  in  the  council, 
and  daily  augmented  their  numbers 
by  the  accession  of  men  who  secretly 
leaned  to  repubUcan  principles,  or 
sought  to  make  an  interest  in  that 
party  which  they  considered  the  more 
likely  to  prevail  in  the  approaching 
struggle.* 

From  the  notice  of  these  intrigues 
the  pubUo  attention  was  withdrawn 
by  the  obsequies  of  the  late  protector. 
It  was  resolved  that  they  should  ex- 
ceed in  magnificence  those  of  any 
former  sovereign,  and  with  that  view 
they  were  conducted  according  to  the 
ceremonial  observed  at  the  interment 


1  For  these  particalars,  see  the  letters  in 
Thurloe,  vii.  386,  406,  413,  415,  424,  426, 
427,  428,  447,  450,  462,  453,  454,  403,  490, 
iOl,  4&2,  493,  496,  486,  497,  408,  600,  610, 
611.  So  great  was  the  jealousy  between 
the  parties,  that  Richard  and  his  brother 
Henry  dared  not  correspond  by  letter.     "  I 


of  Philip  II.   of   Spain.     Somersei 
House  was  selected  for  the  first  pari 
of  the   exhibition.    The   spectator-^ 
having  passed  through  three  roo)- 
hung  with  black  cloth,  were  admitu. 
into  the  funereal  chamber;   where 
surrounded    with    wax-lights,    wa' 
seen  an  effigy  of  Cromwell  clothed  in 
royal  robes,  and  lying  on  a  bed  oJ 
state,  which  covered,  or  was  supposed 
to  cover,  the  coffin.    On  each  side 
lay  difierent  parts  of  his  armour :  in 
one  hand  was  placed  the  sceptre,  it 
the  other  the  globe ;  and  behind  the 
head  an  imperial  crown  rested  on  £ 
cushion  in  a  chair  of  state.     But 
in  defiance   of  every  precaution,  it 
became  necessary  to  inter  the  bodj 
before  the  appointed  day;   and  the 
coffin  was  secretly  deposited  at  night  ir 
a  vault  at  the  west  end  of  the  middit 
aisle  of  Westminster  Abbey,  under  a 
gorgeous  cenotaph  which  had  recentlj 
been  erected.     The  effigy  was  now 
removed  to  a  more  spacious  chamber 
it  rose  from  a  recumbent  to  an  ereci 
posture;  and  stood  before  the  spec 
tators  not  only  with  the  emblems  o 
royalty  in  its  hands,  but  with  th 
crown   upon   its   head.      For   eigli 
weeks  this  pageant  was  exhibited  i. 
the  public.    As  the  day  appointed  fq 
the   funeral    obsequies    approach^ 
rumours  of  an  intended  insurrecti<] 
during  the  ceremony  were  circulat 
but  guards  from  the  most  trusty  rej 
meuts  hned  the  streets ;  the  proc 
sion,  consisting  of  the  principal 
sons  in  the  city  and  army,  the  officer: 
of  state,  the  foreign  ambassadors,  ant 
the  members  of  the  protector's  family 
passed  along  without  interruption 
and  the  effigy,  which  in  lieu  of  th' 
corpse  was  borne  on  a  car,  was  placed 
with  due  solemnity,  in  the  cenotapl 


doubt  not  all  the  letters  will  be  opened^ 
which  come   either  to  or  from  your  hif*" 
ness,  which  cao   be  suspected  to  conta 
business"    (464).    For  the  principles  nfl 
professed  by  the  LeveUen,  tee  Append' 
YYY. 


A.D.  1658.] 


NEW  PARLIAMENT. 


275 


already  mentioned.  Thus  did  for- 
tune sport  with  the  ambitious  pros- 
pects of  Cromwell.  The  honours  of 
royalty  which  she  refused  to  him 
during  his  life,  she  lavished  on  his 
remains  after  death ;  and  then,  in  tne 
course  of  a  few  months,  resuming  her 
gifts,  exchanged  the  crown  for  a 
halter,  and  the  royal  monument  in 
the  abbey  for  an  ignominious  grave 
at  Tyburn.^  I 

Before  the  reader  proceeds  to  the 
more  important  transactions  at  home, 
he  may  take  a  rapid  view  of  the  rela-  j 
tions  existing  between  England  and  j 
foreign  states.    The  war  which  had  so 
long  raged  between  the  rival  crowns 
of  France  and  Spain  was  hastening 
to  its  termination ;  to  Louis  the  aid 
of  England  appeared  no  longer  a  mat-  ; 
ter  of  consequence ;  and  the  auxiliary  : 
treaty  between   the   two   countries, 
which  had  been  renewed  from  year  | 
to  year,  was  suflFered  to  expire  at  the 
appointed  time.    But  in  the  north  of 
Europe  there  was  much  to  claim  the 
attention  of  the  new  protector;  for 
the  king  of  Sweden,  after   a  short 
peace,  had  again  unsheathed  the  sword  , 
against  his  enemy  the  king  of  Ben-  | 
mark.    The  commercial  interests  of: 
the  maritime  states  were  deeply  in- ' 
volved  in  the  issue  of  this  contest ; 
both  England  and  Holland  prepared 
to  aid  their  respective  allies ;  and  a 
Dutch  squadron  joined  the  Danish,  j 
while  an  English  division,  under  the  ] 
command  of  Ayscue,  sailed   to  the 
assistance  of  the  Swedish  monarch. 
The   severity  of  the  winter   forced 
Ayscue  to  return ;  but  as  soon  as  the 
navigation  of  the  Sound  was  open, 
two  powerful  fleets  were  despatched 
to  the  Baltic,  one  by  the  protector, 
the   other   by  the    States ;    and   to 


Montague,  the  English  admiral,  was 
intrusted  the  delicate  and  diflBcuit 
commission,  not  only  of  watching  the 
proceedings  of  the  Dutch,  but  also 
of  compelling  them  to  observe  peace 
towards  the  Swedes,  without  giving 
them  occasion  to  commence  hostilities 
against  himself.  In  this  he  was  suc- 
cessful ;  but  no  offer  of  mediation 
could  reconcile  the  contending  mo- 
narchs ;  and  we  shall  find  Montague 
still  cruising  in  the  Baltic  at  the  time 
when  Eichard,  from  whom  he  derived 
his  commission,  will  be  forced  to 
abdicate  the  protectorial  dignity.'^ 

In  a  few  days  after  the  funeral  of 
his  father,  to  the  surprise  of  the 
public,  the  protector  summoned  a 
parliament.  How,  it  was  asked,  could 
Eichard  hope  to  control  such  an 
assembly,  when  the  genius  and  autho- 
rity of  Oliver  had  proved  unequal  to 
the  attempt  ?  The  difficulty  was  ac- 
knowledged; but  the  arrears  of  the 
army,  the  exhaustion  of  the  treasury, 
and  the  necessity  of  seeking  support 
against  the  designs  of  the  officers, 
compelled  him  to  hazard  the  experi- 
ment ;  and  he  flattered  himself  with 
the  hope  of  success,  by  avoiding  the 
rock  on  which,  in  the  opinion  of  his 
advisers,  the  policy  of  his  father  had 
split.  Oliver  had  adopted  the  plan  of 
representation  prepared  by  the  long 
parliament  before  its  dissolution,  a 
plan  which,  by  disfranchising  the 
lesser  boroughs,  and  multiplying  the 
members  of  the  counties,  had  rendered 
the  elections  more  independent  of  the 
government :  Richard,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  a  boon  to  the  nation,  reverted 
to  the  ancient  system ;  and,  if  we  may 
credit  the  calculation  of  his  opponents, 
no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  sixty 
members   were   returned   from   the 


1  Thurloe,  vi.  528,  529.  Carrington  apnd 
Noble,  i.  360—369.  The  charge  for  black 
cloth  alone  on  this  occasion  was  six  tboa- 
sand  nine  hundred  and  twenty -nine  pounds, 
six  shillings,  and  fivepence. — Biblioth. 
Stow.  ii.  418.    I  do  not  notice  the  childish 


stories  about  stealing    of  the   protector's 
body. 

2  Burton's  Diary,  iii.  576.  Thurloe,  vol. 
vii.  passim.  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  157 — 182. 
Londorp,  viii.  635,  708,  Dumont,  vi.  244, 
253,  260. 

T  2 


276 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


!  CHAP.  VIII 


boroughs  by  the  interest  of  the  court  j 
and  its  supporters.  But  to  adopt  the 
same  plan  in  the  conquered  countries  i 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland  would  have  { 
been  dangerous;  thirty  representatives 
■were  therefore  summoned  from  each ; 
and  as  the  elections  were  conducted 
under  the  eyes  of  the  commanders  of 
the  forces,  the  members,  with  one 
solitary  exception,  proved  themselves 
the  obsequious  servants  of  govern- 
ment.' 

It  was,  however,  taken  as  no  favour- 
able omen,  that  when  the  protector, 
at  the  opening  of  parliament,  com- 
manded the  attendance  of  the  Com- 
mons in  the  house  of  Lords,  nearly 
one-half  of  the  members  refused  to 
obey.  They  were  unwiUing  to  sanc- 
tion by  their  presence  the  existence 
of  an  authority,  the  legality  of  which 
they  intended  to  dispute ;  or  to  admit 
the  superior  rank  of  the  new  peers, 
the  representatives  of  the  protector, 
over  themselves,  the  representatives 
of  the  people.  As  soon  as  the  lower 
house  was  constituted,  it  divided  itself 
into  three  distinct  parties.  1.  The 
protectorists  formed  about  one-half 
of  the  members.  They  had  received 
instructions  to  adhere  inviolably  to 
the  provisions  of  the  "humble  peti- 
tion and  advice,"  and  to  consider  the 
government  by  a  single  person,  with 
the  aid  of  two  houses,  as  the  unalter- 
able basis  of  the  constitution.  2.  The 
republicans,  who  did  not  amount  to 
fifty,  but  compensated  for  deficiency 
in  number  by  their  energy  and 
eloquence.  Vane,  Hazlerig,  Lambert, 
Ludlow,  Nevil,  Bradshaw,  and  Scot, 
were  ready  debaters,  skilled  in  the 
forms  of  the  house,  and  always  on  the 
watch  to  take  advantage  of  the  want 


of  knowledge  or  of  experience  on  th* 
part  of  their  adversaries.  With  then 
voted  Fairfax,  who,  after  a  long  re 
tirement,  appeared  once  more  on  th* 
stage.  He  constantly  sat  by  the  side 
and  echoed  the  opinions  of  Hazlerig 
and  so  artfully  did  he  act  his  part 
so  firmly  did  he  attach  their  con 
fidence,  that,  though  a  royalist  a 
heart,  he  was  designed  by  them  fo 
the  office  of  lord- general,  in  the  even 
of  the  expulsion  or  the  abdicatioi 
of  Richard.  3.  The  "moderates  o 
neuters"  held  in  number  the  mediun 
between  the  protectorists  and  repub 
licans.  Of  these,  some  wavered  be 
tween  the  two  parties ;  but  many  wer« 
concealed  Cavaliers,  who,  in  obedienc* 
to  the  command  of  Charles,  had  ob 
tained  seats  in  the  house,  or  youn} 
men  who,  without  any  fixed  politica 
principles,  suffered  themselves  to  b 
guided  by  the  suggestions  of  th< 
Cavahers.  To  the  latter,  Hyde  ha< 
sent  instructions  that  they  shoul( 
embarrass  the  plans  of  the  protector 
by  denouncing  to  the  house  the  illega 
acts  committed  under  the  late  ad 
ministration ;  by  impeaching  Thurlo< 
and  the  principal  officers  of  state ;  b.' 
fomenting  the  dissension  between  th< 
courtiers  and  the  republicans ;  and  b; 
throwing  their  weight  into  the  scale 
sometimes  in  favour  of  one,  sometime 
of  the  other  party,  as  might  appea 
most  conducive  to  the  interests  o 
the  royal  exile.' 

The  Lords,  aware  of  the  insecur« 
footing  on  which  they  stood,  wen 
careful  not  to  provoke  the  hostilit: 
of  the  Commons.  They  sent  no  mes 
sages;  they  passed  no  bills;  but  ex 
changing  matters  of  state  for  question 
of  rehgion,  contrived  to  spend  thei 


1  Thurloe,  •vii.  5il,  550,  Ludlow,  ii.  170. 
Bethel,  Brief  Narrative,  310.  England's 
Confusion  (p.  4),  London,  1659. 

=»  Thurloe,  i.  766;  tu.  562,  604,  C05,  609, 
615,  616.  Clarend.  Pap.  iii.  423,  424,  425, 
428,  432,  434,  436.  There  were  forty-seven 
rapablicaoa;    itom   one    hundred   to   one 


hundred  and  forty  counterfeit  republican, 
and  neuters,  seventy-two  lawyers,  and  abo?« 
one  hundred  placemen. — Ibid.  410.  The; 
began  with  a  day  of  fasting  and  humilia 
tion  within  the  house,  and  four  minister* 
with  praying  and  preaching,  occupied  then 
from  nine  till  six.— Burton's  Diary  and  Joar 
nalfl,  Feb.  4. 


A.D.  1659.] 


PEOCEEDINGS  OF  PARLIAMENT. 


277 


time  in  discussing  the  form  of  a 
national  catechism,  the  sinfulness  of 
theatrical  entertainments,  and  the 
papal  corruptions  supposed  to  exist 
in  the  Book  of  Common  Praj'er.*  In 
the  lower  house,  the  first  subject 
which  called  forth  the  strength  of 
the  different  parties  was  a  bill,  which, 
under  the  pretence  of  recognising 
Eichard  Cromwell  for  the  rightful 
successor  to  his  father,  would  have 
pledged  the  parliament  to  an  acquies- 
cence in  the  existing  form  of  govern- 
ment.  The  men  of  republican  princi- 
ples instantly  took  the  alarm.  To 
Eichard  personally  they  made  no 
objection ;  they  respected  his  private 
character,  and  wished  well  to  the 
prosperity  of  his  family;  but  where, 
they  asked,  was  the  proof  that  the 
provisions  of  the  "humble  petition 
and  advice"  had  been  observed  ? 
where  the  deed  of  nomination  by 
his  father?  where  the  witnesses  to 
the  signature? — Then  what  was  the 
"  humble  petition  and  advice"  itself? 
An  instrument  of  no  force  in  a  mat- 
ter of  such  high  concernment,  and 
passed  by  a  very  small  majority  in  a 
house,  out  of  which  one  hundred 
members  lawfully  chosen,  had  been 
unlawfully  excluded.  Lastly,  what 
right  had  the  Commons  to  admit  a 
negative  voice,  either  in  another  house 
or  in  a  single  person  ?  Such  a  voice 
was  destructive  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people  exercised  by  their  repre- 
sentatives. The  people  had  sent  them 
to  parliament  with  power  to  make 
laws  for  the  national  welfare,  but  not 
to  annihilate  the  first  and  most  valua- 
ble right  of  their  constituents.  Each 
day  the  debate  grew  more  animated 
and  personal ;  charges  were  made,  and 
recriminations  followed:  the  repub- 
licans enumerated  the  acts  of  misrule 
and  oppression  under  the  government 
of  the  late  protector;  the  courtiers 


1  Thurloe,  559,  609,  615. 


balanced  the  account  with  similar 
instances  from  the  proceedings  of 
their  adversaries  during  the  sway  of 
of  the  long  parliament ;  the  orators, 
amidst  the  multitude  of  subjects  in- 
cidentally introduced,  lost  sight  of 
the  original  question;  and  the  speaker, 
after  a  debate  of  eight  days,  declared 
that  he  was  bewildered  in  a  labyrinth 
of  confusion,  out  of  which  he  could 
discover  no  issue.  Weariness  at  last 
induced  the  combatants  to  listen  to 
a  compromise,  that  the  recognition  of 
Richard  as  protector  should  form  part 
of  a  future  bill,  but  that  at  the  same 
time,  his  prerogative  should  be  so 
limited  as  to  secure  the  liberties  of 
the  people.  Each  party  expressed  its 
satisfaction.  The  repubUcans  had  still 
the  field  open  for  the  advocacy  of 
their  favourite  doctrines  ;  the  pro- 
tectorists  had  advanced  a  step,  and 
trusted  that  it  would  lead  them  to  the 
acquisition  of  greater  advantages.^ 

Prom  the  office  of  protector,  the 
members  proceeded  to  inquire  into 
the  constitution  and  powers  of  the 
other  house ;  and  this  question,  as  it 
was  intimately  connected  with  the 
former,  was  debated  with  equal 
warmth  and  pertinacity.  The  oppo- 
sition appealed  to  the  "  engagement," 
which  many  of  the  members  had 
subscribed ;  contended  that  the  right 
of  calling  a  second  house  had  been 
personal  to  the  late  protector,  and 
did  not  descend  to  his  successors; 
urged  the  folly  of  yielding  a  negative 
voice  on  their  proceedings  to  a  body 
of  counsellors  of  their  own  creation ; 
and  pretended  to  foretell  that  a  pro- 
tector with  a  yearly  income  of  one 
million  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  and  a  house  of  lords  selected 
by  himself,  must  inevitably  become, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  master  of 
the  liberties  of  the  people.  When,  at 
the  end  of  nine  days,  the  speaker  was 


610,  615,  617.    Clar.  Pap,  iii.  424,  426,  429. 
la    Burton's    Diary  the    debate    occupiea 
Journals,  Feb.  1, 14.    Thurloe,  603, 609,  '  almost  two  hundred  pages  (iii,  87—287). 


278 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[cHi-P.  vin 


going  to  put  the  question.  Sir  Eichard 
Temple,  a  concealed  royalist,  demanded 
that  the  sixty  members  from  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  all  in  the  interest  of  the 
court,  should  withdraw.  It  was.  he 
said,  doubtful,  from  the  illegality  of 
their  election,  whether  they  had  any 
right  to  sit  at  all ;  it  was  certain  that, 
as  the  representatives  of  other  nations, 
they  could  not  claim  to  vote  on  a 
question  of  such  high  importance  to 
the  people  of  England.  Thus  another 
bone  of  contention  was  thrown  be- 
tween the  parties ;  eleven  days  were 
consumed  before  the  Scottish  and  Irish 
members  could  obtain  permission  to 
vote,  and  then  five  more  expired  be- 
fore the  question  respecting  the  other 
house  was  determined.  The  new 
lords  had  little  reason  to  be  gratified 
with  the  result.  They  were  acknow- 
ledged, indeed,  as  a  house  of  parlia- 
ment for  the  present ;  but  there  was 
no  admission  of  their  claim  of  the 
peerage,  or  of  a  negative  voice,  or  of  a 
right  to  sit  in  subsequent  parliaments. 
The  Commons  consented  "  to  trans- 
act business  with  them"  (anew  phrase 
of  undefined  meaning),  pending  the 
parhament,  but  with  a  saving  of  the 
rights  of  the  ancient  peers,  who  had 
been  faithful  to  the  cause;  and,  in 
addition,  a  few  days  later,  they  re- 
solved that,  in  the  transaction  of 
business,  no  superiority  should  be 
admitted  in  the  other  house,  nor  mes- 
sage received  from  it,  unless  brought 
by  the  members  themselves.' 

In  these  instances,  the  recognition 
of  the  protector,  and  of  the  two 
houses,  the  royalists,  with  some  ex- 


1  Journals,  Feb.  18,  March  28,  April  5,  6, 
8.  Thurloe,  615,  626,  633,  636,  640,  647. 
Clar.  Pap.  iii.  429,  432.  Burton's  Diary,  iii. 
317—369,  403— 42-i,  510—594;  iv.  7—41,46 
—147,  163—243,  293,  351,  375. 

-  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  429.  432.  Thurloe,  647. 
Burton's  Diary,  iii.  448;  iv.  255,  203,301, 
403,  429.  One  petition  stated  that  seventy 
persons,  who  had  been  apprehended  on  ac- 
count of  the  Salisbury  rising,  after  a  year's 
imprisonment,  had  been  sold  at  Barbadoea 
for  "1660  pounds'  weight  of  sugar  apiece, 


I  ceptions,  had  voted  in  favour  of  the 
i  court,  under  the  impression  that  such 
I  a  form  of  government  was  one  step 
I  towards  the  restoration  of  the  king, 
;  But  on  all  other  questions,  whenever 
I  there  was  a  prospect  of  throwing  im- 
pediments in  the  way  of  the  ministry. 
or  of  inflaming  the  discontent  of  the 
'  people,  they  zealously  lent  their  aid  to 
'  the  republican  party.  It  was  proved 
_  that,  while  the  revenue  had  been 
doubled,  the  expenditure  had  grown 
in  a  greater  proportion;  complaints 
were  made  of  oppression,  waste,  em- 
bezzlement, and  tyranny  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  excise ;  the  inhumanity 
of  seUing  obnoxious  individuals  for 
slaves  to  the  TVest-India  planters  waf 
severely  reprobated ;  ^  instances  ol 
extortion  were  daily  announced  to 
the  house  by  the  committee  of  griev- 
ances ;  an  impeachment  was  ordered 
against  Boteler,  accused  of  oppression 
in  his  ofl&ce  of  major-general;  and 
another  threatened  against  Thurloe 
for  illegal  conduct  in  his  capacity  ol 
secretary  of  state.  But  while  these 
proceedings  awakened  the  hopes  and 
gratified  the  resentments  of  the 
people,  they  at  the  same  time  sprea" 
alarm  through  the  army ;  every  man 
conscious  of  having  abused  the  power 
of  the  sword  began  to  tremble  for  his 
own  safety ;  and  an  unusual  ferment, 
the  sure  presage  of  military  violence, 
was  observable  at  the  head-quarters 
of  the  several  regiments. 

Hitherto  the  general  oflScers  had 
been  divided  between  Whitehall  and 
Wallingford  House,  the  residences  of 
Eichard    and    of     Fleetwood.      At 


more  or  less,  according  to  their  working 
faculties."      Among    them    were    divines. 


officers,  and  gentlemen,  who  were   repre- 
at  the  furnaces,  and  digging  in  that  scorch- 


sented  as  "  grinding  at  the  mills,  atten^ 


>pre- 
ding 


ing  island,  being  bought  and  sold  still  from 
one  planter  to  another,  or  attarhcd  &a 
horses  or  beasts  for  the  debts  of  their  raaa- 


tera,  being  whipped  at  the  whipping- posta 

their  masters'  cleu 
sleeping  in  sties  worse   than  hogs  in  Eng. 


as  rogues  at  their  masters 


land."— Ibid.  256. 


leusure,  and 
ogs  in  ~ 
See  also  Thurloe, 


i 


A.D.  1659.] 


CONDUCT  OF  THE  OFFICEES. 


279 


Whitehall,  the  Lord  Falcof^berg,  bro- 
ther-in-law to  the  protector,  Charles 
Howard,  whom  Oliver  had  created 
a  viscount,'  Ingoldsby,  Whalley,  Goffe, 
and  a  few  others,  formed  a  military 
council  for  the  purpose  of  maintain- 
ing the  ascendancy  of  Richard  in 
the  army.  At  Wallingford  House, 
Fleetwood  and  his  friends  consulted 
how  they  might  deprive  him  of  the 
command,  and  reduce  him  to  the 
situation  of  a  civil  magistrate ;  but 
now  a  third  and  more  numerous 
council  appeared  at  St.  James's,  con- 
sisting of  most  of  the  inferior  ofl&cers, 
and  guided  by  the  secret  intrigues  of 
Lambert,  who,  holding  no  commission 
himself,  abstained  from  sitting  among 
them,  and  by  the  open  influence  of 
Desborough,  a  bold  and  reckless  man, 
who  began  to  despise  the  weak  and 
wavering  conduct  of  Fleetwood.  Here 
originated  the  plan  of  a  general  coun- 
cil of  officers,  which  was  followed  by 
the  adoption  of  "the  humble  repre- 
sentation and  petition,"  an  instru- 
ment composed  in  language  too  mo- 
derate to  give  reasonable  cause  of 
oflfence,  but  intended  to  suggest  much 
more  than  it  was  thought  prudent  to 
express.  It  made  no  allusion  to  the 
disputed  claim  of  the  protector,  or 
the  subjects  of  strife  between  the  two 
houses ;  but  it  complained  bitterly  of 
the  contempt  into  which  the  good  old 
cause  had  sunk,  of  the  threats  held 
out,  and  the  prosecutions  instituted, 
against  the  patriots  who  had  distin- 
guished themselves  in  its  support, 
and  of  the  privations  to  which  the 
military  were  reduced  by  a  system 
that  kept  their  pay  so  many  months 
in  arrear.  In  conclusion,  it  prayed 
for  the  redress  of  these  grievances, 
and  stated  the  attachment  of  the  sub- 


1  Viscount  Howard  of  Morpeth,  July  20, 
1657,  afterwards  created  Baron  Dacre, 
Viscount  Howard  of  Morpeth,  and  earl  of 
Cariisle,  by  Charles  II,,  30  April,  1661. 

*  "  The  Humble  Eepresentation  and  Peti- 


scribers  to  the  cause  for  which  they 
had  bled,  and  their  readiness  to  stand 
by  the  protector  and  parhament  in 
its  defence.^  This  paper,  with  six 
hundred  signatures,  was  presented  to 
Eiichard,  who  received  it  with  an  air 
of  cheerfulness,  and  forwarded  it  to 
the  lower  house.  There  it  was  read, 
laid  on  the  table,  and  scornfully  neg- 
lected. But  the  military  leaders 
treated  the  house  with  equal  scorn  ; 
having  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
protector,  they  established  a  per- 
manent council  of  general  officers; 
and  then,  instead  of  fulfilling  the  ex- 
pectations with  which  they  had  lulled 
his  jealousy,  successively  voted,  that 
the  common  cause  was  in  danger,  that 
the  command  of  the  army  ought  to 
be  vested  in  a  person  possessing  its 
confidencCj  and  that  every  officer 
should  be  called  upon  to  testify  his 
approbation  of  the  death  of  Charles  I., 
and  of  the  subsequent  proceedings  of 
the  military;  a  measure  levelled 
against  the  meeting  at  Whitehall,  of 
which  the  members  were  charged 
with  a  secret  leaning  to  the  cause  of 
royalty.^  This  was  sufficiently  alarm- 
ing ;  but,  in  addition,  the  officers  of 
the  trained  bands  signified  their  adhe- 
sion to  the  "  representation  "  of  the 
army;  and  more  than  six  hundred 
privates  of  the  regiment  formerly 
commanded  by  Colonel  Pride  pub- 
lished their  determination  to  stand 
by  their  officers  in  the  maintenance 
"of  the  old  cause."  *  The  friends  of 
the  protector  saw  that  it  was  time  to 
act  with  energy ;  and,  by  their  influ- 
ence in  the  lower  house,  carried  the 
following  votes:  that  no  military 
meetings  should  be  held  without  the 
joint  consent  of  the  protector  and  the 
parliament,   and   that   every    officer 


tion,  printed  by  H.  Hills,  1659."— Thurloe, 
659.  3  Thurloe,  662,    Ludlow,  ii.  174. 

*  The  Humble  Representation  and  Peti- 
tion of  Field  Officers,  &c.  of  the  Trained 
Bands.  London,  1659.  Burton's  Diary,  iv. 
388.  note. 


280 


THE  PEOTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  VIII. 


should  forfeit  his  commission  who 
would  not  promise,  under  his  signa- 
ture, never  to  disturb  the  sitting,  or 
infringe  the  freedom  of  parliament. 
These  votes  met,  indeed,  with  a  vio- 
lent opposition  in  the  "  other  house," 
in  which  many  of  the  members  had 
been  chosen  from  the  military;  but 
the  courtiers,  anxious  to  secure  the 
victory,  proposed  another  and  decla- 
ratory vote  in  the  Commons,  that 
the  command  of  the  army  was  vested 
in  the  three  estates,  to  be  exercised 
by  the  protector.  Ey  the  officers  this 
motion  was  considered  as  an  open 
declaration  of  war:  they  instantly 
met;  and  Desborough,  in  their  name, 
informed  Eichard  that  the  crisis  was 
at  last  come ;  the  parliament  must  be 
dissolved,  either  by  the  civil  autho- 
rity, or  by  the  power  of  the  sword. 
He  might  make  his  election.  If  he 
chose  the  first,  the  army  would  pro- 
vide for  his  dignity  and  support ;  if 
he  did  not,  he  would  be  abandoned  to 
his  fate,  and  fall  friendless  and  un- 
pitied.' 

The  protector  called  a  council  of 
his  confidential  advisers.  Whitelock 
opposed  the  dissolution,  on  the  ground 
that  a  grant  of  money  might  yet  ap- 
pease the  discontent  of  the  mili- 
tary. Thurloe,  Broghill,  Fiennes,  and 
"Wolseley  maintained,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  the  dissension  between  the 
parliament  and  the  army  was  irre- 
concilable; and  that  on  the  first 
shock  between  them,  the  Cavaliers 
would  rise  simultaneously  in  the 
cause  of  Charles  Stuart.  A  commis- 
sion was  accordingly  signed  by 
Eichard,  and  the  usher  of  the  black 
rod  repeatedly  summoned  the  Com- 
mons to  attend  in  the  other  house. 
But  true  to  their  former  vote  of  re- 
ceiving no  message  brought  by  infe- 
rior officers,  they  refused  to  obey ; 
some  members  proposed  to  declare  it 


1  Thurloe,  555,  557,  558,  662.  Burton's 
Diary,  iv.  4i8— 163,  172—480.  Ludlow,  ii. 
176, 178. 


treason  tokput  force  on  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  nation,  others  to  pro- 
nounce all  proceedings  void  whenever 
a  portion  of  the  members  should  be 
excluded  by  violence;  at  last  they 
adjourned  for  three  days,  and  accom- 
panied the  speaker  to  his  carriage  in 
the  face  of  the  soldiery  assembled  at 
the  door.  These  proceedings,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  Fiennes,  the 
head  commissioner,  from  dissolving 
the  parliament;  and  the  important 
intelhgence  was  communicated  to  the 
three  nations  by  proclamation  in  the 
same  aft-ernoon.^ 

Whether  the  consequences  of  thi.~ 
measure,  so  fatal  to  the  interests  of 
Eichard,  were  foreseen  by  his  advisers, 
may  be  doubted.  It  appears  that 
Thurloe  had  for  several  days  been 
negotiating  both  with  the  repub- 
lican and  the  military  leaders.  He 
had  tempted  some  of  the  former  with 
the  ofier  of  place  and  emolument,  to 
strengthen  the  party  of  the  protector ; 
to  the  latter  he  had  proposed  that 
Eichard,  in  imitation  of  his  father  on 
one  occasion,  should  raise  money  for 
the  payment  of  the  army  by  the  power 
of  the  sword,  and  without  the  aid  of 
parliament.^^  But  these  intrigues  were 
now  at  an  end ;  by  the  dissolution 
Eichard  had  signed  his  own  deposi- 
tion ;  though  he  continued  to  reside  at 
"Whitehall,  the  government  fell  into 
abeyance  ;  even  the  officers,  who  had 
hitherto  frequented  his  court,  aban- 
doned him,  some  to  appease,  by  their 
attendance  at  Wallingford  House,  the 
resentment  of  their  adversaries ;  the^ 
others,  to  provide,  by  their  absence, 
for  their  own  safety.  If  the  supreme 
authority  resided  anywhere,  it  was 
with  Fleetwood,  who  now  held  tlu 
nominal  command  of  the  army;  bu' 
he  and  his  associates  were  controller 
both  by  the  meeting  of  officers  at  St. 
James's,  and  by  the  consultations  of 


2  Whitelock,  677.  England's  Confusion, 
9.  Clarendon  Papers,  451,456.  Ludlow,  ii. 
174.  Merc.  Pol.  564.       3  Thurloe,  659,  661. 


A.D.  1659.J 


CLAIM  OF  EXPELLED  MEMBERS. 


281 


the  republican  party  in  the  city ;  and 
therefore  contented  themselves  with 
depriving  the  friends  of  Eichard  of 
their  commissions,  and  with  giving 
their  regiments  to  the  men  who  had 
been  cashiered  by  his  father.'  Un- 
able to  agree  on  any  form  of  govern- 
ment among  themselves,  they  sought 
to  come  to  an  understanding  with  the 
republican  leaders.  These  demanded 
the  restoration  of  the  long  parliament, 
on  the  ground  that,  as  its  interrup- 
tion by  Cromwell  had  been  illegal,  it 
was  still  the  supreme  authority  in  the 
nation ;  and  the  officers,  unwilling  to 
forfeit  the  privileges  of  their  new 
peerage,  insisted  on  the  reproduction 
of  the  other  house,  as  a  co-ordinate 
authority,  under  the  less  objection- 
able name  of  a  senate.  But  the  coun- 
try was  now  in  a  state  of  anarchy ; 
the  intentions  of  the  armies  in  Scot- 
land and  Ireland  remained  uncertain ; 
and  the  royalists,  both  Presbyterians 
and  Cavaliers,  were  exerting  them- 
selves to  improve  the  general  con- 
fusion to  the  advantage  of  the  exiled 
king.  As  a  last  resource,  the  officers, 
by  an  instrument  in  which  they 
regretted  their  past  errors  and  back- 
sliding, invited  the  members  of  the 
long  parliament  to  resume  the  trust 
of  which  they  had  been  unrighteously 
deprived.  With  some  difficulty,  two- 
and-forty  were  privately  collected  in 
the  Painted  Chamber ;  Lenthall,  the 
former  speaker,  after  much  entreaty, 
put  himself  at  their  head,  and  the 
whole  body  passed  into  the  house 
through  two  lines  of  officers,  some  of 
whom  were  the  very  individuals  by 


i  See  the  Humble  Remonstrance  from 
four  hundred  Non-commissioned  Officers 
and  Privates  of  Major-General  Goffe's  Regi- 
ment (so  called)  of  Foot.    London,  1659. 

2  Ludlow,  179—186.  Whitelock,  677. 
England's  Confusion,  9. 

3  Journ.  May  9.  Loyalty  Banished,  3. 
England's  Confusion,  12.  On  the  9th, 
Prynne  found  his  way  into  the  house,  and 
maintained  his  right  against  hia  opponents 
till  dinner-time.  After  dinner  he  returned, 
but  was  excluded  by  the  military.    He  was 


whom,  six  years  before,  they  had  been 
ignominiously  expelled.^ 

The  reader  will  recollect  that,  on  a 
former  occasion,  in  the  year  1648,  the 
Presbyterian  members  of  the  long, 
parliament  had  been  excluded  by  the 
army.  Of  these,  one  hundred  and 
ninety-four  were  still  alive,  eighty  of 
whom  actually  resided  in  the  capital. 
That  they  had  as  good  a  right  to 
resume  their  seats  as  the  members 
who  had  been  expelled  by  Cromwell 
could  hardly  be  doubted;  but  they 
were  royalists,  still  adhering  to  the 
principles  which  they  professed  during 
the  treaty  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and 
from  their  number,  had  they  been 
admitted,  would  have  instantly  out- 
voted the  advocates  of  republicanism. 
They  assembled  in  Westminster  Hall ; 
and  a  deputation  of  fourteen,  with  Sir 
George  Booth,  Prynne,  and  Annesley 
at  their  head,  proceeded  to  the  house^ 
The  doors  were  closed  in  their  faces ; 
a  company  of  soldiers,  the  keepers, 
as  they  were  sarcastically  called,  of 
the  liberties  of  England,  ffiled  the 
lobby;  and  a  resolution  was  passed 
that  no  former  member,  who  had  not 
subscribed  the  engagement,  should 
sit  till  further  order  of  parliament. 
The  attempt,  however,  though  it  failed 
of  success,  produced  its  effect.  It 
served  to  countenance  a  belief  that 
the  sitting  members  were  mere  tools 
of  the  military,  and  supplied  the 
royalists  with  the  means  of  masking 
their  real  designs  under  the  popular 
pretence  of  vindicating  the  freedom 
of  parhament.^ 

By  gradual  additions,  the  house  at 


careful,  however,  to  inform  the  public  of 
the  particulars,  and  moreover  undertook  to 
prove  that  the  long  parliament  expired  at 
the  death  of  the  king;  1.  On  the  authority 
of  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  the  law  books ; 
2.  Because  all  writs  of  summons  abate  by 
the  king's  death  in  parliament;  3.  Because 
the  parliament  is  called  by  a  king  regnant, 
and  is  his,  the  king  regnant's,  parliament, 
and  deliberates  on  Afs  business;  4.  Because 
the  parliament  is  a  corporation,  consisting 
ol'  king,  lords,  and  commons,  and  if  one  of 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap.  VIII. 


last  amounted  to  seventy  members, 
who,  while  they  were  ridiculed  by 
their  adversaries  with  the  appellation 
of  the  "Rump,"  constituted  them- 
selves the  supreme  authority  in  the 
three  kingdoms.  They  appointed, 
first,  a  committee  of  safety,  and  then  a 
council  of  state,  notified  to  the  foreign 
ministers  their  restoration  to  power, 
and,  to  satisfy  the  people,  promised  by 
a  printed  declaration  to  establish  a 
form  of  government  which  should 
secure  civil  and  reUgious  liberty,  with- 
out a  single  person,  or  kingship,  or 
house  of  lords.  The  farce  of  addresses 
was  renewed ;  the  "  children  of  Zion," 
the  asserters  of  the  good  old  cause, 
clamorously  displayed  their  joy ;  and 
Heaven  was  fatigued  with  prayers  for 
the  prosperity  and  permanence  of  the 
new  government.^ 

That  government  at  first  depended 
for  its  existence  on  the  good-will  of 
the  military  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
London;  gradually  it  obtained  pro- 
mises of  support  from  the  forces  at  a 
distance.  1.  Monk,  with  his  officers, 
wrot€  to  the  speaker,  congratulating 
him  and  his  colleagues  on  their  re- 
storation to  power,  and  hypocritically 
thanking  them  for  their  condescension 
in  taking  up  so  heavy  a  burthen ;  but, 
at  the  same  time,  reminding  them  of 
the  services  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and 
of  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  the  na- 
tion owed  to  his  family.-  2.  Lockhart 
hastened  to  tender  the  services  of  the 
regiments  in  Flanders,  and  received 
in  return  a  renewal  of  his  credentials 
as  ambassador,  with  a  commission  to 
attend  the  conferences  between  the 
ministers  of  France  and  Spain  at 
Fuentarabia.  3.  Montague  followed 
with  a  letter  from  the  fleet ;  but  his 
professions  of  attachment  were  re- 
ceived with  distrust.    To  balance  his 


the  three  be  extinct,  the  body  corporate  no 
longer  exists. — See  Loyalty  Banished,  and 
A  true  and  perfect  Narrative  of  what  was 


influence  with  the  seamen,  Lawson 
received  the  command  of  a  squadron 
destined  to  cruise  in  the  Channel; 
and,  to  watch  his  conduct  in  the  Bal- 
tic, three  commissioners,  with  Alger- 
non Sydney  at  their  head,  were  joined 
with  him  in  his  mission  to  the  two 
ncwthera  courts.^  4.  There  still  re- 
mained the  army  in  Ireland.  From 
Henry  Cromwell,  a  soldier  possessing 
the  afiections  of  the  military,  and 
believed  to  inherit  the  abilities  of  his 
father,  an  obstinate,  and  perhaps  suc- 
cessful resistance,  was  anticipated. 
But  he  wanted  decision.  Three  par- 
ties had  presented  themselves  to  his 
choice ;  to  earn  by  the  promptness  of 
his  acquiescence,  the  gratitude  of  the 
new  government ;  or  to  maintain  by 
arms  the  right  of  his  deposed  brother ; 
or  to  declare,  as  he  was  strongly  soli- 
cited to  declare,  in  favour  of  Charles 
Stuart.  Much  time  was  lost  in  con- 
sultation; at  length  the  thirst  of 
resentment,  with  the  lure  of  reward, 
determined  him  to  unfurl  the  royal 
standard  •*  then  the  arrival  of  letters 
from  England  threw  him  back  into 
his  former  state  of  irresolution ;  and, 
while  he  thus  wavered  from  project 
to  project,  some  of  his  officers  ven- 
tured to  profess  their  attachment 
to  the  commonwealth,  the  privates 
betrayed  a  disinclination  to  separate 
their  cause  from  that  of  their  com- 
rades in  England,  and  Sir  Hardress 
Waller,  in  the  interest  of  the  parlia- 
ment, surprised  the  castle  of  Dublin. 
The  last  stroke  reduced  Henry  at 
once  to  the  condition  of  a  suppliant ; 
he  signified  his  submission  by  a  letter 
to  the  speaker,  obeyed  the  commands 
of  the  house  to  appear  before  the 
council,  and,  having  explained  to  them 
the  state  of  Ireland,  was  graciously 
permitted  to  retire  into  the  obscurity 


the  Parliament  in  the  Journals,  May  7. 
»  Whitelock,  678. 
s  Thurloe,    669,    670.      Ludlow,    ii.   199. 


done    and    spoken  by    and    between    Mr.  '  Journals,  May  7,  9,  18,  26,  31. 
Prynne,  &c.,  1C50.  ♦  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  242.     Clar.  Pap.  500, 

^  See  the  Declarations  of  the  Army  and    501,  516. 


A.D.  1659.] 


EICHARD  EETIEES. 


283 


of  private  life.  The  civil  administra- 
tion of  the  island  devolved  on  five 
commissioners,  and  the  command  of 
the  army  was  given  to  Ludlow,  with 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-general  of  the 
horse/ 

But  the  republican  leaders  soon 
discovered  that  they  had  not  been 
called  to  repose  on  a  bed  of  roses. 
The  oflScers  at  Wallingford  House 
began  to  dictate  to  the  men  whom 
they  had  made  their  nominal  masters, 
and  forwarded  to  them  fifteen  de- 
mands, under  the  modest  title  of 
"  the  things  which  they  had  on  their 
minds,"  when  they  restored  the  long 
parliament.*-^  The  house  took  them 
successively  into  consideration.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  report  the 
form  of  government  the  best  calcu- 
lated to  secure  the  liberties  of  the 
people ;  the  duration  of  the  existing 
parhament  was  limited  to  twelve 
months ;  freedom  of  worship  was  ex- 
tended to  all  believers  in  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
with  the  usual  exception  of  prelatists 
and  papists ;  and  an  act  of  oblivion,  after 
many  debates, was  passed,  but  so  encum- 
bered with  provisoes  and  exceptions, 
that  it  served  rather  to  irritate  than 
appease.^  The  officers  had  requested 
that  lands  of  inheritance,  to  the  an- 
nual value  of  ten  thousand  pounds, 
should  be  settled  on  Eichard  Crom- 
well, and  a  yearly  pension  of  eight 
thousand  pounds  on  her  "  highness 
dowager,"  his  mother.  But  it  was 
observed  in  the  house  that,  though 
Richard  exercised  no  authority,  he 
continued  to  occupy  the  state  apart- 
ments at  Whitehall ;  and  a  suspicion 


1  Thurloe,  \ii.  683,  684.  Journals,  June  14, 
27,  July  4,  17.  Henry  Cromwell  resided  on 
hi3  estate  of  Swinney  Abbey,  near  Soban, 
in  Cambridgeshire,  till  his  death  in  1674. — 
IToble,  i.  227. 

2  See  the  Humble  Petition  and  Address  of 
the  Officers,  printed  by  Henry  Hills,  1659 

3  Declaration  of  General  Council  of 
Officers,  27th  of  October,  p.  5.  For  the  dif- 
ferent forms  of  government  suggested  by  dif- 
ferent protectors,  see  Ludlow,  li.  206. 


existed  that  he  was  kept  there  as  an 
object  of  terror,  to  intimate  to  the 
members  that  the  same  power  could 
again  set  him  up,  which  had  so  re- 
cently brought  him  down.  By  re- 
peated messages  he  was  ordered  to 
retire ;  and,  on  his  promise  to  obey, 
the  parliament  granted  him  the  pri- 
vilege of  freedom  from  arrest  during 
six  months;  transferred  his  private 
debts,  amounting  to  twenty- nine  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  forty  pounds, 
to  the  account  of  the  nation ;  gave  him 
two  thousand  pounds  as  a  relief  to 
his  present  necessities,  and  voted  that 
a  yearly  income  of  ten  thousand 
pounds  should  be  settled  on  him  and 
his  heirs,  a  grant  easily  made  on 
paper,  but  never  carried  into  exe- 
cution.'' 

But  the  principal  source  of  dis- 
quietude still  remained.  Among  the 
fifteen  articles  presented  to  the  house, 
the  twelfth  appeared,  not  in  the  shape 
of  a  request,  but  of  a  declaration,  that 
the  officers  unanimously  owned  Fleet- 
wood as  "  commander-in-chief  of  the 
land  forces  in  England."  It  was  the 
point  for  which  they  had  contended 
under  Eichard;  and  Ludlow,  Yane, 
and  Salloway  earnestly  employed  their 
colleagues  to  connive  at  what  it  was 
evidently  dangerous  to  oppose.  But 
the  lessons  of  prudence  were  thrown 
away  on  the  rigid  republicanism  of 
Hazlerig,  Sydney,  Neville,  and  their 
associates,  who  contended  that  to  be 
sUent  was  to  acknowledge  in  the 
council  of  officers  an  authority  inde- 
pendent of  the  parliament.  They 
undertook  to  remodel  the  consti- 
tution of  the  army.    The  office  of 


*  Journals,  May  16,  25,  July  4,  12,  16.— 
Ludlow  (ii.  198)  makes  the  present  twenty 
thousand  pounds  :  but  the  sum  of  two  thou- 
sand pounds  is  written  at  length  in  the 
Journals ;  May  25.  While  he  was  at  White- 
hall, he  entertained  proposals  from  the 
royalists,  consented  to  accept  a  title  and 
twenty  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  de- 
signed to  escape  to  the  fleet  under  Mon- 
tague, but  was  too  strictly  watched  to  effect 
his  purpose. — Clar.  Pap,  iii.  475,  477,  478. 


284 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[CHAP.  VIII. 


lord-general  was  abolished;  no  in- 
termediate rank  between  the  lieu- 
tenant-general and  the  colonels  was 
admitted;  Fleetwood  was  named 
lieutenant-general,  with  the  chief 
command  in  England  and  Scotland, 
but  limited  in  its  duration  to  a  short 
period,  revocable  at  pleasure,  and 
deprived  of  several  of  those  powers 
which  had  hitherto  been  annexed  to 
it.  All  military  commissions  were 
revoked,  and  an  order  was  made  that 
a  committee  of  nine  members  should 
recommend  the  persons  to  be  officers 
in  each  regiment ;  that  their  respec- 
tive merits  should  be  canvassed  in  the 
house ;  and  that  those  who  had  passed 
this  ordeal  should  receive  their  com- 
missions at  the  table  from  the  hand 
of  the  speaker.  The  object  of  this 
arrangement  was  plain :  to  make  void 
the  declaration  of  the  military,  to 
weed  out  men  of  doubtful  fidelity, 
and  to  render  the  others  dependent 
for  their  situations  on  the  pleasure 
of  the  house.  Fleetwood,  with  his 
adherents,  resolved  never  to  submit 
to  the  degradation,  while  the  privates 
amused  themselves  with  ridiculing 
the  age  and  infirmities  of  him  whom 
they  called  their  new  lord-general, 
the  speaker  Lenthall ;  but  Hazlerig 
•prevailed  on  Colonel  Hacker,  with 
his  officers,  to  conform;  their  ex- 
ample gradually  drew  others ;  and 
at  length,  the  most  discontented, 
though  with  shame  and  reluctance, 
condescended  to  go  through  this 
humbling  ceremony.  The  repub- 
licans congratulated  each  other  on 
their  victory;  they  had  only  accele- 
rated their  defeat.^ 

Ever  since  the  death  of  Oliver,  the 
exiled  king  had  watched  with  intense 
interest  the  course  of  events  in  Eng- 
land; and  each  day  added  a  new 
stimulus  to  his  hopes  of  a  favourable 
issue.    The   unsettled   state   of  the 


•  Journals,  passim.  Lndlow,  ii.  197.  De- 
claration of  Officers,  6.  Thurloe,  679.  Cla- 
rend,  Hist.  iii.  665. 


nation,  the  dissensions  among  his 
enemies,  the  flattering  representa- 
tions of  his  friends,  and  the  offers 
of  co-operation  from  men  who  had 
hitherto  opposed  his  claims,  persuaded 
him  that  the  day  of  his  restoration 
was  at  hand.  That  the  opportunity 
mightnot  be  forfeited  by  his  own  back- 
wardness, he  announced  to  the  leaders 
of  the  royalists  his  intention  of  coming 
to  England,  and  of  hazarding  his  life  in 
the  company  of  his  faithful  subjects. 
There  was  scarcely  a  county  in  which 
the  majority  of  the  nobility  and 
gentry  did  not  engage  to  rally  round 
his  standard ;  the  first  day  of  August 
was  fixed  for  the  general  rising ;  and 
it  was  determined  in  the  council  at 
Brussels  that  Charles  should  repair 
in  disguise  to  the  coast  of  Bretagne, 
where  he  might  procure  a  passage 
into  Wales  or  Cornwall;  that  the 
duke  of  York,  with  six  hundred  vete- 
rans furnished  by  the  prince  of  Conde, 
should  attempt  to  land  from  Bou- 
logne on  the  coast  of  Kent;  and 
that  the  duke  of  Gloucester  should 
follow  from  Ostend  with  the  royal 
army  of  four  thousand  men,  under 
the  Marshal  Marsin.  Unfortunately 
his  concerns  in  England  had  been 
hitherto  conducted  by  a  council  called 
"the  Knot,"  at  the  head  of  which 
was  Sir  Richard  WilUs.  Willis,  the 
reader  is  aware,  was  a  traitor ;  but  it 
was  only  of  late  that  the  eyes  of 
Charles  had  been  opened  to  his 
perfidy  by  Morland,  the  secretary  of 
Thurloe,  who,  to  make  his  own  peace, 
sent  to  the  court  at  Bruges  some  of 
the  original  communications  in  the 
writing  of  Willis.  This  discovery 
astonished  and  perplexed  the  king. 
To  make  public  the  conduct  of  the 
traitor  was  to  provoke  him  to  further 
disclosures :  to  conceal  it,  was  to  con- 
nive at  the  destruction  of  his  friends, 
and  the  ruin  of  his  own  prospects. 
He  first  instructed  his  correspondents 
to  be  reserved  in  their  communica- 
tions with  "the  Knot;"  he  then  or- 


A.D.  1659.] 


EISING  IN  CHESHIRE. 


dered  "Willis  to  meet  him  on  a  certain 
day  at  Calais;  and,  when  this  order 
was  disregarded,  openly  forbade  the 
royalists  to  give  to  the  traitor  infor- 
mation, or  to  follow  his  advice.^ 

But  these  precautions  came  too 
late.  After  the  deposition  of  the 
protector,  AVillis  had  continued  to 
communicate  with  Thurloe,  who 
with  the  intelligence  which  he  thus 
obtained,  was  enabled  to  purchase 
the  forbearance  of  his  former  oppo- 
nents. At  an  early  period  in  July, 
the  council  was  in  possession  of  the 
plan  of  the  royalists.  Beinforce- 
ments  were  immediately  demanded 
from  the  armies  in  Flanders  and  Ire- 
land; directions  were  issued  for  a 
levy  of  fourteen  regiments  of  one 
thousand  men  each;  measures  were 
taken  for  calling  out  the  militia; 
numerous  arrests  were  made  in  the 
city  and  every  part  of  the  country ; 
and  the  known  Cavaliers  were  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  metropolis,  and  to 
produce  security  for  their  peaceable 
behaviour.  These  proceedings  seemed 
to  justify  Wilhs  in  representing  the 
attempt  as  hopeless;  and,  at  his 
persuasion,  "the  Knot"  by  circular 
letters  forbade  the  rising,  two  days 
before  the  appointed  time.  The 
royalists  were  thus  thrown  into  irre- 
mediable confusion.  Many  remained 
quiet  at  their  homes ;  many  assembled 
in  arms,  and  dispersed  on  account  of 
the  absence  of  their  associates ;  in 
some  counties  the  leaders  were  inter- 
cepted in  their  way  to  the  plac«  of 
rendezvous ;  in  others  as  soon  as  they 


met,  they  were  surrounded  or  charged 
by  a  superior  force.  In  Cheshire 
alone  was  the  royal  standard  success- 
fully unfurled  by  Sir  George  Booth, 
a  person  of  considerable  influence  in 
the  county,  and  a  recent  convert  to 
the  cause  of  the  Stuarts.  In  the 
letter  which  he  circulated,  he  was 
careful  to  make  no  mention  of  the 
king,  but  called  on  the  people  to 
defend  their  rights  against  the  tyranny 
of  an  insolent  soldiery  and  a  pre- 
tended parliament.  "  Let  the  nation 
freely  choose  its  representatives,  and 
those  representatives  as  freely  sit 
without  awe  or  force  of  soldiery." 
This  was  all  that  he  sought :  in  the 
determination  of  such  an  assembly, 
whatever  that  determination  might 
be,  both  he  and  his  friends  would 
cheerfully  acquiesce.-  It  was  in 
effect  a  rising  on  the  Presbyterian 
interest;  and  the  proceedings  were 
in  a  great  measure  controlled  by  a 
committee  of  ministers,  who  scorn- 
fully rejected  the  aid  of  the  Catho- 
lics, and  received  with  jealousy  Sir 
Thomas  Middleton,  though  a  known 
Presbyterian,  because  he  openly 
avowed  himself  a  royalist. 

At  Chester,  the  parliamentary  gar- 
rison retired  into  the  castle,  and  the 
insurgents  took  possession  of  the  city. 
Each  day  brought  to  them  a  new- 
accession  of  strength ;  and  their  ap- 
parent success  taught  them  to  augur 
equally  well  of  the  expected  attempts 
of  their  confederates  throughout  the 
kingdom.  But  the  unwelcome  truth 
could   not   long   be   concealed;  and 


1  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  514,  517,  518,  520.  524, 
626,  529,  531,  535,  536.  Willis  maintained 
his  innocence,  and  found  many  to  believe 
him.  Echard  (p.  729)  has  published  a  letter 
•with  Morlaud'B  signature,  in  which  he  is 
made  to  say  that  he  never  sent  any  of  the 
letters  of  Wilhs  to  the  king,  nor  even  so 
much  as  knew  his  name ;  whence  Harris  (ii. 
215)  infers  that  the  whole  charge  is  false. 
That,  however,  it  was  true,  no  one  can 
doubt  who  will  examine  the  proofs  in  the 
Clarendon  Papers  (iii.  518,  526,  529,  533, 
635,  536, 542, 549,  556,  558,  562, 563,  574,  583, 


585),  and  in  Carte's  Collection  of  Letters  (ii. 
220,  256,  284).  Indeed,  the  letter  from 
WiUis  of  the  9th  of  May,  1660,  soliciting  the 
king's  pardon,  leaves  no  room  for  doubt. — 
Clar.  Pap.  643.  That  Morland  was  the  in- 
former, and,  consequently,  the  letter  in 
Echard  is  a  forgery,  is  also  evident  from 
the  reward  which  he  received  at  the  resto- 
ration, and  from  his  own  admission  to 
Pepys.— See  Pepys,  i.  79,  82, 133,  8vo.  See 
also  "  Life  of  James  II."  370. 

2  Pari.  Hist,  xxiii.  107. 


THE  PROTECTORATE. 


[chap.  VIII. 


when  they  learned  that  they  stood 
alone,  that  every  other  rising  had 
been  either  prevented  or  instantly 
suppressed,  and  that  Lambert  was 
hastening  against  them  with  four 
regiments  of  cavalry  and  three  of 
footj  their  confidence  was  exchanged 
for  despair;  every  gentleman  who 
had  risked  his  life  in  the  attempt 
claimed  a  right  to  give  his  advice; 
and  their  counsels,  from  fear,  inex- 
perience, and  misinformation,  be- 
came fluctuating  and  contradictory. 
After  much  hesitation,  they  resolved 
to  proceed  to  Nantwich  and  defend 
the  passage  of  the  Weever ;  but  so  rapid 
had  been  the  march  of  the  enemy, 
who  sent  forward  part  of  the  infantry 
on  horseback,  that  the  advance  was 
already  arrived  in  the  neighbour- 
hood; and  while  the  royalists  lay 
unsuspicious  of  danger  in  the  town, 
Lambert  forced  the  passage  of  the 
river  at  Winnington.  In  haste,  they 
filed  out  of  Nantwich  into  the  nearest 
fields ;  but  here  they  found  that  most 
of  their  ammunition  was  still  at  Ches- 
ter ;  and,  on  the  suggestion  that  the 
position  was  unfavourable,  hastened 
to  take  possession  of  a  neighbouring 
eminence.  Colonel  Morgan,  with  his 
troop,  attempted  to  keep  the  enemy 
in  check ;  he  fell,  with  thirty  men ; 
and  the  rest  of  the  insui^ents,  at  the 
approach  of  their  adversaries,  turned 
their  backs  and  fled.  Three  hundred 
were  made  prisoners  in  the  pursuit, 
and  few  of  the  leaders  had  the  good 
fortune  to  escape.  The  earl  of  Derby, 
who  had  raised  men  in  Lancashire  to 
join  the  royalists,  was  taken  in  the 
disguise  of  a  servant.  Booth,  dressed 
as  a  female,  and  riding  on  a  pillion, 
took  the  direct  road  for  London,  bu+ 
betrayed  himself  at  Newton  Pagnell 


1  Clar.  Hist.  iii.  672—675.  Clar.  Pap.  iii. 
673,  674.  Ludlow,  ii.  223.  Whitelock,  683. 
Carte's  Letters,  194,  202.  Lambert's  Let- 
ter, printed  for  Thomas  Neucombe,  1659. 

*  Both  promised  to  aid  him  secretly,  but 


by  his  awkwardness  in  alighting  from 
the  horse.  Middleton,  who  was  eighty 
years  old,  fled  to  Chirk  Castle ;  and, 
after  a  defence  of  a  few  days,  capi- 
tulated, on  condition  that  he  should 
have  two  months  to  make  his  peace 
with  the  parhament.^ 

The  news  of  this  disaster  reached 
the  duke  of  York  at  Boulogne,  for- 
tunately on  the  very  evening  on 
which  he  was  to  have  embarked  with 
his  men.  Charles  received  it  at 
Rochelle,  whither  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  proceed  in  search  of  a  vessel 
to  convey  him  to  "Wales.  Abandoning 
the  hopeless  project,  he  instantly  con- 
tinued his  journey  to  the  congress  at 
Fuentarabia,  with  the  delusive  expec- 
tation that,  on  the  conclusion  of  peace 
between  the  two  crowns,  he  should 
obtain  a  supply  of  money,  and  per- 
haps still  more  substantial  aid,  from  a 
personal  interview  with  the  ministers, 
Cardinal  INIazarin  and  Don  Louis  de 
Haro.-  Montague,  who  had  but  re- 
cently become  a  proselyte  to  the  royal 
cause,  was  drawn  by  his  zeal  into  the 
most  imminent  danger.  As  soon  as 
he  heard  of  the  insurrection,  he 
brought  back  the  fleet  from  the  Sound, 
in  defiance  of  his  brother  commis- 
sioners, with  the  intention  of  block- 
ading the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and 
of  facilitating  the  transportation  of 
troops.  On  his  arrival  he  learned  the 
failure  of  his  hopes;  but  boldly 
faced  the  danger,  appeared  before  the 
council,  and  assigned  the  want  of 
provisions  as  the  cause  of  his  return. 
They  heard  him  with  distrust ;  but  it 
was  deemed  prudent  to  dissemble, 
and  he  received  permission  to  with- 
draw. ^ 

To  reward  Lambert  for  this  com- 
plete, though  almost    bloodless  vie- 


not  in  such  manner  as  to  give  offence  to  the 
ruling  party  in  England.— Clar.  Pap.  iii. 
642. 

3  Journals,  Sept.  16.  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  551. 
Carte's  Letters,  ii.  210,  236.  Pepys'  M». 
moirs,  i.  157. 


A.D.  1659.] 


PETITION  JFEOM  THE  OFFICERS. 


287 


tory,  the  parliament  voted  him  the 
sum  of  one  thousand  pounds,  which 
he  immediately  distributed  among  his 
officers.  But  while  they  recompensed 
his  services,  they  were  not  the  less 
jealous  of  his  ambition.  They  re- 
membered how  instrumental  he  had 
been  in  raising  Cromwell  to  the  pro- 
tectorate ;  they  knew  his  influence  in 
the  army;  and  they  feared  his  con- 
trol over  the  timid,  wavering  mind  of 
Fleetwood,  whom  he  appeared  to 
govern  in  the  same  manner  as  Crom- 
well had  governed  Fairfax.  It  had 
been  hoped  that  his  absence  on  the 
late  expedition  would  afford  them 
leisure  to  gain  the  officers  remaining 
in  the  capital;  but  the  unexpected 
rapidity  of  his  success  had  defeated 
their  policy;  and,  in  a  short  time, 
the  intrigue  which  had  been  inter- 
rupted by  the  insurrection  was  re- 
sumed. While  Lambert  hastened 
back  to  the  capital,  his  army  followed 
by  slow  marches ;  and  at  Derby  the 
officers  subscribed  a  petition  which 
had  been  clandestinely  forwarded  to 
them  from  Wallingford  House.  In 
it  they  complained  that  adequate 
rewards  were  not  conferred  on  the 
deserving;  and  demanded  that  the 
office  of  commander-in-chief  should 
be  given  to  Fleetwood  without  limi- 
tation of  time,  and  the  rank  of  major- 
general  to  their  victorious  leader; 
that  no  officer  should  be  deprived  of 
his  commission  without  the  judgment 
of  a  court-martial;  and  that  the 
government  should  be  settled  in  a 
house  of  representatives  and  a  per- 
manent senate.  Hazlerig,  a  man  of 
stern  republican  principles,  and  of  a 
temper  hasty,  morose,  and  ungovern- 
able, obtained  a  sight  of  this  paper, 
denounced  it  as  an  attempt  to  sub- 
vert the  parliament,  and  moved  that 
Lambert,  its  author,  should  be  sent 
to  the  Tower ;  but  his  violence  was 


1  Journ,  Ang.  23,  Sept.  22,  23.    Ludlow, 
ii.  225,  227,  233,  244. 


checked  by  the  declaration  of  Fleet- 
wood, that  Lambert  knew  nothing 
of  its  origin ;  and  the  house  contented 
itself  with  ordering  all  copies  of  the 
obnoxious  petition  to  be  delivered  up, 
and  with  resolving  that  "  to  augment 
the  number  of  general  officers  was 
needless,  chargeable,  and  dangerous." ' 
From  that  moment  a  breach  was 
inevitable.  The  house,  to  gratify  the 
soldiers,  had  advanced  their  daily 
pay ;  and  with  the  view  of  dis- 
charging their  arrears,  had  raised  the 
monthly  assessment  from  thirty-five 
thousand  pounds  to  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds."  But  the  military 
leaders  were  not  to  be  diverted  from 
their  purpose.  Meetings  were  daily 
and  nightly  held  at  Wallingford 
House;  and  another  petition  with 
two  hundred  and  thirty  signatures 
was  presented  by  Desborough,  accom- 
panied by  all  the  field-officers  in  the 
metropolis.  In  most  points  it  was 
similar  to  the  former;  but  it  con- 
tained a  demand  that,  whosoever 
should  afterwards  "  groundlessly  and 
causelessly  inform  the  house  against 
their  servants,  thereby  creating  jea- 
lousies, and  casting  scandalous  impu- 
tations upon  them,  should  be  brought 
to  examination,  justice,  and  condign 
punishment."  This  was  a  sufficient 
intimation  to  Hazlerig  and  his  party 
to  provide  for  their  own  safety. 
Three  regiments,  through  the  medium 
of  their  officers,  had  already  made 
the  tender  of  their  services  for 
the  protection  of  the  house ;  Monk 
from  Scotland,  and  Ludlow  from 
Ireland,  wrote  that  their  respective 
armies  were  animated  with  similar 
sentiments;  and  a  vote  was  passed 
and  ordered  to  be  published,  declaring 
it  to  be  treason  to  levy  money  on  the 
people  without  the  previous  consent 
of  parliament ;  a  measure  which,  as  all 
the  existing  taxes  were  to  expire  on 


2  Ibid.  May  31,  Aug.  18,  Sept.  1. 


THE  PROTECTOEATE. 


[chap.  VIII 


the  first  day  of  the  ensuing  year,  i 
made  the  mUitary  dependent  for  their  j 
future  subsistence  on  the  pleasure  of 
the  party.  Hazlerig,  thus  fortified, 
deemed  himself  a  match  for  his  adver- 
saries; the  next  morning  he  boldly 
threw  down  the  gauntlet ;  by  one  vote, 
Lambert,  Desborough,  six  colonels, 
and  one  major,  were  deprived  of  their 
commissions  for  having  subscribed 
the  copy  of  the  petition  sent  to  Colonel 
Okey;  and,  by  a  second,  Fleetwood 
was  dismissed  from  his  ofhce  of  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  made  president 
of  a  board  of  seven  members  esta- 
blished for  the  government  of  the 
army.  Aware,  however,  that  he 
might  expect  resistance,  the  repub- 
lican chieftain  called  his  friends 
around  him  during  the  night;  and 
at  the  dawn  of  day  it  was  discovered 
that  he  had  taken  military  possession 
of  King-street  and  the  Palace-yard 
with  two  regiments  of  foot  and  four 
troops  of  horse,  who  protested  aloud 
that  they  would  live  and  die  with  the 
parliament.' 

Lambert  mustered  about  three 
thousand  men.  His  first  care  was  to 
intercept-  the  access  of  members  to 
the  house,  and  to  prevent  the  egress 
of  the  militia  from  the  city.  He  then 
marched  to  Westminster.  Meeting 
the  speaker,  who  was  attended  by  his 
guard,  he  ordered  the  officer  on  duty 
to  dismount,  gave  the  command  to 
Major  Creed,  one  of  those  who  had  been 
deprived  of  their  commissions  by  the 
preceding  vote,  and  scornfully  directed 
him  to  conduct  the  "  lord-general "  to 
"Whitehall,  whence  he  was  permitted 
to  return  to  his  own  house.  In  West- 
minster, the  two  parties  faced  each 
other;  but  the  ardour  of  the  privates 
did  not  correspond  with  that  of  the 


1  Journals,  Sept.  28,  Oct.  5,  10,  11,  12. 
Lndlow,  ii.  229,  247.  Carte's  Letters,  ii. 
246.  Thorloe,  vii.  755.  Declaration  of  Ge- 
neral  Council  of  Officers,  9— IG.  True  Nar- 
rative of  the  Proceedincs  in  Parliament, 
Council  of  State,  &c.,  published  by  special 
order,  1659.    Printed  by  John  Eedmayne. 


leaders ;  and,  having  so  often  fought 
in  the  same  ranks,  they  showed  nc 
disposition  to  imbrue  their  hands  in 
each  other's  blood.  In  the  mean 
time  the  council  of  state  assembled 
on  the  one  side  Lambert  and  Des- 
borough, on  the  other  Hazlerig  and 
Morley,  appeared  to  support  their  pre- 
tensions; much  time  was  spent  in 
complaint  and  recrimination,  much 
in  hopeless  attempts  to  reconcile  the 
parties ;  but  the  cause  of  the  military 
continued  to  make  converts ;  the  ad- 
vocates of  "the  rump,"  aware  that 
to  resist  was  fruitless,  consented  to 
yield ;  and  it  was  stipulated  that  the 
house  should  cease  to  sit,  that  the 
council  of  officers  should  provide  for 
the  public  peace,  arrange  a  new  form 
of  government,  and  submit  it  to  the 
approbation  of  a  new  parliament.  An 
order,  th^t  the  forces  on  both  sides 
should  retire  to  their  respective  quar- 
ters, was  gladly  obeyed;  the  men 
mixed  together  as  friends  and  brothers, 
and  reciprocally  promised  never  more 
to  draw  the  sword  against  each  other.'^ 
Thus  a  second  time  the  supreme 
authority  devolved  on  the  meeting 
of  officers  at  Wallingford  House. 
They  immediately  established  their 
favourite  plan  for  the  government  of 
the  army.  The  office  of  commander- 
in-chief,  in  its  plenitude  of  power,  was 
restored  to  Fleetwood;  the  rank  of 
major-general  of  the  forces  in  Great 
Britain  was  given  to  Lambert;  and 
all  those  officers  who  refused  to  sub- 
scribe a  new  engagement,  were  re- 
moved from  their  commands.  At  the 
same  time  they  annulled  by  their 
supreme  authority  all  proceedings  in 
parliament  on  the  10th,  11th,  and 
12th  of  October,  vindicated  their  own 
conduct  in   a   publication  with  the 


2  Whitelock,  685.  Journals,  Oct.  13. 
Clar.  Pap.  iii.  581,  590.  Ludlow,  ii.  247— 
251.  Ludlow's  account  differs  considerably 
from  that  by  Whitelock.  But  the  former 
was  in  Ireland,  the  latter  present  at  the 
cooncil. 


A.D.  1659.] 


OPPOSITION  OF  MONK. 


title  of  "The  Army's  Plea,'"  vested 
the  provisional  exercise  of  the  civil 
authority  in  a  committee  of  safety, 
of  twenty-three  members,  and  de- 
nounced the  penalties  of  treason 
against  all  who  should  refuse  to  obey 
its  orders,  or  should  venture  to  levy 
forces  without  its  permission.  An 
attempt  was  even  made  to  replace 
Eiichard  Cromwell  in  the  protectorial 
dignity;  for  this  purpose  he  came 
from  Hampshire  to  London,  escorted 
by  three  troops  of  horse;  but  his 
supporters  in  the  meeting  were  out- 
voted by  a  small  majority,  and  he 
retired  to  Hampton  Court,^ 

Of  all  the  changes  which  had  sur- 
prised and  perplexed  the  nation  since 
the  death  of  the  last  king,  none  had 
been  received  with  such  general  dis- 
approbation [as  the  present.  It  was 
not  that  men  lamented  the  removal 
of  the  Rump;  but  they  feared  the 
capricious  and  arbitrary  rule  of  the 
army,  and  when  they  contrasted 
their  unsettled  state  with  the  tran- 
quillity formerly  enjoyed  under  the 
monarchy,  many  were  not  backward 
in  the  expression  of  their  wishes 
for  the  restoration  of  the  ancient 
line  of  their  princes.  The  royalists 
laboured  to  improve  this  favourable 
disposition;  yet  their  efforts  might 
have  been  fruitless,  had  the  military 
been  united  among  themselves.  But 
among  the  officers  there  were  several 
who  had  already  made  their  peace 
with  Charles  by  the  promise  of  their 


1  See  Declaration  of  the  General  Council 
of  Officers,  17.  The  Army's  Plea  for  its 
Present  Practice,  printed  by  Henry  Hills, 
printer  to  the  army,  l659,  is  in  many  parts 
powerfully  written .  The  principal  argument 
13,  that  as  the  parliament,  though  bound  by 
the  solemn  league  and  covenant  to  defend 
the  king's  person,  honour,  and  dignity,  did 
not  afterwards  scruple  to  arraign,  condemn, 
and  execute  him  because  he  had  broken  his 
trust ;  so  the  army,  though  they  had  en- 
gaged to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the  parlia- 
ment, might  lawfully  rise  against  it,  when 
they  found  that  it  did  not  preserve  the  just 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  people.  This 
condition  was  implied  in  the  engagement ; 
otherwise  the  making  of  the  engagement 
8 


services,  and  many  who  secretly  re- 
tained a  strong  attachment  to  Ha- 
zlerig  and  his  party  in  opposition  to 
Lambert.  In  Ireland,  Earrow,  who 
had  been  sent  as  their  representative 
from  Wallingford  House,  found  the 
army  so  divided  and  wavering,  that 
each  faction  alternately  obtained  a 
short  and  precarious  superiority ;  and 
in  Scotland,  Cobbet,  who  arrived 
there  on  a  similar  mission,  was,  with 
seventeen  other  officers  who  approved 
of  his  proposals,  imprisoned  by  order 
of  Monk.3 

Prom  this  moment  the  conduct  of 
Monk  will  claim  a  consider  alile  share 
of  the  reader's  attention.  Ever  since 
the  march  of  Cromwell  in  pursuit  of 
the  king  to  Worcester,  he  had  com- 
manded in  Scotland;  where,  instead 
of  concerning  himself  with  the  in- 
trigues and  parties  in  England,  he 
appeared  to  have  no  other  occupation 
than  the  duties  of  his  place,  to  pre- 
serve the  disciphne  of  his  army,  and 
enforce  the  obedience  of  the  Scots. 
His  despatches  to  Cromwell  from 
Scotland  form  a  striking  contrast 
with  those  from  the  other  officers  of 
the  time.  There  is  in  them  no  parade 
of  piety,  no  flattery  of  the  protector, 
no  solicitation  for  favours.  They  are 
short,  dry,  and  uninteresting,  confined 
entirely  to  matters  of  business,  and 
those  only  of  indispensable  necessity. 
In  effect,  the  distinctive  characteristic 
of  the  man  was  an  impenetrable 
secrecy.*    Whatever   were    his   pre- 


would  have  been  a  sin,  and  the  keeping 
thereof  would  have  been  a  sin  also,  and  so 
an  adding  of  sin  to  sin. 

-  Whitelock,  685,  686.  Ludlow,  ii.  250, 
286,  287.  Clar.  Pap.  591.  At  the  restora- 
tion, Richard,  to  escape  from  his  creditors, 
fled  to  the  continent ;  and,  after  an  expa- 
triation of  almost  twenty  years,  returned  to 
England  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Cheshunt, 
where  he  died  in  1713,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
six.— Noble,  i.  228. 

■i  Ludlow,  ii.  237,  252, 259,  262,  300.  Clar. 
Pap.  iii.  591.     Carte's  Letters,  266. 

*  "  His  natural  taciturnity  was  such,  that 

most  of  his  friends,  who  thought  they  knew 

him  best,  looked  upon  George  Monk  to  have 

no  other  craft  in  him  than  that  of  a  plain 

U 


290 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  Tiir. 


dilections  or  opinions,  his  wishes  or 
designs,  he  kept  them  locked  up 
within  his  own  breast.  He  had  no 
confidant,  nor  did  he  ever  permit 
himself  to  be  surprised  into  an 
unguarded  avowal.  H^nce  all  parties, 
royalists,  protectorists,  and  republi- 
cans, claimed  him  for  their  own, 
though  that  claim  was  grounded  on 
their  hopes,  not  on  Ms  conduct. 
Charles  had  been  induced  to  make 
to  him  repeatedly  the  most  tempting 
offers,  which  were  supported  by  the 
solicitations  of  his  wife  and  his  domes- 
tic chaplain ;  Monk  listened  to  them 
without  displeasure,  though  he  never 
unbosomed  himself  to  the  agents  or 
to  his  chaplain  so  far  as  to  put  him- 
self in  their  power.  Cromwell  had 
obtained  some  information  of  these 
intrigues ;  but,  unable  to  discover  any 
real  ground  of  suspicion,  he  contented 
himself  with  putting  Monk  on  his 
guard  by  a  bantering  postscript  to 
one  of  his  letters.  "'Tis  said,"  he 
added,  "  there  is  a  cunning  fellow  in 
Scotland,  called  George  Monk,  who 
lies  in  wait  there  to  serve  Charles 
Stuart;  pray  use  your  diligence  to 
take  him  and  send  him  up  to  me.'" 
After  the  fall  of  the  protector  Richard, 
he  became  an  object  of  greater  dis- 
trust. To  undermine  his  power,  Fleet- 
wood ordered  two  regiments  of  horse 
attached  to  the  Scottish  army  to  re- 
turn to  England;  and  the  republicans, 
when  the  military  commissions  were 
issued  by  the  speaker,  removed  a  great 
number  of  his  oflQcers,  and  supplied 
their  places  with  creatures  of  their 
own.  Monk  felt  these  affronts:  dis- 
content urged  him  to  seek  revenge ; 
and  when  he  understood  that  Booth 
•Fas  at  the  head  of  a  considerable 
^oroe,  he   dictated   a   letter   to   the 


soldier,  who  would  obey  the  parliament's 
orders,  and  see  that  his  own  were  obeyed.'' 
— Price,  Mystery  and  Method  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's happy  Restoration,  in  Select  Tracts 
relating  to  the  Civil  Wars  in  England,  pub- 
lished by  Baron  Miiseres,  ii.  700. 

I  Price,  712.  »  Id.  711,  716,  721. 

■    s  All  that  Grenville  could  learn  from  the 


speaker,  complaining  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  parliament,  and  declaring  that, 
as  they  had  abandoned  the  real 
principles  of  the  old  cause,  they 
must  not  expect  the  support  of  his 
army.  His  object  was  to  animate  the 
insurgents  and  embarra.ss  their  adver- 
saries; but,  on  the  very  morning  on 
which  the  letter  was  to  be  submitted 
for  signature  to  his  principal  officers, 
the  news  of  Lambert's  victory  ar- 
rived ;  the  dangerous  instrument  was 
instantly  destroyed,  and  the  secret 
most  religiously  kept  by  the  few  who 
had  been  privy  to  the  intention  of  the 
general.' 

To  this  abortive  attempt  Monk, 
notwithstanding  his  wariness,  had 
been  stimulated  by  his  brother,  a 
clergyman  of  Cornwall,  who  visited 
him  with  a  message  from  Sir  John 
Grenville  by  commission  from  Charles 
Stuart.  After  the  failure  of  Booth, 
the  general  dismissed  him  Avith  a 
letter  of  congratulation  to  the  par- 
liament, but  without  any  answer  to 
Grenville,  and  under  an  oath  to  keep 
secret  whatever  he  had  learnt  re- 
specting the  past,  or  the  intended 
projects  of  .his  brother.^  But  the 
moment  that  Monk  heard  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  members,  and  of  the 
superior  rank  conferred  on  Lambert, 
he  determined  to  appear  openly  as 
the  patron  of  the  vanquished,  under 
the  alluring,  though  ambiguous,  title 
of  "  asserter  of  the  ancient  laws  and 
liberties  of  the  country."  Accordingly, 
he  secured  with  trusty  garrisons  the 
castle  of  Edinburgh  and  the  citadel 
of  Leith,  sent  a  strong  detachment  to 
occupy  Berwick,  and  took  the  neces- 
sary measures  to  raise  and  discipline 
a  numerous  force  of  cavalry.  At 
Leith  was  held  a  general  council  of 


messenger  was,  that  his  brother  regretted 
the  failure  of  Booth,  and  would  oppose  the 
arbitrary  attempts  of  the  military  in  Eugw 
land ;  an  answer  which,  though  favonrabw 
as  far  as  it  went,  still  left  the  king  in  ance» 
tainty  as  to  his  real  intentionB.~Clar.  "Stif, 
iii.  618. 


A.D.  1659.] 


rOLICY  OF  MONK. 


291 


officers ;  they  approved  of  his  object, 
engaged  to  stand  by  him,  and  an- 
nounced their  determination  by  letters 
directed  to  Lenthall,  the  speaker-,  to 
the  council  at  "Walliugford  House, 
and  to  the  commanders  of  the  fleet 
in  the  Downs,  and  of  the  army  in 
Ireland.  It  excited,  however,  no 
small  surprise,  that  the  general,  while 
he  thus  professed  to  espouse  the  de- 
fence of  the  parliament,  cashiered  all 
the  officers  introduced  by  the  parlia- 
ment into  his  army,  and  restored  all 
those  who  had  been  expelled.  The 
more  discerning  began  to  suspect  his 
real  intentions  ;^  but  Hazlerig  and 
his  party  were  too  elated  to  dwell  on 
the  circumstance,  and,  under  the  pro- 
mise of  his  support,  began  to  organize 
the  means  of  resistance  against  their 
military  oppressors. 

Monk  soon  discovered  that  he  was 
embarked  in  a  most  hazardous  under- 
taking. The  answers  to  his  letters 
disapproved  of  his  conduct ;  and  the 
knowledge  of  these  answers  kindled 
among  his  followers  a  spirit  of  dis- 
affection which  led  to  numerous 
desertions.  Prom  the  general  of  an 
army  obedient  to  his  commands,  he 
had  dwindled  into  the  leader  of  a 
volunteer  force,  which  it  was  necessary 
to  coax  and  persuade.  Two  councils 
were  formed,  one  of  the  colonels  of 
the  longest  standing,  the  other  of  all 
the  commissioned  officers.  The  first 
perused  the  public  despatches  received 
by  the  general,  and  wrote  the  an- 
swers, which  were  signed  by  him  as 
the  chairman;  the  other  was  con- 
sulted on  all  measures  respecting  the 
conduct  of  the  army,  and  confirmed 
or  rejected  the  opinion  of  the  colonels 

1  Ludlow,  ii.  269.  Whitelock,  686,  689, 
691.  Price,  736,  743.  Skinner,  106—109. 
Monk  loudly  asserted  the  contrary.  "  I  do 
esUl  God  to  witness,"  he  says  in  the  letter 
to  the  speaker,  Oct.  20,  "  that  the  asserting 
of  a  commonwealth  is  the  only  intent  of  my 
heart."— True  Narrative,^  28.  When  Price 
remonstrated  with  him,  he  replied  :  "  You 
see  who  are  about  me  and  write  these 
things.  I  must  not  show  any  dislike  of 
them.    I  perceive  they  are  jealous  enough 


by  the  majority  of  voices.  But  if 
Monk  was  controlled  by  this  arrange- 
ment, it  served  to  screen  him  from 
suspicion.  The  measures  adopted  were 
taken  as  the  result  of  the  general  will. 
1^0  the  men  at  Wallingford  House 
it  became  of  the  first  importance  to 
win  by  intimidation,  or  to  reduce 
by  force,  this  formidable  opponent. 
Lambert  marched  against  him  from 
London  at  the  head  of  seven  thou- 
sand men;  but  the  mind  of  the  major- 
general  was  distracted  by  doubts  and 
suspicions ;  and,  before  his  departure, 
he  exacted  a  solemn  promise  from 
Fleetwood  to  agree  to  no  accommoda- 
tion, either  with  the  king,  or  with 
Hazlerig,  till  he  had  previously  re- 
ceived the  advice  and  concurrence  of 
Lamberf  himself.^  To  Monk  delay 
was  as  necessary  as  expedition  was 
desirable  to  his  opponents.  In  point 
of  numbers  and  experience,  the  force 
under  his  command  was  no  match 
for  that  led  by  Lambert,  but  his 
magazines  and  treasury  were  amply 
supplied,  while  his  adversary  possessed 
not  money  enough  to  keep  his  army 
together  for  more  than  a  few  weeks. 
Before  the  major-general  reached 
Newcastle,  he  met  three  deputies 
from  Monk  on  their  way  to  treat 
with  the  council  in  the  capital.  As 
no  arguments  could  induce  them  to 
open  the  negotiation  with  him,  he 
allowed  them  to  proceed,  and  im- 
patiently awaited  the  result.  After 
much  discussion,  an  agreement  was 
concluded  in  London ;  but  Monk, 
instead  of  ratifying  it  with  his  sig- 
nature, discovered,  or  pretended  to 
discover,  in  it  much  that  was  obscure 
or  ambiguous,   or   contrary  to   the 


of  me  already."— Price,  746.  The  fact  pro- 
bably was,  that  Monk  was  neither  royalist 
nor  republican:  that  he  sought  only  his 
own  interest,  and  had  determined  to  watch 
every  turn  of  aifairs,  and  to  declare  at  last 
in  favour  of  that  party  which  appeared  most 
likely  to  obtain  the  superiority. 

2  See  the  Conferences  of  Ludlow  and 
Whitelock  with  Fleetwood,  Ludlow  ii.  277 ; 
Whitelock,  690. 

U2 


292 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


FCHAP.  VIII. 


instructions  received  by  the  deputies ; 
liis  council  agreed  with  him  in  opi- 
nion ;  and  a  second  negotiation  was 
opened  with  Lambert  at  Newcastle, 
to  obtain  from  him  an  explanation 
of  the  meaning  of  the  officers  in  the 
metropolis.  Thus  delay  was  added  to 
delay ;  and  Monk  improved  the  time 
to  dismiss  even  the  privates  Avhose 
sentiments  were  suspected,  and  to  fill 
up  the  vacancies  in  the  regiments  of 
infantry  by  levies  among  the  Scots. 
At  the  same  time  he  called  a  con- 
vention of  the  Scottish  estates  at 
Berwick,  of  two  representatives  from 
each  county  and  one  from  each 
borough,  recommended  to  them  the 
peace  of  the  country  during  his  ab- 
sence, and  obtained  from  them  the 
grant  of  a  year's  arrears  of  their  taxes, 
amounting  to  sixty  thousand  pounds, 
in  addition  to  the  excise  and  customs. 
He  then  fixed  his  head-quarters  at 
Coldstream.' 

In  the  mean  while  the  detention  of 
Lambert  in  the  north  by  the  arti- 
fices of  Monk  had  given  occasion  to 
many  important  events  in  the  south. 
Within  the  city  several  encounters 
had  taken  place  between  the  military 
and  the  apprentices  ;■'  a  free  parUa- 
ment  had  become  the  general  cry; 
and  the  citizens  exhorted  each  other 
to  pay  no  taxes  imposed  by  any  other 
authority.  Lawson,  though  he  wa- 
vered at  first,  declared  against  the 
army,  and  advanced  with  his  squadron 
up  the  river  as  far  as  Gravesend. 
Hazlerig  and  Morley  were  admitted 
into  Portsmouth  by  the  governor, 
were  joined  by  the  force  sent  against 
them  by  Fleetwood,  and  marched 
towards  London,  that  they  might 
open  a  communication  with  the  fleet 
in  the  river.  Alarm  produced  in  the 
committee  of  safety  the  most  contra- 


1  Price,  741—7-44.  Whitelock,  688,  609. 
Ludlow,  269,  271,  273.     Skinuer,  161,  164. 

*  The  posts  occupied  by  the  army  within 
the  city  were,  "  St.  Paul's  Church,  the 
Koyall  fixchaDge,  Peeter-house  in  Alders- 
gate-street,  ana  Bernet's  Caatle,  Gresham 
Coledge,  Sion  Coledge.    Without  London, 


dictory  counsels.  A  voice  ventured 
to  suggest  the  restoration  of  Charles 
Stuart ;  but  it  was  replied  that  their 
offences  against  the  family  of  Stuart 
were  of  too  black  a  dye  to  be  forgiven ; 
that  the  king  might  be  lavish  of  pro- 
mises now  that  he  stood  in  need  of 
their  services ;  but  that  the  vengeance 
of  parliament  would  absolve  him  from 
the  obligation,  when  the  monarchy 
should  once  be  established.  The 
final  resolution  was  to  call  a  new  par- 
liament against  the  24th  of  January, 
and  to  appoint  twenty-one  conserva- 
tors of  the  public  peace  during  the 
interval.  But  they  reckoned  on  an 
authority  which  they  no  longer  pos- 
sessed. The  fidelity  of  the  common 
soldiers  had  been  shaken  by  the  let- 
ters of  Monk,  and  the  declaration  of 
Lawson.  Putting  themselves  under 
the  command  of  the  officers  who  had 
been  lately  dismissed,  they  mustered 
in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  marched 
before  the  house  of  Lenthall  in  Chan- 
cery Lane,  and  saluted  him  with 
three  volleys  of  musketry  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  parliament  and  lord- 
general  of  the  army.  Desborough, 
abandoned  by  his  regiment,  fled  in 
despair  towards  Lambert ;  and  Fleet- 
wood, who  for  some  days  had  done 
nothing  but  weep  and  pray,  and  com- 
plain that  "  the  Lord  had  spit  in  Ms 
face,"  tamely  endeavoured  to  disarm 
by  submission  the  resentment  of  his 
adversaries.  He  sought  the  speaker, 
fell  on  his  knees  before  him,  and  sur- 
rendered his  commission.^ 

Thus  the  Rump  was  again  trium- 
phant. The  members,  with  Lenthall 
at  their  head,  resumed  possession  of 
the  house  amidst  the  loud  acclama- 
tions of  the  soldiery.  Their  first  care 
was  to  establish  a  committee  for  the 
government  of  the  army,  and  to  order 


were  the  Musses,  Sumersett-house,  White- 
hall, St.     James's,    Scotland-yeard."— ME 
Diary  by  Thomas  Bugge. 

s  Ludlow,  268,  276,  282,  287,  289,  290, 
298.     Whitelock,  689,  690,  691.     Clar.  Pa^ 
625,  629,  636,  641,  647. 


A.D.  1659.] 


MONK  MAECHES  TO  YORK. 


293 


the  regiments  in  the  north  to  separate 
and  march  to  their  respective  quar- 
ters. Of  those  among  their  colleagues 
who  had  supported  the  late  committee 
of  safety,  they  excused  some,  and 
punished  others  by  suspension,  or 
exclusion,  or  imprisonment;  orders 
were  sent  to  Lambert,  and  the  most 
active  of  his  associates,  to  withdraw 
from  the  army  to  their  homes,  and 
then  instructions  were  given  to  the 
magistrates  to  take  them  into  custody. 
A  council  of  state  was  appointed,  and 
into  the  oath  to  be  taken  by  the 
members  was  introduced  a  new  and 
most  comprehensive  abjuration  of 
kingship  and  the  family  of  Stuart. 
All  officers  commissioned  during  the 
interruption  by  any  other  authority 
than  that  of  Monk  were  broken ; 
the  army  was  entirely  remodelled; 
and  the  time  of  the  house  was  daily 
occupied  by  the  continued  introduc- 
tion of  officers  to  receive  their  com- 
missions in  person  from  the  hand  of 
the  speaker.' 

In  the  mean  while,  Monk,  to  sub- 
due or  disperse  the  army  of  Lambert, 
had  raised  up  a  new  and  formidable 
enemy  in  his  rear.  Lord  Fairfax 
was  become  a  convert  to  the  cause  of 
monarchy;  to  him  the  numerous 
royalists  in  Yorkshire  looked  up  as 
leader ;  and  he,  on  the  solemn  assur- 
ance of  Monk  that  he  would  join  him 
within  twelve  days  or  perish  in  the 
attempt,  undertook  to  call  together 
his  friends,  and  to  surprise  the  city 
of  York.  On  the  first  day  of  the  new 
year,  each  performed  his  promise. 
The  gates  of  York  were  thrown  open 
to  Fairfax  by  the  Cavaliers  confined 
within  its  walls  ;2  and  Monk,  with 
his  army,  crossed  the  Tweed  on  his 
march  against  the  advanced  posts  of 
the  enemy.  Thus  the  flame  of  civil 
war  was  again  kindled  in  the  north : 


1  Joarnals,  Dec.  26,  Jan.  31. 

2  That  the  rising  under  Fairfax  was  in 
reality  a  rising  of  royalists,  and  prompted 
by  the  promises  of  Monk,  is  plain  t'rom 
the  narrative  of  Monkton,  in    the  Lans- 


within  two  days  it  was  extinguished. 
The  messenger  from  parliament 
ordered  Lambert's  forces  to  withdraw 
to  their  respective  quarters.  Dis- 
pirited by  the  defection  of  the  mili- 
tary in  the  south,  they  dared  not 
disobey :  at  Northallerton  the  officers 
bade  adieu  with  tears  to  their  gene- 
ral; and  Lambert  retired  in  privacy 
to  a  house  which  he  possessed  in  the 
county.  Still,  though  the  weather 
was  severe,  though  the  roads  were 
deeply  covered  with  snow.  Monk 
continued  his  march ;  and,  at  York, 
spent  five  days  in  consultation  with 
Fairfax;  but  to  the  advice  of  that 
nobleman,  that  he  should  remain 
there,  assume  the  command  of  their 
united  forces,  and  proclaim  the  king, 
he  replied  that,  in  the  present  temper 
of  his  officers,  it  would  prove  a  dan- 
gerous, a  pernicious,  experiment.  On 
the  arrival  of  what  he  had  long  ex- 
pected, an  invitation  to  Westminster, 
he  resumed  his  march,  and  Fairfax, 
having  received  the  thanks  of  the 
parliament,  disbanded  his  insurrec- 
tionary force.* 

At  York,  the  general  had  caned  an 
officer  who  charged  Mm  with  the 
design  of  restoring  the  kingly  govern- 
ment; at  Nottingham,  he  prevented 
with  difficulty  the  officers  from  sign- 
ing an  engagement  to  obey  the  par- 
liament in  all  things  "except  the 
bringing  in  of  Charles  Stuart ; "  and 
at  Leicester,  he  was  compelled  to 
suffer  a  letter  to  be  written  in  his 
name  to  the  petitioners  from  Devon- 
shire, stating  his  opinion  that  the 
monarchy  could  not  be  re-established, 
representing  the  danger  of  recalling 
the  members  excluded  in  1648,  and 
inculcating  the  duty  of  obedience  to 
the  parliament  as  it  was  then  con- 
stituted.'' Here  he  was  met  by  two 
of  the  most  active  members,  Scot  and 


downe  MSS.  No.  988,  f.  320,  334.  See  also 
Price,  748. 

3  Price,  749—753.  Skinner,  196,  200,  205. 
Journals,  Jan.  6. 

*  Price,  754.    Kennet's  Eegister,  32. 


294 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAP.  viir. 


\ 


Eobinson,  who  had  been  commis- 
sioned to  accompany  him  during  his 
journey,  under  the  pretence  of  doing 
him  honour,  but,  in  reality ,  to  sound 
his  disposition,  and  to  act  as  spies  on 
his  conduct.  He  received  them  with 
respect  as  the  representatives  of  the 
sovereign  authority ;  and  so  flattered 
were  they  by  his  attentions,  so  duped 
by  his  wariness,  that  they  could  not 
see  through  the  veil  which  he  spread 
over  his  intentions.  As  he  advanced, 
he  received  at  every  stage  addresses 
from  boroughs,  cities,  and  counties, 
praying  him  to  restore  the  excluded 
members,  and  to  procure  a  free  and  a 
full  parliament.  With  much  affecta- 
tion of  humility,  Monk  referred  the 
deputies  to  the  two  delegates  of  the 
supreme  power,  who  haughtily  re- 
buked them  for  their  officiousness, 
while  the  friends  of  Monk  laboured  to 
keep  alive  their  hopes  by  remote  hints 
and  obscure  predictions,' 

To  lull  the  jealousy  of  the  parlia- 
ment. Monk  had  taken  with  him 
from  York  no  more  than  five  thou- 
sand men,  a  force  considerably  infe- 
rior to  that  which  was  quartered  in 
London  and  Westminster,  But  from 
St.  Alban's  he  wrote  to  the  speaker, 
requesting  that  five  of  the  regiments 
in  the  capital  might  be  removed  before 
his  arrival,  alleging  the  danger  of 
quarrels  and  seduction,  if  his  troops 
were  allowed  to  mix  with  those  who 
had  been  so  recently  engaged  in 
rebellion.  The  order  was  instantly 
made ;  but  the  men  refused  to  obey. 
Why,  they  asked,  were  they  to  leave 
their  quarters  for  the  accommodation 
of  strangers?  Why  were  they  to  be 
sent  from  the  capital,  while  their  pay 
was  several  weeks  in  arrear  ?  The 
roj^lists  laboured  to  inflame  the  mu- 
tineers, and  Lambert  was  on  the 
watch,  prepared  to  place  himself  at 


1  Price,  754.  Merc,  Polit.No.  604,  Phi- 
lips, 595.     JournalB,  Jan.  16. 

'  Price,  755,  757,  75S,  Jour.  Jan,  30, 
Skinner,  218—221,  Philips,  591,  595,  596. 
Clar.  Pap.  iii.  md,  668.    Pepvs,  i,  19,  21. 


their  head ;  but  the  distribution  of  a  « 
sum  of  money  appeased  their  mur-  1 
murs ;  they  consented  to  march ;  and  » 
the  next  morning  the  general  entered 
at  the  head  of  his  army,  and  proceeded 
to  the  quarters  assigned  to  him  at 
Whitehall'-^ 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was  in-  i 
vited  to  attend  and  receive  the  thanks  S 
of  the  house,  A  chair  had  been  placed 
for  him  within  the  bar :  he  stood 
uncovered  behind  it ;  and,  in  reply  to 
the  speaker,  extenuated  his  own  ser- 
vices, related  the  answers  which  he 
had  given  to  the  addresses,  warned  the 
parliament  against  a  multiplicity  of 
oaths  and  engagements,  prayed  them 
not  to  give  any  share  of  power  to  the 
Cavaliers  or  fanatics,  and  recom- 
mended to  their  care  the  settle- 
ment of  Ireland,  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  in  Scotland.  If 
there  was  much  in  this  speech  to 
please,  there  was  also  much  that  gave 
offence.  Scot  observed  that  the  servant 
had  already  learned  to  give  directions 
to  his  masters.^ 

As  a  member  of  the  council  of 
state,  he  was  summoned  to  abjure 
the  house  of  Stuart,  according  to  the 
late  order  of  parhament.  He  de- 
murred. Seven  of  the  counsellors, 
he  observed,  had  not  yet  abjured,  and 
he  wished  to  know  their  reasons,  for 
the  satisfaction  of  his  own  con- 
science. Experience  had  shown  that 
such  oaths  were  violated  as  easily  as 
they  were  taken,  and  to  him  it  ap- 
peared an  offence  against  Providence 
to  swear  never  to  acquiesce  in  that 
which  Providence  might  iK)ssibly 
ordain.  He  had  given  the  strongest 
proofs  of  his  devotion  to  parliament : 
if  these  were  not  sufficient,  let  them 
try  him  again ;  he  was  ready  to  give  - 
more.*  | 

The  sincerity   of  tliis   declaration   * 


^  Journals,  Feb.  6.  New  Pari,  Hist.  iii. 
1575,  Pliilips,  597.  Price,  769.  The  Lord- 
general  Monk,  his  Speech.  Printed  by  J» 
Maeock,  1660. 

♦  Gumble,  228,    Price,  759,  760.    Philip*, 


i 


A.P.  1660.J 


CONDUCT  OF  MONK. 


295 


was  soon  put  to  the  test.  The  loyal 
party  in  the  city,  especially  among 
the  moderate  Presbyterians,  had  long 
been  on  the  increase.  At  the  last 
elections  the  common  council  had 
been  filled  with  members  of  a  new 
character ;  and  the  declaration  which 
they  issued  demanded  "  a  full  and 
free  parliament,  according  to  the 
ancient  and  fundamental  laws  of  the 
land."  Of  the  assembly  sitting  in 
Westminster,  as  it  contained  no 
representative  from  the  city,  no 
notice  was  taken  ;  the  taxes  which  it 
had  imposed  were  not  paid ;  and  the 
common  council,  as  if  it  had  been  an 
independent  authority,  received  and 
answered  addresses  from  the  neigh- 
bouring counties.  This  contumacy, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  parliamentary 
leaders,  called  for  prompt  and  exem- 
plary punishment;  and  it  was  art- 
fully suggested  that,  by  making  Monk 
the  minister  of  their  vengeance,  they 
would  open  a  wide  breach  between 
him  and  their  opponents.  Two  hours 
after  midnight  he  received  an  order 
to  march  into  the  city,  to  arrest 
eleven  of  the  principal  citizens,  to 
remove  the  posts  and  chains  which 
had  lately  been  fixed  in  the  streets, 
and  to  destroy  the  portcullises 
and  the  gai,es.  After  a  moment's 
hesitation,  he  resolved  to  obey,  rather 
than  hazard  the  loss  of  his  commis- 
sion. The  citizens  received  him  with 
groans  and  hisses  ;  the  soldiers  mur- 
mured; the  officers  tendered  their 
resignations.  He  merely  replied  that 
his  orders  left  nothing  to  his  discre- 
tion ;  but  the  reply  was  made  with  a 


595.  Aboat  this  time,  a  parcel  of  letters  to 
the  king,  written  by  different  persons  in 
different  ciphers,  and  intrusted  to  the  care 
of  a  Mr.  Leonard,  was  intercepted  by  Lock- 
hart  at  Dunkirk,  and  sent  by  him  to  the 
council.  When  the  writers  were  first  told 
that  the  letters  had  been  deciphered,  they 
laughed  at  the  information  aa  of  a  thing 
impracticable;  but  were  soon  undeceived 
by  the  decipherer,  who  sent  to  them  by  the 
son  of  the  bishop  of  Ely  copies  of  their 
letters  in  cipher,  with  a  correct  interlineary 
explanation  of  each.  They  were  astonished 
and  alarmed :  and  to  save  themselves  from 


sternness  of  tone,  and  a  gloominess 
of  countenance,  which  showed,  and 
probably  was  intended  to  show,  that 
he  acted  with  reluctance  and  with 
self-reproach.^ 

As  soon  as  the  posts  and  chains 
were  removed,  Monk  suggested,  in  a 
letter  to  the  speaker,  that  enough 
had  been  done  to  subdue  the  refrac- 
tory spirit  of  the  citizens.  But  the 
parliamentary  leaders  were  not  satis- 
fied :  they  voted  that  he  should  exe- 
cute his  former  orders;  and  the 
demolition  of  the  gates  and  port- 
cullises was  effected.  The  soldiers 
loudly  proclaimed  their  discontent: 
the  general,  mortified  and  ashamed, 
though  he  had  been  instructed  to 
quarter  them  in  the  city,  led  them 
back  to  Whitehall^  There,  on  the 
review  of  these  proceedings,  he 
thought  that  he  discovered  proofs  of  a 
design,  first  to  commit  him  with  the 
citizens,  and  then  to  discard  him 
entirely ;  for  the  house,  while  he  was 
so  ungraciously  employed,  had  re- 
ceived, with  a  show  of  favour,  a  peti- 
tion from  the  celebrated  Praise- God 
Barebone,  praying  that  no  man  might 
sit  in  parliament,  or  hold  any  public 
office,  who  refused  to  abjure  the  pre- 
tensions of  Charles  Stuart,  or  of  any 
other  single  person.  Now  this  was 
the  very  case  of  the  general,  and  his 
suspicions  were  confirmed  by  the  rea- 
soning of  his  confidential  advisers. 
With  their  aid,  a  letter  to  the  speaker 
was  prepared  the  same  evening,  and 
approved  the  next  morning  by  the 
council  of  officers.  In  it  the  latter 
were  made  to  complain  that  they  had 


the  consequences  of  the  discovery,  pur- 
chased of  him  two  of  the  original  letters  air 
the  price  of  three  hundred  pounds. — Com- 
pare Barwick's  Life,  171,  and  App.  402,412, 
415,  423,  with  the  correspondence  on  the 
subject  in  the  Clarendon  Papers,  iii.  66S, 
681,  696,  700,  715.  After  this,  all  letters  of 
importance  were  conveyed  through  tho 
hands  of  Mrs.  Mary  Knatchbnll,  the  abbess 
of  the  English  convent  in  Gand. 

1  Journ.  Feb.  9.  Price,  761.  Ludlow,  ii. 
336.  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  674,  691.  Gumble,  236. 
Skinner,  231—237. 

2  Journ.  Feb.  9.    Philips,  599. 


296 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  Till. 


been  rendered  the  instruments  of 
personal  resentment  against  the  citi- 
zens, and  to  require  that  by  the  fol- 
lowing Friday  every  vacancy  in  the 
house  should  be  filled  up,  preparatory 
to  its  subsequent  dissolution  and  the 
calling  of  a  new  parliament.  With- 
out waiting  for  an  answer,  Monk 
marched  back  into  Finsbury  Fields: 
at  his  request,  a  common  council  (that 
body  had  recently  been  dissolved  by  a 
vote  of  the  parhament)  was  summoned ; 
and  the  citizens  heard  from  the  mouth 
of  the  general  that  he,  who  yesterday 
had  come  among  them  as  an  enemy 
by  the  orders  of  others,  was  come 
that  day  as  a  friend  by  his  own  choice ; 
and  that  his  object  was  to  unite  his 
fortune  with  theirs,  and  by  their 
assistance  to  obtain  a  full  and  free 
parhament  for  the  nation.  This 
speech  was  received  with  the  loudest 
acclamations.  The  bells  were  tolled ; 
the  soldiers  were  feasted;  bonfires 
were  hghted  ;  and  among  tbe  frolics 
of  the  night  was  "  the  roasting  of  the 
rump,"  a  practical  joke  which  long 
lived  in  the  traditions  of  the  city.  Scot 
and  Robinson,  who  had  been  sent 
to  lead  back  the  general  to  White- 
hall, slunk  away  in  secrecy,  that  they 
might  escape  the  indignation  of  the 
populace.' 

At  Westminster,  the  parhamentary 
leaders  affected  a  calmness  and  intre- 
pidity which  they  did  not  feel.  Of 
the  insult  offered  to  their  authority 
they  took  no  notice ;  but,  as  an  admo- 
nition to  Monk,  they  brought  in  a 
bill  to  appoint  his  rival  Fleetwood 
commander-in-chief  in  England  and 
Scotland.  The  intervention  of  the 
Sunday  allowed  more  sober  counsels 
to  prevail :  they  solicited  the  general 
to  return  to  Whitehall;  they  com- 


1  Price,  765—763.  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  681, 
092,714.  Ludlow,  337.  Gamble,  249.  Skin- 
ner, 237—243.  Old  Pari.  Hist.  iiii.  94. 
Pepya,  i.  24, 25.  "  At  Strand-bridge  I  could 
at  one  time  tell  tbirty-one  fires ;  in  King- 
street,  seven  or  eight,  and  all  along  burn- 
ing, aud  roasting,  and  driakiug  for  rumps; 
there  beiug  romps  tied  upon  sticks,  and  car- 


pleted  the  bill  for  the  quahfications 
of  candidates  and  electors ;  and,  on 
tbe  day  fixed  by  the  letter  of  the 
officers,  ordered  writs  to  be  issued  for 
the  filling  up  of  the  vacancies  in  the 
representation.  This  measure  had 
been  forced  upon  them;  yet  they 
had  the  ingenuity  to  make  it  sub- 
servient to  their  own  interest,  by 
inserting  a  provision  in  the  act,  that 
no  man  should  choose  or  be  chosen, 
who  had  not  already  bound  himself 
to  support  a  republican  form  of 
government.  But  immediately  the 
members  excluded  in  1648  brought 
forward  their  claim  to  sit,  and  Monk 
assumed  the  appearance  of  the  most 
perfect  indifference  between  the  par- 
ties. At  his  invitation,  nine  of  the 
leaders  on  each  side  argued  the  ques- 
tion before  him  and  his  officers ;  and 
the  result  was,  that  the  latter  ex- 
pressed their  willingness  to  support 
the  secluded  members,  on  condition 
that  they  should  pledge  themselves 
to  settle  the  government  of  the  army, 
to  raise  money  to  pay  the  arrears,  to 
issue  writs  for  a  new  parliament  to 
sit  on  the  20th  of  April,  and  to  dis- 
solve themselves  before  that  period. 
The  general  returned  to  Whitehall : 
the  secluded  members  attended  his 
summons;  and,  after  a  long  speech, 
declaratory  of  his  persuasion  that  a 
republican  form  of  government  and 
a  moderate  presbyterian  kirk  were 
necessary  to  secure  and  perpetuate 
the  tranquillity  of  the  nation,  he 
advised  them  to  go  and  resume  their 
seats.  Accompanied  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  officers,  they  walked  to  the 
house;  the  guard,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Sir  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper, 
opened  to  let  them  pass ;  and  no 
opposition  was  made  by  the  speaker 


ried  up  and  down.  The  butchers  at  the 
Mav-pole  in  the  Strand  raujj  a  peal  with 
their  knives,  when  they  were  going  to  sacri- 
fice their  rump.  On  Ludgate-hill  there  was 
one  turning  of  the  spit  that  had  a  rump 
tied  to  it,  and  another  basting  of  it.  In- 
deed it  was  past  imagination."— Ibid.  28. 


A.D.  1660.]    EESTOEATION  OF  SECLUDED  MEMBERS. 


297 


or  the  members.'  Haalerig,  however, 
and  the  more  devoted  of  his  adherents, 
rose  and  withdrew — a  fortunate  se- 
cession for  the  royalists;  otherwise, 
with  the  addition  of  those  among  the 
restored  members  who  adhered  to 
a  commonwealth,  the  republicans 
might  on  many  questions  have  still 
commanded  a  majority.* 

To  the  Cavaliers,  the  conduct  of 
Monk  on  this  occasion  proved  a 
source  of  the  most  distressing  per- 
plexity. On  the  one  hand,  by  intro- 
ducing the  secluded  members  he  had 
greatly  advanced  the  cause  of  royalty. 
For  though  Holies,  Pierrepoint,  Pop- 
ham,  and  their  friends  still  professed 
the  doctrines  which  they  had  main- 
tained during  the  treaty  in  the  Isle 
of  AVight,  though  they  manifested 
the  same  hatred  of  popery  and  pre- 
lacy, though  they  still  inculcated  the 
necessity  of  hmiting  the  prerogative 
in  the  choice  of  the  officers  of  state 
and  in  the  command  of  the  army, 
yet  they  were  royahsts  by  principle, 
and  had,  several  of  them,  made  the 
most  solemn  promises  to  the  exiled 
king  of  labouring  strenuously  for  his 
restoration.  On  the  other  hand,  that 
;Monk,  at  the  very  time  when  he  gave 
the  law  without  control,  should  de- 
clare so  loudly  in  favour  of  a  repub- 
lican government  and  a  presbyterian 
kirk,  could  not  fail  to  alarm  both 
Charles  and  his  abettors.^  Neither 
was  this  the  only  instance:  to  all, 
Cavaliers  or  republicans,  who  ap- 
proached him  to  discover  his  inten- 
tions, he  uniformly  professed  the  same 
sentiments,  occasionally  confirming 
his  professions  with  oaths  and  impre- 
cations. To  explain  this  inconsis- 
tency between  the  tendency  of  his 
actions  and  the  purport  of  his  lan- 
guage, we  are  told  by  those  whom  he 


1  Journals,  Feb.  11,  13.15,  17,  21.  Price, 
768—773.  Ludlow,  ii.  345,  351,  353.  Skin- 
ner, 256—264.  Clar.  Pap.  663,  682,  688. 
Gumble,  260,  263.  Philips,  600.  The  num- 
ber of  secluded  members  then  living  was 
one  hundred  and  ninety-four,  of  members 
Bitting  or  allowed  to  sit  by  the  orders  of  the 


admitted  to  his  private  counsels,  that 
it  was  forced  upon  him  by  the  neces- 
sity of  his  situation ;  that,  without  it, 
he  must  have  forfeited  the  confidence 
of  the  army,  which  believed  its  safety 
and  interest  to  be  intimately  linked 
with  the  existence  of  the  common- 
wealth. According  to  Ludlow,  the 
best  soldier  and  statesman  in  the 
opposite  party,  Monk  had  in  view  an 
additional  object,  to  deceive  the  sus- 
picions and  divert  the  vigilance  of  his 
adversaries;  and  so  successfully  had 
he  imposed  on  the  credulity  of  many 
(Hazlerig  himself  was  of  the  number), 
that,  in  defiance  of  every  warning, 
they  blindly  trusted  to  his  sincerity, 
till  their  eyes  were  opened  by  the 
introduction  of  the  secluded  mem- 
bers.'' 

In  parliament  the  Presbyterian 
party  now  ruled  without  opposition. 
They  annulled  all  votes  relative  to 
their  own  expulsion  from  the  house 
in  1648 ;  they  selected  a  new  council 
of  state,  in  which  the  most  influential 
members  were  royalists;  they  ap- 
pointed Monk  commander-in-chief  of 
the  forces  in  the  three  kingdoms,  and 
joint  commander  of  the  fleet  with 
Admiral  Montague ;  they  granted  him 
the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  pounds  in 
lieu  of  the  palace  at  Hampton  Court, 
settled  on  him  by  the  republican 
party ;  they  discharged  from  confine- 
ment, and  freed  from  the  penalty  of 
sequestration,  Sir  George  Booth  and 
his  associates,  a  great  number  of 
Cavaliers,  and  the  Scottish  lords  taken 
after  the  battle  at  Worcester;  they 
restored  the  common  council,  bor- 
rowed sixty  thousand  pounds  for  the 
immediate  pay  of  the  army,  declared 
the  PresbyteHan  confession  of  faith 
to  be  that  of  the  Church  of  England, 
ordered  copies  of  the  solemn  league 


house,  eighty-nine. — "  A  Declaration  of  the 
True  State  of  the  Matter  of  Fact,"  57. 

2  Hutchinson,  362. 

3  Clar.  Hist.  iii.  720,  721,  723,  724;  Pa- 
pers, iii.  693. 

*  Price,  773.      Ludlow,  349,  355.      Clar. 
Pap.iii.  678,  697,703,711. 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  Tin 


and  covenant  to  be  hung  up  in  all 
churches,  ofiered  rewards  for  the 
apprehension  of  Catholic  priests, 
urged  the  execution  of  the  laws 
against  CathoUc  recusants,  and  fixed 
the  15th  of  March  for  their  own  dis- 
solution, the  25th  of  April  for  the 
meeting  of  a  new  parliament.' 

Here,  however,  a  serious  di£B.culty 
arose.  The  house  of  Commons  (ac- 
cording to  the  doctrine  of  the  secluded 
members,  it  could  be  nothing  more) 
was  but  a  single  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature. By  what  right  could  it  pre- 
tend to  summon  a  parliament? 
Ought  not  the  house  of  Lords,  the 
peers,  who  had  been  excluded  in 
1649,  to  concur  ?  Or  rather,  to  pro- 
ceed according  to  law,  ought  not  the 
king  either  to  appoint  a  commission 
to  hold  a  parliament,  as  was  usually 
done  in  Ireland,  or  to  name  a  guar- 
dian invested  with  such  power,  as 
was  the  practice  formerly,  when  our 
monarchs  occasionally  resided  in 
France  ?  But,  on  this  point.  Monk 
was  inflexible.  He  placed  guards  at 
the  door  of  the  house  of  Lords  to 
prevent  the  entrance  of  the  peers; 
and  he  refused  to  listen  to  any  expe- 
dient which  might  imply  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  royal  authority.  To 
the  arguments  urged  by  others,  he 
replied,  that  the  parhament  accord- 
ing to  law  determined  by  the  death 
of  Charles  L;  that  the  present  house 
could  justify  its  sitting  on  no  other 
ground  but  that  of  necessity,  which 
did  not  apply  to  the  house  of  Lords ; 


^  Jonrnals,  passim. 

«  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  704.  Ludlow,  364,  365. 
Price,  773. 

3  Gamble,  270.  Two  offers  of  assistAnce 
were  made  to  the  general,  von  the  suppo- 
sition that  he  might  aspire  to  the  supreme 
Eower ;  one  from  the  republicans,  which  I 
ave  mentioned;  another  from  Bordeaux, 
the  French  ambassador,  in  the  name  of 
Cardinal  Mazarin.  On  one  of  these  offers 
he  was  questioned  by  Sir  Anthony  Ashley 
Cooper  in  the  council  of  state.  If  wo  may 
belicTe  Clarges,  one  of  his  secret  advisers, 
it  was  respecting  the  former  which  Clarges 
mentioned  to  Cooper,  With  respect  to  the 
offer- from  Bordeaux,  he  tells  us  that  it  was 


and  that  it  was  in  vain  to  expect  th( 
submission  of  the  army  to  a  parliamen 
called  by  royal  authority.  The  mili 
tary  had,  with  reluctance,  consentec 
to  the  restoration  of  the  secludec 
members ;  and  to  ask  more  of  then 
at  present  was  to  hazard  all  th( 
advantages  which  had  hitherto  beer 
obtained.^ 

Encouraged  by  the  downfall  of  the 
repubhcans,  the  royalists  throughout 
the  country  expressed  their  senti- 
ments without  restraint.  In  some 
places  Charles  was  proclaimed  by  the 
populace;  several  ministers  openly 
prayed  for  him  in  the  churches ;  the 
common  council,  in  their  address, 
declared  themselves  not  averse  to 
his  restoration ;  and  the  house  itseli 
was  induced  to  repeal  the  celebrated 
engagement  in  favour  of  a  common- 
wealth, without  a  single  person  or  a 
house  of  peers,  and  to  embody  under 
trusty  officers  the  militia  of  the  city 
and  the  counties,  as  a  counterpoise 
the  republican  interest  in  the  arm] 
The  judges  of  the  late  king,  and  tl 
purchasers  of  forfeited  property,  be^ 
to  tremble.  They  first  tempted  tl 
ambition  of  the  lord-general  with  tl 
offer  of  the  sovereign  authorityj 
Eejected  by  him,  they  appealed  tcT 
the  military;  they  represented  the 
loss  of  their  arrears,  and  of  the  pro- 
perty which  they  had  acquired,  as  the 
infaUible  consequences  of  the  resto- 
ration of  the  royal  exile ;  and  they  so 
far  wrought  on  the  fears  of  the 
officers,  that  an  engagement  to  oppose 


made  through  Clarges  himself,  and  scorn- 
fully rejected  by  Monk,  who  nevertheless 
consented  to  receive  a  visit  from  Bordeaux, 
on  condition  that  the  subject  should  not  be 
mentioned.— Philips,  602,  601.  Locke,  on 
the  contrary,  asserts,  that  Monk  accepted 
the  offer  of  the  French  minister ;  that  his 
wife,  through  loyalty  to  the  king,  betrayed 
the  secret ;  and  that  Cooper  put  to  ilie 
general  such  searching  questions  that  he 
was  confused,  and,  in  proof  of  his  fidelity, 
took  away  the  commissions  of  several  offi- 
cers of  whom  the  council  was  jealous. — 
Memoirs  of  Shaftesbury,  in  Kennet's 
Register  86.  Locke,  ix.  279.  See  Appendix, 

zzz. 


.D.  1660.] 


LONG  P.IELIAMENT  DISSOLVED. 


299 


ill  attempts  to  set  up  a  single  person 
vas  pi'esented  to  Monk  for  his  sig- 
lature,  with  a  request  that  he  would 
olioit  the  concurrence  of  the  parlia- 
nent.  A  second  council  of  ofHcers 
vas  held  the  next  morning ;  the 
reneral  urged  the  inexpediency  of 
roubling  the  house  with  new  ques- 
ions,  when  it  was  on  the  point  of 
hssolving  itself;  and  by  the  address 
md  influence  of  his  friends,  though 
svith.  considerable  difficulty,  he  pro- 
cured the  suppression  of  the  ob- 
aoxious  paper.  In  a  short  time  he 
ordered  the  several  officers  to  join 
their  respective  regiments,  appointed 
1  commission  to  inspect  and  reform 
the  different  corps,  expelled  all  the 
officers  whose  sentiments  he  had 
reason  to  distrust,  and  then  demanded 
and  obtained  from  the  army  an  en- 
gagement to  abstain  from  all  inter- 
ference in  matters  of  state,  and  to 
submit  all  things  to  the  authority  of 
the  new  parliament.^ 

Nineteen  years  and  a  half  had  now 
elapsed  since  the  Long  parliament  first 
assembled— years  of  revolution  and 
bloodshed,  during  which  the  nation 
had  made  the  trial  of  almost  every  form 
of  government,  to  return  at  last  to  that 
form  from  which  it  had  previously 
departed.  On  the  16th  of  March, 
one  day  later  than  was  originally 
fixed,  its  existence,  which  had  been 
illegally  prolonged  since  the  death  of 
Charles  I.,  was  terminated  by  its  own 
act.^  The  reader  is  already  acquainted 
with  its  history.  For  the  glorious 
stand  which  it  made  against  the  en- 
croachments of  the  crown,  it  deserves 
both  admiration  and  gratitude;  its 
subsequent  proceedings  assumed  a 
more  ambiguous  character;  ulti- 
mately they  led  to  anarchy  and  mili- 
tary despotism.  But,  whatever  were 
its  merits  or  demerits,  of  both  poste- 
rity has  reaped  the  benefit.  To  the 
first,  we  are  indebted  for  many  of  the 


1  Philips,  603,  606.    Price,  781,    Kennet's 
Eeg.  113.  Thurloe,  vii.  852,  859,  870.  Pepys, 


rights  which  we  now  enjoy ;  by  the 
second,  we  are  warned  of  the  evils 
which  result  from  political  changes 
eflfected  by  violence,  and  in  opposition 
to  the  habits  and  predilections  of  the 
people. 

Monk  had  now  spent  more  than 
two  months  in  England,  and  still  his 
intentions  were  covered  with  a  veil  of 
mystery,  which  no  ingenuity,  either 
of  the  royalists  or  of  the  republicans, 
could  penetrate.  Sir  John  Grenville, 
with  whom  the  reader  is  already  ac- 
quainted, paid  frequent  visits  to  him 
at  St.  James's ;  but  the  object  of  the 
Cavalier  was  suspected,  and  his  at- 
tempts to  obtain  a  private  interview 
were  defeated  by  the  caution  of  tlie 
general.  After  the  dissolution,  Mor- 
rice,  the  confidential  friend  of  both, 
brought  them  together,  and  Grenville 
delivered  to  Monk  a  most  flattering 
letter  from  the  king.  He  received 
and  perused  it  with  respect.  This 
was,  he  observed,  the  furst  occasion  on 
which  he  could  express  with  safety 
his  devotion  to  the  royal  cause ;  but 
he  was  still  surrounded  with  men  of 
hostile  or  doubtful  sentiments ;  the 
most  profound  secrecy  was  still  neces- 
sary ;  Grenville  might  confer  in  pri- 
vate with  Morrice,  and  must  consent 
to  be  himself  the  bearer  of  the  gene- 
ral's answer.  The  heads  of  that  an- 
swer were  reduced  to  writing.  In  it 
Monk  prayed  the  king  to  send  him 
a  conciliatory  letter,  which,  at  the 
proper  season,  he  might  lay  before 
the  parliament ;  for  himself  he  asked 
nothing;  he  would  not  name,  as  he 
was  desired,  his  reward ;  it  was  not 
for  him  to  strike  a  bargain  with  his 
sovereign;  but,  if  he  might  express 
his  opinion,  he  advised  Charles  to 
promise  a  general  or  nearly  general 
pardon,  liberty  of  conscience,  the  con- 
firmation of  the  national  sales,  and 
the  payment  of  the  arrears  due  to  the 
army.     As  soon  as  this  paper  had 


i.  43.     Skinner,  279—284. 
March  16. 


*  Journals. 


300 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[CHAP.  Till. 


been  read,  lie  threw  it  into  the  fire, 
and  bade  Grenville  rely  on  his  memory 
for  its  contents.' 

By  Charles  at  Brussels  the  messen- 
ger was  received  as  an  angel  from 
heaven.  The  doubts  which  had  so 
long  tormented  his  mind  were  sud- 
denly removed ;  the  crown,  contrary 
to  expectation,  was  offered  without 
previous  conditions;  and  nothing 
more  was  required  than  that  he  should 
aid  with  his  pen  the  efforts  of  the 
general ;  but  when  he  communicated 
the  glad  tidings  to  Ormond,  Hyde, 
and  Nicholas,  these  counsellors  disco- 
vered that  the  advice,  suggested  by 
Monk,  was  derogatory  to  the  interests 
of  the  throne  and  the  personal  cha- 
racter of  the  monarch,  and  composed 
a  royal  declaration  which,  while  it 
professed  to  make  to  the  nation  the 
promises  recommended  by  Monk,  in 
reality  neutralized  their  effect,  by  sub- 
jecting them  to  such  limitations  as 
might  afterwards  be  imposed  by  the 
wisdom  of  parliament.  This  paper 
was  enclosed  within  a  letter  to  the 
speaker  of  the  house  of  Commons; 
another  letter  was  addressed  to  the 
house  of  Lords ;  a  third  to  Monk  and 
the  army  ;  a  fourth  to  Montague  and 
the  navy;  and  a  fifth  to  the  lord 
mayor  and  the  city.  To  the  general, 
open  copies  were  transmitted,  that 
he  might  deliver  or  destroy  the  ori- 
ginals as  he  thought  fit.  Nothwith- 
standing  the  alterations  made  at  Brus- 
sels, he  professed  himself  satisfied 
with  the  declaration,  and  ordered 
Grenville  to  keep  the  papers  in  his 
custody,  till  the  proper  season  should 
arrive.- 


1  Clar.  Hist.  iii.  734—736.  Price,  785. 
Philips,  605.  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  706,  711.  From 
the  last  authorities  it  is  plain  that  Mordaunt 
was  intrusted  with  the  secret  as  well  as 
Grenville — also  a  Mr.  Heme,  probably  a 
fictitious  name. 

«  Clar.  iii.  737—740,  742—751.  Price,  790. 
Monk  had  been  assured,  probably  by  the 
French  ambassador,  that  the  Spaniards 
intended  to  detain  the  kinj;  at  Brussels  as  a 
hostage  for  the  restoration  of  Jamaica  and 
Dunkirk.     On  this  account  he  insisted  that 


In  the  mean  while,  the  writs  for 
the  new  parliament  had  been  issued ; 
and  as  there  was  no  court  to  influ- 
ence, no  interference  of  the  military 
to  control  the  elections,  the  result 
may  be  fairly  taken  to  express  the 
sense  of  the  country.  The  repub- 
licans, the  Cavaliers,  the  Presbyte- 
rians, all  made  every  effort  in  their 
power  to  procure  the  return  of  mem- 
bers of  congenial  sentiments.  Of  the 
three  parties,  the  last  was  beyond 
comparison  the  most  powerful,  had 
not  division  paralyzed  its  influence. 
The  more  rigid  Presbyterians,  though 
they  opposed  the  advocates  of  the  com- 
monwealth because  they  were  sectaries, 
equally  deprecated  the  return  of  the 
king,  because  they  feared  the  restora- 
tion of  episcopacy.  A  much  greater 
number,  who  still  adhered  with  con- 
stancy to  the  solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant, deemed  themselves  bound  by  it 
to  replace  the  king  on  the  throne,  but 
under  the  limitations  proposed  durinj 
the  treaty  in  the  Isle  of  Wight 
Others,  and  these  the  most  active  an^ 
influential,  saw  no  danger  to  be  feare 
from  a  moderate  episcopacy; 
anxious  to  obtain  honours  and  prefer 
ment,  laboured  by  the  fervour  of  thei 
present  loyalty  to  deserve  the  forgive 
ness  of  their  past  transgression^ 
These  joined  with  the  Cavalier 
their  united  efforts  bore  down 
opposition ;  and,  in  most  places,  theii 
adversaries  either  shrunk  from  the 
contest  or  were  rejected  by  over- 
whelming majorities.^ 

But  the  republicans  sought  for  aid 
in  another  direction.  Their  emis- 
saries penetrated   into   the  quarters 


the  king  should  leave  the  Spanish  territory, 
and  Charles,  having  informed  the  governor 
of  his  intention  to  visit  Breda,  left  Brussels 
about  two  hours,  if  Clarendon  be  correct, 
before  an  order  was  issued  for  his  detention. 
The    several    letters,    though  written   at 
signed  at  Brussels,  were  dated  from  Bredl 
and  given  to  Grenville  the  moment  the  kii 
placed  his  foot  on  the  Dutch  territory. 
Clar.  740. 

^  Thurloe,  vii.  866, 887.  Price,  787.  Cartel 
Letters,  ii,  326.  Clar.  Pap.  iii.  705,  714, 72 


A.D.  1660.]     EISING  UNDEH  LAMBEET  SUPPRESSED. 


301 


of  the  military,  where  they  lamented 
the  approaching  ruin  of  the  good  old 
cause,  regretted  that  so  many  sacri- 
fices had  been  made,  so  much  blood 
had  been  shed  in  vain,  and  again  in- 
sinuated, to  the  officeVs,  that  they 
would  forfeit  the  lands  Which  they 
had  purchased ;  to  the  privates,  that 
they  would  be  disbanded  and  lose 
their  arrears.'  A  spirit  of  discontent 
began  to  spread  through  several  corps, 
and  a  great  number  of  officers  re- 
paired to  the  metropolis.  But  Monk, 
though  he  still  professed  himself  a 
friend  to  republican  government,  now 
ventured  to  assume  a  bolder  tone. 
The  militia  of  the  city,  amounting  to 
fourteen  thousand  men,  was  already 
embodied  under  his  command;  he 
had  in  his  pocket  a  commission  from 
Charles,  appointing  him  lord-general 
over  all  the  military  in  the  three 
kingdoms;  and  he  had  resolved, 
should  circumstances  compel  him  to 
throw  off  the  mask,  to  proclaim  the 
king,  and  to  summon  every  faithful 
subject  to  repair  to  the  royal  standard. 
He  first  ordered  the  officers  to  return 
to  their  posts ;  he  then  directed  the 
promise  of  submission  to  the  new 
parliament  to  be  tendered  to  the 
privates,  and  every  man  who  refused 
to  make  it  was  immediately  dis- 
charged.2  At  the  same  time,  the 
friends  of  the  commonwealth  resolved 
to  oppose  Lambert,  once  the  idol  of 
the  soldiery,  to  Monk.  Lambert,  in- 
deed, was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower, 
confined  by  order  of  the  council, 
because  he  had  refused  to  give  secu- 
rity for  his  peaceable  behaviour ;  but, 
with  the  aid  of  a  rope,  he  descended 
from  the  window  of  his  bed-chamber, 
was  received  by  eight  watermen  in  a 
barge,  and  found  a  secure  asylum  in 
the  city.  The  citizens,  however,  were 
too  loyal  to  listen  to  the  suggestions 


730,  731,  733.  It  appears  that  many  of  the 
royalists  were  much  too  active.  "  When 
the  complaint  was  made  to  Monk,  he  turned 
it  ofi'  with  a  jest,  that  as  there  is  a  fanatic 
party  on  the  one  side,  so  there  is  a  frantic 


of  the  party ;  he  left  his  concealment, 
hastened  into  Warwickshire,  solicited, 
but  in  vain,  the  co-operation  of  Lud- 
low, collected  from  the  discontented 
regiments  six  troops  of  horse  and 
some  companies  of  foot,  and  expected 
in  a  few  days  to  see  himself  at  the 
head  of  a  formidable  force.  But 
Ingoldsby,  who,  of  a  regicide,  was 
become  a  royalist,  met  him  near 
Daventry  with  an  equal  number;  a 
troop  of  Lambert's  men  under  the 
command  of  the  younger  Hazlerig, 
passed  over  to  his  opponents ;  and  the 
others,  when  he  gave  the  word  to 
charge,  pointed  their  pistols  to  the 
ground.  The  unfortunate  commander 
immediately  turned  and  fled;  In- 
goldsby followed ;  the  ploughed  land 
gave  the  advantage  to  the  stronger 
horse;  the  fugitive  was  overtaken, 
and,  after  an  ineffectual  effort  to 
awaken  the  pity  of  his  former  com- 
rade, submitted  to  his  fate.  He  was 
conducted  back  to  the  Tower,  at  the 
time  when  the  trained  bands,  the 
volunteers,  and  the  auxiliaries  raised 
in  the  city,  passed  in  review  before  the 
general  in  Hyde  Park.  The  aux- 
iliaries drank  the  king's  health  on 
their  knees;  Lambert  was  at  the 
moment  driven  under  Tyburn ;  and 
the  spectators  hailed  with  shouts  and 
exclamations  the  disgrace  of  the 
prisoned.' 

The  Convention  parliament  (so  it 
was  called,  because  it  had  not  been 
legally  summoned)  met  on  the  ap- 
pointed day,  the  25th  of  April.  The 
Presbyterians,  by  artful  management, 
placed  Sir  Harbottle  Grimstone,  one 
of  their  parly,  in  the  chair;  but 
the  Cavaliers,  with  their  adherents, 
formed  a  powerful  majority,  and  the 
new  speaker,  instead  of  undertaking 
to  stem,  had  the  prudence  to  go  along 
with,  the  stream.    Monk  sat  as  repre- 


party  on  the  other"  (721,  722). 

1  Thurloe,  vii.  870.      2  ciar.  Pap.  iii.  715. 

3  Kennet's  Heg.  120.  Price,  792,  794.  Lud- 
low, 379.    Philips,  607.    Clar.  Pap.  iii.  735. 


302 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap.  Till. 


sentative  of  Devonshire,   his  native 
county. 

To  neutralize  the  influence  of  the 
Cavaliers  among  the  Commons,  the 
Presbyterian  peers  who  sat  in  1648, 
assembled  in  the  house  of  Lords,  and 
chose  the  earl  of  Manchester  for  their 
speaker.  But  what  right  had  they 
exclusively  to  constitute  a  house  of 
parliament  ?  They  had  not  been  sum- 
moned in  the  usual  manner  by  writ ; 
they  could  not  sit  as  a  part  of  the  long 
parhament,  which  was  now  at  least 
defunct;  and,  if  they  founded  their 
pretensions  on  their  birthright,  as 
consiliarii  nati,  other  peers  were  in 
possession  of  the  same  privilege.  The 
question  was  propounded  to  the  lord- 
general,  who  replied  that  he  had  no 
authority  to  determine  the  claims  of 
any  individual.  Encouraged  by  this 
answer,  a  few  of  the  excluded  peers 
attempted  to  take  their  seats,  and  met 
with  no  opposition ;  the  example  was 
imitated  by  others,  and  in  a  few  days 
the  Presbyterian  lords  did  not  amount 
to  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  house. 
Still,  however,  to  avoid  cavil,  the 
peers  who  sat  in  the  king's  parliament 
at  Oxford,  as  well  as  those  whose 
patents  bore  date  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  civil  war,  abstained  for  the 
present  from  demanding  admission.' 
;  .--  Monk  continued  to  dissemble.  By 
*  «U  1 . '  }iig  direction  Grenville  apphed  to  a 
[.•V  L;  *'  member,  who  was  entering  the  coun- 
i^f^^.'cil-chamber,  for  an  opportunity  of 
speaking  to  the  lord-general.  Monk 
came  to  the  door,  rec-eived  from  him  a 
letter,  and,  recognising  on  its  seal  the 
royal  arms,  commanded  the  guards  to 
take  care  that  the  bearer  did  not 
depart.  In  a  few  minutes  Grenville 
was  called  in,  interrogated  by  the  pre- 
sident as  to  the  manner  in  which  he 
became  possessed  of  the  letter,  and 
ordered  to  be  taken  into  custody, 
"  That  is  unnecessary,"  said  Monk ;  "  1 
find  tbat  he  is  my  near  kinsman,  and 
I  will  be  security  for  his  a]ipearance." 


Lords'  Journ.  xi.  4,  5,  6. 


The  ice  was  now  broken.  Gren- 
ville was  treated  not  as  a  prisoner, 
but  a  confidential  servant  of  the  sove- 
reign. He  deUvered  to  the  two 
houses  the  lett-ers  addressed  to  them, 
and  received  in  return  a  vote  of 
thanks,  with  a  present  of  five  hun- 
dred pounds.  The  letter  for  the 
army  was  read  by  Monk  to  his  offi- 
cers ;  that  for  the  navy  by  Montague 
to  the  captains  under  his  command ; 
and  that  for  the  city  by  the  lord 
mayor  to  the  common  council  in  the 
Guildhall.  Each  of  these  bodies  voted 
an  address  of  thanks  and  congratu- 
lation to  the  king. 

The  paper  which  accompanied  the 
letters  to  the  two  houses,—!,  granted 
a  free  and  general  pardon  to  all  per- 
sons, excepting  such  as  might  after- 
wards be  excepted  by  parliament; 
ordaining  that  every  division  of  party 
should  cease,  and  inviting  all  who 
were  the  subjects  of  the  same  sove- 
reign to  live  in  union  and  harmony : 

2.  it  declared  a  Hberty  to  tender  con- 
sciences, and  that  no  man  should  be 
disquieted  or  called  in  question  for 
differences  of  opinion  in  matters  of 
religion  which  did  not  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  kingdom,  and  promised 
moreover  the  royal  assent  to  such  acts 
of  parliament  as  should  be  offered  for 
the  full  granting  of  that  indulgence : 

3.  it  alluded  to  the  actions  at  law  to 
which  the  actual  possessors  of  estates 
purchased  by  them  or  granted  to 
them  during  the  revolution  might  be 
liable,  and  purposed  to  leave  the  set- 
tlement of  all  such  differences  to  the 
wisdom  of  parliament,  which  could 
best  provide  for  the  just  satisfaction 
of  the  parties  concerned:  lastly,  it 
promised  to  liquidate  the  arrears  of 
the  army  under  General  Monk,  and 
to  retain  the  officers  and  men  in 
the  royal  service  upon  the  same  pay 
and  conditions  which  they  actually 
enjoyed.  This  was  the  celebrated 
declaration  from  Breda,  the  royal 
charter  on  the  faith  of  which  Charles 


A.D.  1660.] 


CHARLES  II.  PEOCLAIMED  KING. 


was  permitted  to  ascend  the  throne  of 
his  fathers.* 

Encouraged  by  the  bursts  of  loyalty 
■mth  which  the  king's  letters  and 
declaration  had  been  received,  his 
agents  made  it  their  great  object  to 
procure  his  return  to  England  before 
limitations  could  be  put  on  the 
prerogative.  From  the  Lords,  so 
numerous  were  the  Cavaliers  in  the 
upper  house,  no  opposition  could  be 
feared;  and  the  tamper  already  dis- 
played by  the  Commons  was  calcu- 
lated to  satisfy  the  wishes  of  the  most 
ardent  champions  of  royalty.  The 
two  houses  voted,  that  by  the 
ancient  and  fundamental  laws  of  the 
realm  the  government  was  and  ought 
to  be  by  king,  lords,  and  commons ; 
they  invited  Charles  to  come  and 
receive  the  crown  to  which  he  was 
born ;  and,  to  reheve  his  more  urgent 
necessities,  they  sent  him  a  present  of 
fifty  thousand  pounds,  with  ten  thou- 
sand pounds  for  his  brother  the  duke 
of  York,  and  five  thousand  pounds 
for  the  duke  of  Gloucester.  They 
ordered  the  arms  and  symbols  of  the 
commonwealth  to  be  effaced,  the 
name  of  the  king  to  be  introduced 
into  the  public  worship,  and  his  suc- 
cession to  be  proclaimed  as  having 
commenced  from  the  day  of  his 
father's  death.^  Hale,  the  celebrated 
law)-er,  ventured,  with  Prynne,  to 
call  upon  the  house  of  Commons  to 
pause  in  their  enthusiasm,  and  attend 
to  the  interests  of  the  nation.  The 
first  moved  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  inquire  what  propo- 
sitions had  been  offered  by  the  long 
parliament,  and  what  concessions  had 
been  made  by  the  last  king  in  1648 ; 
the  latter  urged  the  favourable  oppor- 
tunity of  coming  to  a  mutual  and 
permanent  understanding  on  all 
those  claims  which  had  been  hitherto 


1  Lords'  Journ.  xi.  7,  10. 

2  Journals  of  both  houses. 

3  Burnet,  i.  88.    Ludlow,  iii.  8,  9. 

4  Montague  had  long  been  in  correspond- 


subjects  of  controversy  between  the 
two  houses  and  the  crown.  But 
Monk  rose,  and  strongly  objected  to 
an  inquiry  which  might  revive  the 
fears  and  jealousies,  the  animosities 
and  bloodshed,  of  the  years  that  were 
past.  Let  the  king  return  while  all 
was  peace  and  harmony.  He  would 
come  alone ;  he  could  bring  no  army 
with  him ;  he  would  be  as  much  at 
their  mercy  in  Westminster  as  in 
Breda.  Limitations,  if  limitations 
were  necessary,  might  be  prepared  in 
the  interval,  and  offered  to  him  after 
his  arrival.  At  the  conclusion  of  this 
speech,  the  house  resounded  with  the 
acclamations  of  the  Cavaliers;  and 
the  advocates  of  the  inquiry,  awed  by 
the  authority  of  the  general  and  the 
clamour  of  their  opponents,  deemed  it 
prudent  to  desist.^ 

Charles  was  as  eager  to  accept,  as  the 
houses  had  been  to  vote,  the  address 
of  invitation.  Prom  Breda  he  had 
gone  to  the  Hague,  where  the  States, 
anxious  to  atone  for  their  former 
neglect,  entertained  him  with  unusual 
magnificence.  The  fleet,  under  Mon- 
tague,* had  anchored  in  the  Bay  of 
Schevehng;  and  Charles,  as  soon  as 
the  weather  permitted,  set  sail  for 
Dover,  where  Monk,  at  the  head  of 
the  nobility  and  gentry  from  the 
neighbouring  counties,  waited  to  re- 
ceive the  new  sovereign.  Every  eye 
was  fixed  on  their  meeting ;  and  the 
cheerful,  though  dignified,  condescen- 
sion of  the  king,  and  the  dutiful, 
respectful  homage  of  the  general, 
provoked  the  applause  of  the  specta- 
tors. Charles  embraced  him  as  his 
benefactor,  bade  him  walk  by  his  side, 
and  took  him  into  the  royal  carriage. 
Prom  Dover  to  the  capital  the  king's 
progress  bore  the  appearance  of  a 
triumphal  procession.  The  roads  were 
covered  with  crowds  of  people  anxious 


ence  with  the  king,  and  disapproved  of  the 
dissimulation  of  Monk,  so  far  as  to  call  him 
in  private  a  "thick-sculled  foolj"  but 
thought  it  necessary  to  flatter  him,  as  ha 
could  hinder  the  business, — Pepys,  i.  69. 


304 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


[chap,  tiil 


to  testify  tlieir  loyalty,  while  they 
gratified  their  curiosity.  On  Black- 
heath  he  was  received  by  the  army 
in  battle  array,  and  greeted  with 
acclamations  as  he  passed  through 
the  ranks ;  in  St.  George's  Pields  the 
lord  mayor  and  aldermen  invited  him 
to  partake  of  a  splendid  collation  in  a 
tent  prepared  for  the  purpose ;  from 
London  Bridge  to  Whitehall  the 
houses  were  hung  with  tapestry,  and 
the  streets  lined  by  the  trained  bands, 
the  regulars,  and  the  officers  who  had 
served  under  Charles  I.  The  king 
was  preceded  by  troops  of  horsemen, 
to  the  amount  of  three  thousand  per- 
sons, in  splendid  dresses,  attended  by 
trumpeters  and  footmen;  then  came 
the  lord  mayor,  carrying  the  naked 
sword;  after  him  the  lord-general  and 
the  duke  of  Buckingham ;  and  lastly 
the  king  himself,  riding  between  his 
two  brothers.  The  cavalcade  was 
closed  by  the  general's  Ufe-guard, 
five  regiments  of  horse,  and  two 
troops  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen. 
At  Whitehall  Charles  dismissed  the 
lord  mayor,  and  received  in  succession 
the  two  houses,  whose  speakers  ad- 
dressed him  in  strains  of  the  most 
impassioned  loyalty,  and  were  an- 
swered  by  him  with  protestations  of 
attachment  to  the  interests  and  liber- 
ties of  his  subjects.  It  was  late  in  the 
evening  before  the  ceremonies  of  this 
important  day  were  concluded ;  when 
Charles  observed  to  some  of  his  con- 
fidants, "It  must  surely  have  been 
my  fault  that  I  did  not  come  before ; 
for  I  have  met  with  no  one  to-day 
who  did  not  protest  that  he  always 
wished  for  my  restoration."* 

That  the  re-establishment  of  royalty 
was  a  blessing  to  the  country,  will 
hardly  be  denied.  It  presented  the 
best,  perhaps  the  only,  means  of  re- 
storing public  tranquillity  amidst  the 
confusion  and  distrust,  the  animosities 


1  Whitelock,    703.    Rennet's    Reg.    163. 
Clarendon's  Hist.  iii.  772.     Clarendon's  Life 


and  hatreds,  the  parties  and  interests, 
which  had  been  generated  by  the 
events  of  the  civil  war,  and  by  a  rapid 
succession  of  opposite  and  ephemeral 
governments.  To  Monk  belongs  the 
merit  of  having,  by  his  foresight  and 
caution,  effected  this  desirable  object 
without  bloodshed  or  violence ;  but  to 
his  dispraise  it  must  also  be  recorded, 
that  he  effected  it  without  any  pre- 
vious stipulation  on  the  part  of  the 
exiled  monarch.  Never  had  so  fair  an 
opportunity  been  offered  of  establish- 
ing a  compact  between  the  sovereign 
and  the  people,  of  determining,  by 
mutual  consent,  the  legal  rights  of 
the  crown,  and  of  securing  from  future 
encroachment  the  freedom  of  the 
people.  That  Charles  would  have 
consented  to  such  conditions,  we  have 
sufficient  evidence ;  but  when  the 
measure  was  proposed,  the  lord-gene- 
ral declared  himself  its  most  deter- 
mined opponent.  It  may  have  been, 
that  his  cautious  mind  figured  to 
itself  danger  in  delay;  it  is  more 
probable  that  he  sought  to  give  addi- 
tional value  to  his  services  in  the  eyes 
of  the  new  sovereign.  But,  whatever 
were  the  motives  of  his  conduct,  the 
result  was,  that  the  king  ascended  the 
throne  unfettered  with  conditions,  and 
thence  inferred  that  he  was  entitled 
to  all  the  powers  claimed  by  his  father 
at  the  commencement  of  the  civil  war. 
In  a  few  years  the  consequence  be- 
came manifest.  It  was  found  that, 
by  the  negligence  or  perfidy  of  ;Monk, 
a  door  had  been  left  open  to  the 
recurrence  of  dissension  between  the 
crown  and  the  people ;  and  that  very 
circumstance  which  Charles  had  hailed 
as  the  consummation  of  his  good  for- 
tune, served  only  to  prepare  the  way 
for  a  second  revolution,  which  ended 
in  the  permanent  exclusion  of  his 
family  from  the  government  of  these 
kingdoms. 


hv  Himself,  Continuation,  p.  7,  8.    Evelyn's 
Diary,  ii.  148. 


305 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  PPP,  p.  58. 


Nothing  more  clearly  shows  the 
readiness  of  Charles  to  engage  in  in- 
trigue, and  the  subtleties  and  false- 
hood to  which  he  could  occasionally 
descend,  than  the  history  of  Glamor- 
gan's mission  to  Ireland.  In  this 
note  I  purpose  to  lay  before  the 
reader  the  substance  of  the  several 
documents  relating  to  the  trans- 
action. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1644,  the 
king  gave  to  him,  by  the  name  of 
Edward  Somerset,  alias  Plantagenet, 
Lord  Herbert,  Baron  Beaufort,  &c., 
a  commission  under  the  great  seal, 
appointing  him  commander-in-chief 
of  three  armies  of  Englishmen,  Irish- 
men, and  foreigners ;  authorizing  him 
to  raise  moneys  on  the  securities  of 
the  royal  wardships,  customs,  woods, 
&c. ;  furnishing  him  with  patents  of 
nobility  from  the  title  of  marquis  to 
that  of  baronet,  to  be  filled  up  with 
names  at  his  discretion;  promising 
to  give  the  princess  Elizabeth  to  his 
son  Plantagenet  in  marriage,  with  a 
dower  of  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  a  sum  which  did  not  much 
exceed  what  Herbert  and  his  father 
had  already  spent  in  the  king's  ser- 
vice, and  in  addition  to  confer  on 
Herbert  himself  the  title  of  duke  of 
Somerset,  with  the  George  and  blue 
ribbon. — From  the  Nuncio's  Memoirs 
in  Birch's  Inquiry,  p.  22. 

This  commission  was  granted  in 
consequence  of  an  understanding  with 
the  deputies    from    the    confederate 

8 


Catholics,  who  were  then  at  Oxford, 
and  its  object  is  fully  explained  by 
Herbert  himself  in  a  letter  to  Claren- 
don, to  be  laid  before  Charles  II., 
and  dated  June  11,  1660.  "  For  his 
majesty's  better  information,  through 
your  favour,  and  by  the  channel  of 
your  lordship's  understanding  things 
rightly,  ■  give  me  leave  to  acquaint 
you  with  one  chief  key,  wherewith  to 
open  the  secret  passages  between 
his  late  majesty  and  myself,  in  order 
to  his  service  ;  which  was  no  other 
than  a  real  exposing  of  myself  to 
any  expense  or  difficulty,  rather  than 
his  just  design  should  not  take  place  ; 
or,  in  taking  efifect,  that  his  honour 
should  sufier ;  an  efiect  you  may 
justly  say,  relishing  more  of  a  pas- 
sionate and  blind  affection  to  his  ma- 
jesty's service,  than  of  discretion 
and  care  of  myself.  This  made  me 
take  a  resolution  that  he  should  have 
seemed  angry  with  me  at  my  return 
out  of  Ireland,  until  I  had  brought 
him  into  a  posture  and  power  to  own 
his  commands,  to  make  good  his 
instructions,  and  to-  reward  my  faith- 
fulness and  zeal  therein. 

''Your  lordship  may  well  wonder, 
and  the  king  too,  at  the  amplitude  of 
my  commission.  But  when  you  have 
understood  the  height  of  his  .majesty's 
design,  you  will  soon  be  satisfied  that 
nothing  less  could  have  made  me 
capable  to  effect  it ;  being  that  one 
army  of  ten  thousand  men  was  to 
have  come   out  of   Ireland  through 


306 


APPENDIX. 


JN'orth  "Wales  ;  another,  of  a  like  num- 
ber at  least,  under  my  command  in 
chief,  have  expected  my  return  in 
South  Wales,  which  Sir  Henry  Gage 
was  to  have  commanded  as  lieutenant- 
general  ;  and  a  third  should  have  con- 
sisted of  a  matter  of  six  thousand 
men  ;  two  thousand  of  which  were  to 
have  been  Liegois,  commanded  by 
Sir  Francis  Edmonds ;  two  thousand 
Lorrainers,  to  have  been  commanded 
by  Colonel  Browne  ;  and  two  thou- 
sand of  such  French,  English,  Scots, 
and  Irish,  as  could  be  drawn  out  of 
Flanders  and  Holland.  And  the 
siX|i;housand  were  to  have  been,  by 
the  prince  of  Orange's  assistance,  in 
the  associated  counties  ;  and  the  go- 
vernor of  Lyne,  cousin  german  to 
Major  Bacon,  major  of  my  own  regi- 
ment, was  to  have  delivered  the  town 
unto  them. 

"  The  maintenance  of  this  army  of 
foreigners  was  to  have  come  from  the 
pope,  and  such  Catholick  princes  as 
he  should  have  drawn  into  it,  having 
engaged  to  afford  and  procure  thirty 
thousand  pounds  a  month ;  out  of 
which  the  foreign  army  was  first  to  be 
provided  for,  and  the  remainder  to  be 
divided  among  the  other  armies.  And 
for  this  purpose  had  I  power  to  treat 
with  the  pope  and  Catholick  princes 
with  particular  advantages  promised 
to  Catholicks  for  the  quiet  enjoying 
their  religion,  without  the  penalties 
which  the  statutes  in  force  had  power 
to  inflict  upon  them.  And  my  in- 
structions for  this  purpose,  and  my 
powers  to  treat  and  conclude  there- 
upon, were  signed  by  the  king  under 
his  pocket  signet,  Avith  blanks  for  me 
to  put  in  the  names  of  pope  or  princes, 
to  the  end  the  king  might  have  a 
starting-hole  to  deny  the  having  given 
me  such  commissions,  if  excepted 
against  by  his  own  subjects  ;  leaving 
me  as  it  were  at  stake,  who  for  his 
majesty's  sake  was  willing  to  undergo 
it,  trusting  to  his  word  alone." — Cla- 
rendon Papers,  ii.  201,  202. 

But  his  departure  was  delayed  by 
Ormond's  objections  to  the  conditions 
of  peace  ;  and  the  king,  to  relieve 
himself  from  the  difficulty,  proposed 


to  Herbert  to  proceed  to  Ireland,  and 
grant  privately  to  the  Catholics  those 
concessions  which  the  lord-lieutenant 
hesitated  to  make,  on  condition  of 
receiving  in  return  an  army  of  ten 
thousand  men  for  the  royal  service. 
In  consequence,  on  the  27th  of  De- 
cember, Charles  announced  to  Or- 
mond  that  Herbert  was  going  to 
Ireland  under  an  engagement  to 
further  the  peace. — Carte,  ii.  App. 
p.  5. 

1645,  January  2nd.  Glamorgan 
(he  was  now  honoured  with  the  title 
of  earl  of  Glamorgan)  received  these 
instructions.  "  First  you  may  ingage 
y""  estate,  interest  and  creditt  that  we 
will  most  reall}'  and  punctually  per- 
forme  any  our  promises  to  the  Irish, 
and  as  it  is  necessary  to  conclude  a 
peace  suddainely,  soe  whatsoever  shall 
be  consented  unto  by  our  lieutenant 
the  marquis  of  Ormond,  We  will  dye 
a  thousand  deaths  rather  than  dia- 
annull  or  break  it ;  and  if  vpon  neces- 
sity any  thing  be  to  be  condescended 
unto,  and  yet  the  lord  marquis  not 
willing  to  be  scene  therein,  as  not  fitt 
for  us  at  the  present  publickely  to 
owne,  doe  you  endeavour  to  supply 
the  same." — Century  of  Inventions 
by  Mr.  Partington,  original  letters 
and  official  papers,  xxxv.  Then  fol- 
lows a  promise  to  perform  any  pro- 
mise made  by  him  to  Ormond  or 
others,  &c. 

January  6.  He  received  a  com- 
mission to  levy  any  number  of  m^ 
in  IreLand  and  other  parts  beyond 
the  sea,  with  power  to  appoint  officers, 
receive  the  king's  rents,  &c. — Birch, 
p.  18,  from  the  Nuncio's  Memoirs, 
fol.  713. 

Januaiy  12.  He  received  another 
warrant  of  a  most  extraordinary  de- 
scription, which  I  shall  transcribe 
from  a  MS.  copy  in  my  possession, 
attested  with  the  earl's  signature,  and 
probably  the  very  same  which  he 
gave  to  Ormond  after  his  arrest  and 
imprisonment. 

"  Charles  Rex. 
*'  Charles  by  the  grace  of  God  kijigj 
of  England  Scotland  France  and  Ire« 


APPENDIX. 


307 


land  Defender  of  the  Fay  th,  &c.  To  our 
Right  trusty  and  Right  well  belloved 
Cossin  Edward  Earle  of  Glamorgan 
greetinge.  Whereas  we  haue  had  suffi- 
cient and  ample  testimony  of  y""  ap- 
proued  wisdome  and  fideliti.  Soe great 
is  the  confidence  we  repose  in  yo'^  as 
that  whatsoeuer  yo"  shall  perform 
as  warranted  only  under  our  signe 
manuall  pockett  signett  or  private 
marke  or  even  by  woorde  of  mouthe 
w'^out  further  cerimouii,  wee  doo  in 
the  worde  of  a  kinge  and  a  cristian 
promis  to  make  good  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  as  effectually  as  if  your 
authoriti  from  us  had  binne  under 
our  great  seale  of  England  w*"*  this 
advantage  that  wee  shall  esteem  our 
self  farr  the  moore  obliged  to  yo'^  for 
y''  gallantry  in  not  standing  upon  such 
nice  tearms  to  doe  us  service  w**  we 
shall  God  willing  rewarde..  And 
although  e  yo''  exceed  what  law  can 
warrant  or  any  power  of  ours  reach 
unto,  as  not  knowinge  what  yo^*'  may 
have  need  o^  yet  it  being  for  our 
service,  wee  oblige  ourself  not  only  to 
give  yo'^  our  pardon,  but  to  mantayne 
the  same  w'''  all  our  might  and  power, 
and  though,  either  by  accident  yo^*' 
loose  or  by  any  other  occasion  yo"^ 
shall  deem  necessary  to  deposit  any 
of  our  warrants  and  so  wante  them  at 
JO''  returne,  we  faythfully  promise  to 
make  them  good  at  your  returne,  and 
to  supply  any  thinge  wheerin  they 
shall  be  founde  defective,  it  not  being 
convenient  for  us  at  this  time  to  dis- 
pute upon  them,  for  of  what  wee 
haue  heer  sett  downe  yo^  may  rest 
confident,  if  theer  be  fayth  or  truth 
in  man  ;  proceed  theerfor  cheerfully, 
spedelj,  and  bouldly,  and  for  yo"^  so 
doinge  this  shal  be  yo"^  sufficient  war- 
rant. Giuen  at  our  Court  at  Oxford 
under  our  signe  manuall  and  privat 
fiignet  this  12  of  Januarj  1644. 

"  Glamoegan. 
*'  To  our  Eight  trustj  and  Right 

well  beloved  cosin  Edward  Earle 

of  Glamorgan." 
Indorsed,   "The  Earle  of  Glamor- 
gan's further  authoritj." 

Feb.  12.  Glamorgan  had  left   Ox- 


ford, and  was  raising  money  in  Wales, 
when  Charles  sent  him  other  de- 
spatches, and  with  them  a  letter  de- 
siring him  to  hasten  to  Ireland.  In 
it  he  acknowledges  the  danger  of  the 
undertaking,  that  Glamorgan  had 
already  spent  above  a  million  of  crowns 
in  his  service,  and  that  he  was  bound 
in  gratitude  to  take  care  of  him  next 
to  his  own  wife  and  children.  "  What 
I  can  further  thinke  at  this  put  is  to 
send  y^  the  blew  ribben,  and  a  war- 
rant for  the  title  of  duke  of  Somerset, 
both  w*^**  accept  and  malie  vse  of  at 
your  discretion,  and  if  you  should 
deferre  y^  publishing  of  either  for  a 
whyle  to  avoyde  envye,  and  my  being 
importuned  by  others,  yet  I  promise 
yo""  antiquitie  for  y'^  one  and  your 
pattent  for  the  other  shall  bear  date 
with  the  warrants." — Century  of  In- 
ventions, p.  xxxiv.  On  the  18th  of 
August,  1660,  the  marquess  of  Hert- 
ford complained  that  this  patent  was 
injurious  to  him,  as  he  claimed  the 
title  of  Somerset.  Glamorgan,  then 
marquess  of  Worcester,  readily  sur- 
rendered it  on  the  3rd  of  Septem- 
ber, and  his  son  was  created  duke 
of  Beaufort. 

On  March  12,  the  king  wrote  to 
him  the  following  letter  : — 
*'  Herbert, 

**  I  wonder  you  are  not  yet  gone 
for  Ii-eland ;  but  since  you  have  stayed 
all  this  time,  I  hope  these  will  ouer- 
take  you,  whereby  you  will  the  more 
see  the  great  trust  and  confidence  I 
repose  in  your  integrity,  of  which  I 
have  had  soe  long  and  so  good  expe- 
rience ;  commanding  yow  to  deale 
with  all  ingenuity  and  freedome  with 
our  lieutenant  of  Ireland  the  mar- 
quess of  Ormond,  and  on  the  word  of 
a  king  and  a  Christian  I  will  make 
good  any  thing  which  our  lieutenant 
shall  be  induced  unto  upon  your  per- 
suasion ;  and  if  you  find  it  fitting,  you 
may  privately  shew  him  these,  which 
I  intend  not  as  obligatory  to  him,  but 
to  myselfe,  and  for  both  your  encou- 
ragements and  warrantise,  in  whom  I 
repose  my  cheefest  hopes,  not  having 
in  all  my  kingdomes  two  such  sub- 


303 


APPENDIX. 


jects  ;  whose  endeauours  joining,  I 
am  confident  to  be  soone  drawen  out 
of  the  mire  I  am  now  enforced  to 
wallow  in." — Century  of  Inventions, 
xxxviii. 

What  were  the  writings  meant  by 
the  word  "  these"  which  Glamorgan 
might  show  to  Ormond  if  he  thought 
fitting  ?  Probably  the  following  war- 
rant, dated  at  Oxford  on  the  same 
day. 

"  Charles  E. 

*'  Charles  by  the  Grace  of  God  King 
of  England  Scotland  France  and  Ire- 
land Defender  of  the  Fay  th  &c.  To  our 
right  trusty  and  right  welbeloved  Cosin 
Edward  earle  of  Glamorgan  Greeting. 
We  reposing  great  and  espitiall  trust, 
and  confidence  in  y''  approved  wis- 
dome,  and  fidelity  doe  by  these  (as 
firmely  as  under  our  great  scale  to  all 
intents  and  purposes)  Authorise  and 
give  you  power  to  treate  and  con- 
clude w'**  the  Confederat  Pomaine 
Catholikes  in  our  Kingdom  of  Ire- 
land, if  vpon  necessity  any  thing  be 
to  be  condescended  vnto  wherein  our 
Lieutenant  can  not  so  well  be  scene 
in  as  not  fitt  for  vs  at  the  present 
publikely  to  owne,  and  therefore  we 
charge  you  to  proceede  according  to 
this  our  warrant  w***  all  possible  se- 
cresie,  and  for  whatsoever  you  shall 
engage  your  selfe,  vpon  such  valua- 
able  considerations  as  you  in  y""  iudge- 
ment  shall  deeme  fitt,  we  promise  in 
the  word  of  a  King  and  a  Christian 
to  ratifie  and  performe  the  same,  that 
shall  be  graunted  by  you,  and  vnder 
your  hand  and  scale,  the  sayd  con- 
federat Catholikes  having  by  theyr 
supplyes  testified  theyre  zeale  to  our 
service,  and  this  shall  be  in  cache 
particular  to  you  a  sufficient  warrant. 
Given  at  our  Court  at  Oxford,  under 
our  signett  and  Royall  signature  the 
twelfe  day  of  Marche  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  our  Raigne  1644. 

"  To  our  Right  Trusty  and  right 
welbeloved  Cosin,  Edward  Earle 
of  Glamorgan." 

Some  writers  have  attempted  to 
dispute  the  authenticity  of  this  war- 


rant, because  though  it  was  inserted 
verbatim  in  Glamorgan's  treaty  with 
the  confederates,  he  did  not  produce 
it  at  the  requisition  of  the  council  at 
Dublin,  under  the  excuse  that  he  had 
deposited  it  with  the  Catholics  at 
Kilkenny.  But  that  this  was  the 
truth,  appears  from  the  Nuncio's 
Memoirs:  "a  sua  majestate  manda- 
tum  habuit,  cujus  originale  regitl 
raanu  subscriptum  Glamorganae  comes 
deposuit  apud  confoederatos  Catho- 
licos"  (fol.  1292,  apud  Birch,  215) ; 
and  if  better  authority  be  required,  I 
have  in  my  possession  the  original 
warrant ,  itself,  with  the  king's  signa- 
ture and  private  seal,  bearing  the 
arms  of  the  three  kingdoms,  a  crown 
above,  and  C.  R.  on  the  sides,  and 
indorsed  in  the  same  handwriting 
with  the  body  of  the  warrant,  ''The 
Earle  .of  Glamorgan's  espetiall  war- 
rant for  Ireland."  Of  this  original 
the  above  is  a  correct  copy. 

April  30.  The  king  having  heard 
that  Rinuccini  had  been  appointed 
nuncio,  and  was  on  his  way  to  Ire- 
land, sent  to  Glamorgan  a  letter  for 
that  prelate  and  another  for  the  pope. 
The  contents  of  the  second  are  un- 
known ;  the  first  is  copied  in  the 
Nuncio's  Memoirs  :  "  Nous  ne  doub- 
tons  point,  que  les  choses  n'yront 
bien,  et  que  les  bonnes  intentions 
commences  par  efiect  du  dernier  pape 
ne  s'accomplisseront  par  celuys  icy, 
et  par  vos  moyens,  en  notre  royaume 
d'Irelande  et  de  Angleterre." — Birch 
28.  He  then  requests  the  nuncio  to 
join  with  Glamorgan,  and  promises 
to  accomplish  on  the  return  of  the 
latter,  whatever  they  shall  have  re- 
solved together. — Ibid. 

The  king,  on  his  return  to  Oxford, 
after  the  disastrous  campaign  of  1645, 
still  placed  his  principal  reliance  on 
the  mission  of  Glamorgan  ;  and,  to 
induce  the  court  of  Rome  to  listen  to 
the  proposals  of  that  envoy,  wrote 
with  his  own  hand  the  two  following 
letters,  of  which  the  originals  still 
exist  in  the  Archivio  "Vaticano,  one 
to  the  pope  himself,  the  other  to 
Cardinal  Spada,  requesting  of  both 
to  give  credit  to  Glamorgan  or  his 


APPENDIX. 


309 


messenger,  and  engaging  the  royal 
word  to  fulfil  whatever  should  be 
agreed  ui^on  by  Glamorgan,  in  the 
name  of  his  sovereign  :— 

"  Beatissime  Pater, 

**  Tot  tantaque  testimonia  fideli- 
tatis  et  affectus  consanguine!  nostri 
comitis  Glamorganiae  jamdudum  acce- 
pimus,  eamque  in  illo  fiduciam  merito 
reponimus,  ut  Sanctitas  Vestra  ei 
fidem  merito  prsebere  possit  in  qua- 
cumque  re,  de  qua  per  se  vel  per 
alium  nostro  nomine  cum  Sauctitate 
Vestra  tractaturus  sit.  Qusecumque 
vero  ab  ipso  certo  statuta  fuerint,  ea 
munire  et  confirmare  pollicemur.  In 
oujus  testimonium  brevissimas  has 
scripsimus,  manu  et  sigillo  nostro 
raunitas,  qui  nihil  (potius)  habemus 
in  votis,  quam  ut  favore  vestro  iu 
eum  statum  redigamur,  quo  palam 
profiteamur  nos. 

''  Sanctitatis  Vestrje 

"  Himiilimum  et  obedientissimum 
servum  "  Chaeles  R. 

"  Apud  Curiam  nostrara, 
"  Oxoniffi,  Oct.  20,  1645." 

Superscription  — 

"  Beatissimo  Patri  Innocentio  de- 
cimo  Pontifici  Maximo." 

''  Eminentissime  Domine,  Pauca 
scripsimus  Beatissimo  Patri,  de  fide 
adhibenda  consanguineo  nostro  comiti 
Glamorganiae,  et  cuilibet  ab  eo  dele- 
gato,  quem  ut  Eminentia  vestra 
pariter  omni  favore  prosequatur,  ro- 
gamus  ;  certoque  credat  nos  ratum 
habituros  quicquid  a  praidicto  comite, 
vel  suo  delegate,  cum  Sanctissimo 
Patre  vel  Eminentia  vestra  transac- 
tum  fuerit. 

**  Eminentige  Vestrse, 
"  Fidelisimus  Amicus, 

"  Charles  R. 
*' Apud  Curiam  nostram, 
•'  Oxoniffi,  Oct.  20, 1645." 

Superscription — 

"Eminentissime  Domino  et  Con- 
sanguineo nostro,  Dno  Car- 
dinal! Spada." 

After  the   discovery  of  the  whole 


proceeding,  the  king,  on  January 
29th,  1646,  sent  a  message  to  the  two 
houses  in  England,  in  which  he  de- 
clares (with  what  truth  the  reader 
may  judge)  that  Glamorgan  had  a 
commission  to  raise  men,  and  "  to 
that  purpose  only ;"  that  he  had  no 
commission  to  treat  of  anything  else 
without  the  privity  and  directions  of 
Ormond  ;  that  he  had  never  sent  any 
information  of  his  having  made  any 
treaty  with  the  Catholics,  and  that 
he  (the  king)  disavowed  him  in  his 
proceedings,  and  had  ordered  the 
Irish  council  to  proceed  against  him 
by  due  course  of  law.  —  Charles's 
Works,  555. 

Two  days  later,  January  31,  hav- 
ing acknowledged  to  the  council  at 
Dublin  that  he  had  informed  Gla- 
morgan of  the  secret  instructions 
given  to  Ormond,  and  desired  him  to 
use  his  influence  with  the  Catholics 
to  persuade  them  to  moderate  their 
demands,  he  proceeds  :  "  To  this  end 
(and  with  the  strictest  limitations 
that  we  could  enjoin  him,  merely  to 
those  particulars  concerning  which 
we  had  given  you  secret  instructions, 
as  also  even  in  that  to  do  nothing  but 
by  your  especial  directions)  it  is  pos- 
sible we  might  have  thought  fit  to 
have  given  unto  the  said  earl  of  Gla- 
morgan such  a  credential  as  might 
give  him  credit  with  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholics, in  case  you  should  find  occa- 
sion to  make  use  of  him,  either  as  a 
farther  assurance  unto  them  of  what 
you  should  privately  promise,  or  in 
case  you  should  judge  it  necessary  to 
manage  those  matters  for  their  greater 
confidence  apart  by  him,  of  whom,  in 
regard  of  his  religion  and  interest, 
they  might  be  less  jealous.  This  is 
all,  and  the  very  bottom  of  what  we 
might  have  possibly  entrusted  unto 
the  said  earl  of  Glamorgan  in  this 
affair."  —  Carte's  Ormond,  iii,  446. 
How  this  declaration  is  to  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  last,  I  know  not. 

With  this  letter  to  the  council  he 
sent  two  othei-s.  One  was  addressed 
to  Ormond,  asserting  on  the  word  of 
a  Christian  that  he  never  intended 
Glamorgan  to  treat  of  anything  with- 


310 


APPENDIX. 


out  Ormond's  knowledge  and  appro- 
bation, as  he  was  always  diffident  of 
the  earl's  judgment,  but  at  the  same 
time  commanding  him  to  suspend  the 
execution  of  any  sentence  which 
might  be  pronounced  against  that 
nobleman.  — Carte,  ii.  App.  p.  12, 
The  second,  dated  Feb.  3,  was  to  Gla- 
morgan himseli^  in  these  words  : — 

"  GLAM0EGA3T, 

"  I  must  clearly  tell  you,  both  you 
and  I  have  been  abused  in  this  busi- 
ness :  for  you  have  been  drawn  to 
consent  to  conditions  much  bej^ond 
your  instnictions,  and  your  treaty 
had  been  divulged  to  all  the  world. 
If  you  had  advised  *with  my  lord 
lieutenant,  as  you  promised  me,  all 
this  had  been  helped.  But  we  must 
look  forward.  Wherefore,  in  a  word, 
I  have  commanded  as  much  favour  to 
be  shewn  to  you  as  may  possibly 
stand  with  my  service  or  safety  ;  and 
if  you  will  yet  trust  ray  advice— 
which  I  have  commanded  Digby  to 
give  you  freely — I  will  bring  you  so 
off  that  you  may  still  be  useful  to  me, 
and  I  shall  be  able  to  recorapence  you 
for  your  affection ;  if  not,  I  cannot 
tell  what  to  say.  But  I  will  not 
doubt  your  compliance  in  this,  since 
it  so  highly  concerns  the  good  of  all 
my  crowns,  my  own  particular,  and 
to  make  me  have  still  means  to  shew 
myself 

"  Your  most  assured  Friend, 

"  Charles  R. 

"  Oxford,  Feb.  3,  1645-6." 
—  Waa^7ie]',  360. 

In  this  letter  Charles,  in  his  own 
defence,  pretends  to  blame  Glamor- 
gan :  probably  as  a  blind  to  Ormond 
and  Digby,  through  whom  it  was 
sent.  Soon  afterwards,  on  February 
28th,  he  despatched  Sir  J.  Winter  to 
him  with  full  instructions,  and  the 
following  consolatory  epistle  : — 

**  Hebbert, 
"  I  am  confident   that  this  honest 
trusty  bearer  will  give  you  good  satis- 
faction why  I  have  not  in  euerie  thing 
done  as  you  desired,    the   wante  of 


I  confidence  in  you  being  so  farre  from 
being  y^  cause  thereof,  that  I  am 
euery  day  more  and  more  confirmed 
in  the  trust  that  I  have  of  you,  for 
beleeve  me,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
any  to  make  you  suffer  in  my  opinion 
by  ill  offices ;  but  of  this  and  diuers 
other  things  I  have  given  so  full  in- 
structions that  I  will  saye  no  more, 
but  that  I  am 
*'  Yo""  most  assured  constant  Friend, 
"  Charles  R." 
— Centwy  of  Inventions,  xxxix. 

April  5th  he  wrote  to  him  again. 

"  Glamorgan, 

"  I  have  no  time,  nor  do  you  ex- 
pect that  I  shall  make  unnecessary 
repetitions  to  you.  Wherefore,  refer- 
ring you  to  Digby  for  business,  this 
is  only  to  give  you  assurance  of  my 
constant  friendship  to  you  :  which, 
considering  the  general  defection  of 
common  honesty,  is  in  a  sort  requi- 
site. Howbeit,  I  know  you  cannot 
but  be  confident  of  my  making  good 
all  instructions  and  promises  to  you 
and  the  nuncio. 

"Your  most  assured  constant 
Friend, 

"  Charles  E." 

—  Warner,  373. 

On  the  following  day  the  king  sent 
him  another  short  letter. 

"  Herbert, 

"  As  I  doubt  not  but  you  have  too 
much  courage  to  be  dismayed  or  dis- 
couraged at  the  usage  you  have  had, 
so  I  assure  you  that  my  estimation 
of  you  is  nothing  diminished  by  it, 
but  rather  begets  in  me  a  desire  of 
revenge  and  reparation  to  us  both  ; 
for  in  this  I  hold  myself  equally  in- 
terested with  you.  Wherefore,  not 
doubting  of  your  accustomed  care  and 
industry  in  my  service,  I  assure  you 
of  the  continuance  of  my  favour  and 
protection  to  you,  and  that  in  deeds 
more  than  words,  I  shall  shew  myself 
to  be 

"  Your  most  assured  constant 
Friend, 

"  Charles  R.". 

—  Warner,  374. 


APPENDIX. 


311 


If  after  the  perusal  of  these  docu- 
ments any  doubt  can  remain  of  the 
authenticity  of  Glamorgan's  commis- 
sion, it  must  be  done  away  by  the 
following  passage  from  Clarendon's 
correspondence  with  secretary  Ni- 
cholas. Speaking  of  his  intended 
history,  he  says,  "I  must  tell  you,  I 
care  not  how  little  I  say  in  that 
business  of  Ireland,  since  those 
strange  powers  and  instructions  given 
to  your  favourite  Glamorgan,  which 
appears  to  me  so  inexcusable  to  justice, 
piety,  and  prudence.  And  I  fear 
there  is  very  much  in  that  transaction 
of  Ireland,  both  before  and  since,  that 
you  and  I  were  never  thought  wise 
enough  to  be  advised  with  in.  Oh, 
Mr.  Secretary,  those  stratagems  have 
given  me  more  sad  hours  than  all  the 
misfortunes  in  war  which  have  be- 
fallen the  king,  and  look  like  the 
effects  of  God's  anger  towards  us." — 
Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  337. 

It  appears  that  the  king,  even  after 
he  had  been  delivered  by  the  Scots  to 
the  parliament,  still  hoped  to  derive 
benefit  from  the  exertions  of  Gla- 
morgan. About  the  beginning  of 
June,  1647,  Sir  John  Somerset,  the 
brother  of  that  nobleman,  arrived  in 
Rome  with  a  letter  from  Charles  to 
Innocent  X.  The  letter  is  not  pro- 
bably in  existence ;  but  the  answer  of 
the  pontiff  shows  that  the  king  had 
solicited  pecuniary  assistance,  and,  as 


an  inducement,  had  held  out  some 
hint  of  a  disposition  on  his  part  to 
admit  the  papal  supremacy  and  the 
Catholic  creed.  Less  than  this  cannot 
be  inferred  from  the  language  of  In- 
nocent. Literae  illae  prsecipuam  tuam 
alacritatem  ac  propensionem  ad  obe- 
diendum  Deo  in  nobis,  qui  ejus  vices 

geriinus,  luculenter  declarant a 

maj estate  tua  enixe  poscimus,  ut  quod 
velle  ccepit,  mox  et  facto  perficiat 
....  .  .ut  aliquo  id  aggrediaris  argu- 
ment©, quo  te  te  ad  Catholicam  fidem 
recepisse  intelligamus.  Undoubtedly 
Charles  was  making  the  same  experi- 
ment with  the  pontiff  which  he  had 
just  made  with  his  Presbyterian  sub- 
jects ;  and  as,  to  propitiate  them,  he 
had  undertaken  to  study  the  Pres- 
byterian doctrines,  so  he  hoped  to 
draw  money  from  Innocent  by  pro- 
fessing an  inclination  in  favour  of 
the  Catholic  creed.  But  the  attempt 
failed.  The  answer  was,  indeed,  com- 
plimentary :  it  expressed  the  joy  of 
the  pontiff  at  the  perusal  of  his  letter, 
and  exhorted  him  to  persevere  in  the 
inquiry  till  he  should  come  to  the 
discovery  of  the  truth ;  but  it  disposed 
of  his  request,  as  Urban  had  pre- 
viously disposed  of  a  similar  request, 
by  stating  that  it  was  inconsistent 
with  the  duty  of  the  pope  to  spend 
the  treasures  of  his  church  in  the 
support  of  any  but  Catholic  princes. 
This  answer  is  dated  29th  June,  1 647. 


NOTE  QQQ,  p.  67. 


1.  Tlie  ordinances  had  distinguished 
two  classes  of  delinquents,  the  one 
religious,  the  other  political.  The 
first  comprised  all  Catholic  recusants, 
all  persons  whomsoever,  who,  having 
attained  the  age  of  twenty-one,  should 
refuse  to  abjure  upon  oath  the  doc- 
trines peculiar  to  the  Catholic  creed. 
These  were  reputed  papists,  and  had 
been  made  to  forfeit  two-thirds  of 
their  real  and  personal  estates,  which 


were  seized  for  the  benefit  of  the 
kingdom  by  the  commissioners  of 
sequestration  appointed  in  each  par- 
ticular county.  The  second  compre- 
hended all  persons  who  were  known 
to  have  fought  against  the  parliament, 
or  to  have  aided  the  royal  party  with 
money,  men,  provisions,  advice,  or 
information ;  and  of  these  the  whole 
estates,  both  real  and  personal,  had 
been  sequestrated,  with  the  sole  ex- 


312 


APPENDIX. 


ception  of  one-fifth  allotted  for  the 
support  of  their  wives  and  children, 
if  the  latter  were  educated  in  the 
Protestant  religion. — Elsynge's  Ordi- 
nances, 3,  22,  et  seq. 

2.  These  sequestrated  estates  not 
only  furnished  a  yearly  income,  but 
also  a  ready  supply  on  every  sudden 
emergency.  Thus,  when  Colonel  Har- 
vey refused  to  march  till  his  regiment 
had  received  the  arrears  of  its  pay, 
amounting  to  three  thousand  pounds, 
an  ordinance  was  immediately  passed 
to  raise  the  money  by  the  sale  of 
woods  belonging  to  Lord  Petre,  in 
the  county  of  Essex. — Journals,  vi. 
519.  When  a  complaint  was  made 
of  a  scarcity  of  timber  for  the  repairs 
of  the  navy,  the  two  houses  authorized 
certain  shipwrights  to  fell  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  oak  trees  on  the 
estates  of  delinquents  in  Kent  and 
Essex.— Ibid.  520.  When  the  Scots 
demanded  a  month's  pay  for  their 
army,  the  committee  at  Goldsmiths' 
Hall  procured  the  money  by  ofiering 
for  sale  such  property  of  delinquents 
as  they  judged  expedient,  the  lands 
at  eight,  the  houses  at  six,  years' 
purchase.  —  Journals  of  Commons, 
June  10,  24,  1644. 


3.  But  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
ready  money  by  sales  induced  the 
commissioners  to  look  out  for  some 
other  expedient ;  and  when  the  sum 
of  fifteen  thousand  pounds  was  wanted 
to  put  the  army  of  Fairfax  in  motion, 
it  was  raised  without  delay  by  offer- 
ing to  delinquents  the  restoration  of 
their  sequestrated  estates,  on  the 
immediate  payment  of  a  certain  fine. 
— Commons' Journals,  Sept.  13, 1644. 
The  success  of  this  experiment  en- 
couraged them  to  hold  out  a  similar 
indulgence  to  such  persons  as  were 
willing  to  quit  the  royal  party,  pro- 
vided they  were  not  Catholics,  and 
would  take  the  oath  of  abjuration  of 
the  Catholic  doctrine. — Ibid.  March 
6,  August  12,  1645;  May  4,  June  26, 
Sept.  3,  1646.  Afterwards,  on  the 
termination  of  the  war,  the  great 
majority  of  the  royalists  were  ad- 
mitted to  make  their  compositions 
with  the  committee.  Of  the  fines  re- 
quired, the  greater  number  amounted 
to  one-tenth,  many  to  one-sixth,  and 
a  few  to  one-third  of  the  whole  pro- 
perty, both  real  and  personal,  of  the 
delinquents. — (See  the  Journals  of 
both  houses  for  the  years  1647, 
1648.) 


NOTE  EEE,  p.  119. 


On  the  day  after  the  king's  exe- 
cution appeared  a  work,  entitled 
"EIKQN  BA2IAIKH,  or  the  Por- 
traicture  of  his  Sacred  Majesty  in 
his  Solitude  and  Sufierings."  It  pro- 
fessed to  be  written  by  Charles  him- 
self; a  faithful  exposition  of  his  own 
thoughts  on  the  principal  events  of 
his  reign,  accompanied  with  such 
pious  effusions  as  the  recollection 
suggested  to  his  mind.  It  was  cal- 
culated to  create  a  deep  sensation  in 
favour  of  the  royal  sufferer,  and  is 
said  to  have  passed  through  fifty 
t-ditions  in  the  course  of  the  first 
year.     During    the    commonwealth, 


Milton  made  a  feeble  attempt  to 
disprove  the  king's  claim  to  the  com- 
position of  the  book :  after  the  re- 
storation, Dr.  Gauden,  a  clergyman 
of  Bocking,  in  Essex,  came  forward 
and  declared  himself  the  real  author. 
But  he  advanced  his  pretensions  with 
secrecy,  and  received  as  the  price 
of  his  silence,  first  the  bishopric  of 
Exeter,  and  afterwards,  when  he 
complained  of  the  poverty  of  that 
see,  the  richer  bishopric  of  Worcester.  1 
After  the  death  of  Gauden  his  S 
pretensions  began  to  transpire,  and  " 
became  the  subject  of  an  interesting 
controversy  between  his  friends  and 


i 


APPENDIX. 


313 


the  admirers  of  Charles.  But  many 
documents  have  been  published  since, 
which  were  then  unknown,  particu- 
larly the  letters  of  Gauden  to  the  earl 
of  Clarendon  (Clarendon  Papers,  iii. 
App.  xxvi. — xxxi.,  xcv.),  and  others 
from  him  to  the  earl  of  Bristol 
(Maty's  Review,  ii.  253.  Clarendon 
Papers,  iii.  App.  xcvi. ;  and  Mr. 
Todd,  Memoirs  of  Bishop  Walton, 
i.  138).  These  have  so  firmly  esta- 
blished Gauden's  claim,  that,  whoever 
denies  it  must  be  prepared  to  pro- 
nounce that  prelate  an  impostor,  to 
believe  that  the  bishops  Morley  and 
Duppa  gave  false  evidence  in  his 
favour,  and  to  explain  how  it  hap- 
pened, that  those,  the  most  interested 
to  maintain  the  right  of  the  king, 
namely  Charles  II.,  his  brother  the 
duke  of  York,  and  the  two  earls  of 
Clarendon  and  Bristol,  yielded  to  the 
deception.  These  difficulties,  however, 


have  not  appalled  Dr.  Wordsworth, 
who,  in  a  recent  publication  of  more 
than  four  hundred  pages,  entitled, 
"Who  wrote  EIKiiN  BASIAIKH  ?" 
has  collected  with  patient  industry 
every  particle  of  evidence  which  can 
bear  upon  the  subject ;  and  after  a 
most  minute  and  laborious  investiga- 
tion, has  concluded  bj'  adjudging  the 
work  to  the  king,  and  pronouncing 
the  bishop  an  impudent  impostor. 
Still  my  incredulity  is  not  sub- 
dued. There  is  much  in  the  EIKQN 
BA2IAIKH  itself  which  forbids  me 
to  believe  that  Charles  was  the  real 
author,  though  the  latter,  whoever 
he  were,  may  have  occasionally  con- 
sulted and  copied  the  royal  papers  ; 
and  the  claim  of  Gauden  appears  too 
firmly  established  to  be  shaken  by 
the  imperfect  and  conjectural  impro- 
babilities which  have  hitherto  been 
produced  against  it.  , 


NOTE  SSS,  p.  136. 
The  Massacres  at  Drogheda  and  Wexford. 


I.  Drogheda  was  taken  by  storm 
on  the  11th  of  September,  1649. 
Cromwell,  on  his  return  to  Dublin, 
despatched  two  official  accounts  of 
his  success  ;  one  to  Bradshaw,  presi- 
dent of  the  council  of  state ;  a  second 
to  Lenthall,  the  speaker  of  parlia- 
ment. They  were  dated  on  the  16th 
and  17th  of  September  ;  which  pro- 
bably ought  to  have  been  the  17th 
and  18th,  for  he  repeatedly  makes 
such  mistakes  in  numbering  the  days 
of  that  month.  These  two  documents 
on  several  accounts  deserve  the  at- 
tention of  the  reader. 

1.  Both  mention  a  massacre,  but 
with  this  difference,  that  whereas 
the  earlier  seems  to  confine  it  to  the 
men  in  arms  against  the  common- 
wealth, the  second  towards  the  end 
notices,  incidentally  as  it  were,  the 
additional  slaughter  of  a  thousand  of 
the  townspeople  in  the  church  of  St. 


Peter.  In  the  first,  Cromwell,  as  if 
he  doubted  how  the  shedding  of  so 
much  blood  would  be  taken,  appears 
to  shift  the  origin  of  the  massacre 
from  himself  to  the  soldiery,  who 
considered  the  refusal  of  quarter  as 
a  matter  of  course,  after  the  summons 
which  had  been  sent  into  the  town 
on  the  preceding  day ;  but  in  the 
next  despatch  he  assumes  a  bolder 
tone,  and  takes  upon  himself  all  the 
blame  or  merit  of  the  proceeding. 
"Our  men  were  ordered  hy  me  to  put 
them  all  to  the  sword." — "I  forbade 
them  to  spare  any  that  were  in  arms." 
In  the  first,  to  reconcile  the  council 
to  the  slaughter,  he  pronounces  it  "a 
marvellous  great  mercy  ;"  for  the 
enemy  had  lost  by  it  their  best 
officers  and  prime  soldiers  :  in  the 
next  he  openly  betrays  his  own  mis- 
givings, acknowledging  that  "  such 
actions  cannot  but  work  remorse  and 


314 


APPENDIX. 


regret  without  sufficient  grounds  ; " 
and  alleging  as  sufficient  grounds  in 
the  present  case — 1.  that  it  was  a 
righteous  judgment  of  God  on  bar- 
barous wretches  who  had  imbued 
their  hands  in  so  much  innocent 
blood ;  and  2.  that  it  would  tend  to 
prevent  the  effusion  of  blood  for  the 
future. 

2.  Now  the  insinuation  conveyed 
in  the  first  of  these  reasons,  that  the 
major  part  of  the  garrison  had  been 
engaged  in  the  outbreak  of  the  rebel- 
lion and  its  accompanying  horrors, 
was  in  all  probability  a  falsehood  ; 
for  the  major  part  of  the  garrison 
was  not  composed  of  native  soldiers, 
but  of  Englishmen  serving  under  the 
marquess  of  Ormond,  the  king's  lord- 
lieutenant.  This  is  plain  from  the 
evidence  of  persons  who  cannot  be 
supposed  ignorant  of  the  fact ;  the 
evidence  of  the  royalist  Clarendon 
(History,  vol.  iii.  part  i.  p.  323),  and 
of  the  republican  Ludlow,  who  soon 
afterwards  was  made  general  of  the 
horse,  and  became  Cromwell's  deputy 
in  the  government  of  the  island 
(Ludlow,  Memoirs,  i.  301).  But, 
however  groundless  the  insinuation 
might  be,  it  served  Cromwell's  pur- 
pose ;  it  would  array  in  his  favour  the 
fanaticism  of  the  more  godly  of  his 
party. 

For  the  massacre  of  the  towns- 
people in  the  church  he  offers  a 
similar  apology,  equally  calculated  to 
interest  the  feelings  of  the  saints. 
"They  had  had  the  insolence  on  the 
last  Lord's  day  to  thrust  out  the 
Protestants,  and  to  have  the  mass 
said  there."  Now  this  remark  plainly 
includes  a  paralogism.  The  persons 
who  had  ordered  the  mass  to  be  said 
there  on  the  9th  of  September  were 
undoubtedly  the  civil  or  military 
authorities  in  the  town.  Theirs  was 
the  guilt,  if  guilt  it  were,  and  theirs 
should  have  been  the  punishment. 
Yet  his  argument  supposes  that  the 
unarmed  individuals  whose  blood  was 
shed  there  on  the  12th,  were  the  very 
persons  who  had  set  up  the  mass  on 
the  9th. 

3.  We   know    not   how  far    this 


'  second  massacre  was  originated  or 
encouraged  by  Cromwell.  It  is  well 
known  that  in  the  sack  of  towns 
it  is  not  always  in  the  power  of  the 
commander  to  restrain  the  fury  of 
the  assailants,  who  abuse  the  license 
of  victory  to  gratify  the  most  brutal 
of  their  passions.  But  here  we  have 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  Cromwell 
made  any  effort  to  save  the  lives  of 
the  unarmed  and  the  innocent.  Both 
the  commander  and  his  men  had  a 
common  religious  duty  to  perform. 
They  were  come,  in  his  own  language, 
"to  ask  an  account  of  the  innocent 
blood  which  had  been  shed," — to 
"  do  execution  on  the  enemies  of 
God's  cause,"  Hence,  in  the  case  of 
a  resisting  city,  they  included  the 
old  man,  the  female,  and  the  child,  in 
the  same  category  with  the  armed 
combatant,  and  consigned  all  to  the 
same  fe,te. 

4.  Of  the  proceedings  of  the  victors 
during  that  night  we  are  ignorant; 
but  it  does  not  suggest  a  very  favour- 
able notion  of  their  forbearance,  that 
in  the  following  morning  the  great 
church  of  St.  Peter's  was  filled  with 
crowds  of  townspeople  of  both  sexes, 
and  of  every  age  and  condition.  The 
majority  of  the  women  and  children 
sought  protection  vnthin  the  body  of 
the  church  ;  a  select  party  of  feihales, 
belonging  to  the  first  families  in  the 
town,  procured  access  to  the  crypts 
under  the  choir,  which  seemed  to 
offer  more  favourable  chances  of  con- 
cealment and  safety.  But  the  sacred 
edifice  afforded  no  asylum  to  either. 
The  carnage  began  within  the  church 
at  an  early  hour  ;  and,  when  it  was 
completed,  the  bloodhounds  tracked 
their  prey  into  the  vaults  beneath  the 
pavement.  Among  the  men  who 
thus  descended  into  these  subter- 
ranean recesses,  was  Thomas  Wood, 
at  that  time  a  subaltern,  afterwards  a 
captain  in  Ingoldsby's  regiment.  He 
found  there,  according  to  his  own 
narrative,  "the  flower  and  choicest 
of  the  women  and  ladies  belonging  to 
the  town,  amongst  whom  a  most 
handsome  virgin,  arrayed  in  costly 
and  gorgeous  apparel,  kneeled  down 


APPENDIX. 


315 


to  him  with  tears  and  prayers  to  save 
her  life  ;  and  being  strucken  with  a 
profound  pitie,  he  took  her  under  his 
arme,  and  went  with  her  out  of  the 
church  with  intentions  to  put  her 
over  the  works  to  shift  for  herself ; 
but  a  soldier  perceiving  his  intention, 
he  ran  his  sword  up  her  belly  or 
fiindament.  Whereupon  Mr.  Wood, 
seeing  her  gasping,  took  away  her 
money,  jewels,  &c.,  and  flung  her 
down  over  the  works. "  (See  the  Life 
of  Anthony  a  Wood,  p.  xx.,  in  the 
edition  by  Bliss,  of  1813.  Thomas 
was  the  brother  of  Anthony,  the 
Oxford  historian.)  *'  He  told  them 
also  that  3,000  at  least,  besides  some 
women  and  children,  were,  after  the 
assailants  had  taken  part,  and  after- 
wards all  the  towne,  put  to  the  sword 
on  the  11th  and  12th  of  September, 
1649.  He  told  them  that  when  they 
were  to  make  their  way  up  to  the 
lofts  and  galleries  of  the  church,  and 
up  to  the  tower,  where  the  enemy 
had  fled,  each  of  the  assailants  would 
take  up  a  child,  and  use  as  a  buckler 
of  defence,  when  they  ascended  the 
steps,  to  keep  themselves  from  being 
shot  or  brained." — Wood,  ibid.  These 
anecdotes,  from  the  mouth  of  one 
who  was  an  eyewitness  of,  probably  a 
participator  in,  the  horrors  of  that 
day,  will  enable  the  reader  to  form  an 
adequate  notion  of  the  thirst  for  blood 
which  stimulated  the  soldiery,  and  of 
the  cruelties  which  they  exercised  on 
their  defenceless  victims, 

5.  The  terms  of  indignation  and 
abhorrence  in  which  the  sack  of 
Drogheda  was  described  by  the  royal- 
ists of  that  period  are  well  known.  I 
shall  add  here  another  testimony  ;  not 
that  it  affords  more  important  in- 
formation, but  because  I  am  not 
aware  that  it  has  ever  met  the  eye  of 
more  recent  historians ;  the  testi- 
mony of  Bruodin,  an  Irish  friar,  of 
great  eminence  and  authority  in  the 
Franciscan  order.  "  Quinque  diebus 
continuis  haec  laniena  (qua,  nullo 
habito  locorum,  sexus,  religionis  aut 
£etatis  discrimine,  juvenes  et  virgines 
lactantes  aequo  ac  senio  confecti,  bar- 
barorum  gladiis  ubique  trucidati  sunt) 


duravit.  Quatuor  millia  Catholicorum 
virorum  (ut  de  infinita  multitudine 
religiosorum,  fceminarum,  puerorum, 
puellarum  et  infantium  nihil  dicam) 
in  civitate  gladius  impiorum  rebel- 
Hum  ilia  expugnatione  devoravit." — 
Propugnaculum  Cathol.  Veritatis, 
lib.  iv.  c.  14,.  p.  678. 

6.  Here  another  question  occurs. 
How  did  Cromwell  obtain  possession 
of  Drogheda  ?  for  there  appears  in  his 
despatches  a  studied  evasion  of  the 
particulars  necessary  to  give  a  clear 
view  of  the  transaction.  The  narra- 
tive is  so  confused  that  it  provokes  a 
suspicion  of  cunning  and  concealment 
on  the  part  of  the  writer.  The  royal- 
ists affirmed  that  the  place  was  won 
through  promises  of  quarter  which 
were  afterwards  perfidiously  violated, 
and  their  assertion  is  supported  by  the 
testimony  of  Ormond  in  an  official 
letter  written  from  the  neighbour- 
hood to  Lord  Byron.  "  Cromwell," 
he  says,  "having  been  twice  beaten 
from  the  breach,  carried  it  the  third 
time,  all  his  officers  and  soldiers  pro- 
mising quarter  to  such  as  would  lay 
down  their  arms,  and  performing  it 
as  long  as  any  place  held  out,  which 
encouraged  others  to  yield ;  but  when 
they  had  all  once  in  their  power,  and 
feared  no  hurt  that  could  be  done 
them,  then  the  word  no  quarter  went 
round,  and  the  soldiers  were,  many  of 
them,  forced  against  their  wills  to 
kill  their  prisoners.  The  governor 
and  all  his  officers  were  killed  in  cold 
blood,  except  some  few  of  least  con- 
sideration that  escaped  by  miracle." — 
Sept.  29,  Carte's  Letters,  ii.  412.  It 
is  possible,  though  not  very  probable, 
that  Ormond  suffered  himself  to  be 
misled  by  false  information.  It 
should,  however,  be  observed,  that 
there  is  notliing  in  his  account  posi- 
tively contradicted  by  Cromwell's 
despatch.  Cromwell  had  not  for- 
bidden the  granting  of  quarter  before 
the  storm.  It  was  afterwards,  *'  in 
the  heat  of  the  action,"  that  he  issued 
this  order.  But  at  what  part  of  the 
action  ?  On  what  account  ?  What 
had  happened  to  provoke  him  to  issue 
it  ?     He   tells    us   that    within  the 


316 


APPENDIX 


breach  the  garrison  had  thrown  up 
three  intrenchments ;  two  of  which 
were  soon  carried,  but  the  third,  that 
on  the  Mill-Mount,  was  exceedingly 
strong,  having  a  good  graft,  and 
strongly  palisaded.  For  additional 
particulars  we  must  have  recourse  to 
other  authority,  from  which  we  learn 
that  within  this  work  was  posted  a 
body  of  picked  soldiers  with  every- 
thing requisite  for  a  vigorous  defence, 
so  that  it  could  not  have  been  taken 
by  force  without  the  loss  of  some 
hundreds  of  men  on  the  part  of  the 
assailants.  It  so  happened,  however, 
that  the  latter  entered  it  without  op- 
position, and  "  Colonel  Axtell,  with 
some  twelve  of  his  men,  went  up  to 
the  top  of  the  mount,  and  demanded 
of  the  governor  the  surrender  of  it, 
who  was  very  stubborn,  speaking  very 
big  words,  but  at  length  was  per- 
suaded to  go  into  the  windmill  at  the 
top  of  the  mount,  and  as  many  more 
of  the  chiefest  of  them  as  it  could 
contain,  ichere  they  were  disarmed, 
and  aftei'wards  ail  slain." — Perfect 
Diurnal  from  Oct.  1  to  Oct.  8.  Now 
Cromwell  in  his  despatch  says,  "  The 
governor.  Sir  Arthur  Ashton,  and 
divers  considerable  officers,  being 
there  (on  the  Mill-Mount),  our  men, 
getting  up  to  them,  were  ordered  by 
me  to  put  them  all  to  the  sword." 
In  my  opinion  this  passage  affords  a 
strong  corroboration  of  the  charge 
made  by  Ormond.  If  the  reader 
compare  it  with  the  passage  already 
quoted  from  the  Diurnal,  he  will  find 
it  difficult  to  suppress  a  suspicion 
that  Axtell  and  his  men  had  obtained 
a  footing  on  the  Mill-Mount  through 
the  offer  of  quarter ;  and  that  this  was 
the  reason  why  Cromwell,  when  he 
knew  that  they  had  obtained  pos- 
session, issued  an  order  forbidding 
the  granting  of  quarter  on  any  ac- 
count. The  consequence  was,  that 
the  governor  and  his  officei-s  went 
into  the  mill,  and  were  there  disarmed, 
and  afterwards  all  slain.  The  other 
prisoners  were  treated  in  same  manner 

as  their  officers. 
7.  Ormond  adds,  in  the  same  letter, 

that    the    sack  of  the  town    lasted 


during  five  days,  meaning,  probably, 
from  September  11  to  September  15, 
or  16,  inclusively.  The  same  is  as- 
serted by  most  of  the  royalists.  But 
how  could  that  be,  when  the  storm 
began  on  the  11th,  and  the  array 
marched  from  Drogheda  on  the  15th  ? 
The  question  may  perhaps  be  solved 
by  a  circumstance  accidentally  men- 
tioned by  Dr.  Bates,  that  on  the  de- 
parture of  the  army,  several  indi- 
viduals who  had  hitherto  succeeded 
in  concealing  themselves,  crept  out 
of  their  hiding-places,  but  did  not 
elude  the  vigilance  of  the  garrison, 
by  whom  they  were  put  to  the  sword. 
— Bates's  Rise  and  Progress,  part  ii. 
p.  27. 

II.  1.  It  did  not  require  many  days 
to  transmit  intelligence  from  Dublin 
to  the  government ;  for  the  admiralty 
had  contracted  with  a  Captain  Rich, 
that  for  the  monthly  sum  of  twenty- 
two  pounds  he  should  constantly  have 
two  swift-sailing  vessels,  stationed, 
one  at  Holyhead,  the  other  at  Dublin, 
ready  to  put  to  sea  on  the  arrival  of 
despatches  for  the  service  of  the  state. 
^Lords'  Journ.  ix.  617.  From  an 
accidental  entry  in  Whitelock,  it 
would  appear  that  the  letters  from 
Cromwell  reached.  London  on  the 
27th  of  September ;  on  the  28th, 
parliament,  without  any  cause  as- 
signed in  the  Journals,  was  adjourned 
to  October  2nd,  and  on  that  day  the 
official  account  of  the  massacre  at 
Drogheda  was  made  public.  At  the 
same  time  an  order  was  obtained 
from  the  parliament,  that  "  a  letter 
should  be  -written  to  the  lord  lieute- 
nant of  Ireland,  to  be  communicated 
to  the  officers  there,  that  the  house 
doth  approve  of  the  execution  done 
at  Drogheda,  both  as  an  act  of  justice 
to  them  and  mercy  to  others,  who 
may  be  warned  by  it "  (Journals, 
\i.  301),  which  are  the  very  reasons 
alleged  by  Cromwell  in  his  despatch. 
His  conduct  was  now  sanctioned  by 
the  highest  authority  ;  and  from  that 
moment  the  saints  in  the  army  re- 
joiced to  indulge  the  yearnings  of 
their  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Grod,  by 
shedding  the  blood  of  the  Irish  enemy. 


APPENDIX. 


317 


Nor  had  they  long  to  wait  for  the 
opportunity.  On  the  1st  of  October 
he  arrived  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Wexford,  on  the  9  th  he  opened  a 
cannonade  on  the  castle,  which  com- 
pletely commanded  the  town.  On 
the  11th,  Synnot,  the  military  go- 
vernor, offered  to  capitulate ;  four 
commissioners,  one  of  whom  was 
Stafford,  the  captain  of  the  castle, 
waited  on  Cromwell  to  arrange  the 
terms.  He  was  dissatisfied  with 
their  demands,  pronounced  them 
"  abominable,"  and  detained  them 
till  he  had  prepared  his  answer.  By 
that  answer  he  granted  life  and 
liberty  to  the  soldiers  ;  life,  but  not 
liberty,  to  the  commissioned  officers, 
and  freedom  from  pillage  to  the  inha- 
bitants, subject,  however,  to  the  de- 
cision of  parliament  with  respect  to 
their  real  property.  He  required  an 
immediate  acceptance  of  these  terms, 
and  the  delivery  to  him  of  six  hos- 
tages within  an  hour. — (Compare  the 
letter  of  October  16  in  the  King's 
Pamphlets,  No,  442,  with  the  docu- 
ment published  by  Mr.  Carlyle,  ii.  79, 
which  appears  to  me  nothing  more 
than  a  rough  and  incorrect  draft  of  an 
intended  answer.)  But  Stafford  was 
a  traitor.  In  the  interval,  being 
''  fairly  treated,"  he  accepted,  without 
communication  with  the  governor,  the 
terms  granted  by  Cromwell,  and 
opened  the  gates  of  the  fortress  to 
the  enemy.  From  the  castle  they 
scaled  an  undefended  wall  in  the 
vicinity,  and  poured  into  the  town. 
A  paper  containing  the  terms  was 
now  delivered  to  the  other  three 
commissioners  ;  but  "  their  commis- 
sioners this  while  not  having  hearts 
to  put  themselves  into  the  town  again 
.with  our  offer." — Ibid.  Letter  of 
October  16.  Thus  Synnot  and  the 
other  authorities  remained  in  igno- 
i-ance  of  Cromwell's  decision. 

2.  At  the  first  alarm  the  garrison 
and  burghers  assembled  in  the  mar- 
ket-place, to  which  they  were  accom- 
panied or  followed  by  crowds  of  old 
men,  women,  and  children.  For  a 
while  the  progress  of  the  enemy  was 
retarded  by  barricades  of  cables.     At 


the  entrance  of  the  market-place  they 
met  with  "  a  stiff  resistance,"  as  it 
is  called  by  Cromwell.  The  action 
lasted  about  an  hour  ;  but  the  as- 
sailants receiving  continual  reinforce- 
ments, obtained  at  last  full  possession 
of  the  place,  and  put  to  the  sword 
every  human  being  found  upon  it. 
The  governor  and  the  mayor  perished 
with  the  rest. 

3.  But  how  could  these  bloody 
proceedings  be  reconciled  with  the 
terms  of  capitulation  which  had  been 
already  granted  ?  If  we  may  believe 
Cromwell's  official  account,  a  match- 
less specimen  of  craft  and  mystifica- 
tion, he  was  not  to  blame  that  they 
had  been  broken.  He  was  perfectly 
innocent  of  all  that  had  happened. 
Could  he  not  then  have  ordered  his 
men  to  keep  within  the  castle,  or 
have  recalled  them  when  they  forced 
an  entrance  into  the  town  ?  Un- 
doubtedly he  might ;  but  the  pious 
man  was  unwilling  to  put  himself  iu 
opposition  to  God.  *'  His  study  had 
been  to  preserve  the  place  fi-om 
plunder,  that  it  might  be  of  more  use 
to  the  commonwealth  and  the  army." 
But  he  saw  "  that  God  would  not  have 
it  so."  The  events  which  so  quickly 
followed  each  other,  were  to  him  a 
proof  that  God  in  his  righteous  judg- 
ment had  doomed  the  town  and  its 
defendants  to  destruction  ;  on  which 
account  he  "  thought  it  not  good,  nor 
just,  to  restrain  off  the  soldiers  from 
their  right  of  pillage,  nor  from  doing 
of  execution  on  the  enemy." — Letter 
of  16th  of  October.  He  concludes 
his  despatch  to  the  government  with 
these  words  : — "Thus  it  has  pleased 
God  to  give  into  your  hands  this  other 
mercy,  for  which,  as  for  all,  we  pray 
God  may  have  all  the  glory.  Indeed, 
your  instruments  are  poor  and  weak, 
and  can  do  nothing  but  through 
believing,  and  that  is  the  gift  of  God 
also."  —  Cary's  Memorials,  ii.  ISO. 
Did  then  the  fanatic  believe  that 
perfidy  and  cruelty  were  gifts  of  God  ? 
for  at  Wexford  he  could  not  plead,  as 
at  Drogheda,  that  his  summons  had 
been  contemptuously  rejected.  It 
had  been  accepted,  and  he  had  himself 


S18 


APPENDIX. 


dictated  the  terms  of  capitulation. 
Was  he  not  obliged  to  carry  them  into 
execution,  even  if,  as  was  pretended 
in  defiance  of  all  probability,  his  men 
had  taken  possession  of  the  castle, 
and  forced  an  entrance  into  the  town 
without  his  knowledge  or  connivance  ? 
Would  any  honest  man  have  released 
himself  from  such  obligation  under 
the  flimsy  pretext  that  it  would  be 
acting  against  the  will  of  God  to 
recall  the  soldiers  and  prevent  them 
from  doing  execution  on  the  enemy  ? 

4.  Cromwell's  ministers  of  the 
divine  will  performed  their  part  at 
Wexford,  as  they  had  done  at  Drog- 
heda,  doing  execution,  not  on  the 
armed  combatants  only,  but  on  the 
women  and  children  also.  Of  these 
helpless  victims  many  had  congre- 
gated round  the  great  cross.  It  was 
a  natural  consequence  in  such  an 
emergency.  Hitherto  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  kneel  at  the  foot  of 
that  cross  in  prayer,  now,  with  life  it- 
self at  stake,  they  would  instinctively 
press  towards  it  to  escape  from  the 
swords  of  the  enemy.  But,  as  far  as 
regards  the  atrocity  of  the  thing,  it 
makes  little  difierence  on  w^hat  par- 
ticular spot  they  were  murdered. 
You  cannot  relieve  the  memory  of 
Cromwell  from  the  odium  of  such 
murder,  but  by  proving,  what  it  is 
impossible  to  prove,  that  at  Wexford 
the  women  and  children  were  spe- 
cially excepted  out  of  the  general 
massacre. 

5.  I  have  already  copied  Bruodin's 
description  of  the  sack  of  Drogheda  : 
here  I  may  transcribe  his  account  of 
the  sack  of  Wexford.  "Ipse  stra- 
tegus  regicidarum  terrestri  itinere 
Dublinium  prsetergressus,  AVexfor- 
diam  (modicam  quidem,  et  mariti- 
mam,  munitam  et  opulentam  civi- 
tatem)  versus  castra  movet,  occu- 
patoque  insperate,  proditione  cujus- 


dam  perfidi  ducis  castro,  quod  moeni- 
bus  imminebat,  in  civitatem  irruit : 
opposuere  se  viriliter  aggressori  prae- 
sidiarii  simul  cum  civibus,  pugna- 
tumque  est  ardentissime  per  unius 
horae  spathim  inter  partes  in  foro, 
sed  imparl  congressu,  nam  cives  fere 
omnes  una  cum  militibus,  sine  status, 
sexus,  aut  setatis  discrimine,  Crom- 
weli  gladius  absumpsit." — Bruodin, 
Propag.  1.  iv.  c.  14,  p.  679.  The 
following  is  a  more  valuable  docu- 
ment, from  the  "  humble  petition  of 
the  ancient  natives  of  the  town  of 
Wexford,"  to  Charles  II.,  July  4, 
1660.  *' Yet  soe  it  is,  may  it  please 
your  Majestie,  that  after  all  the  re- 
sistance they  could  make,  the  said 
usurper,  having  a  great  armie  by  sea 
and  land  before  the  said  toune,  did 
on  the  9th  of  October,  1649,  soe 
powerfully  assault  them,  that  he 
entered  the  toune,  and  put  nxan, 
woman,  and  child,  to  a  very  few,  to 
the  sword,  where  among  the  rest  the 
governor  lost  his  life,  and  others  of 
the  soldiers  and  inhabitants  to  the 
number  of  1,500  persons." — Gale's 
Corporation  System  in  Ireland,  App. 
p.  cxxvi. 

6.  My  object  in  these  remarks  has 
been  to  enable  the  reader  to  form  a 
correct  notion  of  the  manner  in  which 
Cromwell  conducted  the  war  in  Ire- 
land. They  will  give  little  satisfac- 
tion to  the  worshippers  of  the  hero. 
But  his  character  is  not  a  mere 
matter  of  taste  or  sympathy.  It  is  a 
question  of  historic  inquiry.  Much 
indeed  has  been  written  to  vindicate 
him  from  the  imputation  of  cruelty 
at  Drogheda  and  Wexford  ;  but  of 
the  arguments  hitherto  adduced  in 
his  defence,  it  will  be  no  presumption 
to  affirm  that  there  is  not  one  among 
them  which  can  bear  the  test  of  dis- 
passionate investigation. 


APPENDIX. 


319 


NOTE  TTT,  p.  162. 


The  following  pensions  were  after- 
wards granted  to  different  persons 
instrumental  in  facilitating  the  king's 
escape.  Unless  it  be  mentioned 
otherwise,  the  pension  is  for  life  : — 

To  Jane  Lane  (Lady  Fisher)  .^£1000 

Thomas  Lane,  the  father. .  500 

Charles  GiflEbrd,  Jlsq.       . .  300 

Francis  Mansell,  Esq.      -.  200 

Thomas  Whitgrave,  Esq,  200 
Catharine  Gunter,  for  21 

years       ..      ^.      ._.      ..  200 

Joan  Harford    . .      ^      ...  50 


To  Eleanor  Sampson        . .      . .  ^"50 

Francis  Eeynolds     . ,      . .  200 
John    and    Anne    Eogers, 

and  heirs  male      ,.       , .  100 

Anne  Bird.. 30 

Sir     Thomas     Wyndham, 

and  heirs,  for  ever        . .  600 
William    ELLesdun,  during 

pleasure          100 

Robert  Swan,   during   the 

king's  life 80 

Lady  Anne  Wyndham    . .  400 

Juliana  Hest 30 

— Clarendon  Correa.  i.  656. 


NOTE  VVV,  p.  176. 
Tjie  Act  for  the  Settlement  of  Ireland. 


Whereas  the  parliament  of  Eng- 
land after  expense  of  much  blood  and 
treasure  for  suppression  of  the  horrid 
rebellion  in  Ireland  have  by  the  good 
hand  of  God  vpon  their  vndertakings 
brought  that  affaire  to  such  an  issue 
as  that  a  totall  reducm'  and  settle- 
ment of  that  nation  may  with  Gods 
blessing  be  speedily  effected.  To  the 
end  therefore  that  the  people  of  that 
nation  may  knowe  that  it  is  not  the 
intention  of  the  Parliament  to  ex- 
tirpat  that  wholl  nation,  but  that 
mercie  and  pardon  both  as  to  life  and 
estate  may  bee  extended  to  all  hus- 
bandmen, plowmen,  labourers,  arti- 
ficers, and  others  of  the  inferior  sort, 
in  manner  as  is  heereafter  declared, 
they  submitting  themselves  to  the 
Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England  and  liveing  peaceably  and 
obediently  vnder  their  govemement, 
and  that  others  alsoe  of  a  higher 
ranke  and  quality  may  knowe  the 
Parliament's  intention  concerning 
them  according  to  the  respective 
demerits    and  considerations    under 


which  they  fall.  Bee  it  enacted  and 
declared  by  this  present  Parliament 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  same, 
That  all  and  every  person  and  per- 
sons of  the  Irish  nation  compre- 
hended in  any  of  the  following  Quali- 
fications shal  bee  lyable  vnto  the 
penalties  and  foi-feitures  herein  men- 
tioned and  contained  or  bee  made 
capable  of  the  mercy  and  pardon 
therein  extended  respectively  ac- 
cording as  is  heereafter  expressed 
and  declared,  that  is  to  saye, 

1.  That  all  and  every  person  and 
pei-sons  who  at  any  time  before  the 
tenth  day  of  November,  1642,  being 
the  time  of  the  sitting  of  the  first 
generall  assembly  at  Kilkenny  in  Ire- 
land have  contrived,  advised,  coun- 
selled, or  promoted  the  PebelKon, 
murthers,  massacres,  done  or  com- 
mitted in  Ireland  w'^*'  began  in  the 
year  1641,  or  have  at  any  time  before 
the  said  tenth  day  of  November 
1642  by  bearing  armes  or  contri- 
buting m«n,  armes,  horses,  plate, 
money,  victuall  or  other  furniture  or 


320 


APPENDIX. 


habilliments  of  warre  (other  then 
such  w'^^  they  shall  make  to  appeare 
tohaue  been  taken  from  them  by  meere 
force  &  violence)  ayded,  assisted,  pro- 
moted, prosecuted  or  abetted  the  said 
rebellion  murthers  or  massacres,  be 
excepted  from  pardon  of  life  and  estate. 

2.  That  all  and  every  person  & 
persons  who  at  any  time  before  the 
first  day  of  May  1643,  did  sitt  or 
vote,  in  the  said  first  generall  as- 
sembly, or  in  the  first  pretended 
counsell  comonly  called  the  supreame 
councell  of  the  confederate  Catho- 
liques  in  Ireland  or  were  imployed 
as  secretaries  or  cheife  clearke,  to  be 
exempted  from  pardon  for  life  and 
estate. 

3.  That  all  and  every  Jesuitt  preist 
and  other  person  or  persons  who  have 
receaved  orders  from  the  Pope  or 
Sea  of  Bome,  or  any  authoritie  from 
the  same,  that  have  any  wayes  con- 
trived, advised,  counselled,  promoted, 
continued,  countenanced,  ayded,  as- 
sisted or  abetted,  or  at  any  time 
hereafter  shall  any  wayes  contriue 
advise,  councell,  promote,  continue, 
countenance,  ayde,  assist  or  abett  the 
Rebellion  or  warre  in  Ireland,  or  any 
the  murthers,  or  massacres,  robberies 
or  violences,  comitted  against  y^  Pro  • 
testants,  English,  or  others  there,  be 
excepted  from  pardon  for  life  and 
estate. 

4.  That  James  Butler  earl  of  Or- 
mond,  James  Talbot  earl  of  Castel- 
haven,  Ullick  Bourke  earl  of  Clanri- 
carde,  Christopher  Plunket  earl  of 
Fingal,  James  Dillon  earl  of  Eos- 
common,  Richard  Nugent  earl  of 
Westmeath,  Moragh  O'Brian  baron 
of  Inchiquin,  Donogh  McCarthy 
viscount  Muskerry,  Richard  Butler 
viscount  Mountgarrett,  Theobald 
Taafe  viscount  Taafie  of  Corren, 
Rock  viscount  Fermoy,  Montgomery 
viscount  Montgomery  of  Ards,  Ma- 
gennis  viscount  of  Iveagh,  Fleming 
baron  of  Slane,  Dempsey  viscount 
Glanmaleere,  Birmingham  baron  of 
Athenry,  Oliver  Plunket  baron  of 
Lowth,  Robert  Barnwell  baron  of 
Trymletstoune,  Myles  Bourke  vis- 
count Mayo,  Connor  Magwyre  baron 


of  Enniskillen,  Nicholas  Preston,  vis- 
count Gormanstowne,  Nicholas  Net- 
tervill,  viscount  Nettervill  of  Lowth, 
John  Bramhall  late  bishop  of  Derry, 
(with  eighty-one  baronets,  knights 
and  gentlemen  mentioned  by  name) 
be  excepted  from  pardon  of  life  and 
estate. 

5.  That  all  and  every  person  & 
persons  (both  principalis  and  acces- 
sories) who  smce  the  first  day  of 
October  1641  have  or  shall  kill,  slay 
or  otherwise  destroy  any  person  or 
persons  in  Ireland  w*='»  at  y^  time  of 
their  being  soe  killed,  slaine  or  de- 
stroyed were  not  publiquely  enter- 
teined,  and  mainteyned  in  armes  as 
oflficers  or  private  souldiers  for  and 
on  behalfe  of  the  English  against  y^ 
Irish,  and  all  and  every  person  and 
persons  (both  principalis  and  acces- 
sories) who  since  the  said  first  day  of 
October  1641  have  killed,  slayne.or 
otherwise  destroyed  any  person  or 
persons  entertained  and  mainteyned 
as  officers  or  private  souldiers  for  and 
on  behalfe  of  the  English,  against  the 
Irish  (the  said  persons  soe  killing, 
slaying  or  otherwise  destroying,  not 
being  then  publiquely  enterteyned 
and  mainteyned  in  armes  as  officer 
or  private  souldier  vnder  the  comand 
and  pay  of  y^  Irish  against  the  Eng- 
lish) be  excepted  from  pardon  for  life 
and  estate. 

6.  That  all  and  eveiy  person  & 
persons  in  Ireland  that  are  in  armes 
or  otherwise  in  hostilitie  against  y^ 
Parliam*  of  y«  Commonwealth  of 
England,  and  shall  not  w'^'in  eight 
and  twenty  dayes  after  publicacon 
hereof  by  y^  deputy  gen''  of  Ireland, 
and  y^  comission''*  for  the  Parliam*, 
lay  downe  ai-mes  &  submitt  to  y« 
power  and  authoritie  of  y^  said  Par- 
liam'  &  commonwealth  as  y^  same 
is  now  established,  be  excepted  from 
pardon  for  life  and  estate. 

7.  That  all  other  person  &  persons 
(not  being  comprehended  in  any  of 
y'^  former  Qualifications,)  who  have 
borne  comaund  in  the  warre  of  Ire- 
land against  the  Parliam'  of  England 
or  their  forces,  as  generall,  leift'* 
generall,    major     gen",    commissary 


APPENDIX. 


321 


generall,  colonell,  Gouerno"  of  any 
garrison,  Castle  or  Forte,  or  who 
have  been  imployed  as  receaver 
gen"  or  Treasurer  of  the  whole 
Nation,  or  any  province  thereof,  Co- 
missarie  gen'^  of  musters,  or  prouis- 
sions,  Marshall  general!  or  marshall 
of  any  province,  advocate  to  y^  army, 
secretary  to  y*^  councell  of  warre,  or 
to  any  generall  of  the  army,  or  of  any 
the  seuerall  prouinces,  in  order  to 
the  carrying  on  the  warre,  against 
the  parliam^  or  their  forces,  be 
banished  dureing  the  pleasure  of  the 
parliam*  of  y'=  Com" wealth  of  Eng- 
land, and  their  estates  forfeited  & 
disposed  of  as  folio weth,  (viz.)  That 
two  third  partes  of  their  respective 
estates,  be  had  taken  &  disposed  of 
for  the  vse  &  benefitt  of  the  said 
Com~wealth,  and  that  y^  other  third 
parte  of  their  said  respective  estates, 
or  other  lands  to  y^  proporcon  & 
value  thereof  (to  bee  assigned  in  such 
places  in  Ireland  as  the  Parliam*  in 
order  to  y*  more  effectual  settlem^  of 
y*  peace  of  this  Nation  shall  thinke 
fitt  to  appoint  for  that  purpose),  be 
respectiuely  had  taken  and  enioyed 
by  y*  wifes  and  children  of  the  said 
persons  respectively. 

8.  That  y*  deputy  gen"  and  comls- 
sion"^*  of  parliam*  have  power  to 
declare.  That  such  person  or  persons 
as  they  shall  judge  capeable  of  y' 
parliam*^  mercie  (not  being  compre- 
hended in  any  of  y^  former  qualifica- 
tions) who  have  borne  ai-mes  against 
the  Parliam*  of  England  or  their 
forces,  and  have  layd  downe  armes, 
or  within  eight  &  twenty  dayes  after 
publicacon  hereof  by  y^  deputy  gen" 
of  Ireland  and  y'^  Comissioners  for 
y*=  parliam*,  shall  lay  downe  armes  & 
submitt  to  y*  power  &  authoritie  of 
y*^  said  parliam*  &  com"" wealth  as  y'= 
same  is  now  established,  (by  promising 
&  ingaging  to  be  true  to  y^  same) 
shal  be  pardoned  for  their  Hues,  but 
shall  forfeit  their  estates,  to  the  said 
Comonwealth  to  be  disposed  of  as 
followeth  (viz)  Two  third  partes  thereof 
(in  three  equall  partes  to  bee  diuided, 
for  the  vse  benefitt  &  aduantage  of 
y«  said  Comonwealth,  and  y«  other 
8 


third  parte  of  the  said  respective 
estates,  or  other  lands  to  y^  pro- 
porcon or  value  thereof)  to  bee 
assigned  in  such  places  in  Ireland 
as  the  parliam*  in  order  to  y^  more 
effectual  settlement  of  the  peace  of 
the  Nation  shall  thinke  fitt  to  appoint 
for  that  purpose  (bee  enioyed  by  y^ 
said  persons  their  heires  or  assigns 
respectively,  provided,  That  in  case 
the  deputy  gen"  &  Comission"  or 
either  of  them,  shall  see  cause  to  give 
any  shorter  time  than  twenty-eight 
dayes,  vnto  any  person  or  persons  in 
armes,  or  any  Guarrison,  Castle,  or 
Forte,  in  hostilitie  against  the  Par- 
liam'  &  shall  giue  notice  to  such 
person  or  persons  in  armes  or  in  any 
Guarrison,  Castle  or  Forte,  That  all 
and  every  such  person  &  persons 
who  shall  not  w^'^in  such  time  as  shal 
be  sett  downe  in  such  notice  sur- 
I'ender  such  Guarrison,  Castle,  or 
Forte  to  y^  parliam',  and  lay  downe 
armes,  shall  haue  noe  advantage  of 
y^  time  formerly  limited  in  this  Quali- 
ficacon. 

9.  That  all  and  every  person  & 
persons  who  have  recided  in  Ireland 
at  any  time  from  the  first  day  of 
October  1641,  to  y^  first  of  March 
1650,  and  haue  not  beene  in  actuall 
service  of  y^  parliam"^  at  any  time 
from  y^  first  of  August  1649,  to  the 
said  first  of  March  1650,  or  have  not 
otherwise  manifested  their  constant 
good  affections  to  the  interest  of  y*^ 
Comonwealth  of  England  (the  said 
Persons  not  being  comprehended  in 
any  of  the  former  Qualificacons)  shall 
forfeit  their  estates  in  Ireland  to  the 
said  Comonwealth  to  be  disposed  of 
as  followeth,  (viz.),  one  third  parte 
thereof  for  the  vse,  benefitt,  and  ad- 
vantage of  the  said  Comonwealth,  and 
the  other  two  third  partes  of  their 
respective  estates,  or  other  lands  to 
the  proporcon  or  value  thereof  (to 
bee  assigned  in  such  places  in  Ire- 
land, as  y^  Parliam*  for  y^  more 
effectual  settlement  of  y^  peace  of 
the  Nation  shall  thinke  fitt  to  appoint 
for  that  purpose)  bee  enioyed  by  such 

I  person   or   persons    their    heires    or 
assigns  respectively. 


APPENDIX. 


10.  That  all  and  every  person  & 
persons  (haueing  noe  reall  estate  iu 
Ireland  nor  personall  Estate  to  the 
value  of  ten  pounds,)  that  shall  lay 
downe  armes,  and  submitt  to  the 
power  and  Authoritie  of  the  Parlia- 
ment by  the  time  limited  in  the 
former  Qualificacon,  &  shall  take  & 
subscribe  the  engagem*  to  be  true  and 
faithfull  to  the  Comonwealth  of  Eng- 
land as  the  same  is  now  established, 
within  such  time  and  in  such  manner, 
as  the  deputy  Generall  &  commis- 
sion" for  the  Parliam'  shall  appoint 
and  direct,  such  persons  (not  being 
excepted  from  pardon  nor  adiuged 
for  banishm'  by  any  of  the  former 
Qualificacons)  shal  be  pardoned  for 
life  &  estate,  for  any  act  or  thing  by 
them  done  in  prosecution  of  the  warre. 

11.  That  all  estates  declared  by 
the  Qualificacons  concerning  rebells 
or  delinquents  in  Ireland  to  be  for- 
feited shal  be  construed,  adiuged  & 
taken  to  all  intents  and  purposes  to 
extend  to  y^  forfeitures  of  all  estates 
tayle,  and  also  of  all  rights  &  titles 
thereunto  which  since  the  fine  and 
twentith  of  March  1639,  have  beene 
or  shal  be  in  such  rebells  or  delin- 
quents, or  any  other  in  trust  for  them 
or  any  of  them,  or  their  or  any  of 
their  vses,  w'**  all  reversions  &  re- 
mainders thereupon  in  any  other 
person  or  persons  whatsoever. 

And  also  to   the  forfeiture  of  all 


estates  limitted,  appointed,  conueyed, 
settled,  or  vested  in  any  person  or 
persons  declared  by  the  said  Quali- 
ficacons to  be  rebells  or  delinquents 
with  all  reversions  or  remainders 
of  such  estates,  conueyed,  nested, 
limitted,  declared  or  appointed  to 
any  the  heires,  children,  issues,  or 
others  of  the  blood,  name,  or  kindred 
of  such  rebells  or  delinquents,  yr'^^ 
estate  or  estates  remainders  or  re- 
uersions  since  the  25th  of  March 
1639  have  beene  or  shal  be  in  such 
rebells  or  delinquents,  or  in  any 
their  heires,  children,  issues  or  others 
of  the  blood,  name,  or  kindred  of  such 
rebells  or  delinquents. 

And  to  all  estates  graunted, 
limitted,  appointed  or  conueyed  by 
any  such  rebells  or  delinquents  vnto 
any  their  heires,  children,  issue,  w*^ 
all  the  reversions  and  remainders 
therevpon,  in  any  other  person  of 
the  name  blood  or  kindred  of  such 
rebells  or  delinquents,  provided  that 
this  shall  not  extend  to  make  voyd 
the  estates  of  any  English  Protestants, 
who  haue  constantly  adhered  to  the 
parliam^  W^^  were  by  them  pur- 
chased for  valuable  consideracon  be- 
fore y*  23'''^  of  October  1641,  or  vpon 
like  valuable  consideracon  mortgaged 
to  them  before  y«  tyme  or  to  any 
person  or  persons  in  trust  for  them 
for  satisfaction  of  debts  owing  to 
them. 


NOTE  WWW,  p.  195. 


I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  Catholic  clergymen 
who  were  executed  or  banished  for 
their  religion  under  Charles  I.,  and 
under  the  commonwealth ;  but  I 
possess  an  original  document,  authen- 
ticated by  the  signatures  of  the  par- 
ties concerned,  which  contains  the 
names  and  &te  of  such  Catholic 
priests  as  were  apprehended  and  pro- 
secuted in  London  between  the  end 
of  1640  and  the  summer  of  1651  by 


four  individuals,  who  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  kind  of  joint-stock 
company  for  that  laudable  purpose, 
and  who  solicited  from  the  council  some 
reward  for  their  services.  It  should, 
however,  be  remembered  that  there 
were  many  others  engaged  in  the  same 
pursuit,  and  consequently  many  other 
victims  besides  those  who  are  here 
enumerated. 

"  The  names   of  such  Jesuits  and 
Bomisb  priests  as  have  been  appre- 


APPENDIX. 


323 


bended  and  prosecuted  by  Cap*  James 
Wadswortb,  Francis  Newton,  Tho- 
mas Mayo,  and  Robert  de  Luke, 
messengers,  at  our  proper  charge ; 
■whereof  some  have  been  condemned  ; 
some  executed,  and  some  reprieved 
since  the  beginning  of  the  parliament 
(3  Nov.  1640)  :  the  like  having  not 
been  done  by  any  others  since  the 
reformation  of  religion  in  this  na- 
tion : — 
"  William  Waller,  als.  Slaughter,  als. 

Walker,  executed  at  Tyburne. 
"■  Cuthbert  Clapton,  condemned,  re- 
prieved and  pardoned. 
"  Bartholomew   Row,     executed    at 

Tyburne. 
*'  Thomas  Reynolds,  executed  at  Ty- 
burne. 
"  Edward  Morgan,   executed  at  Ty- 
burne. 
''  Thomas  Sanderson,  als.  Hammond, 

executed  at  Tyburne. 
**  Henry  Heath,  alias  Pall  Magdelen, 

executed  at  Tyburne. 
"  Francis  Quashet,  dyed  in  Newgate 

after  judgment. 
"  Arthur  Bell,  executed  at  Tyburne. 
*'  Ralph  Corbey,  executed  at  Tyburne. 
**  John  Duchet,  executed  at  Tyburne. 
*'  John  Hamond,  als.  Jackson,  con- 
demned, reprieved  by  the  king, 
and  died  in  Newgate. 
"  Walter  Coleman,   condemned  and 

died  in  Newgate. 
*'  Edmond  Cannon,  condemned   and 

died  in  Newgate. 
*'  John  Wigmore,    als.  Turner,    con- 
demned, reprieved  by  the  king, 
and  is  in  custodie  in  Newgate. 
"  Andrew   Ffryer,  alias  Heme,  als. 
Richmond,  comdemned,  and  died 
in  Newgate. 
*'  Augustian  Abbot,  als.  Rivers,  con- 
demned, reprieved  by  the  king, 
and  died  in  Newgate, 
"  John   Goodman,    condemned    and 

died  in  Newgate. 
"  Peter  Welford,  condemned  and  died 

in  Newgate. 
"  Thomas  Bullaker,  executed  at  Ty- 
burne. 
'^  Robert    Robinson,     indicted    and 
proved,  and  made  an  escape  out 
of  the  King's  Bench. 


"  James  Brown,  condemned  and  died 
in  Newgate. 

*'  Henry  Morse,  executed  at  Ty- 
burne. 

"  Thomas  Worseley,  alias  Harvey, 
indicted  and  proved,  and  re- 
prieved by  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador and  others. 

"  Charles  Chanie  (Cheney)  als.  Tom- 
son,  indicted  and  proved,  and 
begged  by  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador, and  since  taken  by  com- 
mand of  the  councell  of  state, 
and  is  now  in  Newgate. 

*'  Andrew  White,  indicted,  proved, 
reprieved  before  judgment,  and 
banished. 

"  Richard  Copley,  condemned  and 
banished. 

"  Richard  Worthington,  found  guiltie 
and  banished. 

"  Edmond  Cole,  Peter  Wright,  and 
William  Morgan,  indicted,  proved, 
and  sent  beyond  sea. 

"  Philip  Morgan,  executed  at  Ty- 
burne. 

"  Edmond  Ensher,  als.  Arrow,  in- 
dicted, condemned,  reprieved  by 
the  parliament  and  banished. 

"  Thomas  Budd,  als.  Peto,  als.  Gray, 
condemned,  reprieved  by  the 
lord  mayor  of  London,  and 
others,  justices,  and  since  re- 
taken by  order  of  the  councell 
of  state,  and  is  now  in  New- 
gate. 

"  George  Baker,  als.  Macham,  in- 
dicted, proved  guiltie,  and  now 
in  Newgate. 

"  Peter  Beale,  als.  Wright,  executed 
at  Tyburne. 

"  George  Gage,  indicted  by  us,  and 
found  guiltie,  and  since  is  dead, 
"  James  Wadsworth. 
"  Francis  Newton. 
*'  Thomas  Mayo. 
"  Robert  de  Luke." 
This  catalogue  tells  a  fearful  but 

instructive  tale  ;  inasmuch  as  it  shows 

how   wantonly   men   can  sport  with 

the  lives  of  their  fellow-men,  if  it  suit 

the    purpose     of    a    great    political 

party.      The    patriots,    to    enlist    in 

their  favour  the   religious   prejudices 

of  the  people;  represented  the  king 
Y2 


324 


APPENDIX. 


as  the  patron  of  popery,  because  lie 
sent  the  priests  into  banishment, 
instead  of  delivering  them  to  the 
knife  of  the  executioner.  Hence, 
when  they  became  lords  of  the 
ascendant,  they  were  bound  to  make 
proof  of  their  orthodoxy  ;  and  almost 
every    execution    mentioned     above 


took  place  by  their  order  in  1642,  or 
1643.  After  that  time  time  they 
began  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  huma- 
nity, and  adopted  the  very  expedient 
which  they  had  so  clamorously  con- 
demned. They  banished,  instead  of 
hanging  and  quartering. 


NOTE  XXX,  p.  242. 


Revenue  of  the  Protector. 


When  the  parliament,  in  1654, 
undertook  to  settle  an  annual  sum  on 
the  protector,  Oliver  Cromwell,  the 
following,  according  to  the  state- 
ment of  the  sub-committee,  was  the 
amount  of  the  revenue  in  the  three 
kingdoms : — 

Excise  and  customs  i-n  Eng- 
land . .      ..      ....      ..   £80,000 

Excise  and  customs  in  Scot- 
land        10,000 

Excise  and  customs  in  Ire- 
land        20,000 

Monthly  assessments  in  Eng- 
land (at  60,000?.)    ..      ..     720,000 

Monthly  assessments  in  Ire- 
land (at  8,000?.)      ..      ..       96,000 

Monthly  assessments  in  Scot- 
land (at  8,000?.)      ..      ..      96,000 


Cro^vn  revenue  in  Guernsey 
}      and  Jersey       

Crown  revenue  in  Scotland 

Estates  of  papists  and  delin- 
j      quents  in  England  . . 
I  Estates  of  papists  and  delin- 
j      quents  in  Scotland . . 
I  Rent  of  houses  belonging  to 

!      the  crown        

!  Post-office    . .    ' 

i  Exchequer  revenue    . . 

j  Probate  of  wills 

Coinage  of  tin 

;  Wine  licenses      

Forest  of  Dean   . . 
i  Fines  on  alienations  . . 


2,000 
9,000 

60,000 

30,000 

1,250 
10,000 
20,000 
10,000 

2,000 
10,000 

4,000 
20,000 


j  £1,200,000 

[From  the  original  report   in  the 
I  collection  of  Thomas  Lloyd,  Esq.] 


NOTE  YYY,  p.  274 
PHnciples  of  the  Levellers. 


The  following  statement  of  the 
principles  maintained  by  the  Level- 
lers is  extracted  from  one  of  their 
publications,  which  appeared  soon 
after  the  death  of  Cromwell,  entitled, 
"The  Leveller;  or.  The  Principles 
and  Maxims  concerning  Government 
and  Eeligion,  which  are  asserted  by 


those  that  are  commonly  called  Level- 
lers, 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    oflfences  and    offenders,    and    all 


APPENDIX. 


325 


punishment  and  penalties  to  be  in- 
flicted upon  criminals,  nor  ought  the 
pleasure  of  his  highness  and  his  coun- 
cil to  make  whom  they  please  oflfen- 
ders,  and  punish  and  imprison  whom 
they  please,  and  during  pleasure. 

2.  All  laws,  levies  of  moneys,  war 
and  peace,  ought  to  be  made  by  the 
people's  deputies  in  parliament,  to  be 
chosen  by  them  successively  at  cer- 
tain periods.  Therefore  there  should 
be  no  negative  of  a  monarch,  because 
he  will  frequently  by  that  means 
consult  his  own  interest  or  that  of 
his  family,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
people.  But  it  would  be  well  if  the 
deputies  of  the  people  w6re  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 


fi'om  foreigners.  A  mercenary  (stand- 
ing) army  is  dangerous  to  liberty, 
and  therefore  should  not  be  admitted. 

Pmicii^les  of  Religion. 

1.  The  assent  of  the  understanding 
cannot  be  compelled.  Therefore  no 
man  can  compel  another  to  be  of  the 
true  religion. 

2.  Worship  follows  from  the  doc- 
trines admitted  by  the  understanding. 
No  man  therefore  can  bind  another 
to  adopt  any  particular  form  of  wor- 
ship. 

3.  Works  of  righteousness  and 
mercy  are  part  of  the  worship  of 
God,  and  so  far  fall  under  the  civil 
magistrate,  that  he  ought  to  restrain 
men  from  irreligion,  that  is,  injus- 
tice, 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. 


NOTE  ZZZ,  p.  299. 


That  Sir  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper 
was  deeply  engaged  in  the  intrigues 
of  this  busy  time  is  sufficiently  mani- 
fest. He  appears  to  have  held  himself 
out  to  every  party  as  a  friend,  and  to 
have  finally  attached  himself  to  the 
royalists,  when  he  saw  that  the  royal 
cause  was  likely  to  triumph.  Charles 
acknowledged  his  services  in  the 
patent  by  which  he  was  created  Lord 
Ashley,  mentioning  in  particular  "his 
prudent  and  seasonable  advice  with 
General  Monk  in  order  to  the  king's 
restoration." — Dugd.  ii.  481.  From 
this  passage  we  may  infer  that  Cooper 


was  one  of  Monk's  confidential  ad- 
visers ;  but  his  admirers  have  gone 
much  farther,  attributing  to  him  the 
whole  merit  of  the  restoration,  and 
representing  the  lord-general  as  a 
mere  puppet  in  the  hands  of  cheir 
hero.  In  proof  they  refer  to  the 
story  told  by  Locke  (iii.  471) — a 
story  which  cannot  easily  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  more  credible  and 
unpretending  narrative  of  Clarges,  in 
Baker's  Chronicle,  p.  602,  edit.  1730. 
But  that  the  reader  may  form  his  own 
judgment,  I  shall  subjoin  the  chief 
heads  of  each  in  parallel  columns. 


Clarges.  locke. 

1.  Scot,     Hazelrig,      and     others  1.  Bordeaux,  the   French   ambas- 

sought  and  obtained  a  private  inter-  sador,  visited  Monk  one  evening,  and 

view  with  Monk  at  Whitehall ;  and  Mrs.   Monk,  who  had  secreted   her- 


326 


APPENDIX. 


Clarges,  from  their  previous  conver- 
sation with  himself,  had  no  doubt 
that  their  object  was  to  offer  the 
government  of  the  kingdom  to  the 
general. 

2.  The  council  of  state  was  sitting 
in  another  room  ;  and  Clarges,  send- 
ing for  Sir  A.  A.  Cooper,  commu- 
nicated his  suspicion  to  him. 

3.  After  some  consultation  it  was 
agreed  that,  as  soon  as  Monk,  having 
dismissed  Scot  and  Hazelrig,  should 
enter  the  council-room,  Cooper  should 
move  that  the  clerks  be  ordered  to 
withdraw. 

4.  When  this  was  done,  Cooper 
said  that  he  had  received  notice  of  a 
dangerous  design ;  that  some  sedi- 
tious persons  had  made  "indecent 
proposals"  to  the  general;  and  of 
such  proposals  he  desired  that  the 
council  might  have  a  full  discovery. 

5.  Monk,  unwilling  to  expose 
them,  replied  that  there  was  very 
little  danger  in  the  case  ;  that  some 
persons  had,  indeed,  been  with  him 
to  be  resolved  in  scruples  respecting 
the  present  transactions  in  parlia- 
ment ;  but  that  he  had  sent  them 
away  well  satisfied  (p.  602). 


6.  Bordeaux  offered  to  Monk 
through  Clatges  the  aid  of  Mazarin, 
whether  it  were  his  object  to  restore 
the  king,  or  to  assume  the  govern- 
ment himself.  Monk  refused;  but 
consented  to  receive  a  visit  of  civi- 
lity from  the  ambassador,  on  condi- 
tion that  politics  should  not  be  intro- 
duced (p.  604). 

It  may  be  thought  that  Locke's 
narrative  derives  confirmation  from 
another  version  of  the  same  story  in 
the  Life  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  lately 
edited  by  Mr.  Cooke,  with  the  follow- 
ing variations.  Bordeaux  is  made 
to  accompany  the  republicans  ;  the 
greater  part  of  Ihe  night  is  spent  in 
consultation,  and  Monk  not  only  con- 
sents to  assume  the  government,  but 


self  behind  the  hangings,  heard  him 
offer  the  aid  of  Mazaiin  to  her  hus- 
band, if  he  was  willing  to  take  the 
government  on  himself,  which  offer 
the  general  accepted. 

2.  Mrs.  Monk  sent  her  brother 
Clarges  to  communicate  the  discovery 
of  her  husband's  ambitious  design  to 
Sir  A.  A.  Cooper. 

3.  Cooper  caused  a  council  to  be 
called,  and,  when  they  were  met, 
moved  that  the  clerks  should  with- 
draw, because  he  had  matter  of  con- 
sequence to  conamunicate. 

4.  He  then  charged  Monk,  "not 
openly,  but  by  insinuation,  that  he 
was  playing  false  with  them,  so  that 
the  rest  of  the  council  perceived 
there  was  something  in  it,  though 
they  knew  not  what  was  meant." 

5.  Monk  replied  that  he  was  will- 
ing to  satisfy  them  that  he  was  true 
to  his  principles.  Then,  said  Ashley, 
replace  certain  ofl&cers  of  suspicious 
character  by  others  of  known  fidelity. 
This  was  done  on  the  spot ;  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  by  the  change  was 
virtually  taken  from  Monk ;  and  he 
was  compelled  to  declare  for  Charles 
Stuart. 


resolves  to  arrest  in  the  morning 
Cooper  and  several  other  influential 
individuals  (p.  232—235).  But  that 
life  cannot  be  considered  as  an  autho- 
rity ;  for  the  documents  from  which 
it  is  said  to  have  been  compiled  are 
neither  quoted  nor  described  by  its 
author,  nor  have  ever  be«n  seen  by 
its  present  editor. 


cox   (BROS.)   AND   WYMAN,    PHINTERS,   GBBAT   ftXriEN   STRUT. 


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Lingard,  John 

The  history  of  England 
6th  ed.,  rev.