Skip to main content

Full text of "The history of England, from the invasion of Julius Caesar to the revolution in 1688. Embellished with engravings on copper and wood, from original designs"

See other formats 


1 


THE 

H  I  STORY 


OF 


€nglatto, 


FROM 

THE  INVASION  OF  JULIUS  CiESAR 

TO 

THE  REVOLUTION  IN  1688. 

EMBELLISHED    WITH 

Cngratonp;  on  Copper  ano  Wood, 

FROM  ORIGINAL  DESIGNS. 

By   DAVID    HUME,    Esq. 
VOLUME  THE  EIGHTH. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED    FOR    J.  WALLIS,   46,    PATERNOSTER-ROW, 
Br  T.  DA  WON,  WmTEFRUKS. 

.   1803. 


CONTENTS 


OP 


VOLUME    THE    EIGHTH. 


CHAP.    LVIIL 

CHARLES    I. 

Montrose's  victories . . .  The  new  model  of  the  army. . . 
Battle  of  Naseby. . . .  Surrender  of  Bristol. . .  .The 
West  conquered  by  Fairfax. .  Defeat  of  Montrose. . 
Ecclesiastical  affairs. . . .  King  goes  to  the  Scots  at 
Newark. . . .End  of  the  war. . .  .King  delivered  up 
by  the  Scots Page  1 


CHAP.  L1X. 

Mutiny  of  the  army. . . .  The  king  seized  by  Joyce. . . . 
The  army  march  against  the  parliament ....  The 


56425W 


iv  CONTENTS. 

army  subdue  the  parliament. ..  .The  king  flies  to 
the  Isle  of  Wight. . . .  Second  civil  war. . . .  Invasion 
from  Scotland. . . .  The  treaty  of  Newport. . . .  The 
civil  war  and  invasion  repressed. . . .  The  king  seized 
again  by  the  army.  ...The  house  purged. ...  The 
king's  trial. . . .  and  execution, . . . and  character. .  54 


CHAP.  LX. 

THE   COMMONWEALTH. 

State  of  England. ...  of  Scotland. ...  of  Ireland. . . .  Le- 
vellers suppressed. ....  Siege  of  Dublin  raised. . . . 
Tredah  stormed. . .  Covenanters. . . .  Montrose  taken 
prisoner. . . .  executed. . . .  Covenanters. . . .  Battle  of 
Dunbar. ...  of  Worcester. . . .  King's  escape. . . .  The 
commonwealth. . . .  Dutch  war. . .  Dissolution  of  the 
parliament 152 


CHAP.  LXI. 

Cromwel's  birth  and  private  life. . . ,  Barebone's  parlia- 
ment. . . .  Cromwel  made  protector. . . .  Peace  with 


CONTENTS.  v 

Holland. ...  A  new  parliament ....  Insurrection  of 
the  royalists. . . .  State  of  Europe. . .  War  with  Spain 
» . .  Jamaica  conquered. . . .  Success  and  death  of  ad- 
miral Blake. . . .  Domestick  administration  of  Crom- 
wel. . . .  Humble  petition  and  advice ....  Dunkirk 
taken. . . .  Sickness  of  the  protector. . . .  His  death 
....  and  character 241 


CHAP.  LXII. 

Richard  acknowledged  protector. ...  A  parliament. . . . 
Cabal  of  Wallingford  house. . . .  Richard  deposed. . . 
Long  parliament  or  Rump  restored. . . .  Conspiracy 
of  the  royalists. . . .  Insurrection. . . .  suppressed. . . . 
Parliament  expelled  ....  Committee  of  safety. . . . 
Foreign  affairs. . . .  General  Monk. . .  .Monk  declares 
for  the  parliament. . .  Parliament  restored. . . .  Monk 
enters  London,  declares  for  a  free  parliament. . . . 
Secluded  members  restored  ....  Long  parliament 
dissolved  ....  New  parliament . . .  .The  Restoration 
....  Manners  and  arts 338 


vt  CONTENTS. 


CHAP.   LXIII. 

CHARLES     II. 

New  ministry. . . .  Act  of  indemnity. . . .  Settlement  of 
the  revenue. . . .  Trial  and  execution  of  the  regicides 
....  Dissolution  of  the  convention. . . .  Parliament 
....  Prelacy  restored. . . .  Insurrection  of  the  millen- 
arians. . , .  Affairs  of  Scotland. . . .  Conference  at  the 
Savoy. . . .  Arguments  for  and  against  a  comprehen- 
sion ....  A  new  parliament  ....  Bishops'  seats  re- 
stored. . .  Corporation  act. . . .  Act  of  uniformity. . . 
King's  marriage. . .  Trial  of  Vane. . . .  and  execution 
....  Presbyterian  clergy  ejected. . . .  Dunkirk  sold  to 
the  French  ....  Declaration  of  indulgence ....  De- 
cline of  Clarendon's  credit 415 


CHAP.   LXIV. 


A  new  session Rupture  with  Holland A  new 

session. . . .  Victory  of  the  English. . . .  Rupture  with 
France. . . .  Rupture  with  Denmark. . . .  New  session 
....  9ea-fight  of  four  days. . .  Victory  of  the  English 


CONTENTS.  vii 

....  Fire  of  London. . . .  Advances  towards  peace. . . 
Disgrace  at  Chatham. . . .  Peace  of  Breda. . .  Claren- 
don's fall ....  and  banishment ....  State  of  France 
....  Character  of  Lewis  XIV. . . .  Frencli  invasion  of 
the  Low  Countries. . . Negotiations. .  .Triple  league 
. .  .Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. . .  Affairs  of  Scotland 
and  of  Ireland 477 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


CHAPTER   LVIII. 


CHARLES     I. 

Montrose's  Victories The  new  Model  of  the  Army. . . .  Battle 

of  Naseby  ....  Surrender  of  Bristol ....  The  West  conquered 
by  Fairfax  ....  Defeat  of  Montrose  ....  Ecclesiastical  Affairs 
....  King  goes  to  the  Scots  at  Newark  ....  End  of  the  War 
....  King  delivered  up  by  the  Scots. 

While  the  king's  affairs  declined  in  England 
some  events  happened  in  Scotland,  which  seemed 
to  promise  him  a  more  prosperous  issue  of  the 
quarrel. 

MONTROSE'S  VICTORIES. 

Before  the  commencement  of  these  civil  disor- 
ders, the  earl  of  Montrose,   a  young  nobleman  of 
a  distinguished  family,  returning  from  his  travels, 
had  been  introduced  to  the  king,  and  had  made 
an  offer  of  his  services;  .but  by  the  insinuations 

VOL.  VIII.  b 


2  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1645. 

of  the  marquis,  afterwards  duke  of  Hamilton,  who 
possessed  much  of  Charles's  confidence,  he  had 
not  been  received  with  that  distinction  to  which 
he  thought  himself  justly  entitled3.  Disgusted 
with  this  treatment,  he  had  forwarded  all  the 
violence  of  the  covenanters ;  and,  agreeably  to 
the  natural  ardour  of  his  genius,  he  had  employed 
himself,  during  the  first  Scottish  insurrection, 
with  great  zeal,  as  well  as  success,  in  levying  and 
conducting  their  armies.  Being  commissioned  by 
the  Tables  to  wait  upon  the  king,  while  the  royal 
army  lay  at  Berwic,  he  was  so  gained  by  the 
civilities  and  caresses  of  that  monarch,  that  he 
thenceforth  devoted  himself  entirely,  though  se- 
cretly, to  his  service,  and  entered  into  a  close 
correspondence  with  him.  In  the  second  insur- 
rection, a  great  military  command  was  entrusted 
to  him  by  the  covenanters  ;  and  he  was  the  first 
that  passed  the  Tweed,  at  the  head  of  their 
troops,  in  the  invasion  of  England.  He  found 
means,  however,  soon  after  to  convey  a  letter  to 
the  king :  and  by  the  infidelity  of  some  about 
that  prince  ;  Hamilton,  as  was  suspected  ;  a  copy 
of  this  letter  was  sent  to  Leven,  the  Scottish  ge- 
neral. Being  accused  of  treachery,  and  a  cor- 
respondence with  the  enemy,  Montrose  openly 
avowed  the  letter,  and  asked  the  generals,  if  they 
dared  to  call  their  sovereign  an  enemy :  and  by 
this  bold  and  magnanimous  behaviour,  he  escaped 

*  Nalson,  Iiitr.  p.  63, 


Commonwealth 


Chap.  LX.  -p.  20.9. 

This  farmer  Penderell  with  the  assistance  of  his  four  brothers 
having  disguised  the  king  in  a  garb  like  their  own,  they  led  him 
into  the  neighbouring  wood,  put  a  bill  into  his  hand,  and  pretended 
to  employ  themselves  in  cutting  faggots.  For  a  better  concealment, 
he  mounted  upon  an  oak,  where  he  sheltered  himself  among  the 
leaves  and  branches  for  twenty-four  hours.  He  saw  several  soldiers 
pass  by.  All  of  them  were  intent  in  search  of  the  king ;  and  some 
expressed  in  his  hearing,  their  earnest  wishes  of  seizing  him.  This 
tree  was  afterwards  denominated  the  Royal  Oak;  and  for  many 
years  was  regarded  by  the  neighbourhood  with  great  veneration. 


1645.  CHARLES  I.  3 

the  danger  of  an  immediate  prosecution.  As  he 
was  now  fully  known  to  be  of  the  royal  party,  he 
no  longer  concealed  his  principles  ;  and  he  endea- 
voured to  draw  those  who  had  entertained  like 
sentiments,  into  a  bond  of  association  for  his 
master's  service.  Though  thrown  into  prison  for 
this  enterprise b,  and  detained  some  time,  he  was 
not  discouraged ;  but  still  continued,  by  his 
countenance  and  protection,  to  infuse  spirit  into 
the  distressed  royalists.  Among  other  persons  of 
distinction,  who  united  themselves  to  him,  was 
lord  Napier  of  Merchiston,  son  of  the  famous 
inventor  of  the  logarithms,  the  person  to  whom 
the  title  of  great  man  is  more  justly  due,  than 
to  any  other  whom  his  country  ever  produced. 

There  was  in  Scotland  another  party,  who, 
professing  equal  attachment  to  the  king's  service, 
pretended  only  to  differ  with  Montrose  about  the 
means  of  attaining  the  same  end ;  and  of  that 
party,  duke  Hamilton  was  the  leader.  This  noble- 
man had  cause  to  be  extremely  devoted  to  the 
king,  not  only  by  reason  of  the  connexion  of 
blood,  which  united  him  to  the  royal  family ;  but 
on  account  of  the  great  confidence  and  favour 
with  which  he  had  ever  been  honoured  by  his 
master.     Being  accused  by  lord  ftae$  not  without 

b  It  is  not  improper  to  take  notice  of  a  mistake  committed  by 
Clarendon,  much  to  the  disadvantage  of  this  gallant  nobleman  j 
that  he  offered  the  king,  when  his  majesty  was  in  Scotland, 
to  assassinate  Argyle.  All  the  time  the  king  was  in  Scotland^ 
Montrose  was  confined  to  prison.     Rush.  vol.  vi.  p.  98O. 


4  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1645. 

some  appearance  of  probability,  of  a  conspiracy 
against  the  king ;  Charles  was  so  far  from  har- 
bouring suspicion  against  him,  that  the  very  first 
time  Hamilton  came  to  court,  he  received  him 
into  his  bedchamber,  and  passed  alone  the  night 
with  him0.  But  such  was  the  duke's  unhappy  fate 
or  conduct,  that  he  escaped  not  the  imputation  of 
treachery  to  his  friend  and  sovereign ;  and  though 
he  at  last  sacrificed  his  life  in  the  king's  service, 
his  integrity  and  sincerity  have  not  been  thought 
by  historians  entirely  free  from  blemish.  Per- 
haps (and  this  is  the  more  probable  opinion)  the 
subtilties  and- refinements  of  his  conduct  and  his 
temporising  maxims,  though  accompanied  with 
good  intentions,  have  been  the  chief  cause  of  a 
suspicion,  which  has  never  yet  been  either  fully 
proved  or  refuted.  As  much  as  the  bold  and 
vivid  spirit  of  Montrose  prompted  him  to  enter- 
prising measures,  as  much  was  the  cautious  tem- 
per of  Hamilton  inclined  to  such  as  were  moder- 
ate and  dilatory.  While  the  former  foretold  that 
the  Scottish  covenanters  were  secretly  forming 
an  union  with  the  English  parliament,  and  incul- 
cated the  necessity  of  preventing  them  by  some 
vigorous  undertaking;  the  latter  still  insisted, 
that  every  such  attempt  would  precipitate  them 
into  measures,  to  which,  otherwise,  they  were 
not,  perhaps,  inclined.  After  the  Scottish  con- 
vention was  summoned  without  the  kind's    aiw 


•» 


Nalson,  vol.  ii.  p.  683. 


1615.  CHARLES    I.  5 

thority,  the  former  exclaimed,  that  their  intentions 
were  now  visible,  and  that,  if  some  unexpected 
blow  were  not  struck,  to  dissipate  them,  they 
would  arm  the  whole  nation  against  the  king ; 
the  latter  maintained  the  possibility  of  outvoting 
the  disaffected  party,  and  securing,  by  peaceful 
means,  the  allegiance  of  the  kingdom*1.  Unhap- 
pily for  the  royal  cause,  Hamilton's  representa- 
tions met  with  more  credit  from  the  king  and 
queen,  than  those  of  Montrose;  and  the  coven- 
anters were  allowed,  without  interruption,  to  pro- 
ceed in  all  their  hostile  measures.  Montrose  then 
hastened  to  Oxford;  where  his  invectives  against 
Hamilton's  treachery,  concurring  with  the  general 
prepossession,  and  supported  by  the  unfortunate 
event  of  his  counsels,  were  entertained  with  uni- 
versal approbation.  Influenced  by  the  clamour 
of  his  party,  more  than  his  own  suspicion^, 
Charles,  as  soon  as  Hamilton  appeared,  sent  him 
prisoner  to  Pendennis  castle  in  Corrfwal.  His 
brother,  Laneric,  who  was  also  put  under  con- 
finement, found  means  to  make  his  escape,  and  to 
fly  into  Scotland. 

The  king's  ears  were  now  opened  to  Mon- 
trose's counsels,  who  proposed  none  but  the 
boldest  and  most  daring,  agreeably  to  the  desper- 
ate state  of  the  royal  cause  in  Scotland.  Though 
the  whole  nation  was  subjected  by  the  coven* 
anters,  though  great  armies  were  kept  on  foot  by 

d  Clarendon;  vol.  iii.  p.  3S0,  381.  Rush.  vol.  vi.  p.  Q8Q.  Wish- 
art,  cap.  2. ' 


(5  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1645. 

them,  and  every  place  guarded  by  a  vigilant  ad- 
ministration ;  he  undertook,  by  his  own  credit, 
and  that  of  the  few  friends  who  remained  to  the 
king,  to  raise  such  commotions,  as  would  soon 
oblige  the  malcontents  to  recal  those  forces, 
which  had  so  sensibly  thrown  the  balance  in  fa-* 
vour  of  the  parliament'.  Not  discouraged  with 
the  defeat  at  Marston-moor,  which  rendered  it 
impossible  for  him  to  draw  any  succour  from 
England;  he  was  content  to  stipulate  with  the 
earl  of  Antrim,  a  nobleman  of  Ireland,  for  some 
supply  of  men  from  that  country.  And  he  him- 
self, changing  his  disguises,  and  passing  through 
many  dangers,  arrived  in  Scotland ;  where  he  lay 
concealed  in  the  borders  of  the  Highlands,  and 
secretly  prepared  the  minds  of  his  partisans  for 
attempting  some  great  enterprise f. 

No  sooner  were  the  Irish  landed,  though  not 
exceeding  eleven  hundred  foot,  very  ill  armed, 
than  Montrose  declared  himself,  and  entered  upon 
that  scene  of  action  which  has  rendered  his  name 
so  celebrated.  About  eight  hundred  of  the  men 
of  Athole  flocked  to  his  standard.  Five  hundred 
men  more,  who  had  been  levied  by  the  coven- 
anters, were  persuaded  to  embrace  the  royal 
cause  :  and  with  this  combined  force,  he  hastened 
to  attack  lord  Elcho,  who  lay  at  Perth  with  an 
army  of  six  thousand  men,  assembled  upon  the 

e  Wishart,  cap.  3. 
f  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  ()18t    Rush.  vol.  vi.  p.  982.  Wlshart,  c,  4. 


1645.  CHARLES   I.  7 

first  news  of  the  Irish  invasion.  Montrose,  in- 
ferior in  number,  totally  unprovided  with  horse, 
ill  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition,  had  no- 
thing to  depend  on,  but  the  courage,  which  he 
himself,  by  his  own  example,  and  the  rapidity  of 
his  enterprises,  should  inspire  into  his  raw  sol- 
diers. Having  received  the  fire  of  the  enemy, 
which  was  answered  chiefly  by  a  volley  of  stones, 
he  rushed  amidst  them  with  his  sword  drawn, 
threw  them  into  confusion,  pushed  his  advant- 
age, and  obtained  a  complete  victory,  with  the 
slaughter  of  two  thousand  of  the  covenanters8. 

This  victory,  though  it  augmented  the  re- 
nown of  Montrose,  encreased  not  his  power  or 
numbers.  The  far  greater  part  of  the  kingdom 
was  extremely  attached  to  the  covenant ;  and 
such  as  bore  an  affection  to  the  royal  cause,  were 
terrified  by  the  established  authority  of  the  oppo- 
site party.  Dreading  the  superior  power  of  Ar- 
gyle,  who,  having  joined  his  vassals  to  a  force 
levied  by  the  public,  was  approaching  with  a  con- 
siderable army ;  Montrose  hastened  northwards, 
in  order  to  rouse  again  the  marquis  of  Huntley 
and  the  Gordons,  who,  having  before  hastily 
taken  arms,  had  been  instantly  suppressed  by  the 
covenanters.  He  was  joined  on  his  march  by  the 
earl  of  Airly,  with  his  two  younger  sons,  sir 
Thomas  and  sir  David  Ogilvy:  the  eldest  was, 
at  that  time,  a  prisoner  with  the  enemy.     He  at- 

lst  of  Sept.  164 1.     Rush.  vol.  vi.  p.  983.     Wishart,  cap.  5. 


8  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1(545. 

tacked  at  Aberdeen  the  lord  Burley,  who  com- 
manded a  force  of  2500  men.  After  a  sharp 
combat,  by  his  undaunted  courage,  which,  in  his 
situation,  was  true  policy,  and  was  also  not  unac- 
companied with  military  skill,  he  put  the  enemy 
to  flight,  and  in  the  pursuit  did  great  execution 
upon  them  \  ' 

But  by  this  second  advantage  he  obtained  not 
the  end  which  he  expected.  The  envious  nature 
of  Huntley,  jealous  of  Montrose's  glory,  ren- 
dered him  averse  to  join  an  army,  where  he  him-* 
self  must  be  so  much  eclipsed  by  the  superior 
merit  of  the  general.  Argyle,  reinforced  by  the 
earl  of  Lothian,  was  behind  him  with  a  great 
army:  the  militia  of  the  northern  counties,  Mur- 
ray, Ross,  Caithness,  to  the  number  of  five  thou- 
sand men,  opposed  him  in  front,  and  guarded  the 
banks  of  the  Spey,  a  deep  and  rapid  river.  In 
order  to  elude  these  numerous  armies,  he  turned 
aside  into  the  hills,  and  saved  his  weak,  but 
active  troops,  in  Badenoch.  After  some  inarches 
and  counter-marches,  Argyle  came  up  with  him 
at  Faivy-castle.  This  nobleman's  character,  though 
celebrated  for  political  courage  and  conduct,  was 
very  low  for  military  prowess ;  and  after  some 
skirmishes,  in  which  he  was  worsted,  he  here 
allowed  Montrose  to  escape  him.  By  quick 
marches  through  these  inaccessible  mountains, 
that  general  freed  himself  from  the  superior  forces 
of  the  covenanters. 

b  11th  of  Sept.  1644.    Hush.  vol.  vi.  p.  g83.    Wishart,  cap:  7. 


1645.  CHARLES    I.  Q 

Such  was  the  situation  of  Montrose,  that  very 
good  or  very  ill  fortune  was  equally  destructive 
to  him,  and  diminished  his  army.  After  every 
victory,  his  soldiers,  greedy  of  spoil,  hut  deeming 
the  smallest  acquisition  to  be  unexhausted  riches, 
deserted  in  great  numbers,  and  went  home  to 
secure  the  treasures  which  they  had  acquired. 
Tired  too,  and  spent  with  hasr/y  and  long  marches, 
in  the  depth  of  winter,  through  snowy  mountains 
unprovided  with  every  necessary,  they  fell  off, 
and  left  their  general  almost  alone  with  the  Irish, 
•who,  having  no  place  to  which  they  could  retire, 
still  adhered  to  him  in  every  fortune. 

With  these,  and  some  reinforcements  of  the 
Atholemen,  and  Macdonalds  whom  he  had  re- 
called, Montrose  fell  suddenly  upon  Argyle's 
country,  and  let  loose  upon  it  all  the  rage  of  war; 
carrying  off  the  cattle,  burning  the  houses,  and 
putting  the  inhabitants  to  the  sword.  This  se- 
verity, by  which  Montrose  sullied  his  victories; 
was  the  result  of  private  animosity  against  the 
chieftain,  as  much  as  of  zeal  for  the  public  cause. 
Argyle,  collecting  three  thousand  men,  marched 
in  quest  of  the  enemy,  who  had  retired  with  their 
plunder;  and  he  lay  at  Innerlochy,  supposing 
himself  still  at  a  considerable  distance  from  them. 
The  earl  of  Seaforth,  at  the  head  of  the  garrison, 
of  Inverness,  who  were  veteran  soldiers,  joined  to 
five  thousand  new-levied  troops  of  the  northern 
counties,  pressed  the  royalists  on  the  other  side, 
and  threatened  them  with  inevitable  destruction. 


10  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1615. 

By  a  quick  and  unexpected  march,  Montrose 
hastened  to  Innerlochy,  and  presented  himself  in 
order  of  battle  before  the  surprised,  but  not  af- 
frightened,  covenanters.  Argyle  alone,  seized  with 
a  panic,  deserted  his  army,  who  still  maintained 
their  ground,  and  gave  battle  to  the  royalists. 
After  a  vigorous  resistance  they  were  defeated, 
and  pursued  with  great  slaughter1.  And  the 
power  of  the  Campbels  (that  is  Argyle's  name) 
being  thus  broken ;  the  Highlanders,  who  were 
in  general  well  affected  to  the  royal  cause,  began 
to  join  Montrose's  camp  in  great  numbers.  Sea- 
forth's  army  dispersed  of  itself,  at  the  very  terror 
of  his  name.  And  lord  Gordon,  eldest  son  of 
Huntley,  having  escaped  from  his  uncle  Argyle, 
who  had  hitherto  detained  him,  now  joined  Mont- 
rose with  no  contemptible  number  of  his  follow- 
ers, attended  by  his  brother,  the  earl  of  Aboine. 

The  council  at  Edinburgh,  alarmed  at  Mont- 
rose's progress,  began  to  think  of  a  more  regular 
plan  of  defence,  against  an  enemy,  whose  re- 
peated victories  had  rendered  him  extremely 
formidable.  They  sent  for  Baillie,  an  officer  of 
reputation,  from  England ;  and  joining  him  in 
command  with  Urrey,  who  had  again  enlisted 
himself  among  the  king's  enemies,  they  sent  them 
to  the  field,  with  a  considerable  army,  against 
the  royalists.  Montrose,  with  a  detachment  of 
eight   hundred   men,    had   attacked   Dundee,   a 

'Rush.  vol.  vi.  p.  985.    Wishart,  cap.  8. 


1645.  CHARLES    I.  11 

town  extremely  zealous  for  the  covenant :  and 
having  carried  it  by  assault,  had  delivered  it  up 
to  be  plundered  by  his  soldiers ;  when  Baillie  and 
Urrey,  with  their  whole  force,  were  unexpectedly 
upon  himk.  His  conduct  and  presence  of  mind, 
in  this  emergence,  appeared  conspicuous.  In- 
stantly he  called  off  his  soldiers  from  plunder, 
put  them  in  order,  secured  his  retreat  by  the  most 
skilful  measures  ;  and  having  marched  sixty  miles 
in  the  face  of  an  enemy  much  superior,  without 
stopping,  or  allowing  his  soldiers  the  least  sleep 
or  refreshment,  he  at  last  secured  himself  in  the 
mountains. 

Baillie  and  Urrey  now  divided  their  troops,  in 
order  the  better  to  conduct  the  war  against  an 
enemy,  who  surprised  them,  as  much  by  the  ra- 
pidity of  his  marches,  as  by  the  boldness  of  his 
enterprises.  Urrey,  at  the  head  of  four  thou- 
sand men,  met  him  at  Alderne,  near  Inverness ; 
and,  encouraged  by  the  superiority  of  number 
(for  the  covenanters  were  double  the  royalists), 
attacked  him  in  the  post  which  he  had  chosen. 
Montrose,  having  placed  his  right  wing  in  strong 
ground,  drew  the  best  of  his  forces  to  the  other, 
and  left  no  main  body  between  them ;  a  defect 
which  he  artfully  concealed,  by  showing  a  few 
men  through  the  trees  and  bushes,  with  which 
that  ground  was  covered.  That  Urrey  might 
have  no  leisure  to  perceive  the  stratagem,  he  in- 

k  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  228.     Wishart,  cap.  g. 


12  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1645. 

stantly  led  his  left  wing  to  the  charge  ;  and  mak- 
ing a  furious  impression  upon  the  covenanters, 
drove  them  off  the  field,  and  gained  a  complete 
victory  \  In  tins  .hattle,  the  valour  of  young 
Napier,  son  to  the  lord  of  that  name,  shone  out 
with  signal  lustre. 

Baillie  now  advanced,  in  order  to  revenge 
Urrey's  discomfiture ;  but,  at  Alford,  he  met,  him- 
self, with  a  like  fate  m.  Montrose,  weak  in  ca- 
valry, here  lined  his  troops  of  horse  with  infantry  ; 
and  after  putting  the  enemy's  horse  to  rout,  fell 
with  united  force  upon  their  foot,  who  were  en- 
tirely cut  in  pieces,  though  with  the  loss  of  the 
gallant  lord  Cordon  on  the  part  of  the  royalists". 
And  having  thus  prevailed  in  so  many  battles, 
which  his  vigour  ever  rendered  as  decisive  as  they 
were,  successful,  he  summoned  together  all  his 
friends  and  partisans,  and  prepared  himself  for 
marching  into  the  southern  provinces,  in  order 
to  put  a  final  period  to  the  power  of  the  covenant- 
ers, and  dissipate  the  parliament,  which,  with 
great  pomp  and  solemnity,  they  had  summoned 
to  meet  at  St.  Johnstone's. 

While  the  fire  was  thus  kindled  in  the  north 
of  the  island,  it  blazed  out  with  no  less  fury  in 
the  south :  the  parliamentary  and  royal  armies, 
as  soon  as  the  season  would  permit,  prepared  to 
take  the  field,  in  hopes  of  bringing  their  import- 
ant quarrel  to  a  quick  decision.     The  passing  of 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  229.     Wishart,  cap.  10.         ,n  2d  of  July. 
n  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  229.     Wishart,  cap.  11. 


16-15.  CHARLES   I.  13 

the  self-denying  ordinance  had  been  protracted 
by  so  many  debates  and  intrigues,  that  the  spring 
was  far  advanced  before  it  received  the  sanction 
of  both  houses  ;  and  it  was  thought  dangerous 
by  many  to  introduce,  so  near  the  time  of  action, 
such  great  innovations  into  the  army.  Had  not 
the  punctilious  principles  of  Essex  engaged  him, 
amidst  all  the  disgusts  which  he  received,  to  pay 
implicit  obedience  to  the  parliament;  this  altera- 
tion had  not  been  effected  without  some  fatal 
accident :  since,  notwithstanding  his  prompt  re- 
signation of  the  command,  a  mutiny  was  generally 
apprehended  °.  Fairfax,  or  more  properly  speak- 
ing, Cromwel,  under  his  name,  introduced,  at 
last,  the  nexv  model  into  the  army,  and  threw  the 
troops  into  a  different  shape.  From  the  same 
men,  new  regiments  and  new  companies  were 
formed,  different  officers  appointed,  and  the 
whole  military  force  put  into  such  hands,  as  the 
independents  could  rely  on.  Besides  members  of 
parliament  who  were  excluded,  many  officers,  un- 
willing to  serve  under  the  new  generals,  threw 
up  their  commissions;  and  unwarily  facilitated 
the  project  of  putting  the  army  entirely  into  the 
hands  of  that  faction. 

Though  the  discipline  of  the  former  parlia- 
mentary army  was  not  contemptible,  a  more  ex-s 
act  plan  was  introduced,  and  rigorously  executed, 
by  these  new  commanders.     Valour  indeed  was 

•  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  126,  127. 


14  HISTORY   OF  ENGXAND.  1647. 

very  generally  diffused  over  the  one  party  as  well 
as  the  other,  during  this  period :  discipline  also 
was  attained  by  the  forces  of  the  parliament :  but 
the  perfection  of  the  military  art  in  concerting 
the  general  plans  of  action,  and  the  operations  of 
the  field,  seems  still,  on  both  sides,  to  have  been, 
in  a  great  measure,  wanting.  Historians  at  least, 
perhaps  from  their  own  ignorance  and  inexperi- 
ence, have  not  remarked  any  thing  but  a  head- 
long impetuous  conduct ;  each  party  hurrying  to 
a  battle,  where  valour  and  fortune  chiefly  deter- 
mined the  success.  The  great  ornament  of  his- 
tory, during  these  reigns,  are  the  civil,  not  the 
military  transactions. 


NEW  MODEL   OF  THE  ARMY. 

Nevitr  surely  was  a  more  singular  army  assem- 
bled, than  that  which  was  now  set  on  foot  by  the 
parliament.  To  the  greater  number  of  the  regi- 
ments, chaplains  were  not  appointed.  The  offi- 
cers assumed  the  spiritual  duty,  and  united  it 
with  their  military  functions.  During  the  inter- 
vals of  action,  they  occupied  themselves  in  ser- 
mons, prayers,  exhortations ;  and  the  same  emu- 
lation, there,  attended  them,  M'hich,  in  the  field, 
is  so  necessary  to  support  the  honour  of  that  pro- 
fession. Rapturous  ecstacies  supplied  the  place 
of  study  and  reflection;  and  while  the  zealous 
devotees  poured  out  their  thoughts  in  unpreme- 


1645.  CHARLES  I.  15 

ditated  harangues,  they  mistook  that  eloquence, 
which,  to  their  own  surprise,  as  well  as  that  of 
others,  flowed  in  upon  them,  for  divine  illumina- 
tions, and  for  illapses  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Wher- 
ever they  were  quartered,  they  excluded  the  mi- 
nister from  his  pulpit ;  and,  usurping  his  place, 
conveyed  their  sentiments  to  the  audience,  with 
all  the  authority  which  followed  their  power,  their 
valour,  and  their  military  exploits,  united  to  their 
appearing  zeal  and  fervour.  The  private  soldiers, 
seized  with  the  same  spirit,  employed  their  va- 
cant hours  in  prayer,  in  perusing  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, in  ghostly  conferences,  where  they  com- 
pared the  progress  of  their  souls  in  grace,  and 
mutually  stimulated  each  other  to  farther  ad- 
vances in  the  great  work  of  their  salvation.  When 
they  were  marching  to  battle,  the  whole  field  re- 
sounded, as  well  with  psalms  and  spiritual  songs 
adapted  to  the  occasion,  as  with  the  instruments 
of  military  music  p ;  and  every  man  endeavoured 
to  drown  the  sense  of  present  danger,  in  the  pro- 
spect of  that  crown  of  glory  which  was  set  before 
him.  In  so  holy  a  cause,  wounds  were  esteemed 
meritorious ;  death,  martyrdom,  and  the  hurry 
and  dangers  of  action,  instead  of  banishing  their 
pious  visions,  rather  served  to  impress  their  minds 
more  strongly  with  them. 

The  royalists  were  desirous  of  throwing  a  ri- 
dicule on  this  fanaticism  of  the  parliamentary 

'Dugdale,  p.  J*.    Rush.  vol.  vi.  p.  281. 


16  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1645. 

armies,  without  being  sensible  how  much  reason 
they  had  to  apprehend  its  dangerous  conse- 
quences. The  forces  assembled  by  the  king  at  Ox- 
ford, in  the  west,  and  in  other  places,  were  equal, 
if  not  superior  in  number,  to  their  adversaries ; 
but  actuated  by  a  very  different  spirit.  That 
licence,  which  had  been  introduced  by  want  of 
pay,  had  risen  to  a  great  height  among  them, 
and  rendered  them  more  formidable  to  their 
friends  than  to  their  enemies.  Prince  Rupert, 
negligent  of  the  people,  fond  of  the  soldiery,  had 
indulged  the  troops  in  unwarrantable  liberties : 
Wilirot,  a  man  of  dissolute  manners,  had  pro- 
moted the  same  spirit  of  disorder :  and  the  licen- 
tious Goring,  Gerrard,  sir  Richard  Granville, 
now  carried  it  to  a  great  pitch  of  enormity.  In 
the  west  especially,  where  Goring  commanded, 
universal  spoil  and  havoc  were  committed ;  and 
the  whole  country*  was  laid  waste  by  the  rapine  of 
the  army.  All  distinction  of  parties  being  in  a 
manner  dropped  ;  the  most  devoted  friends  of  the 
church  and  monarchy  wished  there  for  such  suc- 
cess to  the  parliamentary  forces,  as  might  put  an 
end  to  these  oppressions.  The  country  people, 
despoiled  of  their  substance,  flocked  together  in 
several  places,  armed  with  clubs  and  staves ;  and 
though  they  professed  an  enmity  to  the  soldiers 
of  both  parties,  their  hatred  was  in  most  places 
levelled  chiefly  against  the  royalists,  from  whom 
they  had  met  with  the  worst  treatment.  Many 
thousands  of  these  tumultuary  peasants  were  as- 


1645.,  CHARLES    I.  17 

seinbled  in  different  parts  of  England ;  who  de- 
stroyed all  such  straggling-  soldiers  as  they  met 
with,  and  much  infested  the  armies q. 

The  disposition  of  the  forces  on  both  sides  was' 
as  follows  :  part  of  the  Scottish  army  w*as  employ- 
ed in  taking  Pomfret,  and  other  towns  in  York- 
shire :  part  of  it  besieged  Carlisle,  valiantly  de- 
fended by  sir  Thomas  Glenham.  Chester,  where 
Biron  commanded,  had  long  been  blockaded  by 
sir  William  Brereton ;  and  was  reduced  to  great 
difficulties.  The  king,  being  joined  by  the 
princes  Rupert  and  Maurice,  lay  at  Oxford,  with 
a  considerable  army,  about  15,000  men.  Fairfax 
and  Cromwel  were  posted  at  Windsor,  with  the 
new-modelled  army,  about  22,000  men.  Taun- 
ton, in  the  county  of  Somerset,  defended  by 
Blake,  suffered  a  long  siege  from  sir  Richard 
Granville,  who  commanded  an  army  of  about 
8000  men ;  and  though  the  defence  had  been 
obstinate,  the  garrison  -was  now  reduced  to  the 
last  extremity.  Goring  commanded,  in  the  west, 
an  army  of  nearly  the  same  number r. 

On  opening  the  campaign,  the  king  formed 
the  project  of  relieving  Chester;  Fairfax,  that  of 
relieving  Taunton.  The  king  was  first  in  motion. 
When  he  advanced  to  Draiton  in  Shropshire,  Bi- 
ron met  him,  and  brought  intelligence,  that  his 
approach  had  raised  the  siege,   and  that  the  par- 

q  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  52,  61,  62.     Whitlocke,  p.  130,  131, 
133,  135.     Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  665. 

r  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  18,  1Q,  &c. 
VOL.   VIII.  C 


IS  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1645, 

liamentary  army  had  withdrawn.     Fairfax,  hav- 
ing reached  Salisbury  in  his  road  westward,  re- 
ceived orders  from  the  committee  of  both  king- 
doms, appointed  for  the  management  of  the  Avar, 
to  return  and  lay  siege  to  Oxford,  now  exposed 
by  the  king's  absence.     He  obeyed,  after  sending 
colonel  Weldon  to  the  west,  with  a  detachment  of 
4000  men.     On  Weldon's  approach,   Granville, 
who  imagined  that  Fairfax  with  his  whole  army 
was  upon  him,  raised  the  siege,  and  allowed  this 
pertinacious  town,  now  half  taken  and  half  burn- 
ed, to  receive  relief:  but  the  royalists,  being  re- 
inforced with  3000  horse  under  Goring,  again 
advanced  to  Taunton,  and  shut  up  Weldon,  with 
his  small  army,  in  that  ruinous  place 8. 

The  king,  having  effected  his  purpose  with 
regard  to  Chester,  returned  southwards ;  and,  in 
his  way,  sat  down  before  Leicester,  a  garrison  of 
the  parliament's.  Having  made  a  breach  in  the 
wall,  he  stormed  the  town  on  all  sides ;  and,  after 
a  furious  assault,  the  soldiers  entered  sword  in 
hand,  and  committed  all  those  disorders  to  which 
their  natural  violence,  especially  when  enflamed 
by  resistance,  is  so  much  addicted1.  A  great 
booty  was  taken  and  distributed  among  them : 
fifteen  hundred  prisoners  fell  into  the  king's 
hands.  This  success,  which  struck  a  great  terror 
into  the  parliamentary  party,  determined  Fairfax 
to  leave  Oxford,  which  he  was  beginning  to  ap- 

•  Rush.  vol.  yii.  p.  26.  l  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  652, 


1645.  CHARLES   I.  19 

proach ;  and  he  marched  towards  the  king,  with 
an  intention  of  offering  him  battle.  The  king 
was  advancing  towards  Oxford,  in  order  to  raise 
the  siege,  which,  he  apprehended,  was  now  begun; 
and  both  armies,  ere  they  were  aware,  had  ad- 
vanced within  six  miles  of  each- other.  A  council 
of  war  was  called  by  the  king,  in  order  to  deliberate 
concerning  the  measures  which  he  should  now 
pursue.  On  the  one  hand,  it  seemed  more  pru- 
dent to  delay  the  combat ;  because  Gerrard,  who 
lay  in  Wales  with  3000  men,  might  be  enabled, 
in  a  little  time,  to  join  the  army  ;  and  Goring,  it 
was  hoped,  would  soon  be  master  of  Taunton; 
and  having  put  the  west  in  full  security,  would 
then  unite  his  forces  to  those  of  the  king,  and  give 
them  an  incontestable  superiority  over  the  enemy. 
On  the  other  hand,  prince  Rupert,  whose  boiling 
ardour  still  pushed  him  on  to  battle,  excited 
the  impatient  humour  of  the  nobility  and  gentry, 
of  which  the  army  was  full ;  and  urged  the  many 
difficulties  under  which  the  royalists  laboured, 
and  from  which  nothing  but  a  victory  could  re- 
lieve them :  the  resolution  was  taken  to  give 
battle  to  Fairfax ;  and  the  royal  army  immediately 
advanced  upon  him. 


BATTLE  OF  NASEBY. 

At  Naseby  was  fought,  with  forces  nearly  equal, 
this  decisive  and  well-disputed  action,  between 


20  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1645. 

the  king  and  parliament.  The  main  body  of  the 
royalists  was  commanded  by  the  king  himself: 
the  right  wing  by  prince  Rupert ;  the  left  by  sir 
Marmaduke  Langdale.  Fairfax,  seconded  by 
Skippon,  placed  himself  in  the  main  body  of  the 
opposite  army:  Cromwel  in  the  right  wing:  Ire- 
ton,  Cromwel's  son-in-law,  in  the  left.  The 
charge  was  begun,  with  his  usual  celerity  and 
usual  success,  by  prince  Rupert.  Though  Ire- 
ton  made  stout  resistance,  and  even  after  he  was 
run  through  the  thigh  with  a  pike,  still  main- 
tained the  combat,  till  he  was  taken  prisoner; 
yet  was  that  whole  wing  broken,  and  pursued 
with  precipitate  fury  by  Rupert:  he  was  even 
so  inconsiderate  as  to  lose  time  in  summoning 
and  attacking  the  artillery  of  the' eneniy,  which 
had  been  left  with  a  good  guard  of  infantry. 
The  king  led  on  his  main  body,  and  displayed, 
in  this  action,  all  the  conduct  of  a  prudent  gene- 
ral, and  all  the  valour  of  a  stout  soldier  a.  Fairfax 
and  Skippon  encountered  him,  and  well  support- 
ed that  reputation  which  they  had  acquired. 
Skippon,  being  dangerously  wounded,  was  de- 
sired by  Fairfax  to  leave  the  field ;  but  he  de- 
clared that  he  would  remain  there  as  long  as  one 
man  maintained  his  ground w.  The  infantry  of 
the  parliament  was  broken,  and  pressed  upon  by 
the  king;  till  Fairfax,  with  great  presence  of 
mind,  brought  up  the  reserve,  and  renewed  the 

u  Whitlocke,  p.  146. 
*  Hugh.  vol.  vii.  p.  43,    Whitlocke,  p.  145, 


3G45.  CHARLES   I.  21 

combat.  Meanwhile  Cromwel,  having  led  on  his 
troops  to  the  attack  of  Langdale,  overbore  the 
force  of  the  royalists,  and  by  his  prudence  im- 
proved that  advantage  which  he  had  gained  by 
his  valour.  Having  pursued  the  enemy  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  and  detached  some  troops  to 
prevent  their  rallying,  he  turned  back  upon  the 
king's  infantry,  and  threw  them  into  the  utmost 
confusion.  One  regiment  alone  preserved  its 
order  unbroken,  though  twice  desperately  assail- 
ed by  Fairfax :  and  that  general,  excited  by  so 
steady  a  resistance,  ordered  Doyley,  the  captain 
of  his  life-guard,  to  give  them  a  third  charge  in 
front,  while  he  himself  attacked  them  in  rear. 
The  regiment  was  broken.  Fairfax,  with  his  own 
hands,  killed  an  ensign,  and,  having  seized  the 
colours,  gave  them  to  a  soldier  to  keep  for  him. 
The  soldier  afterwards  boasting  that  he  had  won 
this  trophy,  was  reproved  by  Doyley,  who  had 
seen  the  action ;  Let  him  retain  that  honour,  said 
Fairfax,  /  have  to-day  acquired  enough  beside  \ 

Prince  Rupert,  sensible  too  late  of  his  error, 
left  the  fruitless  attack  on  the  enemy's  artillery, 
and  joined  the  king,  whose  infantry  was  now  to- 
tally discomfited.  Charles  exhorted  this  body  of 
cavalry  not  to  despair,  and  cried  aloud  to  them, 
one  charge  more,  and  zve  recover  the  day?.  But  the 
disadvantages  under  which  they  laboured  were 
too  evident ;  and  they  could  by  no  means  be  in- 

x  Whitlocke,  p.  145.  *  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  44. 


23  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1645. 

duced  to  renew  the  combat.  Charles  was  ob- 
liged to  quit  the  field,  and  leave  the  victory  to 
the  enemy  \  i  The  slain,  on  the  side  of  the  par- 
liament, exceeded  those  on  the  side  of  the  king : 
they  lost  a  thousand  men ;  he  not  above  eight 
hundred.  But  Fairfax  made  500  officers  prisoners, 
and  4000  private  men ;  took  all  the  king's  artillery 
and  ammunition;  and  totally  dissipated  his  in- 
fantry :  so  that  scarce  any  victory  could  be  more 
complete  than  that  which  he  obtained. 

Among  the  other  spoils  was  seized  the  king's 
cabinet,  with  the  copies  of  his  letters  to  the 
queen,  which  the  parliament  afterwards  ordered 
to  be  published3.  They  chose,  no  doubt,  such 
of  them  as  they  thought  would  reflect  dishonour 
on  him :  yet,  upon  the  whole,  the  letters  are  writ- 
ten with  delicacy  and  tenderness,  and  give  an 
advantageous  idea  both  of  the  king's  genius  and 
morals.  A  mighty  fondness,  it  is  true,  and  at- 
tachment, he  expresses  to  his  consort,  and  often 
professes  that  he  never  would  embrace  any  mea- 
sures which  she  disapproved :  but  such  declara- 
tions of  civility  and  confidence  are  not  always  to 
be  taken  in  a  full  literal  sense.  And  so  legitimate 
an  affection,  avowed  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man, 
may,  perhaps,  be  excusable  towards  a  woman  of 
beauty  and  spirit,  even  though  she  was  a  papist b. 

*  Clarendon,  vol.  iv.  p.  656,  657.    Walker,  p.  130,  131. 

"  Clarendon,  vol.  iv.  p.  658. 
b  Hearne  has  published  the  following  extract  from  a  manu- 
script work  of  sir  Simon  D'Ewes,  who  was  no  mean  man  in  the 


1645,  CHARLES    I.  &3 

The  Athenians,  having  intercepted  a  letter 
written  by  their  enemy,  Philip  of  Macedon,  to 
his  wife,  Olympia ;  so  far  from  being  moved  by  a 
curiosity  of  prying  into  the  secrets  of  that  rela- 
tion, immediately  sent  the  letter  to  the  queen  un- 
opened. Philip  was  not  their  sovereign;  nor 
were  they  inflamed  with  that  violent  animosity 
against  him,  which  attends  all  civil  commotions. 

After  the  battle,  the  king  retreated  with  that 
body  of  horse  which  remained  entire,  first  to  Here- 
ford, then  to  Abergavenny ;  and  remained  some 
time  in  Wales,  from  the  vain  hope  of  raising  a 
body  of  infantry  in  those  harassed  and  exhausted 
quarters.  Fairfax,  having  first  retaken  Leicester, 
which  was  surrendered  upon  articles,  began  to 
deliberate  concerning  his  future  enterprises.  A 
letter  was  brought  him  written  by  Goring  to  the 
king,  and  unfortunately  entrusted  to  a  spy  of 
Fairfax's.  Goring  there  informed  the  king,  that 
in  three  weeks  he  hoped  to  be  master  of  Taunton ; 
after  which  he  would  join  his  majesty  with  all  the 

parliamentary  party.  "  On  Thursday,  the  30th  and  last  day  of 
f(  this  instant  June  1625,  I  went  to  Whitehall,  purposely  to  see 
M  the  queen,  which  I  did  fully  all  the  time  she  sat  at  dinner.  I 
**  perceiv'd  her  to  be  a  most  absolute  delicate  lady,  after  I  had 
"  exactly  survey'd  all  the  features  of  her  face,  much  enliven'd 
"  by  her  radiant  and  sparkling  black  eyes.  Besides,  her  deport- 
"  ment  among  her  women  was  so  sweet  and  humble,  and  her 
"  speech  and  looks  to  her  other  servants  so  mild  and  gracious, 
w  as  I  could  not  abstain  from  divers  deep  fetched  sighs,  to  con- 
"  sider,  that  she  wanted  the  knowledge  of  the  true  religion." 
See  preface  to  the  Chronicle  of  Dunstable,  p.  64, 


24  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1645, 

forces  in  the  west;  and  entreated  him,  in  the 
mean. while,  to  avoid  coming  to  any  general  ac- 
tion. This  letter,  which,  had  it  been  safely  de- 
livered, had  probably  prevented  the  battle  of 
Naseby,  served  now  to  direct  the  operations  of 
Fairfax0.  After  leaving  a  body  of  3000  men  to 
Pointz  and  Rossiter,  with  orders  to.  attend  the 
king's  motions,  he  marched  immediately  to  the 
west,  with  a  view  of  saving  Taunton,  and  sup- 
pressing the  only  considerable  force  which  now 
remained  to  the  royalists. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  Charles, 
apprehensive  of  the  event,  had  sent  the  prince  of 
Wales,  then  fifteen  years  of  age,  to  the  west, 
with  the  title  of  general,  and  had  given  orders, 
if  he  were  pressed  by  the  enemy,  that  he  should 
make  his  escape  into  a  foreign  country,  and  save 
one, part  of  the  royal  family  from  the  violence  of 
the  parliament. .  Prince  Rupert  had  thrown  him- 
self into  Bristol,  with  an  intention  of  defending 
that  important  city.  Goring  commanded  the 
army  before  Taunton. 

On  Fairfax's  approach,  the  siege  of  Taunton 
was  raised ;  and  the  royalists  retired  to  Lamport, 
an  open  town  in  the  county  of  Somerset.  Fair- 
fax attacked  them  in  that  post,  beat  them  from 
it,  killed  about  300  men,  and  took  1400  prison- 
ers'1. After  this  advantage,  he  sat  down  before 
I3ridgcwater,  a  town  esteemed  strong  and  of  great 

c  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  4g.  d  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  55. 


16-15.  CHARLES   I.  25 

consequence  in  that  country.  When  he  had  en- 
tered the  outer  town  by  storm,  Windham  the 
governor,  who  had  retired  into  the  inner,  imme- 
diately capitulated,  and  delivered  up  the  place 
to  Fairfax.  The  garrison,  to  the  number  of  2600 
men,  were  made  prisoners  of  war. 


SURRENDER  OF  BRISTOL.    September  11. 

Fairfax,  having  next  taken  Bath  and  Sher- 
borne, resolved  to  lay  siege  to  Bristol,  and  made 
great  preparations  for  an  enterprise,  which,  from 
the  strength  of  tlie  garrison,  and  the  reputation 
of  prince  Rupert  the  governor,  was  deemed  of 
the  last  importance.  But,  so  precarious  in  most 
men  is  this  quality  of  military  courage  !  a  poorer 
defence  was  not  made  by  any  town  during  the 
whole  war:  and  the  general  expectations  were 
here  extremely  disappointed.  No  sooner  had 
the  parliamentary  forces  entered  the  lines  by 
storm,  than  the  prince  capitulated,  and  surren- 
dered the  city  to  Fairfax6.  A  few  days  before, 
he  had  written  a  letter  to  the  king,  in  which  he 
undertook  to  defend  the  place  for  four  months, 
if  no  mutiny  obliged  him  to  surrender  it. 
Charles,  who  was  forming  schemes,  and  collect- 
ing forces,  for  the  relief  of  Bristol,  was  astonish- 
ed at  so  unexpected  an  event,  which  was  little 

e  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  83. 


'26  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  ]645. 

less  fatal  to  his  cause  than  the  defeat  at  Naseby f. 
Full  of  indignation,  he  instantly  recalled  all  prince 
Rupert's  commissions,  and  sent  him  a  pass  to  go 
beyond  seag. 

The  king's  affairs  now  went  fast  to  ruin  in  all 
quarters.  The  Scots,  having  made  themselves 
masters  of  Carlisle11,  after  an  obstinate  siege, 
marched  southwards,  and  laid  siege  to  Hereford ; 
but  were  obliged  to  raise  it  on  the  king's  ap- 
proach :  and  this  was  the  last  glimpse  of  success 
which  attended  his  arms.  Having  marched  to 
the  relief  of  Chester,  which  was  anew  besieged  by 
the  parliamentary  forces  under  colonel  Jones; 
Pointz  attacked  his  rear,  and  forced  him  to  give 
battle.  While  the  fight  was  continued  with  great 
obstinacy,  and  victory  seemed  to  incline  to  the 
royalists ;  Jones  fell  upon  them  from  the  other 
side,  and  put  them  to  rout  with  the  loss  of  six 
hundred  slain,  and  one  thousand  prisoners K  The 
king,  with  the  remains  of  his  broken  army,  fled 
to  Newark,  and  thence  escaped  to  Oxford,  where 
he  shut  himself  up  during  the  winter  season. 

The  news  which  he  received  from  every  quar- 
ter, were  no  less  fatal  than  those  events  which 
passed  where  he  himself  was  present.  Fairfax 
and  Cromwel,  after  the  surrender  of  Bristol,  hav- 
ing divided  their  forces,  the  former  marched  west- 
wards, in  order  to  complete  the  conquest  of  De- 

1  Clarendon,  vol.  iv.  p.  690.    Walker,  p.  137. 

•  Clarendon,  vol.  iv.  p.  695.  '•  28th  of  June. 

j  Rush,  vol.  vii.  p  117. 


1646.  CHARLES   I.  27 

vonshire  and  Cornwal ;  the  latter  attacked  the 
king's  garrisons  which  lay  to  the  east  of  Bristol. 
The  Devizes  were  surrendered  to  Cromwel ; 
Berkeley  castle  was  taken  by  storm  ;  Winchester 
capitulated ;  Basing-house  was  entered  sword  in 
hand :  and  all  these  middle  counties  of  England 
were,  in  a  little  time,  reduced  to  obedience  under 
the  parliament. 


THE  WEST  CONQUERED  BY  FAIRFAX. 

The  same  rapid  and  uninterrupted  success  at- 
tended Fairfax.  The  parliamentary  forces,  elated 
by  past  victories,  governed  by  the  most  rigid 
discipline,  met  with  no  equal  opposition  from 
troops,  dismayed  by  repeated  defeats,  and  cor- 
rupted by  licentious  manners.  After  beating  up 
the  quarters  of  the  royalists  at  Bovey-Tracey, 
Fairfax  sat  down  before  Dartmouth,  and  in  a  few 
days  entered  it  by  storm.  Poudram-castle  being 
taken  by  him,  and  Exeter  blockaded  on  all  sides ; 
Hopton,  a  man  of  merit,  who  now  commanded 
the  royalists,  having  advanced  to  the  relief  of 
that  town  with  an  army  of  eight  thousand  men, 
met  with  the  parliamentary  army  at  Torrington  ; 
where  he  was  defeated,  all  his  foot  dispersed,  and 
he  himself,  with  his  horse,  obliged  to  retire  into 
Cornwal.  Fairfax  followed  him,  and  vigorously 
pursued  the  victory.  Having  inclosed  the  royal- 
ists at  Truro,  he  forced  the  whole  army,  consist- 


28  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1646. 

ing  of  five  thousand  men,  chiefly  cavalry,  to  sur- 
render upon  terms.  The  soldiers,  delivering  up 
their  horses  and  arms,  were  allowed  to  disband, 
and  received  twenty  shillings  a-piece,  to  carry 
them  to  their  respective  abodes.  Such  of  the 
officers  as  desired  it,  had  passes  to  retire  beyond 
sea:  the  others,  having  promised  never  more  to 
bear  arms,  payed  compositions  to  the  parliament k, 
and  procured  their  pardon  l.  And  thus  Fairfax, 
after  taking  Exeter,  which  completed  the  con- 
quest of  the  west,  marched  with  his  victorious 
army  to  the  centre  of  the  kingdom,  and  fixed  his 
camp  at  Newbury.  The  prince  of  Wales,  in  pur- 
suance of  the  king's  orders,  retired  to  Scilly; 
thence  to  Jersey  ;  whence  he  went  to  Paris  ; 
where  he  joined  the  queen,  who  had  fled  thither 
from  Exeter,  at  the  time  the  earl  of  Essex  con- 
ducted the  parliamentary  army  to  the  west. 

In  the  other  parts  of  England,  Hereford  was 
taken  by  surprise :  Chester  surrendered :  lord 
Digby,  who  had  attempted,  with  1200  horse,  to 
break  into  Scotland  and  join  Montrose,  was  de- 
feated at  Sherburn,  in  Yorkshire,  by  colonel  Cop- 
ley ;  his  whole  force  was  dispersed  ;  and  he  him- 
self was  obliged  to  fly,  first  to  the  Isle  of  Man, 
thence  to  Ireland.     News  too  arrived  that  Mont- 

k  These  compositions  were  different,  according  to  the  demerits 
of  the  person :  but  by  a  vote  of  the  house  they  could  not  be  under 
two  years  rent  of  the  delinquent's  estate.  Journ.  11th  of  August 
1048.    Whitlocke,  p.  \6o. 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  108. 


1(346.  CHARLES   I.  29 

rose  himself,  after  some  more  successes,  was  at 
last  routed  ;  and  this  only  remaining  hope  of  the 
royal  party  finally  extinguished. 

When  Montrose  descended  into  the  southern 
counties,  the  covenanters,  assembling  their  whole 
force,  met  him  with  a  numerous  army,  and  gave 
him  battle,  but  without  success,  at  Kilsythm.  This 
was  the  most  complete  victory  that  Montrose  ever 
obtained.  The  royalists  put  to  the  sword  six 
thousand  of  their  enemies,  and  left  the  coven- 
anters no  remains  of  any  army  in  Scotland.  The 
whole  kingdom  was  shaken  with  these  repeated 
successes  of  Montrose ;  and  many  noblemen,  who 
secretly  favoured  the  royal  cause,  now  declared 
openly  for  it,  when  they  saw  a  force  able  to  sup- 
port them.  The  marquis  of  Douglas,  the  earls 
of  Annandale  and  Hartfield,  the  lords  Fleming, 
Seton,  Maderty,  Carnegy,  with  many  others, 
flocked  to  the  royal  standard.  Edinburgh  opened 
its  gates,  and  gave  liberty  to  all  the  prisoners 
there  detained  by  the  covenanters.  Among  the 
rest  was  lord  Ogilvy,  son  of  Airly,  whose  family 
had  contributed  extremely  to  the"  victory  gained 
at  Kilsyth11. 

David  Lesly  was  detached  from  the  army  in 
England,  and  marched  to  the  relief  of  his  dis- 
tressed party  in  Scotland.  Montrose  advanced 
still  farther  to  the  south,  allured  by  vain  hopes, 

m  15  th  August  1645. 
■  Rush.  vol.  vU.  p.  230,  231.    Wishait,  cap.  13. 


30  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1646. 

both  of  rousing  to  arms  the  earls  of  Hume,  Tra- 
quaire,  and  Roxborough,  who  had  promised  to 
join  him  :  and  of  obtaining  from  England  some 
supply  of  cavalry,  in  which  he  was  deficient.  By 
the  negligence  of  his  scouts,  Lesly,  at  Philip- 
haugh  in  the  Forest,  surprised  his  army,  much 
diminished  in  numbers,  from  the  desertion  of  the 
Highlanders,  who  had  retired  to  the  hills,  accord- 
ing to  custom,  in  order  to  secure  their  plunder. 
After  a  sharp  conflict,  where  Montrose  exerted 
great  valour,  his  forces  were  routed  by  Lesly's 
cavalry0:  and  he  himself  was  obliged  to  fly  with 
his  broken  forces  into  the  mountains ;  where  he 
again  prepared  himself  for  new  battles  and  new 
enterprises  p. 

The  covenanters  used  the  victory  with  rigour. 
Their  prisoners,  sir  Robert  Spotiswood,  secretary 
of  state,  and  son  to  the  late  primate,  sir  Philip 
Nisbet,  sir  William  Rollo,  colonel  Nathaniel  Gor- 
don, Andrew  Guthry,  son  of  the  bishop  of  Mur- 
ray, William  Murray,  son  of  the  earl  of  Tullibar- 
dine,  were  condemned  and  executed.  The  sole 
crime  imputed  to  the  secretary,  was  his  delivering 
to  Montrose  the  king's  commission  to  be  captain- 
general  of  Scotland.  Lord  Ogilvy,  who  was  again 
taken  prisoner,  would  have  undergone  the  same 
fate,  had  not  his  sister  found  means  to  procure 
his  escape,  by  changing  clothes  with  him.  For 
this  instance  of  courage  and  dexterity,  she  met 

•  13th  of  Sept.  1045.  p  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  231. 


1046.  CHARLES   I.  31 

with  harsh  usage.  The  clergy  solicited  the  par- 
liament, that  more  royalists  might  be  executed; 
but  could  not  obtain  their  request*1. 

After  all  these  repeated  disasters,  which  every 
where  befel  the  royal  party,  there  remained  only 
one  body  of  troops,  on  which  fortune  could  exer- 
cise her  rigour.  Lord  Astley,  with  a  small  army 
of  3000  men,  chiefly  cavalry,  marching  to  Ox- 
ford, in  order  to  join  the  king,  was  met  at  Stowe, 
by  colonel  Morgan,  and  entirely  defeated ;  him- 
self being  taken  prisoner.  u  You  have  done 
"  your  work,"  said  Astley  to  the  parliamentary 
officers;  "  and  may  now  go  to  play,  unless  you 
"  chuse  to  fall  out  among  yourselves'." 

The  condition  of  the  king,  during  this  whole 
winter,  was  to  the  last  degree  disastrous  and  me- 
lancholy. As  the  dread  of  ills  is  commonly  more 
oppressive  than  their  real  presence,  perhaps  in  no 
period  of  his  life  was  he  more  justly  the  object  of 
compassion.  His  vigour  of  mind,  which,  though 
it  sometimes  failed  him  in  acting,  never  deserted 
him  in  his  sufferings,  was  what  alone  supported 
him ;  and  he  was  determined,  as  he  wrote  to  lord 

q  Guthry's  Memoirs.  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  232. 
r  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  141.  It  was  the  same  Astley  who,  before 
he  charged  at  the  battle  of  Edgehill,  made  this  short  prayer,  O 
Lord  I  thou  knottiest  how  busy  I  must  be  this  day.  If  I  forget  thee, 
do  not  thou  forget  me.  And  with  that  rose  up,  and  cry'd  March 
on,  boys  !  Warwick,  p.  229.  There  was  certainly  much  longer 
prayers  said  in  the  parliamentary  army)  but  I  doubt  if  there 
were  so  good  a  one. 


32  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  UU6. 

Digby,  if  he  could  not  live  as  a  king,  to  die  like 
a  gentleman ;   nor  should  any  of  his  friends,  he 
said,   ever  have  reason   to   blush  for  the  prince 
whom  they  had  so  unfortunately  served*.     The 
murmurs   of  discontented   officers,    on    the   one 
hand,   harassed  their  unhappy  sovereign;    while 
they   over-rated    those    services    and    sufferings 
which,    they  now  saw,    must  for  ever  go  unre- 
warded1.     The  affectionate   duty,    on  the  other 
hand,,  of   his   more   generous    friends,    who    re- 
spected his  misfortunes  and  his  virtues,  as  much 
as  his  dignity,  wrung  his  heart  with  a  new  sorrow; 
when  he  reflected,  that  such  disinterested  attach- 
ment  would  so  soon  be  exposed  to  the  rigour 
of  his  implacable  enemies.     Repeated  attempts, 
which  he  made  for  a  peaceful  and  equitable  ac- 
commodation with  the  parliament,  served  to  no 
purpose  but  to  convince  them,   that  the  victory 
was  entirely  in  their  hands.     They  deigned  not 
to  make  the  least  reply  to  several  of  his  messages, 
in  which  he  desired  a  passport  for  commissioners  u. 
At  last,  after  reproaching  him  with  the  blood  spilt 
during  the,  war,    they  told  him,   that  they  were 
preparing  bills  for  him  ;  and  his   passing  them 
would  be  the  best  pledge  of  his  inclination  to- 
wards peace :    in  other  words,  he  must  yield  at 
discretion*.     He  desired  a  personal  treaty,  and 
offered  to  come  to  London,  upon  receiving  a  safe 

•Carte's  Ormond,  vol.  iii.  No.  433. 

• '  Walker,  p.  147.  •  I  Rush.- vol.  vii.  p.  215,  &c. 

*  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  21 7.  220.     Clarendon,  vol.  iv.  p. 744. 


1646.  CHARLES    I.  33 

conduct  for  himself  and  his  attendants :  they 
absolutely  refused  him  admittance,  and  issued 
orders  for  the  guarding,  that  is,  the  seizing  of  his 
person,  in  case  he  should  attempt  to  visit  them  7. 
A  new  incident,  which  happened  in  Ireland, 
served  to  inflame  the  minds  of  men,  and  to  in- 
crease those  calumnies  with  which  his  enemies 
had  so  much  loaded  him,  and  which  he  ever 
regarded  as  the  most  grievous  part  of  his  mis- 
fortunes. 

After  the  cessation  with  the  Irish  rebels,  the 
king  was  desirous  of  concluding  a  final  peace  with 
them,  and  obtaining  their  assistance  in  England  : 
and  he  gave  authority  to  Ormond,  lord  lieutenant, 
to  promise  them  an  abrogation  of  all  the  penal 
laws  enacted  against  catholics;  together  with  the 
suspension  of  Poining's  statute,  with  regard  to 
some  particular  bills,  which  should  be  agreed  on. 
Lord  Herbert,  created  earl  of  Glamorgan  (though 
his  patent  had  not  yet  passed  the  seals),  having 
occasion  for  his  private  affairs  to  go  to  Ireland, 
the  king  considered,  that  this  nobleman,  being 
a  catholic,  and  allied  to  the  best  Irish  families, 
might  be  of  service :  he  also  foresaw,  that  farther 
concessions  Avith  regard  to  religion  might  proba- 
bly be  demanded  by  the  bigoted  Irish ;  and  that, 
as  these  concessions,  however  necessary,  would 
give  great  scandal  to  the  protestant  zealots  in  his 
three  kingdoms,    it  would  be  requisite  both   to 

y  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  249.     Clarendon  vol.  iv.  p.  741. 
VOL.  VIII.  IX 


34  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  J646. 

conceal  them  during  some  time,  and  to  preserve 
Ormond's  character,  by  giving  private  orders  to 
Glamorgan  to  conclude  and  sign  these  articles. 
But  as  Jie  had  a  better  opinion  of  Glamorgan's 
zeal  and  affection  for  his  service,  than  of  his  capa- 
city, he  enjoined  him  to  communicate  all  his  mea- 
sures to  Ormond ;  and  though  the  final  conclu- 
sion of  the  treaty  must  be  executed  only  in  Gla- 
morgan's own  name,  he  was  required  to  be  di- 
rected, in  the  steps  towards  it,  by  the  opinion  of 
the  lord  lieutenant.  Glamorgan,  bigoted  to  his 
religion,  and  passionate  for  the  king's  service,  but 
guided  in  these  pursuits  by  no  manner  of  judg- 
ment or  discretion,  secretly,  of  himself,  without 
any  communication  with  Ormond,  concluded  a 
peace  with  the  council  of  Kilkenny,  and  agreed, 
in  the  king's  name,  that  the  Irish  should  enjoy 
all  the  churches  of  which  they  had  ever  been  in 
possession  since  the  commencement  of  their  in- 
surrection; on  condition  that  they  should  assist 
the  king  in  England  with  a  body  of  ten  thousand 
men.  This  transaction  was  discovered  by  acci- 
dent. The  titular  archbishop  of  Tuam  being  killed 
by  a  sally  of  the  garrison  of  Sligo,  the  articles  of 
the  treaty  were  found  among  his  baggage,  and 
were  immediately  published  every-where,  and  co- 
pies of  them  sent  over  to  the  English  parliament2. 
The  lord  lieutenant  and  lord  Digby,  foreseeing 
the  clamour  which  would  be  raised  against  the 

*  Rush,  vol*  vii.  p.  239. 


1646.  CHARLES   I.  35 

king,  committed  Glamorgan  to  prison,  charged 
him  with  treason  for  his  temerity,  and  maintain- 
ed, that  he  had  acted  altogether  without  any  au- 
thority from  his  master.  The  English  parliament 
however  neglected  not  so  favourable  an  opportu- 
nity of  reviving  the  old  clamour  with  regard  to 
the  king's  favour  of  popery,  and  accused  him  of 
delivering  over,  in  a  manner,  the  whole  kingdom 
of  Ireland  to  that  hated  sect.  The  king  told 
them,  "  That  the  earl  of  Glamorgan  having 
"  made  an  offer  to  raise  forces  in  the  kingdom  of 
"  Ireland,  and  to  conduct  them  into  England 
9  for  his  majesty's  service,  had  a  commission  for 
"  that  purpose,  and  to  that  purpose  only,  and 
M  that  he  had  no  commission  at  all  to  treat  of 
'■'  any  thing  else,  without  the  privity  and  di- 
"  rection  of  the  lord  lieutenant,  much  less  to* 
"  capitulate  any  thing  concerning  religion,  or 
"  any  property  belonging  either  to  church  or 
"  laity8."  Though  this  declaration  seems  agree- 
able to  truth,  it  gave  no  satisfaction  to  the  parlia- 
ment ;  and  some  historians,  even  at  present,  when 
the  antient  bigotry  is  somewhat  abated,  are  de- 
sirous of  representing  this  very  innocent  trans- 
action, in  which  the  king  was  engaged  by  the 
most  violent  necessity,  as  a  stain  on  the  memory 
of  that  unfortunate  prince  *. 

Having  lost  all  hope  of  prevailing  over  the 

*  Birch,  p.  119. 
*  See  note  [B]  vol.  X. . 

2 


36  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1646. 

rigour  of  the  parliament,  either  by  arms  or  by 
treaty,  the  only  resource  which  remained  to  the 
kinsr,  was  derived  from  the  intestine  dissensions, 
which  ran  very  high  among  his  enemies.  Presby- 
terians and  independents,  even  before  their  victory 
was  fully  completed,  fell  into  contests  about  the 
division  of  the  spoil,  and  their  religious  as  well 
as  civil  disputes  agitated  the  whole  kingdom. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AFFAIRS. 

The  parliament,  though  they  had  early  abolished 
episcopal  authority,  had  not,  during  so  long  a 
time,  substituted  any  other  spiritual  government 
in  its  place  ;  and  their  committees  of  religion  had 
hitherto  assumed  the  whole  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion :  but  they  now  established,  by  an  ordinance, 
the  presbyterian  model  in  all  its  forms  of  congre- 
gational, classical,  provincial,  and  national  assem- 
blies. All  the  inhabitants  of  each  parish  were 
ordered  to  meet  and  chuse  elders,  on  whom,  to- 
gether with  the  minister,  was  bestowed  the  entire 
direction  of  all  spiritual  concerns  within  the  con- 
gregation. A  number  of  neighbouring  parishes, 
commonly  between  twelve  and  twenty,  formed  a 
classis;  and  the  court,  which  governed  this  divi- 
sion, was  composed  of  all  the  ministers,  together 
with  two,  three,  or  four  elders  chosen  from  each 
parish.  The  provincial  assembly  retained  an  in- 
spection over  several  neighbouring  classes,  and 


1646.  CHARLES   f.  3? 

was  composed  entirely  of  clergymen  :  the  na- 
tional assembly  was  constituted  in  the  same  man- 
ner; and  its  authority  extended  over  the  whole 
kingdom.  It  is  probable,  that  the  tyranny  exer- 
cised by  the  Scottish  clergy  had  given  warning 
not  to  allow  laymen  a  place  in  the  provincial  or 
national  assemblies;  lest  the  nobility  and  more 
considerable  gentry,  soliciting  a  seat  in  these 
great  ecclesiastical  courts,  should  bestow  a  consi- 
deration upon  them,  and  render  them,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude,  a  rival  to  the  parliament.  In 
the  inferior  courts,  the  mixture  of  the  laity  might 
serve  rather  to  temper  the  usual  zeal  of  the 
clergy5. 

But  though  the  presbyterians,  by  the  esta- 
blishment of  parity  among  the  ecclesiastics,  were 
so  far  gratified,  they  were  denied  satisfaction  in 
several  other  points,  on  which  they  were  extremely 
intent.  The  assembly  of  divines  had  voted  pres- 
bytery to  be  of  divine  right.  The  parliament 
refused  their  assent  to  that  decision0.  Selden, 
Whitlocke,  and  other  political  reasoners,  assisted 
by  the  independents,  had  prevailed  in  this  import- 
ant deliberation.  They  thought,  that,  had  the 
bigoted  religionists  been  able  to  get  their  hea- 
venly charter  recognised,  the  presbyters  would 
soon  become  more  dangerous  to  the  magistrate 
than  had  ever  been  the  prelatical  clergy.     These 

b  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  224. 
*  Whitlocke,  p.  106.     Rush.  vol.  vii.  p;  260,  26l. 


38  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  161(5. 

latter,  while  they  claimed  to  themselves  a  divine 
right,  admitted  of  a  like  origin  to  civil  authority : 
the  former,  challenging  to  their  own  order  a  ce- 
lestial pedigree,  derived  the  legislative  power 
from  a  source  no  more  dignified  than  the  volun- 
tary association  of  the  people. 

Under  colour  of  keeping  the  sacraments  from 
profanation,  the  clergy  of  all  christian  sects  had 
assumed,  what  they  call  the  power  of  the  keys,  or' 
the  right  of  fulminating  excommunication.  The 
example  of  Scotland  was  a  sufficient  lesson  for 
the  parliament  to  use  precaution  in  guarding 
against  so  severe  a  tyranny.  They  determined, 
by  a  general  ordinance,  all  the  cases  in  which 
excommunication  could  be  used.  They  allowed 
of  appeals. to  parliament  from  all  ecclesiastical 
courts.  And  they  appointed  commissioners  in 
every  province  to  judge  of  such  cases  as  fell  not 
within  their  general  ordinance41.  So  much  civil 
authority,  intermixed  with  the  ecclesiastical,  gave 
disgust  to  all  the  zealots. 

But  nothing  was  attended  with  more  universal 
scandal  than  the  propensity  of  many  in  the  parlia- 
ment towards  a  toleration  of  the  protestant  secta- 
ries. The  presbyterians  exclaimed,  that  this  in- 
dulgence made  the  church  of  Christ  resemble 
Noah's  ark,  and  rendered  it  a  receptacle  for  all 
unclean  beasts.  They  insisted,  that  the  least  of 
Christ's  truths  was  superior  to  all  political  consi- 

*  Ru6h.  vol.  vii.  p.  210. 


1646.  CHARLES   I.  39 

derations*.  They  maintained  the  eternal  obliga- 
tion imposed  by  the  covenant  to  extirpate  heresy 
and  schism.  And  they  menaced  all  their  oppon- 
ents with  the  same  rigid  persecution,  under  which 
they  themselves  had  groaned,  when  held  in  sub- 
jection by  the  hierarchy. 

So  great  prudence  and  reserve,  in  such  ma- 
terial points,  does  great  honour  to  the  parliament; 
and  proves,  that,  notwithstanding  the  pre  valency 
of  bigotry  and  fanaticism,  there  were  many  mem- 
bers who  had  more  enlarged  views,  and  paid  re- 
gard to  the  civil  interests  of  society.  These  men, 
uniting  themselves  to  the  enthusiasts,  whose  ge- 
nius is  naturally  averse  to  clerical  usurpations, 
exercised  so  jealous  an  authority  over  the  assem- 
bly of  divines,  that  they  allowed  them  nothing 
but  the  liberty  of  tendering  advice,  and  would 
not  entrust  them  even  with  the  power  of  electing 
their  own  chairman  or  his  substitute,  or  of  sup- 
plying the  vacancies  of  their  own  members. 

While  these  disputes  were  canvassed  by  theo- 
logians, who  engaged  in  their  spiritual  contests 
every  order  of  the  state ;  the  king,  though  he  en- 
tertained hopes  of  reaping  advantage  from  those 
divisions,  was  much  at  a  loss  which  side  it  would 
be  most  for  his  interest  to  comply  with.  The 
presbyterians  were,  by  their  principles,  the  least 
averse  to  regal  authority ;  but  were  rigidly  bent 
on  the  extirpation  of  prelacy :  The  independents 

e  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  308. 


40  HISTOTIY   OF   ENGLAND.  iG-lG. 

were  resolute  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  republican 
government;  but  as  they  pretended  not  to  erect 
themselves  into  a  national  church,  it  might  be 
hoped,  that,  if  gratified  with  a  toleration,  they 
would  admit  the  re-establishment  of  the  hierar- 
chy. So  great  attachment  had  the  king  to  epis- 
copal jurisdiction,  that  he  was  ever  inclined  to 
put  it  in  balance  even  with  his  own  power  and 
kingly  office. 

But  whatever  advantage  he  might  hope  to 
reap  from  the  divisions  in  the  parliamentary 
party,  he  was  apprehensive,  lest  it  should  come 
too  late  to  save  him  from  the  destruction  with 
which  he  was  instantly  threatened.  Fairfax  was 
approaching  with  a  powerful  and  victorious  army, 
and  was  taking  the  proper  measures  for  laying 
siesje  to  Oxford,  which  must  infallibly  fall  into 
his  hands.  To  be  taken  captive,  and  led  in  tri- 
umph by  his  insolent  enemies,  was  what  Charles 
justly  abhorred;  and  every  insult,  if  not  violence, 
was  to  be  dreaded  from  that  enthusiastic  soldiery, 
who  hated  his  person  and  despised  his  dignity. 
In  this  desperate  extremity,  he  embraced  a  mea- 
sure which,  in  any  other  situation,  might  lie  under 
the  imputation  of  imprudence  and  indiscretion. 

THE  KING  GOES  TO  THE  SCOTCH  CAMP  AT 
NEWARK. 

Montreville,  the  French  minister,  interested 
for  the  king  more  by  the  natural  sentiments  of 


1646.  CHARLES   I.  41 

humanity,  than  any  instructions  from  his  court, 
which  seemed  rather  to  favour  the  parliament, 
had  solicited  the  Scottish  generals  and  commis- 
sioners, to  give  protection  to  their  distressed  so- 
vereign ;  and  having  received  many  general  pro- 
fessions and  promises,  he  had  always  transmitted 
these,  perhaps  with  some  exaggeration,  to  the 
king.  From  his  suggestions,  Charles  began  to 
entertain  thoughts  of  leaving  Oxford,  and  flying 
to  the  Scottish  army,  which  at  that  time  lay  be- 
fore Newark f.  He  considered  that  the  Scottish 
nation  had  been  fully  gratified  in  all  their  de- 
mands ;  and  having  already,  in  their  own  coun- 
try, annihilated  both  episcopacy  and  regal  au- 
thority, had  no  farther  concessions  to  exact  from 
him.  In  all  disputes  which  had  passed  about 
settling  the  terms  of  peace,  the  Scots,  he  heard, 
had  still  adhered  to  the  milder  side,  and  had 
endeavoured  to  soften  the  rigour  of  the  English 
parliament.  Great  disgusts  also,  on  other  ac- 
counts, had  taken  place  between  the  nations  ;  and 
the  Scots  found  that,  in  proportion  as  their  assist- 
ance became  less  necessary,  less  value  was  put 
upon  them.  The  progress  of  the  independents 
gave  them  great  alarm ;  and  they  were  scandal- 
ised to  hear  their  beloved  covenant  spoken  of, 
every  day,  with  less  regard  and  reverence.  The 
refusal  of  a  divine  right  to  presbytery,  and  the 

f  Clarendon,  vol.  iv.  p.  750.  vol.  v.  p.  16. 


42  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1646. 

infringing  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  from  poli- 
tical considerations,  were,  to  them,  the  subject 
of  much  offence :  and  the  king  hoped,  that  in 
their  present  disposition,  the  sight  of  their  native 
prince,  flying  to  them  in  this  extremity  of  dis- 
tress, would  rouse  every  spark  of  generosity  in 
their  bosom,  and  procure  him  their  favour  and 
protection. 

That  he  might  the  better  conceal  his  inten- 
tions, oTders  were  given  at  every  gate  in  Oxford, 
for  allowing  three  persons  to  pass :  and  in  the 
night  the  king,  accompanied  by  none  but  Dr. 
Hudson  and  Mr.  Ashburnham,  went  out  at  that 
gate  which  leads  to  London.  He  rode  before  a 
portmanteau,  and  called  himself  Ashburnham 's 
servant.  He  passed  through  Henley,  St.  Albans, 
and  came  so  near  to  London  as  Harrow  on  the 
Hill.  He  once  entertained  thoughts  of  entering 
into  that  city,  and  of  throwing  himself  on  the 
mercy  of  the  parliament.  But  at  last,  after  pass- 
ing through  many  cross  roads,  he  arrived  at  the 
Scottish  camp  before  Newark*.  The  parliament, 
hearing  of  his  escape  from  Oxford,  issued  rigor- 
ous orders,  and  threatened  with  instant  death 
whoever  should  harbour  or  conceal  himh. 

The  Scottish  generals  and  commissioners  affect- 
ed great  surprise  on  the  appearance  of  the  king: 
and  though  they  payed  him  all  the  exterior  respect 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  267.        h  Whitlocke,  p.  209. 


1646.  CHARLES   I.  43 

due  to  his  dignity,  they  instantly  set  a  guard 
upon  him,  under  colour  of  protection,  and  made 
him  in  reality  a  prisoner.  They  informed  the 
English  parliament  of  this  unexpected  incident, 
and  assured  them  that  they  had  entered  into  no 
private  treaty  with  the  king.  They  applied  to 
him  for  orders  to  Bellasis,  governor  of  Newark, 
to  surrender  that  town,  now  reduced  to  extremi- 
ty ;  and  the  orders  were  instantly  obeyed.  And 
hearing  that  the  parliament  laid  claim  to  the  en- 
tire disposal  of  the  king's  person,  and  that  the 
English  army  was  making  some  motions  towards 
them ;  they  thought  proper  to  retire  northwards, 
and  to  fix  their  camp  at  Newcastle'. 

This  measure  was  very  grateful  to  the  king; 
and  he  began  to  entertain  hopes  of  protection 
from  the  Scots.     He  was  particularly  attentive  to 
the  behaviour  of  their  preachers,  on  whom  all  de- 
pended.    It  was  the  mode  of  that  age  to  make 
the  pulpit  the  scene  of  news  ;  and  on  every  great 
event,   the  whole  scripture  was  ransacked  by  the 
clergy  for  passages  applicable  to  the  present  occa- 
sion.    The  first  minister  who  preached  before  the 
king,  chose  these  words  for  his  text :   "  And  be- 
"  hold  all  the  men  of  Israel  carne  to  the  king, 
"  and  said  unto  him,  Why  have  our  brethren,  the 
"  men  of  Judah,    stolen  thee  away,    and   have 
"  brought  the  king  and  his  household,  and  all 
"  David's  men  with  him,  over  Jordan?  And  all 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  271-      Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  23, 


44  HISTORY  OF  ENGLANp.  1643. 

"  the  men  of  Judali  answered  the  men  of  Israel, 
"  Because  the  king  is  near  of  kin  to  us;  where- 
"  fore  then  be  ye  angry  for  this  matter?   Have 
M  we  eaten  at  all  of  the  king's  cost;  or  hath  he 
"  given  us  any  gift  ?  And  the  men  of  Israel  an- 
"  swered  the  men  of  Judah,  and  said,  We  have 
"  ten  parts  in  the  king,  and  we  have  also  more 
"  right  in  David  than  ye :  why  then  did  ye  de- 
"  spise  us,  that  our  advice  should  not  be  first 
"had,    in   bringing  back   our   king:    and    the 
"  words  of  the  men  of  Judah  were  fiercer  than 
"  the  words  of  the  men  of  Israeli "     But  the 
king  found,  that  the  happiness  chiefly  of  the  al- 
lusion had  tempted  the  preacher  to  employ  this 
text,  and  that  the  covenanting  zealots  were  no- 
wise pacified   towards  him.     Another  preacher, 
after  reproaching  him  to  his  face  with  his  misgo- 
vernment,  ordered  this  psalm  to  be  sung : 

Why  dost  thou,  tyrant,  boast  thyself, 
Thy  wicked  deeds  to  praise  ? 

The  king  stood  up,  and  called  for  that  psalm 
which  begins  with  these  words, 

Have  mercy,  Lord,  on  me,  I  pray  ; 
For  men  would  me  devour : 

The  good-natured  audience,   in  pity  to  fallen  ma- 

1  2  Sam.  chap.  xix.  41,  42,  and  43  verses.     See  Clarendon, 
vol.  v.  p.  23,  24. 


164ft.  CHARLES  I.  45 

jesty,  showed  for  once  greater  deference  to  the 
king  than  to  the  minister,  and  sung  the  psalm 
which  the  former  had  called  fork. 

Charles  had  very  little  reason  to  be  pleased 
with  his  situation.  He  not  only  found  himself  a 
prisoner  very  strictly  guarded:  all  his  friends  were 
kept  at  a  distance ;  and  no  intercourse,  either  by 
letters  or  conversation,  was  allowed  him,  with  any 
one  on  whom  he  could  depend,  or  who  was  su- 
spected of  any  attachment  towards  him.  The 
Scottish  generals  would  enter  into  no  confidence 
with  him ;  and  still  treated  him  with  distant  cere- 
mony and  feigned  respect.  And  every  proposal, 
which  they  made  him,  tended  farther  to  his  abase- 
ment and  to  his  ruin1. 

They  required  him  to  issue  orders  to  Oxford, 
and  all  his  other  garrisons,  commanding  their  sur- 
render to  the  parliament :  and  the  king,  sensible 
that  their  resistance  was  to  very  little  purpose, 
willingly  complied.  The  terms  given  to  most  of 
them  were  honourable;  and  Fairfax,  as  far  as  it  lay 
in  his  power,  was  very  exact  in  observing  them. 
Far  from  allowing  violence,  he  would  not  even 
permit  insults  or  triumph  over  the  unfortunate 
royalists ;  and  by  his  generous  humanity,  so  cruel 
a  civil  war  was  ended,  in  appearance  very  calmly, 
between  the  parties. 

Ormond  having  received  the  like  orders,  deli- 
vered Dublin,  and  other  forts,  into  the  hands  of 

►  Whitlocke,  p.  234.  '  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  30. 


43  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1646. 

the  parliamentary  officers.  Montrose  also,  after 
having  experienced  still  more  variety  of  good  and 
had  fortune,  threw  down  his  arms,  and  retired  out 
of  the  kingdom. 

The  marquis  of  Worcester,  a  man  past  eighty- 
four,  was  the  last  in  England  that  submitted  to 
the  authority  of  the  parliament.  He  defended 
Raglan  castle  to  extremity ;  and  opened  not  its 
gates  till  the  middle  of  August.  Four  years,  a 
few  days  excepted,  were  now  elapsed,  since  the 
king  first  erected  his  standard  at  Nottingham"1. 
So  long  had  the  British  nations,  by  civil  and  reli- 
gious quarrels,  been  occupied  in  shedding  their 
own  blood,  and  laying  waste  their  native  country. 

The  parliament  and  the  Scots  laid  their  pro- 
posals before  the  king.  They  were  such  as  a 
captive,  entirely  at  mercy,  could  expect  from  the 
most  inexorable  victor :  yet  were  they  little  worse 
than  what  were  insisted  on  before  the  battle  of 
Naseby.  The  power  of  the  sword,  instead  of  ten, 
which  the  king  now  offered,  was  demanded  for 
twenty  years,  together  with  a  right  to  levy 
whatever  money  the  parliament  should  think  pro- 
per for  the  support  of  their  armies.  The  other 
conditions  were,  in  the  main,  the  same  M'ith  those 
which  had  formerly  been  offered  to  the  kingn. 

Charles  said,  that  proposals  which  introduced 
such  important  innovations  in  the  constitution, 
demanded  time  for  deliberation  :  the  commission- 

"■  Rushworth,  vol.  vi.  p.  293.  ■  Ibid.  p.  309. 


164(5.  »  CHARLES   I,  47 

ers  replied,  that  he  must  give  his  answer  in  ten 
days0.  He  desired  to  reason  about  the  meaning 
and  import  of  some  terms :  they  informed  him, 
that  they  had  no  power  of  debate ;  and  peremp- 
torily required  his  consent  or  refusal.  He  re- 
quested a  personal  treaty  with  the  parliament: 
they  threatened,  that,  if  he  delayed  compliance, 
the  parliament  would,  by  their  own  authority, 
settle  the  nation. 

What  the  parliament  was  most  intent  upon, 
was  not  their  treaty  with  the  king,  to  whom  they 
pakl  little  regard  ;  but  that  with  the  Scots.  Two 
important  points  remained  to  be  settled  with  that 
nation ;  their  delivery  of  the  king,  and  the  esti- 
mation of  their  arrears. 

The  Scots  might  pretend,  that  as  Charles  was 
king  of  Scotland  as  well  as  of  England,  they  were 
entitled  to  an  equal  vote  in  the  disposal  of  his 
person :  and  that,  in  such  a  case,  where  the  titles 
are  equal,  and  the  subject  indivisible,  the  prefer- 
ence was  due  to  the  present  possessor.  The  Eng- 
lish maintained,  that  the  king  being  in  England, 
was  comprehended  within  the  jurisdiction  of  that 
kingdom,  and  could  not  be  disposed  of  by  any 
foreign  nation.  A  delicate  question  this,  and 
what  surely  could  not  be  decided  by  precedent ; 
since  such  a  situation  is  not,  any  where,  to  be 
found  in  history p. 

As  the  Scots  concurred  with  the  English,  in 

9  Rushworth,  vol.  vii.  p.  310.        p  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  339. 


/J8  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1616. 

imposing  such  severe  conditions  on  the  king,  that, 
notwithstanding:  his  unfortunate  situation,  he  still 
refused  to  accept  of  them ;  it  is  certain  that  they 
did  not  desire  his  freedom :  nor  could  they  ever 
intend  to  join  lenity  and  rigour  together,  in  so 
inconsistent  a  manner.  Before  the  settlement  of 
terms,  the  administration  must  be  possessed  en- 
tirely by  the  parliaments  of  both  kingdoms ;  and 
how  incompatible  that  scheme  with  the  liberty  of 
the  king,  is  easily  imagined.  To  carry  him  a  pri- 
soner into  Scotland,  where  few  forces  could  be 
supported  to  guard  him,  was  a  measure  so  full  of 
inconvenience  and  danger,  that,  even  if  the  Eng- 
lish had  consented  to  it,  must  have  appeared  to 
the  Scots  themselves  altogether  uneligible :  and 
how  could  such  a  plan  be  supported  in  opposition 
to  England,  possessed  of  such  numerous  and  vic- 
torious armies,  which  were,  at  that  time,  at  least 
seemed  to  be,  in  entire  union  with  the  parliament? 
The  only  expedient,  it  is  obvious,  which  the  Scots 
could  embrace,  if  they  scrupled  wholly  to  abandon 
the  king,  was  immediately  to  return,  fully  and 
cordially,  to  their  allegiance;  and,  uniting  them- 
selves with  the  royalists  in  both  kingdoms,  endea- 
vour, by  force  of  arms,  to  reduce  the  English  par- 
liament to  more  moderate  conditions :  but  be- 
sides that  this  measure  was  full  of  extreme  ha- 
zard ;  what  was  it  but  instantly  to  combine  with 
their  old  enemies  against  their  old  friends ;  and, 
in  a  fit  of  romantic  generosity,  overturn  what, 
with  so  much  expence  of  blood  and  treasure,  they 


1646.  CHARLES   I.  49 

had,  during  the  course  of  so  many  years,  heen  so 
carefully  erecting? 

But,  though  all  these  reflections  occurred  to 
the  Scottish  commissioners,  they  resolved  to  pro- 
long the  dispute,  and  to  keep  the  king  as  a  pledge 
for  those  arrears  which  they  claimed  from  Eng- 
land, and  which  they  were  not  likely,  in  the  pre- 
sent disposition  of  that  nation,  to  obtain  by  any 
other  expedient.  The  sum,  by  their  account, 
amounted  to  near  two  millions :  for  they  had  re- 
ceived little  regular  pay  since  they  had  entered 
England.  And  though  the  contributions  which 
they  had  levied,  as  well  as  the  price  of  their  living 
at  free  quarters,  must  be  deducted ;  yet  still  the 
sum  which  they  insisted  on  was  very  considerable. 
After  many  discussions,  it  was,  at  last,  agreed, 
that,  in  lieu  of  all  demands,  they  should  accept 
of  400,000  pounds,  one  half  to  be  paid  instantly, 
another  in  two  subsequent  payments  1. 

Great  pains  were  taken  by  the  Scots  (and  the 
English  complied  with  their  pretended  delicacy) 
to  make  this  estimation  and  payment  of  arrears 
appear  a  quite  different  transaction  from  that  for 
the  delivery  of  the  king's  person :  but  common 
sense  requires,  that  they  should  be  regarded  as 
one  and  the  same.  The  English,  it  is  evident, 
had  they  not  been  previously  assured  of  receiving 
the  king,  would  never  have  parted  with  so  con- 
siderable a  sum  ;  and,  while  they  weakened  them- 

q  Rush  worth,  vol.  vii.  p.  326.     Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xv.  p.  236. 
VOL,  VIII.  E 


50 


HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1646. 


selves,  by  the  same  measure  have  strengthened  a 
people,  with  whom  they  must  afterwards  have  so 
material  an  interest  to  discuss. 

Thus  the  Scottish  nation  underwent,  and  still 
undergo  (for  such  grievous- stains  are  not  easily 
wiped  off"),  the  reproach  of  selling  their  king, 
and  betraying  their  prince  for  money.  In  vain 
did  they  maintain,  that  this  money  was,  on  ac- 
count of  former  services,  undoubtedly  their  due; 
that  in  their  present  situation,  no  other  measure, 
without  the  utmost  indiscretion,  or  even  their 
apparent  ruin,  could  be  embraced ;  and  that, 
though  they  delivered  their  king  into  the  hands 
of  his  open  enemies,  they  were  themselves  as  much 
his  open  enemies  as  those  to  whom  they  surren- 
dered him,  and  their  common  hatred  against  him 
had  long  united  the  two  parties  in  strict  alliance 
with  each  other.  They  were  still  answered,  that 
they  made  use  of  this  scandalous  expedient  for 
obtaining  their  wages ;  and  that,  after  taking 
arms,  without  any  provocation,  against  their  so- 
vereign, who  had  ever  loved  and  cherished  them, 
they  had  deservedly  fallen  into  a  situation,  from 
which  they  could  not  extricate  themselves,  with- 
out either  infamy  or  imprudence. 

The  infamy  of  this  bargain  had  such  an  in- 
fluence on  the  Scottish  parliament,  that  they  once 
voted,  that  the  king  should  be  protected,  and  his 
liberty  insisted  on.  But  the  general  assembly 
interposed,  and  pronounced,  that,  as  he  had  re- 
fused to  take  the  covenant,  which  was  pressed  on 


J647.  CHARLES    I.  51 

him,  it  became  not  the  godly  to  concern  them- 
selves about  his  fortunes.  After  this  declaration, 
it  behoved  the  parliament  to  retract  their  vote r. 

Intelligence  concerning  the  final  resolution  of 
the  Scottish  nation  to  surrender  him,  was  brought 
to  the  king ;  and  he  happened,  at  that  very  time, 
to  be  playing  at  chess s.  Such  command  of  tem- 
per did  he  possess^  that  he  continued  his  game 
without  interruption ;  and  none  of  the  by- stand* 
ers  could  perceive,  that  the  letter,  which  he  per- 
used, had  brought  him  news  of  any  consequence. 
The  English  commissioners,  who,  some  days 
after,  came  to  take  him  under  their  custody, 
were  admitted  to  kiss  his  hands ;  and  he  received 
them  with  the  same  grace  and  cheerfulness,  as  if 
they  had  travelled  on  no  other  errand  than  to  pay 
court  to  him.  The  old  earl  of  Pembroke  in  par- 
ticular, who  was  one  of  them,  he  congratulated 
on  his  strength  and  vigour,  that  he  was  still  able, 
during  such  a  season,  to  perforin  so  long  a  jour- 
ney, in  company  with  so  many  young  people. 


KING  DELIVERED  UP  BY  THE  SCOTS. 

The  king  being  delivered  over  by  the  Scots  to 
the  English  commissioners,  was  conducted,  under 
a  guard,  to  Holdenby,  in  the  county  of  North- 
ampton.     On  his  journey,    the   whole  country 

r  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xv.  p.  243,  244. 
s  Burnet's  Memoirs  of  the  Hamiltona. 


52  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1647- 

flocked  to  behold  him,  moved  partly  by  curiosity, 
partly  by  compassion  and  affection.  If  any  still 
retained  rancour  against  him,  in  his  present  con- 
dition, they  passed  in  silence ;  while  his  well- 
wishers,  more  generous  than  prudent,  accompa- 
nied his  march  with  tears,  with  acclamations,  and 
with  prayers  for  his  safety '.  That  ancient  super- 
stition likewise,  of  desiring  the  king's  touch  in 
6crophulous  distempers,  seemed  to  acquire  fresh 
credit  among  the  people,  from  the  general  ten- 
derness which  began  to  prevail  for  this  virtuous 
and  unhappy  monarch. 

The  commissioners  rendered  his  confinement 
at  Holdenby  very  rigorous ;  dismissing  his  ancient 
servants,  debarring  him  from  visits,  and  cutting 
off  all  communication  with  his  friends  or  family. 
The  parliament,  though  earnestly  applied  to  by 
the  king,  refused  to  allow  his  chaplains  to  attend 
him,  because  they  had  not  taken  the  covenant. 
The  king  refused  to  assist  at  the  service  exercised 
according  to  the  directory  ;  because  he  had  not 
as  yet  given  his  consent  to  that  mode  of  worship". 
Such  religious  zeal  prevailed  on  both  sides  !  And 
such  was  the  unhappy  and  distracted  condition 
to  which  it  had  reduced  king  and  people  ! 

During  the  time  that  the  king  remained  in 
the  Scottish  army  at  Newcastle,  died  the  earl  of 
Essex,  the  discarded,  but  still  powerful  and  po- 
pular, general  of  the  parliament.     His  death,  in 
1  Ludlow,  Herbert. 
"  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  39.    Warwick,  p.  298. 


164;.  CHARLES    t  53 

this  conjuncture,  was  a  public  misfortune.  Fully 
sensible  of  the  excesses  to  which  affairs  had  been 
carried,  and  of  the  worse  consequences  which 
were  still  to  be  apprehended,  he  had  resolved  to 
conciliate  a  peace,  and  to  remedy,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, all  those  ills  to  which,  from  mistake  rather 
than  any  bad  intentions,  he  had  himself  so  much 
contributed.  The  presbyterian,  or  the  moderate 
party  among  the  commons,  found  themselves 
considerably  weakened  by  his  deatji :  and  the 
small  remains  of  authority  which  still  adhered  to 
the  house  of  peers,  were  in  a  manner  wholly  ex- 
tinguished w. 

w  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  43. 


54 


HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1647- 


CHAPTER    LIX. 


Mutiny  of  the  Army The  King  seized  by  Joyce The 

Army  march  against  the  Parliament The  Army  subdue  the 

Parliament The  King  flies  to  the  Isle  of  Wight ....  Second 

Civil  War ....  Invasion    from   Scotland The   Treaty  of 

Newport The  Civil  War  and  Invasion  repressed  ....  The 

King  seized  again  by  the  Army ....  The  House  purged  .... 
The  King's  Trial And  Execution  ....  And  Character. 

1  he  dominion  of  the  parliament  was  of  short 
duration.  No  sooner  had  they  subdued  their  so- 
vereign, than  their  own  servants  rose  against 
them,  and  tumbled  them  from  their  slippery 
throne.  The  sacred  boundaries  of  the  laws  being 
once  violated,  nothing  remained  to  confine  the 
wild  projects  of  zeal  and  ambition.  And  every 
successive  revolution  became  a  precedent  for  that 
which  followed  it. 

In  proportion  as  the  terror  of  the  king's  power 
diminished,  the  division  between  independent  and 
presbyterian  became  every  day  more  apparent ; 
and  the  neuters  found  it  at  last  requisite  toKseek 
(jhelter  in  one  or  the  other  faction.  Many  new 
writs  were  issued  for  elections,  in  the  room  of 
members  who  had  died,  or  were  disqualified  by 
adhering  to  the  king ;  yet  still  the  presbyterians 
retained  the  superiority  among  the  commons  :  and 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  55 

all  the  peers,  except  lord  Say,  were  esteemed  of 
that  party.  The  independents,  to  whom  the  in- 
ferior sectaries  adhered,  predominated  in  the 
army  :  and  the  troops  of  the  new  model  were 
universally  infected  with  that  enthusiastic  spirit. 
To  their  assistance  did  the  independent  party 
among  the  commons  chiefly  trust,  in  their  pro- 
jects for  acquiring  the  ascendant  over  their  an- 
tagonists. 

Soon  after  the  retreat  of  the  Scots,  the  presby- 
terians,  seeing  every  thing  reduced  to  obedience, 
began  to  talk  of  diminishing  the  army :  and,  on 
pretence  of  easing  the  public  burdens,  they  le- 
velled a  deadly  blow  at  the  opposite  faction. 
They  purposed  to  embark  a  strong  detachment, 
under  Skippon  and  Massey,  for  the  service  of 
Ireland :  they  openly  declared  their  intention  of 
making  a  great  reduction  of  the  remainder x.  It 
was  even  imagined,  that  another  new  model  of 
the  army  was  projected,  in  order  to  regain  to  the 
presbyterians  that  superiority  which  they  had  so 
imprudently  lost  by  the  former y. 

The  army  had  small  inclination  to  the  service 
of  Ireland;  a  country  barbarous,  uncultivated, 
and  laid  waste  by  massacres  and  civil  commo- 
tions :  they  had  less  inclination  to  disband,  and 
to  renounce  that  pay,  which,  having  earned  it 
through  fatigues  and  dangers,  they  now  purposed 

x  Fourteen  thousand  men  were  only  intended  to  be  kept  up ; 
6000  horse,  6000  foot,  and  2000  dragoons.     Bates. 
y  Rushworth,  vol.  vii.  p.  564. 


6Q  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1047, 

to  enjoy  in  ease  and  tranquillity.  And  most  of 
the  officers,  having  risen  from  the  dregs  of  the 
people,  had  no  other  prospect,  if  deprived  of  their 
commission,  than  that  of  returning  to  languish  in 
their  native  poverty  and  obscurity. 

These  motives  of  interest  acquired  additional 
influence,  and  became  more  dangerous  to  the  par- 
liament, from  the  religious  spirit  by  which  the 
army  was  universally  actuated.  Among  the  ge- 
nerality of  men,  educated  in  regular,  civilized 
societies,  the  sentiments  of  shame,  duty,  honour, 
have  considerable  authority,  and  serve  to  coun- 
terbalance and  direct  the  motives  derived  from 
private  advantage  :  but,  by  the  predominancy  of 
enthusiasm  among  the  parliamentary  forces,  these 
salutary  principles  lost  their  credit,  and  were  re- 
garded as  mere  human  inventions,  yea  moral  in- 
stitutions, fitter  for  heathens  than  for  christians  z. 
The  saint,  resigned  over  to  superior  guidance, 
was  at  full  liberty  to  gratify  all  his  appetites, 
disguised  under  the  appearance  of  pious  zeal. 
And,  besides  the  strange  corruptions  engendered 
by  this  spirit,  it  eluded  and  loosened  all  the  ties 
of  morality,  and  gave  entire  scope,  and  even 
sanction,  to  the  selfishness  and  ambition  which 
naturally  adhere  to  the  human  mind. 

The  military  confessors  were  farther  encourag- 
ed in  disobedience  to  superiors,  by  that  spiritual 
pride  to  which  a  mistaken  piety  is  so  subject. 
They  were  not,  they  said,  mere  janizaries ;  mer- 

'  Rush.  vol.  vj.  p.  134. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  57 

cenary  troops  enlisted  for  hire,  and  to  be  disposed 
of  at  the  will  of  their  paymasters  \  Religion  and 
liberty  were  the  motives  which  had  excited  them 
to  arms;  and  they  had  a  superior  right  to  see 
those  blessings,  which  they  had  purchased  with 
their  blood,  ensured  to  future  generations.  By 
the  same  title  that  the  presbyterians,  in  contradi- 
stinction to  the  royalists,  had  appropriated  to 
themselves  the  epithet  of  godly,  or  the  well  affect- 
ed*, the  independents  did  now,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  presbyterians,  assume  this  magnificent 
appellation,  and  arrogate  all  the  ascendant,  which 
naturally  belongs  to  it. 

Hearing  of  parties  in  the  house  of  commons, 
and  being  informed  that  the  minority  were  friends 
to  the  army,  the  majority  enemies ;  the  troops 
naturally  interested  themselves  in  that  dangerous 
distinction,  and  were  eager  to  give  the  superiority 
to  their  partisans.  Whatever  hardships  they  un- 
derwent, though  perhaps  derived  from  inevitable 
necessity,  were  ascribed  to  a  settled  design  of  op- 
pressing them,  and  resented  as  an  effect  of  the 
animosity  and  malice  of  their  adversaries. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  revenue,  which 
accrued  from  taxes,  assessments,  sequestrations, 
and  compositions,  considerable  arrears  were  due 
to  the  army ;  and  many  of  the  private  men,  as 
well  as  officers,  had  near  a  twelvemonth's  pay  still 
owing  them.     The  army  suspected,  that  this  de- 

'  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  565.  b  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  474. 


58  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1647- 

ficiency  was  purposely  contrived  in  order  to  oblige 
them  to  live  at  free  quarters ;  and  by  rendering 
them  odious  to  the  country,  serve  as  a  pretence 
for  disbanding  them.  When  they  saw  such  mem- 
bers as  were  employed  in  committees  and  civil 
offices  accumulate  fortunes,  they  accused  them 
of  rapine  and  public  plunder.  And,  as  no  plan 
was  pointed  out  by  the  commons,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  arrears,  the  soldiers  dreaded,  that,  after 
they  should  be  disbanded  or  embarked  for  Ire- 
land, their  enemies,  who  predominated  in  the 
two  houses,  would  entirely  defraud  them  of  their 
right,  and  oppress  them  with  impunity. 


MUTINY  OF  THE  ARMY. 

On  this  ground  or  pretence  did  the  first  commo- 
tions begin  in  the  army.  A  petition,  addressed 
to  Fairfax  the  general,  was  handed  about ;  crav- 
ing an  indemnity,  and  that  ratified  by  the  king, 
for  any  illegal  actions,  of  which,  during  the  course 
of  the  war,  the  soldiers  might  have  been  guilty; 
together  with  satisfaction  in  arrears,  freedom  from 
pressing,  relief  of  widows  and  maimed  soldiers, 
and  pay  till  disbanded0.  The  commc  js,  aware 
of  what  combustible  materials  the  army  was  com- 
posed, were  alarmed  at  this  intelligence.  Such  a 
combination,  they  knew,  if  not  checked  in  its  first 

c  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xv.  p  342. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  59 

appearance,  must  be  attended  with  the  most  dan- 
gerous consequences,  and  must  soon  exalt  the 
military  above  the  civil  authority.  Besides  sum- 
moning some  officers  to  answer  for  this  attempt, 
they  immediately  voted,  that  the  petition  tended 
to  introduce  mutiny,  to  put  conditions  upon  the 
parliament,  and  to  obstruct  the  relief  of  Ireland ; 
and  they  threatened  to  proceed  against  the  pro- 
moters of  it,  as  enemies  to  the  state,  and  disturb- 
ers of  public  peace d.  This  declaration,  which 
may  be  deemed  violent,  especially  as  the  army 
had  some  ground  for  complaint,  produced  fatal 
effects.  The  soldiers  lamented,  that  they  were 
deprived  of  the  privileges  of  Englishmen ;  that 
they  were  not  allowed  so  much  as  to  represent 
their  grievances ;  that,  while  petitions  from  Essex 
and  other  places  were  openly  encouraged  against 
the  army,  their  mouths  were  stopped  ;  and  that 
they  who  were  the  authors  of  liberty  to  the  na- 
tion, were  reduced,  by  a  faction  in  parliament,  to 
the  most  grievous  servitude. 

In  this  disposition  was  the  army  found  by 
Warwic,  Dacres,  Massey,  and  other  commission- 
ers, who  were  sent  to  make  them  proposals  for 
entering  into  the  service  of  Ireland6.  Instead  of 
inlisting,  the  generality  objected  to  the  terms ; 
demanded  an  indemnity ;  were  clamorous  for 
their  arrears  :  and,  though  they  expressed  no  dis- 
satisfaction against  Skippon,  who  was  appointed 

d  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xv.  p.  344.  '  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  45?. 


60  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  l&tf. 

commander,  they  discovered  much  stronger  in- 
clination to  serve  under  Fairfax  and  Cromwel f. 
Some  officers,  who  were  of  the  presbyterian  party, 
having  entered  into  engagements  for  this  service, 
could  prevail  on  very  few  of  the  soldiers  to  inlist 
under  them.  And,  as  thest  officers  lay  all  under  the 
grievous  reproach  of  deserting  the  army,  and  be- 
traying the  interest  of  their  companions,  the  rest 
were  farther  confirmed  in  that  confederacy,  which 
they  had  secretly  formed*. 

To  petition  and  remonstrate  being  the  most 
cautious  method  of  conducting  a  confederacy, 
an  application  to  parliament  was  signed  by  near 
200  officers ;  in  which  they  made  their  apology 
with  a  very  imperious  air,  asserted  their  right  of 
petitioning,  and  complained  of  that  imputation 
thrown  upon  them  by  the  former  declaration  of 
the  lower  house h.     The  private  men  likewise  of 
some   regiments  sent   a  letter  to  Skippon ;    in 
which,  together  with  insisting  on  the  same  topics, 
they  lament  that  designs   were  formed   against 
them  and  many  of  the  godly  party  in  the  king- 
dom ;    and  declare  that  they  could  not  engage 
for  Ireland,  till  they  were  satisfied  in  their  ex- 
pectations, and  had  their  just  desires  granted '. 
The  army,   in  a  word,  felt  their  power,  and  re- 
solved to  be  masters. 

The  parliament  too  resolved,   if  possible,  to 
preserve  their  dominion ;  but  being  destitute  of 

'  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  vii.  p.  458.         g  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  46l,  556. 
h  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  468.  ;  Idem,  ibid.  p.  474. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  61 

power,  and  not  retaining  much  authority,  it  was 
not  easy  for  them  to  employ  any  expedient  which 
could  contribute  to  their  purpose.  The  expedi- 
ent which  they  now  made  use  of,  M'as  the  worst 
imaginable.  They  sent  Skippon,  Cromwel,  Ire- 
ton,  and  Fleetwood,  to  the  head  quarters  at  Saf- 
fron Weldon  in  Essex ;  and  empowered  them  to 
make  offers  to  the  army,  and  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  its  distempers.  These  very  generals,  at 
least  the  three  last,  were  secretly  the  authors  of 
all  the  discontents  ;  and  failed  not  to  foment  those 
disorders,  which  they  pretended  to  appease.  By 
their  suggestion,  a  measure  was  embraced,  which, 
at  once,  brought  matters  to  extremity,  and  ren- 
dered the  mutiny  incurable. 

In  opposition  to  the  parliament  at  Westmin- 
ster, a  military  parliament  was  formed.  Together 
with  a  council  of  the  principal  officers,  which  was 
appointed  after  the  model  of  the  house  of  peers ; 
a  more  free  representative  of  the  army  was  com- 
posed, by  the  election  of  two  private  men  or  in- 
ferior officers,  under  the  title  of  agitators,  from 
each  troop  or  company  k.  By  these  means,  both 
the  general  humour  of  that  time  was  gratified, 
intent  on  plans  of  imaginary  republics  ;  and  an 
easy  method  contrived  for  conducting  underhand, 
and  propagating,  the  sedition  of  the  army. 

This  terrible  court,  when  assembled,  having 
first  declared  that  they  found  no  distempers  in  the 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  485.    Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  43. 


62  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1647. 

army,  but  many  grievances,  under  which  it  la- 
boured, immediately  voted  the  offers  of  the  par- 
liament unsatisfactory.  Eight  weeks  pay  alone, 
they  said,  was  promised ;  a  small  part  of  fifty- six 
weeks,  which  they  claimed  as  their  due  :  no  vi- 
sible security  was  given  for  the  remainder  :  and 
having  been  declared  public  enemies  by  the  com- 
mons, they  might  hereafter  be  prosecuted  as  such, 
unless  the  declaration  were  recalled  K  Before 
matters  came  to  this  height,  Cromwel  had  posted 
up  to  London,  on  pretence  of  laying  before  the 
parliament  the  rising  discontents  of  the  army. 

The  parliament  made  one  vigorous  effort 
more,  to  try  the  force  of  their  authority  :  they 
voted  that  all  the  troops  which  did  not  engage 
for  Ireland,  should  instantly  be  disbanded  in  their 
quarters  m.  At  the  same  time,  the  counsel  of  the 
army  ordered  a  general  rendezvous  of  all  the  re- 
giments, in  order  to  provide  for  their  common 
interests.  And  while  they  thus  prepared  them- 
selves for  opposition  to  the  parliament,  they 
struck  a  blow,  which  at  once  decided  the  victory 
in  their  favour. 


THE  KING  SEIZED  BY  JOYCE.     June  3. 

A  party  of  five  hundred  horse  appeared  at  Hol- 
denby,  conducted  by  one  Joyce,   who  had  once 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  4Q7,  505.     Whitlocke,  p.  250. 
m  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  487. 


164;.  CHARLES    I.  63 

been  a  taylor  by  profession ;  but  was  now  ad- 
vanced to  the  rank  of  cornet,  and  was  an  active 
agitator  in  the  army.     Without  being  opposed  by 
the  guard,  whose  affections  were  all  on  their  side, 
Joyce  came  into  the  king's  presence,  armed  with 
pistols,   and  told  him,  that  he  must  immediately 
go   along  with  him.     Whither  ?   said  the  king. 
To  the  army,  replied  Joyce.     By  what  warrant  f 
asked  the  king.     Joyce  pointed  to  the  soldiers, 
whom  he  brought  along ;  tall,  handsome,  and  well 
accoutred.     Your  warrant,  said  Charles,  smiling, 
is  writ  in  fair  characters,  legible  without  spelling  n. 
The  parliamentary  commissioners  came  into  the 
room :  they  asked  Joyce,   whether  he  had  any 
orders  from  the  parliament  ?  he  said,  No :  from 
the  General  ?  No  :  by  what  authority  he  came  ? 
He  made  the  same  reply  as  to  the  king :  they 
would  write,    they  said,  to  the  parliament  to  know 
their  pleasure.     You  may  do  so,  replied  Joyce  ; 
but  in  the  mean  time  the  king  must  immediately  go 
with  me.     Resistance  was  vain.     The  king,  after 
protracting  the  time  as  long  as  he  could,  went 
into  his  coach ;  and  was  safely  conducted  to  the 
army,  who  were  hastening  to  their  rendezvous  at 
Triplo-Heath,  near  Cambridge.     The  parliament, 
informed  of  this  event  by  their  commissioners, 
were  thrown  into  the  utmost  consternation0. 

Fairfax  himself  was  no  less  surprised  at  the 
king's  arrival.     That  bold  measure,  executed  by 

n  Whitlocke,  p.  254.    Warwick,  p.  299. 
•  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  514,  515.     Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  47. 


04  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1647- 

Joyce,  had  never  been  communicated  to  the  ge- 
neral. The  orders  were  entirely  verbal ;  and  no- 
body avowed  them.  And  while  every  one  affect- 
ed astonishment  at  the  enterprise,  Cromwel,  by 
whose  council  it  had  been  directed,  arrived  from 
London,  and  put  an  end  to  their  deliberations. 

This  artful  and  audacious  conspirator  had  con- 
ducted himself  in  the  parliament  with  such  pro- 
found dissimulation,  with  such  refined  hypocrisy, 
that  he  had  long  deceived  those,  who,  being  them- 
selves very  dexterous  practitioners,  in  the  same 
arts,  should  naturally  have  entertained  the  more 
suspicion  against  others.  At  every  intelligence 
of  disorders  in  the  army,  he  was  moved  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  grief  and  of  anger.  He  wept 
bitterly :  he  lamented  the  misfortunes  of  his 
country :  he  advised  every  violent  measure  for 
suppressing  the  mutiny  ;  and  by  these  precipitate 
counsels,  at  once  seemed  to  evince  his  own  sin- 
cerity, and  enflamed  those  discontents,  of  which 
he  intended  to  make  advantage.  He  obtested 
heaven  and  earth,  that  his  devoted  attachment  to 
the  parliament  had  rendered  him  so  odious  in  the 
army,  that  his  life,  while  among  them,  was  in  the 
utmost  danger ;  and  he  had  very  narrowly  escaped 
a  conspiracy  formed  to  assassinate  him.  But  in- 
formation being  brought,  that  the  most  active 
officers  and  agitators  were  entirely  his  creatures, 
the  parliamentary  leaders  secretly  resolved,  that, 
next  day,  when  he  should  come  to  the  house,  an 
accusation  should  be  entered  against  him,  and  he 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  65 

should  be  sent  to  the  Tower  p.  Cromwel,  who  in 
the  conduct  of  his  desperate  enterprises  frequently 
approached  to  the  very  brink  of  destruction,  knew 
how  to  make  the  requisite  turn  with  proper  dex- 
terity and  boldness.  Being  informed  of  this  de- 
sign, he  hastened  to  the  camp  ;  where  he  was  re- 
ceived with  acclamations,  and  was  instantly  in- 
vested with  the  supreme  command,  both  of  ge- 
neral and  army. 

Fairfax,  having  neither  talents  himself  for 
cabal,  nor  penetration  to  discover  the  cabals  of 
others,  had  given  his  entire  confidence  to  Crom- 
wel ;  who,  by  the  best-coloured  pretences,  and 
by  the  appearance  of  an  open  sincerity  and  a 
scrupulous  conscience,  imposed  on  the  easy  na- 
ture of  this  brave  and  virtuous  man.  The  coun- 
cil of  officers  and  the  agitators  were  moved  alto- 
gether by  Cromwel's  direction,  and  conveyed  his 
will  to  the  whole  army.  By  his  profound  and 
artful  conduct,  he  had  now  attained  a  situation, 
where  he  could  cover  his  enterprises  from  public 
view ;  and  seeming  either  to  obey  the  commands 
of  his  superior  officer,  or  yield  to  the  movements 
of  the  soldiers,  could  secretly  pave  the  way  for 
his  future  greatness.  While  the  disorders  of  the 
army  Mere  yet  in  their  infancy,  he  kept  at  a  di- 
stance, lest  his  counterfeit  aversion  might  throw  a 
damp  upon  them,  or  his  secret  encouragement  be- 
get suspicion  in  the  parliament.    As  soon  as  they 

p  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  46. 
VOL.  VIII.  F 


66  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1047- 

came  to  maturity,  he  openly  joined  the  troops  ; 
and  in  the  critical  moment,  struck  that  important 
blow  of  seizing  the  king's  person,  and  depriving 
the  parliament  of  any  resource  of  an  accommoda- 
tion with  him.  Though  one  vizor  fell  off,  an- 
other still  remained  to  cover  his  natural  counte- 
nance. Where  delay  was  requisite,  he  could  em- 
ploy the  most  indefatigable  patience :  where  ce- 
lerity was  necessary,  he  flew  to  a  decision.  And 
by  thus  uniting  in  his  person  the  most  opposite 
talents,  he  was  enabled  to  combine  the  most 
contrary  interests  in  a  subserviency  to  his  secret 
purposes. 


THE  ARMY  MARCH  AGAINST  THE  PARLIAMENT. 

The  parliament,  though  at  present  defenceless, 
was  possessed  of  many  resources ;  and  time  might 
easily  enable  them  to  resist  that  violence  with 
which  they  were  threatened.  Without  farther 
deliberation,  therefore,  Cromwel  advanced  the 
army  upon  them,  and  arrived  in  a  few  days  at 
St.  Albans. 

Nothing  could  be  more  popular  than  this  ho- 
stility which  the  army  commenced  against  the 
parliament.  As  much  as  that  assembly  was  once 
the  idol  of  the  nation,  as  much  was  it  now  become 
the  object  of  general  hatred  and  aversion. 

The  self-denying  ordinance  had  no  longer 
been  put  in  execution,  than  till  Essex,  Manches- 


1647-  CHARLES    I.  67 

ter,  Waller,  and  the  other  officers  of  that  party, 
had  resigned  their  commission :  immediately  after, 
it  was  laid  aside  by  tacit  consent;  and  the  mem- 
bers, sharing  all  offices  of  power  and  profit  among 
them,  proceeded  with  impunity  in  exercising  acts 
of  oppression  on  the  helpless  nation.  Though 
the  necessity  of  their  situation  might  serve  as  an 
apology  for  many  of  their  measures,  the  people, 
not  accustomed  to  such  a  species  of  government, 
were  not  disposed  to  make  the  requisite  allow- 
ances. 

A  small  supply  of  100,000  pounds  a  year  could 
never  be  obtained  by  former  kings  from  the  jea- 
lous humour  of  parliaments ;  and  the  English,  of 
all  nations  in  Europe,  were  the  least  accustomed 
to  taxes :  but  this  parliament,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  according  to  some  com- 
putations, had  levied,  in  five  j^ears,  above  forty 
millions  q ;  yet  were  loaded  with  debts  and  incum- 
brances, which,  during  that  age,  were  regarded 
as  prodigious.  If  these  computations  should  be 
thought  much  exaggerated,  as  they  probably  arer, 
the  taxes  and  impositions  were  certainly  far  higher 

'  Clement  Walker's  History  of  the  Two  Juntos,  prefixed  to 
his  History  of  Independency,  p.  8.  This  is  an  author  of  spirit 
and  ingenuity ;  and  being  a  zealous  parliamentarian,  his  autho- 
rity is  very  considerable,  notwithstanding  the  air  of  satire  which 
prevails  in  his  writings.  This  computation,  however,  seems 
much  too  large  5  especially  as  the  sequestrations,  during  the  time 
of  war,  could  not  be  so  considerable  as  afterwards. 

rYet  the  same  sum  precisely  is  assigned  in  another  book, 
called  Royal  Treasury  of  England,  p.  297. 
2 


68  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1647. 

than  in  any  former  state  of  the  English  govern- 
ment; and  such  popular  exaggerations  are,  at 
least,  a  proof  of  popular  discontents. 

But  the  disposal  of  this  money  was  no  less  the 
object  of  general  complaint  against  the  parlia- 
ment than  the  levying  of  it.  The  sum  of  300,000 
pounds  they  openly  took,  'tis  affirmed s,  and  di- 
vided among:  their  own  members.  The  commit- 
tees,  to  whom  the  management  of  the  different 
branches  of  revenue  was  entrusted,  never  brought 
in  their  accounts,  and  had  unlimited  power  of 
secreting  whatever  sums  they  pleased  from  the 
public  treasure*.  These  branches  were  needlessly 
multiplied,  in  order  to  render  the  revenue  more 
intricate,  to  share  the  advantages  among  greater 
numbers,  and  to  conceal  the  frauds  of  which  they 
were  universally  suspected  u. 

The  method  of  keeping  accounts  practised  in 
the  exchequer  was  confessedly  the  exactest,  the 
most  ancient,  the  best  known,  and  the  least  liable 
to  fraud.  The  exchequer  was,  for  that  reason, 
abolished,  and  the  revenue  put  under  the  ma- 
nagement of  a  committee  who  were  subject  to  no 
control w. 

The  excise  was  an  odious  tax,  formerly  un- 
known to  the  nation ;  and  was  now  extended  over 
provisions,  and  the  common  necessaries  of  life. 
Near  one  half  of  the  goods  and  chattels,  and  at 
least  one  half  of  the  lands,  rents,  and  revenues  of 

•  Clement  Walker's  History  of  Independency,  p.  3.  166. 
'  Ibid,  p.  8.  •  Id.  ibid.  •  Id.  ibid. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  «9 

the  kingdom  had  been  sequestered.  To  great 
numbers  of  royalists,  all  redress  from  these  se- 
questrations was  refused  :  to  the  rest,  the  remedy 
could  be  obtained  only  by  paying  large  composi- 
tions and  subscribing  the  covenant,  which  they 
abhorred.  Besides  pitying  the  ruin  and  desola- 
tion of  so  many  ancient  and  honourable  families, 
indifferent  spectators  could  not  but  blame  the 
hardship  of  punishing  with  such  severity,  actions 
which  the  law  in  its  usual  and  most  undisputed 
interpretation  strictly  required  of  every  subject. 

The  severities  too,  exercised  against  the  epis- 
copal clergy,  naturally  affected  the  royalists,  and 
even  all  men  of  candour,  in  a  sensible  manner. 
By  the  most  moderate  computation x,  it  appears, 
that  above  one  half  of  the  established  clergy  had 
been  turned  out  to  beggary  and  want,  for  no 
other  crime  than  their  adhering  to  the  civil  and 
religious  principles  in  which  they  had  been  edu- 
cated; and  for  their  attachment  to  those  laws 
under  whose  countenance  they  had  at  first  em- 
braced that  profession.  To  renounce  episcopacy 
and  the  liturgy,  and  to  subscribe  the  covenant, 
were  the  only  terms  which  could  save  them  from 
so  rigorous  a  fate ;  and  if  the  least  mark  of  ma- 
lignancy, as  it  was  called,  or  affection  to  the  king, 

*  See  John  Walker's  Attempt  towards  recovering  an  Account 
of  the  Numbers  and  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy.  The  parliament 
pretended  to  leave  the  sequestered  clergy  a  fifth  of  their  revenue  j 
but  this  author  makes  it  sufficiently  appear,  that  this  provision, 
•mall  as  it  is,  was  never  regularly  paid  the  ejected  clergy. 


?0  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  X&f. 

who  so  entirely  loved  them,  had  ever  escaped 
their  lips,  even  this  hard  choice  was  not  permit- 
ted. The  sacred  character,  which  gives  the 
priesthood  such  authority  over  mankind,  becom- 
ing more  venerable  from  the  sufferings  endured, 
for  the  sake  of  principle,  by  these  distressed 
royalists,  aggravated  the  general  indignation 
against  their  persecutors. 

But  what  excited  the  most  universal  complaint 
was,  the  unlimited  tyranny  and  despotic  rule  of 
the  country-committees.  During  the  war,  the 
discretionary  power  of  these  courts  was  excused, 
from  the  plea  of  necessity :  but  the  nation  was 
reduced  to  despair,  when  it  saw  neither  end  put 
to  their  duration,  nor  bounds  to  their  authority. 
These  could  sequester,  fine,-- imprison,  and  cor- 
porally punish,  without  law  or  remedy.  They 
interposed  in  questions  of  private  property. 
Under  colour  of  malignancy,  they  exercised  ven- 
geance against  their  private  enemies.  To  the  ob- 
noxious, and  sometimes  to  the  innocent,  they 
sold  their  protection.  And  instead  of  one  star- 
chamber,  which  had  been  abolished,  a  great 
number  were  anew  erected',  fortified  with  better 
pretences,  and  armed  with  more  unlimited  au- 
thority r. 

1  Clement  Walker's  History  of  Independency,  p.  5.  Hollis 
gives  the  same  representation  as  Walker  of  the  plundering,  op- 
pressions, and  tyranny  of  the  parliament :  only,  instead  of  lay- 
ing the  fault  on  both  parties,  as  Walker  does,  he  ascribes  it  solely 
to  the  independent  faction.    The  presbyterians,  indeed,  being 


s 


1617.  CHARLES    I.  71 

Could  any  thing  have  increased  the  indigna- 
tion against  that  slavery,  into  which  the  nation, 
from  the  too  eager  pursuit  of  liberty,  had  fallen, 
it  must  have  been  the  reflection  on  the  pretences 
by  which  the  people  had  so  long  been  deluded. 
The  sanctified  hypocrites,  who  called  their  op- 
pressions the  spoiling  of  the  Egyptians,  and  their 
rigid  severity  the  dominion  of  the  elect,  interlard- 
ed all  their  iniquities  with  long  and  fervent  pray- 
ers, saved  themselves  from  blushing  by  their  pious 
grimaces,  and  exercised  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
all  their  cruelty  on  men.  An  undisguised  violence 
could  be  forgiven :  but  such  a  mockery  of  the 
understanding,  such  an  abuse  of  religion,  were, 
with  men  of  penetration,  objects  of  peculiar  re- 
sentment. 

The  parliament,  conscious  of  their  decay  in 
popularity,  seeing  a  formidable  armed  force  ad- 
vance upon  them,  were  reduced  to  despair,  and 
found  all  their  resources  much  inferior  to  the 
present  necessity.  London  still  retained  a  strong 
attachment  to  presbyterianism ;  and  its  militia, 
which  was  numerous,  and  had  acquired  reputa- 
tion in  wars,  had  by  a  late  ordinance  been  put 
into  hands  in  whom  the  parliament  could  entirely 
confide.  This  militia  was  now  called  out,  and 
ordered  to  guard  the  lines,  which  had  been  drawn 
round  the  city,   in  order  to  secure  it  against  the 

commonly  denominated  the  modern  party,  would  probably  be 
more  inoffensive.  See  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  598.  and  Pari.  Hist, 
vol.  xv.  p.  230, 


7%  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1647. 

king.  A  body  of  horse  was  ordered  to  be  in- 
stantly levied.  Many  officers,  who  had  been 
cashiered  by  the  new  model  of  the  army,  offered 
their  service  to  the  parliament.  An  army  of 
5000  men  lay  in  the  north  under  the  command  of 
general  Pointz,  who  was  of  the  presbyterian  fac- 
tion ;  but  these  were  too  distant  to  be  employed 
in  so  urgent  a  necessity.  The  forces  destined  for 
Ireland  were  quartered  in  the  west ;  and,  though 
deemed  faithful  to  the  parliament,  they  also  lay 
at  a  distance.  Many  inland  garrisons  were  com- 
manded by  officers  of  the  same  party  ;  but  their 
troops,  being  so  much  dispersed,  could  at  present 
be  of  no  manner  of  service.  The  Scots  were 
faithful  friends,  and  zealous  for  presbytery  and 
the  covenant ;  but  a  long  time  was  required,  ere 
they  could  collect  their  forces,  and  march  to  the 
assistance  of  the  parliament. 

In  this  situation,  it  was  thought  more  prudent 
to  submit,  and  by  compliance  to  stop  the  fury  of 
the  enraged  army.  The  delaration,  by  which  the 
military  petitioners  had  been  voted  public  ene- 
mies, was  recalled  and  erased  from  the  journal- 
book2.  This  was  the  first  symptom  which  the 
parliament  gave  of  submission;  and  the  army, 
hoping,  by  terror  alone,  to  effect  all  their  pur- 
poses, stopped  at  St.  Albans,  and  entered  into 
negotiation  with  their  masters. 

Here  commenced  the  encroachments  of  the 

■  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  503,  547-     Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  45. 


1W7-  CHARLES    I.  73 

military  upon  the  civil  authority.  The  army,  in 
their  usurpations  on  the  parliament,  copied  ex- 
actly the  model  which  the  parliament  itself  had 
set  them,  in  their  recent  usurpations  on  the 
crown. 

Every  day  they  rose  in  their  demands.  If  one 
claim  was  granted,  they  had  another  ready,  still 
more  enormous  and  exorbitant;  and  were  deter- 
mined never  to  be  satisfied.  At  first  they  pre- 
tended only  to  petition  for  what  concerned  them- 
selves as  soldiers  :  next,  they  must  have  a  vindi- 
cation of  their  character:  then  it  was  necessary, 
that  their  enemies  be  punished a :  at  last  they 
claimed  a  right  of  modelling  the  whole  govern- 
ment, and  settling  the  nation b. 

They  preserved,  in  words,  all  deference  and 
respect  to  the  parliament;  but,  in  reality,  in- 
sulted them  and  tyrannised  over  them.  That 
assembly  they  pretended  not  to  accuse :  it  was 
only  evil  counsellors,  who  seduced  and  betray- 
ed it. 

They  proceeded  so  far  as  to  name  eleven 
members,  whom,  in  general  terms,  they  charged 
with  high  treason,  as  enemies  to  the  army  and 
evil  counsellors  to  the  parliament.  Their  names 
were,  Hollis,  sir  Philip  Stapleton,  sir  William 
Lewis,  sir  John  Clotworthy,  sir  William  Waller, 
sir  John  Maynard,  Massey,  Glyn,  Long,  Harley, 

*  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  50Q. 
b  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  5Q7,  633.     Ibid.  vol.  viii.  p.  731. 


74  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1647. 

and  Nicholas  c.     These  were  the  very  leaders  of 
the  presbyterian  party. 

They  insisted,  that  these  members  should  im- 
mediately be  sequestered  from  parliament,  and 
be  thrown  into  prison d.  The  commons  replied, 
that  they  could  not,  upon  a  general  charge,  pro- 
ceed so  fare .  The  army  observed  to  them,  that 
the  cases  of  Strafford  and  Laud  were  direct  pre- 
cedents for  that  purposed  At  last,  the  eleven 
members  themselves,  not  to  give  occasion  for 
discord,  begged  leave  to  retire  from  the  house ; 
and  the  army,  for  the  present,  seemed  satisfied 
with  this  mark  of  submission 8. 

Pretending  that  the  parliament  intended  to 
levy  war  upon  them,  and  to  involve  the  nation 
again  in  blood  and  confusion,  they  required,  that 
all  new  levies  should  be  stopped.  The  parliament 
complied  with  this  demand  h. 

There  being  no  signs  of  resistance,  the  army, 
in  order  to  save  appearances,  removed,  at  the  de- 
sire of  the  parliament,  to  a  greater  distance  from 
London,  and  fixed  their  head-quarters  at  Read- 
ing. They  carried  the  king  along  with  them  in 
all  their  marches. 

That  prince  now  found  himself  in  a  better 
situation  than  at  Holdenby,    and   had   attained 

c  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  570. 

*  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  572.  e  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  592. 

'  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  594.     Whitlocke,  p.  259. 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  593,  594. 

fc  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  572,  574. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  R 

some  greater  degree  of  freedom,   as  well  as  of 
consideration,   with  both  parties. 

All  his  friends  had  access  to  his  presence  :  his 
correspondence  with  the  queen  was  not  inter- 
rupted :  his  chaplains  were  restored  to  him,  and 
he  was  allowed  the  use  of  the  liturgy:  his 
children  were  once  allowed  to  visit  him,  and  they 
passed  a  few  days  at  Caversham,  where  he  then 
resided  \  He  had  not  seen  the  duke  of  Gloces- 
ter,  his  youngest  son,  and  the  princess  Elizabeth, 
since  he  left  London,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  civil  disorders  k;  nor  the  duke  of  York,  since 
he  went  to  the  Scottish  army  before  Newark.  No 
private  man,  unacquainted  with  the  pleasures  of 
a  court  and  the  tumult  of  a  camp,  more  passion- 
ately loved  his  family,  than  did  this  good  prince ; 
and  such  an  instance  of  indulgence  in  the  army 
was  extremely  grateful  to  him.  Cromwel,  who 
was  witness  to  the  meeting  of  the  royal  family, 
confessed,  that  he  never  had  been  present  at  so 
tender  a  scene ;  and  he  extremely  applauded  the 
benignity  which  displayed  itself  in  the  whole  dis- 
position and  behaviour  of  Charles. 

That  artful  politician,  as  well  as  the  leaders  of 
all  parties,  paid  court  to  the  king ;  and  fortune, 
notwithstanding  all  his  calamities,  seemed  again 

1  Clarendon,  vol.  i.  p.  51,  52,  5f. 
k  When  the  king  applied  to  have  his  children,  the  parliament 
always  told  him,  that  they  could  take  as  much  care  at  London, 
both  of  their  bodies  and  souls,  as  could  be  done  at  Oxford. 
Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xiii.p.  127. 


70  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1647- 

to  smile  upon  him.  The  parliament,  afraid  of  his 
forming  some  accommodation  with  the  army,  ad- 
dressed him  in  a  more  respectful  style  than  form- 
erly ;  and  invited  him  to  reside  at  Richmond,  and 
contribute  his  assistance  to  the  settlement  of  the 
nation.  The  chief  officers  treated  him  with  re- 
gard, and  spake  on  all  occasions  of  restoring  him 
to  his  just  powers  and  prerogatives.  In  the  pub- 
lic declarations  of  the  army,  the  settlement  of  his 
revenue  and  authority  were  insisted  on '.  The 
royalists,  every  where,  entertained  hopes  of  the 
restoration  of  monarchy ;  and  the  favour  which 
they  universally  bore  to  the  army,  contributed 
very  much  to  discourage  the  parliament,  and  to 
forward  their  submission. 

The  king  began  to  feel  of  what  consequence 
he  was.  The  more  the  national  confusions  in- 
creased, the  more  was  he  confident  that  all  parties 
would,  at  length,  have  recourse  to  his  lawful  au- 
thority as  the  only  remedy  for  the  public  disor- 
ders. You  cannot  be  without  me>  said  he,  on  se- 
veral occasions  :  you  cannot  settle  the  nation  but  by 
my  assistance.  A  people  without  government  and 
without  liberty,  a  parliament  without  authority, 
an  army  without  a  legal  master :  distractions  every 
where,  terrors,  oppressions,  convulsions:  from 
this  scene  of  confusion,  which  could  not  long 
continue,  all  men,  he  hoped,  would  be  brought  to 
reflect  on  that  ancient  government,  under  which 

1  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  590. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  77 

they  and  their  ancestors  had  so  long  enjoyed  hap- 
piness and  tranquillity. 

Though  Charles  kept  his  ears  open  to  all  pro- 
posals, and  expected  to  hold  the  balance  between 
the  opposite  parties,  he  entertained  more  hopes  of 
accommodation  with  the  army.  He  had  experi- 
enced the  extreme  rigour  of  the  parliament.  They 
pretended  totally  to  annihilate  his  authority  :  they 
had  confined  his  person.  In  both  these  particu- 
lars, the  army  showed  more  indulgence10.  He 
had  a  free  intercourse  with  his  friends.  And  in 
the  proposals,  which  the  council  of  officers  sent 
for  the  settlement  of  the  nation,  they  insisted 
neither  on  the  abolition  of  episcopacy,  nor  of  the 
punishment  of  the  royalists  ;  the  two  points  to 
which  the  king  had  the  most  extreme  reluctance : 
and  they  demanded,  that  a  period  should  be  put 
to  the  present  parliament ;  the  event  for  which  he 
most  ardently  longed. 

His  conjunction  too  seemed  more  natural  with 
the  generals,  than  with  that  usurping  assembly, 
who  had  so  long  assumed  the  entire  sovereignty  of 
the  state,  and  who  had  declared  their  resolution 
still  to  continue  masters.  By  gratifying  a  few 
persons  with  titles  and  preferments,  he  might 
draw  over,  he  hoped,  the  whole  military  power, 
and,  in  an  instant,  reinstate  himself  in  his  civil 
authority.  To  Ireton  he  offered  the  lieutenancy 
of  Ireland :  to  Cromwel,  the  garter,  the  title  of 

m  Warwick,  p.  303.     Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xvi.  p.  40.     Clarendon, 
vol.  v.  p.  50. 


73  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  I<*f. 

earl  of  Essex,  and  the  command  of  the  army. 
Negotiations  to  this  purpose  were  secretly  con- 
ducted. Cromwel  pretended  to  hearken  to  them ; 
and  was  well  pleased  to  keep  the  door  open  for  an 
accommodation,  if  the  course  of  events  should, 
at  any  time,  render  it  necessary.  And  the  king, 
who  had  no  suspicion  that  one  born  a  private 
gentleman  could  entertain  the  daring  ambition 
of  seizing  a  sceptre  transmitted  through  a  long- 
line  of  monarchs,  indulged  hopes  that  he  would, 
at  last,  embrace  a  measure  which,  by  all  the  mo- 
tives of  duty,  interest,  and  safety,  seemed  to  be 
recommended  to  him. 

While  Cromwel  allured  the  king  by  these  ex- 
pectations, he  still  continued  his  scheme  of  reduc- 
ing the  parliament  to  subjection,  and  depriving 
them  of  all  means  of  resistance.  To  gratify  the 
army,  the  parliament  invested  Fairfax  with  the 
title  of  general  in  chief  of  all  the  forces  in  England 
and  Ireland ;  and  entrusted  the  whole  military 
authority  to  a  person  who,  though  well  inclined 
to  their  service,  was  no  longer  at  his  own  dis- 
posal. 

They  voted  that  the  troops  which,  in  obedi- 
ence to  them,  had  enlisted  for  Ireland,  and  de- 
serted the  rebellious  army,  should  be  disbanded, 
or,  in  other  words,  be  punished  for  their  fidelity. 
The  forces  in  the  north,  under  Pointz,  had  already 
mutinied  against  their  general,  and  had  entered 
into  an  association  with  that  body  of  the  army 


164;.  CHARLES   I.     .  79 

which  was  so  successfully  employed  in  exalting 
the  military  above  the  civil  authority  n. 

That  no  resource  might  remain  to  the  parlia- 
ment, it  was  demanded,  that  the  militia  of  Lon- 
don should  be  changed,  the  presbyterian  commis- 
sioners displaced,  and  the  command  restored  to 
those  who,  during  the  course  of  the  war,  had  con- 
stantly exercised  it.  The  parliament  even  com- 
plied with  so  violent  a  demand,  and  passed  a  vote 
in  obedience  to  the  army0. 

By  this  unlimited  patience  they  purposed  to 
temporise  under  their  present  difficulties,  and  they 
hoped  to  find  a  more  favourable  opportunity  for 
recovering  their  authority  and  influence  :  but  the 
impatience  of  the  city  lost  them  all  the  advantage 
of  their  cautious  measures.  A  petition  against  the 
alteration  of  the  militia  was  carried  to  Westmin- 
ster, attended  by  the  apprentices  and  seditious 
multitude,  who  besieged  the  door  of  the  house  of 
commons ;  and  by  their  clamour,  noise,  and  vio- 
lence, obliged  them  to  reverse  that  vote,  which 
they  had  passed  so  lately.  When  gratified  in  this 
pretension,  they  immediately  dispersed,  and  left 
the  parliament  at  liberty p. 

No  sooner  was  intelligence  of  this  tumult  con- 
veyed to  Reading,  than  the  army  was  put  in  mo- 
tion. The  two  houses  being  under  restraint,  they 
were  resolved,  they  said,  to  vindicate,  against  the 

n  Rush,  vol.  vii.  p.  620.  °  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  629.  632. 

p  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  641.  643.   Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  01.    Whit- 
locke,  p.  269.     CI.  Walker,  p.  38. 


80  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  164?. 

seditious  citizens,  the  invaded  privileges  of  parlia- 
ment,  and  restore  that  assembly  to  its  just  free- 
dom of  debate  and  counsel.      In  their   way  to 
London,  they  were  drawn  up  on  Hounslow-heath; 
a  formidable  body,  twenty  thousand  strong,   and 
determined,  without  regard  to  laws  or  liberty,  to 
pursue  whatever  measures  their  generals  should 
dictate  to  them.     Here  the  most  favourable  event 
happened,   to   quicken   and  encourage  their  ad- 
vance.    The  speakers  of  the  two  houses,   Man- 
chester and  Lenthal,  attended  by  eight  peers,  and 
about  sixty  commoners,   having  secretly  retired 
from   the  city,   presented  themselves  with  their 
maces,   and  all  the  ensigns  of  their  dignity;  and 
complaining  of  the  violence  put  upon,  them,  ap- 
plied to  the  army  for    defence  and    protection. 
They  were  received  with  shouts  and  acclamations: 
respect  was  paid  to  them  as  to  the  parliament  of 
England ;  and  the  army  being  provided  with  so 
plausible  a  pretence,  which,  in  all  public  trans- 
actions,   is  of  great   consequence,    advanced    to 
chastise  the  rebellious  city,  and  to  reinstate  the 
violated  parliament  \ 

Neither  Lenthal  nor  Manchester  were  es- 
teemed independents  ;  and  such  a  step  in  them 
was  unexpected.  But  they  probably  foresaw,  that 
the  army  must,  in  the  end,  prevail ;  and  they  were 
willing  to  pay  court  in  time  to  that  authority, 
which  began  to  predominate  in  the  nation. 

'  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  750.    Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  63. 


1617.  CHARLES   I.  «1 

The  parliament,  forced  from  their  temporising 
measures,  and  obliged  to  resign,  at  once,  or  com- 
bat for  their  liberty  and  power,  prepared  them- 
selves with  vigour  for  defence,  and  determined  to 
resist  the  violence  of  the  army.  The  two  houses 
immediately  chose  new  speakers,  lord  Hunsdon, 
and  Henry  Pelham :  they  renewed  their  former 
orders  for  enlisting  troops :  they  appointed  Massey 
to  be  commander :  they  ordered  the  trained  bands 
to  man  the  lines :  and  the  whole  city  was  in  a 
ferment,  aud  resounded  with  military  prepara- 
tions1. 

When  any  intelligence  arrived,  that  the  army 
stopped  or  retreated,  the  shout  of  One  and  all, 
ran  with  alacrity,  from  street  to  street,  among  the 
citizens :  when  news  came  of  their  advancing, 
the  cry  of  Treat  and  capitulate,  was  no  less  loud 
and  vehement*.  The  terror  of  an  universal  pil- 
lage, and  even  massacre,  had  seized  the  timid  in* 
habitants. 


THE  ARMY  SUBDUE  THE  PARLIAMENT. 

As  the  army  approached,  Rainsborow,  being 
sent  by  the  general  over  the  river,  presented  him- 
self before  Southwark,  and  was  gladly  received 
by  some  soldiers,  who  were  quartered  there  for  its 
defence,  and  who  were  resolved  not  to  separate 

r  Rush.  vol.  vii.  p.  646.  ■  Whitlocke,  p.  26*5. 

VOL.  VIII.  G 


82  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  *<54;, 

their  interests  from  those  of  the  army.  It  be- 
hoved then  the  parliament  to  submit.  The  army 
marched  in  triumph  through  the  city,  but  pre- 
served the  greatest  order,  decency,  and  appear- 
ance of  humility.  They  conducted  to  Westmin- 
ster the  two  speakers,  who  took  their  seats  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  The  eleven  impeached 
members,  being  accused  as  authors  of  the  tumult, 
were  expelled ;  and  most  of  them  retired  beyond 
sea :  seven  peers  were  impeached  :  the  mayor,  one 
sheriff,  and  three  aldermen,  sent  to  the  Tower: 
several  citizens  and  officers  of  the  militia  commit- 
ted to  prison :  every  deed  of  the  parliament  an- 
nulled, from  the  day  of  the  tumult  till  the  return 
of  the  speakers ;  the  lines  about  the  city  levelled : 
the  militia  restored  to  the  independents  :  regi- 
ments quartered  in  Whitehall  and  the  Meuse : 
and  the  parliament  being  reduced  to  a  regular 
formed  servitude,  a  day  was  appointed  of  solemn 
thanksgiving  for  the  restoration  of  its  liberty c. 

The  independent  party  among  the  commons 
exulted  in  their  victory.  The  whole  authority  of 
the  nation,  they  imagined,  was  now  lodged  in 
their  hands;  and  they  had  a  near  prospect  of 
moulding  the  government  into  that  imaginary 
republic  which  had  long  been  the  object  of  their 
wishes.  They  had  secretly  concurred  in  all  en- 
croachments of  the  military  upon  the  civil  power; 
and  they  expected,  by  the  terror  of  the  sword,  to 

!  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  Jgy,  jqq,  &c. 


1<547»  CHARLES    I.  83 

impose  a  more  perfect  system  of  liberty  on  the 
reluctant  nation.  All  parties,  the  king,  the 
church,  the  parliament,  the  presbyterians,  had 
been  guilty  of  errors  since  the  commencement  of 
these  disorders :  but  it  must  be  confessed,  that 
this  delusion  of  the  independents  and  republicans 
was,  of  all  others,  the  most  contrary  to  common 
sense  and  the  established  maxims  of  policy.  Yet 
were  the  leaders  of  that  party,  Vane,  Fiennes,  St. 
John,  Martin,  the  men  in  England  the  most  cele- 
brated for  profound  thought  and  deep  contriv- 
ance ;  and  by  their  well-coloured  pretences  and 
professions,  they  had  over-reached  the  whole  na- 
tion. To  deceive  such  men,  would  argue  a  su- 
perlative capacity  in  Cromwel ;  were  it  not  that, 
besides  the  great  difference  there  is  between  dark, 
crooked  councils  and  true  wisdom,  an  exorbitant 
passion  for  rule  and  authority  will  make  the  most 
prudent  overlook  the  dangerous  consequences  of 
such  measures  as  seem  to  tend,  in  any  degree,  to. 
their  own  advancement. 

The  leaders  of  the  army,  having  established 
their  dominion  over  the  parliament  and  city,  ven- 
tured to  bring  the  king  to  Hampton-court,  and  he 
lived,  for  some  time,  in  that  palace,  with  an  ap- 
pearance of  dignity  and  freedom.  Such  equabi- 
lity of  temper  did  he  possess,  that  daring  all  the 
variety  of  fortune  which  he  underwent,  no  differ- 
ence was  perceived  in  his  countenance  or  be- 
haviour ;  and  though  a  prisoner,  in  the  hands  of 
his  most  inveterate  enemies,  he  supported,  to- 
2 


84  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1647. 

wards  all  who  approached  him,  the  majesty  of  a 
monarch ;  and  that  neither  with  less  nor  greater 
state  than  he  had  heen  accustomed  to  maintain. 
His  manner,  which  was  not  in  itself  popular  nor 
gracious,  now  appeared  amiable,  from  its  great 
meekness  and  equality.  » 

The  parliament  renewed  their  applications  to 
him,  and  presented  him  with  the  same  conditions 
which  they  had  offered  at  Newcastle.  The  king 
declined  accepting  them,  and  desired  the  parlia- 
ment to  take  the  proposals  of  the  army  into  con- 
sideration, and  make  them  the  foundation  of  the 
public  settlement11.  He  still  entertained  hopes 
that  his  negotiations  with  the  generals  would  be 
crowned  with  success ;  though  every  thing,  in 
that  particular,  daily  bore  a  worse  aspect.  Most 
historians  have  thought  that  Cromwel  never  was 
sincere  in  his  professions ;  and  that,  having  by- 
force  rendered  himself  master  of  the  king's  person, 
and,  by  fair  pretences,  acquired  the  countenance 
of  the  royalists,  he  had  employed  these  advant- 
ages to  the  enslaving  of  the  parliament:  and 
afterwards  thought  of  nothing  but  the  establish- 
ment of  his  own  unlimited  authority,  with  which 
he  esteemed  the  restoration,  and  even  life  of  the 
king,  altogether  incompatible.  This  opinion,  so 
much  warranted  by  the  boundless  ambition  and 
profound  dissimulation  of  his  character,  meets 
with  ready  belief;  though  it  is  more  agreeable  to 

a  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  8 JO. 


1647.  CHARLES    I.  8.> 

the  narrowness  of  human  views,  and  the  darkness 
of  futurity,  to  suppose,  that  this  daring  usurper 
was  guided  by  events,  and  did  not  as  yet  foresee, 
with  any  assurance;  that  unparalleled  greatness 
which  he  afterwards  attained.  Many  writers  of 
that  age  have  asserted  #,  that  he  really  intended 
to  make  a  private  bargain  with  the  king;  a  mea- 
sure which  carried  the  most  plausible  appearance 
both  for  his  safety  and  advancement:  but  that 
he  found  insuperable  difficulties  in  reconciling  to 
it  the  wild  humours  of  the  army.  The  horror 
and  antipathy  of  these  fanatics  had,  for  many 
years,  been  artfully  fomented  against  Charles ; 
and  though  their  principles  were  on  all  occasions 
easily  warped  and  eluded  by  private  interest,  yet 
was  some  colouring  requisite,  and  a  flat  contra- 
diction to  all  former  professions  and  tenets  could 
not  safely  be  proposed  to  them.  It  is  certain,  at 
least,  that  Cromwel  made  use  of  this  reason,  why 
he  admitted  rarely  of  visits  from  the  king's 
friends,  and  showed  less  favour  than  formerly  to 
the  royal  cause.  The  agitators,  he  said,  had  ren- 
dered him  odious  to  the  army,  and  had  represent- 
ed him  as  a  traitor,  who,  for  the  sake  of  private 
interest,  was  ready  to  betray  the  cause  of  God  to 
the  great  enemy  of  piety  and  religion.  Desperate 
projects  too,  he  asserted  to  be  secretly  formed,  for 
the  murder  of  the  king;  and  he  pretended  much 
to  dread  lest  all  his  authority,   and  that  of  the 

*  See  note  [C]  vol.  X. 


8(5  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1647- 

commanding  officers,  would  not  be  able  to  re- 
strain these  enthusiasts  from  their  bloody  pur- 
poses*. 

Intelligence  being  daily  brought  to  the  king, 
of  menaces  thrown  out  by  the  agitators,  he  began 
to  think  of  retiring  from  Hampton-court,  and  of 
putting  himself  in  some  place  of  safety.  The 
guards  were  doubled  upon  him  :  the  promiscuous 
concourse  of  people  restrained :  a  more  jealous 
care  exerted  in  attending  his  person :  all,  under 
colour  of  protecting  him  from  danger ;  but  really 
with  a  view  of  making  him  uneasy  in  his  present 
situation.  These  artifices  soon  produced  the  in- 
tended effect.  Charles,  who  was  naturally  apt  to 
be  swayed  by  counsel,  and  who  had  not  then  ac» 
cess  to  any  good  counsel,  took  suddenly  a  re- 
solution of  M'ithdrawing  himself,  though  without 
any  concerted,  at  least  any  rational,  scheme  for 
the  future  disposal  of  his  person.  Attended  only 
by  sir  John  Berkeley,  Ashburnham,  and  Leg,  he 
privately  left  Hampton-court ;  and  his  escape  was 
not  discovered  till  near  an  hour  after  ;  when  those 
who  entered  his  chamber  found  on  the  table  some 
letters  directed  to  the  parliament,  to  the  general, 
and  to  the  officer  who  had  attended  him  y.  All 
night  he  travelled  through  the  forest,  and  arrived 
next  day  at  Titchfield,  a  seat  of  the  earl  of  South- 
ampton's, where  the  countess  dowager  resided,  a 
woman  -of  honour,   to  whom  the  king  knew  he 

*  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  Jfo-.  »  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  8/1, 


1647.  '  CHARLES   I.  87 

might  safely  entrust  his  person.  Before  he  ar- 
rived at  this  place,  he  had  gone  to  the  sea-coast ; 
and  expressed  great  anxiety,  that  a  ship  which  he 
seemed  to  look  for,  had  not  arrived  ;  and  thence, 
Berkeley  and  Leg,  who  were  not  in  the  secret, 
conjectured,  that  his  intention  was  to  transport 
himself  beyond  sea. 


THE  KING  FLIES  TO  THE  ISLE  OF  WIGHT. 

The  king  could  not  hope  to  remain  long  con- 
cealed at  Titchfield  :  what  measure  should  next 
be  embraced  was  the  question.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood lay  the  isle  of  Wight,  of  which  Ham- 
mond was  governor.  This  man  was  entirely  de- 
pendent on  Cromwel.  At  his  recommendation  he 
had  married  a  daughter  of  the  famous  Hampden, 
who,  during  his  lifetime,  had  been  an  intimate 
friend  of  Cromwel's,  and  whose  memory  was  ever 
respected  by  him.  These  circumstances  were 
very  unfavourable:  yet,  because  the  governor 
was  nephew  to  Dr.  Hammond,  the  king's  fa- 
vourite chaplain,  and  had  acquired  a  good  cha- 
racter in  the  army,  it  was  thought  proper  to 
have  recourse  to  him,  in  the  present  exi- 
gence, when  no  other  rational  expedient  could  be 
thought  of.  Ashburnham  and  Berkeley  were  dis- 
patched to  the  island.  They  had  orders  not  to 
inform  Hammond  of  the  place  where  the  king 


£3  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1^4*. 

was  concealed,  till  they  had  first  obtained  a  pro- 
mise from  him  not  to  deliver  up  his  majesty, 
though  the  parliament  and  army  should  require 
him ;  but  to  restore  him  to  his  liberty,  if  he  could 
.not  protect  him.  This  promise,  it  is  evident, 
would  have  been  a  very  slender  security :  yet 
even  without  exacting  it,  Ashburnham,  impru- 
dently, if  not  treacherously,  brought  Hammond 
to  Titchfield  ;  and  the  king  was  obliged  to  put 
himself  in  his  hands,  and  to  attend  him  to  Carisr 
broke  castle  in  the  isle  of  Wight,  where,  though 
received  with  great  demonstrations  of  respect 
and  duty,  he  was  in  reality  a  prisoner. 

Lord  Clarendon?  is  positive,  that  the  king, 
when  he  fled  from  Hampton-court,  had  no  inten- 
tion of  going  to  this  island  ;  and  indeed  all  the 
circumstances  of  that  historian's  narrative,  which 
Ave  have  here  followed,  strongly  favour  this  opi- 
nion. But  there  remains  a  letter  of  Charles's  to 
the  earl  of  Laneric,  secretary  of  Scotland,  in  which 
he  plainly  intimates,  that  that  measure  was  volun- 
tarily embraced  ;  and  even  insinuates,  that,  if  he 
had  thought  proper,  he  might  have  been  in  Jersey 
or  any  other  place  of  safety  *.  Perhaps,  he  still 
coniided  in  the  promises  of  the  generals ;  and  flat- 
tered himself,  that  if  he  were  removed  from  the 
fury  of  the  agitators,  by  which  his  life  was  imme- 
diately threatened,  they  would  execute  what  they 
had  so  often  promised  in  his  favour. 

1  P.  7g,  80,  &c.  *  See  note  [D]  vol.  X. 


1647.  CHARLES   I.  f  S9 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  in  this  matter; 
for  it  is  impossible  fully  to  ascertain  the  truth ; 
Charles  never  took  a  weaker  step,  nor  one  more 
agreeable  to  Cromwel  and  all  his  enemies.     He 
was  now  lodged  in  a  place,  removed  from  his  par- 
tisans,  at  the  disposal   of  the  army,   whence   it 
would  be  very  difficult  to  deliver  him,  either  by 
force  or  artifice.     And  though  it  was  always  in 
the  power  of  Cromwel,   whenever  he  pleased,  to 
have  sent  him  thither ;  yet  such  a  measure,  with- 
out the  king's  consent,  would  have  been  very  in- 
vidious, if  not  attended  with  some  danger.     That 
the   king  should  voluntarily  throw  himself  into 
the  snare,  and  thereby  gratify  his  implacable  per» 
secutors,  was  to  them  an  incident  peculiarly  for- 
tunate, and  proved  in  the  issue  very  fatal  to  him. 
Cromwel  being  now  entirely  master  of  the  par* 
liament,  and  free  from  all  anxiety  with  regard  to 
the  custody  of  the  king's  person,  applied  himself 
seriously  to  quell  those  disorders  in   the   army,- 
which  he  himself  had  so  artfully  raised,   and  so 
successfully  employed  against  both  king  and  par- 
liament.    In  order  to  engage  the  troops  into  a  re- 
bellion against  their  masters,  he  had  encouraged 
an  arrogant  spirit  among  the  inferior  officers  and 
private  men ;   and  the  camp,   in  many  respects, 
carried  more  the  appearance  of  civil  liberty  than 
of  military  obedience.      The  troops  themselves 
were  formed  into  a  kind  of  republic ;    and  the 
plans  of  imaginary  republics,  for  the  settlement  of 
the  state,  were  every  day  the  topics  of  conversa- 


90  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1617- 

tion  among  these  armed  legislators.     Royalty  it 
was  agreed  to  abolish:  nobility  must  be  set  aside  : 
even  all  ranks  of  men  be  levelled ;   and  an  uni- 
versal equality  of  property,  as  well  as  of  power, 
be  introduced  among  the  citizens.     The  saints, 
they  said,  Avere  the  salt  of  the  earth :  an  entire 
parity  had  place  among  the  elect:  and,   by  the 
same  rule,  that  the  apostles  were  exalted  from  the 
most  ignoble  professions,   the  meanest  sentinel,  if 
enlightened  by  the  Spirit,  was  entitled  to  equal 
regard  with  the  greatest  commander.     In  order 
to  wean  the  soldiers  from  these  licentious  maxims, 
Cromwel  had  issued  orders  for  discontinuing  the 
meetings  of  the  agitators;  and  he  pretended  to 
pay  entire  obedience  to  the  parliament,  whom, 
being  now  fully  reduced  to  subjection,  he  pur- 
posed to  make,  for  the  future,  the  instruments  of 
his  authority.    But  the  Levellers,  for  so  that  party 
in  the  army  was  called,  having  experienced  the 
sweets  of  dominion,  \vould  not  so  easily  be  de- 
prived of  it.     They  secretly  continued  their  meet- 
ings :  they  asserted,  that  their  officers,  as  much 
as  any  part  of  the  church  or  state,  needed  reform- 
ation :    several  regiments  joined  in  seditious  re- 
monstrances and    petitions3.       Separate   rendez- 
vouses were  concerted ;  and  every  thing  tended 
to  anarchy  and   confusion.     But  this  distemper 
was  soon  cured  by  the  rough,  but  dexterous  hand' 
of  Cromwel.     He  chose  the  opportunity  of  a  re- 

•  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  845.  S5(J. 


1647.  CHARLES   I.  gi 

view,  that  he  might  display  the  greater  boldness 
and  spread  the  terror  the  wider.     He  seized  the 
ringleaders  before  their  companions :  held  in  the 
field  a  council  of  war:  shot  one  mutineer  instant- 
ly :  and  struck  such  dread  into  the  rest,  that  they 
presently  threw  down  the    symbols  of  sedition, 
which  they  had  displayed,  and  thenceforth  re- 
turned to  their  wonted  discipline  and  obedience b- 
Cromwei  had  great  deference  for  the  counsels 
of  Ireton ;  a  man  who,  having  grafted  the  soldier 
on  the  lawyer,   the  statesman  on  the  saint,  had 
adopted  such  principles  as  were  fitted  to  introduce 
the  severest  tyranny,  while  they  seemed  to  encou- 
rage the  most  unbounded  license  in  human  so- 
ciety.    Fierce  in  his  nature,  though  probably  sin- 
cere in  his  intentions,   he  purposed  by  arbitrary 
power  to  establish  liberty,  and,  in  prosecution  of 
his  imagined  religious  purposes,  he  thought  him- 
self dispensed  from  all  the  ordinary  rules  of  mo- 
rality by  which  inferior  mortals  must  allow  them- 
selves to   be    governed.      From  his   suggestion, 
Cromwei  secretly  called  at  Windsor  a  council  of 
the  chief  officers,  in  order  to  deliberate  concern- 
ing the  settlement  of  the  nation,  and  the  future 
disposal  of  the  king's  person0.     In  this  confer- 
ence,   which    commenced   with   devout  prayers, 
poured  forth  by  Cromwei  himself,   and  other  in- 
spired persons  (for  the  officers  of  this  army  re- 

b  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  S75.     Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  6f . 
c  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  Q2. 


02     -  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1647. 

ceived  inspiration  with  their  commission),  was 
first  opened  the  daring  and  unheard  of  counsel, 
of  bringing  the  king  to  justice,  and  of  punishing, 
by  a  judicial  sentence,  their  sovereign,  for  his 
pretended  tyranny  and  mal-administration.  While 
Charles  lived,  even  though  restrained  to  the  closest 
prison,  conspiracies,  they  knew,  and  insurrections 
would  never  be  wanting  in  favour  of  a  prince,  who 
was  so  extremely  revered  and  beloved  by  his  own 
party,  and  whom  the  nation  in  general  began  to 
regard  with  great  affection  and  compassion.  To 
murder  him  privately  was  exposed  to  the  imputa- 
tion of  injustice  and  cruelt}r,  aggravated  by  the 
baseness  of  such  a  crime  ;  and  every  odious  epi- 
thet of  traitor  and  assassin  would,  by  the  general 
voice  of  mankind,  be  undisputably  ascribed  to  the 
actors  in  such  a  villany.  Some  unexpected  pro- 
cedure must  be  attempted,  which  would  astonish 
the  world  by  its  novelty,  would  bear  the  sem- 
blance of  justice,  and  would  cover  its  barbarity  by 
the  audaciousness  of  the  enterprise.  Striking  in 
with  the  fanatical  notions  of  the  entire  equality  of 
mankind,  it  would  ensure  the  devoted  obedience 
of  the  army,  and  serve  as  a  general  engagement 
against  the  royal  family,  whom,  by  their  open  and 
united  deed,  they  would  so  heinously  affront  and 
injure  d. 

d  The  following  was  a  favourite  text  among  the  enthusiasts  of 
that  age :  "  Let  the  high  praises  of  God  be  in  the  mouths  of  his 
"  saints,  and  a  two-fold_s\vord  in  their  hands,  to  execute  venge- 
'*  ancc  upon  the  heathen  and  punishment  upon  the  people ;  to 


1647.  CHARLES   I.  03 

.-    This  measure,  therefore,  being  secretly  resolv- 
ed on,  it  was  requisite,  by  degrees,  to  make  the 
parliament  adopt  it,  and  to  conduct  them  from 
violence  to  violence,  till  this  last  act  of  atrocious 
iniquity  should  seem  in  a  manner  wholly  inevita- 
ble.    The  king,  in  order  to  remove  those  fears 
and  jealousies,  which  were  perpetually  pleaded  as 
reasons  for  every  invasion  of  the  constitution,  had 
offered,  by  a  message  sent  from  Carisbroke- castle, 
to  resign,  during  his  own  life,   the  power  of  the 
militia  and  the  nomination  to  all  the  great  offices ; 
provided  that,  after  his  demise,  these  prerogatives 
should  revert  to  the  crown".     But  the  parliament 
acted  entirely  as  victors  and  enemies ;  and,  in  all 
their  transactions  with  him,  payed  no  longer  any 
regard  to  equity  or  reason.     At  the  instigation  of 
the  independents  and  army,  they  neglected  this 
offer,  and  framed  four  proposals,  which  they  sent 
him   as  preliminaries ;    and,    before   they   would 
deign  to  treat,  they  demanded  his  positive  assent 
to  all  of  them.     By  one  he  was  requited  to  invest 
the  parliament  with  the  military  power  for  twenty 
years,  together  with  an  authority  to  levy  what- 
ever money  should  be  necessary  for  exercising  it: 
and  even  after  the  twenty  years  should  be  elapsed, 

u  bind  their  kings  with  chains  and  their  nobles  with  fetters  of 
"  iron;  to  execute  upon  them  the  judgments  written  :  this  ho- 
"  nour  have  all  his  saints."  Psalm  cxlix.  ver.  6,  7>  8>  9«  Hugh 
Peters,  the  mad  chaplain  of  Cromwel,  preached  frequently  upon 
this  text. 

'Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  880. 


91  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1647. 

they  reserved  a  right  of  resuming  the  same  au- 
thority, whenever  they  should  declare  the  safety 
of  the  kingdom  to  require  it.  By  the  second,  he 
was  to  recal  all  his  proclamations  and  declarations 
against  the  parliament,  and  acknowledge  that 
assembly  to  have  taken  arms  in  their  just  and  ne- 
cessary defence.  By  the  third,  he  was  to  annul 
all  the  acts,  and  void  all  the  patents  of  peerage, 
which  had  passed  the  great  seal,  since  it  had  been 
carried  from  London  by  lord-keeper  Littleton; 
and  at  the  same  time,  renounce  for  the  future  the 
power  of  making  peers  without  consent  of  parlia- 
ment. By  the  fourth,  he  gave  the  two  houses 
power  to  adjourn  as  they  thought  proper :  a  de- 
mand seemingly  of  no  great  importance;  but 
contrived  by  the  independents,  that  they  might 
be  able  to  remove  the  parliament  to  places  where 
it  should  remain  in  perpetual  subjection  to  the 
army f. 

The  king  regarded  the  pretension  as  unusual 
and  exorbitant,  that  he  should  make  such  conces- 
sions, while  not  secure  of  any  settlement;  and 
should  blindly  trust  his  enemies  for  the  condi- 
tions which  they  were  afterwards  to  grant  him. 
He  required,  therefore,  a  personal  treaty  with  the 
parliament,  and  desired,  that  all  the  terms  on  both 
sides  should  be  adjusted,  before  any  concession, 
on  either  side,  should  be  insisted  on.  The  repub- 
lican party  in  the  house  pretended  to  take  fire  at 

'  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  88. 


1648.  CHARLES    I.  95 

this  answer ;    and   openly   inveighed,   in  violent 
terms,  against  the  person  and  government  of  the 
king;  whose  name,  hitherto,  had  commonly,  in 
all  debates,  been  mentioned  with  some  degree  of 
reverence.     Ireton,  seeming  to  speak  the  sense  of 
the  army,  under  the  appellation  of  many  thousand 
godly  men,  who  had  ventured  their  lives  in  de- 
fence of  the  parliament,  said,  that  the  king,   by 
denying  the   four  bills,   had   refused  safety  and 
protection    to  his  people ;    that  their  obedience 
to  him  was  but  a  reciprocal  duty  for  his  protec- 
tion  of  them ;  and  that,  as  he  had  failed  on  his 
part,  they  were  freed  from  all  obligations  to  alle- 
giance,  and  must  settle  the  nation  without  con- 
sulting any  longer  so  misguided  a  prince  g.     Crom- 
wel,  after  giving  an  ample  character  of  the  valour, 
good  affections,  and  godliness  of  the  army,  sub- 
joined, that  it  was  expected  the  parliament  should 
guide  and   defend   the    kingdom    by  their   own 
power  and  resolutions,  and  not  accustom  the  peo- 
ple any  longer  to  expect  safety  and  government 
from  an  obstinate  man,  whose  heart  God  had 
hardened;  that  those  who  at  the  expence  of  their 
blood  had  hitherto  defended  the  parliament  from 
so  many  dangers,  would  still  continue,  with  fide- 
lity and  courage,  to  protect  them  against  all  op- 
position in  this  vigorous  measure.      "  Teach  them 
M  not,"  added  he,  ' l  by  your  neglecting  your  own 
V  safety  and  that  of  the  kingdom  (in  which  theirs 

*  CI.  Walker,  p.  70. 


*q6  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  164S. 

"  too  is  involved),  to  imagine  themselves  be- 
"  trayed,  and  their  interests  abandoned  to  the 
"  rage  and  malice  of  an  irreconcileable  enemy, 
"  whom,  for  your  sake,  they  have  dared  to  provoke. 
<c  Beware  (and  at  these  words  he  laid  his  hand  on 
*'  his  sword),  beware,  lest  despair  cause  them  to 
"  seek  safety  by  some  other  means  than  by  ad- 
**  hering  to  you,  who  know  not  how  to  consult 
!'  your  own  safety h."  Such  arguments  prevailed, 
though  ninety-one  members  had  still  the  courage 
to  oppose.  It  was  voted  that  no  more  addresses 
be  made  to  the  king,  nor  any  letters  or  mes- 
sages be  received  from  him;  and  that  it  be 
treason  for  any  one,  without  leave  of  the  two 
houses,  to  have  any  intercourse  with  him.  The 
lords  concurred  in  the  same  ordinance'. 

By  this  vote  of  non-address,  so  it  was  called, 
the  king  was  in  reality  dethroned,  and  the  whole 
constitution  formally  overthrown.  So  violent  a 
measure  was  supported  by  a  declaration  of  the 
commons  no  less  violent.  The  blackest  calumnies 
were  there  thrown  upon  the  king ;  such  as,  even 
in  their  famous  remonstrance,  they  thought  proper 
to  omit,  as  incredible  and  extravagant:  the  poi- 
soning of  his  father,  the  betraying  of  Rtochelle, 
the  contriving  of  the  Irish  massacre  k.  By  blast- 
ing his  fame,  had  that  injury  been  in  their  power, 
they  formed  a  very  proper  prelude  to  the  execut- 
ing of  violence  on  his  person. 

1  Cl.  Walker,  p.  70.  'Rush.  vol.  viii.  p,  Q65,  Q67. 

k  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  0(j8.     Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  Q3. 


J  048.  CHARLES    I.  97 

No  sooner  had  the  king  refused  his  assent  to 
the  four  bills,  than  Hammond,  by  orders  from  the 
army,  removed  all  his  servants,  cut  off  his  corre- 
spondence with  his  friends,  and  shut  him  up  in 
close  confinement.  The  king  afterwards  showed 
to  sir  Philip  Warwick,  a  decrepid  old  man,  who, 
he  said,  was  employed  to  kindle  his  fire,  and  was 
the  best  company  he  enjoyed,  during  several 
months  that  this  rigorous  confinement  lasted1. 
No  amusement  was  allowed  him,  nor  society,  which 
might  relieve  his  anxious  thoughts :  to  be  speedi- 
ly poisoned  or  assassinated  was  the  only  prospect 
which  he  had  every  moment  before  his  eyes :  for 
he  entertained  no  apprehension  of  a  judicial  sen- 
tence and  execution ;  an  event  of  which  no  hi- 
story hitherto  furnished  an  example.  Meanwhile, 
the  parliament  was  very  industrious  in  publishing, 
from  time  to  time,  the  intelligence  which  they 
received  from  Hammond ;  how  cheerful  the  king 
was,  how  pleased  with  every  one  that  approached 
him,  how  satisfied  in  his  present  condition111:  as 
if  the  view  of  such  benignity  and  constancy  had 
not  been  more  proper  to  inflame,  than  allay,  the 
general  compassion  of  the  people.  The  great 
source  whence  the  king  derived  consolation 
amidst  all  his  calamities,  was  undoubtedly  reli- 
gion; a  principle  which  in  him  seems  to  have 
contained  nothing  fierce  or  gloomy,  nothing 
which  enraged  him  against  his  adversaries,  or  terri- 

1  Warwick,  p.  329.  m  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  989. 

VOL.    VIII.  H 


ys  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1648. 

fied  him  with  the  dismal  prospect  of  futurity. 
While  every  thing  around  him  bore  a  hostile 
aspect ;  while  friends,  family,  relations,  whom  he 
passionately  loved,  were  placed  at  a  distance,  and 
unable  to  serve  him ;  he  reposed  himself  with 
confidence  in  the  arms  of  that  Being  who  pene- 
trates and  sustains  all  nature,  and  whose  severi- 
ties, if  received  with  piety  and  resignation,  he 
regarded  as  the  surest  pledges  of  unexhausted 
favour. 


SECOND  CIVIL  WAH. 

The  parliament  and  army,  meanwhile,  enjoyed 
not  in  tranquillity  that  power  which  they  had 
obtained  with  so  much  violence  and  injustice. 
Combinations  and  conspiracies,  they  were  sensi- 
ble, were  every  where  forming  around  them  ;  and 
Scotland,  whence  the  king's  cause  had  received 
the  first  fatal  disaster,  seemed  now  to  promise  its 
support  and  assistance. 

Before  the  surrender  of  the  king's  person  at 
Newcastle,  and  much  more  since  that  event,  the 
subjects  of  discontent  had  been  daily  multiplying 
between  the  two  kingdoms.  The  independents,  who 
began  to  prevail,  took  all  occasions  of  mortifying 
the  Scots,  whom  the  presbyterians  looked  on  with 
the  greatest  affection  and  veneration.  When  the 
Scottish  commissioners,  who,  joined  to  a  commit- 
tee of  English  lords  and  commons,  had  managed 


1648.  CHARLES    L  QQ 

the  war,  were  ready  to  depart,  it  was  proposed  in 
parliament  to  give  them  thanks  for  their  civilities 
and  good  offices.  The  independents  insisted,  that 
the  words  Good  offices  should  be  struck  out ;  and 
thus  the  whole  brotherly  friendship  and  intimate 
alliance  with  the  Scots  resolved  itself  into  an 
acknowledgment  of  their  being  well-bred  gen- 
tlemen. 

The  advance  of  the  army  to  London,  the  sub-* 
jection  of  the  parliament,  the  seizing  of  the  king 
at  Holdenbyj  his  confinement  in  Carisbroke- 
castle,  were  so  many  blows  sensibly  felt  by  that 
nation,  as  threatening  the  final  overthrow  of  pres- 
bytery, to  which  they  were  so  passionately  de- 
voted. The  covenant  was  profanely  called,  in 
the  house  of  commons,  an  almanac  out  of  date11; 
and  that  impiety,  though  complained  of,  had 
passed  uncensured.  Instead  of  being  able  to  de-» 
termine  and  establish  orthodoxy  by  the  sword  and 
by  penal  statutes,  they  saw  the  sectarian  army, 
who  were  absolute  masters,  claim  an  unbounded 
liberty  of  conscience,  which  the  presbyterians  re- 
garded with  the  utmost  abhorrence.  All  the  vio- 
lences put  on  the  king  they  loudly  blamed,  as 
repugnant  to  the  covenant,  by  which  they  stood 
engaged  to  defend  his  royal  person.  And  those 
very  actions  of  which  they  themselves  had  been 
guilty,  they  denominated  treason  and  rebellion, 
when  executed  by  an  opposite  party. 

"  CI.  Walker,  p.  SO, 


100  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  l6<18. 

The  earls  of  Loudon,  Lauderdale,  and  Lanenc, 
who  were  sent  to  London,  protested  against 
the  four  bills  ;  as  containing  too  great  a  diminu- 
tion of  the  king's  civil  power,  and  providing  no 
security  for  religion.  They  complained,  that  not- 
withstanding this  protestation,  the  bills  were  still 
insisted  on ;  contrary  to  the  solemn  league,  and 
to  the  treaty  between  the  two  nations.  And 
when  they  accompanied  the  English  commission- 
ers to  the  isle  of  Wight,  they  secretly  formed  a 
treaty  with  the  king,  for  arming  Scotland  in  his 
favour0. 


INVASION  FROM  SCOTLAND. 

Three  parties  at  that  time  prevailed  in  Scotland : 
the  royalists,  who  insisted  upon  the  restoration  of 
the  king's  authority,  without  any  regard  to  reli- 
gious sects  or  tenets :  of  these  Montrose,  though 
absent,  was  regarded  as  the  head.  The  rigid 
presbyterians,  who  hated  the  king  even  more  than 
they  abhorred  toleration  ;  and  who  determined  to 
give  him  no  assistance,  till  he  should  subscribe 
the  covenant :  these  were  governed  by  Argyle. 
The  moderate  presbyterians,  who  endeavoured  to 
reconcile  the  interests  of  religion  and  of  the 
crown,  and  hoped,  by  supporting  the  presbyterian 
party  in  England,  to  suppress  the  sectarian  army, 

°  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  101. 


1648.  CHARLES    I.  101 

and  to  reinstate  the  parliament,  as  well  as  the 
king,  in  their  just  freedom  and  authority :  the 
two  brothers,  Hamilton  and  Laneric,  were  leaders 
of  this  party. 

When  Pendennis  castle  was  surrendered  to  the 
parliamentary  army,  Hamilton,  who  then  obtained 
his  liberty,  returned  into  Scotland  ;  and  being 
generously  determined  to  remember  ancient  fa- 
vours, more  than  recent  injuries,  he  immediately 
embraced,  with  zeal  and  success,  the  protection 
of  the  royal  cause.  He  obtained  a  vote  from  the 
Scottish  parliament  to  arm  40, 000  men  in  support 
of  the  king's  authority,  and  to  call  over  a  consi- 
derable body  under  Monro,  who  commanded  the 
Scottish  forces  in  Ulster.  And  though  he  openly 
protested,  that  the  covenant  was  the  foundation 
of  all  his  measures,  he  secretly  entered  into  corre- 
spondence with  the  English  royalists,  sir  Marma- 
duke  Langdale  and  sir  Philip  Musgrave,  who 
had  levied  considerable  forces  in  the  north  of 
England. 

The  general  assembly,  who  sat  at  the  same 
time,  and  was  guided  by  Argyle,  dreaded  the  con- 
sequence of  these  measures,  and  foresaw  that  the 
opposite  party,  if  successful,  would  effect  the  re- 
storation of  monarchy,  without  the  establishment 
of  presbytery,  in  England.  To  join  the  king  be- 
fore he  had  subscribed  the  covenant  was,  in  their 
eyes,  to  restore  him  to  his  honour  before  Christ 
had  obtained  hisp;  and  they  thundered  out  ana- 

p  Whitlocke,  p.  305. 


\02  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1648. 

themas  against  every  one  who  paid  obedience  to 
the  parliament.  Two  supreme  independent  judi- 
catures were  erected  in  the  kingdom  ;  one  threat- 
ening the  people  with  damnation  anpl  eternal  tor- 
ments, the  other  with  imprisonment,  banishment, 
and  military  execution.  The  people  were  dis- 
tracted in  their  choice ;  and  the  armament  of  Ha- 
milton's party,  though  seconded  by  all  the  civil 
power,  went  on  but  slowly.  The  royalists  he 
would  not  as  yet  allow  to  join  him,  lest  he  might 
give  offence  to  the  ecclesiastical  party ;  though  he 
secretly  promised  them  trust  and  preferment  as 
soon  as  his  army  should  advance  into  England. 

While  the  Scots  were  making  preparations  for 
the  invasion  of  England,  every  part  of  that  king- 
dom was  agitated  with  tumults,  insurrections, 
conspiracies,  discontents.  It  is  seldom  that  the 
people  gain  any  thing  by  revolutions  in  govern- 
ment; because  the  new  settlement,  jealous  and 
insecure,  must  commonly  be  supported  with  more 
expence  and  severity  than  the  old  :  but  on  no  oc- 
casion was  the  truth  of  this  maxim  more  sensibly 
felt,  than  in  the  present  situation  of  England. 
Complaints  against  the  oppression  of  ship-money, 
against  the  tyranny  of  the  star-chamber,  had 
roused  the  people  to  arms :  and  having  gained  a 
complete  victory  over  the  crown,  they  found 
themselves  loaded  with  a  multiplicity  of  taxes, 
formerly  unknown ;  and  scarcely  an  appearance 
of  law  and  liberty  remained  in  the  administration. 
The  presbytetians,  who  had  chiefly  supported  the 


1&18.  CHARLES    I.  103 

war,  were  enraged  to  find  the  prize,  just  when  it 
seemed  within  their  reach,  snatched  by  violence 
from  them.  The  royalists,  disappointed  in  their 
expectations,  by  the  cruel  treatment  which  the 
king  now  received  from  the  army,  t  were  strongly 
animated  to  restore  him  to  liberty,  and  to  re- 
cover the  advantages  which  they  had  unfortu- 
nately lost.  All  orders  of  men  were  inflamed  with 
indignation  at  seeing  the  military  prevail  over  the 
civil  power,  and  king  and  parliament  at  once  re- 
duced to  subjection  by  a  mercenary  army.  Many 
persons  of  family  and  distinction  had,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  adhered  to  the  parliament : 
but  all  these  were,  by  the  new  party,  deprived  of 
authority ;  and  every  office  was  entrusted  to  the 
most  ignoble  part  of  the  nation.  A  base  populace 
exalted  above  their  superiors :  hypocrites  exer- 
cising iniquity  under  the  vizor  of  religion  :  these 
circumstances  promised  not  much  liberty  or  lenity 
to  the  people ;  and  these  were  now  found  united 
in  the  same  usurped  and  illegal  administration. 

Though  the  whole  nation  seemed  to  combine 
in  their  hatred  of  military  tyranny,  the  ends 
which  the  several  parties  pursued  were  so  differ- 
ent, that  little  concert  was  observed  in  their  in- 
surrections. Langhorne,  Poyer,  and  Powel,  pres- 
by  terian  officers,  who  commanded  bodies  of  troops 
in  Wales,  were  the  first  that  declared  themselves ; 
and  they  drew  together  a  considerable  army  in 
those  parts,  which  were  extremely  devoted  to  the 
royal  cause.     An  insurrection  was  raised  in  Kent 


iO-i  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1648. 

fry  young  Hales  and  the  earl  of  Norwich.  Lord 
Capel,  sir  Charles  Lucas,  sir  George  Lisle,  excited 
commotions  in  Essex.  The  earl  of  Holland,  who 
had  several  times  changed  sides  since  the  comr 
mencement  of  the  civil  wars,  endeavoured  to  as- 
semble forces  in  Surrey.  Pomfret  castle  in  York- 
shire was  surprised  by  Maurice.  Langdale  and 
Musgrave  were  in  arms,  and  masters  of  Berwic 
and  Carlisle  in  the  north. 

What  seemed  the  most  dangerous  circum- 
stance, the  general  spirit  of  discontent  had  seized 
the  fleet.  Seventeen  ships,  lying  in  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  declared  for  the  king ;  and  putting 
Rainsborow,  their  admiral,  ashore,  sailed  over  to 
Holland,  where  the  prince  of  Wales  took  the 
command  of  them q. 

The  English  royalists  exclaimed  loudly  against 
Hamilton's  delays,  which  they  attributed  to  a 
refined  policy  in  the  Scots ;  as  if  their  intentions 
were,  that  all  the  king's  party  should  be  first,  sup- 
pressed, and  the  victory  remain  solely  to  the  pres- 
byterians.  Hamilton,  with  better  reason,  com- 
plained of  the  precipitate  humour  of  the  English 
royalists,  who,  by  their  ill-timed  insurrections, 
forced  him  to  march  his  army  before  his  levies 
were  completed,  or  his  preparations  in  any  for- 
wardness. 

No  commotions  beyond  a  tumult  of  the  ap- 
prentices, which  was  soon  suppressed,  were  raised 

n  Clarendon,  vol.  v.  p.  137. 


l&JS.  CHARLES   I.  105 

in  London  :  the  terror  of  the  army  kept  the  citi- 
zens in  subjection.  The  parliament  was  so  over- 
awed, that  they  declared  the  Scots  to  be  enemies, 
and  all  who  joined  them  traitors.  Ninety  mem- 
bers, however,  of  the  lower  house  had  the  courage 
to  dissent  from  this  vote. 

Cromwel   and  the  military  council  prepared 
themselves  with  vigour  and  conduct  for  defence. 
The  establishment  of  the  army  was  at  this  time 
26,000  men;   but  by  enlisting  supernumeraries, 
the  regiments  were  greatly  augmented,  and  com- 
monly consisted  of  more  than  double  their  stated 
complement'.     Colonel  Horton  first  attacked  the 
revolted  troops  in  Wales,   and  gave  them  a  con- 
siderable defeat.     The  remnants  of  the  vanquish- 
ed threw  themselves  into  Pembroke,   and  were 
there  closely  besieged,   and  soon  after  taken,   by 
Cromwel.      Lambert   was  opposed  to   Langdale 
and  Musgrave  in  the  north,  and  gained  advan- 
tages over  them.     Sir  Michael  Livesey  defeated 
the  earl  of  Holland  at  Kingston,  and  pursuing  his 
victory,   took  him  prisoner  at  St.    Neots.     Fair- 
fax, having  routed  the  Kentish  royalists  at  Maid- 
stone, followed  the  broken  army  :  and  when  they 
joined  the  royalists  of  Essex,  and  threw  them- 
selves into  Colchester,  he  laid  siege  to  that  place, 
which  defended  itself  to  the  last  extremity.     A 
new  fleet  was  manned,  and  sent  out  under  the 
command  of  Warwic,  to  oppose  the  revolted  ships, 
of  which  the  prince  had  taken  the  command. 

rWhitlocke,  p.  284. 


10(5  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1648. 

While  the  forces  were  employed  in  all  quarters, 
the  parliament  regained  its  liberty,  and  began  to 
act  with  its  wonted  courage  and  spirit.  The 
members,  who  had  withdrawn,  from  terror  of  the 
army,  returned  ;  and  infusing  boldness  into  their 
companions,  restored  to  the  presbyterian  party 
the  ascendant  which  it  had  formerly  lost.  The 
eleven  impeached  members  were  recalled,  and  the 
vote,  by  which  they  were  expelled,  was  reversed. 
The  vote  too  of  non-addresses  was  repealed  ;  and 
commissioners,  live  peers  and  ten  commoners, 
were  sent  to  Newport,  in  the  isle  of  Wight,  in 
order  to  treat  with  the  king8.  He  was  allowed 
to  summon  several  of  his  friends  and  old  coun- 
sellors, that  he  might  have  their  advice  in  this 
important  transaction'.  The  theologians,  on 
both  sides,  armed  with  their  syllogisms  and  quo- 
tations, attended  as  auxiliaries11.  By  them  the 
flame  had  first  been  raised  ;  and  their  appearance 
was  but  a  bad  prognostic  of  its  extinction.  Any 
other  instruments  seemed  better  adapted  for  a 
treaty  of  pacification. 


TREATY  OF  NEWPORT.    September  18. 

When  the  king  presented  himself  to  this  com- 
pany, a  great  and  sensible  alteration  was  remark- 
ed in  his  aspect,  from  what  it  appeared  the  year 

'  Clarendon,   vol.  v.  p.  180.     Sir  Edward  Walker's  perfect 
copies,  p.  6.  *  Ibid.  p.  8.  ■  Ibid.  p.  8,  38. 


1648.  CHARLES   I.  107 

before,  when  he  resided  at  Hampton-court.    The 
moment  his  servants  had  been  removed,  he  had 
laid  aside  all  care  of  his  person,   and  had  allowed 
his  beard  and  hair  to  grow,  and  to  hang  dishevel- 
led and  neglected.     His  hair  was  become  almost 
entirely  grey ;  either  from  the  decline  of  years, 
or  from  that  load  of  sorrows,   under  which  he  la- 
boured, and  which,  though  borne  with  constancy, 
preyed  inwardly  on  his  sensible  and  tender  mind. 
His  friends  beheld  with  compassion,  and  perhaps 
even  his  enemies,   that  grey  and  discrowned  head, 
as  he  himself  terms  it,  in  a  copy  of  verses,   which 
the   truth   of  the   sentiment,    rather    than   any 
elegance  of  expression,  renders  very  pathetic w. 
Having  in  vain  endeavoured   by  courage  to  de- 
fend his  throne  from  his  armed  adversaries,  it  now 
behoved  him,   by  reasoning  and  persuasion,    to 
save  some  fragments  of  it  from  these  peaceful, 
and  no  less  implacable  negotiators. 

The  vigour  of  the  king's  mind,  notwithstand- 
ing the  seeming  decline  of  his  body,  here  appear- 
ed unbroken  and  undecayed.  The  parliamentary 
commissioners  would  allow  none  of  his  counsel  to 
be  present,  and  refused  to  enter  into  reasoning 
with  any  but  himself.  He  alone,  during  the 
transactions  of  two  months,  was  obliged  to  main- 
tain the  argument  against  fifteen  men  of  the 
greatest  parts  and  capacity  in  both  houses ;  and 
no  advantage  was  ever  obtained  over  him x.    This 

w  Burnet's  Memoirs  of  Hamilton. 
*  Herbert's  Memoirs,  p.  72. 


108  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1648. 

-was  the  scene,  above  all  others,  in  which  he  was 
qualified  to  excel.  A  quick  conception,  a  culti- 
vated understanding,  a  chaste  elocution,  a  dig- 
nified manner ;  by  these  accomplishments  he 
triumphed  in  all  discussions  of  cool  and  temperate 
reasoning.  The  king  is  much  changed,  said  the 
earl  of  Salisbury  to  sir  Philip  Warwic :  he  is  ex- 
tremely improved  of  late.  No,  replied  sir  Philip ; 
he  was  always  so  :  but  you  are  now  at  last  sensible  of 
ity.  Sir  Henry  Vane,  discoursing  with  his  fellow- 
commissioners,  drew  an  argument  from  the  king's 
uncommon  abilities,  why  the  terms  of  pacifica- 
tion must  be  rendered  more  strict  and  rigid2. 
But  Charles's  capacity  shone  not  equally  in  ac- 
tion as  in  reasoning. 

The  first  point,  insisted  on  by  the  parliament- 
ary commissioners,  was  the  king's  recalling  all 
his  proclamations  and  declarations  against  the 
parliament,  and  the  acknowledging  that  they 
had  taken  arms  in  their  own  defence.  He  frankly 
offered  the  former  concession  ;  but  long  scrupled 
the  latter.  The  falsehood,  as  well  as  indignity, 
of  that  acknowledgment,  begat  in  his  breast  an 
extreme  reluctance  against  it.  The  king  had,  no 
doubt,  in  some  particulars  of  moment,  invaded, 
from  a  seeming  necessity,  the  privileges  of  his 
people  :  but  having  renounced  all  claim  to  these 
usurped  powers,  having  confessed  his  errors,  and 
having  repaired  every  breach  in  the  constitution, 

y  Warwick,  p.  324. 
•Clarendon.     Sir  Edward  Walker,  p.  319. 


Lfltf*  CHARLES  I.  109 

and  even  erected  new  ramparts,  in  order  to  secure 
it;  he  could  no  longer,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  be  represented  as  the  aggressor.  How- 
ever it  might  be  pretended,  that  the  former  dis- 
play of  his  arbitrary  inclinations,  or  rather  his 
monarchical  principles,  rendered  an  offensive  or 
preventive  war  in  the  parliament  prudent  and 
reasonable ;  it  could  never,  in  any  propriety  of 
speech,  make  it  be  termed  a  defensive  one.  But 
the  parliament,  sensible  that  the  letter  of  the  law 
condemned  them  as  rebels  and  traitors,  deemed 
this  point  absolutely  necessary  for  their  future 
security ;  and  the  king,  finding  that  peace  could 
be  obtained  on  no  other  terms,  at  last  yielded  to 
it.  He  only  entered  a  protest,  which  was  ad- 
mitted ;  that  no  concession  made  by  him  should 
be  valid,  unless  the  whole  treaty  of  pacification 
were  concluded*. 

He  agreed  that  the  parliament  should  retain, 
during  the  term  of  twenty  years,  the  power  over 
the  militia  and  army,  and  that  of  levying  what 
money  they  pleased  for  their  support.  He  even 
yielded  to  them  the  right  of  resuming,  at  any 
time  afterwards,  this  authority,  whenever  they 
should  declare  such  a  resumption  necessary  for 
public  safety.  In  effect,  the  important  power  of 
the  sword  was  for  ever  ravished  from  him  and  his 
successors  b. 

He  agreed,  that  all  the  great  offices,  during 

•  Walker,  p.  11,  12,  24.  *  Ibid.  p.  51. 


110  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1(548. 

twenty  years,  should  be  filled  by  both  houses  of 
parliament c.  He  relinquished  to  them  the  entire 
government  of  Ireland,  and  the  conduct,  of  the 
war  there d.  He  renounced  the  power  of  the 
wards,  and  accepted  of  100,000  pounds  a  year, 
in  lieu  of  ite.  He  acknowledged  the  validity  of 
their  great  seal,  and  gave  up  his  ownf.  He 
abandoned  the  power  of  creating  peers  without 
consent  of  parliament.  And  he  agreed,  that  all 
the  debts  contracted  in  order  to  support  the  war 
against  him,  should  be  paid  by  the  people. 

So  great  were  the  alterations  made  on  the 
English  constitution  by  this  treaty,  that  the  king 
said,  not  without  reason,  that  he  had  been  more  an 
enemy  to  his  people  by  these  concessions,  could 
he  have  prevented  them,  than  by  any  other  ac- 
tion of  his  life. 

Of  all  the  demands  of  the  parliament,  Charles 
refused  only  two.  Though  he  relinquished  almost 
every  power  of  the  crown,  he  would  neither  give 
up  his  friends  to  punishment,  nor  desert  what  he 
esteemed  his  religious  duty.  The  severe  repent- 
ance, which  he  had  undergone,  for  abandoning 
Strafford,  had,  no  doubt,  confirmed  him  in  the 
resolution  never  again  to  be  guilty  of  a  like  error. 
His  long  solitude  and  severe  afflictions  had  con- 
tributed to  rivet  him  the  more  in  those  religious 
principles,  which  had  ever  a  considerable  influence 
over  him.     His  desire,  however,  of  finishing  an 

■  Walker,  p.  78.  d  Ibid.  p.  45. 

•  Ibid.  p.  69,  77.  { Ibid.  p.  56,  68. 


1048.  CHARLES   I.  HI 

accommodation  induced  him  to  go  a  fars  in  both 
these  particulars,  as  he  thought  any-wise  consist- 
ent with  his  duty. 

The  estates  of  the  royalists  being,  at  that  time, 
almost  entirely  under  sequestration,  Charles,  who 
could  give  them  no  protection,  consented  that 
they  should  pay  such  compositions  as  they  and 
the  parliament  could  agree  on ;  and  only  begged 
that  they  might  be  made  as  moderate  as  possible. 
He  had  not  the  disposal  of  offices  ;  and  it  seemed 
but  a  small  sacrifice  to  consent,  that  a  certain 
number  of  his  friends  should  be  rendered  inca- 
pable of  public  employments8.  But  when  the 
parliament  demanded  a  bill  of  attainder  and  ba- 
nishment against  seven  persons,  the  marquess  of 
Newcastle,  lord  Digby,  lord  Biron,  sir  Marma- 
duke  Langdale,  sir  Richard  Granville,  sir  Francis 
Doddington,  and  judge  Jenkins,  the  king  abso- 
lutely refused  compliance :  their  banishment  for 
a  limited  time  he  was  willing  to  agree  to  h. 

Religion  was  the  fatal  point  about  which  the 
differences  had  arisen ;  and  of  all  others,  it  was 
the  least  susceptible  of  composition  or  moderation 
between  the  contending  parties.  The  parliament 
insisted  on  the  establishment  of  presbytery,  the 
sale  of  the  chapter  lands,  the  abolition  of  all  forms 
of  prayer,  and  strict  laws  against  catholics.  The 
king  offered  to  retrench  every  thing  which  he  did 
not  esteem  of  apostolical  institution  :  he  was  will- 

•Walker,  p.  6 1 .  h  Ibid.  p.  91,  93. 


112  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1648. 

ing  to  abolish  archbishops,  deans,  prebends, 
canons  :  he  offered  that  the  chapter  lands  should 
be  let  at  low  leases  during  ninety-nine  years :  he 
consented,  that  the  present  church  government 
should  continue  during  three  years  \  After  that 
time,  he  required  not.  that  any  thing  should  be 
restored  to  bishops  but  the  power  of  ordination, 
and  even  that  power  to  be  exercised  by  advice  of 
the  presbyters  i.  If  the  parliament,  upon  the  ex- 
piration of  that  period,  still  insisted  on  their  de- 
mand, all  other  branches  of  episcopal  jurisdiction 
were  abolished,  and  a  new  form  of  church  go- 
vernment must,  by  common  consent,  be  esta- 
blished. The  book  of  common  prayer  he  was 
willing  to  renounce,  but  required  the  liberty  of 
using  some  other  liturgy  in  his  own  chapel k:  a 
demand  which,  though  seemingly  reasonable,  was 
positively  refused  by  the  parliament. 

In  the  dispute  on  these  articles,  one  is  not  sur- 
prised, that  two  of  the  parliamentary  theologians 
should  tell  the  king,  That  if' he  did  not  consent  to  the 
utter  abolition  of  episcopacy,  he  would  be  damned. 
But  it  is  not  without  some  indignation  that  we 
read  the  following  vote  of  the  lords  and  com- 
mons :  M  The  houses,  out  of  their  detestation  to 
"  that  abominable  idolatry  used  in  the  mass,  do 
"  declare,  that  they  cannot  admit  of,  or  consent 
"  unto,  any  such  indulgence  in  any  law,  as  is 
"  desired   by   his  majesty,    for   exempting  the 


i 


Walker,  p.  29,  35,  49.  I  Ibid.  p.  65. 

Ibid.  p.  75,  82.     Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  1823. 


1&J8.  CHARLES    I.  llj 

"  queen  and  her  family  from  the  penalties  to  be 
"  enacted  against  the  exercise  of  the  mass1." 
The  treaty  of  marriage,  the  regard  to  the  queen's 
sex  and  high  station,  even  common  humanity ; 
all  considerations  were  undervalued,  in  compa- 
rison of  their  bigoted  prejudices  *. 

It  was  evidently  the  interest,  both  of  king  and 
parliament,  to  finish  their  treaty  with  all  expedi- 
tion; and  endeavour,  by  their  combined  force, 
to  resist;  if  possible,  the  usurping  fury  of  the 
army.  It  seemed  even  the  interest  of  the  parlia- 
ment, to  leave  in  the  king's  hand  a  considerable 
share  of  authority,  by  which  he  might  be  enabled 
to  protect  them  and  himself  from  so  dangerous 
an  enemy.  But  the  terms  on  which  they  insisted 
were  so  rigorous,  that  the  king  fearing  no  worse 
from  the  most  implacable  enemies,  was  in  no  haste 
to  come  to  a  conclusion.  And  so  great  was  the 
bigotry  on  both  sides,  that  they  were  willing  to 
sacrifice  the  greatest  civil  interests,  rather  than 
relinquish  the  most  minute  of  their  theological 
contentions.  From  these  causes,  assisted  by  the 
artifice  of  the  independents,  *  the  treaty  was.  spun 
out  to  such  a  length,  that  the  invasions  and  in- 
surrections were  every  where  subdued ;  and  the 
army  had  leisure  to  execute  their  violent  and 
sanguinary  purposes. 

•Walker,  p.  fl. 
*  See  note  [E]  vol.  X. 

VOL.   VIII.  I 


114  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1648. 


CIVIL  WAR  AND  INVASION  REPRESSED. 

Hamilton,  having  entered  England  with  a  nu- 
merous, although  undisciplined,  army,  durst  not 
unite  his  forces  with  those  of  Langdale ;  because 
the  English  royalists  had  refused  to  take  the  co- 
venant; and  the  Scottish  presbyterians,  though 
engaged  for  the  king,  refused  to  join  them  on 
any  other  terms.  The  two  armies  marched  to- 
gether, though  at  some  distance ;  nor  could  even 
the  approach  of  the  parliamentary  army,  under 
Cromwel,  oblige  the  covenanters  to  consult  their 
own  safety,  by  a  close  union  with  the  royalists. 
When  principles  are  so  absurd  and  so  destructive 
of  human  society,  it  may  safely  be  averred,  that 
the  more  sincere  and  the  more  disinterested  they 
are,  they  only  become  the  more  ridiculous  and 
more  odious. 

Cromwel  feared  not  to  oppose  8000  men,  to 
the  numerous  armies  of  20,000,  commanded  by 
Hamilton  and  Langdale.  He  attacked  the  latter 
by  surprise,  near  Preston  in  Lancashire"1;  and, 
though  the  royalists  made  a  brave  resistance,  yet 
not  being  succoured  in  time  by  their  confederates, 
they  were  almost  entirely  cut  in  pieces.  Hamil- 
ton was  next  attacked,  put  to  rout,  and  pursued 
to  Utoxeter,  where  he  surrendered  himself  pri- 
soner.    Cromwell  followed  his  advantage ;  and 

"  17th  of  August. 


1548.  CHARLES    I.  115 

marching  into  Scotland  with  a  considerable  body, 
joined  Argyle,  who  was  also  in  arms  ;  and  having 
suppressed  Laneric,  Monro,  and  other  moderate 
presbyterians,  he  placed  the  power  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  violent  party.  The  ecclesiastical 
authority,  exalted  above  the  civil,  exercised  the 
severest  vengeance  on  all  who  had  a  share  in  Ha- 
milton's engagement,  as  it  was  called;  nor  could 
any  of  that  party  recover  trust,  or  even  live  in 
safety,  but  by  doing  solemn  and  public  penance 
for  taking  arms,  by  authority  of  parliament,  in 
defence  of  their  lawful  sovereign. 

The  chancellor  Loudon,  who  had,  at  first, 
countenanced  Hamilton's  enterprise,  being  ter- 
rified with  the  menaces  of  the  clergy,  had,  some 
time  before,  gone  over  to  the  other  party ;  and 
he  now  openly  in  the  church,  though  invested 
with  the  highest  civil  character  in  the  kingdom, 
did  penance  for  his  obedience  to  the  parliament, 
which  he  termed  a  carnal  self-seeking.  He  ac- 
companied his  penance  with  so  many  tears,  and 
such  pathetical  addresses  to  the  people  for  their 
prayers  in  this  his  uttermost  sorrow  and  distress, 
that  an  universal  weeping  and  lamentation  took 
place  among  the  deluded  audience". 

The  loan  of  great  sums  of  money,  often  to  the 
ruin  of  families,  was  exacted  from  all  such  as  lay 
under  any  suspicion  of  favouring  the  king's  party, 
though  their  conduct  had  been  ever  so  inoffensive. 

■  Whitlocke,  p.  360. 


116  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1648. 

This  was  a  device,  fallen  upon  by  the  ruling  party, 
in  order,  as  they  said,  to  reach  Heart  Malig- 
nants0.  Never,  in  this  island,  was  known  a  more 
severe  and  arbitrary  government,  than  was  ge- 
nerally exercised  by  the  patrons  of  liberty  in  both 
kingdoms. 

The  siege  of  Colchester  terminated  in  a  man- 
ner no  less  unfortunate  than  Hamilton's  engage- 
ment, for  the  royal  cause.  After  suffering  the 
utmost  extremities  of  famine,  after  feeding  on 
the  vilest  aliments;  the  garrison  desired,  at  last, 
to  capitulate.  Fairfax  required  them  to  surrender 
at  discretion ;  and  he  gave  such  an  explanation 
to  these  terms,  as  to  reserve  to  himself  power,  if 
he  pleased,  to  put  them  all  instantly  to  the  sword. 
The  officers  endeavoured,  though  in  vain,  to  per- 
suade the  soldiers,  by  making  a  vigorous  sally, 
to  break  through,  at  least  to  sell  their  lives  as  dear 
as  possible.  They  were  obliged  p  to  accept  of  the 
conditions  offered;  and  Fairfax,  instigated  by 
Ireton,  to  whom  Cromwel,  in  his  absence,  had 
consigned  over  the  government  of  the  passive 
general,  seized  sir  Charles  Lucas  and  sir  George 
Lisle,  and  resolved  to  make  them  instant  sacri- 
fices to  military  justice.  This  unusual  severity 
was  loudly  exclaimed  against  by  all  the  prisoners. 
Lord  Capel,  fearless  of  danger,  reproached  Ireton 
with  it ;  and  challenged  him,  as  they  were  all  en- 
gaged in  the  same  honourable  cause,  to  exercise 

0  Guthry.  p  18th  of  August. 


1648.  CHARLES    I.  117 

the  same  impartial  vengeance  on  all  of  them. 
Lucas  was  first  shot,  and  he  himself  gave  orders 
to  fire,  with  the  same  alacrity  as  if  he  had  com- 
manded a  platoon  of  his  own  soldiers.  Lisle  in- 
stantly ran  and  kissed  the  dead  body,  then  cheer- 
fully presented  himself  to  a  like  fate.  Thinking 
that  the  soldiers,  destined  for  his  execution, 
stood  at  too  great  a  distance,  he  called  to  them  to 
come  nearer:  one  of  them  replied,  Til  xvarrant 
you,  sir,  we'll  hit  you :  he  answered,  smiling, 
Friends,  I  have  been  nearer  you  when  you  have 
missed  me.  Thus  perished  this  generous  spirit, 
not  less  beloved  for  his  modesty  and  humanity, 
than  esteemed  for  his  courage  and  military 
conduct. 

Soon  after,  a  gentleman  appearing  in  the  king's 
presence,  clothed  in  mourning  for  sir  Charles  Lu- 
cas; that  humane  prince,  suddenly  recollecting 
the  hard  fate  of  his  friends,  paid  them  a  tribute, 
which  none  of  his  own  unparalleled  misfortunes 
ever  extorted  from  him  :  he  dissolved  into  a  flood 
of  tears q. 


THE  KING  SEIZED  AGAIN  BY  THE  ARMY. 

By  these  multiplied  successes  of  the  army,  they 
had  subdued  all  their  enemies ;  and  none  re- 
mained but  the  helpless  king  and  parliament,  to 

'Whidocke. 


J18  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1648. 

oppose  their  violent  measures.  From  Cromwel's 
suggestion,  a  remonstrance  was  drawn  by  the 
council  of  general  officers,  and  sent  to  the  parlia- 
ment They  there  complain  of  the  treaty  with 
the  king ;  demand  his  punishment  for  the  blood 
spilt  during  the  war  ;  require  a  dissolution  of  the 
present  parliament,  and  a  more  equal  representa- 
tion for  the  future ;  and  assert,  that,  though  ser- 
vants, they  are  entitled  to  represent  these  import- 
ant points  to  their  masters,  who  are  themselves 
no  better  than  servants  and  trustees  of  the  people. 
At  the  same  time,  they  advanced  with  the  army  to 
Windsor,  and  sent  colonel  Eure  to  seize  the  king's 
person  at  Newport,  and  convey  him  to  Hurst 
castle  in  the  neighbourhood,  where  he  was  de- 
tained in  strict  confinement. 

This  measure  being  foreseen  some  time  before, 
the  king  was  exhorted  to  make  his  escape,  which 
Mas  conceived  to  be  very  easy :  but  having  given 
his  word  to  the  parliament  not  to  attempt  the  re- 
covery of  his  liberty  during  the  treaty,  and  three 
weeks  after;  he  would  not,  by  any  persuasion, 
be  induced  to  hazard  the  reproach  of  violating 
that  promise.  In  vain  was  it  urged,  that  a  pro- 
mise given  to  the  parliament  could  no  longer  be 
binding ;  since  they  could  no  longer  afford  him 
protection  from  violence,  threatened  him  by  other 
persons,  to  whom  he  was  bound  by  no  tie  or  en- 
gagement. The  king  would  indulge  no  refine- 
ments of  casuistry,  however  plausible,  in  such  de- 
licate subjects ;  and  was  resolved,   that  what  de- 


1048.  CHARLES   I.  119 

predations  soever  fortune  should  commit  upon 
him,  she  never  should  bereave  him  of  his  honour1". 

The  parliament  lost  not  courage,  notwithstand- 
ing the  danger  with  which  they  were  so  nearly- 
menaced.  Though  without  any  plan  for  resisting 
military  usurpations,  they  resolved  to  withstand 
them  to  the  uttermost ;  and  rather  to  bring  on  a 
violent  and  visible  subversion  of  government,  than 
lend  their  authority  to  those  illegal  and  sanguin- 
ary measures  which  were  projected.  They  set 
aside  the  remonstrance  of  the  army,  without 
deigning  to  answer  it;  they  voted  the  seizing  of 
the  king's  person  to  be  without  their  consent, 
and  sent  a  message  to  the  general,  to  know  by 
what  authority  that  enterprise  had  been  execut- 
ed; and  they  issued  orders,  that  the  army  should 
advance  no  nearer  to  London. 

Hollis,  the  present  leader  of  the  presbyteri- 
ans,  was  a  man  of  unconquerable  intrepidity  ;  and 
many  others  of  that  party  seconded  his  magnani- 
mous spirit.  It  was  proposed  by  them,  that  the 
generals  and  principal  officers  should,  for  their 
disobedience  and  usurpations,  be  proclaimed  trai- 
tors by  the  parliament. 

But  the  parliament  was  dealing  with  men  who 
would  not  be  frightened  by  words,  nor  retarded 
by  any  scrupulous  delicacy.  The  generals,  under 
the  name  of  Fairfax  (for  he  still  allowed  them  to 
employ  his  name),  marched  the  army  to  London, 

1  Col.  Cooke's  Memoirs,  p.  174.    Rush,  vol.  viii.  p.  1347. 


120  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1648. 

and  placing  guards  in  Whitehall,  the  Meuse, 
St,  James's,  Durham-house,  Covent-garden,  and 
Palace-yard,  surrounded  the  parliament  with 
their  hostile  armaments, 


THE  HOUSE  PURGED.     December  6. 

The  parliament,  destitute  of  all  hopes  of  prevail- 
ing, retained,  however,  courage  to  resist.  They 
attempted,  in  the  face  of  the  army,  to  close  their 
treaty  with  the  king  ;  and,  though  they  had  for- 
merly voted  his  concessions  with  regard  to  the 
church  and  delinquents  to  be  unsatisfactory,  they 
now  took  into  consideration  the  final  resolution 
with  regard  to  the  whole.  After  a  violent  debate 
of  three  days,  it  was  carried,  by  a  majority  of 
129  against  83,  in  the  house  of  commons,  that 
the  king's  concessions  were  a  foundation  for  the 
houses  to  proceed  upon  in  the  settlement  of  the 
kingdom. 

Next  day,  when  the  commons  were  to  meet, 
colonel  Pride,  formerly  a  drayman,  had  environed 
the  house  with  two  regiments;  and,  directed  by 
lord  Grey  of  Groby,  he  seized  in  the  passage 
forty-one  members  of  the  presbyterian  party,  and 
sent  them  to  a  low  room,  which  passed  by  the 
appellation  of  hell ;  whence  they  were  afterwards 
carried  to  several  inns.  Above  160  members  more 
were  excluded ;  and  none  were  allowed  to  enter 
but  the  most  furious  and  the  most  determined  of 


1643.  CHARLES    I.  121 

the  independents;  and  these  exceeded  not  the 
number  of  fifty  or  sixty.  This  invasion  of  the 
parliament  commonly  passed  under  the  name  of 
colonel  Prides  purge  j  so  much  disposed  was  the 
nation  to  make  merry  with  the  dethroning  of 
those  members,  who  had  violently  arrogated  the 
whole  authority  of  government,  and  deprived  the 
king  of  his  legal  prerogatives. 

The  subsequent  proceedings  of  the  parliament, 
if  this  diminutive  assembly  deserve  that  honour- 
able name,  retain  not  the  least  appearance  of  law, 
equity,  or  freedom.  They  instantly  reversed  the 
former  vote,  and  declared  the  king's  concessions 
unsatisfactory.  They  determined,  that  no  mem- 
ber, absent  at  this  last  vote,  should  be  received, 
till  he  subscribed  it  as  agreeable  to  his  judgment. 
They  renewed  their  former  vote  of  non-addresses. 
And  they  committed  to  prison  sir  William  Waller, 
sir  John  Clotworthy,  the  generals  Massey,  Brown, 
Copley,  and  other  leaders  of  the  presbyterians. 
These  men,  by  their  credit  and  authority,  which 
was  then  very  high,  had,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war  supported  the  parliament ;  and  thereby 
prepared  the  way  for  the  greatness  of  the  present 
leaders,  who,  at  that  time,  were  of  small  account 
in  the  nation. 

The  secluded  members  having  published  a 
paper,  containing  a  narrative  of  the  violence 
which  had  been  exercised  upon  them,  and  a  pro- 
testation, that  all  acts  were  void,  which  from  that 
time  had  been  transacted  in  the  house  of  com- 


122  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  16-18. 

mons ;  the  remaining  members  encountered  it 
with  a  declaration  in  which  they  pronounced  it 
false,  scandalous,  seditious,  and  tending  to  the 
destruction  of  the  visible  and  fundamental  go- 
vernment of  the  kingdom. 

These  sudden  and  violent  revolutions  held  the 
whole  nation  in  terror  and  astonishment.  Every 
man  dreaded  to  be  trampled  under  foot,  in  the 
contention  between  those  mighty  powers  which 
disputed  for  the  sovereignty  of  the  state.  Many 
began  to  withdraw  their  effects  beyond  sea :  fo- 
reigners scrupled  to  give  any  credit  to  a  people, 
so  torn  by  domestic  faction,  and  oppressed  by  mi- 
litary usurpation  :  even  the  internal  commerce  of 
the  kingdom  began  to  stagnate.  And  in  order 
to  remedy  these  growing  evils,  the  generals,  in 
the  name  of  the  army,  published  a  declaration,  in 
which  they  expressed  their  resolution  of  support- 
ing law  and  justice 8. 

The  more  to  quiet  the  minds  of  men,  the  coun- 
cil of  officers  took  into  consideration,  a  scheme 
called  The  agreement  of  the  people  ;  being  the  plan 
of  a  republic,  to  be  substituted  in  the  place  of 
that  government  which  they  had  so  violently 
pulled  in  pieces.  Many  parts  of  this  scheme,  for 
correcting  the  inequalities  of  the  representative, 
are  plausible ;  had  the  nation  been  disposed  to  re- 
ceive it,  or  had  the  army  intended  to  impose  it. 
Other  parts  are  too  perfect  for  human  nature,  and 

•  Rush.  vol.  viii.  p.  1364. 


l&JS.  CHARLES    I.  125 

savour  strongly  of  that  fanatical  spirit  so  prevalent 
throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  height  of  all  iniquity  and  fanatical  extra- 
vagance yet  remained  ;  the  public  trial  and  exe- 
cution of  their  sovereign.  To  this  period  was 
every  measure  precipitated  by  the  zealous  inde- 
pendents. The  parliamentary  leaders  of  that  party 
had  intended,  that  the  army,  themselves,  should 
execute  that  daring  enterprise  ;  and  they  deemed 
so  irregular  and  lawless  a  deed  best  fitted  to  such 
irregular  and  lawless  instruments*.  But  the  ge- 
nerals were  too  wise  to  load  themselves  singly  with 
the  infamy  which,  they  knew,  must  attend  an 
action  so  shocking  to  the  general  sentiments  of 
mankind.  The  parliament,  they  were  resolved, 
should  share  with  them  the  reproach  of  a  measure 
which  was  thought  requisite  for  the  advancement 
of  their  common  ends  of  safety  and  ambition.  In 
the  house  of  commons,  therefore,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  bring  in  a  charge  against  the 
king.  On  their  report  a  vote  passed,  declaring  it 
treason  in  a  king  to  levy  war  against  his  parlia- 
ment, and  appointing  a  High  Court  of  Justice 
to  try  Charles  for  this  new  invented  treason. 
This  vote  was  sent  up  to  the  house  of  peers. 

The  house  of  peers,  during  the  civil  wars,  had, 
all  along,  been  of  small  account ;  but  it  had  lately, 
since  the  king's  fall,  become  totally  contemptible; 
and  very  few  members  would  submit  to  the  mor- 

1  Whitlocke. 


124  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1CH9. 

tification  of  attending  it.  It  happened,  that  day, 
to  be  fuller  than  usual,  and  they  were  assembled, 
to  the  number  of  sixteen.  Without  one  dissent- 
ing voice,  and  almost  without  deliberation,  they 
instantly  rejected  the  vote  of  the  lower  house,  and 
adjourned  themselves  for  ten  days ;  hoping  that 
this  delay  would  be  able  to  retard  the  furious 
career  of  the  commons. 

The  commons  were  not  to  be  stopped  by  so 
small  an  obstacle.  Having  first  established  a 
principle,  which  is  noble  in  itself,  and  seems  spe- 
cious, but  is  belied  by  all  history  and  experience, 
That  the  people  are  the  origin  of  all  just  pozver  ;  they 
next  declared,  that  the  commons  of  England, 
assembled  in  parliament,  being  chosen  by  the 
people,  and  representing  them,  are  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  nation,  and  that  whatever  is  en- 
acted and  declared  to  be  law  by  the  commons, 
hath  the  force  of  law,  without  the  consent  of 
king  or  house  of  peers.  The  ordinance  for  the 
trial  of  Charles  Stuart,  king  of  England,  so  they 
called  him,  was  again  read,  and  unanimously  as- 
sented to. 

In  proportion  to  the  enormity  of  the  violences 
and  usurpations,  were  augmented  the  pretences  of 
sanctity,  among  those  regicides.  "  Should  any 
"  one  have  voluntarily  proposed,"  said  Cromwel 
in  the  house,  "  to  bring  the  king  to  punishment, 
"  I  should  have  regarded  him  as  the  greatest  trai- 
"  tor;  but,  since  providence  and  necessity  have 
"  cast  us  upon  it,  I  will  pray  to  God  for  a  blessing 


1649.  CHARLES  I.  125 

on  your  counsels ;  though  I  am  not  prepared 
to  give  you  any  advice  on  this  important  occa- 
sion. Even  I  myself,"  subjoined  he,  "  when 
I  was  lately  offering  up  petitions  for  his  ma- 
jesty's restoration,  felt  my  tongue  cleave  to 
the  roof  of  my  mouth,  and  considered  this 
preternatural  movement  as  the  answer  which 
heaven,  having  rejected  the  king,  had  sent  to 
my  supplications." 
A  woman  of  Hertfordshire,  illuminated  by  pro- 
phetical visions,  desired  admittance  into  the  mili- 
tary council,  and  communicated  to  the  officers  a 
revelation,  which  assured  them  that  their  measures 
were  consecrated  from  above,  and  ratified  by  a 
heavenly  sanction.  This  intelligence  gave  them 
great  comfort,  and  much  confirmed  them  in  their 
present  resolutions  u. 

Colonel  Harrison,  the  son  of  a  butcher,  and 
the  most  furious  enthusiast  in  the  army,  was  sent 
with  a  strong  party,  to  conduct  the  king  to  Lon- 
don. At  Windsor,  Hamilton,  who  was  there  de- 
tained a  prisoner,  was  admitted  into  the  king's 
presence;  and  falling  on  his  knees,  passionately 
exclaimed,  My  dear  master  I — I  have  indeed  been  so 
to  you,  replied  Charles,  embracing  him.  No  far- 
ther intercourse  was  allowed  between  them.  The 
king  was  instantly  hurried  away.  Hamilton  long 
followed  him  with  his  eyes,  all  suffused  in  tears, 
and  prognosticated,  that  in  this  short  salutation, 

0  Whitlocke  p.  3(50. 


12(3  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  16I9. 

lie  had  given  the  last  adieu  to  his  sovereign  and 
his  friend. 

Charles  himself  was  assured,  that  the  period 
of  his  life  was  now  approaching  ;  but  notwith- 
standing all  the  preparations  which  were  making, 
and  the  intelligence  which  he  received,  he  could 
not,  even  yet,  believe  that  his  enemies  really 
meant  to  conclude  their  violences  by  a  public 
trial  and  execution.  A  private  assassination  he 
every  moment  looked  for ;  and  though  Harrison 
assured  him,  that  his  apprehensions  were  entirely 
groundless,  it  was  by  that  catastrophe,  so  fre- 
quent with  dethroned  princes,  that  he  expected 
to  terminate  his  life.  In  appearance,  as  well  as 
in  reality,  the  king  was  now  dethroned.  All  the 
exterior  symbols  of  sovereignty  were  withdrawn, 
and  his  attendants  had  orders  to  serve  him  with- 
out ceremony.  At  first  he  was  shocked  with  in- 
stances of  rudeness  and  familiarity*  to  which  he 
had  been  so  little  accustomed.  Nothing  so  con- 
temptible as  a  despised  prince !  was  the  reflection 
which  they  suggested  to  him.  But  he  soon  re- 
conciled his  mind  to  this,  as  he  had  done  to  his 
other  calamities. 

All  the  circumstances  of  the  trial  were  now 
adjusted;  and  the  high  court  of  justice  fully  con- 
stituted. It  consisted  of  133  persons  as  named 
by  the  commons;  but  there  scarcely  ever  sat 
above  70:  so  difficult  was  it,  notwithstanding  the 
blindness  of  prejudice  and  the  allurements  of  in- 
terest, to  engage  men  of  any  name  or  character  in 


iG4g.  CHARLES    I.  127 

that  criminal  measure.  Cromwel,  Ireton,  Har- 
rison, and  the  chief  officers  of  the  army,  most  of 
them  of  mean  birth,  were  members,  together  with 
some  of  the  lower  house  and  some  citizens  of 
London.  The  twelve  judges  were  at  first  ap- 
pointed in  the  number;  but  as  they  had  affirmed, 
that  it  was  contrary  to  all  the  ideas  of  English 
law  to  try  the  king  for  treason,  by  whose  author- 
ity all  accusations  for  treason  must  necessarily 
be  conducted ;  their  names,  as  well  as  those  of 
some  peers,  were  afterwards  struck  out.  Brad- 
shaw,  a  lawyer,  was  chosen  president.  Coke  was 
appointed  solicitor  for  the  people  of  England. 
Dorislaus,  Steele,  and  Aske,  were  named  assist- 
ants.    The  court  sat  in  Westminster-hall. 

It  is  remarkable,  that,  in  calling  over  the 
court,  when  the  crier  pronounced  the  name  of 
Fairfax,  which  had  been  inserted  in  the  number, 
a  voice  came  from  one  of  the  spectators,  and 
cried,  He  has  more  zvit  than  to  be  here.  When  the 
charge  was  read  against  the  king,  In  the  name  of 
the  people  of  England  ;  the  same  voice  exclaimed, 
Not  a  tenth  part  of  them.  Axtel,  the  officer  who 
guarded  the  court,  giving  orders  to  fire  into  the 
box  whence  these  insolent  speeches  came ;  it  was 
discovered,  that  lady  Fairfax  was  there,  and  that  it 
was  she  who  had  had  the  courage  to  utter  them. 
She  was  a  person  of  noble  extraction,  daughter  of 
Horace,  lord  Vere  of  Tilbury ;  but  being  seduced 
by  the  violence  of  the  times,  she  had  long  se- 
conded her  husband's  zeal  against  the  royal  cause, 


128  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  164§. 

and  was  now,  as  well  as  he,  struck  with  abhor- 
rence at  the  fatal  and  unexpected  consequence  of 
all  his  boasted  victories. 


THE  KING'S  TRIAL. 

The  pomp,  the  dignity,  the  ceremony  of  this 
transaction  corresponded  to  the  greatest  concep- 
tion that  is  suggested  in  the  annals  of  human 
kind  ;  the  delegates  of  a  great  people  sitting  in 
judgment  upon  their  supreme  magistrate,  and 
trying  him  for  his  misgovernment  and  breach  of 
trust.  The  solicitor,  in  the  name  of  the  com- 
mons, represented,  that  Charles  Stuart,  being  ad- 
mitted king  of  England,  and  entrusted  with  a 
limited  power;  yet  nevertheless,  from  a  wicked 
design  to  erect  an  unlimited  and  tyrannical  go- 
vernment, had  traiterously  and  maliciously  levied 
war  against  the  present  parliament,  and  the  people 
whom  they  represented,  and  was  therefore  im- 
peached as  a  tyrant,  traitor,  murderer,  and  a  pub- 
lic and  implacable  enemy  to  the  commonwealth. 
After  the  charge  was  finished,  the  president  di- 
rected his  discourse  to  the  king,  and  told  him, 
that  the  court  expected  his  answer. 

The  king,  though  long  detained  a  prisoner, 
and  now  produced  as  a  criminal,  sustained,  by  his 
magnanimous  courage,  the  majesty  of  a  monarch. 
With  great  temper  and  dignity  he  declined  the 
authority  of  the  court,   and  refused   to  submit 


J64g.  CHARLES  I.  129 

himself  to  their  jurisdiction.      He  represented, 
that  having  been  engaged  in  treaty  with  his  two 
houses  of  parliament,  and  having  finished  almost 
every  article,  he  had  expected  to  be  brought  to 
his  capital  in  another  manner,  and  ere  this  time, 
to  have  been  restored  to  his  power,  dignity,  re- 
venue,  as  well  as  to  his  personal  liberty:  that  he 
could  not  now  perceive  any  appearance  of  the. 
upper  house,  so  essential  a  member  of  the  consti- 
tution ;  and  had  learned,  that  even  the  commons, 
whose  authority  was  pretended,  were  subdued  by 
lawless  force,  and  were  bereaved  of  their  liber- 
ty:    that  he  himself  was  their  native  heredi- 
tary king;  nor  was  the  whole  authority  of  the 
state,   though  free   and  united,    entitled  to  try 
him,  who  derived  his  dignity  from  the  Supreme 
Majesty  of  heaven  :  that,  admitting  those  extra- 
vagant principles  which  levelled  all  orders  of  men, 
the  court  could  plead  no  power  delegated  by  the 
people ;  unless  the  consent  of  every  individual, 
down  to  the  meanest  and  most  ignorant  peasant, 
had  been  previously,  asked  and  obtained:    that 
he  acknowledged,  without  scruple,  that  he  had  a 
trust  committed  to  him,  and  one  most  sacred  and 
inviolable  ;  he  was  entrusted  with  the  liberties  of 
his  people,  and  would  not  now  betray  them,  by 
recognizing  a  power  founded  on  the  most  atro- 
cious violence  and  usurpation :  that  having  taken 
arms,  and  frequently  exposed  his  life  in  defence  of 
public  liberty,  of  the  constitution,  of  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  the  kingdom,  he  was  willing,  in 

VOL.  VIII.  k 


130  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1649. 

this  last  and  most  solemn  scene,  to  seal  with  his 
blood  those  precious  rights  for  which,  though  in 
vain,  he  had  so  long  contended :  that  those  who 
arrogated  a  title  to  sit  as  his  judges,  were  born 
his  subjects,  and  born  subjects  to  those  laws, 
which  determined,  that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong : 
that  he  was  not  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  shel- 
tering  himself  under  this  general  maxim,  which 
guards  every  English  monarch,  even  the  least  de- 
serving ;  but  was  able,  by  the  most  satisfactory 
reasons,  to  justify  those  measures,  in  which  he 
had  been  engaged  :  that  to  the  whole  world,  and 
even  to  them,  his  pretended  judges,  he  was  de- 
sirous, if  called  upon  in  another  manner,  to  prove 
the  integrity  of  his  conduct,  and  assert  the  justice 
of  those  defensive  arms,  to  which,  unwillingly 
and  unfortunately,  he  had  had  recourse  :  but  that, 
in  order  to  preserve  a  uniformity  of  conduct,  he 
must  at  present  forego  the  apology  of  his  inno- 
cence ;  lest,  by  ratifying  an  authority,  no  better 
founded  than  that  of  robbers  and  pirates,  he  be 
justly  branded  as  the  betrayer,  instead  of  being 
applauded  as  the  martyr,  of  the  constitution. 

The  president,  in  order  to  support  the  majesty 
of  the  people,  and  maintain  the  superiority  of  his 
court  above  the  prisoner,  still  inculcated,  that  he 
must  not  decline  the  authority  of  his  judges;  that 
they  over-ruled  his  objections;  that  they  were 
delegated  by  the  people,  the  only  source  of  every 
lawful  power ;  and  that  kings  themselves  acted 
but  in  trust  from  that  community,  which  had  in- 


1649.  CHARLES   I.  131 

vested  this  high  court  of  justice  with  its  jurisdic- 
tion. Even  according  to  those  principles,  which 
in  his  present  situation  he  was  perhaps  obliged  to 
adopt,  his  behaviour  in  general  will  appear  not  a 
little  harsh  and  barbarous  ;  but  when  we  consider 
him  as  a  subject,  and  one  too  of  no  high  charac^ 
ter,  addressing  himself  to  his  unfortunate  sove- 
reign, his  style  will  be  esteemed,  to  the  last  de- 
gree, audacious  and  insolent. 

Three  times  was  Charles  produced  before  the 
Court,  and  as  often  declined  their  jurisdiction. 
On  the  fourth,  the  judges  having  examined  some 
witnesses,  by  whom  it  was  proved  that  the  king 
had  appeared  in  arms  against  the  forces  commis- 
sioned by  the  parliament ;  they  pronounced  sen- 
tence against  him*  He  seemed  very  anxious,  at 
this  time,  to  be  admitted  to  a  conference  with 
the  two  houses  ;  and  it  was  supposed,  that  he  in- 
tended to  resign  the  crown  to  his  son  :  but  the 
court  refused  compliance,  and  considered  that  re- 
quest as  nothing  but  a  delay  of  justice. 

It  is  confessed,  that  the  king's  behaviour, 
during  this  last  scene  of  his  life,  does  honour  to 
his  memory ;  and  that,  in  all  appearances  before 
his  judges,  he  never  forgot  his  part,  either  as  a 
prince  or  as  a  man.  Firm  and  intrepid,  he  main- 
tained, in  each  reply,  the  utmost  perspicuity  and 
justness  both  of  thought  and  expression :  mild 
and  equable,  he  rose  into  no  passion  at  that  un- 
usual authority  which  was  assumed  over  him. 
His  soul,  without  effort  or  affectation,  seemed 
2 


132  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1649. 

only  to  remain  in  the  situation  familiar  to  it,  and 
to  look  down  with  contempt  on  all  the  efforts  of 
human  malice  and  iniquity.  The  soldiers,  insti- 
gated by  their  superiors,  were  brought,  though 
with  difficulty,  to  cry  aloud  for  justice:  Poor 
souls !  said  the  king  to  one  of  his  attendants ; 
for  a  little  money  they  would  do  as  much  against 
their  commanders'".  Some  of  them  were  permitted 
to  go  the  utmost  length  of  brutal  insolence,  and 
to  spit  in  his  face,  as  he  was  conducted  along  the 
passage  to  the  court.  To  excite  a  sentiment  of 
piety  was  the  only  effect  which  this  inhuman  in- 
sult was  able  to  produce  upon  him. 

The  people,  though  under  the  rod  of  lawless 
unlimited  power,  could  not  forbear,  with  the  most 
ardent  prayers,  pouring  forth  their  wishes  for  his 
preservation;  and,  in  his  present  distress,  they 
avowed  him,  by  their  generous  tears  for  their 
monarch,  whom,  in  their  misguided  fury,  they  had 
before  so  violently  rejected.  The  king  was  soft- 
ened at  this  moving  scene,  and  expressed  his  gra- 
titude for  their  dutiful  affection.  One  soldier 
too,  seized  by  contagious  sympathy,  demanded 
from  heaven  a  blessing  on  oppressed  and  fallen 
majesty :  his  officer  overhearing  the  prayer,  beat 
him  to  the  ground  in  the  king's  presence.  The 
punishment,  methinks,  exceeds  the  offence :  this  was 
the  reflection  which  Charles  formed  on  that  oc- 
casion \ 

*  Rushwortb,  vol.  viii.  p.  1425.        x  Warwick,  p.  339. 


164Q.  CHARLES   I.  133 

As  soon  as  the  intention  of  trying  the  king 
was  known  in  foreign  countries,  so  enormous  an 
action  was  exclaimed  against  by  the  general  voice 
of  reason  and  humanity;  and  all  men,  under 
whatever  form  of  government  they  were  born,  re- 
jected this  example,  as  the  utmost  effort  of  un- 
disguised usurpation,  and  the  most  heinous  insult 
on  law  and  justice.  The  French  ambassador,  by 
orders  from  his  court,  interposed  in  the  king's 
behalf:  the  Dutch  employed  their  good  offices: 
the  Scots  exclaimed  and  protested  against  the 
violence  :  the  queen,  the  prince,  wrote  pathetic 
letters  to  the  parliament.  All  solicitations  were 
found  fruitless  with  men  whose  resolutions  were 
fixed  and  irrevocable. 

Four  of  Charles's  friends,  persons  of  virtue  and 
dignity,  Richmond,  Hertford,  Southampton,  Linde- 
sey,  applied  to  the  commons.  They  represented 
that  they  were  the  king's  counsellors,  and  had 
concurred,  by  their  advice,  in  all  those  measures 
which  were  now  imputed  as  crimes  to  their  royal 
master:  that  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  and  according 
to  the  dictates  of  common  reason,  they  alone  were 
guilty,  and  were  alone  exposed  to  censure  for 
every  blameable  action  of  the  prince :  and  that 
they  now  presented  themselves,  in  order  to  save, 
by  their  own  punishment,  that  precious  life  which 
it  became  the  commons  themselves,  and  every 
subject,  with  the  utmost  hazard,  to  protect  and 
defend*.     Such  a  generous  effort  tended  to  their 

'  Perinchef,  p.  85.    Lloyde,  p.  319- 


JSI  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  Wig. 

honour;    but  contributed  nothing   towards   the 
king's  safety. 

Tbe  people  remained  in  that  silence  and  asto- 
nishment  which  all  great  passions,  when  they  have 
not  an  opportunity  of  exerting  themselves,  na- 
turally produce  in  the  human  mind.  The  soldiers 
being  incessantly  plyed  with  prayers,  sermons, 
and  exhortations,  were  wrought  up  to  a  degree  of 
fury,  and  imagined,  that  in  the  acts  of  the  most 
extreme  disloyalty  towards  their  prince,  consisted 
their  greatest  merit  in  the  eye  of  heaven2. 

Three  days  were  allowed  the  king  between  his 
sentence  and  his  execution.  This  interval  he 
passed  with  great  tranquillity,  chiefly  in  reading 
and  devotion.  All  his  family  that  remained  in 
England  were  allowed  access  to  him.  It  con- 
sisted only  of  the  princess  Elizabeth  and  the  duke 
of  Glocester ;  for  the  duke  of  York  had  made  his 
escape.  Glocester  was  little  more  than  an  infant : 
the  princess,  notwithstanding  her  tender  years, 
shewed  an  advanced  judgment;  and  the  calamities 
of  her  family  had  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
her.  After  many  pious  consolations  and  advices, 
the  king  gave  her  in  charge  to  tell  the  queen, 
that,  during  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  he  had 
never  once,  even  in  thought,  failed  in  his  fidelity 
towards  her ;  and  that  his  conjugal  tenderness  and 
Jiis  life  should  have  an  equal  duration. 

To  the  young  duke  too,  he  could  not  forbear 

*  Burnet's  History  of  his  own  Times. 


l<54p.  CHARLES   I.  135 

giving  some  advice,  in  order  to  season  his  mind 
with  early  principles  of  loyalty  and  obedience  to- 
wards his  brother,  who  was  so  soon  to  be  his  sove- 
reign. Holding  him  on  his  knee,  he  said,  '*  Now 
"  they  will  cut  off  thy  father's  head,"  At  these 
words  the  child  looked  very  stedfastly  upon  him. 
Mark,  child !  what  I  say :  they  will  cut  off 
my  head!  and  perhaps  make  thee  a  king:  but 
mark  what  I  say,  thou  must  not  be  a  king,  as 
long  as  thy  brothers  Charles  and  James  are 
alive.  They  will  cut  off  thy  brothers'  heads 
when  they  can  catch  them  !  and  thy  head  too 
they  will  cut  off  at  last !  therefore,  I  charge 
thee,  do  not  be  made  a  king  by  them  !"  The 
duke,  sighing,  replied,  "  I  will  be  torn  in  pieces 
"  first !"  So  determined  an  answer  from  one  of 
such  tender  years,  filled  the  king's  eyes  with  tears 
of  joy  and  admiration. 

Every  night,  during  this  interval,  the  king 
slept  sound  as  usual ;  though  the  noise  of  work- 
men, employed  in  framing  the  scaffold,  and  other 
preparations  for  his  execution,  continually  re- 
sounded in  his  ears3.  The  morning  of  the  fatal 
day  he  rose  early ;  and  calling  Herbert,  one  of 
his  attendants,  he  bade  him  employ  more  than 
usual  care  in  dressing  him,  and  preparing  him  for 
so  great  and  joyful  a  solemnity.  Bishop  Juxon, 
a  man  endowed  with  the  same  mild  and  steady 
virtues  by  which  the  king  himself  was  so  much 

*  Clement  Walker's  History  of  Independency. 


136  ,  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  11549- 

distinguished,  assisted  him  in  his  devotions,  and 
paid  the  last  melancholy  duties  to  his  friend  and 
sovereign. 


EXECUTION  OF  THE  KING. 

The  street  before  Whitehall  was  the  place  de- 
stined for  the  execution  :  for  it  was  intended,  by 
choosing  that  very  place,  in  sight  of  his  own  pa- 
lace, to .  display  more  evidently  the  triumph  of 
popular  justice  over  royal  majesty.  When  the 
king  came  upon  the  scaffold,  he  found  it  so  sur- 
rounded with  soldiers,  that  he  could  not  expect 
to  be  heard  by  any  of  the  people :  he  addressed, 
therefore,  his  discourse  to  the  few  persons  who 
were  about  him ;  particularly  colonel  Tomlinson, 
to  whose  care  he  had  lately  been  committed,  and 
upon  whom,  as  upon  many  others,  his  amiable 
deportment  had  wrought  an  entire  conversion. 
He  justified  his  own  innocence  in  the  late  fatal 
wars,  and  observed  that  he  had  not  taken  arms 
till  after  the  parliament  had  enlisted  forces ;  nor 
had  he  any  other  object  in  his  warlike  operations, 
than  to  preserve  that  authority  entire,  which  his 
predecessors  had  transmitted  to  him.  He  threw 
not,  however,  the  blame  upon  the  parliament; 
but  was  more  inclined  to  think  that  ill- instru- 
ments had  interposed,  and  raised  in  them  fears 
and  jealousies  with  regard  to  his  intentions. 
Though  innocent  towards  his  people,  he  acknow- 


rub/uhed  2?o>rJ;iSc4.  fy-  JaSWaUu,  46 •PaOmosUr  RM-Jondon 


1649.  CHARLES   I.  137 

ledged  the  equity  of  his  execution  in  the  eyes 
of  his  Maker ;  and  observed,  that  an  unjust  sen- 
tence, which  he  had  suffered  to  take  effect,  was 
now  punished  by  an  unjust  sentence  upon  himself. 
He  forgave  all  his  enemies,  even  the  chief  instru- 
ments of  his  death;  but  exhorted  them  and  the 
whole  nation  to  return  to  the  ways  of  peace,  by 
paying  obedience  to  their  lawful  sovereign,  his 
son  and  successor.  When  he  was  preparing  him- 
self for  the  block,  bishop  Juxon  called  to  him : 
There  is,  sir,  but  one  stage  more,  which, 
though  turbulent  and  troublesome,  is  yet  a  very 
short  one.  Consider,  it  will  soon  carry  you  a 
great  way;  it  will  carry  you  from  earth  to 
heaven  ;  and  there  you  shall  find,  to  your  great 
joy,  the  prize  to  which  you  hasten,  a  crown  of 
glory."  "  I  go,"  replied  the  king,  "  from  a 
corruptible  to  an  incorruptible  crown;  where 
no  disturbance  can  have  place."  At  one  blow 
was  his  head  severed  from  his  body.  A  man  in 
a  vizor  performed  the  office  of  executioner :  an- 
other, in  a  like  disguise,  held  up  to  the  spectators 
the  head  streaming  with  blood,  and  cried  aloud, 
This  is  the  head  of  a  traitor ! 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  grief,  indigna- 
tion, and  astonishment,  which  took  place,  not  only 
among  the  spectators,  who  were  overwhelmed 
with  a  flood  of  sorrow,  but  throughout  the  whole 
nation,  as  soon  as  the  report  of  this  fatal  exe- 
cution was  conveyed  to  them.  Never  monarch, 
in  the  full  triumph  of  success  and  victory,  was 


138  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  164Q. 

more  dear  to  his  people,  than  his  misfortunes  and 
magnanimity,  his  patience  and  piety,  had  ren- 
dered this  unhappy  prince.  In  proportion  to 
their  former  delusions,  which  had  animated  them 
against  him,  was  the  violence  of  their  return  to 
duty  and  affection ;  while  each  reproached  him- 
self, either  with  active  disloyalty  towards  him, 
or  with  too  indolent  defence  of  his  oppressed 
cause.  On  weaker  minds,  the  effect  of  these 
complicated  passions  was  prodigious.  Women 
are  said  to  have  cast  forth  the  untimely  fruit  of 
their  womb :  others  fell  into  convulsions,  or  sunk 
into  such  a  melancholy  as  attended  them  to  their 
grave :  nay,  some,  unmindful  of  themselves,  as 
though  they  could  not,  or  would  not,  survive 
their  beloved  prince,  it  is  reported,  suddenly  fell 
down  dead.  The  very  pulpits  were  bedewed  with 
unsuborned  tears;  those  pulpits,  which  had  for- 
merly thundered  out  the  most  violent  impreca- 
tions and  anathemas  against  him.  And  all  men 
united  in  their  detestation  of  those  hypocritical 
parricides,  who,  by  sanctified  pretences,  had  so 
long  disguised  their  treasons,  and  in  this  last  act 
of  iniquity,  had  thrown  an  indelible  stain  upon 
the  nation. 

A  fresh  instance  of  hypocrisy  was  displayed 
the  very  day  of  the  king's  death.  The  generous 
Fairfax,  not  content  with  being  absent  from  the 
trial,  had  used  all  the  interest  which  he  yet  re- 
tained, to  prevent  the  execution  of  the  fatal  sen- 
tence; and  had  even  employed  persuasion  with 


164(J.  CHARLES   I.  139 

his  own  regiment,  though  none  else  would  follow 
him,  to  rescue  the  king  from  his. disloyal  murder- 
ers. Cromwei  and  Ireton,  informed  of  this  in- 
tention, endeavoured  to  convince  him  that  the 
Lord  had  rejected  the  king;  and  they  exhorted 
him  to  seek  by  prayer  some  direction  from  heaven 
on  this  important  occasion :  but  they  concealed 
from  him  that  they  had  already  signed  the  war- 
rant for  the  execution.  Harrison  was  the  person 
appointed  to  join  in  prayer  with  the  unwary  ge- 
neral. By  agreement,  he  prolonged  his  doleful 
cant,  till  intelligence  arrived,  that  the  fatal  blow 
was  struck.  He  then  rose  from  his  knees,  and 
insisted  with  Fairfax,  that  this  event  was  a  mi- 
raculous and  providential  answer,  which  heaven 
had  sent  to  their  devout  supplications b. 

It  being  remarked,  that  the  king,  the  moment 
before  he  stretched  out  his  neck  to  the  execu- 
tioner, had  said  to  Juxon,  with  a  very  earnest 
accent,  the  single  word  Remember;  great  my- 
steries were  supposed  to  be  concealed  under 
that  expression ;  and  the  generals  vehemently 
insisted  with  the  prelate,  that  he  should  inform 
them  of  the  king's  meaning.  Juxon  told  them, 
that  the  king,  having  frequently  charged  him  to 
inculcate  on  his  son  the  forgiveness  of  his  mur- 
derers, had  taken  this  opportunity,  in  the  last 
moment  of  his  life,  when  his  commands,  he  sup- 
posed, would  be  regarded  as  sacred  and  inviolable, 
to  reiterate  that  desire ;  and  that  his  mild  spirit 
k  Herbert,  p.  135. 


140  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  l64g. 

thus  terminated  its  present  course,  by  an  act  of 
benevolence  towards  his  greatest  enemies. 

The  character  of  this  prince,  as  that  of  most 
men,  if  not  of  all  men,  was  mixed ;  but  his  vir- 
tues predominated  extremely  above  his  vices,  .or 
more  properly  speaking,  his  imperfections  :  For 
scarce  any  of  his  faults  rose  to  that  pitch  as  to 
merit  the  appellation  of  vices.  To  consider  him 
in  the  most  favourable  light,  it  may  be  affirmed 
that  his  dignity  was  free  from  pride,  his  humanity 
from  weakness,  his  bravery  from  rashness,  his 
temperance  from  austerity,  his  frugality  from 
avarice :  all  these  virtues,  in  him,  maintained 
their  proper  bounds,  and  merited  unreserved 
praise.  To  speak  the  most  harshly  of  him,  we 
may  affirm  that  many  of  his  good  qualities  were 
attended  with  some  latent  frailty,  which,  though 
seemingly  inconsiderable,  was  able,  when  se- 
conded by  the  extreme  malevolence  of  his  for- 
tune, to  disappoint  them  of  all  their  influence : 
his  beneficent  disposition  was  clouded  by  a  man- 
ner not  very  gracious;  his  virtue  was  tinctured 
with  superstition  ;  his  good  sense  was  disfigured 
by  a  deference  to  persons  of  a  capacity  inferior  to 
his  own  ;  and  his  moderate  temper  exempted  him 
not  from  hasty  and  precipitate  resolutions.  He 
deserves  the  epithet  of  a  good,  rather  than  a  great 
man;  and  was  more  fitted  to  rule  in  a  regular 
established  government,  than  either  to  give  way 
to  the  encroachments  of  a  popular  assembly,  or 
finally  to  subdue  their  pretensions.     He  wanted 


1649.  CHARLES    1.  141 

suppleness  and  dexterity  sufficient  for  the  first 
measure  :    he  was  not  endowed  with  the  vigour 
requisite  for  the  second.     Had  he  been  born  an 
absolute  prince,  his  humanity  and  good  sense  had 
rendered  his   reign  happy  and  his  memory  pre- 
cious* had  the  limitations  and  prerogative  been 
in  his  time  quite  fixed  and  certain,  his  integrity 
had  made  him  regard,  as  sacred,   the  boundaries 
of  the  constitution.     Unhappily,   his  fate  threw 
him  into  a  period  when  the  precedents  of  many 
former    reigns    savoured    strongly    of    arbitrary 
power,  and  the  genius  of  the  people  ran  violently 
towards  liberty.     And  if  his  political  prudence 
was  not  sufficient  to  extricate  him  from  so  peril- 
ous a  situation,  he  may  be  excused ;  since,  even 
after  the  event,  when  it  is  commonly  easy  to  cor- 
rect all  errors,  one  is  at  a  loss  to  determine  what 
conduct,  in  his  circumstances,  could  have  main- 
tained the  authority  of  the  crown,  and  preserved 
the  peace  of  the  nation.     Exposed  without  reve- 
nue, without  arms,  to  the  assault  of  furious,  im- 
placable, and  bigoted  factions,  it  was  never  per- 
mitted him,  but  with  the  most  fatal  consequences, 
to  commit  the  smallest  mistake  ;  a  condition  too 
rigorous  to  be  imposed  on  the  greatest  human 
capacity. 

Some  historians  have  rashly  questioned  the 
good  faith  of  this  prince  :  but,  for  this  reproach, 
the  most  malignant  scrutiny  of  his  conduct, 
which,  in  every  circumstance,  is  now  thoroughly 
known,  affords  not  any  reasonable  foundation. 


142  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  1649. 

On  the  contrary,  if  we  consider  the  extreme  diffi- 
culties to  which  he  was  so  frequently  reduced, 
and  compare  the  sincerity  of  his  professions  and 
declarations;  we  shall  avow,  that  probity  and 
honour  ought  justly  to  be  numbered  among  his 
most  shining  qualities.  In  every  treaty,  those 
concessions  which  he  thought  he  could  not  in 
conscience  maintain,  he  never  could,  by  any 
motive  or  persuasion,  be  induced  to  make.  And 
though  some  violations  of  the  petition  of  right 
may  perhaps  be  imputed  to  him ;  these  are  more 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  necessity  of  his  situation, 
and  to  the  lofty  ideas  of  royal  prerogative,  which, 
from  former  established  precedents,  he  had  im- 
bibed, than  to  any  failure  in  the  integrity  of  his 
principles  *. 

This  prince  was  of  a  comely  presence  ;  of  a 
sweet,  but  melancholy  aspect.  His  face  was  re- 
gular, handsome,  and  well  complexioned  ;  his 
body  strong,  healthy,  and  justly  proportioned ; 
and  being  of  a  middle  stature,  he  was  capable  of 
enduring  the  greatest  fatigues.  He  excelled  in 
horsemanship  and  other  exercises ;  and  he  pos- 
sessed all  the  exterior,  as  well  as  many  of  the 
essential  qualities  which  form  an  accomplished 
prince. 

The  tragical  death  of  Charles  begat  a  question, 
whether  the  people,  in  any  case,  were  entitled 
to  judge  and  to  punish  their  sovereign;  and  most 

•  See  note  [F]  vol.  X. 


1049.  CHARLES    I.  143 

men,  regarding  chiefly  the  atrocious  usurpation 
of  the  pretended  judges,   and  the  merit  of  the 
virtuous   prince   who  suffered,    were  inclined  to 
condemn  the  republican  principle  as  highly  sedi- 
tious and  extravagant :  but  there  still  were  a  few 
who,    abstracting    from    the   particular   circum- 
stances of  this  case,    were  able  to  consider  the 
question  in  general,    and  were   inclined  to  mo- 
derate, not  contradict,   the  prevailing  sentiment. 
Such  might  have  been  their  reasoning.     If  ever, 
on   any   occasion,    it   were  laudable    to   conceal 
truth  from  the  populace,  it  must  be  confessed, 
that  the  doctrine   of  resistance  affords  such  an 
example ;  and  that  all  speculative  reasoners  ought 
to  observe,  with  regard  to  this  principle,  the  same 
cautious  silence,  which  the  laws  in  every  species 
of  government  have   ever  prescribed   to  them- 
selves.    Government  is  instituted  in  order  to  re- 
strain the  fury  and  injustice  of  the  people ;  and 
being  always  founded  on  opinion,  not  on  force,  it 
is  dangerous  to  weaken,    by  these  speculations, 
the  reverence  which  the  multitude  owe  to  au- 
thority, and  to  instruct  them  beforehand,  that  the 
case  can  ever  happen,  when  they  may  be  freed 
from  their  duty  of  allegiance.     Or  should  it  be 
found  impossible  to  restrain  the  license  of  human 
disquisitions,  it  must  be  acknowledged,;  that  the 
doctrine  of  obedience  ought  alone  to  be  inculcated, 
and  that  the  exceptions,  which  are  rare,  ought  sel- 
dom or  never  to  be  mentioned  in  popular  reason- 
ings and  discourses.     Nor  is  there  any  danger, 


M4  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1649 

that  mankind,    by  this  prudent  reserve,  should 
universally  degenerate  into  a  state  of  abject  servi- 
tude.    When  the  exception  really  occurs,   even 
though  it  be  not  previously  expected  and  des- 
canted on,   it  must,   from  its  very  nature,  be  so 
obvious  and  undisputed,   as  to  remove  all  doubt, 
and  overpower  the  restraint,  however  great,  im- 
posed by  teaching  the  general  doctrine   of  obe- 
dience.    But  between  resisting  a  prince  and  de- 
throning him,  there  is  a  wide  interval ;  and  the 
abuses  of  power,  which  can  warrant  the  latter  vio- 
lence, are  greater  and  more  enormous  than  those 
which  will  justify  the  former.     History,  however, 
supplies  us  with  examples  even  of  this  kind ;  and 
the  reality  of  the  supposition,  though,  for  the  fu- 
ture, it  ought  ever  to  be  little  looked  for,  must, 
by  all  candid  inquirers,  be  acknowledged  in  the 
past.     But  between  dethroning  a  prince  and  pu- 
nishing him,  there  is  another  very  wide  interval ; 
and  it  were  not  strange,  if  even  men  of  the  most 
enlarged  thought  should  question,  whether  human 
nature  could  ever  in   any  monarch   reach  that 
height  of  depravity,   as  to  warrant,  in  revolted 
subjects,   this  last  act  of  extraordinary  jurisdic- 
tion.    That  illusion,    if  it  be  an  illusion,  which 
teaches  us  to  pay  a  sacred  regard  to  the  persons 
of  princes,  is  so  salutary,  that  to  dissipate  it  by 
the  formal  trial  and  punishment  of  a  sovereign, 
will  have  more  pernicious  effects  upon  the  people, 
than  the  example  of  justice  can  be  supposed  to 
have  a  beneficial  influence  upon  princes,  by  check- 


1649.  CHARLES    I.  145 

ing  their  career  of  tyranny.  It  is  dangerous  also, 
by  these  examples,  to  reduce  princes  to  despair, 
or  bring  matters  to  such  extremities  against  per- 
sons endowed  with  great  power,  as  to  leave  them 
no  resource,  but  in  the  most  violent  and  most  san- 
guinary counsels.  This  general  position  being 
established,  it  must  however  be  observed,  that  no 
reader,  almost  of  any  party  or  principle,  was  ever 
shocked,  when  he  read,  in  ancient  history,  that 
the  Roman  senate  voted  Nero,  their  absolute  so- 
vereign, to  be  a  public  enemy,  and,  even  without 
trial,  condemned  him  to  the  severest  and  most 
ignominious  punishment;  a  punishment  from 
which  the  meanest  Roman  citizen  was,  by  the 
laws,  exempted.  The  crimes  of  that  bloody  ty- 
rant are  so  enormous,  that  they  break  through 
all  rules  ;  and  extort  a  confession,  that  such  a  de- 
throned prince  is  no  longer  superior  to  his  people, 
and  can  no  longer  plead,  in  his  own  defence,  laws, 
which  were  established  for  conducting  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  administration.  But  when  we  pass 
from  the  case  of  Nero  to  that  of  Charles,  the 
great  disproportion,  or  rather  total  contrariety,  of 
character  immediately  strikes  us ;  and  we  stand 
astonished,  that,  among  a  civilized  people,  so 
much  virtue  could  ever  meet  with  so  fatal  a  cata- 
strophe. History,  the  great  mistress  of  wisdom, 
furnishes  examples  of  all  kinds ;  and  every  pru- 
dential, as  well  as  moral  precept,   may  be  author- 

VOL.  VIII  l 


146'  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1649. 

ised  by  those  events,  which  her  enlarged  mirror 
is  able  to  present  to  us.  From  the  memorable 
revolutions  which  passed  in  England  during  this 
period,  we  may  naturally  deduce  the  same  useful 
lesson,  which  Charles  himself,  in  his  later  years, 
inferred ;  that  it  is  dangerous  for  princes,  even 
from  the  appearance  of  necessity,  to  assume  more 
authority  than  the  laws  have  allowed  them.  But 
it  must  be  confessed,  that  these  events  furnish  us 
with  another  instruction,  no  less  natural,  and  no 
less  useful,  concerning  the  madness  of  the  people, 
the  furies  of  fanaticism,  and  the  danger  of  merce- 
nary armies. 

In  order  to  close  this  part  of  the  British  his- 
tory, it  is  also  necessary  to  relate  the  dissolution 
of  the  monarchy  in  England  :  that  event  soon 
followed  upon  the  death  of  the  monarch.  When 
the  peers  met,  on  the  day  appointed  in  their  ad- 
journment, they  entered  upon  business,  and  sent 
down  some  votes  to  the  commons,  of  which  the 
latter  deigned  not  to  take  the  least  notice.  In  a 
few  days,  the  lower  house  passed  a  vote,  that  they 
would  make  no  more  addresses  to  the  house  of 
peers,  nor  receive  any  from  them ;  and  that  that 
house  was  useless  and  dangerous,  and  was  there- 
fore to  be  abolished.  A  like  vote  passed  with  re- 
gard to  the  monarchy ;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that 
Martin,  a  zealous  republican,  in  the  debate  on 
this  question,  confessed,  that,  if  they  desired  a 
king,  the  last  was  as  proper  as  any  gentleman  in 


1349-  CHARLES    I.  uf 

England*.  The  commons  ordered  a  new  great 
seal  to  be  engraved,  on  which  that  assembly  was 
represented,   with  this  legend,    On   the    first 

YEAR  OF  FREEDOM,  BY  God's  BLESSING,  RE- 
STORED, 1648.  The  forms  of  all  public  business 
were  changed,  from  the  king's  name,  to  that  of 
the  keepers  of  the  liberties  of  England d.  And 
it  was  declared  high  treason  to  proclaim,  or  any- 
otherwise  acknowledge,  Charles  Stuart,  commonly 
called  prince  of  Wales. 

The  commons  intended,  it  is  said,  to  bind  the 
princess  Elizabeth  apprentice  to  a  button-maker : 
the  duke  of  Glocester  was  to  be  taught  some 
other  mechanical  employment.  But  the  former 
soon  died ;  of  grief,  as  is  supposed,  for  her  fa^ 
ther's  tragical  end :  the  latter  was,  by  Cromwel, 
sent  beyond  sea. 

The  king's  statue,  in  the  Exchange,  was 
thrown  down;  and  on  the  pedestal  these  words 
were  inscribed ;  Exit  tyrannus,  begum  ulti- 
mus;  The  tyrant  is  gone,  the  last  of  the  kings. 

Duke  Hamilton  was  tried  by  a  new  high 
court  of  justice,  as  earl  of  Cambridge  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  condemned  for  treason.  This  sen- 
tence, which  was  certainly  hard,  but  which  ought 
to  save  his  memory  from  all  imputations  of  trea- 

c  Walker's  History  of  Independency,  part  II. 
d  The  court  of  King's  Bench  was  called  the  court  of  Public 
Bench.     So  cautious  on  this  head  were  some  of  the  republicans, 
that,  it  is  pretended,  in  reciting  the  Lord's  prayer,  they  would 
not  say  thy  kingdom  come,  but  always  thy  common-wealth  come. 

2 


143  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1649. 

chery  to  his  master,  was  executed  on  a  scaffold, 
erected  before  Westminster- hall.  Lord  Capel 
underwent  the  same  fate.  Both  these  noblemen 
had  escaped  from  prison,  but  were  afterwards  dis- 
covered and  taken.  To  all  the  solicitations  of 
their  friends  for  pardon,  the  generals  and  parlia- 
mentary leaders  still  replied,  that  it  was  certainly 
the  intention  of  Providence  they  should  suffer; 
since  it  had  permitted  them  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  their  enemies,  after  they  had  once  recovered 
their  liberty. 

The  earl  of  Holland  lost  his  life  by  a  like 
sentence.  Though  of  a  polite  and  courtly  beha- 
viour, he  died  lamented  by  no  party.  His  ingra- 
titude to  the  king,  and  his  frequent  changing  of 
sides,  Avere  regarded  as  great  stains  on  his  me- 
mory. The  earl  of  Norwich,  and  sir  John  Owen, 
being  condemned  by  the  same  court,  were  par- 
doned by  the  commons. 

The  king  left  six  children ;  three  males, 
Charles,  born  in  1630,  James  duke  of  York,  born 
in  1633,  Henry  duke  of  Glocester,  born  in  1641 ; 
and  three  females,  Mary  princess  of  Orange,  born 
1631,  Elizabeth,  born  1635,  and  Henrietta,  after- 
wards duchess  of  Orleans,  born  at  Exeter  1644. 

The  archbishops  of  Canterbury  in  this  reign 
were  Abbot  and  Laud  :  the  lord  keepers,  Williams 
bishop  of  Lincoln,  lord  Coventry,  lord  Finch,  lord 
Littleton,  and  sir  Richard  Lane ;  the  high  admi- 
rals, the  duke  of  Buckingham  and  the  earl  of 
Northumberland ;  the  treasurers,  the  earl  of  Marl- 


l64g.  CHARLES    I.  149 

borough,  the  earl  of  Portland,  Juxon  bishop  of 
London,  and  lord  Cottington ;  the  secretaries  of 
state,  lord  Conway,  sir  Albertus  Moreton,  Coke, 
sir  Henry  Vane,  lord  Falkland,  lord  Digby,  and 
sir  Edward  Nicholas. 

It  may  be  expected,  that  we  should  here  men- 
tion the  Icon  Basiliki,  a  work  published  in  the 
king's  name  a  few  days  after  his  execution.  It 
seems  almost  impossible,  in  the  controverted  parts 
of  history,  to  say  any  thing  which  will, satisfy  the 
zealots  of  both  parties  :  but  with  regard  to  the 
genuineness  of  that  production,  it  is  not  easy  for 
an  historian  to  fix  any  opinion,  which  will  be  en- 
tirely to  his  own  satisfaction.  The  proofs  brought 
to  evince  that  this  work  is  or  is  not  the  king's, 
are  so  convincing,  that  if  any  impartial  reader 
peruse  any  one  side  apart8,  he  will  think  it  im- 
possible that  arguments  could  be  produced,  suffi- 
cient to  counterbalance  so  strong  an  evidence : 
and  when  he  compares  both  sides,  he  will  be  some 
time  at  a  loss  to  fix  any  determination.  Should 
an  absolute  suspense  of  judgment  be  found  diffi- 

e  See  on  the  one  hand,  Toland's  Amyntor,  and  on  the  other, 
Wagstaff's  Vindication  of  the  royal  Martyr,  with  Young's  addi- 
tion. We  may  remark,  that  lord  Clarendon's  total  silence  with 
regard  to  this  subject,  in  so  full  a  history,  composed  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  king's  measures  and  character,  forms  a  presumption 
on  Toland's  side,  and  a  presumption  of  which  that  author 
was  ignorant ;  the  works  of  the  noble  historian  not  being  then 
published.  Bishop  Burnet's  testimony  too  must  be  allowed  of 
some  weight  against  the  Icon. 


150  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  Kftfe 

cult  or  disagreeable  in  so  interesting  a  question,  I 
must  confess,  that  I  much  incline  to  give  the  pre- 
ference to  the  arguments  of  the  royalists.  The 
testimonies,  which  prove  that  performance  to  be 
the  king's,  are  more  numerous,  certain,  and  direct, 
than  those  on  the  other  side.  This  is  the  case, 
even  if  we  consider  the  external  evidence  :  but 
when  we  weigh  the  internal,  derived  from  the 
style  and  composition,  there  is  no  manner  of  com- 
parison. These  meditations  resemble  in  elegance, 
purity,  neatness,  and  simplicity,  the  genius  of 
those  performances  which  we  know  with  certainty 
to  have  flowed  from  the  royal  pen :  but  are  so 
unlike  the  bombast,  perplexed,  rhetorical,  and 
corrupt  style  of  Dr.  Gauden,  to  whom  they  are 
ascribed,  that  no  human  testimony  seems  suffi- 
cient to  convince  us  that  he  was  the  author.  Yet 
all  the  evidences,  which  would  rob  the  king  of 
that  honour,  tend  to  prove  that  Dr.  Gauden  had 
the  merit  of  writing  so  fine  a  performance,  and 
the  infamy  of  imposing  it  on  the  world  for  the 
king's. 

It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  the  general  com- 
passion excited  towards  the  king,  by  the  publish- 
ing, at  so  critical  a  juncture,  a  work  so  full  of 
piety,  meekness,  and  humanity.  Many  have  not 
scrupled  to  ascribe  to  that  book  the  subsequent 
restoration  of  the  royal  family.  Milton  compares 
its  effects  to  those  which  were  wrought  on  the 
tumultuous   Romans    by   Anthony's    reading   to 


1049.  CHARLES    I.  151 

them  the  will  of  Caesar.  The  Icon  passed  through 
fifty  editions  in  a  twelvemonth;  and  independent 
of  the  great  interest  taken  in  it  by  the  nation,  as 
the  supposed  production  of  their  murdered  so- 
vereign, it  must  be  acknowledged  the  best  prose 
composition,  which,  at  the  time  of  its  publication, 
was  to  be  found  in  the  English  language. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


THE    COMMONWEALTH. 

No  people  could  undergo  a  change  more  sudden  and  entire  in  their  man- 
ners, than  did  the  English  nation  during  the  Commonwealth.  From  tran- 
quillity, concord,  submission,  and  sobriety,  they  passed  in  an  instant  to  a  state 
of  faction,  fanaticism,  rebellion,  and  almost  frenzy.  The  violence  of  the 
English  parties  exceeded  any  thing  which  we  can  now  imagine :  had  they  con- 
tinued but  a  little  longer,  there  was  just  reason  to  dread  all  the  horrors  of  the 
ancient  massacres  and  proscriptions. 


VOLUME   VIII. 


1649.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  153 


CHAPTER    LX. 


State  of  England ....  of  Scotland ....  of  Ireland ....  Levellers 
suppressed. . . .  Siege  of  Dublin  raised . . .  .Tredah  stormed .... 
Covenanters  ....  Montrose  taken  prisoner ....  executed .... 
Covenanters  ....  Battle  of  Dunbar  ....  of  "Worcester .... 
King's  escape  ....  The  commonwealth ....  Dutch  war .... 
Dissolution  of  the  parliament. 


THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


STATE  OF  ENGLAND. 

JLhe  confusions  which  overspread  England  after 
the  murder  of  Charles  I.  proceeded  as  well  from 
the  spirit  of  refinement  and  innovation,  which 
agitated  the  ruling  party,  as  from  the  dissolution 
of  all  that  authority,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical, 
by  which  the  nation  had  ever  been  accustomed 
to  be  governed.  Every  man  had  framed  the  mo- 
del of  a  republic,  and  however  new  it  was,  or 
fantastical,  he  was  eager  in  recommending  it  to 
his  fellow-citizens,  or  even  imposing  it  by  force 
upon  them.  Every  man  had  adjusted  a  system 
of  religion,  which  being  derived  from  no  tradi- 
tional authority,  was  peculiar  to  himself;   and 


154  HISTORY   OF   ENGLANJX  1G46. 

being  founded  on  supposed  inspiration,  not  on 
any  principles  of  human  reason,  had  no  means, 
besides  cant  and  low  rhetoric,  by  which  it  could 
recommend  itself  to  others,  The  levellers  in- 
sisted on  an  equal  distribution  of  power  and  pro- 
perty, and  disclaimed  all  dependence  and  subor- 
dination. The  millenarians  or  fifth-monarchy- 
men  required,  that  government  itself  should  be 
abolished,  and  all  human  powers  be  laid  in  the 
dust,  in  order  to  pave  the  way  for  the  dominion 
of  Christ,  whose  second  coming  they  suddenly 
expected.  The  Antinomians  even  insisted,  that 
the  obligations  of  morality  and  natural  law  were 
suspended,  and  that  the  elect,  guided  by  an  in- 
ternal principle  more  perfect  and  djvine,  were 
superior  to  the  beggarly  elements  of  justice  and 
humanity.  A  considerable  party  declaimed  against 
tithes  and  hireling  priesthood,  and  were  resolved 
that  the  magistrate  should  not  support  by  power 
or  revenue  any  ecclesiastical  establishment.  An- 
other party  inveighed  against  the  law  and  its 
professors ;  and  on  pretence  of  rendering  more 
simple  the  distribution  of  justice,  were  desirous  of 
abolishing  the  whole  system  of  English  jurispru- 
dence, which  seemed  interwoven  with  monarchical 
government.  Even  those  among  the  republicans 
who  adopted  not  such  extravagancies,  were  so 
intoxicated  with  tfieir  saintly  character,  that  they 
supposed  themselves  possessed  of  peculiar  privi- 
leges; and  all  professions,  oaths,  laws,  and  en- 
gagements had,  iu  a  great  measure,    lost  their 


l64g.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  155 

influence  over  them.  The  bands  of  society  were 
every  where  loosened  ;  and  the  irregular  passions 
of  men  were  encouraged  by  speculative  principles, 
still  more  unsocial  and  irregular. 

The  royalists,  consisting  of  the  nobles  and 
more  considerable  gentry,  being  degraded  from 
their  authority,  and  plundered  of  their  property, 
were  inflamed  with  the  highest  resentment  and 
indignation  against  those  ignoble  adversaries,  who 
had  reduced  them  to  subjection.  The  presby- 
terians,  whose  credit  had  first  supported  the  arms 
of  the  parliament,  were  enraged  to  find  that,  by 
the  treachery  or  superior  cunning  of  their  asso 
ciates,  the  fruits  of  all  their  successful  labours 
were  ravished  from  them.  The  former  party, 
from  inclination  and  principle,  zealously  attached 
themselves  to  the  son  of  their  unfortunate  mon- 
arch, whose  memory  they  respected,  and  whose 
tragical  death  they  deplored.  The  latter  cast 
their  eye  towards  the  same  object ;  but  they  had 
still  many  prejudices  to  overcome,  many  fears 
and  jealousies  to  be  allayed,  ere  they  could  cor- 
dially entertain  thoughts  of  restoring  the  family, 
which  they  had  so  grievously  offended,  and  whose 
principles  they  regarded  with  such  violent  ab- 
horrence. 

The  only  solid  support  of  the  republican  inde- 
pendent faction,  which,  though  it  formed  so  small 
a  part  of  the  nation,  had  violently  usurped  the 
government  of  the  whole,  was  a  numerous  army 
•of  near  fifty  thousand  men.     But  this  army,  for- 


150  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  l€4g. 

midable  from  its  discipline  and  courage,  as  well 
as  its  numbers,  was  actuated  by  a  spirit  that  ren- 
dered it  dangerous  to  the  assembly  which  had 
assumed  the  command  over  it.  Accustomed  to 
indulge  every  chimera  in  politics,  every  phrenzy 
in  religion,  the  soldiers  knew  little  of  the  sub- 
ordination of  citizens,  and  had  only  learned,  from 
apparent  necessity,  some  maxims  of  military  obe- 
dience. And  while  they  still  maintained,  that  all 
those  enormous  violations  of  law  and  equity,  of 
which  they  had  been  guilty,  were  justified  by  the 
success  with  which  Providence  had  blessed  them  ; 
they  were  ready  to  break  out  into  any  new  dis- 
order, wherever  they  had  the  prospect  of  a  like 
sanction  and  authority. 

What  alone  gave  some  stability  to  all  these 
unsettled  humours  was,  the  great  influence  both 
civil  and  military  acquired  by  Oliver  Cromwel. 
This  man,  suited  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived, 
and  to  that  alone,  was  equally  qualified  to  gain 
the  affection  and  confidence  of  men,  by  what  was 
ir?an,  vulgar,  and  ridiculous  in  his  character  ;  as 
to  command  their  obedience  by  what  was  great, 
daring,  and  enterprising.  Familiar  even  to  buf- 
foonery with  the  meanest  centinel,  he  never  lost 
his  authority :  transpo-  a  degree  of  madness 

with  religious  extasies,  lever  forgot  the  poli- 

tical purposes  to  which  tl  might  serve.  Hating 
monarchy,  while  a  subj  .t;  despising  liberty, 
while  a  citizen ;  though  ae  retained  for  a  time 
all  orders  of  men  under  a  seeming  obedience  to 


.1649.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  157 

the  parliament ;  lie  was  secretly  paving  the  way, 
by  artifice  and  courage,  to  his  own  unlimited  au- 
thority. 

The  parliament,   for  so  we  must  henceforth 
call  a  small  and  inconsiderable  part  of  the  house 
of  commons,   having   murdered   their   sovereign 
with  so  many  appearing  circumstances  of  solemn- 
ity and  justice,   and  so  much  real  violence  and 
even  fury,  began  to  assume  more  the  air  of  a  civil, 
legal  power,   and  to  enlarge  a  little  the  narrow 
bottom  upon  which  they  stood.     They  admitted 
a  few  of  the  excluded  and  absent  members,  such 
as  were  liable  to  least  exception ;  but  on  condi- 
tion that  these  members  should  sign  an  appro- 
bation of  whatever  had  been  done  in  their  ab- 
sence with  regard  to  the  king's  trial :  and  some 
of  them  were  willing  to  acquire  a  share  of  power 
on  such  terms  :  the  greater  part  disdained  to  lend 
their  authority   to    such    apparent    usurpations. 
They   issued   some   writs  for  new  elections,   in 
places  where  they  hoped  to  have  interest  enough 
to  bring  in  their  own  friends  and  dependants. 
They  named  a  council  of  state,    thirty-eight  in 
number,  to  whom  all  addresses  were  made,  who 
gave  orders  to  all  generals  and  admirals,  who  exe- 
cuted the  laws,  and  who  digested  all  business  be- 
fore it  was  introduced  into  parliament f.     They 

f  Their  names  were,  the  earls  of  Denbigh,  Mulgrave,  Pem- 
broke, Salisbury,  lords  Grey  and  Fairfax,  Lisle,  Rolls,  St.  John, 
Wilde,  Bradshaw,  Cromwel,  Skippon,  Pickering,  Massam,  Hasel- 
rig,  Harrington,  Vane  jun.  Danvers,  Arraine.,  Mildmay*  Con-. 


]58  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  l(54c>. 

pretended  to  employ  themselves  entirely  in  ad- 
justing the  laws,  forms,  and  plan  of  a  new  repre- 
sentative ;  and  as  soon  as  they  should  have  settled 
the  nation,  they  professed  their  intention  of  re- 
storing the  power  of  the  people,  from  whom  they 
acknowledged  they  had  entirely  derived  it. 

The  commonwealth  found  every  thing  in  Eng- 
land composed  into  a  seeming  tranquillity  by  the 
terror  of  their  arms.  Foreign  powers,  occupied 
in  wars  among  themselves,  had  no  leisure  or  in- 
clination to  interpose  in  the  domestic  dissensions 
of  this  island.  The  young  king,  poor  and  neg- 
lected, living  sometimes  in  Holland,  sometimes  in 
France,  sometimes  in  Jersey,  comforted  himself 
amidst  his  present  distresses  with  the  hopes  of 
better  fortune.  The  situation  alone  of  Scotland 
and  Ireland  gave  any  immediate  inquietude  to  the 
new  republic. 


OF   SCOTLAND. 

After  the  successive  defeats  of  Montrose  and 
Hamilton,  and  the  ruin  of  their  parties,  the  whole 
authority  in  Scotland  fell  into  the  hands  of  Ar- 
gyle  and  the  rigid  churchmen,  that  party  which 
was  most  averse  to  the  interests  of  the  royal 
family.    Their  enmity,  however,  against  the  inde- 

stable,  Pennington,  Wilson,  Whitlocke,  Martin,  Ludlow,  Staple- 
ton,  Hevingham,  Wallop,  Hutchinson,  Bond,  Popham,  Valen- 
tine, Walton,  Scot,  Pnrefoy,  Jones. 


l64y.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  I5t> 

pendents,  who  had  prevented  the  settlement  of 
presbyterian  discipline  in  England,  carried  them 
to   embrace   opposite  maxims   in  their  political 
conduct.     Though  invited  by  the  English  parlia- 
ment to  model  their  government  into  a  republican 
form,  they  resolved  still  to  adhere  to  monarchy, 
which  had  ever  prevailed  in  their  country,  and 
which,   by  the  express  terms  of  their  covenant, 
they  had  engaged  to  defend.     They  considered 
besides,  that  as  the  property  of  the  kingdom  lay 
mostly  in  the  hands  of  great  families,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  establish  a  commonwealth,  or  without 
some   chief  magistrate,  invested  with  royal  au- 
thority, to  preserve  peace  or  justice  in  the  com- 
munity.    The  execution,  therefore,  of  the  king, 
against  which  they  had  always  protested,  having 
occasioned  a  vacancy  of  the  throne,   they   im- 
mediately   proclaimed    his    son    and    successor,  , 
Charles  II.;  but  upon  condition    "  of  his  good 
"  behaviour  and  strict  observance  of  the  coven- 
"  ant,  and  his  entertaining  no  other  persons  about 
"  him  but  such  as  were  godly  men  and  faithful 
"  to  that  obligation."    These   unusual    clauses, 
inserted   in   the  very   first   acknowledgment   of 
their  prince,  sufficiently  shewed  their  intention 
of  limiting  extremely  his   authority.     And  the 
English  commonwealth,   having  no  pretence  to 
interpose  in  the  affairs  of  that  kingdom,  allowed 
the  Scots  for  the  present  to  take  their  own  mea* 
sures  in  settling  their  government. 


160  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1O49. 

OF   IRELAND. 

The  dominion  which  England  claimed  over  Ire- 
land, demanded  more  immediately  their  efforts 
for  subduing  that  country.  In  order  to  convey  a 
just  notion  of  Irish  affairs,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
look  backwards  some  years,  and  to  relate  briefly 
those  transactions  which  had  past  during  the  me- 
morable revolutions  in  England.  When  the  late 
king  agreed  to  that  cessation  of  arms  with  the 
popish  rebels8,  which  was  become  so  requisite,  as 
well  for  the  security  of  the  Irish  protestants  as 
for  promoting  his  interests  in  England,  the  par- 
liament, in  order  to  blacken  his  conduct,  re- 
proached him  with  favouring  that  odious  rebel- 
lion, and  exclaimed  loudly  against  the  terms  of 
the  cessation.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  de- 
clare it  entirely  null  and  invalid,  because  finished 
without  their  consent;  and  to  this  declaration 
the  Scots  in  Ulster,  and  the  earl  of  Inchiquin,  a 
nobleman  of  great  authority  in  Munster,  professed 
to  adhere.  By  their  means  the  war  was  still  kept 
alive  ;  but  as  the  dangerous  distractions  in  Eng- 
land hindered  the  parliament  from  sending  any 
considerable  assistance  to  their  allies  in  Ireland, 
the  marquis  of  Ormond,  lord  lieutenant,  being  a 
native  of  Ireland,  and  a  person  endowed  with 
great  prudence  and  virtue,  formed  a  scheme  for 

■  1643. 


1&I9.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  |fl 

composing  the  disorders  of  his  country,  and  for 
engaging  the  rebel  Irish  to  support  the  cause  of 
his   royal   master.       There    were    many    circum- 
stances which  strongly  invited  the  natives  of  Ire- 
land to  embrace  the  king's  party.     The  maxims 
of  that  prince  had  always  led  him  to  give  a  rea- 
sonable indulgence  to  the  catholics  throughout 
all  his  dominions ;  and  one  principal  ground  of 
that  enmity,  which  the  puritans  professed  against 
him,   was  this  tacit  toleration.     The  parliament, 
on  the  contrary,  even  when  unprovoked,  had  ever 
menaced  the  papists  with  the  most  rigid  restraint, 
if  not  a  total  extirpation ;  and  immediately  after 
the  commencement  of  the  Irish   rebellion,   they 
put  to  sale  all  the  estates  of  the  rebels,   and  had 
engaged   the  public  faith   for   transferring  them 
to   the   adventurers,   who  had  already  advanced 
money  upon  that  security.     The  success,  there- 
fore, which  the  arms  of  the  parliament  met  with 
at  Naseby,  struck  a  just  terror  into  the  Irish  ;  and 
engaged  the  council  of  Kilkenny,  composed   of 
deputies  from  all  the  catholic  counties  and  cities, 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  the  marquis  of  Ormond11. 
They  professed  to  return  to  their  duty  and  alle- 
giance,  engaged  to  furnish  ten  thousand  men  for 
the  support  of  the  king's  authority  in  England, 
and  were  content  with  stipulating  in  return,  in- 
demnity for  their  rebellion  and  toleration  of  their 
religion. 

h  1646* 

VOL.  VIII.  M 


1(52  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1649. 

Ormond,  not  doubting  but  a  peace,  so  advan- 
tageous and  even  necessary  to  the  Irish,  would  be 
strictly  observed,  advanced  with  a  small  body  of 
troops  to  Kilkenny,  in  order  to  concert  measures 
for  common  defence  with  his  new  allies.  The 
pope  had  sent  over  to  Ireland  a  nuncio,  Rinuc- 
cini,  an  Italian  ;  and  this  man,  whose  commission 
empowered  him  to  direct  the  spiritual  concerns 
of  the  Irish,  was  emboldened,  by  their  ignorance 
and  bigotry,  to  assume  the  chief  authority  in  the 
civil  government.  Foreseeing  that  a  general  sub- 
mission to  the  lord-lieutenant  would  put  an  end 
to  his  own  influence,  he  conspired  with  Owen 
O'Neal,  who  commanded  the  native  Irish  in 
Ulster,  and  who  bore  a  great  jealousy  to  Preston, 
the  general  chiefly  trusted  by  the  council  of  Kil- 
kenny. By  concert,  these  two  malcontents  se- 
cretly drew  forces  together,  and  were  ready  to 
fall  on  Ormond,  who  remained  in  security,  trust- 
ing to  the  pacification  so  lately  concluded  with 
the  rebels.  He  received  intelligence  of  their 
treachery,  made  his  retreat  with  celerity  and  con- 
duct, and  sheltered  his  small  army  in  Dublin  and 
the  other  fortified  towns,  which  still  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  protestants. 

The  nuncio,  full  of  arrogance,  levity,  and  am- 
bition, was  not  contented  with  this  violation  of 
treaty.  He  summoned  an  assembly  of  the  clergy 
at  Waterford,  and  engaged  them  to  declare  against 
that  pacification,  which  the  civil  council  had  con- 


164Q.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  163 

eluded  with  their  sovereign.  He  even  thundered 
out  a  sentence  of  excommunication  against  all 
who  should  adhere  to  a  peace,  so  prejudicial,  as 
he  pretended,  to  the  catholic  religion  ;  and  the 
deluded  Irish,  terrified  with  his  spiritual  menaces, 
ranged  themselves  every  where  on  his  side,  and 
submitted  to  his  authority.  Without  scruple,  he 
carried  on  war  against  the  lord-lieutenant,  and 
threatened  with  a  siege  the  protestant  garrisons, 
which  were,  all  of  them,  very  ill  provided  for 
defence. 

Meanwhile,  the  unfortunate  king  was  necessi- 
tated to  take  shelter  in  the  Scottish  army ;  and 
being  there  reduced  to  close  confinement,  and 
secluded  from  all  commerce  with  his  friends,  de- 
spaired, that  his  authority,  or  even  his  liberty, 
would  ever  be  restored  to  him.  He  sent  orders 
to  Ormond,  if  he  could  not  defend  himself,  rather 
to  submit  to  the  English  than  to  the  Irish  rebels ; 
and  accordingly  the  lord-lieutenant,  being  re- 
duced to  extremities,  delivered  up  Dublin,  Tre- 
dah,  Dundalk,  and  other  garrisons,  to  colonel 
Michael  Jones,  who  took  possession  of  them  in 
the  name  of  the  English  parliament.  Ormond 
himself  went  over  to  England,  was  admitted  into 
the  king's  presence,  received  a  grateful  acknow- 
ledgment for  his  past  services,  and  during  some 
time  lived  in  tranquillity  near  London.  But  being 
banished  with  the  other  royalists,  to  a  distance 
from  that  city,  and  seeing  every  event  turn  out 
unfortunately  for  his  royal  master,  and  threaten 


164  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1649. 

him  with  a  catastrophe  still  more  direful,  he 
thought  proper  to  retire  into  France,  where  he 
joined  the  queen  and  the  prince  of  Wales. 

In  Ireland,  during  these  transactions,  the  au- 
thority of  the  nuncio  prevailed  without  control 
among  all  the  catholics  ;  and  that  prelate,  by  his 
indiscretion  and  insolence,  soon  made  them  re- 
pent of  the  power  with  which  they  had  entrusted 
him.  Prudent  men  likewise  were  sensible  of  the 
total  destruction  which  was  hanging  over  the 
nation  from  the  English  parliament,  and  saw  no 
resource  or  safety  but  in  giving  support  to  the  de- 
clining authority  of  the  king.  The  earl  of  Clan- 
ricarde,  a  nobleman  of  an  ancient  family,  a,  per- 
son too  of  merit,  who  had  ever  preserved  his 
loyalty,  was  sensible  of  the  ruin  which  threatened 
his  countrymen,  and  was  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
prevent  it.  He  secretly  formed  a  combination 
among  the  catholics ;  he  entered  into  a  corre 
spondence  with  Inchiquin,  who  preserved  great 
authority  over  the  protestants  in  Munster;  he 
attacked  the  nuncio,  whom  he  chased  out  of  the 
island ;  and  he  sent  to  Paris  a  deputation,  invit- 
ing the  lord  lieutenant  to  return  and  take  pos- 
session of  his  government. 

Ormond,  on  his  arrival  in  Ireland,  found  the 
kingdom  divided  into  many  factions,  among  which 
either  open  war  or  secret  enmity  prevailed.  The 
authority  of  the  English  parliament  was  esta- 
blished in  Dublin,  and  the  other  towns,  which  he 
himself  had  delivered  into  their  hands.     O'Neal 


l64g.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  165 

maintained  his  credit  in  Ulster ;  and  having  en- 
tered into  a  secret  correspondence  with  the  parlia- 
mentary generals,  was  more  intent  on  schemes  for 
his  own  personal  safety,  than  anxious  for  the  pre- 
servation of  his  country  or  religion.     The  other 
Irish,  divided  between  their  clergy,  were  averse  to 
Ormond,  and  their  nobility,  who  were  attached  to 
him,   were  very  uncertain  in  their  motions  and 
feeble  in  their  measures.     The  Scots  in  the  north, 
enraged,  as  well  as  their  other  countrymen,  against 
the  usurpations  of  the  sectarian  army,  professed 
their  adherence  to  the  king;  but  were  still  hindered 
by  many  prejudices  from  entering  into  a  cordial 
union  with  his  lieutenant.  All  these  distracted  coun- 
cils and  contrary  humours  checked  the  progress 
of  Ormond,  and  enabled  the  parliamentary  forces 
in  Ireland  to  maintain  their  ground  against  him. 
The  republican  faction,  meanwhile,  in  England, 
employed  in  subduing  the  revolted  royalists,   in 
reducing    the   parliament  to   subjection,   in  the 
trial,  condemnation,  and  execution  of  their  sove- 
reign, totally  neglected  the  supplying  of  Ireland, 
and  allowed  Jones  and  the  forces  in  Dublin  to 
remain  in  the   utmost   weakness   and  necessity. 
The  lord-lieutenant,  though  surrounded  with  dif- 
ficulties, neglected  not  the  favourable  opportunity 
of  promoting  the  royal  cause.     Having  at  last 
assembled  an  army  of  16,000  men,  he  advanced 
upon    the    parliamentary   garrisons.       Dundalk, 
where  Monk  commanded,   was  delivered  up  by 
the  troops,  who  mutinied  against  their  governor. 


166  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  \64g. 

Tredah,  Neury,  and  other  forts,  were  taken. 
Dublin  was  threatened  with  a  siege ;  and  the 
affairs  of  the  lieutenant  appeared  in  so  prosperous 
a  condition,  that  the  young  king  entertained 
thoughts  of  coming  in  person  into  Ireland. 

When  the  English  commonwealth  was  brought 
to  some  tolerable  settlement,  men  began  to  cast 
their  eyes  towards  the  neighbouring  island.  Dur- 
ing the  contest  of  the  two  parties,  the  govern- 
ment of  Ireland  had  remained  a  great  object  of 
intrigue  ;  and  the  presbyterians  endeavoured  to 
obtain  the  lieutenancy  for  Waller,  the  independents 
for  Lambert.  After  the  execution  of  the  king, 
Cromwel  himself  began  to  aspire  to  a  command, 
where  so  much  glory,  he  saw,  might  be  won,  and 
so  much  authority  acquired.  In  his  absence,  he 
took  care  to  have  his  name  proposed  to  the  coun- 
cil of  state ;  and  both  friends  and  enemies  con- 
curred immediately  to  vote  him  into  that  import- 
ant office :  the  former  suspected,  that  the  matter 
had  not  been  proposed  merely  by  chance,  without 
his  own  concurrence ;  the  latter  desired  to  re- 
move him  to  a  distance,  and  hoped,  during  his 
absence,  to  gain  the  ascendant  over  Fairfax,  whom 
he  had  so  long  blinded  by  his  hypocritical  pro- 
fessions. Cromwel  himself,  when  informed  of  his 
election,  feigned  surprise,  and  pretended  at  first 
to  hesitate  with  regard  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
command.  And  Lambert,  either  deceived  by  his 
dissimulation,  or  in  his  turn  feigning  to  be  de- 
ceived, still  continued,  notwithstanding  this  dis- 


1649.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  1(5; 

appointment,  his  friendship  and  connexions  with 
Cromwel. 

The  new  lieutenant  immediately  applied  him- 
self with  his  wonted  vigilance  to  make  prepara- 
tions for  his  expedition.  Many  disorders  in 
England  it  behoved  him  previously  to  compose. 
All  places  were  full  of  danger  and  inquietude. 
Though  men,  astonished  with  the  successes  of  the 
army,  remained  in  seeming  tranquillity,  symptoms 
of  the  greatest  discontent  every  where  appeared. 
The  English,  long  accustomed  to  a  mild  admini- 
stration, and  unacquainted  with  dissimulation, 
could  not  conform  their  speech  and  countenance 
to  the  present  necessity,  or  pretend  attachment 
to  a  form  of  government,  which  they  generally 
regarded  with  such  violent  abhorrence.  It  was 
requisite  to  change  the  magistracy  of  London, 
and  to  degrade,  as  well  as  punish,  the  mayor  and 
some  of  the  aldermen,  before  the  proclamation 
for  the  abolition  of  monarchy  could  be  published 
in  the  city.  An  engagement  being  framed  to 
support  the  commonwealth  without  king  or  house 
of  peers,  the  army  was  with  some  difficulty 
brought  to  subscribe  it;  but  though  it  was  im- 
posed upon  the  rest  of  the  nation  under  severe 
penalties,  no  less  than  putting  all  who  refused  out 
of  the  protection  of  law ;  such  obstinate  reluct- 
ance was  observed  in  the  people,  that  even  the 
imperious  parliament  was  obliged  to  desist  from 
it.  The  spirit  of  fanaticism,  by  which  that  as- 
sembly had  at  first  been  strongly  supported,  was 


108  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  16^9. 

now  turned,  in  a  great  measure,  against  them. 
The  pulpits  being  chiefly  filled  with  presbyterians, 
or  disguised  royalists,  and  having  long  been  the 
scene  of  news  and  politics,  could  by  no  penalties 
be  restrained  from  declarations  unfavourable  to 
the  established  government.  Numberless  were 
the  extravagancies  which  broke  out  among  the 
people.  Everard,  a  disbanded  soldier,  having 
preached  that  the  time  was  now  come  when  the 
community  of  goods  would  be  renewed  among 
christians,  led  out  his  followers  to  take  pos&ession 
of  the  land ;  and  being  carried  before  the  general, 
he  refused  to  salute  him ;  because  he  was  but  his 
fellow  creature l.  What  seemed  more  dangerous, 
the  army  itself  was  infected  with  like  humours*. 
Though  the  levellers  had  for  a  time  been  sup- 
pressed by  the  audacious  spirit  of  Cromwel,  they 
still  continued  to  propagate  their  doctrines  among 
the  private  men  and  inferior  officers,  who  pre- 
tended a  right  to  be  consulted,  as  before,  i'n  the 
administration  of  the  commonwealth.  They  now 
practised  against  their  officers  the  same  lesson 
which  they  had  been  taught  against  the  parlia- 
ment. They  framed  a  remonstrance,  and  sent 
five  agitators  to  present  it  to  the  general  and 
council  of  war:  these  were  cashiered  with  ig- 
nominy by  sentence  of  a  court-martial.  One 
Lockier,  having  carried  his  sedition  farther,  was 
sentenced  to  death;  but  this  punishment  was  so 

'WhUlocke.  *  See  note  [G]  vol.  X. 


16-ig.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  169 

far  from  quelling  the  mutinous  spirit,  that  above 
a  thousand  of  his  companions  showed  their  ad- 
herence to  him,  by  attending  his  funeral,  and 
wearing  in  their  hats  black  and  sea-green  ribbons 
by  way  of  favours.  About  four  thousand  assem- 
bled at  Burford,  under  the  command  of  Thomson, 
a  man  formerly  condemned  for  sedition  by  a 
court-martial,  but  pardoned  by  the  general.  Co- 
lonel Reynolds,  and  afterwards  Fairfax  and  Crom- 
wel,  fell  upon  them,  while  unprepared  for  de- 
fence, and  seduced  by  the  appearance  of  a  treaty. 
Four  hundred  were  taken  prisoners :  some  of  them 
capitally  punished :  the  rest  pardoned :  and  this 
tumultuous  spirit,  though  it  still  lurked  in  the 
army,  and  broke  out  from  time  to  time,  seemed 
for  the  present  to  be  suppressed. 

Petitions,  framed  in  the  same  spirit  of  opposi- 
tion, were  presented  to  the  parliament  by  lieute- 
nant-colonel Lilburn,  the  person  who,  for  dis- 
persing seditious  libels,  had  formerly  been  treated 
with  such  severity  by  the  star-chamber.  His 
liberty  was  at  this  time  as  ill-relished  by  the  par- 
liament, and  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  as  a  pro- 
moter of  sedition  and  disorder  in  the  common- 
wealth. .  The  women  applied  by  petition  for  his 
release ;  but  were  now  desired  to  mind  their 
household  affairs,  and  leave  the  government  of 
the  state  to  the  men.  From  all  quarters,  the  par- 
liament was  harassed  with  petitions  of  a  very  free 
nature,  which  strongly  spoke  the  sense  of  the 
nation,  and  proved  how  ardently  all  men  longed 


170  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  164£. 

for  the  restoration  of  their  laws  and  liberties. 
Even  in  a  feast,  which  the  city  gave  to  the  par- 
liament and  council  of  state,  it  was  deemed  a  re* 
quisite  precaution,  if  we  may  credit  Walker  and 
Dug-dale,  to  swear  all  the  cooks,  that  they  would 
serve  nothing  but  wholesome  food  to  them. 

The  parliament  judged  it  necessary  to  enlarge 
the  laws  of  high-treason  beyond  those  narrow 
bounds,  within  which  they  had  been  confined 
during  the  monarchy.  They  even  comprehended 
verbal  offences,  nay  intentions,  though  they  had 
never  appeared  in  any  overt  act  against  the  state. 
To  affirm  the  present  government  to  be  an  usurpa- 
tion, to  assert  that  the  parliament  or  council  of 
state  were  tyrannical  or  illegal,  to  endeavour  sub- 
verting their  authority,  or  stirring  up  sedition 
against  them  ;  these  offences  were  declared  to  be 
high-treason.  The  power  of  imprisonment,  of 
which  the  petition  of  right  had  bereaved  the 
king,  it  was  now  found  necessary  to  restore  to 
the  council  of  state  ;  and  all  the  jails  in  England 
were  filled  with  men  whom  the  jealousies  and  fears 
of  the  ruling  party  had  represented  as  dangerous*. 
The  taxes,  continued  by  the  new  government, 
and  which,  being  unusual,  were  esteemed  heavy, 
increased  the  general  ill-will  under  which  it  la- 
boured. Besides  the  customs  and  excise,  ninety 
thousand  pounds  a«month  were  levied  on  land  for 
the  subsistence  of  the  army.     The  sequestrations 

"  History  of  Independency,  part  ii. 


I64g.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  171 

and  compositions  of  the  royalists,  the  sale  of  the 
crown  lands,  and  of  the  dean  and  chapter  lands, 
though  they  yielded  great  sums,  were  not  suffi- 
cient to  support  the  vast  expences,  and,  as  was 
suspected,  the  great  depredations  of  the  parlia- 
ment and  their  creatures1. 

Amidst  all  these  difficulties  and  disturbances, 
the  steady  mind  of  Cromwel,  without  confusion 
or    embarrassment,     still,    pursued    its    purpose. 
While  he  was  collecting  an  army  of  twelve  thou- 
sand men  in  the  west  of  England,  he  sent  to  Ire- 
land, under  Reynolds  and  Venables,  a  reinforce- 
ment of  four  thousand  horse  and  foot,  in  order  to 
strengthen  Jones,  and  enable  him  to  defend  him- 
self against  the  marquis  of  Ormond,  who  lay  at 
Finglass,   and   was  making  preparations  for  the 
attack  of  Dublin.     Inchiquin,  who  had  now  made 
a  treaty  with  the  king's  lieutenant,  having,  with  a 
separate  body,  taken  Tredah,  and  Dundalk,  gave 
a  defeat  to  Offarrell  who  served  under  O'Neal, 
and  to  young  Coot  who  commanded  some  parlia- 
mentary forces.     After  he  had  joined  his  troops 
to  the  main  army,  with  whom,  for  some  time,  he 
remained  united,  Ormond  passed  the  river  Liffy, 
and   took   post   at   Rathmines,    two   miles  from 
Dublin,  with  a  view  of  commencing  the  siege  of 
that  city.     In  order  to  cut  off  all  farther  supply 
from  Jones,  he  had  begun  the  reparation  of  an 
old  fort  which  lay  at  the  gates  of  Dublin ;  and 

1  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xix.  p.  136. 176. 


172  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  l64g. 

being  exhausted  with  continual  fatigue  for  some 
days,  he  had  retired  to  rest,  after  leaving  orders 
to  keep  his  forces  under  arms.  He  was  suddenly 
awaked  with  the  noise  of  firing;  and  starting 
from  his  bed,  saw  every  thing  already  in  tumult 
and  confusion.  Jones,  an  excellent  officer,  for- 
merly a  lawyer,  had  sallied  out  with  the  reinforce- 
ment newly  arrived ;  and,  attacking  the  party 
employed  in  repairing  the  fort,  he  totally  routed 
them,  pursued  the  advantage,  and  fell  in  with 
the  army,  which  had  neglected  Ormond's  orders. 
These  he  soon  threw  into  disorder ;  put  them  to 
flight,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  lord-lieute- 
nant ;  chased  them  off  the  field  ;  seized  all  their 
tents,  baggage,  ammunition  ;  and  returned  vic- 
torious to  Dublin,  after  killing  a  thousand  men, 
and  taking  above  two  thousand  prisoners"1. 

This  loss,  which  threw  some  blemish  on  the 
military  character  of  Ormond,  was  irreparable  to 
the  royal  cause.  That  numerous  army  which, 
with  so  much  pains  and  difficulty,  the  lord-lieute- 
nant had  been  collecting  for  more  than  a  year, 
was  dispersed  in  a  moment.  Cromwel  soon  after 
arrived  in  Dublin,  where  he  was  welcomed  with 
shouts  and  rejoicings.  He  hastened  to  Tredah. 
That  town  was  well  fortified :  Ormond  had 
thrown  into  it  a  good  garrison  of  three  thousand 
men,  under  sir  Arthur  Aston,  an  officer  of  reputa- 
tion.     He  expected  that  Tredah,   lying  in  the 

■  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xix.  p.  165. 


1649.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  173 

neighbourhood  of  Dublin,  would  first  be  at- 
tempted by  Cromwel,  and  he  was  desirous  to 
employ  the  enemy  some  time  in  that  siege,  while 
he  himself  should  repair  his  broken  forces.  But 
Cromwel  knew  the  importance  of  dispatch.  Hav- 
ing made  a  breach,  he  ordered  a  general  assault. 
Though  twice  repulsed  with  loss,  he  renewed  the 
attack,  and  himself,  along  with  Ireton,  led  on  his 
men.  All  opposition  was  overborne  by  the  fu- 
rious valour  of  the  troops.  The  town  was  taken 
sword  in  hand ;  and  orders  being  issued  to  give 
no  quarter,  a  cruel  slaughter  was  made  of  the 
garrison.  Even  a  few,  who  were  saved  by  the 
soldiers,  satiated  with  blood,  were  next  day  mi- 
serably butchered  by  orders  from  the  general. 
One  person  alone  of  the  garrison  escaped  to 
be  a  messenger  of  this  universal  havoc  and 
destruction. 

Cromwel  pretended  to  retaliate  by  this  severe 
execution  the  cruelty  of  the  Irish  massacre :  but 
he  well  knew,  that  almost  the  whole  garrison 
was  English;  and  his  justice  was  only  a  bar- 
barous policy,  in  order  to  terrify  all  other  garri- 
sons from  resistance.  His  policy,  however,  had 
the  desired  effect.  Having  led  the  army  without 
delay  to  Wexford,  he  began  to  batter  the  town. 
The  garrison,  after  a  slight  defence,  offered  to 
capitulate ;  but,  before  they  obtained  a  cessation, 
they  imprudently  neglected  their  guards  ;  and  the 
English  army  rushed  in  upon  them.  The  same 
severity  was  exercised  as  at  Tredah. 


174  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  16-19. 

Every  town  before  which  Cromwel  presented 
himself,  now  opened  its  gate  without  resistance. 
Ross,  though  strongly  garrisoned,  was  surren- 
dered by  lord  TafFe.  Having  taken  Estionage, 
Cromwel  threw  a  bridge  over  the  Barrow,  and 
made  himself  master  of  Passage  and  Carrie.  The 
English  had  no  farther  difficulties  to  encounter 
than  what  arose  from  fatigue  and  the  advanced 
season.  Fluxes  and  contagious  distempers  creeped 
in  among  the  soldiers,  who  perished  in  great  num- 
bers. Jones  himself,  the  brave  governor  of  Dub- 
lin, died  at  Wexford.  And  Cromwel  had  so  far 
advanced  with  his  decayed  army,  that  he  began 
to  find  it  difficult  either  to  subsist  in  the  enemy's 
country,  or  retreat  to  his  own  garrisons.  But  while 
he  was  in  these  straits,  Corke,  Kinsale,  and  all  the 
English  garrisons  in  Munster,  deserted  to  him, 
and  opening  their  gates,  resolved  to  share  the 
fortunes  of  their  victorious  countrymen. 

This  desertion  of  the  English  put  an  end  to  Or- 
mond's  authority,  which  was  already  much  dimi- 
nished by  the  misfortunes  at  Dublin,  Tredah,  and 
Wexford.  The  Irish,  actuated  by  national  and 
religious  prejudices,  could  no  longer  be  kept  in 
obedience  by  a  protestant  governor,  who  was  so 
unsuccessful  in  all  his  enterprises.  The  clergy 
renewed  their  excommunications  against  him  and 
his  adherents,  and  added  the  terrors  of  supersti- 
tion to  those  which  arose  from  a  victorious  ene- 
my. Cromwel,  having  received  a  reinforcement 
from  England,  again  took  the  field  earlv  in  the 


1649.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  175 

spring.  He  made  himself  master  of  Kilkenny  and 
Clonmel,  the  only  places  where  he  met  with  any 
vigorous  resistance.  The  whole  frame  of  the 
Irish  union  being  in  a  manner  dissolved,  Ormond 
soon  after  left  the  island,  and  delegated  his  au- 
thority to  Clanricarde,  who  found  affairs  so  de- 
sperate as  to  admit  of  no  remedy.  The  Irish 
were  glad  to  embrace  banishment  as  a  refuge. 
Above  40,000  men  passed  into  foreign  service ; 
and  Cromwel,  well  pleased  to  free  the  island  from 
enemies,  who  never  could  be  cordially  reconciled 
to  the  English,  gave  them  full  liberty  and  leisure 
for  their  embarkation. 

While  Cromwel  proceeded  with  such  uninter- 
rupted success  in  Ireland,  which  in  the  space  of  nine 
months  he  had  almost  entirely  subdued,  fortune 
was  preparing  for  him  a  new  scene  of  victory  and 
triumph  in  Scotland.  Charles  was  at  the  Hague 
when  sir  Joseph  Douglas  brought  him  intelli- 
gence that  he  was  proclaimed  king  by  the  Scot- 
tish parliament.  At  the  same  time,  Douglas  in- 
formed him  of  the  hard  conditions  annexed  to 
the  proclamation,  and  extremely  damped  that 
joy  which  might  arise  from  his  being  recognised 
sovereign  in  one  of  his  kingdoms.  Charles  too 
considered,  that  those  who  pretended  to  acknow- 
ledge his  title,  were  at  that  very  time  in  actual 
rebellion  against  his  family,  and  would  be  sure 
to  intrust  very  little  authority  in  his  hands,  and 
scarcely  would  afford  him  personal  liberty  and 
security.     As  the  prospect  of  affairs  in  Ireland 


176  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  16-19. 

was  at  that  time  not  unpromising,  he  intended 
rather  to  try  his  fortune  in  that  kingdom,  from 
which  he  expected  more  dutiful  submission  and 
obedience. 

Meanwhile  he  found  it  expedient  to  depart 
from  Holland.  The  people  in  the  United  Pro- 
vinces were  much  attached  to  his  interests.  Be- 
sides his  connexion  with  the  family  of  Orange, 
which  was  extremely  beloved  by  the  populace,  all 
men  regarded  with  compassion  his  helpless  con- 
.1  dition,  and  expressed  the  greatest  abhorrence 
against  the  murder  of  his  father  ;  a  deed  to  which 
nothing,  they  thought,  but  the  rage  of  fanaticism 
and  faction  could  have  impelled  the  parliament. 
But  though  the  public  in  general  bore  great  fa- 
vour to  the  king,  the  States  were  uneasy  at  his 
presence.  They  dreaded  the  parliament,  so  for- 
midable by  their  power,  and  so  prosperous  in  all 
their  enterprises.  They  apprehended  the  most 
precipitate  resolutions  from  men  of  such  violent 
and  haughty  dispositions.  And,  after  the  mur- 
der of  Dorislaus,  they  found  it  still  more  neces- 
sary to  satisfy  the  English  commonwealth,  by  re- 
moving the  king  to  a  distance  from  them. 

Dorislaus,  though  a  native  of  Holland,  had 
lived  long  in  England ;  and  being  employed  as 
assistant  to  the  high  court  of  justice,  which  con- 
demned the  late  king,  he  had  risen  to  great  credit 
and  favour  with  the  ruling  party.  They  sent  him 
envoy  to  Holland  ;  but  no  sooner  had  he  arrived 
at  the  Hague,  than  he   was  set  upon  by  some 


1650.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  177 

royalists,  chiefly  retainers  to  Montrose.  They 
rushed  into  the  room,  where  he  was  sitting  with 
some  company ;  dragged  him  from  the  table ;  put 
him  to  death  as  the  first  victim  to  their  murdered 
sovereign ;  very  leisurely  and  peaceably  separated 
themselves ;  and  though  orders  were  issued  by 
the  magistrates  to  arrest  them,  these  were  exe* 
cuted  with  such  slowness  and  reluctance,  that  the 
criminals  had  all  of  them  the  opportunity  of 
making  their  escape. 

Charles*  having  passed  some  time  at  Paris, 
where  no  assistance  was  given  him,  and  even  few 
civilities  were  paid  him,  made  his  retreat  into  Jer- 
sey, where  his  authority  was  still  acknowledged. 
Here  Winram,  laird  of  Liberton,  came  to  him  as 
deputy  from  the  committee  of  estates  in  Scotland, 
and  informed  him  of  the  conditions  to  which  he 
must  necessarily  submit  before  he  could  be  admit- 
ted to  the  exercise  of  his  authority.  Conditions 
more  severe  were  never  imposed  by  subjects  upon 
their  sovereign ;  but  as  the  affairs  of  Ireland  be- 
gan to  decline,  and  the  king  found  it  no  longer 
safe  to  venture  himself  in  that  island,  he  gave  a 
civil  answer  to  Winram,  and  desired  the  commis- 
sioners to  meet  him  at  Breda,  in  order  to  enter 
into  a  treaty  with  regard  to  these  conditions. 

COVENANTERS. 

The  earls  of  Cassilis  and  Lothian,  lord  Burley, 
the  laird  of  Liberton,  and  other  commissioners, 

VOL.   VIII.  N 


178  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1650. 

arrived  at  Breda;  but  without  any  power  of 
treating:  the  king  must  submit,  without  re- 
serve, to  the  terms  imposed  upon  him.  The  terms 
were,  that  he  should  issue  a  proclamation,  banish- 
ing from  court  all  excommunicated  persons,  that 
is,  all  those  who,  either  under  Hamilton  or  Mont- 
rose, had  ventured  their  lives  for  his  family  ;  that 
no  English  subject  who  had  served  against  the 
parliament,  should  be  allowed  to  approach  him ; 
that  he  should  bind  himself  by  his  royal  promise 
to  take  the  covenant;  that  he  should  ratify  all 
acts  of  parliament  by  which  presbyterian  govern- 
ment, the  directory  of  worship,  the  confession  of 
faith,  and  the  catechism,  were  established;  and 
that  in  civil  affairs  he  should  entirely  conform 
himself  to  the  direction  of  parliament,  and  in 
ecclesiastical,  to  that  of  the  assembly.  These 
proposals,  the  commissioners,  after  passing  some 
time  in  sermons  and  prayers,  in  order  to  express 
the  more  determined  resolution,  very  solemnly 
delivered  to  the  king". 

o 

The  king's  friends  were  divided  with  regard 
to  the  part  which  he  should  act  in  this  critical 
conjuncture.  Most  of  his  English  counsellors  dis- 
suaded him  from  accepting  conditions  so  disad- 
vantageous and  dishonourable.  They  said  that 
the  men  M'ho  now  governed  Scotland  were  the 
most  furious  and  bigoted  of  that  party,  which, 
notwithstanding  his  gentle  government,  had  first 
excited  a  rebellion  against  the  late  king;  after 
the  most  unlimited   concessions,   had   renewed 


1650.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  179 

their  rebellion,  and  stopped  the  progress  of  his 
victories  in  England  ;  and  after  he  had  entrusted 
his  person  to  them  in  his  uttermost  distress,  had 
basely  sold  him,  together  with  their  own  honour, 
to  his  barbarous  enemies :  that  they  had  as  yet 
shown  no  marks  of  repentance,  and  even  in  the 
terms  which  they  now  proposed,  displayed  the 
same  antimonarchical  principles,  and  the  same 
jealousy  of  their  sovereign,  by  which  they  had 
ever  been  actuated :  that  nothing  could  be  more 
dishonourable  than  that  the  king,  in  his  first  en- 
terprise, should  sacrifice,  merely  for  the  empty 
name  of  royalty,  those  principles  for  which  his 
father  had  died  a  martyr,  and  in  which  he  himself 
had  been  strictly  educated :  that  by  this  hypo- 
crisy he  might  lose  the  royalists,  who  alone  were 
sincerely  attached  to  him  ;  but  never  would  gain 
the  presbyterians,  who  were  averse  to  his  family 
and  his  cause,  and  would  ascribe  his  compliance 
merely  to  policy  and  necessity :  that  the  Scots 
had  refused  to  give  him  any  assurances  of  their 
intending  to  restore  him  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  could  they  even  be  brought  to  make 
such  an  attempt,  it  had  sufficiently  appeared,  by 
the  event  of  Hamilton's  engagement,  how  un- 
equal their  force  was  to  so  great  an  enterprise  : 
that  on  the  first  check  which  they  should  receive, 
Argyle  and  his  partisans  would  lay  hold  of  the 
quickest  expedient  for  reconciling  themselves  to 
the  English  parliament,  and  would  betray  the 
king,  as  they  had  done  his  father,  into  the  hands 
2 


160  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1650. 

of  his  enemies :  and  that,  however  desperate  the 
royal  cause,  it  must  still  be  regarded  as  highly 
imprudent  in  the  king  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  his 
honour  ;  where  the  sole  purchase  was  to  endanger 
his  life  or  liberty. 

The  earl  of  Laneric,  now  duke  of  Hamilton, 
the  earl  of  Lauderdale,  and  others  of  that  party, 
who  had  been  banished  their  country  for  the  late 
engagement,  were  then  with  the  king ;  and  being 
desirous  of  returning  home  in  his  retinue,    they 
joined  the  opinion  of  the  young  duke  of  Buck- 
ingham, and  earnestly  pressed  him  to  submit  to 
the  conditions  required  of  him.     It  was  urged, 
that  nothing  would  more  gratify  the  king's  ene- 
mies than  to  see  him  fall  into  the  snare  laid  for 
him,  and  by  so  scrupulous  a  nicety,   leave  the 
possession  of  his  dominions  to  those  who  desired 
but  a  pretence  for  excluding  him  :  that  Argyle, 
not  daring  so  far  to  oppose  the  bent  of  the  nation 
as  to  throw  off  all  allegiance  to  his  sovereign,  had 
embraced  this  expedient,   by  which  he  hoped  to 
make  Charles  dethrone  himself*  and  refuse  a  king- 
dom which  was  offered  him :  that  it  was  not  to  be 
doubted  but  the  same  national  spirit,  assisted  by 
Hamilton  and  his  party,  would  rise  still  higher  in 
favour  of  their  prince  after  he  had  entrusted  him- 
self to  their  fidelity,   and  would  much  abate  the 
rigour  of  the  conditions  now  imposed  upon  him  : 
that  whatever  might  be  the  present  intentions  of 
the  ruling  party,  they  must  unavoidably  be  en- 
gaged in  a  war  with  England,  and  must  accept 


1(550.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  181 

the  assistance  of  the  king's  friends  of  all  parties, 
in  order  to  support  themselves  against  a  power  so 
much  superior :  that  how  much  soever  a  steady, 
uniform  conduct  might  have  been  suitable  to  the 
advanced  age  and  strict  engagements  of  the  late 
king,  no  one  would  throw  any  blame  on  a  young 
prince  for  complying  with  conditions  which  ne- 
cessity had  extorted  from  him :  that  even  the 
rigour  of  those  principles  professed  by  his  father, 
though  with  some  it  had  exalted  his  character, 
had  been  extremely  prejudicial  to  his  interests  ; 
nor  could  any  thing  be  more  serviceable  to  the 
royal  cause,  than  to  give  all  parties  room  to  hope 
for  more  equal  and  more  indulgent  maxims  of  go- 
vernment :  and  that  where  affairs  were  reduced 
to  so  desperate  a  situation,  dangers  ought  little  to 
be  regarded ;  and  the  king's  honour  lay  rather  in 
showing  some  early  symptoms  of  courage  and 
activity,  than  in  chusing  strictly  a  party  among 
theological  controversies,  with  which  it  might  be 
supposed,  he  was  as  yet  very  little  acquainted. 

These  arguments,  seconded  by  the  advice  of 
the  queen  mother  and  of  the  prince  of  Orange,  the 
king's  brother-in-law,  who  both  of  them  thought 
it  ridiculous  to  refuse  a  kingdom  merely  from 
regard  to  episcopacy,  had  great  influence  on 
Charles.  But  what  chiefly  determined  him -to 
comply  was  the  account  brought  him  of  the  fate 
of  Montrose,  who,  with  all  the  circumstances  of 
rage  and  contumely,  had  been  put  to  death  by 
his  zealous  countrymen.    Though  in  this  instance 


183  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  l<550. 

the  king  saw  more  evidently  the  furious  spirit  by 
which  the  Scots  were  actuated,  he  had  now  no 
farther  resource,  and  was  obliged  to  grant  what- 
ever was  demanded  of  him. 


MONTROSE  TAKEN  PRISONER. 

Montrose,  having  laid  down  his  arms  at  the 
command  of  the  late  king,  had  retired  into 
France,  and,  contrary  to  his  natural  disposition, 
had  lived  for  some  time  unactive  at  Paris.  He 
there  became  acquainted  with  the  famous  cardinal 
de  Retz;  and  that  penetrating  judge  celebrates 
him  in  his  memoirs  as  one  of  those  heroes,  of 
whom  there  are  no  longer  any  remains  in  the 
world,  and  who  are  only  to  be  met  with  in  Plu- 
tarch. Desirous  of  improving  his  martial  genius, 
he  took  a  journey  to  Germany,  was  caressed  by 
the  emperor,  received  the  rank  of  mareschal,  and 
proposed  to  levy  a  regiment  for  the  imperial  ser- 
vice. While  employed  for  that  purpose  in  the 
Low  Countries,  he  heard  of  the  tragical  death  of 
the  king ;  and  at  the  same  time  received  from 
his  young  master  a  renewal  of  his  commission 
of  captain  general  in  Scotland".  His  ardent  and 
daring  spirit  needed  but  this  authority  to  put  him 
in  action.  He  gathered  followers  in  Holland  and 
the  north  of  Germany,  whom  his  great  reputation 

n  Burnet,  Clarendon. 


1650.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  183 

allured  to  him.  The  king  of  Denmark  and  duke 
of  Holstein  sent  him  some  small  supply  of  money : 
the  queen  of  Sweden  furnished  him  with  arms : 
the  prince  of  Orange  with  ships :  and  Montrose, 
hastening  his  enterprise,  lest  the  king's  agreement 
with  the  Scots  should  make  him  revoke  his  com- 
mission, he  set  out  for  the  Orkneys  with  about 
500  men,  most  of  them  Germans.  These  were  all 
the  preparations  which  he  could  make  against  a 
a  kingdom,  settled  in  domestic  peace,  supported 
by  a  disciplined  army,  fully  apprised  of  his  enter- 
prise, and  prepared  against  him.  Some  of  his  re- 
tainers having  told  him  of  a  prophesy,  that  to  him 
and  him  alone  it  was  reserved  to  restore  the  king's 
authority  in  all  his  dominions;  he  lent  a  willing 
ear  to  suggestions  which,  however  ill-grounded 
or  improbable,  were  so  conformable  to  his  own 
daring  character. 

He  armed  several  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Orkneys,  though  an  unwarlike  people,  and  car- 
ried them  over  with  him  to  Caithness;  hoping 
that  the  general  affection  to  the  king's  service, 
and  the  fame  of  his  former  exploits,  would  make 
the  Highlanders  flock  to  his  standard.  But  all 
men  were  now  harassed  and  fatigued  with  wars 
and  disorders  :  many  of  those  who  formerly  ad- 
hered to  him,  had  been  severely  punished  by  the 
covenanters  :  and  no  prospect  of  success  was  en- 
tertained in  opposition  to  so  great  a  force  as  was 
drawn  together  against  him.  But  however  weak 
Montrose's  army,  the  memory  of  past  events  struck 


;84  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1050. 

p.  great  terror  into  the  committee  of  estates.  They 
immediately  ordered  Lesley  and  Holborne  to 
march  against  him  with  an  army  of  4000  men. 
Strahan  was  sent  before,  with  a  body  of  cavalry, 
to  check  his  progress.  He  fell  unexpectedly  on 
Montrose,  who  had  no  horse  to  bring  him  intelli- 
gence. The  royalists  were  put  to  flight ;  all  of 
them  either  killed  or  taken  prisoners  ;  and  Montr 
rose  himself,  having  put  on  the  disguise  of  a  pea- 
sant, was  perfidiously  delivered  into  the  hands  of 
his  enemies,  by  a  friend  to  whom  he  had  entrust- 
ed his  person. 

All  the  insolence  which  success  can  produce 
jn  ungenerous  minds,  was  exercised  by  the  co- 
venanters against  Montrose,  whom  they  so  much 
hated  and  so  much  dreaded.  Theological  anti- 
pathy farther  increased  their  indignities  towards 
a  person,  whom  they  regarded  as  impious  on  ac- 
count of  the  excommunication  which  had  been 
pronounced  against  him.  Lesley  led  him  about 
for  several  days  in  the  same  low  habit  under 
which  he  had  disguised  himself.  The  vulgar, 
wherever  he  passed,  were  instigated  to  reproach  and 
vilify  him.  When  he  came  to  Edinburgh,  every 
circumstance  of  elaborate  rage  and  insult  was  put 
in  practice  by  order  of  the  parliament.  At  the  gate 
of  the  city  he  was  met  by  the  magistrates,  and 
put  into  a  new  cart,  purposely  made  with  a  high 
chair  or  bench,  where  he  was  placed,  that  the 
people  might  have  a  full  view  of  him.  He  was 
bound  with  a  cord,  drawn  over  his  breast  and 


1650.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  185 

shoulders,  and  fastened  through  holes  made  in  the 
cart.  The  hangman  then  took  off  the  hat  of  the 
noble  prisoner,  and  rode  himself  before  the  cart 
in  his  livery,  and  with  his  bonnet  on ;  the  other 
officers,  who  were  taken  prisoners  with  the  mar- 
quis, walking  two  and  two  before  them. 

The  populace,  more  generous  and  humane, 
when  they  saw  so  mighty  a  change  of  fortune  in 
this  great  man,  so  lately  their  dread  and  terror, 
into  whose  hands  the  magistrates,  a  few  years  be- 
fore, had  delivered  on  their  knees  the  keys  of  the 
city,  were  struck  with  compassion,  and  viewed 
him  with  silent  tears  and  admiration.  The  preach- 
ers, next  Sunday,  exclaimed  against  this  move- 
ment of  rebel  nature,  as  they  termed  it ;  and  re- 
proached the  people  with  their  profane  tenderness 
towards  the  capital  enemy  of  piety  and  religion. 

When  he  was  carried  before  the  parliament, 
which  was  then  sitting,  Loudon,  the  chancellor, 
in  a  violent  declamation,  reproached  him  with  the 
breach  of  the  national  covenant,  which  he  had 
subscribed  ;  his  rebellion  against  God,  the  king, 
and  the  kingdom ;  and  the  many  horrible  mur- 
ders, treasons,  and  impieties  for  which  he  was  now 
to  be  brought  to  condign  punishment.  Montrose 
in  his  answer  maintained  the  same  superiority 
above  his  enemies,  to  which  by  his  fame  and  great 
actions,  as  well  as  by  the  consciousness  of  a  good 
cause,  he  was  justly  entitled.  He  told  the  parlia- 
ment, that  since  the  king,  as  he  was  informed, 
had  so  far  avowed  their  authority,  as  to  enter  into 


lSd  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  1.650. 

treaty  with  them,  he  now  appeared  uncovered 
before  their  tribunal ;  a  respect  which,  while  they 
stood  in  open  defiance  to  their  sovereign,  they 
would  in  vain  have  required  of  him.  That 
he  acknowledged,  with  infinite  shame  and  re- 
morse, the  errors  of  his  early  conduct,  when  their 
plausible  pretences  had  seduced  him  to  tread  with 
them  the  paths  of  rebellion,  and  bear  arms  against 
his  prince  and  country.  That  his  following  ser- 
vices, he  hoped,  had  sufficiently  testified  his  re- 
pentance ;  and  his  death  would  now  atone  for  that 
guilt,  the  only  one  with  which  he  could  justly  re- 
proach himself.  That  in  all  his  warlike  enter- 
prises he  was  warranted  by  that  commission, 
which  he  had  received  from  his  and  their  master, 
against  whose  lawful  authority  they  had  erected 
their  standard.  That  to  venture  his  life  for  his 
sovereign  was  the  least  part  of  his  merit :  he  had 
even  thrown  down  his  arms  in  obedience  to  the 
sacred  commands  of  the  king  ;  and  had  resigned 
to  them  the  victory,  which,  in  defiance  of  all 
their  efforts,  he  was  still  enabled  to  dispute  with 
them.  That  no  blood  had  ever  been  shed  by  him 
but  in  the  field  of  battle ;  and  many  persons  were 
now  in  his  eye,  many  now  dared  to  pronounce 
sentence  of  death  upon  him,  whose  life,  forfeited 
by  the  laws  of  war,  he  had  formerly  saved  from 
the  fury  of  the  soldiers.  That  he  was  sorry  to 
find  no  better  testimony  of  their  return  to  alle- 
giance than  the  murder  of  so  faithful  a  subject, 
in  whose  death  the  king's  commission  must  be,  at 


16)0.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  187 

once  so  highly  injured  and  affronted.  That  as  to 
himself,  they  had  in  vain  endeavoured  to  vilify 
and  degrade  him  by  all  their  studied  indignities: 
the  justice  of  his  cause,  he  knew,  would  ennoble 
any  fortune ;  nor  had  he  other  affliction  than  to 
see  the  authority  of  his  prince,  with  which  he  was 
invested,  treated  with  so  much  ignominy.  And 
that  he  now  joyfully  followed,  by  a  like  unjust 
sentence,  his  late  sovereign;  and  should  be  happy 
if,  in  his  future  destiny,  he  could  follow  him  to 
the  same  blissful  mansions,  where  his  piety  and 
humane  virtues  had  already,  without  doubt,  se- 
cured him  an  eternal  recompense. 

Montrose's  sentence  was  next  pronounced 
against  him,  "  That  he,  James  Graham"  (for 
this  was  the  only  name  they  vouchsafed  to  give 
him),  "  should  next  day  be  carried  to  Edinburgh 
"  cross,  and  there  be  hanged  on  a  gibbet,  thirty 
"  feet  high,  for  the  space  of  three  hours  :  then 
"  be  taken  down,  his  head  be  cut  off  upon  a 
"  scaffold,  and  affixed  to  the  prison  :  his  legs  and 
"  arms  be  stuck  up  on  the  four  chief  towns  of 
*'  the  kingdom  :  his  body  be  buried  in  the  place 
"  appropriated  for  common  malefactors  ;  except 
"  the  church,  upon  his  repentance,  should  take 
"  off  his  excommunication." 

The  clergy,  hoping  that  the  terrors  of  imme- 
diate death  had  now  given  them  an  advantage 
over  their  enemy,  flocked  about  him,  and  insulted 
over  his  fallen  fortunes.  They  pronounced  his 
damnation,  and  assured  him,  that  the  judgement, 


IS8  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1(550. 

which  he  was  so  soon  to  offer,  would  prove  but 
an  easy  prologue  to  that  which  he  must  undergo 
hereafter.  They  next  offered  to  pray  with  him  : 
but  he  was  too  well  acquainted  with  those  forms 
of  imprecation  which  they  called  prayers.  "  Lord, 
"  vouchsafe  yet  to  touch  the  obdurate  heart  of 
"  this  proud  incorrigible  sinner ;  this  wicked, 
c<  perjured,  traiterous,  and  profane  person,  who 
"  refuses  to  hearken  to  the  voice  of  thy  church." 
Such  were  the  petitions,  which,  he  expected,  they 
would,  according  ta  custom,  offer  up  for  him. 
He  told  them,  that  they  were  a  miserably  deluded 
and  deluding  people;  and  would  shortly  bring 
their  country  under  the  most  insupportable  servi- 
tude, to  which  any  nation  had  ever  been  reduced. 
For  my  part, "added  he,  "  I  am  much  prouder 
to  have  my  head  affixed  to  the  place  where  it 
is  sentenced  to  stand,  than  to  have  my  picture 
hang  in  the  king's  bed-chamber.  So  far  from 
being  sorry  that  my  quarters  are  to  be  sent  to 
four  cities  of  the  kingdom  ;  I  wish  I  had  limbs 
enow  to  be  dispersed  into  all  the  cities  of  Christ- 
endom, there  to  remain  as  testimonies  in  favour 
of  the  cause  for  which  I  suffer."  This  senti- 
ment, that  very  evening,  while  in  prison,  he 
threw  into  verse.  The  poem  remains ;  a  signal 
monument  of  his  heroic  spirit,  and  no  despicable 
proof  of  his  poetical  genius. 

Now  was  led  forth,  amidst  the  insults  of  his 
enemies  and  the  tears  of  the  people,  this  man  of 
illustrious  birth,  and  of  the  greatest  renown  in  the 


1650.  THE   C0MMM0NWEALTH.  isy 

nation,  to  suffer,  for  his  adhering  to  the  laws  of 
his  country,  and  the  rights  of  his  sovereign,  the 
ignominious  death  destined  to  the  meanest  male- 
factor. Every  attempt,  which  the  insolence  of 
the  governing  party  had  made  to  subdue  his 
spirit,  had  hitherto  proved  fruitless :  they  made 
yet  one  effort  more,  in  this  last  and  melancholy 
scene,  when  all  enmity,  arising  from  motives 
merely  human,  is  commonly  softened  and  dis- 
armed. The  executioner  brought  that  book, 
which  had  been  published  in  elegant  Latin,  of  his 
great  military  actions,  and  tied  it  by  a  cord  about 
his  neck.  Montrose  smiled  at  this  new  instance 
of  their  malice.  He  thanked  them,  however,  for 
their  officious  zeal ;  and  said,  that  he  bore  this 
testimony  of  his  bravery  and  loyalty  with  more 
pride  than  he  had  ever  worn  the  garter.  Having 
asked,  whether  they  had  any  more  indignities  to 
put  upon  him,  and  renewing  some  devout  ejacula- 
tions, he  patiently  endured  the  last  act  of  the  exe- 
cutioner. 

Thus  perished,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his 
age,  the  gallant  marquis  of  Montrose ;  the  man 
whose  military  genius,  both  by  valour  and  con- 
duct, had  shone  forth  beyond  any  which,  during 
these  civil  disorders,  had  appeared  in  the  three 
kingdoms.  The  finer  arts  too,  he  had,  in  his 
youth,  successfully  cultivated ;  and  whatever  was 
sublime,  elegant,  or  noble*  touched  his  great  soul. 
Nor  was  he  insensible  to  the  pleasures  either  of 
society  or  of  love.     Something,  however,  of  the 


190  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1650. 

vast  and  unbounded  characterised  his  actions  and 
deportment;  and  it  was  merely  by  an  heroic 
effort  of  duty,  that  he  brought  his  mind,  impa- 
tient of  superiority,  and  even  of  equality,  to  pay 
such  unlimited  submission  to  the  will  of  his  so- 
vereign. 

The  vengeance  of  the  covenanters  was  not 
satisfied  with  Montrose's  execution.  Urrey, 
whose  inconstancy  now  led  him  to  take  part  with 
the  king,  suffered  about  the  same  time :  Spottis- 
wood  of  Daersie,  a  youth  of  eighteen,  sir  Francis 
Hay  of  Dalgetie,  and  colonel  Sibbald,  all  of  them 
of  birth  and  character,  underwent  a  like  fate. 
These  were  taken  prisoners  with  Montrose.  The 
marquis  of  Huntley,  about  a  year  before,  had  also 
fallen  a  victim  to  the  severity  of  the  covenanters. 

The  past  scene  displays  in  a  full  light  the  bar- 
barity of  this  theological  faction  :  the  sequel  will 
sufficiently  display  their  absurdity. 

The  king,  in  consequence  of  his  agreement 
with  the  commissioners  of  Scotland,  set  sail  for 
that  country ;  and  being  escorted  by  seven  Dutch 
ships  of  war,  who  were  sent  to  guard  the  herring 
fishery,  he  arrived  in  the  frith  of  Cromarty.  Be- 
fore he  was  permitted  to  land,  he  was  required  to 
sign  the  covenant ;  and  many  sermons  and  lec- 
tures were  made  him,  exhorting  him  to  persevere 
in  that  holy  confederacy0.  Hamilton,  Lauder- 
dale; Dumfermling,  and  other  noblemen  of  that 

•  Sir  Edward  Walker's  Historical  Discourses,  p.  159. 


1650.  tfHE  COMMONWEALTH.  lgi 

party  whom  they  called  Engagers,  were  immedi- 
ately separated  from  him,  and  obliged  to  retire  to 
their  houses,  where  they  lived  in  a  private  man- 
ner,  without  trust  or  authority.      None  of  his 
English  friends,  who  had  served  his  father,  were 
allowed  to   remain  in  the  kingdom.     The  king 
himself  found  that  he  was  considered  as  a  mere 
pageant  of  state,   and  that  the  few  remains  of 
royalty  which  he  possessed,  served  only  to  draw 
on   him   the   greater   indignities.      One  of  the 
quarters  of  Montrose,  his  faithful  servant,  who 
had  borne  his  commission,  had  been  sent  to  Aber- 
deen, and  was  still  allowed  to  hang  over  the  gates 
when  he  passed  by  that  place p.     The  general  as- 
sembly, and  afterwards  the  committee  of  estates 
and  the  army,  who  were  entirely  governed  by  the 
assembly,  set  forth  a  public  declaration,  in  which 
they  protested,    "  that  they  did  not  espouse  any 
M  malignant  quarrel  or  party,  but  fought  merely 
*'  on  their  former  grounds  or  principles ;  that  they 
"  disclaimed  all  the  sins  and  guilt  of  the  king, 
"  and  of  his  house;  nor  would  they  own  him 
"  or  his  interest,  otherwise  than  with  a  subor- 
"  dination  to  God,  and  so  far  as  he  owned  and 
"  prosecuted   the   cause  of  God,    and  acknow- 
"  ledged  the  sins  of  his  house,  and  of  his  former 
"  waysV 

The  king,  lying  entirely  at  mercy,  and  having 

" 

*  Sir  Edward  Walker's  Historical  Discourses,  p.  100. 
« Ibid.  p.  166,  167. 


192  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  lfcO. 

no  assurance  of  life  or  liberty,  farther  than  was 
agreeable  to  the  fancy  of  these  austere  zealots, 
was  constrained  to  embrace  a  measure,  which  no- 
thing but  the  necessity  of  his  affairs,  and  his  great 
youth  and  inexperience  could  excuse.  He  issued 
a  declaration,  such  as  they  required  of  him r.  He 
there  gave  thanks  for  the  merciful  dispensations 
of  providence,  by  which  he  was  recovered  from 
the  snare  of  evil  counsel,  had  attained  a  full 
persuasion  of  the  righteousness  of  the  covenant, 
and  was  induced  to  cast  himself  and  his  interests 
wholly  upon  God.  He  desired  to  be  deeply  hum- 
bled and  afflicted  in  spirit,  because  of  his  father's 
following  wicked  measures,  opposing  the  coven- 
ant and  the  work  of  reformation,  and  shedding 
the  blood  of  God's  people  throughout  all  his  do- 
minions. He  lamented  the  idolatry  of  his  mother, 
and  the  toleration  of  it  in  his  father's  house ;  a 
matter  of  great  offence,  he  said,  to  all  the  pro- 
testant  churches,  and  a  great  provocation  to  him 
who  is  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  sins  of  the 
father  upon  the  children.  He  professed,  that  he 
would  have  no  enemies  but  the  enemies  of  the 
covenant ;  and  that  he  detested  all  popery,  super- 
stition, prelacy,  heresy,  schism,  and  profaneness : 
and  was  resolved  not  to  tolerate,  much  less  to  coun- 
tenance, any  of  them  in  any  of  his  dominions.  He 
declared,  that  he  should  npver  love  or  favour  those 
who  had  so  little  conscience  as  to  follow  his  in- 

'  Sir  Edward  Walker's  Historical  Discourses,  p.  170. 


1650.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  193 

terests,  in  preference  to  the  gospel  and  the  king- 
dom of  Jesus  Christ.  And  he  expressed  his  hope, 
that,  whatever  ill  success  his  former  guilt  might 
have  drawn  upon  his  cause,  yet  now,  having  ob- 
tained mercy  to  be  on  God's  side,  and  to  acknow- 
ledge his  own  cause  subordinate  to  that  of  God, 
divine  providence  would  crown  his  arms  with 
victory. 

Still  the  covenanters  and  the  clergy  were  diffi- 
dent of  the  king's  sincerity.    The  facility  which  he 
discovered  in  yielding  whatever  was  required  of 
him,  made  them  suspect,  that  he  regarded  all  his 
concessions  merely  as  ridiculous  farces,  to  which 
he  must  of  necessity  submit.     They  had  another 
trial  prepared  for  him.     Instead  of  the  solemnity 
of  his  coronation,  which  was  delayed,  they  were 
resolved  that  he  should  pass   through  a  public 
humiliation,    and    do  penance  before  the  whole 
people.     They  sent  him  twelve  articles  of  repent* 
ance,  which  he  was  to  acknowledge ;  and  the  king 
had  agreed,  that  he  would  submit  to  this  indignity. 
The  various  transgressions  of  his  father  and  grand- 
father, together  with  the  idolatry  of  his  mother, 
are  again  enumerated  and  aggravated  in  these  ar- 
ticles ;  and  farther  declarations  were  insisted  on, 
that  he  sought  the  restoration  of  his  rights  for 
the  sole  advancement  of  religion,  and  in  subor- 
dination to  the  kingdom  of  Christ8.     In  short, 
having  exalted  the  altar  above  the  throne,  and 
brought  royalty  under  their  feet,  the  clergy  were 
*  Sir  Edward  Walker's  Historical  Discourses,  p.  178. 
VOL.   VIII.  O 


194  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1050. 

resolved  to  trample  on  it,  and  vilify  it,  by  every 
instance  of  contumely,  which  their  present  influ- 
ence enabled  them  to  impose  upon  their  unhappy 
prince. 

Charles  in  the  mean  time  found  his  authority 
entirely  annihilated,  as  well  as  his  character  de- 
graded. He  was  consulted  in  no  public  mea- 
sure. He  was  not  called  to  assist  at  any  councils. 
His  favour  was  sufficient  to  discredit  any  pre- 
tender to  office  or  advancement.  All  efforts  which 
he  made  to  unite  the  opposite  parties,  increased 
the  suspicion  which  the  covenanters  had  enter- 
tained of  him,  as  if  he  were  not  entirely  their 
own.  Argyle,  who  by  subtleties  and  compliances, 
was  partly  led  and  partly  governed  by  this  wild 
faction,  still  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  advances 
which  the  king  made  to  enter  into  confidence 
with  him.  Malignants  and  Engagers  continued 
to  be  the  objects  of  general  hatred  and  persecu- 
tion ;  and  whoever  was  obnoxious  to  the  clergy, 
failed  not  to  have  one  or  other  of  these  epithets 
affixed  to  him.  The  fanaticism  which  prevailed, 
being  so  full  of  sour  and  angry  principles,  and  so 
overcharged  with  various  antipathies,  had  acquired 
a  new  object  of  abhorrence  :  these  were  the  Sor- 
ctrers.  So  prevalent  was  the  opinion  of  witch- 
craft, that  great  numbers,  accused  of  that  crime, 
were  burnt  by  sentence  of  the  magistrates  through- 
out all  parts  of  Scotland.  In  a  village  near  Ber- 
wic,  which  contained  only  fourteen  houses,  four- 
teen persons  were  punished  by  fire';  and  it  be- 

1  Whitlocke,  p.  404. 408. 


1650.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  195 

came  a  science,  every  where  much  studied  and 
cultivated,  to  distinguish  a  true  witch  by  proper 
trials  and  symptoms  u. 

The  advance  of  the  English  army  under  Crom- 
wel  was  not  able  to  appease  or  soften  the  animo- 
sities among  the  parties  in  Scotland.  The  clergy 
were  still  resolute  to  exclude  all  but  their  more 
zealous  adherents.  As  soon  as  the  English  parlia- 
ment found  that  the  treaty  between  the  king  and 
the  Scots  would  probably  terminate  in  an  accom- 
modation, they  made  preparations  for  a  war  which, 
they  saw,  would  in  the  end  prove  inevitable. 
Cromwel,  having  broken  the  force  and  courage  of 
the  Irish,  was  sent  for;  and  he  left  the  command 
of  Ireland  to  Ireton,  who  governed  that  king- 
dom in  the  character  of  deputy,  and  with  vigi- 
lance and  industry  persevered  in  the  work  of  sub- 
duing and  expelling  the  natives. 

It  was  expected  that  Fairfax,  who  still  re- 
tained the  name  of  general,  would  continue  to 
act  against  Scotland,  and  appear  at  the  head  of 
the  forces ;  a  station  for  which  he  was  well  quali- 
fied, and  where  alone  he  made  any  figure.  But 
Fairfax,  though  he  had  allowed  the  army  to  make 
use  of  his  name  in  murdering  their  sovereign,  and 
offering  violence  to  the  parliament,  had  enter- 
tained unsurmountable  scruples  against  invading 
the  Scots,  whom  he  considered  as  zealous  presby- 

•  Whitlocke,  p.  369.  418. 


liX5  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1650. 

terians,  and  united  to  England  by  the  sacred 
bands  of  the  covenant.  He  was  farther  disgusted 
at  the  extremities  into  which  he  had  already  been 
hurried ;  and  was  confirmed  in  his  repugnance  by 
the  exhortations  of  his  wife,  who  had  great  in- 
fluence over  him,  and  was  herself  much  governed 
by  the  presby  terian  clergy.  A  committee  of  par- 
liament was  sent  to  reason  with  him ;  and  Crom- 
wel  was  of  the  number.  In  vain  did  they  urge 
that  the  Scots  had  first  broken  the  covenant 
by  their  invasion  of  England  under  Hamilton ; 
and  that  they  would  surely  renew  their  hostile  at- 
tempts, if  not  prevented  by  the  vigorous  measures 
of  the  commonwealth.  Cromwel,  who  knew  the 
rigid  inflexibility  of  Fairfax  in  every  thing  which 
he  regarded  as  matter  of  principle,  ventured  to 
solicit  him  with  the  utmost  earnestness ;  and  he 
went  so  far  as  to  shed  tears  of  grief  and  vexation 
on  the  occasion.  No  one  could  suspect  any  am- 
bition in  the  man  who  laboured  so  zealously  to  re- 
tain his  general  in  that  high  office  which,  he  knew, 
he  himself  was  entitled  to  fill.  The  same  warmth  of 
temper  which  made  Cromwel  a  frantic  enthusiast, 
rendered  him  the  most  dangerous  of  hypocrites  ; 
and  it  was  to  this  turn  of  mind,  as  much  as  to  his 
courage  and  capacity,  that  he  owed  all  his  won- 
derful successes.  By  the  contagious  ferment  of 
his  zeal,  he  engaged  every  one  to  co-operate  with 
him  in  his  measures ;  and  entering  easily  and  af- 
fectionately into  every  part  which  he  was  disposed 


1650.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  197 

to  act,  he  was  enabled,  even  after  multiplied  de- 
ceits, to  cover,  under  a  tempest  of  passion,  all 
his  crooked  schemes  and  profound  artifices. 

Fairfax  having  resigned  his  commission,  it  was 
bestowed  on  Cromwel,  who  was  declared  captain- 
general  of  all  the  forces  in  England.  This  com- 
mand, in  a  commonwealth,  which  stood  entirely 
by  arms,  was  of  the  utmost  importance ;  and 
was  the  chief  step  which  this  ambitious  politician 
had  yet  made  towards  sovereign  power.  He  im- 
mediately marched  his  forces,  and  entered  Scot- 
land with  an  army  of  16,000  men. 

The  command  of  the  Scottish  army  was  given 
to  Lesley,  an  experienced  officer,  who  formed  a 
very  proper  plan  of  defence.  He  entrenched 
himself  in  a  fortified  camp  between  Edinburgh  and 
Leith,  and  took  care  to  remove  from  the  coun- 
ties of  Merse  and  the  Lothians  every  thing  which 
could  serve  to  the  subsistence  of  the  English  army. 
Cromwel  advanced  to  the  Scotch  camp,  and  en- 
deavoured by  every  expedient  to  bring  Lesley  to  a 
battle :  the  prudent  Scotchman  knew  that,  though 
superior  in  numbers,  his  army  was  much  inferior 
in  discipline  to  the  English ;  and  he  carefully  kept 
himself  within  his  entrenchments.  By  skirmishes 
and  small  rencounters  he  tried  to  confirm  the 
spirits  of  his  soldiers ;  and  he  was  successful  in 
these  enterprises.  His  army  daily  increased  both 
in  numbers  and  courage.  The  king  came  to  the 
camp ;  and  having  exerted  himself  in  an  action, 
gained  on  the  affections  of  the  soldiery,  who  were 


199  HISTORY  OF  ENGLANQ,  lC£0, 

more  desirous  of  serving  under  a  young  prince  of 
spirit  and  vivacity,  than  under  a  committee  of 
talking  gown-men.  The  clergy  were  alarmed, 
They  ordered  Charles  immediately  to  leave  the 
camp.  They  also  purged  it  carefully  of  about 
4000  Malignants  and  Engagers,  whose  zeal  had 
led  them  to  attend  the  king,  and  who  were  the 
soldiers  of  chief  credit  and  experience  in  the 
nation w.  They  then  concluded,  that  they  had 
an  army  composed  entirely  of  saints,  and  could 
not  be  beaten.  They  murmured  extremely,  not 
only  against  their  prudent  general,  but  also  against 
the  Lord,  on  account  of  his  delays  in  giving 
them  deliverance x;  and  they  plainly  told  him, 
that  if  he  would  not  save  them  from  the  English 
sectaries,  he  should  no  longer  be  their  Gody.  An 
advantage  having  offered  itself  on  a  Sunday,  they 
hindered  the  general  from  making  use  of  it,  lest 
he  should  involve  the  nation  in  the  guilt  of  sab- 
bath-breaking. 

Cromwel  found  himself  in  a  very  bad  situa- 
tion. He  had  no  provisions  but  what  he  received 
by  sea.  He  had  not  had  the  precaution  to  bring 
these  in  sufficient  quantities;  and  his  army  was 
reduced  to  difficulties.  He  retired  to  Dunbar. 
Lesley  followed  him,  and  encamped  on  the  heights 
of  Lamermure,  which  overlook  that  town.  There 
lay  many  difficult  passes   between  Dunbar  and 

w  Sir  Edward  Walker,  p.  165.  x  Id.  p.  1§S. 

1  Whidocke,  p.  443. 


1650.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  igg 

Berwic,  and  of  these  Lesley  had  taken  possession. 
The  English  general  was  reduced  to  extremities. 
He  had  even  embraced  a  resolution  of  sending  by- 
sea  all  his  foot  and  artillery  to  England,  and  of 
breaking  through,  at  all  hazards,  with  his  cavalry. 
The  madness  of  the  Scottish  ecclesiastics  saved 
him  from  this  loss  and  dishonour. 


BATTLE  OF  DUNBAR. 

Night  and  day  the  ministers  had  been  wrestling 
with  the  Lord  in  prayer,  as  they  termed  it ;  and 
they  fancied  that  they  had  at  last  obtained  the 
victory.  Revelations,  they  said,  were  made  them, 
that  the  sectarian  and  heretical  army,  together 
with  Agag,  meaning  Cromwel,  was  delivered  into 
their  hands.  Upon  the  faith  of  these  visions, 
they  forced  their  general,  in  spite  of  his  remon- 
strances, to  descend  into  the  plain,  with  a  view  of 
attacking  the  English  in  their  retreat.  Cromwel, 
looking  through  a  glass,  saw  the  enemy's  camp  in 
motion  ;  and  foretold,  without  the  help  of  revela- 
tions, that  the  Lord  had  delivered  them  into  his 
hands.  He  gave  orders  immediately  for  an  at- 
tack. In  this  battle  it  was  easily  observed,  that 
nothing,  in  military  actions,  can  supply  the  place 
of  discipline  and  experience;  and  that,  in  the 
presence  of  real  danger,  where  men  are  not  ac- 
customed to  it,  the  fumes  of  enthusiasm  presently 
dissipate,   and  lose  their  influence.     The  Scots, 


200  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1650. 

though  double  in  number  to  the  English,  were 
soon  put  to  flight,  and  pursued  with  great  slaugh- 
ter. The  chief,  if  not  only,  resistance  was  made 
by  one  regiment  of  Highlanders,  that  part  of 
the  army  which  was  the  least  infected  with  fa- 
naticism. No  victory  could  be  more  complete 
than  this  which  was  obtained  by  Cromwel. 
About  3000  of  the  enemy  were  slain,  and  9000 
taken  prisoners.  Cromwel  pursued  his  advantage, 
and  took  possession  of  Edinburgh  and  Leith. 
The  remnant  of  the  Scottish  army  fled  to  Stirling. 
The  approach  of  the  winter  season,  and  an  ague, 
which  seized  Cromwel,  kept  him  from  pushing 
the  victory  any  farther. 

The  clergy  made  great  lamentations,  and  told 
the  Lord,  that  to  them  it  was  little  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  and  estates,  but  to  him  it  was  a  great 
loss  to  suffer  his  elect  to  be  destroyed z.  They  pub- 
lished a  declaration,  containing  the  cause  of  their 
late  misfortunes.  These  visitations  they  ascribed  to 
the  manifold  provocations  of  the  king's  house,  of 
which  they  feared  he  had  not  yet  thoroughly  re- 
pented ;  the  secret  intrusion  of  malignants  into 
the  king's  family,  and  even  into  the  camp ;  the 
leaving  of  a  most  malignant  and  profane  guard  of 
horse,  who,  being  sent  for  to  be  purged,  came 
two  days  before  the  defeat,  and  were  allowed  to 
fight  with  the  army ;  the  owning  of  the  king's 
quarrel  by  many  without  subordination  to  reli- 

*  Sir  Edward  Walker. 


1650.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  201 

gion  and  liberty ;  and  the  carnal  self-keeping  of 
some,  together  with  the  neglect  of  family  prayers 
by  others. 

Cromwel,  having  been  so  successful  in  the 
war  of  the  sword,  took  up  the  pen  against  the 
Scottish  ecclesiastics.  He  wrote  them  some  pole- 
mical letters,  in  which  he  maintained  the  chief 
points  of  the  independent  theology.  He  took 
care  likewise  to  retort  on  them  their  favourite  ar- 
gument of  providence  ;  and  asked  them,  Whether 
the  Lord  had  not  declared  against  them?  But 
the  ministers  thought  that  the  same  events,  which 
to  their  enemies  were  judgments,  to  them  were 
trials ;  and  they  replied,  that  the  Lord  had  only 
hid  his  face,  for  a  time,  from  Jacob.  But  Crom- 
wel insisted,  that  the  appeal  had  been  made  to 
God  in  the  most  express  and  solemn  manner,  and 
that,  in  the  fields  of  Dunbar,  an  irrevocable  de- 
cision had  been  awarded  in  favour  of  the  English 
army  \ 

a  This  is  the  best  of  Cromwel' s  wretched  compositions  that  re- 
mains, and  we  shall  here  extract  a  passage  out  of  it.  "  You  say 
"  you  have  not  so  learned  Christ  as  to  hang  the  equity  of  our 
"  cause  upon  events.  We  could  wish  that  blindness  had  not 
"  been  upon  your  eyes  to  all  those  marvellous  dispensations, 
"  which  God  had  wrought  lately  in  England.  But  did  not  you 
"  solemnly  appeal  and  pray  ?  Did  not  we  do  so  too  ?  And  ought 
*'■  not  we  and  you  to  think,  with  fear  and  trembling,  of  the  hand 
**  of  the  great  God,  in  this  mighty  and  strange  appearance  of  his, 
"  but  can  slightly  call  it  an  event  ?  Were  not  both  your  and  our 
"  expectations  renewed  from  time  to  time,  while  we  waited  on 
"  God>  to  see  which  way  he  would  manifest  himself  upon  our 


202  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1651. 

The  defeat  of  the  Scots  was  regarded  by  the 
king  as  a  fortunate  event.  The  armies,  which 
fought  on  both  sides,  were  almost  equally  his 
enemies;  and  the  vanquished  were  now  obliged 
to  give  him  some  more  authority,  aud  apply  to 
him  for  support.  The  parliament  was  summoned 
to  meet  at  St.  Johnstone's.  Hamilton,  Lauder- 
dale, and  all  the  Engagers  were  admitted  into 
court  and  camp,  on  condition  of  doing  public 
penance,  and  expressing  repentance  for  their  late 
transgressions.  Some  Malignants  also  creeped  in 
under  various  pretences.  The  intended  humilia- 
tion or  penance  of  the  king  was  changed  into  the 
ceremony  of  his  coronation,  which  was  performed 
at  Scone  with  great  pomp  and  solemnity.  But 
amidst  all  this  appearance  of  respect,  Charles  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  most  rigid  coven- 
anters :  and  though  treated  with  civility  and 
courtesy  by  Argyle,  a  man  of  parts  and  address, 
he  was  little  better  than  a  prisoner,  and  was  still 
exposed  to  all  the  rudeness  and  pedantry  of  the 
ecclesiastics. 

rt  appeals  ?  And  shall  we,  after  all  these  our  prayers,  fastings, 
"  tears,  expectations,  and  solemn  appeals,  call  these  mere 
"  events  ?  The  Lord  pity  you.  Surely  we  fear,  because  it 
**  has  been  a  merciful  and  a  gracious  deliverance  to  us. 

"  I  beseech  you  in  the  bowels  of  Christ,  search  after  the 
"  mind  of  the  Lord  in  it  towards  you,  and  we  shall  help  you  by 
"  our  prayers  that  you  may  find  it.  For  yet,  if  we  know  our 
"  heart  at  all,  our  bowels  do  in  Christ  yearn  after  the  godly  in 
"  Scotland."  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  158. 


1(551.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  203 

This  young  prince  was  in  a  situation  which 
very  ill  suited  his  temper  and  disposition.  All 
those  good  qualities  which  he  possessed,  his  affa- 
bility, his  wit,  his  gaiety,  his  gentleman-like,  dis- 
engaged behaviour,  were  here  so  many  vices  ;  and 
his  love  of  ease,  liberty,  and  pleasure,  was  re- 
garded as  the  highest  enormity.  Though  artful 
in  the  practice  of  courtly  dissimulation,  the  sancti- 
fied style  was  utterly  unknown  to  him ;  and  he 
never  could  mould  his  deportment  into  that 
starched  grimace,  which  the  covenanters  required 
as  an  infallible  mark  of  conversion.  The  duke 
of  Buckingham  was  the  only  English  courtier  al- 
lowed to  attend  him ;  and,  by  his  ingenious  talent 
for  ridicule,  he  had  rendered  himself  extremely 
agreeable  to  his  master.  While  so  many  objects 
of  derision  surrounded  them,  it  was  difficult  to 
be  altogether  insensible  to  the  temptation,  and 
wholly  to  suppress  the  laugh.  Obliged  to  attend 
from  morning  to  night  at  prayers  and  sermons, 
they  betrayed  evident  symptoms  of  weariness  or 
contempt.  The  clergy  never  could  esteem  the 
king  sufficiently  regenerated :  and  by  continual 
exhortations,  remonstrances,  and  reprimands,  they 
still  endeavoured  to  bring  him  to  a  juster  sense  of 
his  spiritual  duty. 

The  king's  passion  for  the  fair  could  not  alto- 
gether be  restrained.  He  had  once  been  observed 
using  some  familiarities  with  a  young  woman ;  and 
a  committee  of  ministers  was  appointed  to  reprove 
him  for  a  behaviour  so  unbecoming  a  covenanted 


204  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  lfol. 

monarch.  The  spokesman  of  the  committee,  one 
Douglas,  began  with  a  severe  aspect,  informed 
the  king  that  great  scandal  had  been  given  to  the 
godly,  enlarged  on  the  heinous  nature  of  sin,  and 
concluded  with  exhorting  his  majesty,  whenever 
he  was  disposed  to  amuse  himself,  to  be  more 
careful,  for  the  future,  in  shutting  the  windows. 
This  delicacy,  so  unusual  to  the  place  and  to  the 
character  of  the  man,  was  remarked  by  the  king  ; 
and  he  never  forgot  the  obligation. 

The  king,  shocked  at  all  the  indignities,  and, 
perhaps,  still  more  tired  with  all  the  formalities, 
to  which  he  was  obliged  to  submit,  made  an  at- 
tempt to  regain  his  liberty.  General  Middleton, 
at  the  head  of  some  royalists,  being  proscribed  by 
the  covenanters,  kept  in  the  mountains,  expecting 
some  opportunity  of  serving  his  master.  The 
king  resolved  to  join  this  body.  He  secretly 
made  his  escapo  from  Argyle,  and  fled  towards 
the  Highlands.  Colonel  Montgomery,  with  a 
troop  of  horse,  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  him.  He 
overtook  the  king,  and  persuaded  him  to  return. 
The  royalists  being  too  weak  to  support  him, 
Charles  was  the  more  easily  induced  to  comply. 
This  incident  procured  him  afterwards  better 
treatment  and  more  authority;  the  covenanters 
being  afraid  of  driving  him,  by  their  rigours,  to 
some  desperate  resolution.  Argyle  renewed  his 
courtship  to  the  king,  and  the  king,  with  equal 
dissimulation,  pretended  to  repose  great  confid- 
ence in  Argyle.     He  even  went  so  far  as  to  drop 


1651.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  205 

hints  of  his  intention  to  marry  that  nobleman's 
daughter :  but  he  had  to  do  with  a  man  too  wise 
to  be  seduced  by  such  gross  artifices. 

As  soon  as  the  season  would  permit,  the  Scot- 
tish army  was  assembled  under  Hamilton  and 
Lesley ;  and  the  king  was  allowed  to  join  the 
camp.  The  forces  of  the  western  counties,  not- 
withstanding the  imminent  danger  which  threat- 
ened their  country,  were  resolute  not  to  unite 
their  cause  with  that  of  an  army  which  admitted 
any  engagers  or  jnalignants  among  them ;  and 
they  kept  in  a  body  apart  under  Ker.  They 
called  themselves  the  Protester's ;  and  their  fran- 
tic clergy  declaimed  equally  against  the  king 
and  against  Cromwel.  The  other  party  were  de- 
nominated Rcsolutioners ;  and  these  distinctions 
continued  long  after  to  divide  and  agitate  the 
kingdom. 

Charles  encamped  at  the  Torwood;  and  his 
generals  resolved  to  conduct  themselves  by  the 
same  cautious  maxims  which,  so  long  as  they 
were  embraced,  had  been  successful  during  the 
former  campaign.  The  town  of  Stirling  lay  at 
his  back,  and  the  whole  north  supplied  him  with 
provisions.  Strong  entrenchments  defended  his 
front;  and  it  was  in  vain  that  Cromwel  made 
every  attempt  to  bring  him  to  an  engagement. 
After  losing  much  time,  the  English  general  sent 
Lambert  over  the  frith  into  Fife,  with  an  inten- 
tion of  cutting  off  the  provisions  of  the  enemy. 
Lambert  fell   upon   Holborne   and   Brown,    who 


20S  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1651. 

commanded  a  party  of  the  Scots,  and  put  them  to 
rout  with  great  slaughter.  Cromwel  also  passed 
over  with  his  whole  army  ;  and  lying  at  the  back 
of  the  king,  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  keep 
his  post  any  longer. 

Charles,  reduced  to  despair,  embraced  a  reso- 
lution worthy  of  a  young  prince  contending  for 
empire.  Having  the  way  open,  he  resolved  im- 
mediately to  march  into  England ;  where  he 
expected  that  all  his  friends,  and  all  those  who 
were  discontented  with  the  present  government, 
would  flock  to  his  standard.  He  persuaded  the 
generals  to  enter  into  the  same  views;  and  with 
one  consent  the  army,  to  the  number  of  14,000 
men,  rose  from  their  camp,  and  advanced  by  great 
journies  towards  the  south. 

Cromwel  was  surprised  at  this  movement  of 
the  royal  army.  Wholly  intent  on  offending  his 
enemy,  he  had  exposed  his  friends  to  imminent 
danger,  and  saw  the  king  with  numerous  forces 
marching  into  England ;  where  his  presence,  from 
the  general  hatred  which  prevailed  against  the 
parliament,  was  capable  of  producing  some  great 
revolution.  But  if  this  conduct  was  an  oversight 
in  Cromwel,  he  quickly  repaired  it  by  his  vigi- 
lance and  activity.  He  dispatched  letters  to  the 
parliament,  exhorting  them  not  to  be  dismayed  at 
the  approach  of  the  Scots :  he  sent  orders  every 
where  for  assembling  forces  to  oppose  the  king :  he 
ordered  Lambert  with  a  body  of  cavalry  to  hang 
Upon  the  rear  of  the  royal  army,  and  infest  their 


1651.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  207 

march  :  and  he  himself,  leaving  Monk  with  7000 
men  to  complete  the  reduction  of  Scotland,  fol- 
lowed the  king  with  all  the  expedition  possible. 

Charles  found  himself  disappointed  in  his  ex- 
pectations of  increasing  his  army.  The  Scots, 
terrified  at  the  prospect  of  so  hazardous  an  en- 
terprise, fell  off  in  great  numbers.  The  English 
presbyterians,  having  no  warning  given  them  of 
the  king's  approach,  were  not  prepared  to  join 
him.  To  the  royalists,  this  measure  was  equally 
unexpected  ;  and  they  were  farther  deterred  from 
joining  the  Scottish  army,  by  the  orders  which 
the  committee  of  ministers  had  issued,  not  to  ad- 
mit any,  even  in  this  desperate  extremity,  who 
would  not  subscribe  the  covenant.  The  earl  of 
Derby,  leaving  the  Isle  of  Man,  where  he  had 
hitherto  maintained  his  independence,  was  em- 
ployed in  levying  forces  in  Cheshire  and  Lanca- 
shire ;  but  was  soon  suppressed  by  a  party  of  the 
parliamentary  army.  And  the  king,  when  he 
arrived  at  Worcester,  found  that  his  forces,  ex- 
tremely harassed  by  a  hasty  and  fatiguing  march, 
were  not  more  numerous  than  when  he  rose  from 
his  camp  in  the  Torwood. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  WORCESTER. 

Such  is  the  influence  of  established  govern- 
ment, that  the  commonwealth,  though  founded 
in  usurpation  the  most  unjust  and  unpopular,  had 


208  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  l6n. 

authority  sufficient  to  raise  every  where  the  militia 
of  the  counties  ;  and  these,  united  with  the  regu- 
lar forces,  bent  all  their  efforts  against  the  king. 
With  an  army  of  about  30,000  men,  Cromwel  fell 
upon  Worcester ;  and  attacking  it  on  all  sides, 
and  meeting  with  little  resistance,  except  from 
duke  Hamilton  and  general  Middleton,  broke  in 
upon  the  disordered  royalists.  The  streets  of  the 
city  were  strewed  with  dead.  Hamilton,  a  noble- 
man of  bravery  and  honour,  was  mortally  wound- 
ed ;  Massey  wounded  and  taken  prisoner ;  the 
king  himself,  having  given  many  proofs  of  per- 
sonal valour,  was  obliged  to  fly.  The  whole  Scot- 
tish army  was  either  killed  or  taken  prisoners. 
The  country  people,  inflamed  with  national  anti- 
pathy, put  to  death  the  few  that  escaped  from  the 
field  of  battle. 


THE  KING'S  ESCAPE. 

The  king  left  Worcester  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and,  without  halting,  travelled  about 
twenty-six  miles,  in  company  with  fifty  or  sixty 
of  his  friends.  To  provide  for  his  safety,  he 
thought  it  best  to  separate  himself  from  his  com- 
panions ;  and  he  left  them  without  communicat- 
ing his  intentions  to  any  of  them.  By  the  earl  of 
Derby's  directions,  he  went  to  Boscobel,  a  lone 
house  in  the  borders  of  Staffordshire,  inhabited 
by  one  Penderell,  a  farmer.     To  this  man  Charles 


1651.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  209 

entrusted  himself.  The  man  had  dignity  of  sen- 
timents much  above  his  condition  ;  and  though 
death  was  denounced  against  all  who  concealed 
the  king,  and  a  great  reward  promised  to  any  one 
who  should  betray  him,  he  professed  and  main- 
tained unshaken  fidelity.  He  took  the  assistance 
of  his  four  brothers,  equally  honourable  with  him- 
self; and  having  clothed  the  king  in  a  garb  like 
their  own,  they  led  him  into  the  neighbouring 
wood,  put  a  bill  into  his  hand,  and  pretended  to" 
employ  themselves  in  cutting  faggots.  Some 
nights  he  lay  upon  straw  in  the  house,  and  fed  on 
such  homely  fare  as  it  afforded.  For  a  better 
concealment,  he  mounted  upon  an  oak,  where  he 
sheltered  himself  among  the  leaves  and  branches 
for  twenty-four  hours.  He  saw  several  soldiers 
pass  by.  All  of  them  were  intent  in  search  of  the 
king ;  and  some  expressed,  in  his  hearing,  their 
earnest  wishes  of  seizins:  him.  This  tree  was 
afterwards  denominated  the  Royal  Oak ;  and  for 
many  years  was  regarded  by  the  neighbourhood 
with  great  veneration. 

Charles  was  in  the  middle  of  the  kingdom, 
and  could  neither  stay  in  his  retreat,  nor  stir  a 
step  from  it,  without  the  most  imminent  danger. 
Fear,  hopes,  and  party  zeal,  interested  multitudes 
to  discover  him  ;  and  even  the  smallest  indiscre- 
tion of  his  friends  might  prove  fatal.  Having 
joined  lord  Wilmot,  who  was  skulking  in  the 
neighbourhood,  they  agreed  to  put  themselves 
into  the  hands  of  colonel  Lane,  a  zealous  royalist, 

VOL.  VIII.  p 


210  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1(551. 

who  lived  at  Bentley,  not  many  miles  distant. 
The  king's  feet  were  so  hurt  by  walking  about 
in  heavy  boots  or  countrymen's  shoes  which  did 
not  fit  him,  that  he  was  obliged  to  mount  on 
horseback ;  and  he  travelled  in  this  situation  to 
Bentley,  attended  by  the  Penderells,  who  had 
been  so  faithful  to  him.  Lane  formed  a  scheme 
for  his  journey  to  Bristol,  where,  it  was  hoped,  he 
would  find  a  ship,  in  which  he  might  transport 
himself.  He  had  a  near  kinswoman,  Mrs.  Nor- 
ton, who  lived  within  three  miles  of  that  city, 
and  was  with  child,  very  near  the  time  of  her 
delivery.  He  obtained  a  pass  (for,  during  those 
times  of  confusion,  this  precaution  was  requisite) 
for  his  sister  Jane  Lane  and  a  servant,  to  travel 
towards  Bristol,  under  pretence  of  visiting  and 
attending  her  relation.  The  king  rode  before  the 
lady,  and  personated  the  servant. 

When  they  arrived  at  Norton's,  Mrs.  Lane 
pretended  that  she  had  brought  along  as  her 
servant  a  poor  lad,  a  neighbouring  farmer's  son, 
who  was  ill  of  an  ague  ;  and  she  begged  a  private 
room  for  him,  where  he  might  be  quiet.  Though 
Charles  kept  himself  retired  in  this  chamber,  the 
butler,  one  Pope,  soon  knew  him  :  the  king  was 
alarmed,  but  made  the  butler  promise  that  he 
would  keep  the  secret  from  every  mortal,  even 
from  his  master ;  and  he  was  faithful  to  his  en- 
gagement. 

No  ship,  it  was  found,  would,  for  a  month,  set 
sail  from  Bristol,  either  for  France  or  Spain ;  and 


165].  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  211 

the  king  was  obliged  to  go  elsewhere  fot  a  pass* 
age.  He  entrusted  himself  to  colonel  Windham 
of  Dorsetshire,  an  affectionate  partisan  of  the 
royal  family  :  the  natural  effect  of  the  long  civil 
wars,  and  of  the  furious  rage  to  which  all  men 
were  wrought  up  in  their  different  factions,  was, 
that  every  one's  inclinations  and  affections  were 
thoroughly  known,  and  even  the  courage  and 
fidelity  of  most  men,  by  the  variety  of  incidents, 
had  been  put  to  trial.  The  royalists  too  had, 
many  of  them,  been  obliged  to  make  conceal- 
ments in  their  houses  for  themselves,  their  friends, 
Or  more  valuable  effects;  and  the  art  of  eluding 
the  enemy  had  been  frequently  practised.  All 
these  circumstances  proved  favourable  to  the 
king  in  the  present  exigency.  As  he  often  passed 
through  the  hands  of  catholics,  the  Priest's  Hole, 
as  they  called  it,  the  place  where  they  were 
obliged  to  conceal  their  persecuted  priests,  was 
sometimes  employed  for  sheltering  their  distressed 
sovereign. 

Windham,  before  he  received  the  king,  asked 
leave  to  entrust  the  important  secret  to  his  mo- 
ther, his  wife,  and  four  servants,  on  whose  fidelity 
he  could  rely.  Of  all  these,  no  one  proved  want- 
ing either  in  honour  or  discretion.  The  vener- 
able old  matron,  on  the  reception  of  her  royal 
guest,  expressed  the  utmost  joy,  that  having  lost, 
without  regret,  three  sons  and  one  grand-child  in 
defence  of  his  father,  she  was  now  reserved,  in 
her  declining  years,  to  be  instrumental  in  the 
9 


212  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  lfol. 

preservation  of  himself.  Windham  told  the  king, 
that  sir  Thomas,  his  father,  in  the  year  1636,  a 
few  days  before  his  death,  called  to  him  his  five 
sons.  "  My  children,"  said  he,  "  we  have  hi- 
"  therto  seen  serene  and  quiet  times  under  our 
"  three  last  sovereigns :  but  I  must  now  warn 
*  you  to  prepare  for  clouds  and  storms.  Fac- 
¥  tions  arise  on  every  side,  and  threaten  the 
"  tranquillity  of  your  native  country.  But  what* 
"  ever  happen,  do  you  faithfully  honour  and 
"  obey  your  prince,  and  adhere  to  the  crown.  I 
"  charge  you  never  to  forsake  the  crown,  though  it 
"  should  hang  upon  a  bush."  "These  last  words," 
added  Windham,  "  made  such  impressions  on  all 
"  our  breasts,  that  the  many  afflictions  of  these 
"  sad  times  could  never  efface  their  indelible 
"  characters."  From  innumerable  instances,  it 
appears  how  deep-rooted  in  the  minds  of  the 
English  gentry  of  that  age  was  the  principle  of 
loyalty  to  their  sovereign  j  that  noble  and  gener- 
ous principle,  inferior  only  in  excellence  to  the 
more  enlarged  and  more  enlightened  affection  to- 
wards a  legal  constitution.  But  during  those 
times  of  military  usurpation,  these  passions  were 
the  same. 

The  king  continued  several  days  in  Windham's 
house ;  and  all  his  friends  in  Britain,  and  in  every 
part  of  Europe,  remained  in  the  most  anxious 
suspense  with  regard  to  his  fortunes:  no  one  could 
conjecture  whether  he  were  dead  or  alive ;  and 
the  report  of  his  death  being  generally  believed* 


ifoi.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  213 

happily  relaxed  the  vigilant  search  of  his  ene- 
mies.    Trials  were  made  to  procure  a  vessel  for 
his  escape;  but  he  still  met  with  disappointments. 
Having  left  Windham's  house,  he  was  obliged 
again  to  return  to  it.     He  passed  through  many- 
other  adventures ;  assumed  different  diguises ;  in 
every  step  was  exposed  to  imminent  perils ;  and 
received  daily  proofs  of  uncorrupted  fidelity  and 
attachment.     The  sagacity  of  a  smith,  who  re- 
marked that  his  horse's  shoes  had  been  made  in 
the  north,  and  not  in  the  west,  as  he  pretended, 
once  detected  him ;    and  he  narrowly  escaped. 
At  Shoreham  in  Sussex  a  vessel  was  at  last  found, 
in  which  he  embarked.     He  had  been  known  to 
so  many,  that  if  he  had  not  set  sail  in  that  critical 
moment  it  had  been  impossible  for  him  to  escape. 
After  one  and  forty  days  concealment,  he  arrived 
safely  at  Fescamp  in  Normandy.     No  less  than 
forty  men  and  women  had  at  different  times  been 
privy  to  his  concealment  and  escape  b. 

The  battle  of  Worcester  afforded  Cromwel 
what  he  called  his  crowning  mercy c.  So  elated 
was  he,  that  he  intended  to  have  knighted  in  the 
field  two  of  his  generals,  Lambert  and  Fleetwood; 
but  was  dissuaded  by  his  friends  from  exerting 
this  act  of  regal  authority.  His  power  and  am- 
bition were  too  great  to  brook  submission  to  the 
empty  name  of  a  republic,  which  stood  chiefly 
by  his  influence,  and  was  supported  by  his  vic- 

b  Heathe's  Chronicle,  p.  301. 
•  Parliamentary  History,  vol.  xx.  p.  47. 


214  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1651. 

tories.  How  early  he  entertained  thoughts  of 
taking  into  his  hand  the  reins  of  government  is 
uncertain.  We  are  only  assured,  that  he  now 
discovered  to  his  intimate  friends  these  aspiring 
views ;  and  even  expressed  a  desire  of  assuming 
the  rank  of  king,  which  he  had  contributed,  with 
such  seeming  zeal,  to  abolish4, 


THE  COMMONWEALTH, 

The  little  popularity  and  credit  acquired  by  the 
republicans,  farther  stimulated  the  ambition  of 
this  enterprising  politician.  These  men  had  not 
that  large  thought,  nor  those  comprehensive 
views,  which  might  qualify  them  for  acting  the 
part  of  legislators :  selfish  aims  and  bigotry  chiefly 
engrossed  their  attention.  They  carried  their 
rigid  austerity  so  far  as  to  enact  a  law,  declaring 
fornication,  after  the  first  act,  to  be  felony,  with-r 
out  benefit  of  clergy6.  Tney  made  small  pro- 
gress in  that  important  work,  which  they  professr 
ed  to  have  so  much  at  heart,  the  settling  of  a 
new  model  of  representation,  and  fixing  a  plan  of 
government.  The  nation  began  to  apprehend, 
that  they  intended  to  establish  themselves  as  a 

*  Whitlocke,  p.  523. 
■  Scobel,  p.  121.    A  bill  was  introduced  into  the  house  against 
painting,  patches,  and  other  immodest  dress  of  women ;  but  it 
did  not  pass.    Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xix.  p.  263. 


1651.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  215 

perpetual  legislature,  and  to  confine  the  whole 
power  to  60  or  70,persons,  who  called  themselves 
the  parliament  of  the  commonwealth  of  England. 
And  while  they  pretended  to  bestow  new  liberties 
upon  the  nation,  they  found  themselves  obliged 
to  infringe  even  the  most  valuable  of  those  which, 
through  time  immemorial,  had  been  transmitted 
from  their  ancestors.  Not  daring  to  entrust  the 
trials  of  treason  to  juries,  who,  being  chosen  in- 
differently from  among  the  people,  would  have 
been  little  favourable  to  the  commonwealth,  and 
would  have  formed  their  verdict  upon  the  ancient 
laws,  they  eluded  that  noble  institution,  by  which 
the  government  of  this  island  has  ever  been  so 
much  distinguished.  They  had  evidently  seen  in 
the  trial  of  Lilburn  what  they  could  expect  from 
juries.  This  man,  the  most  turbulent,  but  the 
most  upright  and  courageous,  of  human  kind, 
was  tried  for  a  transgression  of  the  new  statute  of 
treasons:  but  though  he  was  plainly  guilty,  he 
was  acquitted,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people. 
Westminster-hall,  nay  the  whole  city,  rang  with 
shouts  and  acclamations.  Never  did  any  esta- 
blished power  receive  so  strong  a  declaration  of 
its  usurpation  and  invalidity  ;  and  from  no  insti- 
tution besides  the  admirable  one  of  juries,  could 
be  expected  this  magnanimous  effort. 

That  they  might  not  for  the  future  be  exposed 
to  affronts,  which  so  much  lessened  their  author- 
ity, the  parliament  erected  a  high  court  of  justice, 
which  was  to  receive  indictments  from  the  coun- 


21(5  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1651. 

cil  of  state.  This  court  was  composed  of  men 
devoted  to  the  ruling  party,  without  name  or 
character,  determined  to  sacrifice  every  thing  to 
their  own  safety  or  ambition.  Colonel  Eusebius 
Andrews  and  colonel  Walter  Slingsby  were  tried 
by  this  court  for  conspiracies,  and  condemned  to 
death.  They  were  royalists,  and  refused  to  plead 
before  so  illegal  a  jurisdiction.  Love,  Gibbons, 
and  other  presbyterians,  having  entered  into  a 
plot  against  the  republic,  were  also  tried,  con- 
demned, and  executed.  The  earl  of  Derby,  sir 
Timothy  Featherstone,  Bemboe,  being  taken  pri- 
soners after  the  battle  of  Worcester,  were  put  to 
death  by  sentence  of  a  court  martial ;  a  method 
of  proceeding  declared  illegal  by  that  very  peti- 
tion of  right,  for  which  a  former  parliament  had 
so  strenuously  contended,  and  which,  after  great 
efforts,  they  had  extorted  from  the  king. 

Excepting  their  principles  of  toleration,  the 
maxims  by  which  the  republicans  regulated  eccle- 
siastical affairs  no  more  prognosticated  any  dur- 
able settlement,  than  those  by  which  they  con- 
ducted their  civil  concerns.  The  presbyterian 
model  of  congregation,  classes,  and  assemblies, 
was  not  allowed  to  be  finished :  it  seemed  even 
the  intention  of  many  leaders  in  the  parliament 
to  admit  of  no  established  church,  and  to  leave 
every  one,  without  any  guidance  of  the  magi- 
strate, to  embrace  whatever  sect,  and  to  support 
whatever  clergy,  were  most  agreeable  to  him. 

The  parliament  went  so  far  as  to  make  some 


1651.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  217 

approaches  in  one  province,  to  their  independent 
model.  Almost  all  the  clergy  of  Wales  being 
ejected  as  malignants,  itinerant  preachers  with 
small  salaries  were  settled,  not  above  four  or  five 
in  each  county  ;  and  these,  being  furnished  with 
horses  at  the  public  expence,  hurried  from  place 
to  place,  and  carried,  as  they  expressed  them* 
selves,  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel f.  They 
were  all  of  them  men  of  the  lowest  birth  and  edu- 
cation, who  had  deserted  mechanical  trades,  in 
order  to  follow  this  new  profession.  And  in  this 
particular,  as  well  as  in  their  wandering  life, 
they  pretended  to  be  more  truly  apostolical. 

The  republicans,  both  by  the  turn  of  their 
disposition,  and  by  the  nature  of  the  instruments 
which  they  employed,  were  better  qualified  for 
acts  of  force  and  vigour,  than  for  the  slow  and 
deliberate  work  of  legislation.  Notwithstanding 
the  late  wars  and  bloodshed,  and  the  present  fac- 
tions, the  power  of  England  had  never,  in  any 
period,  appeared  so  formidable  to  the  neighbour- 
ing kingdoms  as  it  did  at  this  time,  in  the  hands 
of  the  commonwealth.  A  numerous  army  served 
equally  to  retain  every  one  in  implicit  subjection 
to  established  authority,  and  to  strike  a  terror 
into  foreign  nations.  The  power  of  peace  and 
war  was  lodged  in  the  same  hands  with  that  of 
imposing  taxes;  and  no  difference  of  views, 
among  the   several  members  of  the  legislature, 

I  Dr.  John  Walker's  Attempt,  p.  147,  &  seq« 


218  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1(515. 

could  any  longer  be  apprehended.  The  present 
impositions,  though  much  superior  to  what  had 
ever  formerly  been  experienced,  were  in  reality 
moderate,  and  what  a  nation  so  opulent  could 
easily  bear.  The  military  genius  of  the  people 
had,  by  the  civil  contests,  been  roused  from  its 
former  lethargy ;  and  excellent  officers  were 
formed  in  every  branch  of  service.  The  confu- 
sion, into  which  all  things  had  been  thrown,  had 
given  opportunity  to  men  of  low  stations  to 
break  through  their  obscurity,  and  to  raise  them- 
selves by  their  courage  to  commands  which  they 
were  well  qualified  to  exercise,  but  to  which  their 
birth  could  never  have  entitled  them.  And  while 
so  great  a  power  was  lodged  in  such  active 
hands,  no  wonder  the  republic  was  successful  in 
all  its  enterprises. 

Blake,  a  man  of  great  courage  and  a  generous 
disposition,  the  same  person  who  had  defended 
Lyme  and  Taunton  with  such  unshaken  obstinacy 
against  the  late  king,  was  made  an  admiral ;  and 
though  he  had  hitherto  been  accustomed  only  to 
land-service,  into  which  too  he  had  not  entered 
till  past  fifty  years  of  age,  he  soon  raised  the 
naval  glory  of  the  nation  to  a  greater  height  than 
it  had  ever  attained  in  any  former  period.  A 
fleet  was  put  under  his  command,  and  he  received 
orders  to  pursue  prince  Rupert,  to  whom  the  king 
had  entrusted  that  squadron  which  had  deserted 
to  him.  Rupert  took  shelter  in  Kinsale ;  and 
escaping  thence,  fled  towards  the  coast  of  Portu- 


1651.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  219 

gal.  Blake  pursued  and  chased  him  into  the 
Tagus,  where  he  intended  to  make  an  attack  upon 
him.  But  the  king  of  Portugal,  moved  by  the 
favour  which,  throughout  all  Europe  attended 
the  royal  cause,  refused  Blake  admittance  and 
aided  prince  Rupert  in  making  his  escape.  To 
be  revenged  of  this  partiality,  the  English  admiral 
made  prize  of  twenty  Portuguese  ships  richly 
laden ;  and  he  threatened  still  farther  vengeance. 
The  king  of  Portugal  dreading  so  dangerous  a  foe 
to  his  newly-acquired  dominion,  and  sensible  of 
the  unequal  contest  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
made  all  possible  submissions  to  the  haughty  re- 
public, and  was  at  last  admitted  to  negotiate  the 
renewal  of  his  alliance  with  England.  Prince 
Rupert,  having  lost  a  great  part  of  his  squadron 
on  the  coast  of  Spain,  made  sail  towards  the  West 
Indies.  His  brother,  prince  Maurice,  was  there 
shipwrecked  in  a  hurricane.  Every  where  this 
squadron  subsisted  by  privateering,  sometimes  on 
English,  sometimes  on  Spanish  vessels.  And 
Rupert  at  last  returned  to  France,  where  he  dis- 
posed of  the  remnants  of  his  fleet,  together  with 
his  prizes. 

All  the  settlements  in  America,  except  New 
England,  which  had  been  planted  entirely  by  the 
puritans,  adhered  to  the  royal  party,  even  after 
the  settlement  of  the  republic;  and  sir  George 
Ayscue  was  sent  with  a  squadron  to  reduce  them. 
Bermudas,  Antigua,  Virginia,  were  soon  subdued. 
Barbadoes,   commanded  by  lord  Willoughby  of 


220  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1051. 

Parham,  made  some  resistance,  but  was  at  last 
obliged  to  submit. 

With  equal  ease  were  Jersey,  Guernsey,  Scilly, 
and  the  Isle  of  Man,  brought  under  subjection  to 
the  republic;  and  the  sea,  which  had  been  much 
infested  by  privateers  from  these  islands,  was 
rendered  safe  to  the  English  commerce.  The 
countess  of  Derby  defended  the  Isle  of  Man; 
and  with  great  reluctance  yielded  to  the  neces- 
sity of  surrendering  to  the  enemy.  This  lady,  a 
daughter  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Trimoille  in 
France,  had,  during  the  civil  war,  displayed  a 
manly  courage  by  her  obstinate  defence  of  La- 
tham-house against  the  parliamentary  forces ;  and 
she  retained  the  glory  of  being  the  last  person 
in  the  three  kingdoms,  and  in  all  their  dependent 
dominions,  who  submitted  to  the  victorious  com- 
monwealth*. 

Ireland  and  Scotland  were  now  entirely  sub- 
jected and  reduced  to  tranquillity.  Ireton,  the 
new  deputy  of  Ireland,  at  the  head  of  a  numerous 
army,  30,000  strong,  prosecuted  the  work  of  sub- 
duing the  revolted  Irish ;  and  he  defeated  them 
in  many  rencounters,  which,  though  of  themselves 
of  no  great  moment,  proved  fatal  to  their  de- 
clining cause.  He  punished  without  mercy  all 
the  prisoners  who  had  any  hand  in  the  massacres. 
Sir  Phelim  O'Neale,  among  the  rest,  was,  some 
time  after,  brought  to  the  gibbet,  and  suffered  an 

*  See  note  [H]  vol.  X. 


1651.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  221 

ignominious  death,  which  he  had  so  well  merited 
by  his  inhuman  cruelties.  Limeric,  a  consider- 
able town,  still  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Irish  ; 
and  Ireton,  after  a  vigorous  siege,  made  himself 
master  of  it.  He  was  here  infected  with  the 
plague,  and  shortly  after  died ;  a  memorable  per- 
sonage, much  celebrated  for  his  vigilance,  in- 
dustry, capacity,  even  for  the  strict  execution  of 
justice  in  that  unlimited  command  which  he  pos- 
sessed in  Ireland.  He  was  observed  to  be  inflex- 
ible in  all  his  purposes ;  and  it  was  believed  by 
many,  that  he  was  animated  with  a  sincere 
and  passionate  love  of  liberty,  and  never  could 
have  been  induced  by  any  motive  to  submit  to 
the  smallest  appearance  of  regal  government. 
Cromwel  appeared  to  be  much  affected  by  his 
death  ;  and  the  republicans,  who  reposed  great 
confidence  in  him,  were  inconsolable.  To  shew 
their  regard  for  his  merit  and  services,  they  be- 
stowed an  estate  of  two  thousand  pounds  a-year 
on  his  family,  and  honoured  him  with  a  magnifi- 
cent funeral  at  the  public  charge.  Though  the 
established  government  was  but  the  mere  shadow 
of  a  commonwealth,  yet  was  it  beginning  by"  pro. 
per  arts  to  encourage  that  public  spirit  which  no 
other  species  of  civil  polity  is  ever  able  fully  to 
inspire. 

The  command  of  the  army  in  Ireland  devolv- 
ed  on  lieutenant-general  Ludlow.  The  civil  go- 
vernment of  the  island  was  entrusted  to  commis- 
sioners. Ludlow  continued  to  push  the  advantages 


222  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1651. 

against  the  Irish,  and  every  where  obtained  an  easy- 
victory.  That  unhappy  people,  disgusted  with  the 
kin  a:  on  account  of  those  violent  declarations 
against  them  and  their  religion,  which  had  been 
extorted  by  the  Scots,  applied  to  the  king  of 
Spain,  to  the  duke  of  Lorraine,  and  found  assist- 
ance no  where.  Clanricard,  unable  to  resist  the 
prevailing  power,  made  submissions  to  the  parlia- 
ment, and  retired  into  England,  where  he  soon 
after  died.  He  was  a  steady  catholic  ;  but  a  man 
much  respected  by  all  parties. 

The  successes  which  attended  Monk  in  Scot- 
land were  no  less  decisive.  That  able  general  laid 
siege  to  Stirling-castle ;  and  though  it  was  well 
provided  for  defence,  it  was  soon  surrendered  to 
him.  He  there  became  master  of  all  the  records 
of  the  kingdom  ;  and  he  sent  them  to  England. 
The  earl  of  Leven,  the  earl  of  Crawford,  lord 
Ogilvy,  and  other  noblemen,  having  met  near 
Perth,  in  order  to  concert  measures  for  raising  a 
new  army,  were  suddenly  set  upon  by  colonel 
Alured,  and  most  of  them  taken  prisoners.  Sir 
Philip  Musgrave,  with  some  Scots,  being  engaged 
at  Dumfries  in  a  like  enterprise,  met  with  a  like 
fate.  Dundee  was  a  town  well  fortified,  supplied 
with  a  good  garrison  under  Lumisden,  and  full  of 
all  the  rich  furniture,  the  plate,  and  money  of  the 
kingdom,  which  had  been  sent  thither  as  to  a 
place  of  safety.  Monk  appeared  before  it ;  and 
having  made  a  breach,  gave  a  general  assault. 
He  carried  the  town  ;  and  following  the  example 


1651.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  223 

and  instructions  of  Cromwel,  put  all  the  inhabit- 
ants to  the  sword,  in  order  to  strike  a  general 
terror  into  the  kingdom.  Warned  by  this  ex- 
ample, Aberdeen,  St.  Andrew's,  Inverness,  and 
other  towns  and  forts,  yielded,  of  their  own  ac- 
cord, to  the  enemy.  Argyle  made  his  submis- 
sions to  the  English  commonwealth ;  and  except- 
ing a  few  royalists,  who  remained  some  time  in 
the  mountains,  under  the  Earl  of  Glencairn,  lord 
Balcarras,  and  general  Middleton,  that  kingdom 
which  had  hitherto,  through  all  ages,  by  means 
of  its  situation,  poverty,  and  valour,  maintained 
its  independence,  was  reduced  to  total  subjection. 
The  English  parliament  sent  sir  Harry  Vane, 
St.  John,  and  other  commissioners,  to  settle  Scot- 
land. These  men,  who  possessed  little  of  the  true 
spirit  of  liberty,  knew  how  to  maintain  the  ap- 
pearance of  it ;  and  they  required  the  voluntary 
consent  of  all  the  counties  and  towns  of  this  con- 
quered kingdom,  before  they  would  unite  them 
into  the  same  commonwealth  with  England.  The 
clergy  protested ;  because,  they  said,  this  incor- 
porating union  would  draw  along  with  it  a  sub- 
ordination of  the  church  to  the  state  in  the  things 
of  Christ*.  English  judges,  joined  to  some  Scot- 
tish, were  appointed  to  determine  all  causes; 
justice  was  strictly  administered ;  order  and 
peace  maintained ;  and  the  Scots,  freed  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  ecclesiastics,  were  not  much  dis- 

8  Whitlocke,  p.  496.     Heatbe's  Chronicle,  p.  307. 


224  HISTOFxY    OF   ENGLAND.  1052. 

satisfied  with  the  present  government*.  The 
prudent  conduct  of  Monk,  a  man  who  possessed 
a  capacity  for  the  arts  both  of  peace  and  war, 
served  much  to  reconcile  the  minds  of  men,  and 
to  allay  their  prejudices. 


DUTCH  WAR.     1652. 

By  the  total  reduction  and  pacification  of  the 
British  dominions,  the  parliament  had  leisure  to 
look  abroad,  and  to  exert  their  vigour  in  foreign 
enterprises,  The  Dutch  were  the  first  that  felt 
the  weight  of  their  arms. 

During  the  life  of  Frederic  Henry,  prince  of 
Orange,  the  Dutch  republic  had  maintained  a 
neutrality  in  the  civil  wars  of  England,  and  had 
never  interposed,  except  by  her  good  offices,  be- 
tween the  contending  parties.  '  When  William, 
who  had  married  an  English  princess,  succeeded  to 
his  father's  commands  and  authority h,  the  States, 
both  before  and  after  the  execution  of  the  late 
king,  were  accused  of  taking  steps  more  favour- 
able to  the  royal  cause,  and  of  betraying  a  great 
prejudice  against  that  of  the  parliament.  It  was 
long  before  the  envoy  of  the  English  common- 
wealth could  obtain  an  audience  of  the  states- 
general.  The  murderers  of  Dorislaus  were  not 
pursued  with  such  rigour  as  the  parliament  ex- 

*  See  note  [I]  vol.  X.  h  1647. 


1652.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  225 

pec  ted.  And  much  regard  had  been  payed  to 
the  king,  and  many  good  offices  performed  to 
him,  both  by  the  public,  and  by  men  of  all  ranks 
in  the  United  Provinces. 

After  the  death  of  William  prince  of  Orange1, 
which  was  attended  with  the  depression  of  his 
party  and  the  triumph  of  the  Dutch  republicans, 
the  parliament  thought  that  the  time  was  now  fa- 
vourable for  cementing  a  closer  confederacy  with 
the  States.  St.  John,  chief  justice,  who  was  sent 
over  to  the  Hague,  had  entertained  the  idea  of 
forming  a  kind  of  coalition  between  the  two  re- 
publics, which  would  have  rendered  their  interests 
totally  inseparable  ;  but  fearing  that  so  extraor- 
dinary a  project  would  not  be  relished,  he  con- 
tented himself  with  dropping  some  hints  of  it, 
and  openly  went  no  farther  than  to  propose  a 
strict  defensive  alliance  between  England  and 
the  United  Provinces,  such  as  has  now,  for  near 
seventy  years,  taken  place  between  these  friendly 
powers  k.  But  the  States,  who  were  unwilling  to 
form  a  nearer  confederacy  with  a  government, 
whose  measures  were  so  obnoxious,  and  whose 
situation  seemed  so  precarious,  offered  only  to 
renew  the  former  alliances  with  England.  And 
the  haughty  St.  John,  disgusted  with  this  disap- 
pointment, as  well  as  incensed  at  many  affronts, 
which  had  been  offered  him  with  impunity,  by 
the  retainers  of  the  Palatine  and  Orange  fami- 

1  On  October  17,  1650.         *  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  182. 

Vol.  viii.  q, 


V 


226  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  1652. 

lies,  and  indeed  by  the  populace  in  general,  re- 
turned into  England,  and  endeavoured  to  foment 
a  quarrel  between  the  republics. 

The  movements  of  great  states  are  often  di- 
rected by  as  slender  springs  as  those  of  indivi- 
duals. Though  war  with  so  considerable  a  naval 
power  as  the  Dutch,  who  were  in  peace  with  all 
their  other  neighbours,  might  seem  dangerous  to 
the  yet  unsettled  commmonwealth,  there  were 
several  motives  which  at  this  time  induced  the 
English  parliament  to  embrace  hostile  measures. 
Many  of  the  members  thought  that  a  foreign  war 
would  serve  as  a  pretence  for  continuing  the  same 
parliament,  and  delaying  the  new  model  of  a  re- 
presentative, with  which  the  nation  had  so  long 
been  flattered.  Others  hoped  that  the  war  would 
furnish  a  reason  for  maintaining,  some  time 
longer,  that  numerous  standing  army,  which  was 
so  much  complained  of1.  On  the  other  hand, 
some,  who  dreaded  the  increasing  power  of  Crom- 
wel,  expected  that  the  great  expence  of  naval 
armaments  would  prove  a  motive  for  diminishing 
the  military  establishment.  To  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  from  domestic  quarrels  towards 
foreign  transactions,  seemed,  in  the  present  dis- 
position of  men's  minds,  to  be  good  policy.  The 
superior  power  of  the  English   commonwealth, 

1  We  are  told  in  the  life  of  sir  Henry  Vane,  that  that  famous 
republican  opposed  the  Dutch  war,  and  that  it  was  the  military 
gentlemen  chiefly  who  supported  that  measure. 


1652.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  227 

together  with  its  advantages  of  situation,  pro- 
mised success ;  and  the  parliamentary  leaders 
hoped  to  gain  many  rich  prizes  from  the  Dutch, 
to  distress  and  sink  their  flourishing  commerce, 
and  by  victories  to  throw  a  lustre  on  their  own 
establishment,  which  was  so  new  and  unpopular. 
All  these  views,  enforced  by  the  violent  spirit  of 
St.  John,  who  had  great  influence  over  Cromwel, 
determined  the  parliament  to  change  the  purposed 
alliance  into  a  furious  war  against  the  United 
Provinces. 

To  cover  these  hostile  intentions,  the  parlia- 
ment, under  pretence  of  providing  for  the  in- 
terests of  commerce,  embraced  such  measures  as 
they  knew  would  give  disgust  to  the  States.  They 
framed  the  famous  act  of  navigation ;  which  pro- 
hibited all  nations  from  importing  into  England 
in  their  bottoms  any  commodity  which  was  not 
the  growth  and  manufacture  of  their  own  coun- 
try. By  this  law,  though  the  terms  in  which 
it  was  conceived  were  general,  the  Dutch  were 
principally  affected ;  because  their  country  pro- 
duces few  commodities,  and  they  subsist  chiefly 
by  being  the  general  carriers  and  factors  of  Eu- 
rope. Letters  of  reprisal  were  granted  to  several 
merchants,  who  -  complained  of  injuries,  which, 
they  pretended,  they  had  received  from  the  States ; 
and  above  eighty  Dutch  ships  fell  into  their 
hands,  and  were  made  prizes.  The  cruelties  com- 
mitted on  the  English  at  Amboyna,  which  were 
certainly   enormous,    but   which   seemed   to   be 


228  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1652. 

buried  in  oblivion  by  a  thirty  years'  silence,  were 
again  made  the  ground  of  complaint.  And  the 
allowing  the  murderers  of  Dorislaus  to  escape, 
and  the  conniving  at  the  insults  to  which  St.  John 
had  been  exposed,  were  represented  as  symptoms 
of  an  unfriendly,  if  not  a  hostile,  disposition  in 
the  States. 

The  States,  alarmed  at  all  these  steps,  sent 
orders  to  their  ambassadors  to  endeavour  the  re- 
newal of  the  treaty  of  alliance,  which  had  been 
broken  off  by  the  abrupt  departure  of  St.  John. 
Not  to  be  unprepared,  they  equipped  a  fleet  of  a 
hundred  and  fifty  sail,  and  took  care,  by  their 
ministers  at  London,  to  inform  the  council  of 
state  of  that  armament.  This  intelligence,  in- 
stead of  striking  terror  into  the  English  republic, 
was  considered  as  a  menace,  and  farther  con- 
firmed the  parliament  in  their  hostile  resolutions. 
The  minds  of  men  in  both  states  were  every  day 
more  irritated  against  each  other;  and  it  was 
not  long  before  these  humours  broke  forth  into 
action. 

Tromp,  an  admiral  of  great  renown,  received 
from  the  States  the  command  of  a  fleet  of  forty- 
two  sail,  in  order  to  protect  the  Dutch  navigation 
against  the  privateers  of  the  English.  He  was 
forced,  by  stress  of  weather,  as  he  alleged,  to  take 
shelter  in  the  road  of  Dover,  where  he  met  with 
Blake,  who  commanded  an  English  fleet  much  in- 
ferior in  number.  Who  was  the  aggressor  in  the 
action,  which  ensued  between  these  two  admirals, 


1652.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  229 

both  of  them  men  of  such  prompt  and  fiery  dispo- 
sitions, it  is  not  easy  to  determine ;  since,  each  of 
them  sent  to  his  own  state  a  relation  totally  op- 
posite in  all  its  circumstances  to  that  of  the  other, 
and  yet  supported  by  the  testimony  of  every  cap- 
tain in  his  fleet.  Blake  pretended  that,  having 
given  a  signal  to  the  Dutch  admiral  to  strike, 
Tromp,  instead  of  complying,  tired  a  broadside  at 
him.  Tromp  asserted  that  he  was  preparing  to 
strike,  and  that  the  English  admiral,  nevertheless, 
began  hostilities.  It  is  certain  that  the  admiralty 
of  Holland,  who  are  distinct  from  the  council  of 
state,  had  given  Tromp  no  orders  to  strike,  but 
had  left  him  to  his  own  discretion  with  regard  to 
that  vain  but  much  contested  ceremonial.  They 
seemed  willing  to  introduce  the  claim  of  an 
equality  with  the  new  commonwealth,  and  to  in- 
terpret the  formal  respect  payed  the  English  flag 
as  a  deference  due  only  to  the  monarchy.  This 
circumstance  forms  a  strong  presumption  against 
the  narrative  of  the  Dutch  admiral.  The  whole 
Orange  party,  it  must  be  remarked,  to  which 
Tromp  was  suspected  to  adhere,  were  desirous  of 
a  war  with  England. 

Blake,  though  his  squadron  consisted  only  of 
fifteen  vessels,  reinforced,  after  the  battle  began, 
by  eight  under  captain  Bourne,  maintained  the 
fight  with  bravery  for  five  hours,  and  sunk  one 
ship  of  the  enemy,  and  took  another.  Night 
parted  the  combatants,  and  the  Dutch  fleet  retired 
towards  the  coast  of  Holland.     The  populace  of 


230  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1652. 

London  were  enraged,  and  would  have  insulted 
the  Dutch  ambassadors,  who  lived  at  Chelsea, 
had  not  the  council  of  state  sent  guards  to  pro- 
tect them. 

When  the  States  heard  of  this  action,  of  which 
the  consequences  were  easily  foreseen,  they  were 
in  the  utmost  consternation.  They  immediately 
dispatched  Paw,  pensionary  of  Holland,  as  their 
ambassador  extraordinary  to  London,  and  ordered 
him  to  lay  before  the  parliament  the  narrative 
which  Tromp  had  sent  of  the  late  rencounter. 
They  entreated  them,  by  all  the  bands  of  their 
common  religion  and  common  liberties,  not  to 
precipitate  themselves  into  hostile  measures,  but  to 
appoint  commissioners,  who  should  examine  every 
circumstance  of  the  action,  and  clear  up  the  truth, 
which  lay  in  obscurity.  And  they  pretended  that 
they  had  given  no  orders  to  their  admiral  to  offer 
any  violence  to  the  English,  but  would  severely 
punish  him,  if  they  found,  upon  inquiry,  that  he 
had  been  guilty  of  an  action  which  they  so  much 
disapproved.  The  imperious  parliament  would 
hearken  to  none  of  these  reasons  or  remon- 
strances. Elated  by  the  numerous  successes 
which  they  had  obtained  over  their  domestic  ene- 
mies, they  thought  that  every  thing  must  yield 
to  their  fortunate  arms ;  and  they  gladly  seized 
the  opportunity,  which  they  sought,  of  making 
war  upon  the  States.  They  demanded  that, 
without  any  farther  delay  or  inquiry,  reparation 
should  be  made  for  all  the  damages  which  the 


1652.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  231 

English  had  sustained.  And  when  this  demand 
was  not  complied  with,  they  dispatched  orders 
for  commencing  war  against  the  United  Pro- 
vinces. 

Blake  sailed  northwards  with  a  numerous  fleet, 
and  fell  upon  the  herring  busses,  which  were 
escorted  by  twelve  men  of  war.  All  these  he 
either  took  or  dispersed.  Tromp  followed  him 
with  a  fleet  of  above  a  hundred  sail.  When  these 
two  admirals  were  'within  sight  of  each  other, 
and  preparing  for  battle,  a  furious  storm  attacked 
them.  Blake  took  shelter  in  the  English  har- 
bours. The  Dutch  fleet  was  dispersed,  and  re- 
ceived great  damage. 

Sir  George  Ayscue,  though  he  commanded 
only  forty  ships,  according  to  the  English  ac- 
counts, engaged,  near  Plymouth,  the  famous  de 
Ruiter,  who  had  under  him  fifty  ships  of  war,  with 
thirty  merchantmen.  The  Dutch  ships  were  in- 
deed of  inferior  force  to  the  English.  De  Ruiter, 
the  only  admiral  in  Europe  who  has  attained  a  re- 
nown equal  to  that  of  the  greatest  general,  de- 
fended himself  so  well,  that  Ayscue  gained  no 
advantage  over  him.  Night  parted  them  in  the 
greatest  heat  of  the  action.  De  Ruiter  next  day 
sailed  off  with  his  convoy.  The  English  fleet  had 
been  so  shattered  in  the  fight,  that  it  was  not 
able  to  pursue. 

Near  the  coast  of  Kent,  Blake,  seconded  by 
Bourne  and  Pen,  met  a  Dutch  squadron,  nearly 
equal  in  numbers,  commanded  by  De  Witte  and 


232  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1652. 

de  Ruiter.  A  battle  was  fought,  much  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  Dutch.  Their  rear  admiral 
was  boarded  and  taken.  Two  other  vessels  were 
sunk,  and  one  blown  up.  The  Dutch  next  day 
made  sail  towards  Holland. 

The  English  were  not  so  successful  in  the 
Mediterranean.  Van  Galen,  with  much  superior 
force,  attacked  captain  Badily,  and  defeated  him. 
He  bought,  however,  his  victory  with  the  loss  of 
his  life. 

Sea-fights  are  seldom  so  decisive  as  to  disable 
the  vanquished  from  making  head  in  a  little  time 
against  the  victors.  Tromp,  seconded  by  de 
Ruiter,  met,  near  the  Goodwins,  with  Blake,  whose 
fleet  was  inferior  to  the  Dutch,  but  who  resolved 
not  to  decline  the  combat.  A  furious  battle  com- 
menced, where  the  admirals  on  both  sides,  as  well 
as  the  inferior  officers  and  seamen,  exerted  great 
bravery.  In  this  action  the  Dutch  had  the 
advantage.  Blake  himself  was  wounded.  The 
Garland  and  Bonaventure  were  taken.  Two  ships 
were  burned,  and  one  sunk;  and  night  came 
opportunely  to  save  the  English  fleet.  After  this 
victory,  Tromp,  in  a  bravado,  fixed  a  broom  to 
his  main-mast ;  as  if  he  were  resolved  to  sweep 
the  sea  entirely  of  all  English  vessels. 

Great  preparations  were  made  in  England,  in 
order  to  wipe  off  this  disgrace.  A  gallant  fleet  of 
eighty  sail  was  fitted  out.  Blake  commanded, 
and  Dean  under  him,  together  with  Monk,  who 
had  been  sent  for  from  Scotland.     When    the 


1652.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  233 

English  lay  off  Portland,  they  descried,  near 
break  of  day,  a  Dutch  fleet  of  seventy-six  vessels 
sailing  up  the  channel,  along  with  a  convoy  of 
300  merchantmen,  who  had  received  orders  to 
wait  at  the  isle  of  Rhe,  till  the  fleet  should  arrive 
to  escort  them.  Tromp,  and,  under  him,  de 
Ruiter,  commanded  the  Dutch.  This  battle  was 
the  most  furious  that  had  yet  been  fought  be- 
tween these  warlike  and  rival  nations.  Three 
days  was  the  combat  continued  with  the  utmost 
rage  and  obstinacy ;  and  Blake,  who  was  victor, 
gained  not  more  honour  than  Tromp,  who  was 
vanquished.  The  Dutch  admiral  made  a  skilful 
retreat,  and  saved  all  the  merchant  ships,  except 
thirty.  He  lost,  however,  eleven  ships  of  war, 
had  2000  men  slain,  and  near  1500  taken  prison- 
ers. The  English,  though  many  of  their  ships 
were  extremely  shattered,  had  but  one  sunk. 
Their  slain  were  not  much  inferior  in  number  to 
those  of  the  enemy. 

All  these  successes  of  the  English  were  chiefly 
owing  to  the  superior  size  of  their  vessels  ;  an 
advantage  which  all  the  skill  and  bravery  of  the 
Dutch  admirals  could  not  compensate.  By  means 
of  ship-money,  an  imposition  which  had  been  so 
much  complained  of,  and  in  some  respects  with 
reason,  the  late  king  had  put  the  navy  into  a  situa- 
tion which  it  had  never  attained  in  any  former 
reign ;  and  he  ventured  to  build  ships  of  a  size 
Avhich  was  then  unusual.  But  the  misfortunes 
which  the  Dutch  met  with  in  battle,  were  small 


V 


234  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  108*3 

in  comparison  of  those  which  their  trade  sustained 
from  the  English.  Their  whole  commerce  by  the 
channel  was  cut  off:  even  that  to  the  Baltic 
was  much  infested  by  English  privateers.  Their 
fisheries  were  totally  suspended.  A  great  num- 
ber of  their  ships,  above  1600,  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  And  all  this  distress 
they  suffered,  not  for  any  national  interests  or 
necessity;  but  from  vain  points  of  honour  and 
personal  resentments,  of  which  it  was  difficult  to 
give  a  satisfactory  account  to  the  public.  They 
resolved,  therefore,  to  gratify  the  pride  of  the 
parliament,  and  to  make  some  advances  towards 
peace.  They  met  not,  however,  with  a  favour- 
able reception  ;  and  it  was  not  without  pleasure 
that  they  learned,  the  dissolution  of  that  haughty 
assembly,  by  the  violence  of  Cromwel ;  an  event 
from  which  they  expected  a  more  prosperous  turn 
to  their  affairs. 


DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  PARLIAMENT. 

The  zealous  republicans  in  the  parliament  had 
not  been  the  chief  or  first  promoters  of  the  war ; 
but  when  it  was  once  entered  upon,  they  endea- 
voured to  draw  from  it  every  possible  advantage. 
On  all  occasions  they  set  up  the  fleet  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  army,  and  celebrated  the  glory  and 
successes  of  their  naval  armaments.  They  in- 
sisted on  the  intolerable  expence  to  which  the 


1659.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  235 

nation  was  subjected,  and  urged  the  necessity  of 
diminishing  it,  by  a  reduction  of  the  land  forces. 
They  had  ordered  some  regiments  to  serve  on 
board  the  fleet,  in  the  quality  of  marines.  And 
Cromwel,  by  the  whole  train  of  their  proceedings, 
evidently  saw  that  they  had  entertained  a  jea- 
lousy of  his  power  and  ambition,  and  were  re- 
solved to  bring  him  to  a  subordination  under  their 
authority.  Without  scruple  or  delay  he  resolved 
to  prevent  them. 

On  such  firm  foundations  was  built  the  credit 
of  this  extraordinary  man,  that  though  a  great 
master  of  fraud  and  dissimulation,  he  judged  it 
superfluous  to  employ  any  disguise  in  conducting 
this  bold  enterprise.  He  summoned  a  general 
council  of  officers ;  and  immediately  found  that 
they  were  disposed  to  receive  whatever  impressions 
he  was  pleased  to  give  them.  Most  of  them  were 
his  creatures,  had  owed  their  advancement  to  his 
favour,  and  relied  entirely  upon  him  for  their  fu- 
ture preferment.  The  breach  being  already  made 
between  the  military  and  civil  powers,  when  the 
late  king  was  seized  at  Holdenby;  the  general 
officers  regarded  the  parliament  as  at  once  their 
creature  and  their  rival ;  and  thought  that  they 
themselves  were  entitled  to  share  among  them 
those  offices  and  riches,  of  which  its  members 
had  so  long  kept  possession.  Harrison,  Rich, 
Overton,  and  a  few  others  who  retained  some 
principle,  were  guided  by  notions  so  extravagant, 
that  they  were  easily  deluded  into  measures  the 


236  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1653. 

most  violent  and  most  criminal.  And  the  whole 
army  had  already  been  guilty  of  such  illegal  and 
atrocious  actions,  that  they  could  entertain  no 
farther  scruple  with  regard  to  any  enterprise 
which  might  serve  their  selfish  or  fanatical  pur- 
poses. 

In  the  council  of  officers  it  was  presently 
voted  to  frame  a  remonstrance  to  the  parliament. 
After  complaining  of  the  arrears  due  to  the  army, 
they  there  desired  the  parliament  to  reflect  how 
many  years  they  had  sitten,  and  what  professions 
they  had  formerly  made  of  their  intentions  to 
new-model  the  representative,  and  establish  suc- 
cessive parliaments,  who  might  bear  the  burthen 
of  national  affairs,  from  which  they  themselves 
would  gladly,  after  so  much  danger  and  fatigue, 
be  at  last  relieved.  They  confessed  that  the  par- 
liament had  achieved  great  enterprises,  and  had 
surmounted  mighty  difficulties ;  yet  was  it  an 
injury,  they  said,  to  the  rest  of  the  nation  to  be 
excluded  from  bearing  any  part  in  the  service  of 
their  country.  It  was  now  full  time  for  them  to 
give  place  to  others ;  and  they  therefore  desired 
them,  after  settling  a  council  who  might  execute 
the  laws  during  the  interval,  to  summon  a  new 
parliament,  and  establish  that  free  and  equal  go- 
vernment, which  they  had  so  long  promised  to 
the  people. 

The  parliament  took  this  remonstrance  in  ill 
part,  and  made  a  sharp  reply  to  the  council  of 
officers.     The  officers  insisted  on  their  advice ; 


1653.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  237 

and  by  mutual  altercation  and  opposition  the 
breach  became  still  wider  between  the  army  and 
the  commonwealth.  Cromwel,  finding  matters 
ripe  for  his  purpose,  called  a  council  of  officers,  in 
order  to  come  to  a  determination  with  regard  to 
the  public  settlement.  As  he  had  here  many 
friends,  so  had  he  also  some  opponents.  Har- 
rison having  assured  the  council  that  the  general 
sought  only  to  pave  the  way  for  the  government 
of  Jesus  and  his  saints,  major  Streator  briskly  re- 
plied, that  Jesus  ought  then  to  come  quickly: 
for  if  he  delayed  it  till  after  Christmas,  he  would 
come  too  late  ;  he  would  find  his  place  occupied. 
While  the  officers  were  in  debate,  colonel  In- 
goldsby  informed  Cromwel,  that  the  parliament 
was  sitting,  and  had  come  to  a  resolution  not  to 
dissolve  themselves,  but  to  fill  up  the  house  by 
new  elections  ;  and  was  at  that  very  time  engaged 
in  deliberations  with  regard  to  this  expedient. 
Cromwel  in  a  rage  immediately  hastened  to  the 
house,  and  carried  a  body  of  300  soldiers  along 
with  him.  Some  of  them  he  placed  at  the  door, 
some  in  the  lobby,  some  on  the  stairs.  He  first 
addressed  himself  to  his  friend  St.  John,  and  told 
him  that  he  had  come  with  a  purpose  of  doing 
what  grieved  him  to  the  very  soul,  and  what  he 
had  earnestly  with  tears  besought  the  Lord  not  to 
impose  upon  him:  but  there  was  a  necessity,  in 
order  to  the  glory  of  God  and  good  of  the  nation. 
He  sat  down  for  some  time,  and  heard  the  debate. 
He  beckoned  Harrison,  and  told  him  that  he  now 


238  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1653. 

judged  the  parliament  ripe  for  a  dissolution. 
"  Sir,"  said  Harrison,  "  the  work  is  very  great 
"  and  dangerous;  I  desire  you  seriously  to  con- 
"  sider,  before  you  engage  in  it."  "  You  say 
"  well,"  replied  the  general;  and  thereupon  sat 
still  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  When  the 
question  was  ready  to  be  put,  he  said  again  to 
Harrison,  "  This  is  the  time:  I  must  do  it." 
And  suddenly  starting  up,  he  loaded  the  parlia- 
ment with  the  vilest  reproaches,  for  their  tyranny, 
ambition,  oppression,  and  robbery  of  the  public. 
Then  stamping  with  his  foot,  which  was  a  signal 
for  the  soldiers  to  enter;  "  For  shame,"  said  he 
to  the  parliament,  "  get  you  gone  ;  give  place  to 
"  honester  men  ;  to  those  who  will  more  faith - 
"  fully  discharge  their  trust.  You  are  no  longer 
"  a  parliament:  I  tell  you,  you  are  no  longer  a 
"  parliament.  The  Lord  has  done  with  you :  he 
"  has  chosen  other  instruments  for  carrying  on 
"  his  work."  Sir  Harry  Vane  exclaiming  against 
this  proceeding,  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  "  O ! 
"  sir  Harry  Vane,  sir  Harry  Vane  !  the  Lord  de- 
"  liver  me  from  sir  Harry  Vane  !"  Taking  hold 
of  Martin  by  the  cloke,  "  Thou  art  a  whore- 
"  master,"  said  he.  To  another,  "  Thou  art  an 
"  adulterer."  To  a  third,  "  Thou  art  a  drunk- 
"  ard  and  a  glutton:"  "  And  thou  an  extor- 
"  tioner,"  to  a  fourth.  He  commanded  a  soldier 
to  seize  the  mace.  "  What  shall  we  do  with 
"  this  bauble?  here,  take  it  away.  It  is  you," 
said  he,  addressing  himself  to  the  house,   u  that 


1053.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  239 

"  have  forced  me  upon  this.  I  have  sought  the 
'*  Lord  night  and  day,  that  he  would  rather  slay 
"  me  than  put  me  upon  this  work."  Having 
commanded  the  soldiers  to  clear  the  hall,  he  him- 
self went  out  the  last,  and  ordering  the  doors  to 
be  locked,  departed  to  his  lodgings  in  Whitehall. 
In  this  furious  manner,  which  so  well  denotes 
his  genuine  character,  did  Cromwel,  without  the 
least  opposition,  or  even  murmur,  annihilate  that 
famous  assembly  which  had  filled  all  Europe  with 
the  renown  of  its  actions,  and  with  astonishment 
at  its  crimes,  and  whose  commencement  was  not 
more  ardently  desired  by  the  people  than  was  its 
final  dissolution.  All  parties  now  reaped  success- 
ively the  melancholy  pleasure  of  seeing  the  in- 
juries which  they  had  suffered,  revenged  on  their 
enemies;  and  that  too  by  the  same  arts  which 
had  been  practised  against  them.  The  king  had, 
in  some  instances,  stretched  his  prerogative  be- 
yond its  just  bounds  ;  and  aided  by  the  church, 
had  well  nigh  put  an  end  to  all  the  liberties 
and  privileges  of  the  nation.  The  presbyterians 
checked  the  progress  of  the  court  and  clergy, 
and  excited,  by  cant  and  hypocrisy,  the  populace, 
first  to  tumults,  then  to  war,  against  the  king,  the 
peers,  and  all  the  royalists.  No  sooner  had  they 
reached  the  pinnacle  of  grandeur,  than  the  inde- 
pendents, under  the  appearance  of  still  greater 
sanctity,  instigated  the  army  against  them,  and 
reduced  them  to  subjection.  The  independents, 
amidst  their  empty  dreams  of  liberty,  or  rather  of 


240  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1653. 

dominion,  were  oppressed  by  the  rebellion  of  their 
own  servants,  and  found  themselves  at  once  ex- 
posed to  the  insults  of  power  and  hatred  of  the 
people.  By  recent,  as  well  as  all  ancient,  example, 
it  was  become  evident  that  illegal  violence,  with 
whatever  pretences  it  may  be  covered,  and  what- 
ever object  it  may  pursue,  must  inevitably  end  at 
last  in  the  arbitrary  and  despotic  government  of 
a  single  person. 


1G53.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  att 


CHAP.      LXI. 

Cromwel's  birth  and  private  life Barebone's  parliament .... 

Cromwel  made  protector ....  Peace  with  Holland A  new 

parliament Insurrection  of  the  royalists  ....  State  of 

Europe  ....  War  with  Spain  ....  Jamaica  conquered  .... 
Success  and  death  of  admiral  Blake Domestick  admini- 
stration of  Cromwel  ....  Humble  petition  and  advice .    . . 

Dunkirk  taken Sickness  of  the  protector  . . .   His  death 

....  and  character. 


CROMWEL'S  BIRTH  AND  PRIVATE  LIFE. 

Oliver  Cromwel,  in  whose  hands  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  parliament  had  left  the  whole  power, 
civil  and  military,  of  three  kingdoms,  was  born  at 
Huntingdon,  the  last  year  of  the  former  century, 
of  a  good  family ;  though  he  himself,  being  the 
son  of  a  second  brother,  inherited  but  a  small 
estate  from  his  father.  In  the  course  of  his  edu- 
cation he  had  been  sent  to  the  university;  but 
his  genius  was  found  little  fitted  for  the  calm  and 
elegant  occupations  of  learning,  and  he  made 
small  proficiencies  in  his  studies.  He  even  threw 
himself  into  a  dissolute  and  disorderly  course  of 
life;  and  he  consumed  in  gaming,  drinking1,  de- 
bauchery, and  country  riots,  the  more  early  years 
of  his  youth,  and  dissipated  part  of  his  patrimony. 
All  of  a  sudden  the  spirit  of  reformation  seized 
him  ;  he  married,  affected  a  grave  and  composed 
behaviour,  entered  into  all  the  zeal  and  rigour  of 

VOL.  VIII.  R 


242  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1653. 

the  puritanical  party,  and  offered  to  restore  to 
every  one  whatever  sums  he  had  formerly  gained 
by  gaming.  The  same  vehemence  of  temper, 
which  had  transported  him  into  the  extremes  of 
pleasure,  now  distinguished  his  religious  habits. 
His  house  was  the  resort  of  all  the  zealous  clergy 
of  the  party ;  and  his  hospitality,  as  well  as  his 
liberalities  to  the  silenced  and  deprived  ministers, 
proved  as  chargeable  as  his  former  debaucheries. 
Though  he  had  acquired  a  tolerable  fortune  by  a 
maternal  uncle,  he  found  his  affairs  so  injured  by 
his  expences,  that  he  was  obliged  to  take  a  farm 
at  St.  Ives,  and  apply  himself,  for  some  years,  to 
agriculture  as  a  profession.  But  this  expedient 
served  rather  to  involve  him  in  farther  debts  and 
difficulties.  The  long  prayers  which  he  said  to 
his  family  in  the  morning,  and  again  in  the  after- 
noon, consumed  his  own  time  and  that  of  his 
ploughmen ;  and  he  reserved  no  leisure  for  the 
care  of  his  temporal  affairs.  His  active  mind, 
superior  to  the  low  occupations  to  which  he  was 
condemned,  pre}'ed  upon  itself;  and  he  indulged 
his  imagination  in  visions,  illuminations,  revela- 
tions ;  the  great  nourishment  of  that  hypochon- 
driacal temper,  to  which  he  was  ever  subject. 
Urged  by  his  wants  and  his  piety,  he  had  made  a 
party  with  Hambden,  his  near  kinsman,  who  was 
pressed  only  by  the  latter  motive,  to  transport 
himself  into  New  England,  now  become  the  re- 
treat of  the  more  zealous  among  the  puritanical 
party;    and  it  was  an  order  of  council  which 


l653.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  2-13 

obliged  them  to  disembark  and  remain  in  Eng*- 
land.  The  earl  of  Bedford,  who  possessed  a  largo 
estate  iri  the  Fen  Country,  near  the  isle  of  Ely, 
having  undertaken  to  drain  these  morasses,  was 
obliged  to  apply  to  the  king ;  and  by  the  powers 
of  the  prerogative,  he  got  commissioners  ap<- 
pointed,  who  conducted  that  work,  and  divided 
the  new-acquired  land  among  the  several  pro 
prietors.  He  met  with  opposition  from  many, 
among  whom  Cromwel  distinguished  himself;  and 
this  was  the  first  public  opportunity  which  he  had 
met  with  of  discovering  the  factious  zeal  and  ob- 
stinacy of  his  character. 

From  accident  and  intrigue  he  was  chosen  by 
the  town  of  Cambridge  member  of  the  long  par- 
liament. His  domestic  affairs  were  then  in  great 
disorder ;  and  he  seemed  not  to  possess  any  talents 
which  could  qualify  him  to  rise  in  that  public 
sphere  into  which  he  was  now  at  last  entered. 
His  person  was  ungraceful,  his  dress  slovenly,  his 
voice  untuneable,  his  elocution  homely,  tedious, 
obscure,  and  embarrassed.  The  fervour  of  his 
spirit  frequently  prompted  him  to  rise  in  the 
house  ;  but  he  was  not  heard  with  attention :  his 
name,  for  above  two  years,  is  not  to  be  found 
oftener  than  twice  in  any  committee  ;  and  those 
committees,  into  which  he  was  adrriitted,  were 
chosen  for  affairs  which  would  more  interest  the 
zealots  than  the  men  of  business.  In  comparison 
of  the  eloquent  speakers  and  fine  gentlemen  of  the 
house,  he  was  entirely  overlooked ;  and  his  friend 
8 


244  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1653. 

Hambden  alone  was  acquainted  with  the  depth  of 
his  genius,  and  foretold  that,  if  a  civil  war  should 
ensue,  he  would  soon  rise  to  eminence  and  di- 
stinction. 

Cromwel  himself  seems  to  have  been  conscious 
where  his  strength  lay ;  and  partly  from  that  mo- 
tive, partly  from  the  uncontrollable  fury  of  his 
zeal,  he  always  joined  that  party  which  pushed 
every  thing  to  extremities  against  the  king.  He 
was  active  in  promoting  the  famous  remonstrance, 
which  was  the  signal  for  all  the  ensuing  commo- 
tions ;  and  when,  after  a  long  debate,  it  was  car- 
ried by  a  small  majority,  he  told  lord  Falkland, 
that  if  the  question  had  been  lost,  he  was  re- 
solved next  day  to  have  converted  into  ready 
money  the  remains  of  his  fortune,  and  immedi- 
ately to  have  left  the  kingdom.  Nor  was  this 
resolution,  he  said,  peculiar  to  himself:  many 
others  of  his  party  he  knew  to  be  equally  deter- 
mined. 

He  was  no  less  than  forty-three  years  of  age, 
when  he  first  embraced  the  military  profession ; 
and  by  force  of  genius,  without  any  master,  he 
soon  became  an  excellent  officer ;  though  perhaps 
he  never  reached  the  fame  of  a  consummate  com- 
mander. He  raised  a  troop  of  horse;  fixed  his 
quarters  in  Cambridge;  exerted  great  severity 
towards  that  university,  which  zealously  adhered 
to  the  royal  party ;  and  showed  himself  a  man 
who  would  go  all  lengths  in  favour  of  that  cause 
which  he  had  espoused.     He  would  not  allow  hi$ 


1653.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  245 

soldiers  to  perplex  their  heads  with  those  subtle- 
ties of  righting  by  the  king's  authority  against  his 
person,  and  of  obeying  his  majesty's  commands 
signified  by  both  houses  of  parliament :  he  plainly 
told  them  that,  if  he  met  the  king  in  battle,  he 
would  fire  a  pistol  in  his  face  as  readily  as  against 
any  other  man.  His  troop  of  horse  he  soon  aug- 
mented to  a  regiment ;  and  he  first  instituted  that 
discipline  and  inspired  that  spirit  which  rendered 
the  parliamentary  armies  in  the  end  victorious. 
"  Your  troops,"  said  he  to  Hambden,  according 
to  his  own  account"1,  "  are  most  of  them  old  de- 
"  cayed  serving  men  and  tapsters,  and  such  kind 
"  of  fellows ;  the  king's  forces  are  composed  of 
"  gentlemen's  younger  sons  and  persons  of  good 
"  quality.  And  do  you  think  that  the  mean 
"  spirits  of  such  base  and  low  fellows  as  ours  will 
"  ever  be  able  to  encounter  gentlemen  that  have 
"  honour  and  courage  and  resolution  in  them? 
"  You  must  get  men  of  spirit,  and  take  it  not  ill 
"  that  I  say,  of  a  spirit  that  is  likely  to  go  as  far 
"  as  gentlemen  will  go,  or  else  I  am  sure  you  will 
"  still  be  beaten,  as  you  have  hitherto  been,  in 
"  every  encounter."  He  did  as  he  proposed. 
He  enlisted  the  sons  of  freeholders  and  farmers. 
He  carefully  invited  into  his  regiment  all  the  zea- 
lous fanatics  throughout  England.  When  they 
were  collected  in  a  body,  their  enthusiastic  spirit 
still  rose  to  a  higher  pitch.     Their  colonel,  from 

■  Conference  held  at  Whitehall. 


5*4(5  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1653, 

his  own  natural  character,  as  well  as  from  policy, 
was  sufficiently  inclined  to  increase  the  flame. 
He  preached,  he  prayed,  he  fought,  he  punished, 
he  rewarded.  The  wild  enthusiasm,  together  with 
valour  and  discipline,  still  propagated  itself;  and 
all  men  cast  their  eyes  on  so  pious  and  so  success- 
ful a  leader.  From  low  commands  he  rose  with 
great  rapidity  to  he  really  the  first,  though  in  ap- 
pearance only  the  second,  in  the  army,  By  fraud 
and  violence,  he  soon  rendered  himself  the  first 
in  the  state.  In  proportion  to  the  increase  of  his 
authority,  his  talents  always  seemed  to  expand 
themselves  ;  and  he  displayed  every  day  new  abi- 
lities, which  had  lain  dormant  till  the  very  emerg- 
ence by  which  they  were  called  forth  into  action. 
All  Europe  stood  astonished  to  see  a  nation  so 
turbulent  and  unruly,  who,  for  some  doubtful  en- 
croachments on  their  privileges,  had  dethroned 
and  murdered  an  excellent  prince,  descended  from 
a  long  line  of  monarchs,  now  at  last  subdued  and 
reduced  to  slavery  by  one,  who,  a  few  years  be- 
fore, was  no  better  than  a  private  gentleman, 
whose  name  was  not  known  in  the  nation,  and 
who  was  little  regarded  even  in  that  low  sphere 
to  which  he  had  always  been  confined. 

The  indignation,  entertained  by  the  people, 
against  an  authority,  founded  on  such  manifest 
usurpation,  was  not  so  violent  as  might  naturally 
be  expected.  Congratulatory  addresses,  the  first 
of  the  kind,  were  made  to  Cromwel  by  the  fleet, 
by  the  army,  even  by  many  of  the  chief  corpora- 


1653.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  247 

tions  and  counties  of  England ;  but  especially 
by  the  several  congregations  of  saints,  dispersed 
throughout  the  kingdom11.  The  royalists,  though 
they  could  not  love  the  man  who  had  embrued 
his  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  sovereign,  expect- 
ed more  lenity  from  him,  than  from  the  jealous 
and  imperious  republicans,  who  had  hitherto  go- 
verned. The  presbyterians  were  pleased  to  see 
those  men,  by  whom  they  had  been  outwitted  and 
expelled,  now  in  their  turn  expelled  and  outwit- 
ted by  their  own  servant;  and  they  applauded 
him  for  this  last  act  of  violence  upon  the  parlia- 
ment. These  two  parties  composed  the  bulk  of 
the  nation,  and  kept  the  people  in  some  tolerable 
temper.  All  men  likewise,  harassed  with  wars 
and  factions,  were  glad  to  see  any  prospect  of 
settlement.  And  they  deemed  it  less  ignominious 
to  submit  to  a  person  of  such  admirable  talents 
and  capacity  than  to  a  few  ignoble  enthusiastic 
hypocrites,  who,  under  the  name  of  a  republic, 
had  reduced  them  to  a  cruel  subjection. 

The  republicans,  being  dethroned  by  Crom- 
wel,  were  the  party  whose  resentment  he  had  the 
greatest  reason  to  apprehend.  That  party,  be- 
sides the  independents,  contained  two  sets  of 
men,  who  are  seemingly  of  the  most  opposite  prin- 
ciples, but  who  were  then  united  by  a  similitude 
of  genius  and  of  character.  The  first  and  most 
numerous  were  the  millenarians,  or  fifth  monarchy 

■  See  Milton's  State  Papers. 


2-48  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1C5.J. 

men,  who  insisted,  that,  dominion  being  founded 
in  grace,  all  distinction  in  magistracy  must  be 
abolished,  except  what  arose  from  piety  and  holi- 
ness ;  who  expected  suddenly  the  second  coming 
of  Christ  upon  earth;  and  who  pretended,  that 
the  saints  in  the  mean  while,  that  is",  themselves, 
were  alone  entitled  to  govern.  The  second  were 
the  deists,  who  had  no  other  object  than  political 
liberty,  who  denied  entirely  the  truth  of  revela- 
tion, and  insinuated,  that  all  the  various  sects,  so 
heated  against  each  other,  were  alike  founded  in 
folly  and  in  error.  Men  of  such  daring  geniuses 
were  not  contented  with  the  ancient  and  legal 
forms  of  civil  government ;  but  challenged  a  de- 
gree of  freedom  beyond  what  they  expected  ever 
to  enjoy  under  any  monarchy.  Martin,  Challo- 
ner,  Harrington,  Sidney,  Wildman,  Nevil,  were 
esteemed  the  heads  of  this  small  division. 


BAREBONE'S  PARLIAMENT, 

The  deists  were  perfectly  hated  by  Cromwel,  be- 
cause he  had  no  hold  of  enthusiasm,  by  which  he 
could  govern  or  over-reach  them  ;  he  therefore 
treated  them  with  great  rigour  and  disdain,  and 
usually  denominated  them  the  heathens.  As  the 
milienarians  had  a  great  interest  in  the  army,  it 
was  much  more  important  for  him  to  gain  their 
confidence ;  and  their  size  of  understanding  afford- 
ed him  great  facility  in  deceiving  them.     Of  late 


1653.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  24i) 

years  it  had  been  so  usual  a  topic  of  conversation 
to  discourse  of  parliaments  and  councils  and  se- 
nates, and  the  soldiers  themselves  had  been  so  much 
accustomed  to  enter  into  that  spirit,  that  Crom- 
wel  thought  it  requisite  to  establish  something 
which  might  bear  the  face  of  a  commonwealth. 
He  supposed  that  God,  in  his  providence,  had 
thrown  the  whole  right,  as  well  as  power,  of  go- 
vernment into  his  hands ;  and  without  any  more 
ceremony,  by  the  advice  of  his  council  of  officers, 
he  sent  summons  to  a  hundred  and  twenty -eight 
persons  of  different  towns  and  counties  of  Eng- 
land, to  five  of  Scotland,  to  six  of  Ireland.  He 
pretended,  by  his  sole  act  and  deed,  to  devolve 
upon  these  the  whole  authority  of  the  state.  This 
legislative  power  they  were  to  exercise  during 
fifteen  months,  and  they  were  afterwards  to 
choose  the  same  number  of  persons,  who  might 
succeed  them  in  that  high  and  important  office. 

There  were  great  numbers  at  that  time,  who 
made  it  a  principle  always  to  adhere  to  any  power 
which  was  uppermost,  and  to  support  the  esta- 
blished government.  This  maxim  is  not  peculiar 
to  the  people  of  that  age ;  but  what  may  be 
esteemed  peculiar  to  them,  is,  that  there  prevailed 
a  hypocritical  phrase  foF  expressing  so  prudential 
a  conduct :  it  was  called  a  waiting  upon  provi- 
dence. When  providence,  therefore,  was  so  kind 
as  to  bestow  on  these  men,  now  assembled  toge- 
ther, the  supreme  authority,  they  must  have  been 
very  ungrateful,  if,  in  their  turn,  they  had  been 


250  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1653. 

wanting  in  complaisance  towards  her.  They  im- 
mediately voted  themselves  a  parliament ;  and 
having  their  own  consent,  as  well  as  that  of  Oliver 
Cromwel,  for  their  legislative  authority,  the}^  now 
proceeded  very  gravely  to  the  exercise  of  it. 

In  this  notable  assembly  were  some  persons  of 
the  rank  of  gentlemen ;  but  the  far  greater  part 
were  low  mechanics;  fifth  monarchy  men,  ana- 
baptists, antinomians,  independents ;  the  very 
dregs  of  the  fanatics.  They  began  with  seeking 
God  by  prayer :  this  office  was  performed  by 
eight  or  ten  gifted  men  of  the  assembly;  and  with 
so  much  success,  that,  according  to  the  confession 
of  all,  they  had  never  before,  in  any  of  their  de- 
votional exercises,  enjoyed  so  much  of  the  holy 
spirit  as  was  then  communicated  to  them  °.  Their 
hearts  were,  no  doubt,  dilated  when  they  consi- 
dered the  high  dignity,  to  which  they  supposed 
themselves  exalted.  They  had  been  told  by 
Cromwel,  in  his  first  discourse,  that  he  never 
looked  to  see  such  a  day,  when  Christ  should  be 
so   owned p.    They   thought  it,  therefore,   their 

•  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xx.  p.  182. 
*  These  are  his  expressions.  "  Indeed  I  have  but  one  word  more 
"  to  say  to  you,  though  in  that  perhaps  I  shall  shew  my  weak- 
*  ness :  it  is  by  way  of  encouragement  to  you  in  this  work  j  give 
"  me  leave  to  begin  thus  :  I  confess  I  never  looked  to  have  seen 
"  such  a  day  as  this,  it  may  be  nor  you  neither,  when  Jesus 
"  Christ  should  be  so  owned  as  he  is  at  this  day  and  in  this  work. 
"  Jesus  Christ  is  owned  this  day  by  your  call,  and  you  own  him 
"  by  your  willingness  to  appear  for  him,  and  you  manifest  this 
"  (as  far  as  poor  creatures  can  do)  to  be  a  day  of  the  power  of 


1&53.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  ^251 

duty  to  proceed  to  a  thorough  reformation,  and 
to  pave  the  way  for  the  reign  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  for  that  great  work  which,  it  was  expected, 
the  Lord  was  to  bring  forth  among  them.  All 
fanatics  being  consecrated  by  their  own  fond 
imaginations,  naturally  bear  an  antipathy  to  the 
ecclesiastics,  who  claim  a  peculiar  sanctity,  de- 
rived merely  from  their  office  and  priestly  cha- 
racter. This  parliament  took  into  consideration 
the  abolition  of  the  clerical  function,  as  savouring 
of  popery ;  and  the  taking  away  of  tithes,  which 
they  called  a  relict  of  Judaism.  Learning  also 
and  the  universities  were  deemed  heathenish  and 
unnecessary :  the  common  law  was  denominated 
a  badge  of  the  conquest  and  of  Norman  slavery; 
and  they  threatened  the  lawyers  with  a  total 
abrogation  of  their  profession.  Some  steps  were 
even  taken  towards  an  abolition  of  the  chancery*1, 

H  Christ.  I  know  you  will  remember  that  scripture,  he  makes  his 
"  people  willing  m  the  day  of  his  power.  God  manifests  it  to  be 
"  the  day  of  the  power  of  Christ,  having  through  so  much  blood 
f*  and  so  much  trial  as  has  been  upon  this  nation,  he  makes  this 
"  one  of  the  greatest  mercies,  next  to  his  own  son,  to  have  his 
"  people  called  to  the  supreme  authority.  God  hath  owned  his 
"  son,  and  hath  owned  you,  and  hath  made  you  to  own  him.  I 
'*  confess,  I  never  looked  to  have  seen  such  a  day:  I  did  not :" 
I  suppose  at  this  passage  he  cried :  for  he  was  very  much  given 
to  weeping,  and  could  at  any  time  shed  abundance  of  tears.  The 
rest  of  the  speech  may  be  seen  among  .Milton's  State  Papers, 
page  106.  It  is  very  curious,  and  full  of  the  same  obscurity, 
confusion,  embarrassment,  and  absurdity,  which  appear  in  almost 
all  Oliver's  productions. 

i  Whitlocke,  p.  543.  548. 


232  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1653. 

the  highest  court  of  judicature  in  the  kingdom  ; 
and  the  Mosaical  law  was  intended  to  be  esta- 
blished as  the  sole  system  of  English  jurispru- 
dence r. 

Of  all  the  extraordinary  schemes  adopted  by 
these  legislators,  they  had  not  leisure  to  finish 
any,  except  that  which  established  the  legal  so- 
lemnization of  marriage  by  the  civil  magistrate 
alone,  without  the  interposition  of  the  clergy. 
They  found  themselves  exposed  to  the  derision  of 
the  public.  Among  the  fanatics  of  the  house, 
there  was  an  active  member,  much  noted  for  his 
long  prayers,  sermons,  and  harangues.  He  was 
a  leather-seller  in  London :  his  name  Praise-god 
Barebone*  This  ridiculous  name,  which  seems 
to  have  been  chosen  by  some  poet  or  allegorist  to 
suit  so  ridiculous  a  personage,  struck  the  fancy 
of  the  people ;  and  they  commonly  affixed  to  this 
assembly  the  appellation  of  Barebone's  parlia- 
ment*. 

r  Conference  held  at  Whitehall. 
*  It  was  usual  for  the  pretended  saints  at  that  time  to  change 
their  names  from  Henry,  Edward,  Anthony,  William,  which 
they  regarded  as  heathenish,  into  others  more  sanctified  and 
godly :  even  the  new  Testament  names,  James,  Andrew,  John, 
Peter,  were  not  held  in  such  regard  as  those  which  were  bor- 
rowed from  the  Old  Testament,  Hezekiah,  Habbakuk,  Joshua, 
Zerobabel.  Sometimes  a  whole  godly  sentence  was  adopted  as  a 
name.  Here  are  the  names  of  a  jury  said  to  be  enclosed  in  the 
county  of  Sussex  about  that  time. 

Accepted,  Trevor  of  Norsham. 
Redeemed,  Compton  of  Battle. 
Faint  not,  Hewit  of  Heathfield. 


1653.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  233 

The  Dutch  ambassadors  endeavoured  to  enter 
into  negotiation  with  this  parliament ;  but,  though 
protestants  and  even  presbyterians,  they  met  with 
a  bad  reception  from  those  who  pretended  to  a 
sanctity  so  much  superior.  The  Hollanders  were 
regarded  as  worldly-minded  men,  intent  only  on 
commerce  and  industry ;  whom  it  was  fitting  the 
saints  should  first  extirpate,  ere  they  undertook 
that  great  work,  to  which  they  believed  them- 
selves destined  by  providence,  of  subduing  Anti- 
Make  Peace,  Heaton  of  Hare. 

God  Reward,  Smart  of  Fivehurst. 

Standfast  on  High,  Stringer  of  Crowhurst. 

Earth,  Adams  of  Warble  ton. 

Called,  Lower  of  the  same. 

Kill  Sin,  Pimple  of  Witham. 

Return,  Spelman  of  Wading. 

Be  Faithful,  Joiner  of  Briding. 

Fly  Debate,  Roberts  of  the  same. 

Fight  the  good  Fight  of  Faith,  White  of  Emer. 

More  Fruit,  Fowler  of  East  Hadley. 

Hope  for,  Bending  of  the  same. 

Graceful,  Harding  of  Lewes. 

Weep  not,  Billing  of  the  same. 

Meek,  Brewer  of  Okeham. 

See  Broome's  Travels  in  England,  p.  27Q.  "  Cromwel,"  says 
Cleveland,  "  hath  beat  up  his  drums  clean  through  the  Old  Testa- 
u  ment.  You  may  learn  the  genealogy  of  our  Saviour  by  the 
"  names  of  his  regiment.  The  muster-master  has  no  other  list 
"  than  the  first  chapter  of  St.  Matthew."  The  brother  of  this 
Praise-god  Barebone  had  for  name,  If  Christ  had  not  died  for  you, 
you  had  been  damned  Barebone,  But  the  people,  tired  of  this  long 
name,  retained  only  the  last  word,  and  commonly  gave  him  the 
appellation  ofDamrid  Barebone, 


254  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  l65:i. 

christ,  the  man  of  sin,  and  extending  to  the  utter- 
most bounds  of  the  earth  the  kingdom  of  the  Re- 
deemer'. The  ambassadors  rinding  themselves 
proscribed,  not  as  enemies  of  England,  but  of 
Christ,  remained  in  astonishment,  and  knew  not 
which  was  most  to  be  admired,  the  implacable 
spirit  or  egregious  folly  of  these  pretended 
saints. 

Cromwel  began  to  be  ashamed  of  his  legisla- 
ture. If  he  ever  had  any  design  in  summoning 
so  preposterous  an  assembly  beyond  amusing  the 
populace  and  the  army,  he  had  intended  to  alarm 
the  clergy  and  lawyers ;  and  he  had  so  far  suc- 
ceeded as  to  make  them  desire  any  other  govern- 
ment, which  might  secure  their  professions,  now 
brought  in  danger  by  these  desperate  fanatics. 
Cromwel  himself  was  dissatisfied,  that  the  parlia- 
ment, though  they  had  derived  all  their  authority 
from  him,  began  to  pretend  power  from  the 
Lord  u,  and  to  insist  already  on  their  divine  com- 
mission. He  had  been  careful  to  summon  in  his 
writs  several  persons  entirely  devoted  to  him.  By 
concert,  these  met  early ;  and  it  was  mentioned 
by  some  among  them,  that  the  sitting  of  this  par- 
liament any  longer  would  be  of  no  service  to  the 
nation.  They  hastened,  therefore,  to  Cromwel, 
along  with  Rouse,  their  speaker;  and,  by  a  formal 
deed  or  assignment,  restored  into  his  hands  that 

'Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  273.  591.    Also  Stubbe,  p.  pi,  Q2, 
"  Thurloe,  vol,  i.  p.  3Q3. 


16:,3.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  255 

supreme  authority  which  they  had  so  lately  re- 
ceived from  him.  General  Harrison  and  about 
twenty  more  remained  in  the  house;  and  that 
they  might  prevent  the  reign  of  the  saints  from 
coming  to  an  untimely  end,  they  placed  one 
Moyer  in  the  chair,  and  began  to  draw  up  protests. 
They  were  soon  interrupted  by  colonel  White, 
with  a  party  of  soldiers.  He  asked  them  what 
they  did  there?  "  We  are  seeking  the  Lord," 
said  they.  "  Then  you  may  go  elsewhere," 
replied  he:  "  for  to  my  certain  knowledge,  he 
"  has  not  been  here  these  many  years." 


CROMWEL  MADE  PROTECTOR. 

The  military  being  now  in  appearance,  as  well  as 
in  reality,  the  sole  power  which  prevailed  in  the 
nation,  Cromwel  thought  fit  to  indulge  a  new 
fancy  :  for  he  seems  not  to  have  had  any  deliber- 
ate plan  in  all  these  alterations.  Lambert,  his 
creature,  who,  under  the  appearance  of  obsequi- 
ousness to  him,  indulged  an  unbounded  ambition, 
proposed  in  a  council  of  officers  to  adopt  another 
scheme  of  government,  and  to  temper  the  liberty 
of  a  commonwealth  by  the  authority  of  a  single 
person,  who  should  be  known  by  the  appellation 
of  protector.  Without  delay,  he  prepared  what 
was  called  the  instrument  of  government^  contain- 
ing the  plan  of  this  new  legislature ;  and,  as  it 
was  supposed  to  be  agreeable  to  the  general,  it 


256  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1653. 

was  immediately  voted  by  the  council  of  officers. 
Cromwel  was  declared  protector  ;  and  with  great 
solemnity  installed  in  that  high  office. 

So  little  were  these  men  endowed  with  the 
spirit  of  legislation,  that  they  confessed,  or  rather 
boasted,  that  they  had  employed  only  four  days 
in  drawing  this  instrument,  by  which  the  whole 
government  of  three  kingdoms  was  pretended  to 
be  regulated  and  adjusted  to  all  succeeding  ge- 
nerations. There  appears  no  difficulty  in  believ- 
ing them ;  when  it  is  considered  how  crude  and 
undigested  a  system  of  civil  polity  they  endea- 
voured to  establish.  The  chief  articles  of  the  in- 
strument are  these:  A  council  was  appointed, 
which  was  not  to  exceed  twenty-one,  nor  be  less 
than  thirteen  persons.  These  were  to  enjoy  their 
office  during  life  or  good  behaviour ;  and  in  case 
of  a  vacancy,  the  remaining  members  named 
three,  of  whom  the  protector  chose  one.  The 
protector  was  appointed  supreme  magistrate  of 
the  commonwealth  :  in  his  name  was  all  justice 
to  be  administered  ;  from  him  were  all  magistracy 
and  honours  derived ;  he  had  the  power  of  par- 
doning all  crimes,  excepting  murder  and  treason  ; 
to  him  the  benefit  of  all  forfeitures  devolved. 
The  right  of  peace,  war,  and  alliance, "*  rested  in 
him ;  but  in  these  particulars  he  was  to  act  by 
the  advice  and  with  the  consent  of  his  council. 
The  power  of  the  sword  was  vested  in  the  pro- 
tector jointly  with  the  parliament,  while  it  was 
sitting,  or  with  the  council  of  state  in  the  inter- 


1052.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  257 

vals.  He  was  obliged  to  summon  a  parliament 
every  three  years,  and  allow  them  to  sit  five 
months,  without  adjournment,  prorogation,  or 
dissolution.  The  bills,  which  they  passed,  were 
to  be  presented  to  the  protector  for  his  assent ; 
but  if  within  twenty  days  it  were  not  obtained, 
they  were  to  become  laws  by  the  authority  alone 
of  parliament.  A  standing  army  for  Great  Bri- 
tain and  Ireland  was  established,  of  20,000  foot 
and  10,000  horse;  and  funds  were  assigned  for 
their  support.  These  were  not  to  be  diminished 
without  consent  of  the  protector;  and  in  this 
article  alone  he  assumed  a  negative.  During  the 
intervals  of  parliament,  the  protector  and  council 
had  the  power  of  enacting  laws,  which  were  to  be 
valid  till  the  next  meeting  of  parliament.  The 
chancellor,  treasurer,  admiral,  chief  governors  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  and  the  chief  justices  of 
both  the  benches,  must  be  chosen  with  the  appro- 
bation of  parliament ;  and  in  the  intervals,  with 
the  approbation  of  the  council,  to  be  afterwards 
ratified  by  parliament.  The  protector  was  to 
enjoy  his  office  during  life;  and  on  his  death, 
the  place  was  immediately  to  be  supplied  by  the 
council.  This  was  the  instrument  of  government 
enacted  by  the  council  of  officers,  and  solemnly 
sworn  to  by  Oliver  Cromwel.  The  council  of 
state,  named  by  the  instrument,  were  fifteen  men 
entirely  devoted  to  the  protector,  and  by  reason 
of  the  opposition  among  themselves  in  party  and 

VOL.   VIII.  s 


25S  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1653. 

principles,    not  likely   ever  to  combine  against 
liim. 

Cromwel  said  that  he  accepted  the  dignity  of 
protector,  merely  that  he  might  exert  the  duty 
of  a  constable,  and  preserve  peace  in  the  nation. 
Affairs  indeed  were  brought  to  that  pass,  by  the 
furious  animosities  of  the  several  factions,  that 
the  extensive  authority  and  even  arbitrary  power 
of  some  first  magistrate  was  become  a  necessary 
evil,  in  order  to  keep  the  people  from  relapsing 
into  blood  and  confusion.  The  independents 
were  too  small  a  party  ever  to  establish  a  popular 
government,  or  entrust  the  nation,  where  they 
had  so  little  interest,  with  the  free  choice  of  its 
representatives.  The  presbyterians  had  adopted 
the  violent  maxims  of  persecution  ;  incompatible 
at  all  times  with  the  peace  of  society,  much  more 
with  the  wild  zeal  of  those  numerous  sects  which 
prevailed  among  the  people.  The  royalists  were 
so  much  enraged  by  the  injuries  which  they  had 
suffered,  that  the  other  prevailing  parties  would 
never  submit  to  them,  who,  they  knew,  were 
enabled  merely  by  the  execution  of  the  ancient 
laws,  to  take  severe  vengeance  upon  them.  Plad 
Cromwel  been  guilty  of  no  crime  but  this  tem- 
porary usurpation,  the  plea  of  necessity  and 
public  good,  which  he  alleged,  might  be  allow- 
ed in  every  view,  a  reasonable  excuse  for  his 
conduct. 

During  the  variety   of  ridiculous   and   dis- 


1653.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  259 

tracted  scenes,  which  the  civil  government  exhi- 
bited in  England,  the  military  force  was  exerted 
with  vigour,  conduct,  and  unanimity ;  and  never 
did  the  kingdom  appear  more  formidable  to  all 
foreign  nations.  The  English  fleet,  consisting  of 
an  hundred  sail,  and  commanded  by  Monk  and 
Dean,  and  under  them  by  Pen  and  Lawson,  met, 
near  the  coast  of  Flanders,  with  the  Dutch  fleet, 
equally  numerous,  and  commanded  by  Tromp. 
The  two  republics  were  not  inflamed  by  any  na- 
tional antipathy,  and  their  interests  very  little 
interfered  :  yet  few  battles  have  been  disputed 
with  more  fierce  and  obstinate  courage  than  were 
those  many  naval  combats,  which  were  fought 
during  this  short,  but  violent,  war.  The  desire  of 
remaining  sole  lords  of  the  ocean  animated  these 
states  to  an  honourable  emulation  against  each 
other.  After  a  battle  of  two  days,  in  the  first  of 
which  Dean  was  killed,  the  Dutch,  inferior  in 
the  size  of  their  ships,  were  obliged,  with  great 
loss,  to  retire  into  their  harbours.  Blake,  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  fight,  joined  his  countrymen 
with  eighteen  sail.  The  English  fleet  lay  off  the 
coast  of  Holland,  and  totally  interrupted  the 
commerce  of  that  republic. 

The  ambassador,  whom  the  Dutch  had  sent 
over  to  England,  gave  them  hopes  of  peace.  But 
as  they  could  obtain  no  cessation  of  hostilities, 
the  States,  unwilling  to  suffer  any  longer  the  loss 
and  dishonour  of  being  blockaded  by  the  enemy, 
2 


260  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1654. 

made  the  utmost  efforts  to  recover  their  injured 
honour.  Never  on  any  occasion  did  the  power 
and  vigour  of  that  republic  appear  in  a  more  con- 
spicuous light.  In  a  few  weeks,  they  had  re- 
paired and  manned  their  fleet ;  and  the}^  equip- 
ped some  ships  of  a  larger  size  than  any  which 
they  had  hitherto  sent  to  sea.  Tromp  issued  out, 
determined  again  to  fight  the  victors,  and  to  die 
rather  than  to  yield  the  contest.  He  met  with 
the  enemy,  commanded  by  Monk ;  and  both 
sides  immediately  rushed  into  the  combat.  Tromp, 
gallantly  animating  his  men,  with  his  sword  drawn, 
was  shot  through  the  heart  with  a  musquet  ball. 
This  event  alone  decided  the  battle  in  favour  of 
the  English.  Though  near  thirty  ships  of  the 
Dutch  were  sunk  and  taken,  they  little  regard- 
ed this  loss  compared  with  that  of  their  brave 
admiral. 


PEACE  WITH  HOLLAND. 

Meanwhile  the  negotiations  of  peace  were 
continually  advancing.  The  States,  overwhelmed 
with  the  expence  of  the  war,  terrified  by  their 
losses,  and  mortified  by  their  defeats,  were  ex- 
tremely desirous  of  an  accommodation  with  an 
enemy  whom  they  found,  by  experience,  too 
powerful  for  them.  The  king  having  shown  an 
inclination  to  serve  on  board  their  fleet ;  though 
they  expressed  their  sense  of  the  honour  intended 


1(554.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  2Gl 

them,  they  declined  an  offer  which  might  inflame 
the  quarrel  with  the  English  commonwealth.  The 
great  obstacle  to  the  peace  was  found  not  to  be 
any  animosity  on  the  part  of  the  English  ;  but  on 
the  contrary  a  desire  too  earnest  of  union  and 
confederacy.  Cromwel  had  revived  the  chimeri- 
cal scheme  of  a  coalition  with  the  United  Pro- 
vinces ;  a  total  conjunction  of  government,  pri- 
vileges, interests,  and  councils.  This  project 
appeared  so  wild  to  the  States,  that  they  won- 
dered any  man  of  sense  could  ever  entertain  it ; 
and  they  refused  to  enter  into  conferences  with 
regard  to  a  proposal,  which  could  serve  only  to 
delay  any  practicable  scheme  of  accommodation. 
The  peace  was  at  last  signed  by  Cromwel,  now 
invested  with  the  dignity  of  protector;  and  it 
proves  sufficiently,  that  the  war  had  been  impo- 
litic, since,  after  the  most  signal  victories,  no 
terms  more  advantageous  could  be  obtained.  A 
defensive  league  was  made  between  the  two  re- 
publics. They  agreed  each  of  them  to  banish  the 
enemies  of  the  other ;  those  who  had  been  con- 
cerned in  the  massacre  of  Amboyna  were  to  be 
punished,  if  any  remained  alive;  the  honour  of 
the  flag  was  yielded  to  the  English ;  eighty-five 
thousand  pounds  were  stipulated  to  be  paid  by  the 
Dutch  East  India  company  for  losses  which  the 
English  company  had  sustained ;  and  the  island 
of  Polerone  in  the  East  Indies  was  promised  to  be 
ceded  to  the  latter. 

Cromwel,  jealous  of  the  connexions  between 


262  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1654. 

the  royal  family  and  that  of  Orange,  insisted  on  a 
separate  article ;  that  neither  the  young  prince 
nor  any  of  his  family  should  ever  be  invested  with 
the  dignity  of  stadtholder.  The  province  of 
Holland,  strongly  prejudiced  against  that  office, 
which  they  esteemed  dangerous  to  liberty,  se- 
cretly ratified  this  article.  The  protector,  know- 
ing that  the  other  provinces  would  not  be  induced 
to  make  such  a  concession,  was  satisfied  with  this 
security. 

The  Dutch  war  being  successful,  and  the 
peace  reasonable,  brought  credit  to  Cromwel's 
administration.  An  act  of  justice,  which  he  exer- 
cised at  home,  gave  likewise  satisfaction  to  the 
people ;  though  the  regularity  of  it  may  perhaps 
appear  somewhat  doubtful.  Don  Pantaleon  Sa, 
brother  to  the  Portuguese  ambassador,  and  joined 
with  him  in  the  same  com  mission w,  fancying  him- 
self to  be  insulted,  came  upon  the  exchange, 
armed  and  attended  by  several  servants.  By  mis- 
take, he  fell  on  a  gentleman,  whom  he  took  for 
the  person  that  had  given  him  the  offence ;  and 
having  butchered  him  with  many  wounds,  he  and 
all  his  attendants  took  shelter  in  the  house  of  the 
Portuguese  ambassador,  who  had  connived  at  this 
base  enterprise x.  The  populace  surrounded  the 
house,  and  threatened  to  set  fire  to  it.  Cromwel 
sent  a  guard,  who  seized  all  the  criminals.  They 
were  brought  to  trial :  and  notwithstanding  the 

w  Thurloe,  vol.  ii.  p.  429.  *  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  616. 


1054.  THE   COMMMONWEALTH.  2(>3 

opposition  of  the  ambassador,  who  pleaded  the 
privileges  of  his  office,  don  Pantaleon  was  exe- 
cuted on  Tower-hill.  The  laws  of  nations  were 
here  plainly  violated  :  but  the  crime  committed 
by  the  Portuguese  gentleman  was  to  the  last  de- 
gree atrocious  ;  and  the  vigorous  chastisement  of 
it,  suiting  so  well  to  the  undaunted  character  of 
Cromwel,  was  universally  approved  of  at  home 
and  admired  among  foreign  nations.  The  situa- 
tion of  Portugal  obliged  that  court  to  acquiesce  ; 
and  the  ambassador  soon  after  signed  with 
the  protector  a  treaty  of  peace  and  alliance, 
which  was  very  advantageous  to  the  English 
commerce.    . 

Another  act  of  severity,  but  necessary  in  his 
situation,  was,  at  the  very  same  time,  exercised 
by  the  protector,  in  the  capital  punishment  of 
Gerard  and  Vowel,  two  royalists,  who  were  ac- 
cused of  conspiring  against  his  life.  He  had 
erected  a  high  court  of  justice  for  their  trial ;  an 
infringement  of  the  ancient  laws,  which  at  this 
time  was  become  familiar,  but  one  to  which  no 
custom  or  precedent  could  reconcile  the  nation. 
Juries  were  found  altogether  unmanageable. 
The  restless  Lilburn,  for  new  offences,  had  been 
brought  to  a  new  trial ;  and  had  been  acquitted 
with  new  triumph  and  exultation.  If  no  other 
method  of  conviction  had  been  devised  during 
this  illegal  and  unpopular  government,  all  its  ene- 
mies were  assured  of  entire  impunity. 


264  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1(554. 

A  NEW  PARLIAMENT.    September  3. 

The  protector  had  occasion  to  observe  the  pre- 
judices entertained  against  his  government,  by 
the  disposition  of  the  parliament,  which  he  sum- 
moned on  the  third  of  September,  that  day  of  the 
year  on  which  he  gained  his  two  great  victories 
of  Dunbar  and  Worcester,  and  which  he  always 
regarded  as  fortunate  for  him.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed, that,  if  we  are  left  to  gather  Cromwel's 
intentions  from  his  instrument  of  government,  it 
is  such  a  motley  piece,  that  we  cannot  easily  con- 
jecture, whether  he  seriously  meant  to  establish 
a  tyranny  or  a  republic.  On  one  hand,  a  first 
magistrate,  in  so  extensive  a  government,  seemed 
necessary  both  for  the  dignity  and  tranquillity  of 
the  state ;  and  the  authority,  which  he  assumed 
as  protector,  was,  in  some  respects,  inferior  to  the 
prerogatives,  which  the  laws  entrusted  and  still 
entrust  to  the  king.  On  the  other  hand,  the  le- 
gislative power,  which  he  reserved  to  himself,  and 
council,  together  with  so  great  an  army,  inde- 
pendent of  the  parliament,  were  bad  prognostics 
of  his  intention  to  submit  to  a  civil  and  legal  con- 
stitution. But  if  this  were  not  his  intention, 
the  method  in  which  he  distributed  and  con- 
ducted the  elections,  being  so  favourable  to  li- 
berty, forms  an  inconsistency  which  is  not  easily 
accounted  for.  He  deprived  of  their  right  of 
election  all  the  small  boroughs,  places  the  most 


1654.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  265 

exposed  to  influence  and  corruption.  Of  400 
members,  which  represented  England,  270  were 
chosen  by  the  counties.  The  rest  were  elected 
by  London,  and  the  more  considerable  corpora- 
tions. The  lower  populace  too,  so  easily  guided 
or  deceived,  were  excluded  from  the  elections : 
an  estate  of  200  pounds  value  was  necessary  to 
entitle  any  one  to  a  vote.  The  elections  of  this 
parliament  were  conducted  with  perfect  freedom; 
and,  excepting  that  such  of  the  royalists  as  had 
borne  arms  against  the  parliament  and  all  their 
sons  were  excluded,  a  more  fair  representation 
of  the  people  could  not  be  desired  or  expected. 
Thirty  members  were  returned  from  Scotland  ;  as 
many  from  Ireland. 

The  protector  seems  to  have  been  disappoint- 
ed, when  he  found  that  all  these  precautions, 
which  were  probably  nothing  but  covers  to  his 
ambition,  had  not  procured  him  the  confidence 
of  the  public.  Though  Cromwel's  administration 
was  less  odious  to  every  party  than  that  of  any 
other  party,  yet  was  it  entirely  acceptable  to  none. 
The  royalists  had  been  instructed  by  the  king  to 
remain  quiet,  and  to  cover  themselves  under  the 
appearance  of  republicans ;  and  they  found  in 
this  latter  faction  such  inveterate  hatred  against 
the  protector,  that  they  could  not  wish  for  more 
zealous  adversaries  to  his  authority.  It  was 
maintained  by  them,  that  the  pretence  of  liberty 
and  a  popular  election  was  but  a  new  artifice  of 
this  great  deceiver,  in  order  to  lay  asleep  the  de- 


'206  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1654. 

luded  nation,  and  give  himself  leisure  to  rivet 
their  chains  more  securely  upon  them :  that  in 
the  instrument  of  government  he  openly  declared 
his  intention  of  still  retaining  the  same  mercenary 
army,  by  whose  assistance  he  had  subdued  the 
ancient  established  government,  and  who  would 
with  less  scruple  obey  him,  in  overturning,  when- 
ever he  should  please  to  order  them,  that  new 
system,  which  he  himself  had  been  pleased  to 
model :  that  being  sensible  of  the  danger  and  un- 
certainty of  all  military  government,  he  endea- 
voured to  intermix  some  appearance,  and  but  an 
appearance,  of  civil  administration,  and  to  balance 
the  army  by  a  seeming  consent  of  the  people : 
that  the  absurd  trial,  which  he  had  made,  of  a 
parliament,  elected  by  himself,  appointed  perpe- 
tually to  elect  their  successors,  plainly  proved, 
that  he  aimed  at  nothing  but  temporary  expe- 
dients, was  totally  averse  to  a  free  republican 
government,  and  possessed  not  that  mature  and 
deliberate  reflection,  which  could  qualify  him  to 
act  the  part  of  a  legislator:  that  his  imperious 
character,  which  had  betrayed  itself  in  so  many 
incidents,  could  never  seriously  submit  to  legal 
limitations;  nor  would  the  very  image  of  popular 
government  be  longer  upheld  than  while  con- 
formable to  his  arbitrary  will  and  pleasure :  and 
that  the  best  policy  was  to  oblige  him  to  take  off 
the  mask  at  once;  and  either  submit  entirely  to 
that  parliament,  which  he  had  summoned,  or,  by 
totally  rejecting  its  authority,   leave  himself  no 


1054.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  267 

resource   but   in  his  seditious   and  enthusiastic 
army. 

In  prosecution  of  these  views,  the  parliament, 
having  heard  the  protector's  speech,  three  hours 
longy,  and  having  chosen  Lenthal  for  their 
speaker,  immediately  entered  into  a  discussion  of 
the  pretended  instrument  of  government,  and  of 
that  authority  which  Cromwel,  by  the  title  of 
protector,  had  assumed  over  the  nation.  The 
greatest  liberty  was  used  in  arraigning  this  new 
dignity ;  and  even  the  personal  character  and 
conduct  of  Cromwel,  escaped  not  without  cen- 
sure. The  utmost  that  could  be  obtained  by  the 
officers  and  by  the  court  party,  for  so  they  were 
called,  was  to  protract  the  debate  by  arguments 
and  long  speeches,  and  prevent  the  decision  of  a 
question,  which,  they  were  sensible,  would  be 
carried  against  them  by  a  great  majority.  The 
protector,  surprised  and  enraged  at  this  refractory 
spirit  in  the  parliament,  which  however  he  had  so 
much  reason  to  expect,  sent  for  them  to  the 
painted  chamber,  and  with  an  air  of  great  author- 
ity inveighed  against  their  conduct.  He  told 
them  that  nothing  could  be  more  absurd  than  for 
them  to  dispute  his  title;  since  the  same  instru- 
ment of  government  which  made  them  a  parlia- 
ment, had  invested  him  with  the  protectorship ; 
that  some  points  in  the  new  constitution  were 
supposed  to  be  fundamentals,   and  were  not  on 

1  Thurloe,  vol.  ii.  p.  5813. 


268  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1654- 

any  pretence  to  be  altered  or  disputed;  that 
among  these  were  the  government  of  the  nation 
by  a  single  person  and  a  parliament,  their  joint 
authority  over  the  army  and  militia,  the  succes- 
sion of  new  parliaments  and  liberty  of  conscience ; 
and  that  with  regard  to  these  particulars,  there 
was  reserved  to  him  a  negative  voice,  to  which, 
in  the  other  circumstances  of  government,  he 
confessed  himself  no- wise  entitled. 

The  protector  now  found  the  necessity  of  ex- 
acting a  security  which,  had  he  foreseen  the  spirit 
of  the  house,  he  would  with  better  grace  have  re- 
quired at  their  first  meeting2.  He  obliged  the 
members  to  sign  a  recognition  of  his  authority, 
and  an  engagement  not  to  propose  or  consent  to 
any  alteration  in  the  government,  as  it  was  settled 
in  a  single  person  and  a  parliament;  and  he 
placed  guards  at  the  door  of  the  house,  who  al- 
lowed none  but  subscribers  to  enter.  Most  of  the 
members,  after  some  hesitation,  submitted  to  this 
condition ;  but  retained  the  same  refractory  spirit 
which  they  had  discovered  in  their  first  debates. 
The  instrument  of  government  was  taken  in 
pieces,  and  examined,  article  by  article,  with  the 
most  scrupulous  accuracy  :  very  free  topics  were 
advanced  vvith  the  general  approbation  of  the 
house :  and  during  the  whole  course  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, they  neither  sent  up  one  bill  to  the 
protector,  nor  took  any  notice  of  him.     Being 

*  Thurloe,  vol.  ii.  p.  620. 


1(555.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  269 

informed  that  conspiracies  were  entered  into  be- 
tween the  members  and  some  malcontent  officers, 
he  hastened  to  the  dissolution  of  so  dangerous  an 
assembly.  By  the  instrument  of  government,  to 
which  he  had  sworn,  no  parliament  could  be  dis- 
solved till  it  had  sitten  five  months ;  but  Crom- 
wel  pretended,  that  a  month  contained  only 
twenty-eight  days,  according  to  the  method  of 
computation  practised  in  paying  the  fleet  and 
army.  The  full  time,  therefore,  according  to 
this  reckoning,  being  elapsed,  the  parliament  was 
ordered  to  attend  the  protector,  who  made  them 
a  tedious,  confused,  angry  harangue,  and  dis- 
missed them.  Were  we  to  judge  of  Cromwel's 
capacity  by  this,  and  indeed  by  all  his  other  com- 
positions, we  should  be  apt  to  entertain  no  very 
favourable  idea  of  it.  But  in  the  great  variety  of 
human  geniuses,  there  are  some  which,  though 
they  see  their  object  clearly  and  distinctly  in  ge- 
neral, yet,  when  they  come  to  unfold  its  parts 
by  discourse  or  writing,  lose  that  luminous  con- 
ception which  they  had  before  attained.  All  ac- 
counts agree  in  ascribing  to  Cromwel,  a  tiresome, 
dark,  unintelligible  elocution,  even  when  he  had 
no  intention  to  disguise  his  meaning :  yet  no 
man's  actions  were  ever,  in  such  a  variety  of 
difficult  incidents,  more  decisive  and  judicious. 

The  electing  of  a  discontented  parliament  is  a 
proof  of  a  discontented  nation  :  the  angry  and 
abrupt  dissolution  of  that  parliament  is  always 
sure  to   increase   the   general   discontent.     The 


2;o  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1655. 

members  of  this  assembly,  returning  to  their 
counties,  propagated  that  spirit  of  mutiny  which 
they  had  exerted  in  the  house.  Sir  Harry  Vane 
and  the  old  republicans,  who  maintained  the  in- 
dissoluble authority  of  the  long  parliament,  en- 
couraged the  murmurs  against  the  present  usurp- 
ation ;  though  they  acted  so  cautiously  as  to  give 
the  protector  no  handle  against  them.  Wildman 
and  some  others  of  that  party  carried  still  far- 
ther their  conspiracies  against  the  protector's 
authority.  The  royalists,  observing  this  general 
ill-will  towards  the  establishment,  could  no  longer 
be  retained  in  subjection ;  but  fancied  that  every 
one  who  was  dissatisfied  like  them,  had  also  em- 
braced the  same  views  and  inclinations.  They 
did  not  consider  that  the  old  parliamentary 
party,  though  many  of  them  were  displeased  with 
Cromwel,  who  had  dispossessed  them  of  their 
power,  were  still  more  apprehensive  of  any  suc- 
cess to  the  royal  cause ;  whence,  besides  a  cer- 
tain prospect  of  the  same  consequence,  they  had 
so  much  reason  to  dread  the  severest  vengeance 
for  their  past  transgressions. 


INSURRECTION  OF  THE  ROYALISTS. 

In  concert  with  the  king  a  conspiracy  was  en- 
tered into  by  the  royalists  throughout  England, 
and  a  day  of  general  rising  appointed.  Informa- 
tion of  this  design  was  conveyed  to  Cromwel. 


1655  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  271 

The  protector's  administration  was  extremely  vi- 
gilant.    Thurloe,  his  secretary,  had  spies  every 
where.     Manning,  who  had  access  to  the  king's 
family,   kept  a  regular  correspondence  with  him. 
And  it  was  not  difficult  to  obtain  intelligence  of  a 
confederacy,  so  generally  diffused  among  a  party 
who  valued  themselves  more  on  zeal  and  courage, 
than    on  secresy   and    sobriety.      Many  of  the 
royalists  were  thrown   into  prison.     Others,   on 
the  approach  of  the  day,  were  terrified  with  the 
danger  of  the  undertaking,  and  remained  at  home. 
In  one  place  alone  the  conspiracy  broke  into  ac- 
tion.    Penruddoc,  Groves,  Jones,  and  other  gen- 
tlemen of  the  west,  entered  Salisbury  with  about 
200  horse  ;  at  the  very  time  when  the  sheriff  and 
judges   were   holding  the   assizes.      These   they 
made  prisoners  ;  and  they  proclaimed  the  king. 
Contrary  to  their  expectations,  they  received  no 
accession  of  force ;  so  prevalent  was  the  terror 
of  the  established  government.     Having  in  vain 
wandered  about  for  some  time,  they  were  totally 
discouraged  ;  and  one  troop  of  horse  was  able  at 
last  to  suppress  them.     The  leaders  of  the  con- 
spiracy, being  taken  prisoners,  were  capitally  pu- 
nished.    The  rest  were  sold  for  slaves,  and  trans- 
ported to  Barbadoes. 

The  easy  subduing  of  this  insurrection,  which, 
by  the  boldness  of  the  undertaking,  struck  at 
first  a  great  terror  into  the  nation,  was  a  singular 
felicity  to  the  protector;  who  could  not,  without 


272  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1655. 

danger,  have  brought  together  any  considerable 
body  of  his  mutiuous  army,  in  order  to  suppress 
it.  The  very  insurrection  itself  he  regarded  as  a 
fortunate  event;  since  it  proved  the  reality  of 
those  conspiracies,  which  his  enemies,  on  every 
occasion,  represented  as  mere  fictions,  invented 
to  colour  his  tyrannical  severities.  He  resolved 
to  keep  no  longer  any  terms  with  the  royalists, 
who,  though  they  were  not  perhaps  the  most  im- 
placable of  his  enemies,  were  those  whom  he 
could  oppress  under  the  most  plausible  pretences, 
and  who  met  with  least  countenance  and  pro- 
tection from  his  adherents.  He  issued  an  edict, 
with  the  consent  of  his  council,  for  exacting  the 
tenth  penny  from  that  whole  party ;  in  order,  as 
he  pretended,  to  make  them  pay  the  expences 
to  which  their  mutinous  disposition  continually 
exposed  the  public.  Without  regard  to  composi- 
tions, articles  of  capitulation,  or  acts  of  indem- 
nity, all  the  royalists,  however  harassed  with 
former  oppressions,  were  obliged  anew  to  redeem 
themselves  by  great  sums  of  money ;  and  many  of 
them  were  reduced  by  these  multiplied  disasters 
to  extreme  poverty.  Whoever  was  known  to 
be  disaffected,  or  even  lay  under  any  suspicion, 
though  no  guilt  could  be  proved  against  him,  was 
exposed  to  the  new  exaction. 

In  order  to  raise  this  imposition,  which  com- 
monly passed  by  the  name  of  decimation,  the 
protector  instituted   twelve  major-generals;  and 


1(555.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  273 

divided  the  whole  kingdom  of  England  into  so 
many  military  jurisdictions*.  These  men,  assist- 
ed by  commissioners,  had  power  to  subject  whom 
they  pleased  to  decimation,  to  levy  all  the  taxes 
imposed  by  the  protector  and  his  council,  and  to 
imprison  any  person  who  should  be  exposed  to 
their  jealousy  or  suspicion ;  nor  was  there  any 
appeal  from  them  but  to  the  protector  himself 
and  his  council.  Under  colour  of  these  powers, 
which  were  sufficiently  exorbitant,  the  major-ge- 
nerals exercised  an  authority  still  more  arbitrary, 
and  acted  as  if  absolute  masters  of  the  property 
and  person  of  every  subject.  All  reasonable  men 
now  concluded,  that  the  very  masque  of  liberty 
was  thrown  aside,  and  that  the  nation  was  for 
ever  subject  to  military  and  despotic  government, 
exercised  not  in  the  legal  manner  of  European 
nations,  but  according  to  the  maxims  of  eastern 
tyranny.  Not  only  the  supreme  magistrate  owed 
his  authority  to  illegal  force  and  usurpation :  he 
had  parcelled  out  the  people  into  so  many  sub- 
divisions of  slavery,  and  had  delegated  to  his 
inferior  ministers  the  same  unlimited  authority 
which  he  himself  had  so  violently  assumed. 


STATE  OF  EUROPE. 

A  government  totally  military  and  despotic  is 
almost  sure,  after  some  time,  to  fall  into  impo- 
1  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xx.  p.  433. 
VOL.  VIII.  T 


2J4  HISTORY   OF    ENGLANa  1655. 

tence  and  languor:  but  when  it  immediately 
succeeds  a  legal  constitution,  it  may,  at  first,  to 
foreign  nations,  appear  very  vigorous  and  active, 
and  may  exert  with  more  unanimity  that  power, 
spirit,  and  riches,  which  had  been  acquired  under 
a  better  form.  It  seems  now  proper,  after  so  long 
an  interval,  to  look  abroad  to  the  general  state  of 
Europe,  and  to  consider  the  measures  which  Eng- 
land at  this  time  embraced  in  its  negotiations  with 
the  neighbouring  princes.  The  moderate  temper 
and  unwarlike  genius  of  the  two  last  princes,  the 
extreme  difficulties  under  which  they  laboured  at 
home,  and  the  great  security  which  they  enjoyed 
from  foreign  enemies,  had  rendered  them  negli- 
gent of  the  transactions  on  the  continent ;  and 
England,  during  their  reigns,  had  been  in  a  man- 
ner overlooked  in  the  general  system  of  Europe. 
The  bold  and  restless  genius  of  the  protector  led 
him  to  extend  his  alliances  and  enterprises  to 
every  part  of  Christendom  ;  and  partly  from  the 
ascendant  of  his  magnanimous  spirit,  partly  from 
the  situation  of  foreign  kingdoms,  the  weight  of 
England,  even  under  its  most  legal  and  bravest 
princes,  was  never  more  sensibly  felt  than  during 
this  unjust  and  violent  usurpation. 

A  war  of  thirty  years,  the  most  signal  and 
most  destructive  that  had  appeared  in  modern 
annals,  was  at  last  finished  in  Germany  b;  and  by 
the  treaty  of  Westphalia,  were  composed  those 
fatal  quarrels  which  had  been  excited  by  the  pa- 
Ma  1 648. 


1655.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  275 

latine's  precipitate  acceptance  of  the  crown  of 
Bohemia.  The  young  palatine  was  restored  to 
part  of  his  dignities  and  of  his  dominions0.  The 
rights,  privileges,  and  authority,  of  the  several 
members  of  the  Germanic  body  were  fixed  and 
ascertained  :  sovereign  princes  and  free  states 
were  in  some  degree  reduced  to  obedience  under 
laws :  and  by  the  valour  of  the  heroic  Gustavus, 
the  enterprises  of  the  active  Richelieu,  the  in- 
trigues of  the  artful  Mazarine,  was  in  part  effect- 
ed, after  an  infinite  expence  of  blood  and  trea- 
sure, what  had  been  fondly  expected  and  loudly 
demanded  from  the  feeble  efforts  of  the  pacific 
James,  seconded  by  the  scanty  supplies  of  his 
jealous  parliaments. 

Sweden,  which  had  acquired  by  conquest 
large  dominions  in  the  north  of  Germany,  was 
engaged  in  enterprises  which  promised  her,  from 
her  success  and  valour,  still  more  extensive  acqui- 
sitions on  the  side  both  of  Poland  and  of  Den- 
mark. Charles  X.  who  had  mounted  the  throne 
of  that  kingdom  after  the  voluntary  resignation 
of  Christina,  being  stimulated  by  the  fame  of 
Gustavus  as  well  as  by  his  own  martial  disposi- 
tion, carried  his  conquering  arms  to  the  south  of 
the  Baltic,  and  gained  the  celebrated  battle  of 
Warsaw,   which  had  been   obstinately   disputed 

c  This  prince,  during  the  civil  wars,  had  much  neglected  his 
uncle,  and  payed  court  to  the  parliament  :  he  accepted  of  a  pen? 
sion  of  80001.  a-year  from  them,  and  took  a  place  in  their  assem- 
bly of  divines. 
2 


276  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1655. 

during  the  space  of  three  days.  The  protector, 
at  the  time  his  alliance  was  courted  by  every 
power  in  Europe,  anxiously  courted  the  alliance 
of  Sweden ;  and  he  was  fond  of  forming  a  confe- 
deracy with  a  protestant  power  of  such  renown, 
even  though  it  threatened  the  whole  north  with 
conquest  and  subjection. 

The  transactions  of  the  parliament  and  pro- 
tector with  France  had  been  various  and  compli- 
cated. The  emissaries  of  Richelieu  had  furnished 
fuel  to  the  flame  of  rebellion,  when  it  first  broke 
out  in  Scotland;  but  after  the  conflagration  had 
diffused  itself,  the  French  court,  observing  the 
materials  to  be  of  themselves  sufficiently  com- 
bustible, found  it  unnecessary  any  longer  to  ani- 
mate the  British  malcontents  to  an  opposition  of 
their  sovereign.  On  the  contrary,  they  offered 
their  mediation  for  composing  these  intestine 
disorders ;  and  their  ambassadors,  from  decency, 
pretended  to  act  in  concert  with  the  court  of 
England,  and  to  receive  directions  from  a  prince 
with  whom  their  master  was  connected  with  so 
near  an  affinity.  Meanwhile  Richelieu  died,  and 
soon  after  him  the  French  king,  Louis  XIII.  leav- 
ing his  son  an  infant  four  years  old,  and  his  wi- 
dow, Anne  of  Austria,  regent  of  the  kingdom. 
Cardinal  Mazarine  succeeded  Richelieu  in  the 
ministry;  and  the  same  general  plan  of  policy, 
though  by  men  of  such  opposite  characters,  was 
still  continued  in  the  French  counsels.  The  esta- 
blishment of  royal  authority,  the  reduction  .of  the 


1655*  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  277 

Austrian  family,  were  pursued  with  ardour  and 
success;  and  every  year  brought  an  accession 
of  force  and  grandeur  to  the  French  monarchy. 
Not  only  battles  were  won,  towns  and  fortresses 
taken ;  the  genius  too  of  the  nation  seemed  gra- 
dually to  improve,  and  to  compose  itself  to  the 
spirit  of  dutiful  obedience  and  of  steady  enter- 
prise. A  Conde\  a  Turenne,  were  formed ;  and 
the  troops,  animated  by  their  valour,  and  guided 
by  their  discipline,  acquired  every  day  a  greater 
ascendant  over  the  Spaniards.  All  of  a  sudden, 
from  some  intrigues  of  the  court,  and  some  dis- 
contents in  the  courts  of  judicature,  intestine 
commotions  were  excited,  and  every  thing  re- 
lapsed into  confusion.  But  these  rebellions  of 
the  French,  neither  ennobled  by  the  spirit  of  li- 
berty, nor  disgraced  by  the  fanatical  extrava- 
gance which  distinguished  the  British  civil  wars, 
were  conducted  with  little  bloodshed,  and  made 
but  a  small  impression  on  the  minds  of  the 
people.  Though  seconded  by  the  force  of  Spain, 
and  conducted  by  the  prince  of  Cond6,  the  mal- 
contents, in  a  little  time,  were  either  expelled  or 
subdued ;  and  the  French  monarchy,  having  lost 
a  few  of  its  conquests,  returned  with  fresh  vigour 
to  the  acquisition  of  new  dominion. 

The  queen  of  England  and  her  son,  Charles, 
during  these  commotions,  passed  most  of  their 
time  at  Paris;  and  notwithstanding  their  near 
connexion  of  blood,  received  but  few  civilities, 
and  still  less  support,  from  the  French  court. 


•ITS  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1655. 

Had  the  queen  regent  been  ever  so  much  in- 
clined to  assist  the  English  prince,  the  disorders 
of  her  own  affairs  would,  for  a  long  time,  have 
rendered  such  intentions  impracticable.  The  ba- 
nished queen  had  a  moderate  pension  assigned 
her  ;  but  it  was  so  ill  payed,  and  her  credit  ran  so 
low,  that,  one  morning,  when  the  cardinal  de  Retz 
waited  on  her,  she  informed  him  that  her  daugh- 
ter, the  princess  Henrietta,  was  obliged  to  lie 
abed,  for  want  of  a  fire  to  warm  her.  To  such  a 
condition  was  reduced,  in  the  midst  of  Paris,  a 
queen  of  England,  and  daughter  of  Henry  IV. 
of  France ! 

The  English  parliament,  however,  having  as- 
sumed the  sovereignty  of  the  state,  resented  the 
countenance,  cold  as  it  was,  which  the  French 
court  gave  to  the  unfortunate  monarch.  On 
pretence  of  injuries,  of  which  the  English  mer- 
chants complained,  they  issued  letters  of  reprisal 
upon  the  French;  and  Blake  went  so  far  as  to 
attack  and  seize  a  whole  squadron  of  ships,  which 
were  carrying  supplies  to  Dunkirk,  then  closely 
besieged  by  the  Spaniards.  That  town,  disap- 
pointed of  these  supplies,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  The  French  ministers  soon  found  it 
necessary  to  change  their  measures.  They  treated 
Charles  with  such  affected  indifference,  that  he 
thought  it  more  decent  to  withdraw,  and  prevent 
the  indignity  of  being  desired  to  leave  the  king- 
dom. He  went  first  to  Spaw,  thence  he  retired  to 
Cologne;  where  he  lived  two  years  on  a  small 


1655.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  2/9 

pension,  about  6000  pounds  a-year,  payed  him  by 
the  court  of  France,  and  on  some  contributions 
sent  him  by  his  friends  in  England.  In  the  ma- 
nagement of  his  family,  he  discovered  a  disposi- 
tion to  order  and  oeconomy ;  and  his  temper, 
cheerful,  careless,  and  sociable,  was  more  than 
a  sufficient  compensation  for  that  empire,  of 
which  his  enemies  had  bereaved  him.  Sir  Ed- 
ward Hyde,  created  lord  chancellor,  and  the 
marquis  of  Ormond,  were  his  chief  friends  and 
confidents. 

If  the  French  ministry  had  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  bend  under  the  English  parliament,  they 
deemed  it  still  more  necessary  to  pay  deference  to 
the  protector,  when  he  assumed  the  reins  of  go- 
vernment. Cardinal  Mazarine,  by  whom  all  the 
councils  of  France  were  directed,  was  artful  and 
vigilant,  supple  and  patient,  false  and  intriguing ; 
desirous  rather  to  prevail  by  dexterity  than  vio- 
lence, and  placing  his  honour  more  in  the  final 
success  of  his  measures  than  in  the  splendour  and 
magnanimity  of  the  means  which  he  employed. 
Cromwel,  by  his  imperious  character,  rather  than 
by  the  advantage  of  his  situation,  acquired  an 
ascendant  over  this  man ;  and  every  proposal 
made  by  the  protector,  however  unreasonable  in 
itself,  and  urged  with  whatever  insolence,  met 
with  a  ready  compliance  from  the  politic  and 
timid  cardinal.  Bourdeaux  was  sent  over  to  Eng- 
land as  minister;  and  all  circumstances  of  re- 
spect were  paid  to  the  daring  usurper,  who  had 


SOO  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1655. 

imbrued  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  his  sove- 
reign, a  prince  so  nearly  related  to  the  royal  fa- 
mily of  France.  With  indefatigable  patience  did 
Bourdeaux  conduct  this  negotiation,  which  Crom- 
wel  seemed  entirely  to  neglect;  and  though 
privateers,  with  English  commissions,  committed 
daily  depredations  on  the  French  commerce,  Ma- 
zarine was  content,  in  hopes  of  a  fortunate  issue, 
still  to  submit  to  these  indignities  1 

The  court  of  Spain,  less  connected  with  the 
unfortunate  royal  family,  and  reduced  to  greater 
distress  than  the  French  monarchy,  had  been  still 
more  forward  in  her  advances  to  the  prosperous 
parliament  and  protector.  Don  Alonzo  de  Car- 
denas, the  Spanish  envoy,  was  the  first  public  mi" 
nister  who  recognized  the  authority  of  the  new 
republic  ;  and  in  return  for  this  civility,  Ascham 
was  sent  envoy  into  Spain  by  the  parliament.  No 
sooner  had  this  minister  arrived  at  Madrid,  than 
some  of  the  banished  royalists,  inflamed  by  that 
inveterate  hatred  which  animated  the  English  fac- 
tions, broke  into  his  chamber,  and  murdered  him 
together  with  his  secretary.  Immediately  they 
took  sanctuary  in  the  churches  ;  and,  assisted  by 
the  general  favour,  which  every  where  attended 
the  royal  cause,  were  enabled,  most  of  them,  to 
make  their  escape.     Only  one  of  the  criminals 

d  Thurloe,  vol.  iii.  p.  103.  6lQ.  653.  In  the  treaty,  which  was 
signed  after  long  negotiation,  the  protector's  name  was  inserted 
before  the  French  king's  in  that  copy  which  remained  in  Eng- 
land.   Thurloe,  vol.  vi.  p.  110".    See  farther,  vol.  vii.  p.  1/8. 


11355.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  281 

suffered  death;  and   the   parliament  seemed   to 
rest  satisfied  with  this  atonement. 

Spain,  at  this  time,  assailed  every  where  hy 
vigorous  enemies  from  without,  and  labouring 
under  many  internal  disorders,  retained  nothing 
of  her  former  grandeur,  except  the  haughty 
pride  of  her  counsels,  and  the  hatred  and  jea- 
lousy of  her  neighbours.  Portugal  had  rebelled, 
and  established  her  monarchy  in  the  house  of 
Braganza:  Catalonia,  complaining  of  violated 
privileges,  had  revolted  to  France :  Naples  was 
shaken  with  popular  convulsions  :  the  Low  Coun- 
tries were  invaded  with  superior  forces,  and 
seemed  ready  to  change  their  master :  the  Span- 
ish infantry,  anciently  so  formidable,  had  been 
annihilated  by  Conde  in  the  fields  of  Rocroy : 
and  though  the  same  prince,  banished  France, 
sustained,  by  his  activity  and  valour,  the  falling 
fortunes  of  Spain,  he  could  only  hope  to  protract, 
not  prevent,  the  ruin  with  which  that  monarchy 
was  yisibly  threatened. 

Had  Cromwell  understood  and  regarded  the 
interests  of  his  country,  he  would  have  supported 
the  declining  condition  of  Spain  against  the  dan- 
gerous ambition  of  France,  and  preserved  that  ba- 
lance of  power,  on  which  the  greatness  and  secur- 
ity of  England  so  much  depend.  Had  he  studied 
only  his  own  interests,  he  would  have  maintained 
an  exact  neutrality  between  those  great  mon- 
archies; nor  would  he  have  hazarded  his  ill-ac- 
quired and  unsettled  power,  by  provoking  foreign 


282  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1655. 

enemies,  who  might  lend  assistance  to  domestic 
faction,  and  overturn  his  tottering  throne.  But 
his  magnanimity  undervalued  danger:  his  active 
disposition,  and  avidity  of  extensive  glory,  made 
him  incapable  of  repose :  and  as  the  policy  of 
men  is  continually  warped  by  their  temper,  no 
sooner  was  peace  made  with  Holland,  than  he 
began  to  deliberate  what  new  enemy  he  should 
invade  with  his  victorious  arms. 


WAR  WITH  SPAIN. 

The  extensive  empire  and  yet  extreme  weakness 
of  Spain  in  the  West  Indies ;  the  vigorous  cour- 
age and  great  naval  power  of  England  ;  were  cir- 
cumstances, which,  when  compared,N  excited  the 
ambition  of  the  enterprising  protector,  and  made 
him  hope  that  he  might,  by  some  gainful  con- 
quest, render  for  ever  illustrious  that  dominion 
which  he  had  assumed  over  his  country.  Should 
he  fail  of  these  durable  acquisitions,  the  Indian 
treasures,  which  must  every  year  cross  the  ocean 
to  reach  Spain,  were,  he  thought,  a  sure  prey  to 
the  English  navy,  and  would  support  his  military 
force,  without  his  laying  new  burthens  on  the 
discontented  people.  From  France  a  vigorous 
resistance  must  be  expected :  no  plunder,  no 
conquests  could  be  hoped  for :  the  progress  of  his 
arms,  even  if  attended  with  success,  must  there 
be  slow  and  gradual:   and  the  advantages  ac- 


1655.  THE   COMMONWEALTH,  28.1 

quired,  however  real,  would  be  still  less  striking 
to  the  multitude,  whom  it  was  his  interest  to  al- 
lure. The  royal  family,  so  closely  connected  with 
the  French  monarch,  might  receive  great  assist- 
ance from  that  neighbouring  kingdom  ;  and  an 
army  of  French  protestants,  landed  in  England, 
would  be  able,  he  dreaded,  to  unite  the  most  op- 
posite factions  against  the  present  usurpation6. 

These  motives  of  policy  were  probably  se<- 
conded  by  his  bigoted  prejudices ;  as  no  human 
mind  ever  contained  so  strange  a  mixture  of  sa- 
gacity and  absurdity  as  that  of  this  extraordinary 
personage.  The  Swedish  alliance,  though  much 
contrary  to  the  interests  of  England,  he  had  con- 
tracted merely  from  his  zeal  for  protestantism f ; 
and  Sweden  being  closely  connected  with  France, 
he  could  not  hope  to  maintain  that  confederacy, , 
in  which  he  so  much  prided  himself,  should  a 
rupture  ensue  between  England  and  this  latter 
kingdom g.  The  Hugonots,  he  expected,  would 
meet  with  better  treatment,  while  he  engaged 
in  a  close  union  with  their  sovereign h.  And  as 
the  Spaniards  were  much  more  papists  than  the 

e  See  the  account  of  the  negotiations  with  France  and  Spain, 
by  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  759. 

1  He  proposed  to  Sweden  a  general  league  and  confederacy  of 
all  the  protestants.  Whitlocke,  p.  620.  Thurloe,  vol.  vii.  p.  ] . 
In  order  to  judge  of  the  maxims  by  which  he  conducted  his  fo- 
reign politics,  see  farther  Thurloe,  vol.  iv.  p.  295.  343.  443, 
vol.  vii.  p.  174. 

«  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  759.  h  Id.  ibid. 


364  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1655. 

French,  were  much  more  exposed  to  the  old 
puritanical  hatred1,  and  had  even  erected  the 
bloody  tribunal  of  the  inquisition,  whose  rigours 
they  had  refused  to  mitigate  on  Cromwel's  soli- 
citationk;  he  hoped  that  a  holy  and  meritorious 
war  with  such  idolaters  could  not  fail  of  pro- 
tection from  heaven1.  A  preacher  likewise,  in- 
spired, as  was  supposed,  by  a  prophetic  spirit, 
bid  him  go  and  prosper;  calling  him  a  stone  cut 
out  of  the  mountains  without  hands,  that  would 
break  the  pride  of  the  Spaniard,  crush  Antichrist, 
and  make  way  for  the  purity  of  the  Gospel  over  the 
whole  worldm. 

Actuated  equally  by  these  bigoted,  these  am- 
bitious, and  these  interested  motives,  the  pro- 
tector equipped  two  considerable  squadrons  ;  and 
while  he  was  making  those  preparations,  the 
neighbouring  states,  ignorant  of  his  intentions, 
remained  in  suspence,  and  looked  with  anxious 
expectation  on  what  side  the  storm  should  dis- 
charge itself.  One  of  these  squadrons,  consist- 
ing of  thirty  capital  ships,  was  sent  into  the  Me- 
diterranean under  Blake,  whose  fame  was  now 
spread  over  Europe.  No  English  fleet,  except 
during  the  Crusades,  had  ever  before  sailed  in 
those  seas ;  and  from  one  extremity  to  the  other, 

1  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  J5Q. 
k  Id.  ibid.  Don  Alonzo  said,  that  the  Indian  trade  and  the  in- 
quisition were  his  master's  two  eyes,  and  the  protector  insisted 
upon  the  putting  out  both  of  them  et  once. 

1  Carrington,  p.  191.  ro  Bates. 


1655.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  265 

there  was  no  naval  force,    Christian  or  Maho- 
metan, able  to  resist  them.     The  Roman  pontiff, 
whose  weakness  and  whose  pride  equally  provoke 
attacks,    dreaded  invasion  from  a  power  which 
professed  the  most  inveterate  enmity  against  him, 
and  which  so  little  regulated  its  movements  by 
the    usual  motives   of  interest    and    prudence. 
Blake,  casting  anchor  before  Leghorn,  demanded 
and  obtained  from  the  duke  of  Tuscany  repara- 
tion for  some  losses  which  the  English  commerce 
had  formerly  sustained  from  him.     He  next  sailed 
to  Algiers,  and  compelled  the  dey  to  make  peace, 
and  to  restrain  his  piratical  subjects  from  farther 
violences  on  the  English.     He  presented  himself 
before  Tunis;  and  having  there  made  the  same 
demands,  the  dey  of  that  republic  bade  him  look 
to  the  castles  of  Porto  Farino  and  Goletta,  and 
do  his  utmost.     Blake  needed  not  to  be  roused 
by  such  a  bravado  :  he  drew  his  ships  close  up  to 
the  castles,  and  tore  them  in  pieces  with  his  artil- 
lery.    He  sent  a  numerous  detachment  of  sailors 
in  their  long-boats  into  the  harbour,  and  burned 
every  ship  which  lay  there.     This  bold  action, 
which  its  very  temerity,  perhaps,  rendered  safe, 
was  executed  with  little  loss,  and  rilled  all  that 
part  of  the  world  with  the  renown  of  English 
valour. 


286  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1655. 

JAMAICA  CONQUERED. 

The  other  squadron  was  not  equally  successful. 
It  was  commanded  by  Pen,  and  carried  on  board 
4000  men,  under  the  command  of  Venables. 
About  5000  more  joined  them  from  Barbadoes 
and  St.  Christopher's.  Both  these  officers  were 
inclined  to  the  king's  service11;  and  it  is  pre- 
tended that  Cromwel  was  obliged  to  hurry  the 
soldiers  on  board,  in  order  to  prevent  the  exe- 
cution of  a  conspiracy  which  had  been  formed 
among  them  in  favour  of  the  exiled  family0. 
The  ill  success  of  this  enterprise  may  justly  be 
ascribed,  as  much  to  the  injudicious  schemes  of 
the  protector,  who  planned  it,  as  to  the  bad  exe- 
cution of  the  officers,  by  whom  it  was  conducted. 
The  soldiers  were  the  refuse  of  the  whole  army : 
the  forces,  inlisted  in  the  West  Indies,  were  the 
most  profligate  of  mankind:  Pen  and  Venables 
were  of  incompatible  tempers  :  the  troops  were 
not  furnished  with  arms  fit  for  such  an  expedi- 
tion :  their  provisions  were  defective  both  in 
quantity  and  quality  :  all  hopes  of  pillage,  the 
best  incentive  to  valour  among  such  men,  were 
refused  the  soldiers  and  seamen  :  no  directions  or 
intelligence  were  given  to  conduct  the  officers  in 
their  enterprise  :  and  at  the  same  time  they  were 

■  Clarendon.  •  Vita  D.  Berwici,  p.  124. 


1655.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  287 

tied  down  to  follow  the  advice  of  commissioners 
who  disconcerted  them  in  all  their  projects  p. 

It  was  agreed  by  the  admiral  and  general  to 
attempt  St.  Domingo,  the  only  place  of  strength 
in  the  island  of  Hispaniola.  On  the  approach  of 
the  English,  the  Spaniards  in  a  fright  deserted 
their  houses,  and  fled  into  the  woods.  Contrary 
to  the  opinion  of  Venables,  the  soldiers  were  dis- 
embarked without  guides  ten  leagues  distant  from 
the  town.  They  wandered  four  days  through  the 
woods  without  provisions,  and,  what  was  still 
more  intolerable  in  that  sultry  climate,  without 
water.  The  Spaniards  recovered  spirit  and  at- 
tacked them.  The  English  discouraged  with  the 
bad  conduct  of  their  officers,  and  scarcely  alive 
from  hunger,  thirst,  and  fatigue,  were  unable  to 
resist.  An  inconsiderable  number  of  the  enemy 
put  the  whole  army  to  rout,  killed  600  of  them, 
and  chased  the  rest  on  board  their  vessels. 

The  English  commanders,  in  order  to  atone  as 
much  as  possible  for  this  unprosperous  attempt, 
bent  their  course  to  Jamaica,  which  was  surren- 
dered to  them  without  a  blow.  Pen  and  Venables 
returned  to  England;,  ;?nd  were  both  of  them  sent 
to  the  Tower  by  the  protector,  who  though  com- 
monly master  of  his  fiery  temper,  was  thrown  into 
a  violent  passion  at  this  disappointment.  He  had 
made  a  conquest  of  greater  importance  than  he 
was  himself  at  that  time  aware  of;  yet  was  it  much 

p  Burchet's  Naval  History.  See  also  Carte's  Collection,  vol.  ifc 
p.  46,  47.    Thurloe,  voL  Hi.  p.  505. 


288  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1656. 

inferior  to  the  vast  projects  which  he  had  formed. 
He  gave  orders,  however,  to  support  it  by  men 
and  money;  and  that  island  has  ever  since  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  English ;  the  chief 
acquisition  which  they  owe  to  the  enterprising 
spirit  of  Cromwel. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  this  expedition,  which 
was  an  unwarrantable  violation  of  treaty,  arrived 
in  Europe,  the  Spaniards  declared  war  against 
England,  and  seized  all  the  ships  and  goods  of 
English  merchants,  of  which  they  could  make 
themselves  masters.  The  commerce  with  Spain, 
so  profitable  to  the  English,  was  cut  off;  and  near 
1500  vessels,  it  is  computed*1,  fell  in  a  few  years 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Blake,  to  whom 
Montague  was  now  joined  in  command,  after  re- 
ceiving new  orders,  prepared  himself  for  hostili- 
ties against  the  Spaniards. 

Several  sea  officers,  having  entertained  scru- 
ples of  conscience  with  regard  to  the  justice  of 
the  Spanish  war,  threw  up  their  commissions,  and 
retired r;  no  commands,  they  thought,  of  their 
superiors  could  justify  a  war,  which  was  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  natural  equity,  and  which  the 
civil  magistrate  had  no  right  to  order.  Indivi- 
duals, they  maintained,  in  resigning  to  the  pub- 
lic their  natural  liberty,  could  bestow  on  it  only 
what  they  themselves  were  possessed  of,  a  right 
of  performing  lawful  actions,  and  could  invest  it 

q  Thurloe,  vol.  iv.  p.  135.    World's  Mistake  in  Oliver  Crom- 
wel, in  the  Harl.  Miscel.  vol.  i. 

r  Thurloe,  vol.  iv.  p.  570.  589. 


1656.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  28g 

with  no  authority  of  commanding  what  is  contrary 
to  the  decrees  of  heaven.  Such  maxims,  though 
they  seem  reasonable,  are  perhaps  too  perfect  for 
human  nature;  and  must  be  regarded  as  one 
effect,  though  of  the  most  innocent  and  even 
honourable  kind,  of  that  spirit,  partly  fanatical, 
partly  republican,  which  predominated  in  Eng- 
land. 

Blake  lay  some  time  off  Cadiz,  in  expecta- 
tion of  intercepting  the  plate  fleet,  but  was  at  last 
obliged,  for  want  of  water,  to  make  sail  towards 
Portugal.  Captain  Stayner,  whom  he  had  left 
on  the  coast  with  a  squadron  of  seven  vessels, 
came  in  sight  of  the  galleons,  and  immediately 
set  sail  to  pursue  them.  The  Spanish  admiral 
ran  his  ship  ashore  :  two  others  followed  his  ex- 
ample :  the  English  took  two  ships  valued  at  near 
two  millions  of  pieces  of  eight.  Two  galleons 
were  set  on  fire;  and  the  marquis  of  Badajox, 
viceroy  of  Peru,  with  his  wife  and  his  daughter, 
betrothed  to  the  young  duke  of  Medina  Celi, 
were  destroyed  in  them.  The  marquis  himself 
might  have  escaped ;  but  seeing  these  unfortu- 
nate women,  astonished  with  the  danger,  fall  in  a 
swoon,  and  perish  in  the  flames,  he  rather  chose 
to  die  with  them,  than  drag  out  a  life  embittered 
with  the  remembrance  of  such  dismal  scenes8. 
When  the  treasures  gained  by  this  enterprise  ar- 

•  Thurloe,  vol.  v.  p.  433. 
VOL.  VIII.  U 


290  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1656. 

rived  at  Portsmouth,  the  protector,  from  a  spirit 
of  ostentation,  ordered  them  to  be  transported  by 
land  to  London. 

The  next  action  against  the  Spaniards  was 
more  honourable,  though  less  profitable  to  the 
nation.  Blake  having  heard  that  a  Spanish  fleet 
of  sixteen  ships,  much  richer  than  the  former, 
had  taken  shelter  in  the  Canaries,  immediately 
made  sail  towards  them.  He  found  them  in  the 
bay  of  Santa  Cruz,  disposed  in  a  formidable  pos- 
ture. The  bay  was  secured  with  a  strong  castle, 
well  provided  with  cannon,  besides  seven  forts  in 
several  parts  of  it,  all  united  by  a  line  of  commu- 
nication, manned  with  musqueteers.  Don  Diego 
Diaques,  the  Spanish  admiral,  ordered  all  his 
smaller  vessels  to  moor  close  to  the  shore,  and 
posted  the  larger  galleons  farther  off,  at  anchor, 
with  their  broadsides  to  the  sea. 

Blake  was  rather  animated  than  daunted  with 
this  appearance.  The  wind  seconded  his  cour- 
age, and  blowing  full  into  the  bay,  in  a  moment 
brought  him  among  the  thickest  of  his  enemies. 
After  a  resistance  of  four  hours,  the  Spaniards 
yielded  to  English  valour,  and  abandoned  their 
ships,  Avhich  were  set  on  fire,  and  consumed 
with  all  their  treasure.  The  greatest  danger  still 
remained  to  the  English.  They  lay  under  the 
fire  of  the  castles  and  all  the  forts,  which  must  in 
a  little  time  have  torn  them  in  pieces.  But  the 
wind  suddenly  shifting,  carried  them  out  of  the 
bay;  where  they  left  the  Spaniards  in  astonish- 


1656.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  291 

ment  at  the  happy  temerity  of  their  audacious 
victors. 


DEATH  OF  ADMIRAL  BLAKE. 

This  was  the  last  and  greatest  action  of  the  gal- 
lant Blake.  He  was  consumed  with  a  dropsy  and 
scurvy,  and  hastened  home,  that  he  might  yield 
up  his  breath  in  his  native  country,  which  he  had 
so  much  adorned  by  his  valour.  As  he  came 
within  sight  of  land  he  expired*.  Never  man  so 
zealous  for  a  faction  was  so  much  respected  and 
esteemed  even  by  the  opposite  factions.  He  was 
by  principle  an  inflexible  republican ;  and  the 
late  usurpations,  amidst  all  the  trust  and  caresses 
which  he  received  from  the  ruling  powers,  were 
thought  to  be  very  little  grateful  to  him.  It  is  still 
our  duty,  he  said  to  the  seamen,  to  fight  for  our 
country,  into  what  hands  soever  the  government  may 
fall.  Disinterested,  generous,  liberal ;  ambitious 
only  of  true  glory,  dreadful  only  to  his  avowed  ene- 
mies ;  he  forms  one  of  the  most  perfect  charac- 
ters of  the  age,  and  the  least  stained  with  those 
errors  and  violences  which  were  then  so  predomi- 
nant. The  protector  ordered  him  a  pompous  fu- 
neral at  the  public  charge:  but  the  tears  of  his 
countrymen  were  the  most  honourable  panegyric 
on  his  memory. 

*  20th  of  April,  1657. 


292  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1650. 

The  conduct  of  the  protector  in  foreign  affairs, 
though  imprudent  and  impolitic,  was  full  of  vi- 
gour and  enterprise,  and  drew  a  consideration  to 
his  country,  which,  since  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
it  seemed  to  have  totally  lost.  The  great  mind 
of  this  successful  usurper  was  intent  on  spreading 
the  renown  of  the  English  nation;  and  while  he 
struck  mankind  with  astonishment  at  his  extraor- 
dinary fortune,  he  seemed  to  ennoble,  instead  of 
debasing,  that  people  whom  he  had  reduced  to 
subjection.  It  was  his  boast,  that  he  would  render 
the  name  of  an  Englishman  as  much  feared  and 
revered  as  ever  was  that  of  a  Roman;  and  as  his 
countrymen  found  some  reality  in  these  preten- 
sions, their  national  vanity  being  gratified,  made 
them  bear  with  more  patience  all  the  indignities 
and  calamities  under  which  they  laboured. 


DOMESTIC  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CROMWEL. 

It  must  also  be  acknowledged,  that  the  protector, 
in  his  civil  and  domestic  administration,  displayed 
as  great  regard  both  to  justice  and  clemency,  as 
his  usurped  authority,  derived  from  no  law,  and 
founded  only  on  the  sword,  could  possibly  per- 
mit. All  the  chief  offices  in  the  courts  of  judica- 
ture were  filled  with  men  of  integrity :  amidst  the 
virulence  of  faction,  the  decrees  of  the  judges 
were  upright  and  impartial :  and  to  every  man, 
but  himself,  and  to  himself,  except  where  neces- 


THE  COMMONWEALTH.  293 

sity  required  the  contrary,  the  law  was  the  great 
rule  of  conduct  and  behaviour.  Vane  and  Lil- 
burn,  whose  credit  with  the  republicans  and  level- 
lers he  dreaded,  were  indeed  for  some  time  con- 
fined to  prison :  Cony,  who  refused  to  pay  illegal 
taxes,  was  obliged  by  menaces  to  depart  from  his 
obstinacy:  high  courts  of  justice  were  erected 
to  try  those  who  had  engaged  in  conspiracies  and 
insurrections  against  the  protector's  authority, 
and  whom  he  could  not  safely  commit  to  the 
verdict  of  juries.  But  these  irregularities  were 
deemed  inevitable  consequences  of  his  illegal  au- 
thority. And  though  often  urged  by  his  officers, 
as  is  pretended  u,  to  attempt  a  general  massacre  of 
the  royalists,  he  always  with  horror  rejected  such 
sanguinary  counsels. 

In  the  army  was  laid  the  sole  basis  of  the  pro- 
tector's power ;  and  in  managing  it  consisted  the 
chief  art  and  delicacy  of  his  government.  The 
soldiers  were  held  in  exact  discipline ;  a  policy 
which  both  accustomed  them  to  obedience,  and 
made  them  less  hateful  and  burthensome  to  the 
people.  He  augmented  their  pay ;  though  the 
public  necessities  sometimes  obliged  him  to  run 
in  arrears  to  them.  Their  interests,  they  were 
sensible,  were  closely  connected  with  those  of 
their  general  and  protector.  And  he  entirely 
commanded  their  affectionate  regard,  by  his  abi- 
lities and  success  in  almost  every  enterprise  which 

•  Clarendon,  Life  of  Dr.  Berwick,  &c. 


2£)4  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  165(5. 

he  had  hitherto  undertaken.  But  all  military  go- 
vernment is  precarious;  much  more  where  it 
stands  in  opposition  to  civil  establishments ;  and 
still  more  where  it  encounters  religious  prejudices. 
By  the  wild  fanaticism  which  he  had  nourished  in 
the  soldiers,  he  had  seduced  them  into  measures 
for  which,  if  openly  proposed  to  them,  they  would 
have  entertained  the  utmost  aversion.  But  this 
same  spirit  rendered  them  more  difficult  to  be  go- 
verned, and  made  their  caprices  terrible  even  to 
that  hand  which  directed  their  movements.  So 
often  taught,  that  the  office  of  king  was  an  usurp- 
ation upon  Christ,  they  were  apt  to  suspect  a 
protector  not  to  be  altogether  compatible  with 
that  divine  authority  Harrison,  though  raised 
to  the  highest  dignity,  and  possessed  of  Cromwel's 
confidence,  became  his  most  inveterate  enemy  as 
soon  as  the  authority  of  a  single  person  was  esta- 
blished, against  which  that  usurper  had  always 
made  such  violent  protestations.  Overton,  Rich, 
Okey,  officers  of  rank  in  the  army,  were  actuated 
with  like  principles,  and  Cromwel  was  obliged  to 
deprive  them  of  their  commissions.  Their  in- 
fluence, which  was  before  thought  unbounded 
among  the  troops,  seemed  from  that  moment  to 
be  totally  annihilated. 

The  more  effectually  to  curb  the  enthusiastic 
and  seditious  spirit  of  the  troops,  Cromwel  esta- 
blished a  kind  of  militia  in  the  several  counties. 
Companies  of  infantry  and  cavalry  were  inlisted 
under   proper   officers,    regular   pay  distributed 


1656.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  295 

among  them,  and  a  resource  by  that  means  pro- 
vided both  against  the  insurrections  of  the  royal- 
ists, and  mutiny  of  the  army. 

Religion  can  never  be  deemed  a  point  of  small 
consequence  in  civil  government :  but  during 
this  period,  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  great  spring 
of  men's  actions  and  determinations.  Though 
transported,  himself,  with  the  most  frantic  whim- 
sies, Cromwel  had  adopted  a  scheme  for  regulat- 
ing this  principle  in  others,  which  was  sagacious 
and  political.  Being  resolved  to  maintain  a  na- 
tional church,  yet  determined  neither  to  admit 
episcopacy  nor  presbytery,  he  established  a  num- 
ber of  commissioners,  under  the  name  of  tryers, 
partly  laymen,  partly  ecclesiastics,  some  presby- 
terians,  some  independents.  These  presented  to 
all  livings,  which  were  formerly  in  the  gift  of  the 
crown;  they  examined  and  admitted  such  per- 
sons as  received  holy  orders ;  and  they  inspected 
the  lives,  doctrine,  and  behaviour  of  the  clergy. 
Instead  of  supporting  that  union  between  learn- 
ing and  theology,  which  has  so  long  been  at- 
tempted in  Europe,  these  tryers  embraced  the  lat- 
ter principle  in  its  full  purity,  and  made  it  the 
sole  object  of  their  examination.  The  candidates 
were  no  more  perplexed  with  questions  concern- 
ing their  progress  in  Greek  and  Roman  erudi- 
tion; concerning  their  talent  for  profane  arts  and 
sciences :  the  chief  object  of  scrutiny  regarded 
their  advances  in  grace,  and  fixing  the  critical 
moment  of  their  conversion. 


296  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1656. 

With  the  pretended  saints  of  all  denomina- 
tions Cromwel  was  familiar  and  easy.  Laying 
aside  the  state  of  protector,  which,  on  other  oc- 
casions, he  well  knew  how  to  maintain,  he  insinu- 
ated to  them,  that  nothing  but  necessity  could 
ever  oblige  him  to  invest  himself  with  it.  He 
talked  spiritually  to  them ;  he  sighed,  he  weeped, 
he  canted,  he  prayed.  He  even  entered  with 
them  into  an  emulation  of  ghostly  gifts;  and 
these  men,  instead  of  grieving  to  be  outdone  in 
their  own  way,  were  proud  that  his  highness,  by 
his  princely  example,  had  dignified  those  practices 
in  which  they  themselves  were  daily  occupied *. 

If  Cromwel  might  be  said  to  adhere  to  any 
particular  form  of  religion,  they  were  the  inde- 
pendents who  could  chiefly  boast  of  his  favour; 
and  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  such  pastors  of  that 
sect,  as  were  not  passionately  addicted  to  civil 
liberty,  were  all  of  them  devoted  to  him. 

The  presbyterian  clergy  also,  saved  from  the 

T  Cromwel  followed,  though  but  in  part,  the  advice  which  he 
received  from  general  Harrison,  at  the  time  when  the  intimacy 
and  endearment  most  strongly  subsisted  betwixt  them.  "  Let 
"  the  waiting  upon  Jehovah,"  said  that  military  saint,  "  be  the 
"  greatest  and  most  considerable  business  you  have  every  day  : 
"  reckon  it  so,  more  than  to  eat,  sleep,  and  counsel  together. 
"  Run  aside  sometimes  from  your  company,  and  get  a  word  with 
"  the  Lord.  Why  should  not  you  have  three  or  four  precious 
"  souls  always  standing  at  your  elbow,  with  whom  you  might 
**  now  and  then  turn  into  a  corner  ?  I  have  found  refreshment 
"  and  mercy  in  such  a  way." 

Milton's  State  Papers,  p.  12. 


1656.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  297 

ravages  of  the  anabaptists  and  millenarians,  and 
enjoying  their  establishments  and  tithes,  were  not 
averse  to  his  government ;  though  he  still  enter- 
tained a  great  jealousy  of  that  ambitious  and 
restless  spirit  by  which  they  were  actuated.  He 
granted  an  unbounded  liberty  of  conscience  to 
all  but  catholics  and  prelatists  ;  and  by  that 
means  he  both  attached  the  wild  sectaries  to  his 
person,  and  employed  them  in  curbing  the  domi- 
neering spirit  of  the  presbyterians.  "  I  am  the 
H  only  man,"  he  was  often  heard  to  say,  "  who 
"  has  known  how  to  subdue  that  insolent  sect, 
"  which  can  suffer  none  but  itself." 

The  protestant  zeal  which  possessed  the  pres- 
byterians and  independents,  was  highly  gratified 
by  the  haughty  manner  in  which  the  protector  so 
successfully  supported  the  persecuted  protestants 
throughout  all  Europe.  Even  the  duke  of  Savoy, 
so  remote  a  power,  and  so  little  exposed  to  the 
naval  force  of  England,  was  obliged,  by  the  au- 
thority of  France,  to  comply  with  his  mediation, 
and  to  tolerate  the  protestants  of  the  vallies, 
against  whom  that  prince  had  commenced  a  fu- 
rious persecution.  France  itself  was  constrained 
to  bear  not  only  with  the  religion,  but  even,  in 
some  instances,  with  the  seditious  insolence  of 
the  hugonots ;  and  when  the  French  court  ap- 
plied for  a  reciprocal  toleration  of  the  catholic 
religion  in  England,  the  protector,  who  arrogated 
in  every  thing  the  superiority,  would  hearken  to 
no  such  proposal.     He  had  entertained  a  project 


29S  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1656. 

of  instituting  a  college  in  imitation  of  that  at 
Rome,  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith ;  and  his 
apostles,  in  zeal,  though  not  in  unanimity,  had 
certainly  been  a  full  match  for  the  catholics. 

Cromwel  retained  the  church  of  England  in 
Constraint ;  though  he  permitted  its  clergy  a 
little  more  liberty  than  the  republican  parliament 
had  formerly  allowed.  He  was  pleased  that  the 
superior  lenity  of  his  administration  should  in 
every  thing  be  remarked.  He  bridled  the  royal- 
ists, both  by  the  army  which  he  retained,  and  by 
those  secret  spies  which  he  found  means  to  inter- 
mix in  all  their  counsels.  Manning  being  de- 
tected and  punished  with  death,  he  corrupted  sir 
Richard  Willis,  who  was  much  trusted  by  chan- 
cellor Hyde  and  all  the  royalists ;  and  by  means 
of  this  man  he  was  let  into  every  design  and  con- 
spiracy of  the  party.  He  could  disconcert  any 
project,  by  confining  the  persons  who  were  to  be 
the  actors  in  it ;  and  as  he  restored  them  after- 
wards to  liberty,  his  severity  passed  only  for  the 
result  of  general  jealousy  and  suspicion.  The 
secret  source  of  his  intelligence  remained  still 
unknown  and  unsuspected. 

Conspiracies  for  an  assassination  he  was  chiefly 
afraid  of;  these  being  designs  which  no  prudence 
or  vigilance  could  evade.  Colonel  Titus,  under 
the  name  of  Allen,  had  written  a  spirited  dis- 
course, exhorting  every  one  to  embrace  this  me- 
thod of  vengeance ;  and  Cromwel  knew  that  the 
inflamed  minds  of  the  royal  party  were  sufficiently 


1656.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  299. 

disposed  to  put  the  doctrine  in  practice  against 
him.  He  openly  told  them,  that  assassinations 
were  base  and  odious,  and  he  never  would  com- 
mence hostilities  by  so  shameful  an  expedient ; 
but  if  the  first  attempt  or  provocation  came  from 
them,  he  would  retaliate  to  the  uttermost.  He 
had  instruments,  he  said,  whom  he  could  em- 
ploy ;  and  he  never  would  desist  till  he  had  to- 
tally exterminated  the  royal  family.  This  me- 
nace, more  than  all  his  guards,  contributed  to  the 
security  of  his  person  *. 

There  was  no  point  about  which  the  protector 
was  more  solicitous  than  to  procure  intelligence. 
This  article  alone,  it  is  said,  cost  him  sixty  thou- 
sand pounds  a-year.  Postmasters  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  were  in  his  pay :  carriers  were  searched 
or  bribed :  secretaries  and  clerks  were  corrupted  : 
the  greatest  zealots  in  all  parties  were  often  those 
who  conveyed  private  information  to  him:  and 
nothing  could  escape  his  vigilant  enquiry.  Such 
at  least  is  the  representation  made  by  historians 
of  Cromwel's  administration  :  but  it  must  be 
confessed,  that  if  we  may  judge  by  those  volumes 
of  Thurloe's  papers,  which  have  been  lately  pub- 
lished, this  affair,  like  many  others,  has  been 
greatly  magnified.  We  scarcely  find  by  that 
collection,  that  any  secret  counsels  of  foreign 
states,  except  those  of  Holland,  which  are  not 

*  See  note  [K]  vol.  X. 


$00  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1656. 

expected  to  be  concealed,   were  known  to  the 
protector. 

The  general  behaviour  and  deportment  of  this 
man,  who  had  been  raised  from  a  very  private 
station,  who  had  passed  most  of  his  youth  in  the 
country,  and  who  was  still  constrained  so  much 
to  frequent  bad  company,  was  such  as  might  befit 
the  greatest  monarch.  He  maintained  a  dignity 
without  either  affectation  or  ostentation ;  and 
supported  with  all  strangers  that  high  idea  with 
which  his  great  exploits  and  prodigious  fortune 
had  impressed  them.  Among  his  ancient  friends 
he  could  relax  himself;  and  by  trifling  and 
amusement,  jesting  and  making  verses,  he  feared 
not  exposing  himself  to  their  most  familiar  ap- 
proaches2. With  others,  he  sometimes  pushed 
matters  to  the  length  of  rustic  buffoonery ;  and 
he  would  amuse  himself  by  putting  burning  coals 
into  the  boots  and  hose  of  the  officers  who  at- 
tended him*  Before  the  king's  trial,  a  meeting 
was  agreed  on  between  the  chiefs  of  the  repub- 
lican party  and  the  general  officers,  in  order  to 
concert  the  model  of  that  free  government  which 
they  were  to  substitute  in  the  room  of  the  mo- 
narchical constitution,  now  totally  subverted. 
After  debates  on  this  subject,  the  most  important 
that  could  fall  under  the  discussion  of  human 
creatures,  Ludlow  tells  us,  that  Cromwel,  by  way 

*  Whitlocke,  p.  647.  '  Bates. 


1656.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  301 

of  frolic,  threw  a  cushion  at  his  head  ;  and  when 
Ludlow  took  up  another  cushion,  in  order  to 
return  the  compliment,  the  general  ran  down 
stairs,  and  had  almost  fallen  in  the  hurry.  When 
the  high  court  of  justice  was  signing  the  warrant 
for  the  execution  of  the  king,  a  matter,  if  possi- 
ble, still  more  serious,  Cromwel,  taking  the  pen 
in  his  hand,  before  he  subscribed  his  name,  be- 
daubed with  ink  the  face  of  Martin,  who  sat  next 
him.  And  the  pen  being  delivered  to  Martin, 
he  practised  the  same  frolic  upon  Cromwel b.  He 
frequently  gave  feasts  to  his  inferior  officers ;  and 
when  the  meat  was  set  upon  the  table,  a  signal 
was  given ;  the  soldiers  rushed  in  upon  them ; 
and  with  much  noise,  tumult,  and  confusion,  ran 
away  with  all  the  dishes,  and  disappointed  the 
guests  of  their  meal c. 

That  vein  of  frolic  and  pleasantry  which  made 
a  part,  however  inconsistent,  of  Cromwel's  cha- 
racter, was  apt  sometimes  to  betray  him  into 
other  inconsistencies,  and  to  discover  itself  even 
where  religion  might  seem  to  be  a  little  concern- 
ed. It  is  a  tradition,  that  one  day,  sitting  at 
table,  the  protector  had  a  bottle  of  wine  brought 
him,  of  a  kind  which  he  valued  so  highly,  that  he 
must  needs  open  the  bottle  himself :  but  in  at- 
tempting it,  the  cork-screw  dropt  from  his  hand. 
Immediately  his  courtiers  and  generals  flung 
themselves  on  the  floor  to  recover  it.     Cromwel 

b  Trial  of  the  Regicides.  c  Bates. 


302  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1656. 

burst  out  a-laughing.  Should  any  fool,  said  he,  put 
in  his  head  at  the  door,  he  would  fancy,  from  your 
posture,  that  you  were  seeking  the  Lord;  and  you  are 
only  seeking  a  cork-screw. 

Amidst  all  the  unguarded  play  and  buffoonery 
of  this  singular  personage,  he  took  the  opportu- 
nity of  remarking  the  characters,  designs,  and 
weaknesses  of  men  ;  and  he  would  sometimes 
push  them  by  an  indulgence  in  wine,  to  open 
to  him  the  most  secret  recesses  of  their  bosom. 
Great  regularity  however,  and  even  austerity  of 
manners,  were  always  maintained  in  his  court ; 
and  he  was  careful  never  by  any  liberties  to  give 
offence  to  the  most  rigid  of  the  godly.  Some 
state  was  upheld ;  but  with  little  expence,  and 
without  any  splendour.  The  nobility,  though 
courted  by  him,  kept  at  a  distance,  and  disdain- 
ed to  intermix  with  those  mean  persons  who  were 
the  instruments  of  his  government.  Without 
departing  from  oeconomy,  he  was  generous  to 
those  who  served  him ;  and  he  knew  how  to  find 
out  and  engage  in  his  interests  every  man  pos- 
sessed of  those  talents  which  any  particular  em- 
ployment demanded.  His  generals,  his  admirals, 
his  judges,  his  ambassadors,  were  persons  who 
contributed,  all  of  them  in  their  several  spheres, 
to  the  security  of  the  protector,  and  to  the  ho- 
nour and  interest  of  the  nation. 

Under  pretence  of  uniting  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land in  one  commonwealth  with  England,  Crom- 
wel  had  reduced  those  kingdoms  to  a  total  sub- 


1656.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  303 

jection;   and  he  treated  them   entirely  as  con- 
quered provinces.     The  civil  administration  of 
Scotland   was   placed    in    a  council,   consisting 
mostly  of  English,   of  which  lord  Broghil  was 
president.     Justice  was  administered  by  seven 
judges,   four  of  whom  were  English.     In  order 
to  curb  the  tyrannical  nobility,  he  both  abolished 
all  vassalage d,  and  revived  the  office  of  justice  of 
peace,  which  king  James  had  introduced,   but 
was  not  able  to  support0.     A  long  line  of  forts 
and   garrisons   was   maintained   throughout  the 
kingdom.     An  army  of  10,000  menf  kept  every 
thing  in  peace  and  obedience;  and  neither  the 
banditti  of  the  mountains,  nor  the  bigots  of  the 
low  countries,  could  indulge  their  inclination  to 
turbulence  and  disorder.    He  courted  the  presby- 
terian  clergy ;  though  he  nourished  that  intestine 
enmity  which  prevailed  between  the  resolutioners 
and  protesters ;  and  he  found  that  very  little  po- 
licy was  requisite  to  foment  quarrels  among  theo- 
logians.    He  permitted  no   church  assemblies; 
being  sensible  that  from  thence  had  proceeded 
many  of  the  past  disorders.     And,  in  the  main, 
the  Scots  were  obliged  to  acknowledge,  that  never 
before,  while  they  enjoyed  their  irregular  factious 
liberty,  had  they  attained  so  much  happiness  as 
at  present,  when  reduced  to  subjection  under  a 
foreign  nation. 

4  Whitlocke,  p.  570.  *  Thurloe,  vol.  iy,  p.  57. 

'  Thurloe,  vol.  vi.  p.  557. 


304  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  165(5. 

The  protector's  administration  of  Ireland  was 
more  severe  and  violent.  The  government  of 
that  island  was  first  entrusted  to  Fleetwood,  a  no- 
torious fanatic,  who  had  married  Ireton's  widow ; 
then  to  Henry  Cromwel,  second  son  of  the  pro- 
tector, a  young  man  of  an  amiable,  mild  dis- 
position, and  not  destitute  of  vigour  and  capa- 
city. About  five  millions  of  acres,  forfeited 
either  by  popish  rebels  or  by  the  adherents  of 
the  king,  were  divided,  partly  among  the  adven- 
turers, who  had  advanced  money  to  the  parlia- 
ment, partly  among  the  English  soldiers,  who  had 
arrears  due  to  them.  Examples  of  a  more  sud- 
den and  violent  change  of  property  are  scarcely 
to  be  found  in  any  history.  An  order  was  even 
issued  to  confine  all  the  native  Irish  to  the  pro- 
vince of  Connaught,  where  they  would  be  shut 
up  by  rivers,  lakes,  and  mountains ;  and  could 
not,  it  was  hoped,  be  any  longer  dangerous  to  the 
English  government :  but  this  barbarous  and  ab- 
surd policy,  which,  from  an  impatience  of  attain- 
ing immediate  security,  must  have  depopulated 
all  the  other  provinces,  and  rendered  the  English 
estates  of  no  value,  was  soon  abandoned  as  im- 
practicable. 


NEW  PARLIAMENT. 

Cromwel  began  to  hope  that,  by  his  administra- 
tion, attended  with  so  much  lustre  and  success 


1656.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  305 

abroad,   so  much  order  and  tranquillity  at  home, 
lie  had  now  acquired  such   authority  as  would 
enable  him  to  meet  the   representatives  of  the 
nation,    and  would   assure  him  of  their   dutiful 
compliance  with  his  government.     He  summon- 
ed a  parliament ;    but  not  trusting  altogether  to 
the  good-will  of  the  people,  he   used  every  art 
which  his  new  model  of  representation  allowed 
him  to  employ,  in  order  to  influence  the  elections, 
and  fill  the  house  with  his  own  creatures.     Ire-* 
land,  being  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  army, 
chose  few  but  such  officers  as  were  most  accept- 
able to  him.    Scotland  showed  a  like  compliance; 
and  as  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  that  kingdom 
regarded  their  attendance  on  English  parliaments 
as  an  ignominious  badge  of  slavery,  it  was,  on 
that  account,  more  easy  for  the  officers  to  prevail 
in  the  elections.     Notwithstanding  all  these  pre- 
cautions, the  protector  still  found  that  the  ma- 
jority would  not  be  favourable  to  him.     He  set 
guards,  therefore,    on   the  door,  who  permitted 
none  to  enter  but  such  as  produced  a  warrant 
from  his  council ;  and  the  council  rejected  about 
a  hundred,  who  either  refused  a  recognition  of 
the  protector's   government,    or  were  on   other 
accounts   obnoxious    to   him.      These  protested 
against  so  egregious  a  violence,  subversive  of  all 
liberty ;    but  every  application  for  redress  was 
neglected  both  by  the  council  and  the  parlia- 
ment. 

The  majority  of  the  parliament,  by  means  of 
vol.  vin.  x 


306  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1656. 

these  arts  and  violences,   was  now  at  last  either 
friendly  to  the  protector,  or  resolved,   by  their 
compliance,   to  adjust,    if  possible,  this  military 
government  to  their  laws  and  liberties.     They 
voted  a  renunciation  of  all  title  in  Charles  Stuart, 
or  any  of  his  family ;  and  this  was  the  first  act, 
dignified  with  the  appearance  of  national  consent, 
which   had  ever  had  that   tendency.      Colonel 
Jephson,   in  order  to  sound  the  inclinations  of 
the  house,  ventured  to  move,  that  the  parliament 
should  bestow  the  crown  on  Cromwel ;  and  no 
surprise  or  reluctance  was  discovered  on  the  oc- 
casion.  When  Cromwel  afterwards  asked  Jephson 
what  induced  him  to  make  such  a  motion ;    "As 
"  long,"  said  Jephson,   "  as  I  have  the  honour 
"  to  sit  in  parliament,   I  must  follow  the  dictates 
f?  of  my  own  conscience,  whatever  offence  I  may 
"  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  give  you."     "  Get  thee 
"  gone,"    said   Cromwel,    giving  him   a  gentle 
blow  on  the  shoulder,    "  get  thee  gone,   for  a 
"  mad  fellow,  as  thou  art." 

In  order  to  pave  the  way  to  this  advancement, 
for  which  he  so  ardently  longed,  Cromwel  re- 
solved to  sacrifice  his  major-generals,  whom  he 
knew  to  be  extremely  odious  to  the  nation.  That 
measure  was  also  become  necessary  for  his  own 
security.  All  government,  purely  military,  fluc- 
tuates perpetually  between  a  despotic  monarchy 
and  a  despotic  aristocracy,  according  as  the  au- 
thority of  the  chief  commander  prevails,  or  that  of 
the  officers  next  him  in  rank  and  dignity.     The 


l<556.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  307 

major-generals,  being  possessed  of  so  much  di- 
stinct jurisdiction,  began  to  establish  a  separate 
title  to  power,  and  had  rendered  themselves  form- 
idable to  the  protector  himself;  and  for  this  incon- 
venience, though  he  had  not  foreseen  it,  he  well 
knew,  before  it  was  too  late,  to  provide  a  proper 
remedy.  Claypole,  his  son-in-law,  who  possessed 
his  confidence,  abandoned  them  to  the  pleasure  of 
the  house;  and  though  the  name  was  still  retained, 
it  was  agreed  to  abridge,  or  rather  entirely  an- 
nihilate, the  power  of  the  major-generals. 

At  length,  a  motion  in  form  was  made  by 
alderman  Pack,  one  of  the  city  members,  for 
investing  the  protector  with  the  dignity  of  King. 
This  motion,  at  first,  excited  great  disorder,  and 
divided  the  whole  house  into  parties.  The  chief 
opposition  came  from  the  usual  adherents  of  the 
protector,  the  major-generals,  and  such  officers 
as  depended  on  them.  Lambert,  a  man  of  deep 
intrigue,  and  of  great  interest  in  the  army*  had 
long  entertained  the  ambition  of  succeeding 
Cromwel  in  the  protectorship ;  and  he  foresaw, 
that,  if  the  monarchy  were  restored,  hereditary 
right  would  also  be  established,  and  the  crown  be 
transmitted  to  the  posterity  of  the  prince  first 
elected.  He  pleaded,  therefore,  conscience  ;  and 
rousing  all  those  civil  and  religious  jealousies 
against  kingly  government,  which  had  been  so 
industriously  encouraged  among  the  soldiers,  and 
which  served  them  as  a  pretence  for  so  many 
2 


308  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  16^7. 

violences,   he  raised  a  numerous,   and  still  more 
formidable,  party  against  the  motion. 


CROWN  OFFERED  TO  CROMWEL.     1657. 

Otf  the  other  hand,  the  motion  was  supported 
by  every  one  who  was  more  particularly  devoted 
to  the  protector,  and  who  hoped,  by  so  acceptable 
a  measure,  to  pay  court  to  the  prevailing  au- 
thority. Many  persons  also,  attached  to  their 
country,  despaired  of  ever  being  able  to  subvert 
the  present  illegal  establishment ;  and  were  de- 
sirous, by  fixing  it  on  ancient  foundations,  to 
induce  the  protector,  from  views  of  his  own 
safety,  to  pay  a  regard  to  the  ancient  laws  and 
liberties  of  the  kingdom.  Even  the  royalists 
imprudently  joined  in  the  measure ;  and  hoped 
that,  when  the  question  regarded  only  persons, 
not  forms  of  government,  no  one  would  any 
longer  balance  between  the  ancient  royal  family 
and  an  ignoble  usurper,  who,  by  blood,  treason, 
and  perfidy,  had  made  his  way  to  the  throne. 
The  bill  was  voted  by  a  considerable  majority ; 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  reason  with 
the  protector,  and  to  overcome  those  scruples 
which  he  pretended  against  accepting  so  liberal 
an  offer. 

The  conference  lasted  for  several  days.     The 
committee  urged,  that  all  the  statutes  and  cus- 


165;.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  309 

toms  of  England  were  founded  on  the  supposition 
of  regal  authority,  and  could  not,  without  ex- 
treme violence,  be  adjusted  to  any  other  form 
of  government :  that  a  protector,  except  during 
the  minority  of  a  king,  was  a  name  utterly  un- 
known to  the  laws ;  and  no  man  was  acquainted 
with  the  extent  or  limits  of  his  authority  :  that 
if  it  wrere  attempted  to  define  every  part  of  his 
jurisdiction,  many  years,  if  not  ages,  would  be 
required  for  the  execution  of  so  complicated  a 
work ;  if  the  whole  power  of  the  king  were  at 
once  transferred  to  him,  the  question  was  plainly 
about  a  name,  and  the  preference  was  indis- 
putably due  to  the  ancient  title  :  that  the  English 
constitution  was  more  anxious  concerning  the 
form  of  government  than  concerning  the  birth- 
right of  the  first  magistrate,  and  had  provided, 
by  an  express  law  of  Henry  VII.  for  the  security 
of  those  who  act  in  defence  of  the  king  in  being, 
by  whatever  means  he  might  have  acquired  pos- 
session :  that  it  was  extremely  the  interest  of 
all  his  highness's  friends  to  seek  the  shelter  of 
this  statute  ;  and  even  the  people  in  general  were 
desirous  of  such  a  settlement,  and  in  all  juries 
were  with  great  difficulty  induced  to  give  their 
verdict  in  favour  of  a  protector :  that  the  great 
source  of  all  the  late  commotions  had  been  the 
jealousy  of  liberty  ;  and  that  a  republic,  together 
with  a  protector,  had  been  established,  in  order 
to  provide  farther  securities  for  the  freedom  of 
the  constitution;  but  that  by  experience  the 
remedy  had  been  found  insufficient,  even  dan- 


310  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1657. 

gerous  and  pernicious  ;  since  every  undeterminate 
power,  such  as  that  of  a  protector,  must  be 
arbitrary ;  and  the  more  arbitrary,  as  it  was 
contrary  to  the  genius  and  inclination  of  the 
people. 

The  difficulty  consisted  not  in  persuading 
Cromwel.  He  was  sufficiently  convinced  of  the 
solidity  of  these  reasons ;  and  his  inclination,  as 
well  as  judgment,  was  entirely  on  the  side  of  the 
committee.  But  how  to  bring  over  the  soldiers 
to  the  same  way  of  thinking,  was  the  question. 
The  office  of  king  had  been  painted  to  them  in 
such  horrible  colours,  that  there  were  no  hopes 
of  reconciling  them  suddenly  to  it,  even  though 
bestowed  upon  their  general,  to  whom  they  were 
so  much  devoted.  A  contradiction,  open  and 
direct,  to  all  past  professions,  would  make  them 
pass,  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  nation,  for  the  most 
shameless  hypocrites,  inlisted,  by  no  other  than 
mercenary  motives,  in  the  cause  of  the  most 
perfidious  traitor.  Principles,  such  as  they  were, 
had  been  encouraged  in  them  by  every  con- 
sideration, human  and  divine;  and  though  it 
was  easy,  where  interest  concurred,  to  deceive 
them  by  the  thinnest  disguises,  it  might  be  found 
dangerous  at  once  to  pull  off  the  masque,  and 
to  shew  them  in  a  full  light  the  whole  crime  and 
deformity  of  their  conduct.  Suspended  between 
these  fears  and  his  own  most  ardent  desires, 
Cromwel  protracted  the  time,  and  seemed  still 
to  oppose  the  reasonings  of  the  committee ;  in 
hopes  that  by  artifice  he  might  be  able  to  recon- 


1657.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  311 

cile  the  refractory  minds  of  the  soldiers  to  his 
new  dignity. 

While  the  protector  argued  so  much  in  con- 
tradiction both  to  his  judgment  and  inclination, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  his  elocution,  always  con- 
fused, embarrassed,  and  unintelligible,  should  be 
involved  in  tenfold  darkness,  and  discover  no 
glimmering  of  common  sense  or  reason.  An 
exact  account  of  this  conference  remains,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  a  great  curiosity i  The 
members  of  the  committee,  in  their  reasonings, 
discover  judgment,  knowledge,  elocution :  lord 
Broghil,  in  particular,  exerts  himself  on  this 
memorable  occasion.  But  what  a  contrast,  when 
we  pass  to  the  protector's  replies  !  After  so 
singular  a  manner  does  nature  distribute  her 
talents,  that  in  a  nation  abounding  with  sense 
and  learning,  a  man  who,  by  superior  personal 
merit  alone,  had  made  his  way  to  supreme  dig- 
nity, and  had  even  obliged  the  parliament  to 
make  him  a  tender  of  the  crown,  was  yet  in- 
capable of  expressing  himself  on  this  occasion, 
but  in  a  manner  which  a  peasant  of  the  most 
ordinary  capacity  would  justly  be  ashamed  of8. 

8  We  shall  produce  any  passage  at  random  :  for  his  discourse 
is  all  of  a  piece.  "  I  confess,  for  it  behoves  me  to  deal  plainly 
"  with  you,  1  must  confess,  I  would  say,  I  hope,  I  may  be  un- 
*■  derstood  in  this  j  for  indeed  I  must  be  tender  what  I  say  to 
"  such  an  audience  as  this  j  I  say  I  would  be  understood,  that  in 
"  this  argument  I  do  not  make  parallel  betwixt  men  of  a  different 
"  mind,  and  a  parliament,  which  shall  have  their  desires.  I 
"  know  there  is  no  comparison,  nor  can  it  be  urged  upon  m« 


312  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1657- 


CROMWEL  REJECTS  THE  CROWN, 

The  opposition  which  Cromwel  dreaded,  was 
not  that  which  came  from  Lambert  and  his  ad- 
herents,  whom  he  now  regarded  as   capital  ene- 

*(  that  my  words  have  the  least  colour  that  way,  because  the  par- 
"  liament  seems  to  give  liberty  to  me  to  say  any  thing  to  you; 
"  as  that,  that  is  a  tender  of  my  humble  reasons  and  judgment 
"  and  opinion  to  them  :  and  if  I  think  they  are  such,  and  will  be 
"  such  to  them,  and  are  faithful  servants,  and  will  be  so  to  the 
"  supreme  authority,  and  the  legislative,  wheresoever  it  is  :  if,  I 
"  say,  I  should  not  tell  you  knowing  their  minds  to  be  so,  J 
"  shoiild  not  be  faithful,  if  I  should  not  tell  you  so,  to  the  end 
**  you  may  report  it  to  the  parliament :  I  shall  say  something  for 
"  myself,  for  my  own  mind,  I  do  profess  it,  I  am  not  a  man 
"  scrupulous  about  words  or  names  of  such  things  I  have  not : 
"  but  as  I  have  the  word  of  God,  and  I  hope  I  shall  ever  have  it, 
"  for  the  rule  of  my  conscience,  for  my  informations  j  so  truly 
"  men  that  have  been  led  in  dark  paths,  through  the  providence 
"  and  dispensation  of  God  ;  why  surely  it  is  not  to  be  objected 
"  to  a  man  ;  for  who  can  love  to  walk  in  the  dark  ?  But  pro- 
"  vidence  does  so  dispose.     And  though  a  man  may  impute  his 
"  own  folly  and  blindness  to  providence  sinfully,  yet  it  must  be 
"  at  my  peril ;  the  case  may  be  that  it  is  the  providence  of  God 
"  that  doth  lead  men  in  darkness ;  I  must  needs  say,  that  I  have 
"  had  a  great  deal  of  experience  of  providence,  and  though  it  is 
"  no  rule  without  or  against  the  word,  yet  it  is  a  very  good  ex- 
"  positor  of  the  word  in  many  cases."     Conference  at  Whitehall. 
The  great  defect  in  Oliver's  speeches,  consists  not  in  his  want 
of  elocution,  but  in  his  want  of  ideas.     The  sagacity  of  his  ac- 
tions, and  the  absurdity  of  his  discourse,  form  the  most  pro- 
digious contrast  that  ever  was  known.     The  collection  of  all  his 
speeches,  letters,  sermons  (for  he  also  wrote  sermons),  would 
make  a  great  curiosity,  and  with  a  few  exceptions,  might  justly 
pass  for  one  of  the  most  nonsensical  books  in  the  world. 


1657,  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  313 

mies,  and  whom  he  was  resolved,  on  the   first 
occasion,   to  deprive  of  all  power  and  authority  : 
it  was  that  which  he  met  with  in  his  own  family, 
and  from  men,   who,  by  interest  as  well  as  in- 
clination, were  the  most  devoted  to  him.     Fleet- 
wood had  married  his  daughter :  Desborow  his 
sister :    yet    these   men,    actuated    by   principle 
alone,    could  by  no  persuasion,   artifice,   or  en- 
treaty, be  induced  to  consent  that  their  friend 
and  patron  should  be  invested  with  regal  dignity. 
They  told  him,  that  if  he  accepted  of  the  crown, 
they  would  instantly  throw  up  their  commissions, 
and   never   afterwards  should   have   it    in  their 
power  to  serve  himh.     Colonel  Pride   procured 
a  petition  against  the  office  of  king,  signed  by 
a  majority  of  the  officers,    who  were  in  London 
and  the  neighbourhood.     Several  persons,   it  is 
said,  had  entered  into  an  engagement  to  murder 
the  protector  within  a  few  hours  after  he  should 
have  accepted  the  offer  of  the  parliament.    Some 
sudden  mutiny  in  the  army  was  justly  dreaded. 
And  upon  the  whole,   Cromwel,  after  the  agony 
and  perplexity  of  long  doubt,  was  at  last  obliged 
to  refuse  that  crown,  which  the  representatives 
of  the  nation,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  had 
tendered  to  him.     Most  historians  are  inclined 
to  blame  his  choice  ;  but  he  must  be  allowed  the 
best  judge  of  his  own  situation.     And  in  such 
complicated   subjects,  the  alteration  of  a  very 

h  Thurloe,  vol.  vi.  p.  261. 


314  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1657. 

minute  circumstance,  unknown  to  the  spectator, 
will  often  be  sufficient  to  cast  the  balance,  and 
render  a  determination,  which,  in  itself,  may  be 
uneligible,  very  prudent,  or  even  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  the  actor. 

A  dream  or  prophecy,  lord  Clarendon  men- 
tions, which  he  affirms  (and  he  must  have  known 
the  truth)  was  universally  talked  of  almost  from 
the  beginning  of  the  civil  wars,  and  long  before 
Cromwel  was  so  considerable  a  person  as  to  be- 
stow upon  it  any  degree  of  probability.  In  this 
prophecy  it  was  foretold,  that  Cromwel  should 
be  the  greatest  man  in  England,  and  would 
nearly,  but  never  would  fuliy,  mount  the  throne. 
Such  a  prepossession  probably  arose  from  the 
heated  imagination  either  of  himself  or  of  his 
followers ;  and  as  it  might  be  one  cause  of  the 
great  progress  which  he  had  already  made,  it  is 
not  an  unlikely  reason  which  may  be  assigned  for 
his  refusing  at  this  time  any  farther  elevation. 

The  parliament,  when  the  regal  dignity  was 
rejected  by  Cromwel,  found  themselves  obliged 
to  retain  the  name  of  a  commonwealth  and  pro- 
tector ;  and  as  the  government  was  hitherto  a 
manifest  usurpation,  it  was  thought  proper  to 
sanctify  it  by  a  seeming  choice  of  the  people  and 
their  representatives.  Instead  of  the  instrument 
of  government,  which  was  the  work  of  the  general 
officers  alone,  humble  petition  and  advice  was 
framed,  and  offered  to  the  protector  by  the  par- 
liament.    This  was  represented  as  the  great  basis 


1657.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  3r5 

of  the  republican  establishment,  regulating  and 
limiting  the  powers  of  each  member  of  the  con- 
stitution, and  securing  the  liberty  of  the  people 
to  the  most  remote  posterity.  By  this  deed  the 
authority  of  protector  was  in  some  particulars 
enlarged :  in  others,  it  was  considerably  di- 
minished. He  had  the  power  of  nominating  his 
successor ;  he  had  a  perpetual  revenue  assigned 
him,  a  million  a  year  for  the  pay  of  the  fleet  and 
army,  three  hundred  thousand  pounds  for  the 
support  of  civil  government ;  and  he  had  au- 
thority to  name  another  house,  who  should  enjoy 
their  seats  during  life,  and  exercise  some  func- 
tions of  the  former  house  of  peers.  But  he 
abandoned  the  power  assumed  in  the  intervals  of 
parliament,  of  framing  laws  with  the  consent  of 
his  council ;  and  he  agreed,  that  no  members  of 
either  house  should  be  excluded  but  by  the  con- 
sent of  that  house  of  which  they  were  members. 
The  other  articles  were  in  the  main  the  same  as  in 
the  instrument  of  government.  The  instrument  of 
government  Cromwel  had  formerly  extolled  as  the 
most  perfect  work  of  human  invention  :  he  now 
represented  it  as  a  rotten  plank,  upon  which  no 
man  could  trust  himself  without  sinking.  Even 
the  humble  petition  and  advice,  which  he  extolled 
in  its  turn,  appeared  so  lame  and  imperfect,  that  it 
was  found  requisite,  this  very  session,  to  mend  it 
by  a  supplement ;  and  after  all,  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  crude  and  undigested  model  of 
government.     It  was,  however,  accepted  for  the 


316  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1657. 

voluntary  deed  of  the  whole  people  in  the  three 
united  nations ;  and  Cromwel,  as  if  his  power 
had  just  commenced  from  this  popular  consent, 
was  anew  inaugurated  in  Westminster  Hall,  after 
the  most  solemn  and  most  pompous  manner. 

The  parliament  having  adjourned  itself,  the 
protector  deprived  Lambert  of  all  his  com- 
missions ;  but  still  allowed  him  a  considerable 
pension  of  2000  pounds  a  year,  as  a  bribe  for  his 
future  peaceable  deportment.  Lambert's  autho- 
rity in  the  army,  to  the  surprise  of  every  body, 
was  found  immediately  to  expire  with  the  loss  of 
his  commission.  Packer  and  some  other  officers, 
whom  Cromwel  suspected,  were  also  displaced. 

Richard,  eldest  son  of  the  protector,  was 
brought  to  court,  introduced  into  public  business, 
and  thenceforth  regarded  by  many  as  his  heir  in 
the  protectorship ;  though  Cromwel  sometimes 
employed  the  gross  artifice  of  flattering  others 
with  hopes  of  the  succession.  Richard  was  a 
person  possessed  of  the  most  peaceable,  inof- 
fensive, unambitious  character,  and  had  hitherto 
lived  contentedly  in  the  country  on  a  small  estate 
which  his  wife  had  brought  him.  All  the  activity 
which  he  discovered,  and  which  never  was  great, 
was  however  exerted  to  beneficent  purposes  :  at 
the  time  of  the  king's  trial,  he  had  fallen  on  his 
knees  before  his  father,  and  had  conjured  him, 
by  every  tie  of  duty  and  humanity,  to  spare  the 
life  of  that  monarch.  Cromwel  had  two  daugli- 
ters  unmarried  :  one  of  them  he  now  gave  in 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  317 

marriage  to  the  grandson  and  heir  of  his  great 
friend,  the  earl  of  "Warwic,  with  whom  he  had, 
in  every  fortune,  preserved  an  uninterrupted  in- 
timacy and  good  correspondence.  The  other  he 
married  to  the  viscount  Fauconberg,  of  a  family 
formerly  devoted  to  the  royal  party.  He  was 
ambitious  of  forming  connexions  with  the  no- 
bility ;  and  it  was  one  chief  motive  for  his  de- 
siring the  title  of  king,  that  he  might  replace 
every  thing  in  its  natural  order,  and  restore  to 
the  ancient  families,  the  trust  and  honour  of 
which  he  now  found  himself  obliged,  for  his  own 
safety,  to  deprive  them. 

The  parliament  was  again  assembled ;  con- 
sisting, as  in  the  times  of  monarchy,  of  two 
houses,  the  commons  and  the  other  house. 
Cromwel,  during  the  interval,  had  sent  writs  to 
his  house  of  peers,  which  consisted  of  sixty 
members.  They  were  composed  of  five  or  six 
ancient  peers,  of  several  gentlemen  of  fortune 
and  distinction,  and  of  some  officers  who  had 
risen  from  the  meanest  stations.  None  of  the 
ancient  peers,  however,  though  summoned  by 
writ,  would  deign  to  accept  of  a  seat,  which  they 
must  share  with  such  companions  as  were  assigned 
them.  The  protector  endeavoured  at  lirst  to 
maintain  the  appearance  of  a  legal  magistrate. 
He  placed  no  guard  at  the  door  of  either  house  : 
but  soon  found  how  incompatible  liberty  is  with 
military  usurpations.     By   bringing  so   great  a 


318  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1058. 

number  of  his  friends  and  adherents  into  the 
other  house,  he  had  lost  the  majority  among  the 
national  representatives.  In  consequence  of  a 
clause  in  the  humble  petition  and  advice,  the 
commons  assumed  a  power  of  re-admitting  those 
members  whom  the  council  had  formerly  ex- 
cluded. Sir  Arthur  Hazelrig  and  some  others, 
whom  Cromwel  had  created  lords,  rather  chose 
to  take  their  seat  with  the  commons.  An  incon- 
testable majority  now  declared  themselves  against 
the  protector ;  and  they  refused  to  acknowledge 
the  jurisdiction  of  that  other  house  which  he  had 
established.  Even  the  validity  of  the  humble 
petition  and  advice  was  questioned;  as  being 
voted  by  a  parliament  which  lay  under  force,  and 
which  was  deprived,  by  military  violence,  of  a 
considerable  number  of  its  members.  The  pro- 
tector, dreading  combinations  between  the  par- 
liament and  the  malcontents  in  the  army,  resolved 
to  allow  no  leisure  for  forming  any  conspiracy 
against  him  ;  and,  with  expressions  of  great  dis- 
pleasure, he  dissolved  the  parliament.  When 
urged  by  Fleetwood  and  others  of  his  friends,  not 
to  precipitate  himself  into  this  rash  measure,  he 
swore,  by  the  living  God,  that  they  should  not  sit 
a  moment  longer. 

These  distractions  at  home  were  not  able  to 
take  off  the  protector's  attention  from  foreign 
affairs  ;  and  in  all  his  measures  he  proceeded  with 
the  same  vigour  and   enterprise,  as  if  secure  of 


1658.     .  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  319 

the  duty  and  attachment  of  the  three  kingdoms. 
His  alliance  with  Sweden  he  still  supported ;  and 
he  endeavoured  to  assist  that  crown  in  its  suc- 
cessful enterprises,  for  reducing  all  its  neighbours 
to  subjection,  and  rendering  itself  absolute  master 
of  the  Baltic.     As  soon  as  Spain  declared  war 
against  him,  he  concluded  a  peace  and  an  alliance 
with  France,  and  united  himself  in  all  his  councils 
with  that  potent  and  ambitious  kingdom.     Spain, 
having  long  courted  in  vain  the  friendship  of  the 
successful  usurper,   was  reduced  at  last  to  apply 
to  the  unfortunate  prince.      Charles  formed   a 
league  with  Philip,   removed  his  small  court  to 
Bruges  in  the  Low  Countries,   and  raised  four 
regiments  of  his  own  subjects,  whom  he  employed 
in  the  Spanish  service.     The  duke  of  York,  who 
had,  with  applause,  served  some  campaigns  in  the 
French  army,  and  who  had  merited  the  particular 
esteem  of  marshal  Turenne,  now  joined  his  bro- 
ther,  and  continued  to  seek  military  experience 
under  don  John  of  Austria,   and  the  prince  of 
Conde. 


DUNKIRK  TAKEN, 

The  scheme  of  foreign  politics,  adopted  by  the 
protector,  was  highly  imprudent,  but  was  suitable 
to  that  magnanimity  and  enterprise,  with  which  he 
was  so  signally  endowed.  He  was  particularly 
desirous  of  conquest  and  dominion  on  the  con- 


320  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1653. 

tinent  ' ;  and  he  sent  over  into  Flanders  six  thou- 
sand men  under  Reynolds,  who  joined  the  French 
army  commanded  by  Turenne.  In  the  former 
campaign,  Mardyke  was  takeri,  and  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  Early  this  campaign, 
siege  was  laid  to  Dunkirk;  and  when  the  Spanish 
army  advanced  to  relieve  it,  the  combined  armies 
of  France  and  England  marched  out  of  their 
trenches,  and  fought  the  battle  of  the  Dunes, 
where  the  Spaniards  were  totally  defeated  k.  The 
Valour  of  the  English  was  much  remarked  on  this 

1  He  aspired  to  get  possession  of  Elsinore  and  the  passage  of  the 
Sound.  See  World's  Mistake  in  Oliver  Crornxoel.  He  also  en- 
deavoured to  get  possession  of  Bremen.  Thurloe,  vol.  vi.  p.  478. 

k  It  was  remarked  by  the  saints  of  that  time,  that  the  battle 
was  fought  on  a  day  which  was  held  for  a  fast  in  London,  so  that 
as  Fleetwood  said  (Thurloe,  vol.  vii.  p.  159.),  while  we  were 
praying,  they  were  fighting,  and  the  Lord  hath  given  a  signal 
answer.  The  Lord  has  not  only  owned  us  in  our  work 
there,  but  in  our  waiting  upon  him  in  a  way  of  prayer,  which  is 
indeed  our  old  experienced  approved  way  in  all  streights  and  dif- 
ficulties. Cromwel's  Letter  to  Blake  and  Montague,  his  brave 
admirals,  is  remarkable  for  the  same  spirit.  Thurloe,  vol.  iv. 
p.  744.  You  have,  says  he,  as  I  verily  believe  and  am  persuaded, 
a  plentiful  stock  of  prayers  going  for  you  daily,  sent  up  by  the 
soberest  and  most  approved  ministers  and  Christians  in  this 
nation,  and,  notwithstanding  some  discouragements,  very  much 
wrestling  of  faith  for  you,  which  are  to  us,  and  I  trust  will  be  to 
you,  matter  of  great  encouragement.  But  notwithstanding  all 
this,  it  will  be  good  for  you  and  us  to  deliver  up  ourselves  and  all 
our  affairs  to  the  disposition  of  our  all-wise  Father,  who  not  only 
out  of  prerogative,  but  because  of  his  goodness,  wisdom,  and  truth, 
ought  to  be  resigned  unto  by  his  creatures,  especially  those  who 
are  children  of  his  begetting  through  the  spirit,  &c. 


1(538.  THE   COMMONWEALTH^  32l 

occasion.  Dunkirk,  being  soon  after  surren- 
dered, was  by  agreement  delivered  to  Cromwel. 
He  committed  the  government  of  that  important 
place  to  Lockhart,  a  Scotchman  of  abilities,  who 
had  married  his  niece,  and  was  his  ambassador  at 
the  court  of  France. 

This  acquisition  was  regarded  by  the  protector 
as  the  means  only  of  obtaining  farther  advan- 
tages. He  was  resolved  to  concert  measures  with 
the  French  court  for  the  final  conquest  and  par- 
tition of  the  Low  Countries1.  Had  he  lived 
much  longer,  and  maintained  his  authority  in 
England,  so  chimerical,  or  rather  so  dangerous  a 
project  would  certainly  have  been  carried  into 
execution.  And  this  first  and  principal  step 
towards  more  extensive  conquest,  which  France, 
during  a  whole  century,  has  never  yet  been 
able,  by  an  infinite  expence  of  blood  and  treasure, 
fully  to  attain,  had  at  once  been  accomplished 
by  the  enterprising,  though  unskilful,  politics  of 
Cromwel. 

During  these  transactions,  great  demonstra- 
tions of  mutual  friendship  and  regard  passed 
between  the  French  king  and  the  protector. 
Lord  Fauconberg,  Cromwel's  son-in-law,  was  dis- 
patched to  Louis,  then  in  camp  before  Dunkirk ; 
and  was  received  with  the  regard  usually  paid  to 
foreign  princes  by  the  French  court m.  Ma- 
zarine sent  to  London  his  nephew  Mancini,  along 

1  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  762.  ■  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  151.  158. 

VOL.  VIII.  Y 


322  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1658. 

with  the  duke  of  Crequi ;  and  expressed  his 
regret,  that  his  urgent  affairs  should  deprive  him 
of  the  honour  which  he  had  long  wished  for,  of 
paying,  in  person,  his  respects  to  the  greatest 
man  in  the  world  n. 

The  protector  reaped  little  satisfaction  from 
the  success  of  his  arms  abroad  :  the  situation  in 
which  he  stood  at  home,  kept  him  in  perpetual 
uneasiness  and  inquietude.     His  administration, 
so  expensive   both  by  military  enterprizes  and 
secret  intelligence,  had  exhausted  his  revenue, 
and  involved  him  in  a  considerable  debt.     The 
royalists,    he   heard,    had   renewed    their    con- 
spiracies for  a  general  insurrection  ;  and  Ormond 
was  secretly  come  over  with  a  view  of  concerting 
measures  for  the  execution  of  this  project.     Lord 
Fairfax,    sir  William  Waller,   and  many  heads  of 
the  presbyterians,  had  secretly  entered  into  the 
engagement.     Even  the  army  was  infected  with 
the  general  spirit  of  discontent ;  and  some  sudden 
and  dangerous  eruption  was  every  moment  to  be 
dreaded  from  it.     No  hopes  remained,  after  his 
violent  breach  with  the  last  parliament,  that  he 
should  ever  be  able  to  establish,   with  general 
consent,  a  legal  settlement,  or  temper  the  military 


■  In  reality  the  cardinal  had  not  entertained  so  high  an  idea  of 
Cromwel.  He  used  to  say,  that  he  was  a  fortunate  madman. 
Vie  de  Cromwel,  par  Raguenet.  See  also  Carte's  Collection, 
vol.  ii.  p.  81.  Gumble's  Life  pf  Monk,  p.  93,  World's  Mistake 
in  O.  Cromwel. 


l<558.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  323 

with  any  mixture  of  civil  authority.  All  his  arts 
and  policy  were  exhausted ;  and  having  so  often, 
by  fraud  and  false  pretences,  deceived  every 
party,  and  almost  every  individual,  he  could  no 
longer  hope,  by  repeating  the  same  professions, 
to  meet  with  equal  confidence  and  regard. 

However  zealous  the  royalists,  their  con- 
spiracy took  not  effect :  "Willis  discovered  the 
whole  to  the  protector.  Ormond  was  obliged  to 
fly,  and  he  deemed  himself  fortunate  to  have 
escaped  so  vigilant  an  administration.  Great 
numbers  were  thrown  into  prison.  A  high  court 
of  justice  was  anew  erected  for  the  trial  of  those 
criminals  whose  guilt  was  most  apparent.  Not- 
withstanding the  recognition  of  his  authority  by 
the  last  parliament,  the  protector  could  not  as  yet 
trust  to  an  unbiassed  jury.  Sir  Henry  Slingsbyr 
and  Dr.  Huet,  were  condemned  and  beheaded. 
Mordaunt,  brother  to  the  earl  of  Peterborow, 
narrowly  escaped.  The  numbers  for  his  con- 
demnation and  his  acquittal  were  equal ;  and  just 
as  the  sentence  was  pronounced  in  his  favour, 
colonel  Pride,  who  was  resolved  to  condemn  him, 
came  into  court.  Ashton,  Storey,  and  Bestley, 
were  hanged  in  different  streets  of  the  city. 

The  conspiracy  of  the  Millenarians  in  the 
army  struck  Cromwel  with  still  greater  appre- 
hensions. Harrison  and  the  other  discarded 
officers  of  that  party  could  not  remain  at  rest. 
Stimulated  equally  by  revenge,  by  ambition,  and 
by  conscience,  they  still  harboured  in  their  breast 
% 


324  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND,  1658. 

some  desperate  project ;  and  there  wanted  not 
officers  in  the  army,  who,  from  like  motives,  were 
disposed  to  second  all  their  undertakings.  The 
levellers  and  agitators  had  been  encouraged  by 
Cromwei  to  interpose  with  their  advice  in  all 
political  deliberations ;  and  he  had  even  pre- 
tended to  honour  many  of  them  with  his  intimate 
friendship,  while  he  conducted  his  daring  enter- 
prizes  against  the  king  and  the  parliament.  It 
was  a  usual  practice  with  him,  in  order  to  fami- 
liarize himself  the  more  with  the  agitators,  who 
were  commonly  corporals  or  Serjeants,  to  take 
them  to  bed  with  him,  and  there,  after  prayers 
and  exhortations,  to  discuss  together  their  pro- 
jects and  principles,  political  as  well  as  religious. 
Having  assumed  the  dignity  of  protector,  he 
excluded  them  from  all  his*  councils,  and  had 
neither  leisure  nor  inclination  to  indulge'  them 
any  farther  in  their  wonted  familiarities.  Among 
those  who  were  enraged  at  this  treatment  was 
Sexby,  an  active  agitator,  who  now  employed 
against  him  all  that  restless  industry  which  had 
formerly  been  exerted  in  his  favour.  He  even 
went  so  far  as  to  enter  into  a  correspondence  with 
Spain;  and  Cromwei,  who  knew  the  distempers 
of  the  army,  was  justly  afraid  of  some  mutiny, 
to  which  a  day,  an  hour,  an  instant,  might  pro- 
vide leaders. 

Of  assassinations  likewise  he  was  apprehensive, 
from  the  zealous  spirit  which  actuated  the  sol- 
diers.    Sindercome   had   undertaken  to  murder 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  325 

him  ;  and,  by  the  most  unaccountable  accidents, 
had  often  been  prevented  from  executing  his 
bloody  purpose.  His  design  was  discovered ;  but 
the  protector  could  never  find  the  bottom  of  the 
enterprise,  nor  detect  any  of  his  accomplices. 
He  was  tried  by  a  jury;  and  notwithstanding  the 
general  odium  attending  that  crime,  notwithstand« 
ing  the  clear  and  full  proof  of  his  guilt,  so  little 
conviction  prevailed  of  the  protector's  right  to  the 
supreme  government,  it  was  with  the  utmost  dif- 
ficulty0 that  this  conspirator  was  condemned. 
When  every  thing  was  prepared  for  his  execution, 
he  was  found  dead ;  from  poison,  as  is  supposed, 
which  he  had  voluntarily  taken. 

The  protector  might  better  have  supported 
those  fears  and  apprehensions  which  the  public  dis- 
tempers occasioned,  had  he  enjoyed  any  domestic 
satisfaction,  or  possessed  any  cordial  friend  of  his 
own  family,  in  whose  bosom  he  could  safely  have 
unloaded  his  anxious  and  corroding  cares.  But 
Fleetwood,  his  son-in-law,  actuated  by  the  wildest 
zeal,  began  to  estrange  himself  from  him ;  and 
was  enraged  to  discover  that  Cromwel,  in  all  his 
enterprises,  had  entertained  views  of  promoting 
his  own  grandeur,  more  than  of  encouraging 
piety  and  religion,  of  which  he  made  such  fervent 
professions.  His  eldest  daughter,  married  to  Fleet- 
wood, had  adopted  republican  principles  so  vehe- 
ment, that  she  could  not  with  patience  behold 

•  Thurloe,  vol.  vi.  p.  53. 


326  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1658. 

power  lodged  in  a  single  person,  even  in  her 
indulgent  father.  His  other  daughters  were  no 
less  prejudiced  in  favour  of  the  royal  cause,  and 
regretted  the  violences  and  iniquities  into  which, 
they  thought,  their  family  had  so  unhappily  been 
transported.  Above  all,  the  sickness  of  Mrs. 
Claypole,  his  peculiar  favourite,  a  lady  endued 
with  many  humane  virtues  and  amiable  accom- 
plishments, depressed  his  anxious  mind,  and  poi- 
soned all  his  enjoyments.  She  had  entertained 
a  high  regard  for  Dr.  Huet  lately  executed ;  and 
being  refused  his  pardon,  the  melancholy  of  her 
temper,  increased  by  her  distempered  body,  had 
prompted  her  to  lament  to  her  father  all  his  san- 
guinary measures,  and  urge  him  to  compunction 
for  those  heinous  crimes  into  which  his  fatal  ambi- 
tion had  betrayed  him.  Her  death,  which  fol- 
lowed soon  after,  gave  new  edge  to  every  word 
which  she  had  uttered. 

All  composure  of  mind  was  now  for  ever  fled 
from  the  protector:  He  felt  that  the  grandeur 
which  he  had  attained  with  so  much  guilt  and  cou- 
rage, could  not  ensure  him  that  tranquillity  which 
it  belongs  to  virtue  alone,  and  moderation,  fully 
to  ascertain.  Overwhelmed  with  the  load  of  public 
affairs,  dreading  perpetually  some  fatal  accident 
in  his  distempered  government,  seeing  nothing 
around  him  but  treacherous  friends  or  enrasred 
enemies,  possessing  the  confidence  of  no  party,, 
resting  his  title  on  no  principle,  civil  or  religious, 
he  found  his  power  to  depend  on  so  delicate  a 


1658.  THE   COMMMONWEALTH.  327 

poise  of  factions  and  interests,  as  the  smallest 
event  was  able,  without  any  preparation,  in  a 
moment  to  overturn.  Death  too,  which  with 
such  signal  intrepidity  he  had  braved  in  the  field, 
being  incessantly  threatened  by  the  poinards  of 
fanatical  or  interested  assassins,  was  ever  present 
to  his  terrified  apprehension,  and  haunted  him 
in  every  scene  of  business  or  repose.  Each  action 
of  his  life  betrayed  the  terrors  under  which  he 
laboured.  The  aspect  of  strangers  was  uneasy  to 
him  :  with  a  piercing  and  anxious  eye  he  sur- 
veyed every  face  to  which  he  was  not  daily  ac- 
customed. He  never  moved  a  step  without  strong 
guards  attending  him :  he  wore  armour  under  his 
clothes,  and  farther  secured  himself  by  offensive 
weapons,  a  sword,  falchion,  and  pistols,  which  he 
always  carried  about  him.  He  returned  from  no 
place  by  the  direct  road,  or  by  the  same  way  which 
he  went.  Every  journey  he  performed  with  hurry 
and  precipitation.  Seldom  he  slept  above  three 
nights  together  in  the  same  chamber:  and  he 
never  let  it  be  known  beforehand  what  chamber 
he  intended  to  choose,  nor  entrusted  himself  in 
any  which  was  not  provided  with  back  doors,  at 
which  centinels  were  carefully  placed.  Society 
terrified  him,  while  he  reflected  on  his  numerous, 
unknown,  and  implacable  enemies :  solitude  asto- 
nished him,  by  withdrawing  that  protection  which 
he  found  so  necessary  for  his  security. 


328  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1C58. 


SICKNESS  OF  THE  PROTECTOR. 

His  body  also,  from  the  contagion  of  his  anxi- 
ous mind,  began  to  be  affected  ;  and  his  health 
seemed  sensibly  to  decline.  He  was  seized  with 
a  slow  fever,  which  changed  into  a  tertian  ague. 
For  the  space  of  a  week,  no  dangerous  symp- 
toms appeared  ;  and  in  the  intervals  of  the  fits  he 
was  able  to  walk  abroad.  At  length  the  fever 
increased,  and  he  himself  began  to  entertain  some 
thoughts  of  death,  and  to  cast  his  eye  towards 
that  future  existence,  whose  idea  had  once  been 
intimately  present  to  him ;  though  since,  in  the 
hurry  of  affairs,  and  in  the  shock  of  wars  and 
factions,  it  had,  no  doubt,  been  considerably 
obliterated.  He  asked  Goodwin,  one  of  his 
preachers,  if  the  doctrine  were  true,  that  the 
elect  could  never  fall  or  suffer  a  final  reprobation. 
*' Nothing  more  certain,"  replied  the  preacher. 
"  Then  am  I  safe,"  said  the  protector:  "  for  I 
"  am  sure  that  once  I  was  in  a  state  of  grace." 

His  physicians  were  sensible  of  the  perilous 
condition  to  which  his  distemper  had  reduced 
him  :  but  his  chaplains,  by  their  prayers,  visions, 
and  revelations,  so  buoyed  up  his  hopes,  that  he 
began  to  believe  his  life  out  of  all  danger.  A 
favourable  answer,  it  was  pretended,  had  been 
returned  by  heaven  to  the  petitions  of  all  the 
godly  ;   and  he  relied  on  their  asseverations  much 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  32g 

more  than  on  the  opinion  of  the  most  experienced 
physicians.     "  I  tell  you,"  he  cried  with  confid- 
ence to  the  latter,    "  I  tell  you,  I  shall  not  die  of 
'  this  distemper :  I  am  well  assuredof  my  recovery. 
'  It  is  promised  by  the  Lord,  not  only  to  my 
f  supplications,   but  to  those  of  men  who  hold  a 
'  stricter  commerce  and  more  intimate  correspond- 
1  ence  with  him.     Ye  may  have  skill  in  your  pro- 
'  fession ;    but  nature  can  do  more   than  all  the 
'  physicians  in  the  world,   and  God  is  far  above 
'  nature p."     Nay,    to  such  a  degree  of  madness 
did   their  enthusiastic  assurances   mount,    that, 
upon  a  fast  day,  which  was  observed  on  his  ac- 
count both  at  Hampton  Court  and  at  Whitehall, 
they  did  not  so  much  pray  for  his  health,  as  give 
thanks  for  the  undoubted  pledges  which  they  had 
received  of  his  recovery.     He  himself  was  over-, 
heard  offering  up  his  addresses  to  heaven ;    and 
so  far  had  the  illusions  of  fanaticism  prevailed 
over  the  plainest  dictates  of  natural  morality, 
that  he  assumed  more  the  character  of  a  mediator 
interceding  for  his  people,  than  that  of  a    cri- 
minal, whose  atrocious  violation  of  social  duty 
had,  from  every   tribunal,    human  and   divine, 
merited  the  severest  vengeance. 

p  Bates:  See  also  Thurloe,  vol.  vii.  p.  355.  416. 


330  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1658. 


HIS  DEATH  AND  CHARACTER. 

Meanwhile  all  the  symptoms  began  to  wear 
a  more  fatal  aspect ;  and  the  physicians  were 
obliged  to  break  silence,  and  to  declare,  that 
the  protector  could  not  survive  the  next  fit  with 
which  he  was  threatened.  The  council  was 
alarmed.  A  deputation  was  sent  to  know  his  will 
with  regard  to  his  successor.  His  senses  were 
gone,  and  he  could  not  now  express  his  inten- 
tions. They  asked  him  whether  he  did  not  mean 
that  his  eldest  son,  Richard,  should  succeed  him 
in  the  protectorship.  A  simple  affirmative  was, 
or  seemed  to  be,  extorted  from  him.  Soon  after, 
on  the  3d  of  September,  that  very  day  which  he 
had  always  considered  as  the  most  fortunate  for 
him,  he  expired.  A  violent  tempest,  which  im- 
mediately succeeded  his  death,  served  as  a  sub- 
ject of  discourse  to  the  vulgar.  His  partisans,  as 
well  as  his  enemies,  were  fond  of  remarking  this 
event ;  and  each  of  them  endeavoured,  by  forced 
inferences,  to  interpret  it  as  a  confirmation  of 
their  particular  prejudices. 

The  writers,  attached  to  the  memory  of  this 
wonderful  person,  make  his  character  with  re- 
gard to  abilities,  bear  the  air  of  the  most  extra- 
vagant panegyric  :  his  enemies  form  such  a  re- 
presentation of  his  moral  qualities  as  resembles 
the  most  virulent  invective.     Both  of  them,  it 


)j,^^„^ty<2^^&<%*:*£2~/™  ~  $y^Uj*ff**~± 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  33i 

must  be  confessed,    are  supported  by  such  strik- 
ing  circumstances  in  his  conduct    and   fortune 
as  bestow  on  their  representation  a  great  air  of 
probability.      "  What  can  be  more  extraordinary," 
it  is  said%    "  than  that  a  person  of  private  birth 
"  and  education,    no  fortune,  no  eminent  qua- 
"  lities  of  body,  which  have  sometimes,  nor  shin- 
"  ing  talents  of  mind,  which  have  often,  raised 
"  men  to  the  highest  dignities,   should  have  the 
"  Courage  to  attempt,    and  the  abilities  to  exe- 
"  cute,  so  great  a  design  as  the  subverting  one  of 
fl  the   most  ancient  and  best  established  mon- 
"  archies  in  the  world?    That  he  should  have 
"  the  power  and  boldness  to  put  his  Prince  and 
li  master  to  an  open  and  infamous  death  ?  Should 
M  banish  that  numerous  and  strongly  allied  fami- 
"  ly  ?  Cover  all  these  temerities  under  a  seeming 
"  obedience  to  a  parliament,  in  whose  service  he 
"  pretended  to  be  retained?    Trample  too  upon 
"  that  parliament   in  their  turn,   and  scornfully 
"  expel  them  as  soon  as  they  gave  him  ground  of 
"  dissatisfaction  ?  Erect  in  their  place  the  domi- 
"  nion  of  the  saints,  and  give  reality  to  the  most 
"  visionary  idea,  which   the  heated  imagination 
"  of  any   fanatic   was  ever  able   to  entertain? 
"  Suppress  again  that  monster  *in  its  infancy, 
"  and  openly  set  up  himself  above  all  things  that 
"  ever  were  called  sovereign  in  England?    Over- 
"  come    first  all   his  enemies  by  arms,   and  all 
"  his    friends  afterwards  by  artifice  ?    Serve  all 

Cowley's  Discourses  :  This  passage  is  altered  in  some  par- 
ticulars from  the  original. 


•332  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  16.58. 

H  parties   patiently  for  a  while,  and  command 
"  them  victoriously  at  last  ?  Overrun  each  corner 
"  of  the  three  nations,  and  subdue  with  equal 
4i  facility,  both  the  riches  of  the  south,  and  the 
"  poverty  of  the  north?    Be  feared  and  courted 
11  by  all  foreign  princes,  and  be  adopted  a  brother 
"  to  the  gods  of  the  earth  ?  Call  together  parlia- 
**  ments  with  a  word  of  his  pen,  and   scatter 
*'  them  again  with  the  breath  of  his  mouth?  Re- 
"  duce  to  subjection  a  warlike  and  discontented 
"  nation,  by  means  of  a  mutinous  army?  Com- 
"  mand  a  mutinous  army  by  means  of  seditious 
"  and   factious   officers  ?    Be  humbly  and  daily 
*'  petitioned,  that  he  would  be  pleased,   at  the 
At  rate  of  millions  a  year,  to  be  hired  as  master 
"  of   those  who   had  hired    him    before   to  be 
"  their  servant?  Have  the  estates  and  lives  of 
"  three  nations  as  much  at  his  disposal  as  was 
u  once  the  little  inheritance  of  his  father,  and 
"  be  as  noble  and  liberal  in  the  spending  of  them  ? 
"  And  lastly  (for  there  is  no  end  of  enumerating 
"  every  particular  of  his  glory),   with  one  word 
"  bequeath  all  this  power  and  splendour  to  his 
"  posterity  ?    Die  possessed  of  peace  at  home, 
"  and  triumph  abroad  ?    Be  buried  among  kings, 
"  and  with  more  than  regal  solemnity ;  and  leave 
"  a  name  behind   him  not  to  be   extinguished 
"  but  with  the  whole  world  ;    which  as  it  was  too 
"  little  for  his  praise,  so  might  it  have  been  for 
"  his  conquests,  if  the  short  line  of  his  mortal 
"  life  could  have  stretched  out  to  the  extent  of 
"  his  immortal  designs  ?" 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  833 

My  intention  is  not  to  disfigure  this  picture, 
drawn  by   so  masterly  a  hand  :  I  shall  only  en- 
deavour  to   remove   from   it   somewhat  of  the 
marvellous ;  a  circumstance,   which,  on  all  occa- 
sions, gives  much  ground  for  doubt  and  suspicion. 
It  seems  to  me,  that  the  circumstance  of  Crom- 
wel's  life,    in  which  his  abilities  are  principally 
discovered,  is  his  rising  from  a  private  station,  in 
opposition  to  so  many  rivals,    so  much  advanced 
before  him,   to  a  high  command  and  authority  in 
the  army.     His  great  courage,  his  signal  military 
talents,  his  eminent  dexterity  and  address,   were 
all  requisite  for  this  important  acquisition.     Yet 
will  not  this  promotion  appear  the  effect  of  super- 
natural abilities,  when   we  consider,    that  Fair- 
fax himself,  a  private   gentleman,  who  had  not 
the    advantage    of   a   seat  in  parliament,    had, 
through  the  same  steps,  attained  even  a  superior 
rank,    and,    if  endued   with    common   capacity 
and  penetration,  had  been  able  to  retain  it.     To 
incite  such  an  army  to  rebellion  against  the  par- 
liament,  required  no  uncommon  art  or  industry : 
to  have  kept  them  in  obedience  had  been  the 
more  difficult  enterprise.     When  the  breach  is 
once  formed  between  the  military  and  civil  powers, 
a  supreme  and  absolute  authority,  from  that  mo- 
ment, is  devolved  on  the  general ;  and  if  he  be 
afterwards  pleased  to  employ  artifice  or  policy,  it 
may  be  regarded,   on  most  occasions,  as  great 
condescension,    if  not   as    superfluous   caution. 


334  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  1653. 

That  Cromwel  was  ever  able  really  to  blind  or 
over-reach  either  the  king  or  the  republicans,  does 
not  appear :  as  they  possessed  no  means  of  resist- 
ing the  force  under  his  command,  they  were  glad 
to  temporise  with  him,  and,  by  seeming  to  be 
deceived,  wait  for  opportunities  of  freeing  them- 
selves from  his  dominion.  If  he  seduced  the 
military  fanatics,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that 
their  interests  and  his  evidently  concurred,  that 
their  ignorance  and  low  education  exposed  them 
to  the  grossest  imposition,  and  that  he  himself 
was  at  bottom  as  frantic  an  enthusiast  as  the 
worst  of  them,  and,  in  order  to  obtain  their  con- 
fidence, needed  but  to  display  those  vulgar 
and  ridiculous  habits,  which  he  had  early  ac- 
quired, and  on  which  he  set  so  high  a  value.  An 
army  is  so  forcible,  and  at  the  same  time  so  coarse 
a  weapon,  that  any  hand,  which  wields  it,  may, 
without  much  dexterity,  perform  any  operation, 
and  attain  any  ascendant,  in  human  society. 

The  domestic  administration  of  Cromwel, 
though  it  discovers  great  abilities,  was  conducted 
without  any  plan  either  of  liberty  or  arbitrary 
power:  perhaps,  his  difficult  situation  admitted 
of  neither.  His  foreign  enterprises,  though  full 
of  intrepidity,  were  pernicious  to  national  interest, 
and  seem  more  the  result  of  impetuous  fury  or 
narrow  prejudices,  than  of  cool  foresight  and  de- 
liberation. An  eminent  personage,  however,  he 
was  in  many  respects,  and  even  a  superior  genius ; 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  335 

but  unequal  and  irregular  in  his  operations.  And 
though  not  defective  in  any  talent,  except  that 
of  elocution,  the  abilities,  which  in  him  were 
most  admirable,  and  which  most  contributed  to 
his  marvellous  success,  were  the  magnanimous 
resolution  of  his  enterprises,  and  his  peculiar  dex- 
terity in  discovering  the  characters,  and  prac- 
tising on  the  weaknesses,  of  mankind. 

If  we  survey  the  moral  character  of  Cromwel 
with  that  indulgence  which  is  due  to  the  blindness 
and  infirmities  of  the  human  species,  we  shall  not 
be  inclined  to  load  his  memory  with  such  violent 
reproaches  as  those  which  his   enemies  usually 
throw  upon  it.     Amidst  the  passions  and  preju- 
dices of  that  period,  that  he  should  prefer  the 
parliamentary  to  the  royal  cause,  will  not  appear 
extraordinary  ;  since,  even  at  present,  some  men 
of  sense  and  knowledge  are  disposed  to  think  that 
the  question,  with  regard  to  the  justice  of  the 
quarrel,  may  be  regarded  as  doubtful  and  un- 
certain.    The  murder  of  the  king,  the  most  atro- 
cious of  all  his  actions,   was  to  him  covered  under 
a  mighty  cloud  of  republican  and  fanatical  illu- 
sions ;  and  it  is  not  impossible,  but  he  might  be- 
lieve it,  as  many  others  did,  the  most  meritorious 
action  that  he  could  perform.     His  subsequent 
usurpation  was  the  effect  of  necessity,   as  well  as 
of  ambition  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  see,  how  the  various 
factions  could  at  that  time  have  been  restrained, 
without  a  mixture  of  military  and  arbitrary  au- 
thority.    The  private  deportment  of  Cromwel,  as 


33fl  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  IfiSfc 

a  son,  a  husband,  a  father,  a  friend,  is  exposed  to 
no  considerable  censure,  if  it  does  not  rather  merit 
praise.  And,  upon  the  whole,  his  character  does 
not  appear  more  extraordinary  and  unusual  by 
the  mixture  of  so  much  absurdity  with  so  much 
penetration,  than  by  his  tempering  such  violent 
ambition  and  such  enraged  fanaticism  with  so 
much  regard  to  justice  and  humanity. 

Cromwel  was  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age 
when  he  died.  He  was  of  a  robust  frame  of 
body,  and  of  a  manly,  though  not  of  an  agreeable 
aspect.  He  left  only  two  sons,  Richard  and 
Henry ;  and  three  daughters,  one  married  to  ge- 
neral Fleetwood,  another  to  lord  Fauconberg,  a 
third  to  lord  Rich.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
young.  His  mother  lived  till  after  he  was  pro- 
tector; and,  contrary  to  her  orders,  he  buried 
her  with  great  pomp  in  Westminster  Abbey.  She 
could  not  be  persuaded  that  his  power  or  person 
was  ever  in  safety.  At  every  noise  which  she 
heard,  she  exclaimed,  that  her  son  was  murdered; 
and  was  never  satisfied  that  he  was  alive,  if  she 
did  not  receive  frequent  visits  from  him.  She  was 
a  decent  woman ;  and  by  her  frugality  and  in- 
dustry, had  raised  and  educated  a  numerous 
family  upon  a  small  fortune.  She  had  even  been 
obliged  to  set  up  a  brewery  at  Huntingdon,  which 
she  managed  to  good  advantage.  Hence  Crom- 
wel, in  the  invectives  of  that  age,  is  often  stig- 
matized with  the  name  of  the  brewer.  Ludlow, 
by  way  of  insult,  mentions  the  great  accession, 


1650.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  337 

which  he  would  receive  to  his  royal  revenues  upon 
his  mother's  death,  who  possessed  a  jointure  of 
sixty  pounds  a  year  upon  his  estate.  She  was  of 
a  good  family,  of  the  name  of  Stuart;  remotely 
allied,  as  is  by  some  supposed,  to  the  royal 
family. 


VOL.   VIII. 


338  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1658. 


CHAPTER    LXIL 


Richard  acknowledged  protector  ....  A  parliament ....  Cabal 
of  Wallingford  House  ....  Richard  deposed  ....  Long  par- 
liament or  Rump  restored  ....  Conspiracy  of  the  royalists .... 
Insurrection  ....  suppressed ....  Parliament  expelled  .... 
Committee  of  safety  . . .  Foreign  affairs  .  .  .  General  Monk . . . 
Monk  declares  for  the  parliament ....  Parliament  restored .... 
Monk  enters  London,  declares  for  a  free  parliament ....  Se- 
cluded members  restored  ....  Long  parliament  dissolved  .... 
New  parliament ....  The  Restoration ....  Manners  and  arts. 

All  the  arts  of  Cromwel's  policy  had  been  so 
often  practised,  that  they  began  to  lose  their 
effect ;  and  his  power,  instead  of  being  confirmed 
by  time  and  success,  seemed  every  day  to  become 
more  uncertain  and  precarious.  His  friends  the 
most  closely  connected  with  him,  and  his  counsel- 
lors the  most  trusted,  were  entering  into  cabals 
against  his  authority;  and,  with  all  his  penetra- 
tion into  the  characters  of  men,  he  could  not  find 
any  ministers  on  whom  he  could  rely.  Men  of 
probity  and  honour,  he  knew,  would  not  submit 
to  be  the  instruments  of  an  usurpation  violent 
and  illegal :  those  who  were  free  from  the  re- 
straint of  principle,  might  betray,  from  interest, 
that  cause,  in  which,  from  no  better  motives, 


1658.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  339 

they  had  inlisted  themselves.  Even  those  on 
whom  he  conferred  any  favour,  never  deemed  the 
recompense  an  equivalent  for  the  sacrifices  which 
they  made  to  obtain  it :  whoever  was  refused  any 
demand,  justified  his  anger  by  the  specious  colours 
of  conscience  and  of  duty.  Such  difficulties 
surrounded  the  protector,  that  his  dying  at  so 
critical  a  time  is  esteemed  by  many  the  most 
fortunate  circumstance  that  ever  attended  him ; 
and  it  was  thought,  that  all  his  courage  and 
dexterity  could  not  much  longer  have  extended 
his  usurped  administration. 


RICHARD  ACKNOWLEDGED  PROTECTOR. 

But  when  that  potent  hand  was  removed,  which 
conducted  the  government,  every  one  expected  a 
sudden  dissolution  of  the  unwieldy  and  ill-jointed 
fabric.  Richard,  a  young  man  of  no  experience, 
educated  in  the  country,  accustomed  to  a  retired 
life,  unacquainted  with  the  officers  and  unknown 
to  them,  recommended  by  no  military  exploits, 
endeared  by  no  familiarities,  could  not  long,  it 
was  thought,  maintain  that  authority,  which  his 
father  had  acquired  by  so  many  valorous  achieve- 
ments and  such  signal  successes.  And  when  it 
was  observed,  that  he  possessed  only  the  virtues 
of  private  life,  which  in  his  situation  were  so 
many  vices;  that  indolence,  incapacity,  irreso- 
lution, attended  his  facility  and  good  nature  ;  the 
2 


340  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1658. 

various  hopes  of  men  were  excited  by  the  ex- 
pectation of  some  great  event  or  revolution.  For 
some  time,  however,  the  public  was  disappointed 
in  this  opinion.  The  council  recognised  the  suc- 
cession of  Richard  :  Fleetwood,  in  whose  favour, 
it  was  supposed,  Cromwel  had  formerly  made  a 
will,  renounced  all  claim  or  pretension  to  the 
protectorship :  Henry,  Richard's  brother,  who 
governed  Ireland  with  popularity,  ensured  him 
the  obedience  of  that  kingdom :  Monk,  whose 
authority  was  well  established  in  Scotland,  being 
much  attached  to  the  family  of  Cromwel,  im- 
mediately proclaimed  the  new  protector:  the 
army,  every  where,  the  fleet,  acknowledged  his 
title :  above  ninety  addresses,  from  the  counties 
and  most  considerable  corporations,  congratu- 
lated him  on  his  accession,  in  all  the  terms  of 
dutiful  allegiance :  foreign  ministers  were  for- 
ward in  paying  him  the  usual  compliments  :  and 
Richard,  whose  moderate,  unambitious  character 
never  would  have  led  him  to  contend  for  empire, 
was  tempted  to  accept  of  so  rich  an  inheritance, 
which  seemed  to  be  tendered  to  him  by  the  con- 
sent of  all  mankind. 


A   PARLIAMENT. 

It  was  found  necessary  to  call  a  parliament,  in 
order  to  furnish  supplies,  both  for  the  ordinary 
administration,  and  for  fulfilling  those  engage- 


i65g.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  341 

ments  with  foreign  princes,  particularly  Sweden, 
into  which  the  late  protector  had  entered.  In 
hopes  of  obtaining  greater  influence  in  elections, 
the  ancient  right  was  restored  to  all  the  small 
boroughs ;  and  the  counties  were  allowed  no 
more  than  their  usual  members.  The  house  of 
peers,  or  the  other  house,  consisted  of  the  same 
persons  that  had  been  appointed  by  Oliver. 

All  the  commons,  at  first,  signed,  without 
hesitation,  an  engagement  not  to  alter  the  present 
government.  They  next  proceeded  to  examine 
the  humble  petition  and  advice;  and  after  great 
opposition  and  many  vehement  debates,  it  was 
at  length,  with  much  difficulty,  carried  by  the 
court-party  to  confirm  it.  An  acknowledgment 
too  of  the  authority  of  the  other  house  was  ex- 
torted from  them  ;  though  it  was  resolved  not  to 
treat  this  house  of  peers  with  any  greater  respect 
than  they  should  return  to  the  commons.  A 
declaration  was  also  made,  that  the  establishment 
of  the  other  house  should  no  wise  prejudice  the 
right  of  such  of  the  ancient  peers  as  had,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  adhered  to  the  par- 
liament. But  in  all  these  proceedings,  the  op- 
position among  the  commons  was  so  considerable, 
and  the  debates  were  so  much  prolonged,  that 
all  business  was  retarded,  and  great  alarm  given 
to  the  partisans  of  the  young  protector. 

But  there  was  another  quarter  from  which 
greater  dangers  were  justly  apprehended.  The 
most  considerable  officers  of  the  army,  and  even 


343  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1659. 

Fleetwood,  brother-in-law  to  the  protector,  were 
entering  into  cabals  against  him.  No  character 
in  human  society  is  more  dangerous  than  that 
of  the  fanatic ;  because,  if  attended  with  weak 
judgment,  he  is  exposed  to  the  suggestions  of 
others ;  if  supported  by  more  discernment,  he  is 
entirely  governed  by  his  own  illusions,  which 
sanctify  his  most  selfish  views  and  passions. 
Fleetwood  was  of  the  former  species ;  and  as  he 
was  extremely  addicted  to  a  republic,  and  even 
to  the  fifth  monarchy  or  dominion  of  the  saints, 
it  was  easy  for  those,  who  had  insinuated  them- 
selves into  his  confidence,  to  instil  disgusts 
against  the  dignity  of  protector.  The  whole 
republican  party  in  the  army,  which  was  still 
considerable,  Fitz,  Mason,  Moss,  Farley,  united 
themselves  to  that  general.  The  officers  too  of 
the  same  party,  whom  Cromwel  had  discarded, 
Overton,  Ludlow,  Rich,  Okey,  Alured,  began  to 
appear,  and  to  recover  that  authority,  which  had 
been  only  for  a  time  suspended.  A  party  like- 
wise,  who  found  themselves  eclipsed  in  Richard's 
favour,  Sydenham,  Kelsey,  Berry,  Haines,  joined 
the  cabal  of  the  others.  Even  Desborow,  the 
protector's  uncle,  lent  his  authority  to  that  fac- 
tion. But  above  all,  the  intrigues  of  Lambert, 
who  was  now  roused  from  his  retreat,  inflamed 
all  those  dangerous  humours,  and  threatened  the 
nation  with  some  great  convulsion.  The  discon- 
tented officers  established  their  meetings  in  Fleet- 
wood's  apartments;    and    because  he   dwelt    in 


lf)5g.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  M3 

Wallingford-house,  the  party  received    a  deno- 
mination from  that  place. 


CABAL  OF  WALLINGFORD-HOUSE. 

Richard,  who  possessed  neither  resolution  nor 
penetration,  was  prevailed  on  to  give  an  un- 
guarded consent  for  calling  a  general  council  of 
officers,  who  might  make  him  proposals,  as  they 
pretended,  for  the  good  of  the  army.  No  sooner 
were  they  assembled  than  they  voted  a  remon- 
strance. They  there  lamented,  that  the  good  old 
cause,  as  they  termed  it,  that  is,  the  cause  for 
which  they  had  engaged  against  the  late  king, 
was  entirely  neglected ;  and  they  proposed  as  a 
remedy,  that  the  whole  military  power  should 
be  entrusted  to  some  person,  in  whom  they  might 
all  confide.  The  city  militia,  influenced  by  two 
aldermen,  Tichburn  and  Ireton,  expressed  the 
same  resolution  of  adhering  to  the  good  old  cause. 

The  protector  was  justly  alarmed  at  those 
movements  among  the  officers.  The  persons  in 
whom  he  chiefly  confided,  were,  all  of  them,  ex- 
cepting Broghill,  men  of  civil  characters  and 
professions;  Fiennes,  Thurloe,  Whitlocke,  Wolsey; 
who  could  only  assist  him  with  their  advice  and 
opinion.  He  possessed  none  of  those  arts  which 
were  proper  to  gain  an  enthusiastic  army.  Mur- 
murs being  thrown  out  against  some  promotions 
which  he  had  made,  Would  you  have  me,  said  he, 


344  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  165Q. 

prefer  none  but  the  godly  ?  Here  is  Dick  Ingoldsby, 
continued  he,  who  can  neither  pray  nor  preach ; 
yet  will  I  trust  him  be) ore  ye  all\  This  im- 
prudence gave  great  offence  to  the  pretend- 
ed saints.  The  other  qualities  of  the  protector 
were  correspondent  to  these  sentiments :  he  was 
of  a  gentle,  humane,  and  generous  disposition. 
Some  of  his  party  offering  to  put  an  end  to  those 
intrigues  by  the  death  of  Lambert,  he  declared, 
that  he  would  not  purchase  power  or  dominion  by 
such  sanguinary  measures. 

RICHARD  DEPOSED.    April  22. 

The  parliament  was  no  less  alarmed  at  the 
military  cabals.  They  voted  that  there  should 
be  no  meeting  or  general  council  of  officers, 
except  with  the  protector's  consent,  or  by  his 
orders.  This  vote  brought  affairs  immediately  to 
a  rupture.  The  officers  hastened  to  Richard,  and 
demanded  of  him  the  dissolution  of  the  parlia- 
ment. Desborow,  a  man  of  clownish  and  brutal 
nature,  threatened  him,  if  he  should  refuse  coin^ 
pliance.  The  protector  wanted  the  resolution  to 
deny,  and  possessed  little  ability  to  resist.  The 
parliament  was  dissolved ;  and  by  the  same  act, 
the  protector  was,  by  every  one,  considered  as 
effectually  dethroned.  Soon  after,  he  signed  his 
demission  in  form. 

Henry,  the  deputy  of  Ireland,  was  endowed 

r  Ludlow. 


\65g.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  345 

wifh  the  same  moderate  disposition  as  Richard ; 
but  as  he  possessed  more  vigour  and  capacity,  it 
was  apprehended  that  he  might  make  resistance. 
His  popularity  in  Ireland  was  great ;  and  even  his 
personal  authority,  notwithstanding  his  youth, 
was  considerable.  Had  his  ambition  been  very 
eager,  he  had,  no  doubt,  been  able  to  create 
disturbance  :  but  being  threatened  by  sir  Hardress 
Waller,  colonel  John  Jones,  and  other  officers,  he 
very  quietly  resigned  his  command,  and  retired 
to  England.  He  had  once  entertained  thoughts, 
which  he  had  not  resolution  to  execute,  of  pro- 
claiming the  king  in  Dublin s. 

Thus  fell  suddenly,  and  from  an  enormous 
height,  but  by  a  rare  fortune,  without  any  hurt 
or  injury,  the  family  of  the  Cromwels.  Richard 
continued  to  possess  an  estate  which  was  mo- 
derate, and  burthened  too  with  a  large  debt, 
which  he  had  contracted  for  the  interment  of 
his  father.  After  the  restoration,  though  he  re* 
mained  unmolested,  he  thought  proper  to  travel 
for  some  years ;  and  at  Pezenas  in  Languedoc  he 
was  introduced,  under  a  borrowed  name,  to  the 
prince  of  Conti.  That  prince,  talking  of  English 
affairs,  broke  out  into  admiration  of  Cromwel's 
courage  and  capacity.  "  But  as  for  that  poor 
"  pitiful  fellow,  Richard,"  said  he,  "  what  has 
"  become  of  him  ?  How  could  he  be  such  a 
"  blockhead  as  to  reap  no  greater  benefit  from 

'  Carte's  Collections,  vol.  ii.  p.  243. 


346  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1659. 

"  all  his  father's  crimes  and  successes  ?"  Richard 
extended  his  peaceful  and  quiet  life  to  an  ex- 
treme old  age,  and  died  not  till  the  latter  end  of 
queen  Anne's  reign.  His  social  virtues,  more 
valuable  than  the  greatest  capacity,  met  with  a 
recompense,  more  precious  than  noisy  fame,  and 
more  suitable,  contentment  and  tranquillity. 

The  council  of  officers,  now  possessed  of  su- 
preme authority,  deliberated  what  form  of  go- 
vernment they  should  establish.  Many  of  them 
seemed  inclined  to  exercise  the  power  of  the  sword 
in  the  most  open  manner :  but  as  it  was  appre- 
hended that  the  people  would  with  great  difficulty 
be  induced  to  pay  taxes,  levied  by  arbitrary  will 
and  pleasure ;  it  was  agreed  to  preserve  the 
shadow  of  civil  administration,  and  to  revive 
the  long  parliament,  which  had  been  expelled  by 
Cromwel.  That  assembly  could  not  be  dissolved, 
it  was  asserted,  but  by  their  own  consent;  and 
violence  had  interrupted,  but  was  not  able  to 
destroy,  their  right  to  government.  The  officers 
also  expected  that,  as  these  members  had  suf- 
ficiently felt  their  own  weakness,  they  would  be 
contented  to  act  in  subordination  to  the  military 
commanders,  and  would  thenceforth  allow  all  the 
authority  to  remain  where  the  power  was  so  visibly 
vested. 

The  officers  applied  to  Lenthal,  the  speaker, 
and  proposed  to  him,  that  the  parliament  should 
resume  their  seats.  Lenthal  was  of  a  low,  timid 
spirit;  and  being  uncertain  what  issue  might  at- 


1659.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  347 

tend  these  measures,  was  desirous  of  evading  the 
proposal.  He  replied,  that  he  could  by  no  means 
comply  with  the  desire  of  the  officers  ;  being  en* 
gaged  in  a  business  of  far  greater  importance  to 
himself,  which  he  could  not  omit  on  any  account, 
because  it  concerned  the  salvation  of  his  own 
soul.  The  officers  pressed  him  to  tell  what  it 
might  be.  He  was  preparing,  he  said,  to  par- 
ticipate of  the  Lord's  supper,  which  he  resolved 
to  take  next  Sabbath.  They  insisted,  that  mercy 
was  preferable  to  sacrifice,  and  that  he  could  not 
better  prepare  himself  for  that  great  duty,  than  by 
contributing  to  the  public  service.  All  their  re- 
monstrances had  no  effect.  However,  on  the  ap- 
pointed day,  the  speaker,  being  informed  that  a 
quorum  of  the  house  was  likely  to  meet,  thought 
proper,  notwithstanding  the  salvation  of  his  soul, 
as  Ludlow  observes,  to  join  them  ;  and  the  house 
immediately  proceeded  upon  business.  The  se- 
cluded members  attempted,  but  in  vain,  to  re- 
sume their  seats  among  them. 


LONG  PARLIAMENT  OR  RUMP  RESTORED. 

The  numbers  of  this  parliament  were  small,  little 
exceeding  seventy  members :  their  authority  in 
the  nation,  ever  since  they  had  been  purged  by 
the  army,  was  extremely  diminished  ;  and  after 
their  expulsion,  had  been  totally  annihilated : 
but  being  all  of  them  men  of  violent  ambition ; 


348  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  l65g. 

some  of  them  men  of  experience  and  capacity ; 
they  were  resolved,  since  they  enjoyed  the  title  of 
the  supreme  authority,  and  observed  that  some 
appearance  of  a  parliament  was  requisite  for  the 
purposes  of  the  army,  not  to  act  a  subordinate 
part  to  those  who  acknowledged  themselves  their 
servants.  They  chose  a, council,  in  which  they 
took  care  that  the  officers  of  Wallingford-house 
should  not  be  the  majority  :  they  appointed  Fleet- 
wood lieutenant-general,  but  inserted  in  his 
commission,  that  it  should  only  continue  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  house  :  they  chose  seven  per- 
sons who  should  nominate  to  such  commands  as 
became  vacant  :  and  they  voted,  that  all  com- 
missions should  be  received  from  the  speaker,  and 
be  assigned  by  him  in  the  name  of  the  house. 
These  precautions,  the  tendency  of  which  was 
visible,  gave  great  disgust  to  the  general  officers; 
and  their  discontent  would  immediately  have 
broken  out  into  some  resolution  fatal  to  the  par- 
liament, had  it  not  been  checked  by  the  appre- 
hensions of  danger  from  the  common  enemy. 

The  bulk  of  the  nation  consisted  of  royalists 
and  presbyterians ;  and  to  both  these  parties  the 
dominion  of  the  pretended  parliament  had  ever 
been  to  the  last  degree  odious.  When  that 
assembly  was  expelled  by  Cromwel,  contempt  had 
succeeded  to  hatred ;  and  no  reserve  had  been 
used  in  expressing  the  utmost  derision  against  the 
impotent  ambition  of  these  usurpers.  Seeing 
them  reinstated  in  authority,  all  orders  of  men 


I65p.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  349 

felt  the  highest  indignation;  together  with  ap- 
prehensions, lest  such  tyrannical  rulers  should 
exert  their  power  by  taking  vengeance  upon  their 
enemies,  who  had  so  openly  insulted  them.  A 
secret  reconciliation,  therefore,  was  made  be- 
tween the  rival  parties  ;  and  it  was  agreed,  that, 
burying  former  enmities  in  oblivion,  all  efforts 
should  be  used  for  the  overthrow  of  the  rump;  so 
they  called  the  parliament,  in  allusion  to  that 
part  of  the  animal  body.  The  presbyterians, 
sensible,  from  experience,  that  their  passion  for 
liberty,  however  laudable,  had  carried  them  into 
unwarrantable  excesses,  were  willing  to  lay  aside 
ancient  jealousies,  and,  at  all  hazards,  to  restore 
the  royal  family.  The  nobility,  the  gentry,  bent 
their  passionate  endeavours  to  the  same  enter- 
prise, by  which  alone  they  could  be  redeemed 
from  slavery.  And  no  man  was  so  remote  from 
party,  so  indifferent  to  public  good,  as  not  to 
feel  the  most  ardent  wishes  for  the  dissolution 
of  that  tyranny  which,  whether  the  civil  or  the 
military  part  of  it  were  considered,  appeared 
equally  oppressive  and  ruinous  to  the  nation. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  ROYALISTS. 

Mordaunt,  who  had  so  narrowly  escaped  on 
his  trial  before  the  high-Court  of  justice,  seemed 
rather  animated  than  daunted  with  past  danger ; 
and  having,   by  his  resolute  behaviour,   obtained 


330  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  l65g. 

the  highest  confidence  of  the  royal  party,  he  was 
now  become  the  centre  of  all  their  conspiracies. 
In  many  counties,  a  resolution  was  taken  to  rise 
in  arms.  Lord  Willoughby  of  Parham  and  sir 
Horatio  Townshend  undertook  to  secure  Lynne ; 
general  Massey  engaged  to  seize  Glocester ;  Lord 
Newport,  Littleton,  and  other  gentlemen,  con- 
spired to  take  possession  of  Shrewsbury ;  sir 
George  Booth,  of  Chester ;  sir  Thomas  Middleton, 
of  North  Wales ;  Arundel,  Pollar,  Granville,  Tre- 
lawney,  of  Plymouth  and  Exeter.  A  day  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  execution  of  all  these  enterprises. 
And  the  king,  attended  by  the  duke  of  York, 
had  secretly  arrived  at  Calais,  with  a  resolution 
of  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  his  loyal  sub- 
jects. The  French  court  had  promised  to  supply 
him  with  a  small  body  of  forces,  in  order  to  coun- 
tenance the  insurrections  of  the  English. 

This  combination  was  disconcerted  by  the 
infidelity  of  sir  Richard  Willis.  That  traitor  con- 
tinued with  the  parliament  the  same  correspond- 
ence which  he  had  begun  with  Cromwel.  He 
had  engaged  to  reveal  all  conspiracies,  so  far  as 
to  destroy  their  effect ;  but  reserved  to  himself 
if  he  pleased,  the  power  of  concealing  the  con- 
spirators. He  took  care  never  to  name  any  of 
the  old,  genuine  cavaliers,  who  had  zealously  ad- 
hered, and  were  resolved  still  to  adhere,  to  the 
royal  cause  in  every  fortune.  These  men  he 
esteemed;  these  he  even  loved.  He  betrayed 
only  the  new  converts  among  the  presbyterians, 


1659  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  351 

or  such  lukewarm  royalists,  as,  discouraged  with 
their  disappointments,  were  resolved  to  expose 
themselves  to  no  more  hazards.  A  lively  proof 
how  impossible  it  is  even  for  the  most  corrupted 
minds  to  divest  themselves  of  all  regard  to  mo- 
rality and  social  duty  ! 

Many  of  the  conspirators  in  the  different  coun- 
ties were  thrown  into  prison  :  others,  astonished 
at  such  symptoms  of  secret  treachery,  left  their 
houses,  or  remained  quiet :  the  most  tempestuous 
weather  prevailed  during  the  whole  time  appoint- 
ed for  the  rendezvouses ;  insomuch  that  some 
found  it  impossible  to  join  their  friends,  and 
others  were  dismayed  with  fear  and  superstition 
at  an  incident  so  unusual  during  the  summer 
season.  Of  all  the  projects,  the  only  one  which 
took  effect  was  that  of  sir  George  Booth  for  the 
seizing  of  Chester.  The  earl  of  Derby,  lord 
Herbert  of  Cherbury,  Mr.  Lee,  colonel  Morgan, 
entered  into  this  enterprise.  Sir  William  Middle- 
ton  joined  Booth  with  some  troops  from  North- 
Wales  ;  and  the  malcontents  were  powerful  enough 
to  subdue  all  in  that  neighbourhood  who  ventured 
to  oppose  them.  In  their  declaration  they  made 
no  mention  of  the  king  :  they  only  demanded  a 
free  and  full  parliament. 

The  parliament  was  justly  alarmed.  How  com- 
bustible the  materials,  they  well  knew ;  and  the 
fire  was  now  fallen  among  them.  Booth  was  of  a 
family  eminently  presbyterian  ;  and  his  conjunc- 


352  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1659, 

tion  with  the  royalists  they  regarded  as  a  dan- 
gerous symptom.  They  had  many  officers  whose 
fidelity  they  could  more  depend  on  than  that  of 
Lambert:  but  there  was  no  one  in  whose  vigilance 
and  capacity  they  reposed  such  confidence.  They 
commissioned  him  to  suppress  the  rebels.  He 
made  incredible  haste.  Booth  imprudently  ven- 
tured himself  out  of  the  walls  of  Chester,  and 
exposed,  in  the  open  field,  his  raw  troops  against 
these  hardy  veterans.  He  was  soon  routed  and 
taken  prisoner.  His  whole  army  was  dispersed. 
And  the  parliament  had  no  farther  occupation 
than  to  fill  all  the  jails  with  their  open  or  secret 
enemies.  Designs  were  even  entertained  of  trans- 
porting the  loyal  families  to  Barbadoes,  Jamaica, 
and  the  other  colonies ;  lest  they  should  propagate 
in  England  children  of  the  same  malignant  affec- 
tions with  themselves. 

This  success  hastened  the  ruin  of  the  parliament. 
Lambert  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  troops,  was  no 
less  dangerous  to  them  than  Booth.  A  thousand 
pounds,  which  they  sent  him  to  buy  a  jewel,  were 
employed  by  him  in  liberalities  to  his  officers.  At 
his  instigation  they  drew  up  a  petition,  and  trans- 
mitted it  to  Fleetwood,  a  weak  man,  and  an  honest, 
if  sincerity  in  folly  deserve  that  honourable  name. 
The  import  of  this  petition  was,  that  Fleetwood 
should  be  made  commander  in  chief,  Lambert 
major-general,  Desborow  lieutenant-general  of 
the   horse,   Monk  major-general  of  the  foot.     To 


1659.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  353 

which  a  demand  was  added,  that  no  officer  should 
be  dismissed  from  his  command  but  by  a  court- 
martial. 

The  parliament,  alarmed  at  the  danger,  im- 
mediately cashiered  Lambert,  Desborow,  Berry, 
Clarke,  Barrow,  Kelsey,  Cobbet.  Sir  Arthur 
Hazelrig  proposed  the  impeachment  of  Lambert 
for  high  treason.  Fleetwood's  commission  was 
vacated,  and  the  command  of  the  army  was  vested 
in  seven  persons,  of  whom  that  general  was  one. 
The  parliament  voted,  that  they  would  have  no 
more  general  officers.  And  they  declared  it  high 
treason  to  levy  any  money  without  consent  of  par- 
liament. 

0 

PARLIAMENT  EXPELLED.    October  13. 

But  these  votes  were  feeble  weapons  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  swords  of  the  soldiery.  Lambert 
drew  some  troops  together,  in  order  to  decide  the 
controversy.  Okey,  who  was  leading  his  regi- 
ment to  the  assistance  of  the  parliament,  was  de- 
serted by  them.  Morley  and  Moss  brought  their 
regiments  into  Palace-yard,  resolute  to  oppose 
the  violence  of  Lambert.  But  that  artful  gene- 
ral knew  an  easy  way  of  disappointing  them.  He 
placed  his  soldiers  in  the  streets  which  lead  to 
Westminster-hall.  When  the  speaker  came  in 
his  coach,  he  ordered  the  horses  to  be  turned, 
and  very  civilly  conducted  him  home.  The  other 
vol.  vnt.  A  A 


354  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1659. 

members  were  in  like  manner  intercepted.  And 
the  two  regiments  in  Palace-yard,  observing  that 
they  were  exposed  to  derision,  peaceably  retired 
to  their  quarters.  A  little  before  this  bold  enter- 
prise, a  solemn  fast  had  been  kept  by  the  army  ; 
and  it  is  remarked,  that  this  ceremony  was  the 
usual  prelude  to  every  signal  violence  which  they 
committed. 


COMMITTEE  OF  SAFETY. 

The  officers  found  themselves  again  invested 
with  supreme  authority,  of  which  they  intended 
for  ever  to  retain  the  substance,  however  they 
might  bestow  on  others  the  empty  shadow  or  ap- 
pearance. They  elected  a  committee  of  twenty- 
three  persons,  of  whom  seven  were  officers.  These 
they  pretended  to  invest  with  sovereign  authority; 
and  they  called  them  a  committee  of  safety.  They 
spoke  every  where  of  summoning  a  parliament 
chosen  by  the  people  ;  but  they  really  took  some 
steps  towards  assembling  a  military  parliament, 
composed  of  officers  elected  from  every  regiment 
in  the  service t.  Throughout  the  three  kingdoms 
there  prevailed  nothing  but  the  melancholy  fears, 
to  the  nobility  and  gentry,  of  a  bloody  massacre 
and  extermination ;  to  the  rest  of  the  people,  of 
perpetual  servitude,  beneath  those  sanctified  rob- 
bers, whose  union  and  whose  divisions  would  be 

1  Ludlow. 


1059.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  355 

equally  destructive,  and  who,  under  pretence  of 
superior  illuminations,  would  soon  extirpate,  if 
possible,  all  private  morality,  as  they  had  already 
done  all  public  law  and  justice  from  the  British 
dominions. 


FOREIGN  AFFAIRS. 

During  the  time  that  England  continued  in  this 
distracted  condition,  the  other  kingdoms  of  Eu- 
rope were  hastening  towards  a  composure  of  those 
differences  by  which  they  had  so  long  been  agi- 
tated. The  parliament,  while  it  preserved  author- 
ity, instead  of  following  the  imprudent  politics 
of  Cromwell,  and  lending  assistance  to  the  con- 
quering Swede,  embraced  the  maxims  of  the 
Dutch  commonwealth,  and  resolved,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  that  state,  to  mediate  by  force  an  ac- 
commodation between  the  northern  crowns. 
Montague  was  sent  with  a  squadron  to  the  Baltic, 
and  carried  with  him  as  ambassador  Algernon 
Sidney,  the  celebrated  republican.  Sidney  found 
the  Swedish  monarch  employed  in  the  siege  of 
Copenhagen,  the  capital  of  his  enemy  ;  and  was 
highly  pleased,  that,  with  a  Roman  arrogance, 
he  could  check  the  progress  of  royal  victories, 
and  display  in  so  signal  a  manner  the  superiority 
of  freedom  above  tyranny.  With  the  highest  in- 
dignation, the  ambitious  prince  was  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  imperious  mediation  of  the  two  coin- 
2 


356  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  l65g. 

mon wealths.  "  It  is  cruel,"  said  he,  "  that  laws 
"  should  be  prescribed  me  by  parricides  and 
"  pedlars."  But  his  whole  army  was  enclosed 
in  an  ifland,  and  might  be  starved  by  the  com- 
bined squadrons  of  England  and  Holland.  He 
was  obliged,  therefore,  to  quit  his  prey,  when  he 
had  so  nearly  gotten  possession  of  it;  and  hav- 
ing agreed  to  a  pacification  with  Denmark,  he 
retired  into  his  own  country,  where  he  soon 
after  died. 

The  wars  between  France  and  Spain  were  also 
concluded  by  the  treaty  of  the  Pyrenees.  These 
animosities  had  long  been  carried  on  between  the 
rival  states,  even  while  governed  by  a  sister  and 
brother,  who  cordially  loved  and  esteemed  each 
other.  But  politics,  which  had  so  long  prevailed 
over  these  friendly  affections,  now  at  last  yielded 
to  their  influence;  and  never  was  the  triumph 
more  full  and  complete.  The  Spanish  Low 
Countries,  if  not  every  part  of  that  monarchy, 
lay  almost  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  its  enemy. 
Broken  armies,  disordered  finances,  slow  and  ir- 
resolute counsels;  by  these  resources  alone  were 
the  dispersed  provinces  of  Spain  defended  against 
the  vigorous  power  of  France.  But  the  queen 
regent,  anxious  for  the  fate  of  her  brother,  em- 
ployed her  authority  with  the  cardinal  to  stop 
the  progress  of  the  French  conquests,  and  put 
an  end  to  a  quarrel  which,  being  commenced 
by  ambition,  and  attended  with  victory,  was 
at  last  concluded  with  moderation.     The  young 


i65g.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  357 

monarch  of  France,  though  aspiring  and  warlike 
in  his  character,  was  at  this  time  entirely  occupied 
in  the  pleasures  of  love  and  gallantry,  and  had 
passively  resigned  the  reins  of  empire  into  the 
hands  of  his  politic  minister.  And  he  remained 
an  unconcerned  spectator  ;  while  an  opportunity 
for  conquest  was  parted  with,  which  he  never  was 
able,  during  the  whole  course  of  his  active  reign, 
fully  to  retrieve. 

The  ministers  of  the  two  crowns,  Mazarine 
and  don  Louis  de  Haro,  met  at  the  foot  of  the 
Pyrenees,  in  the  isle  of  Pheasants,  a  place  which 
was  supposed  to  belong  to  neither  kingdom.  The 
negotiation  being  brought  to  an  issue  by  frequent 
conferences  between  the  ministers,  the  monarchs 
themselves  agreed  to  a  congress :  and  these  two 
splendid  courts  appeared  in  their  full  lustre  amidst 
those  savage  mountains.  Philip  brought  his 
daughter,  Mary  Therese,  along  with  him ;  and 
giving  her  in  marriage  to  his  nephew,  Louis,  en- 
deavoured to  cement  by  this  new  tie  the  incom- 
patible interests  of  the  two  monarchies.  The 
French  king  made  a  solemn  renunciation  of  every 
succession,  which  might  accrue  to  him  in  right 
of  his  consort ;  a  vain  formality,  tooweak  to  re- 
strain the  ungoverned  ambition  of  princes. 

The  affairs  of  England  were  in  so  great  dis- 
order, that  it  was  not  possible  to  comprehend  that 
kingdom  in  the  treaty,  or  adjust  measures  with  a 
power  which  was  in  such  incessant  fluctuation. 
The  king,  reduced  to  despair  by  the  failure  of 


35S  HISTOKY  OF   ENGLAND.  1659. 

all  enterprises  for  his  restoration,  was  resolved  to 
try  the  weak  resource  of  foreign  succours  ;  and 
he  went  to  the  Pyrenees  at  the  time  when  the 
two  ministers  were  in  the  midst  of  their  negoti- 
ations. Don  Louis  received  him  with  that  gener- 
ous civility  peculiar  to  his  nation  ;  and  expressed 
great  inclination,  had  the  low  condition  of  Spain 
allowed  him,  to  give  assistance  to  the  distressed 
monarch.  The  cautious  Mazarine,  pleading  the 
alliance  of  France  with  the,  English  common- 
wealth, refused  even  to  see  him  ;  and  though  the 
king  offered  to  marry  the  cardinal's  niece11,  he 
could,  for  the  present,  obtain  nothing  but  empty- 
professions  of  respect,  and  protestations  of  ser- 
vices. The  condition  of  that  monarch,  to  all  the 
world,  seemed  totally  desperate.  His  friends  had 
been  baffled  in  every  attempt  for  his  service  :  The 
scaffold  had  often  streamed  with  the  blood  of  the 
more  active  royalists  :  The  spirits  of  many  were 
broken  with  tedious  imprisonments:  The  estates 
of  all  were  burthened  by  the  fines  and  confisca- 
tions which  had  been  levied  upon  them :  No  one 
durst  openly  avow  himself  of  that  party :  And  so 
small  did  their  number  seem  to  a  superficial  view, 
that,  even  should  the  nation  recover  its  liberty, 
which  was  deemed  no-wise  probable,  it  was  judged 
uncertain  what  form  of  government  it  would 
embrace.  But  amidst  all  these  gloomy  prospects, 
fortune,  by   a   surprising   revolution,    was   now 

"  K.  James's  Memoirs. 


1659.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  33§ 

paving  the  way  for  the  king  to  mount,  in  peace 
and  triumph,  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  It  was 
by  the  prudence  and  loyalty  of  general  Monk, 
that  this  happy  change  was  at  last  accomplished. 


GENERAL  MONK. 

George  Monk,  to  whom  the  fate  was  reserved  of 
re-establishing  monarchy,  and  finishing  the  bloody 
dissensions  of  three  kingdoms,  was  the  second 
son  of  a  family  in  Devonshire,  ancient  and  ho- 
nourable, but  lately,  from  too  great  hospitality 
and  expence,  somewhat  fallen  to  decay.  He  be- 
took himself,  in  early  youth,  to  the  profession  of 
arms ;  and  was  engaged  in  the  unfortunate  ex- 
peditions to  Cadiz  and  the  isle  of  Rhe\  After 
England  had  concluded  peace  with  all  her  neigh- 
bours, he  sought  military  experience  in  the  Low 
Countries,  the  great  school  of  war  to  all  the 
European  nations  ;  and  he  rose  to  the  command 
of  a  company  under  lord  Goring.  This  company 
consisted  of  200  men,  of  whom  a  hundred  were 
volunteers,  often  men  of  family  and  fortune, 
sometimes  noblemen  who  lived  upon  their  own 
income  in  a  splendid  manner.  Such  a  military 
turn  at  that  time  prevailed  among  the  English. 

When  the  sound  of  war  was  first  heard  in  this 
island,  Monk  returned  to  England,  partly  desir- 
ous of  promotion  in*  his  native  country,  partly 
disgusted  with  some  ill  usage  from  the  States,  of 


360  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1G59. 

which  he  found  reason  to  complain.  Upon  the 
Scottish  pacification,  he  was  employed  by  the 
earl  of  Leicester  against  the  Irish  rebels;  and 
having  obtained  a  regiment,  was  soon  taken 
notice  of,  for  his  military  skill,  and  for  his  calm 
and  deliberate  valour.  Without  ostentation,  ex- 
pence,  or  caresses,  merely  by  his  humane  and 
equal  temper,  he  gained  the  good-will  of  the 
soldiery ;  who,  with  a  mixture  of  familiarity  and 
affection,  usually  called  him  honest  George  Monk; 
an  honourable  appellation,  which  they  still  con- 
tinued to  him,  even  during  his  greatest  eleva- 
tion. He  was  remarkable  for  his  moderation  in 
party  ;  and  while  all  around  him  were  inflamed 
into  rage  against  the  opposite  faction,  he  fell 
under  suspicion  from  the  candour  and  tranquillity 
of  his  behaviour.  When  the  Irish  army  was  called 
over  into  England,  surmises  of  this  kind  had  been 
so  far  credited,  that  he  had  even  been  suspended 
from  his  command,  and  ordered  to  Oxford,  that 
he. might  answer  the  charge  laid  against  him. 
His  established  character  for  truth  and  sincerity 
here  stood  him  in  great  stead ;  and  upon  his 
earnest  protestations  and  declarations,  he  was 
soon  restored  to  his  regiment,  which  he  joined 
at  the  siege  of  Nantwich.  The  day  after  his  ar- 
rival, Fairfax  attacked  and  defeated  the  royalists, 
commanded  by  Biron ;  and  took  colonel  Monk 
prisoner.  He  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  where  he 
endured,  about  two  years,  all  the  rigours  of 
poverty  and  confinement.     The  king,  however, 


165().  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  36l 

was  so  mindful  as  to  send  him,  notwithstanding 
his  own  difficulties,  a  present  of  100  guineas ; 
but  it  was  not  till  after  the  royalists  were  totally 
subdued,  that  he  recovered  his  liberty.  Monk, 
however  distressed,  had  always  refused  the  most 
inviting  offers  from  the  parliament :  But  Crom- 
wel,  sensible  of  his  merit,  having  solicited  him 
to  engage  in  the  wars  against  the  Irish,  who  were 
considered  as  rebels  both  by  king  and  parliament ; 
he  was  not  unwilling  to  repair  his  broken  fortunes 
by  accepting  a  command  which,  he  flattered 
himself,  was  reconcilable  to  the  strictest  princi- 
ples of  honour.  Having  once  engaged  with  the 
parliament,  he  was  obliged  to  obey  orders ;  and 
found  himself  necessitated  to  fight,  both  against 
the  marquis  of  Ormond  in  Ireland,  and  against 
the  king  himself  in  Scotland.  Upon  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  latter  kingdom,  Monk  was  left  with 
the  supreme  command  ;  and  by  the  equality  and 
justice  of  his  administration,  he  was  able  to  give 
contentment  to  that  restless  people,  now  reduced 
to  subjection  by  a  nation  whom  they  hated.  No 
less  acceptable  was  his  authority  to  the  officers 
and  soldiers ;  and  foreseeing,  that  the  good- will 
of  the  army  under  his  command  might  some  time 
be  of  great  service  to  him,  he  had,  with  much 
care  and  success,  cultivated  their  friendship. 


362  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  l65£. 


MONK  DECLARES  FOR  THE  PARLIAMENT. 

The  connexions  which  he  had  formed  with  Crom- 
wel,  his  benefactor,  preserved  him  faithful  to 
Richard,  who  had  been  enjoined  by  his  father  to 
follow  in  every  thing  the  directions  of  general 
Monk.  When  the  long  parliament  was  restored, 
Monk,  who  was  not  prepared  for  opposition,  ac- 
knowledged their  authority,  and  was  continued 
in  his  command,  from  which  it  would  not  have 
been  safe  to  attempt  dislodging  him.  After  the 
army  had  expelled  the  parliament,  he  protested 
against  the  violence,  and  resolved,  ashepretend- 
ed,  to  vindicate  their  invaded  privileges.  Deeper 
designs,  either  in  the  king's  favour  or  his  own, 
were,  from  the  beginning,  suspected  to  be  the 
motives  of  his  actions. 

-  A  rivalship  had  long  subsisted  between  him 
and  Lambert;  and  every  body  saw  the  reason 
why  he  opposed  the  elevation  of  that  ambitious 
general,  by  whose  success  his  own  authority,  he 
knew,  would  soon  be  subverted.  But  little  friend- 
ship had  ever  subsisted  between  him  and  the  par- 
liamentary leaders ;  and  it  seemed  no-wise  pro*- 
bable,  that  he  intended  to  employ  his  industry, 
and  spend  his  blood,  for  the  advancement  of  one 
enemy  above  another.  How  early  he  entertained 
designs  for  the  king's  restoration,  we  know  not 
with  certainty :  It  is  likely,    that  as  soon  as  Ri- 


1659-  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  3(& 

chard  was  deposed,  he  foresaw,  that  without 
such  an  expedient,  it  would  be  impossible  ever 
to  bring  the  nation  to  a  regular  settlement.  His 
elder  and  younger  brothers  were  devoted  to  the 
royal  cause :  The  Granvilles,  his  near  relations, 
and  all  the  rest  of  his  kindred,  were  in  the  same 
interests :  He  himself  was  intoxicated  with  no 
fumes  of  enthusiasm,  and  had  maintained  no 
connexions  with  any  of  the  fanatical  tribe.  His 
early  engagements  had  been  with  the  king,  and 
he  had  left  that  service  without  receiving  any  dis- 
gust from  the  royal  family.  Since  he  had  inlisted 
himself  with  the  opposite  party,  he  had  been 
guilty  of  no  violence  or  rigour,  which  might 
render  him  obnoxious.  His  return,  therefore,  to 
loyalty,  was  easy  and  open ;  and  nothing  could 
be  supposed  to  counterbalance  his  natural  pro- 
pensity to  that  measure,  except  the  views  of  his 
own  elevation,  and  the  prospect  of  usurping  the 
same  grandeur  and  authority  which  had  been  as- 
sumed by  Cromwel.  But  from  such  exorbitant, 
if  not  impossible  projects,  the  natural  tranquil- 
lity and  moderation  of  his  temper,  the  calmness 
and  solidity  of  his  genius,  not  to  mention  his  age, 
now  upon  the  decline,  seem  to  have  set  him  at  a 
distance.  Cromwel  himself,  he  always  asserted* 
could  not  long  have  maintained  his  usurpation; 
and  any  other  person  even  equal  to  him  in  genius, 
it  was  obvious,  would  now  find  it  more  difficult 

x  Gumbel's  Life  of  Monk,  p.  93. 


364  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1659. 

to  practise  arts,  of  which  every  one,  from  expe- 
rience, was  sufficiently  aware.  It  is  more  agree- 
able, therefore,  to  reason  as  well  as  candour,  to 
suppose  that  Monk,  as  soon  as  he  put  himself  in 
motion,  had  entertained  views  of  effecting  the 
king's  restoration;  nor  ought  any  objections, 
derived  from  his  profound  silence  even  to  Charles 
himself,  to  be  regarded  as  considerable.  His 
temper  was  naturally  reserved  ;  his  circumstances 
required  dissimulation ;  the  king,  he  knew,  was 
Surrounded  with  spies  and  traitors;  and  upon  the 
whole,  it  seems  hard  to  interpret  that  conduct, 
which  ought  to  exalt  our  idea  of  his  prudence,  as 
a  disparagement  of  his  probity. 

Sir  John  Granville,   hoping  that  the    general 
would  engage  in    the  king's  service,   sent   into 
Scotland  his  younger  brother,   a  clergyman,   Dr. 
Monk,   who  carried  him  a   letter  and  invitation 
from  the  king.     When   the   doctor   arrived,   he 
found  that  his  brother  was  then  holding  a  coun- 
cil of  officers,  and  was  not  to  be  seen  for  some 
hours.     In  the  mean  time,   he  was  received  and 
entertained   by  Price,  the  general's  chaplain,    a 
man  of  probity,  as  well  as  a  partisan  of  the  king's. 
The  doctor  having  an  entire  confidence   in  the 
chaplain,    talked  very  freely  to   him   about  the 
object  of  his  journey,  and  engaged  him,  if  there 
should  be  occasion,  to  second  his  applications. 
At  last,  the  general  arrives ;  the  brothers  embrace; 
and    after    some   preliminary   conversation,    the 
doctor  opens  his   business.     Monk   interrupted 


1659-  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  365 

him,  to  know  whether  he  had  ever  before  to  any 
body  mentioned  the  subject.  "To  no  body," 
replied  his  brother,  "  but  to  Price,  whom  I  know 
to  be  entirely  in  your  confidence."  The  general, 
altering  his  countenance,  turned  the  discourse ; 
and  would  enter  into  no  farther  confidence  with 
him,  but  sent  him  away  with  the  first  opportu- 
nity. He  would  not  trust  his  own  brother  the 
moment  he  knew  that  he  had  disclosed  the  secret ; 
though  to  a  man  whom  he  himself  could  have 
trusted r. 

His  conduct  in  all  other  particulars  was  full 
of  the  same  reserve  and  prudence ;  and  no  less 
was  requisite  for  effecting  the  difficult  work  which 
he  had  undertaken.  All  the  officers  in  his  army, 
of  whom  he  entertained  any  suspicion,  he  imme- 
diately cashiered  :  Cobbet,  who  had  been  sent  by 
the  committee  of  safety,  under  pretence  of  com- 
municating their  resolutions  to  Monk,  but  really 
with  a  view  of  debauching  his  army,  he  commit- 
ted to  custody :  He  drew  together  the  several 
scattered  regiments  :  He  summoned  an  assembly, 
somewhat  resembling  a  convention  of  states;  and 
having  communicated  to  them  his  resolution  of 
marching  into  England,  he  received  a  seasonable, 
though  no  great  supply  of  money. 

Hearing  that  Lambert  was  advancing  north- 
ward with  his  army,  Monk  sent  Clobery  and  two 
other  commissioners  to  London,  with  large  pro- 

*  Lord  Lansdown's  defence  of  general  Monk. 


m  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1659. 

fessions  of  his  inclination  to  peace,  and  with  offers 
of  terms  for  an  accommodation.  His  chief  aim 
was  to  gain  time,  and  relax  the  preparations  of 
his  enemies.  The  committee  of  safety  fell  into 
the  snare.  A  treaty  was  signed  by  Monk's  com- 
missioners ;  but  he  refused  to  ratify  it,  and  com- 
plained that  they  had  exceeded  their  powers.  He 
desired,  however,  to  enter  into  a  new  negotiation 
at  Newcastle.  The  committee  willingly  accepted 
this  fallacious  offer. 

Meanwhile  these  military  sovereigns  found 
themselves  surrounded  on  all  hands  with  inextri- 
cable difficulties.  The  nation  had  fallen  into  total 
anarchy ;  and  by  refusing  the  payment  of  all 
taxes,  reduced  the  army  to  the  greatest  neces- 
sities. While  Lambert's  forces  were  assembling 
at  Newcastle,  Hazelrig  and  Morley  took  posses- 
sion of  Portsmouth,  and  declared  for  the  parlia- 
ment. A  party,  sent  to  suppress  them,  was  per- 
suaded by  their  commander  tojoin  in  the  same  de- 
claration. The  city  apprentices  rose  in  a  tumult, 
and  demanded  a  free  parliament.  Though  they 
were  suppressed  by  colonel  Hewson,  a  man  who 
from  the  profession  of  a  cobler  had  risen  to  a 
Ijigh  rank  in  the  army,  the  city  still  discovered 
symptoms  of  the  most  dangerous  discontent.  It 
even  established  a  kind  of  separate  government, 
and  assumed  the  supreme  authority  within  itself* 
Admiral  Lawson  with  his  squadron  came  into  the 
river,  and  declared  for  the  parliament.  Hazelrig 
and  Morley,    hearing  of  this   important  event, 


1(559-  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  n6? 

left  Portsmouth,  and  advanced  towards  London. 
The  regiments  near  that  city  being  solicited  by 
their  old  officers,  who  had  been  cashiered  by  the 
committee  of  safety,  revolted  again  to  the  parlia- 
ment. Desborow's  regiment,  being  sent  by  Lam- 
bert to  support  his  friends,  no  sooner  arrived  at 
St.  Alban's,  than  it  declared  for  the  same  as- 
sembly. 

Fleetwood's  hand  was  found  too  weak  and  un- 
stable to  support  this  ill-founded  fabric,  which, 
every  where  around"  him,  was  falling  into  ruins. 
When  he  received  intelligence  of  any  mur- 
murs among  the  soldiers,  he  would  prostrate 
himself  in  prayer,  and  could  hardly  be  prevailed 
with  to  join  the  troops.  Even  when  among  them, 
he  would,  in  the  midst  of  any  discourse,  invite 
them  all  to  prayer,  and  put  himself  on  his  knees 
before  them.  If  any  of  his  friends  exhorted  him 
to  more  vigour,  they  could  get  no  other  answer, 
than  that  God  had  spitten  in  his  face,  and  would 
not  hear  him.  Men  now  ceased  to  wonder  why 
Lambert  had  promoted  him  to  the  office  of 
general,  and  had  contented  himself  with  the 
second  command  in  the  army. 


PARLIAMENT  RESTORED.    December  26. 

Lenthal,  the  speaker,  being  invited  by  the  of- 
ficers, again  assumed  authority,  and  summoned 
together  the  parliament,  which  twice  before  had 


368  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  105q. 

been  expelled  with  so  much  reproach  and  igno- 
miny. As  soon  as  assembled,  they  repealed  their 
act  against  the  payment  of  excise  and  customs ; 
they  appointed  commissioners  for  assigning  quar- 
ters to  the  army  ;  and,  without  taking  any  notice 
of  Lambert,  they  sent  orders  to  the  forces  under 
his  command  immediately  to  repair  to  those  quar- 
ters which  were  appointed  them. 

Lambert  was  now  in  a  very  disconsolate  con- 
dition. Monk,  he  saw,  had  passed  the  Tweed  at 
Coldstream,  and  was  advancing  upon  him.  His 
own  soldiers  deserted  him  in  great  multitudes, 
and  joined  the  enemy.  Lord  Fairfax  too,  he 
heard,  had  raised  forces  behind  him,  and  had 
possessed  himself  of  York,  without  declaring  his 
purpose.  The  last  orders  of  the  parliament  so 
entirely  stripped  him  of  his  army,  that  there  re- 
mained not  with  him  above  a  hundred  horse  :  All 
the  rest  went  to  their  quarters  with  quietness 
and  resignation;  and  he  himself  was,  some  time 
after,  arrested  and  committed  to  the  Tower.  The 
other  officers,  who  had  formerly  been  cashiered 
by  the  parliament,  and  who  had  resumed  their 
commands,  that  they  might  subdue  that  assembly, 
were  again  cashiered  and  confined  to  their  houses. 
Sir  Harry  Vane  and  some  members,  who  had  con- 
curred with  the  commitee  of  safety,  were  ordered 
into  a  like  confinement.  And  the  parliament  now 
seemed  to  be  again  possessed  of  more  absolute 
authority  than  ever,  and  to  be  without  any  dan- 
ger of  opposition  or  control. 


1660.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  3G9 

The  republican  party  was  at  this  time  guided 
by  two  men,  Hazelrig  and  Vane,  who  were  of 
opposite  characters,  and  mortally  hated  each  other. 
Hazelrig,  who  possessed  greater  authority  in  the 
parliament,  was  haughty,  imperious,  precipitate, 
vain-glorious ;  without  civility,  without  prudence; 
qualified  only  by  his  noisy,  pertinacious  obstinacy 
to  acquire  an  ascendency  in  public  assemblies. 
Vane  was  noted,  in  all  civil  transactions,  for 
temper,  insinuation,  address,  and  a  profound  judg- 
ment ;  in  all  religious  speculations,  for  folly  and 
extravagance.  He  was  a  perfect  enthusiast ;  and 
fancying  that  he  was  certainly  favoured  with  in- 
spiration, he  deemed  himself,  to  speak  in  the 
language  of  the  times,  to  be  a  man  above  ordi* 
nances,  and,  by  reason  of  his  perfection,  to  be 
unlimited  and  unrestrained  by  any  rules,  which 
govern  inferior  mortals.  These  whimsies,  min- 
gling with  pride,  had  so  corrupted  his  excellent 
understanding,  that  sometimes  he  thought  him- 
self the  person  deputed  to  reign  on  earth  for  a 
thousand  years  over  the  whole  congregation  of 
the  faithful  \ 

Monk,  though  informed  of  the  restoration  of 
the  parliament,  from  whom  he  received  no  orders, 
still  advanced  with  his  army,  which  was  near 
6000  men :  The  scattered  forces  in  England  were 
above  five  times  more  numerous.  Fairfax,  who 
had  resolved  to  declare  for  the  king,  not  being 
able  to  make  the  general  open  his  intentions,  re- 
■  Clarendon* 

VOL.   VIII.  B  B 


3-0  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  \660. 

retired  to  his  own  house  in  Yorkshire.  In  all 
counties  through  which  Monk  passed,  the  prime 
gentry  flocked  to  him  with  addresses  ;  expressing 
their  earnest  desire,  that  he  would  be  instrumental 
in  restoring  the  nation  to  peace  and  tranquillity, 
and  to  the  enjoyment  of  those  liberties,  which  by 
law  were  their  birth-right,  but  of  which,  during 
so  many  years,  they  had  been  fatally  bereaved  : 
And  that,  in  order  to  this  salutary  purpose,  he 
would  prevail,  either  for  the  restoring  of  those 
members  who  had  been  secluded  before  the  king's 
death,  or  for  the  election  of  a  new  parliament, 
who  might  legally,  and  by  general  consent,  again 
govern  the  nation.  Though  Monk  pretended  not 
to  favour  these  addresses,  that  ray  of  hope,  which 
the  knowledge  of  his  character  and  situation 
afforded,  mightily  animated  all  men.  The  tyranny 
and  the  anarchy,  which  now  equally  oppressed  the 
kingdom  ;  the  experience  of  past  distractions, 
the  dread  of  future  convulsions,  the  indignation 
against  military  usurpation,  against  sanctified 
hypocrisy:  All  these  motives  had  united  every 
party,  except  the  most  desperate,  into  ardent 
wishes  for  the  king's  restoration,  the  only  remedy 
for  all  these  fatal  evils. 

Scot  and  Robinson  were  sent  as  deputies  by  the 
parliament,  under  pretence  of  congratulating  the 
general,  but  in  reality  to  serve  as  spies  upon  him. 
The  city  dispatched  four  of  their  principal  citizens 
to  perform  like  compliments;  and  at  the  same 
time  to  confirm  the  general  in  his  inclination  to  a 


1660.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  $71 

free  parliament,  the  object  of  all  men's  prayers 
and  endeavours.  The  authority  of  Monk  could 
scarcely  secure  the  parliamentary  deputies  from 
those  insults,  which  the  general  hatred  and  con- 
tempt towards  their  masters  drew  from  men  of 
every  rank  and  denomination. 


MONK  ENTERS  LONDON.     February  6. 

Monk  continued  his  march  with  few  interruptions 
till  he  reached  St.  Albans.     He  there  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  the  parliament ;  desiring  them  to  remove 
from  London  those  regiments,  which,  though  they 
now  professed  to  return  to   their  duty,  had   so 
lately  offered  violence  to  that  assembly.     This 
message  was  unexpected,    and  exceedingly  per- 
plexed the  house.     Their  fate,  they  found,  must 
still  depend  on  a  mercenary  army ;    and  they  were 
as  distant  as  ever  from  their  imaginary  sovereignty. 
However,  they   found  it  necessary   to   comply. 
The  soldiers   made  more  difficulty.     A  mutiny 
arose  among  them.     One  regiment,  in  particular, 
quartered  in  Somerset-house,  expressly  refused  to 
yield  their   place  to   the   northern  army.*     But 
those  officers  who  would  gladly,  on  such  an  oc- 
casion, have  inflamed  the  quarrel,  were  absent  or 
in   confinement ;    and   for   want    of  leaders,   the 
soldiers  were  at  last,  with  great  reluctance,  oblig- 
ed to  submit.     Monk  with  his  army  took  quarters 
in  Westminster. 
2 


.172  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  X6G0. 

The  general  was  introduced  to  the  house;  and 
thanks  were  given  him  by  Lenthalforthe  eminent 
services  which  he  had  done  his  country.      Monk 
was  a  prudent  not  an  eloquent  speaker.     He  told 
the  house,  that  the  services,  which  he  had  been 
enabled  to  perform,  were  no  more  than  his  duty, 
and  merited  not  such  praises  as  those  with  which 
they  were  pleased  to   honour  him  :  That  among 
many  persons  of  greater  worth,    who  bore  their 
commission,  he  had  been  employed  as  the  instru- 
ment of  providence  for  effecting  their  restoration  ; 
but  he  considered  this  service  as  a  step  only  to 
more  important  services,  which  it  was  their  part 
to  render  to  the  nation  :  That  while  on  his  march, 
he  observed  all  ranks  of  men,  in  all  places,  to  be 
in  earnest  expectation  of  a  settlement,  after  the 
violent  convulsions,   to  which  they  had  been  ex- 
pose^ ;  and  to  have  no  prospect  of  that  blessing 
but  from  the  dissolution  of  the  present  parliament 
and  from  the  summoning  of  a  new  one,  free  and 
full,  who,  meeting  without  oaths  or  engagements, 
might   finally  give  contentment  to  the  nation : 
That  applications  had  been  made  to  him  for  that 
purpose ;   but  that,   he,  sensible  of  his  duty,  had 
still   told    the   petitioners,     that   the  parliament 
itself,  which  was  no>v  free,  and  would  soon  be  full, 
was  the  best  judge  of  all  these  measures,  and  that 
the  whole  community  ought  to  acquiesce  in  their 
determination  :  That  though  he  expressed  himself 
in  this  manner  to  the  people,  he  must  now  freely 
inform  the  house,  that  the   fewer  engagements 


1660.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  373 

were  exacted,  the  more  comprehensive  would 
their  plan  prove,  and  the  more  satisfaction  would 
it  give  to  the  nation  :  And  that  it  was  sufficient 
for  public  security,  if  the  fanatical  party  and  the 
royalists  were  excluded ;  since  the  principles  of 
these  factions  were  destructive  either  of  govern- 
ment or  of  liberty. 

This  speech,  containing  matter  which  was  both 
agreeable  and  disagreeable  to  the  house  as  well  as 
to  the  nation,  still  kept  every  one  in  suspence, 
and  upheld  that  uncertainty,  in  which  it  seemed 
the  general's  interest  to  retain  the  public.  But  it 
was  impossible  for  the  kingdom  to  remain  long 
in  this  doubtful  situation  :  The  people,  as  well  as 
the  parliament,  pushed  matters  to  a  decision. 
During  the  late  convulsions,  the  payment  of  taxes 
had  been  interrupted  ;  and  though  the  parliament, 
upon  their  assembling,  renewed  the  ordinances  for 
impositions,  yet  so  little  reverence  did  the  people 
pay  to  those  legislators,  that  they  gave  very  slow 
and  unwilling  obedience  to  their  commands.  The 
common-council  of  London  flatly  refused  to  sub- 
mit to  an  assessment  required  of  them  ;  and  de- 
clared that,  till  a  free  and  lawful  parliament  im- 
posed taxes,  they  never  should  deem  it  their  duty 
to  make  any  payment.  This  resolution,  if  yielded 
to,  would  immediately  have  put  an  end  to  the  do- 
minion of  the  parliament :  They  were  determined, 
therefore,  upon  this  occasion,  to  make  at  once  a 
full  experiment  of  their  own  power,  and  of  their 
general's  obedience. 


374  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

Monk  received  orders  to  march  into  the  city ; 
to  seize  twelve  persons,  the  most  obnoxious  to  the 
parliament ;  to  remove  the  posts  and  chains  from 
all  the  streets ;  and  to  take  down  and  break  the 
portcullises  and  gates  of  the  city  :  And  very  few 
hours  were  allowed  him  to  deliberate  upon  the 
execution  of  these  violent  orders.  To  the  great 
surprise  and  consternation  of  all  men,  Monk  pre- 
pared himself  for  obedience.  Neglecting  the 
entreaties  of  his  friends,  the  remonstrances  of  his 
officers,  the  cries  of  the  people,  he  entered  the 
city  in  a  military  manner ;  he  apprehended  as 
many  as  he  could  of  the  proscribed  persons,  whom 
he  sent  to  the  Tower  ;  with  all  the  circumstances 
of  contempt  he  broke  the  gates  and  portcullises ; 
and  having  exposed  the  city  to  the  scorn  and  de- 
rision of  all  who  hated  it,  he  returned  intriumph 
to  his  quarters  in  Westminster. 


DECLARES  FOR  A  FREE  PARLIAMENT. 

No  sooner  had  the  general  leisure  to  reflect, 
than  he  found,  that  this  last  measure,  instead  of 
being  a  continuation  of  that  cautious  ambiguity, 
which  he  had  hitherto  maintained,  was  taking 
party  without  reserve,  and  laying  himself,  as  well 
as  the  nation,  at  the  mercy  of  that  tyrannical 
parliament,  whose  power  had  long  been  odious, 
as  their  persons  contemptible,  to  all  men.  He 
resolved,  therefore,   before  it  were  too  late,    to 


1660.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  375 

repair  the  dangerous  mistake  into  which  he  had 
been  betrayed,  and  to  show  the  whole  world,  still 
more  without  reserve,  that  he  meant  no  longer  to 
be  the  minister  of  violence  and  usurpation.  After 
complaining  of  the  odious  service  in  which  he  had 
been  employed,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  house, 
reproaching  them,  as  well  with  the  new  cabals 
which  they  had  formed  with  Vane  and  Lambert, 
as  with  the  encouragement  given  to  a  fanatical 
petition  presented  by  Praisegod  Barebone  ;  and 
he  required  them,  in  the  name  of  the  citizens, 
soldiers,  and  whole  commonwealth,  to  issue  writs, 
within  a  week,  for  the  filling  of  their  house,  and 
to  fix  the  time  for  their  own  dissolution  and  the 
assembling  of  a  new  parliament.  Having  dis- 
patched this  letter,  which  might  be  regarded,  he 
thought,  as  an  undoubted  pledge  of  his  sincerity, 
he  marched  with  his  army  into  the  city,  and  de- 
sired Allen,  the  mayor,  to  summon  a  common- 
council  at  Guildhall.  He  there  made  many  apo- 
logies for  the  indignity  which,  two  days  before, 
he  had  been  obliged  to  put  upon  them ;  assured 
them  of  his  perseverance  in  the  measures  which 
he  had  adopted ;  and  desired  that  they  might 
mutually  plight  their  faith  for  a  strict  union  be- 
tween city  and  army,  in  every  enterprise  for  the 
happiness  and  settlement  of  the  commonwealth. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the  joy  and 
exultation  which  displayed  itself  throughout  the 
city,  as  soon  as  intelligence  was  conveyed  of  this 
happy  measure,  embraced  by  the  general.    The 


;;/u  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  166Q. 

prospect  of  peace,  concord,  liberty,  justice,  broke 
forth  at  once,  from  amidst  the  deepest  darkness  in 
which  the  nation  had  ever  been  involved.     The 
view  of  past  calamities  no  longer  presented  dismal 
prognostics   of  the  future  :    it   tended  only   to 
enhance  the  general  exultation  for  those  scenes 
of  happiness  and  tranquillity,  which  all  men  now 
confidently  promised  themselves,     The  royalists, 
the  presbyterians,  forgetting  all  animosities,  min- 
gled in  common  joy  and  transport,  and  vowed 
never  more  to  gratify  the  ambition  of  false  and 
factious   tyrants,   by  their  calamitous  divisions. 
The  populace,  more  outrageous  in  their  festivity, 
made  the  air  resound  with  acclamations,  and  illu- 
minated every  street  with  signals  of  jollity  and 
triumph,     Applauses  of  the  general  were  every 
where  intermingled  with  detestation  against  the 
parliament.     The  most  ridiculous  inventions  were 
adopted,  in  order  to  express  this  latter  passion. 
At  every  bonfire  rumps  were  roasted,  and  where 
these  could  no  longer  be  found,  pieces  of  flesh 
were  cut  into  that  shape  ;  and  the  funeral  of  the 
parliament   (the  populace  exclaimed)    was   cele- 
brated by  these  symbols  of  hatred  and  derision. 

The  parliament,  though  in  the  agonies  of  de* 
spair,  made  still  one  effort  for  the  recovery  of 
their  dominion,  They  sent  a  committee  with 
offers  to  gain  the  general.  He  refused  to  hear 
them,  except  in  the  presence  of  some  of  the 
secluded  members.  Though  several  persons,  de- 
sperate from  guilt  and  fanaticism,  promised   to 


16(50.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  377 

invest  him  with  the  dignity  of  supreme  magistrate, 
and  to  support  his  government,  he  would  not 
hearken  to  such  wild  proposals.  Having  fixed  a 
close  correspondence  with  the  city,  and  esta- 
blished its  militia  in  hands  whose  fidelity  could 
be  relied  on,  he  returned  with  his  army  to  West- 
minster, and  pursued  every  proper  measure  for 
the  settlement  of  the  nation.  While  he  still  pre- 
tended to  maintain  republican  principles,  be  was 
taking  large  steps  towards  the  re-establishment 
of  the  ancient  monarchy. 


SECLUDED  MEMBERS  RESTORED.    Feb.  21. 

The  secluded  members,  upon  the  general's  invit- 
ation, went  to  the  house,  and  finding  no  longer 
any  obstruction,  they  entered,  and  immediately 
appeared  to  be  the  majority :  most  of  the  inde- 
pendents left  the  place.  The  restored  members 
first  repealed  all  the  ordinances  by  which  they 
had  been  excluded  :  they  gave  sir  George  Boothe 
and  his  party  their  liberty  and  estates:  they 
renewed  the  general's  commission,  and  enlarged 
his  powers :  they  fixed  an  assessment  for  the 
support  of  the  fleet  and  army  :  and  having  passed 
these  votes  for  the  present  composure  of  the 
kingdom,  they  dissolved  themselves,  and  issued 
writs  for  the  immediate  assembling  of  a  new  par- 
liament. This  last  measure  had  been  previously 
concerted  with  the  general,   who  knew  that  all 


378  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1G6O. 

men,  however  different  in  affections,  expectations, 
and  designs,  united  in  the  detestation  of  the  long 
parliament. 

A  council  of  state  was  established,  consisting 
of  men  of  character  and  moderation ;  most  of 
whom,  during  the  civil  wars,  had  made  a  great 
figure  among  the  presbyterians.  The  militia  of 
the  kingdom  was  put  into  such  hands  as  would 
promote  order  and  settlement.  These  conjoined 
with  Monk's  army,  which  lay  united  at  London, 
were  esteemed  a  sufficient  check  on  the  more 
numerous,  though  dispersed  army,  of  whose  in- 
clinations there  was  still  much  reason  to  be 
diffident.  Monk,  however,  was  every  day  re- 
moving the  more  obnoxious  officers,  and  bringing 
the  troops  to  a  state  of  discipline  and  obedience. 

Overton,  governor  of  Hull,  had  declared  his 
resolution  to  keep  possession  of  that  fortress  till 
the  coming  of  king  Jesus :  but  when  Alured 
produced  the  authority  of  parliament  for  his  de- 
livering the  place  to  colonel  Fairfax,  he  thought 
proper  to  comply. 

Montague,  who  commanded  the  fleet  in  the 
Baltic,  had  entered  into  the  conspiracy  with  sir 
George  Boothe  ;  and  pretending  want  of  pro- 
visions, had  sailed  from  the  Sound  towards  the 
coast  of  England,  with  an  intention  of  supporting 
that  insurrection  of  the  royalists.  On  his  arrival 
he  received  the  news  of  Boothe's  defeat,  and  the 
total  failure  of  the  enterprise.  The  great  diffi- 
culties, to  which  the  parliament  was  then  reduced, 


16(50.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  379 

allowed  them  no  leisure  to  examine  strictly  the 
reasons  which  he  gave  for  quitting  his  station ; 
and  they  allowed  him  to  retire  peaceably  to  his 
country-house.  The  council  of  state  now  con- 
ferred on  him,  in  conjunction  with  Monk,  the 
command  of  the  fleet  j  and  secured  the  naval,  as 
well  as  military  force,  in  hands  favourable  to  the 
public  settlement. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  steps  which  were 
taking  towards  the  re-establishment  of  monarchy, 
Monk  still  maintained  the  appearance  of  zeal  for 
a  commonwealth,  and  hitherto  allowed  no  canal 
of  correspondence  between  himself  and  the  king 
to  be  opened.  To  call  a  free  parliament,  and  to 
restore  the  royal  family,  were  visibly,  in  the  pre- 
sent disposition  of  the  kingdom,  one  and  the 
same  measure  :  yet  would  not  the  general  declare, 
otherwise  than  by  his  actions,  that  he  had  adopted 
the  king's  interests ;  and  nothing  but  necessity 
extorted  at  last  the  confession  from  him.  His 
silence,  in  the  commencement  of  his  enterprise, 
ought  to  be  no  objection  to  his  sincerity ;  since 
he  maintained  the  same  reserve,  at  a  time,  when, 
consistent  with  common  sense,  he  could  have 
entertained  no  other  purpose  *. 

There  was  one  Morrice,  a  gentleman  of  De- 
vonshire, of  a  sedentary,  studious  disposition, 
nearly  related  to  Monk,  and  one  who  had  always 
maintained  the  strictest  intimacy  with  him.    With 

*  See  note  [L]  vol.  X, 


380  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1660. 

this  friend  alone  did  Monk  deliberate  concerning 
that  great  enterprise,  which  he  had  projected. 
Sir  John  Granville,  who  had  a  commission  from 
the  king,  applied  to  Morrice  for  access  to  the 
general ;  but  received  for  answer,  that  the  general 
desired  him  to  communicate  his  business  to  Mor- 
rice. Granville,  though  importunately  urged, 
twice  refused  to  deliver  his  message  to  any  but 
Monk  himself;  and  this  cautious  politician, 
finding  him  now  a  person,  whose  secresy  could  be 
safely  trusted,  admitted  him  to  his  presence,  and 
opened  to  him  his  whole  intentions.  Still  he 
scrupled  to  commit  any  thing  to  writing*:  he 
delivered  only  a  verbal  message  by  Granville ; 
assuring  the  king  of  his  services,  giving  advice 
for  his  conduct,  and  exhorting  him  instantly  to 
leave  the  Spanish  territories,  and  retire  into 
Holland.  He  was  apprehensive  lest  Spain  might 
detain  him  as  a  pledge  for  the  recovery  of  Dun- 
kirk and  Jamaica.  Charles  followed  these  di- 
rections, and  very  narrowly  escaped  to  Breda. 
Had  he  protracted  his  journey  a  few  hours,  he 
had  certainly,  under  pretence  of  honour  and 
respect,  been  arrested  by  the  Spaniards. 

Lockhart,  who  was  governor  of  Dunkirk,  and 
no-wise  averse  to  the  king's  service,  was  applied 
to  on  this  occasion.  The  state  of  England  was 
set  before  him,  the  certainty  of  the  restoration 
represented,    and   the   prospect   of  great   favour 

*  Lansdowne,  Clarendon. 


1660.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  381 

displayed,  if  he  would  anticipate  the  vows  of  the 
kingdom,  and  receive  the  king  into  his  fortress. 
Lockhart  still  replied,  that  his  commission  was 
derived  from  an  English  parliament,  and  he  would 
not  open  his  gates  but  in  obedience  to  the  same 
authority b.  This  scruple,  though  in  the  present 
emergence  it  approaches  towards  superstition,  it 
is  difficult  for  us  entirely  to  condemn. 

The  elections  for  the  new  parliament   went 
every  where  in  favour  of  the  king's  party.     This 
was  one  of  those  popular  torrents,  where  the  most 
indifferent,  or  even  the  most  averse,   are  trans- 
ported with  the  general  passion,   and  zealously 
adopt  the  sentiments  of  the  community  to  which 
they  belong.     The  enthusiasts  themselves  seemed 
to  be  disarmed  of  their  fury ;  and  between  despair 
and  astonishment   gave  way  to  those  measures, 
which,  they  found,    it  would   be  impossible  for 
them,  by  their  utmost  efforts,  to  withstand.    The 
presbyterians   and   the    royalists,    being   united, 
formed  the  voice  of  the  nation,  which,  without 
noise,    but  with  infinite  ardour,   called  for  the 
king's   restoration.      The   kingdom    was   almost 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  former  party ;  and 
some  zealous  leaders  among  them  began  to  renew 
the  demand  of  those  conditions,  which  had  been 
required  of  the  late  king  in  the  treaty  of  New- 
port :  but  the  general  opinion  seemed  to  condemn 
all  those  rigorous  and  jealous  capitulations  with 

k.  Bumet. 


382  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1C60. 

their  sovereign.  Harassed  with  convulsions  and 
disorders,  men  ardently  longed  for  repose,  and 
were  terrified  at  the  mention  of  negotiations  or 
delays,  which  might  afford  opportunity  to  the 
seditious  army  still  to  breed  new  confusion.  The 
passion  too  for  liberty,  having  been  carried  to 
such  violent  extremes,  and  having  produced  such 
bloody  commotions,  began,  by  a  natural  move- 
ment, to  give  place  to  a  spirit  of  loyalty  and 
obedience ;  and  the  public  was  less  zealous  in  a 
cause,  which  was  become  odious  on  account  of 
the  calamities  which  had  so  long  attended  it. 
After  the  legal  concessions  made  by  the  late 
king,  the  constitution  seemed  to  be  suffi- 
ciently secured ;  and  the  additional  conditions 
insisted  on,  as  they  had  been  framed  during  the 
greatest  ardour  of  the  contest,  amounted  rather 
to  annihilation  than  a  limitation  of  monarchy. 
Above  all,  the  general  was  averse  to  the  mention 
of  conditions ;  and  resolved  that  the  crown, 
which  he  intended  to  restore,  should  be  conferred 
on  the  king  entirely  free  and  unencumbered. 
Without  farther  scruple,  therefore,  or  jealousy, 
the  people  gave  their  voice  in  elections  for  such 
as  they  knew  to  entertain  sentiments  favourable 
to  monarchy  ;  and  all  paid  court  to  a  party, 
which  they  foresaw,  was  soon  to  govern  the 
nation.  Though  the  parliament  had  voted,  that 
no  one  should  be  elected,  who  had  himself,  or 
whose  father  had  borne  arms  for  the  late  king; 
little  regard  was  any  where  paid  to  this  ordinance. 


1660.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  383 

The  leaders  of  the  presbyterians,  the  earl  of 
Manchester,  lord  Fairfax,  lord  Robarts,  Hollis, 
sir  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  Annesley,  Lewis, 
were  determined  to  atone  for  past  transgressions 
by  their  present  zeal  for  the  royal  interests ;  and 
from  former  merits,  successes,  and  sufferings,  they 
had  acquired  with  their  party  the  highest  credit 
and  authority. 

The  affairs  of  Ireland  were  in  a  condition  no 
less  favourable  to  the  king.  As  soon  as  Monk 
declared  against  the  English  army,  he  dispatched 
emissaries  into  Ireland,  and  engaged  the  officers 
in  that  kingdom  to  concur  with  him  in  the  same 
measures.  Lord  Broghill,  president  of  Munster, 
and  sir  Charles  Coote,  president  of  Connaught, 
went  so  far  as  to  enter  into  a  correspondence  with 
the  king,  and  to  promise  their  assistance  for  his 
restoration.  In  conjunction  with  sir  Theophilus 
Jones,  and  other  officers,  they  took  possession  of 
the  government,  and  excluded  Ludlow,  who  was 
zealous  for  the  rump-parliament,  but  whom  they 
pretended  to  be  in  a  confederacy  with  the 
committee  of  safety.  They  kept  themselves  in 
readiness  to  serve  the  king ;  but  made  no  declar- 
ations, till  they  should  see  the  turn  which  affairs 
took  in  England. 

But  all  these  promising  views  had  almost  been 
blasted  by  an  untoward  accident.  Upon  the  ad- 
mission of  the  secluded  members,  the  republican 
party,  particularly  the  late  king's  judges,  were 
seized  with  the  justest  despair,  and  endeavoured 


384  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

to  infuse  the  same  sentiments  into  the  army. 
By  themselves  or  their  emissaries,  they  represented 
to  the  soldiers,  that  all  those  brave  actions,  which 
had  been  performed  during  the  war,  and  which 
were  so  meritorious  in  the  eyes  of  the  parliament, 
would  no  doubt  be  regarded  as  the  deepest  crimes 
by  the  royalists,  and  would  expose  the  army  to 
the  severest  vengeance.  That  in  vain  did  that 
party  make  professions  of  moderation  and  lenity: 
the  king's  death,  the  execution  of  so  many  of  the 
nobility  and  gentry,  the  sequestration  and  im- 
prisonment of  the  rest,  were  in  their  eyes  crimes 
so  deep,  and  offences  so  personal,  as  must  be 
prosecuted  with  the  most  implacable  resentment. 
That  the  loss  of  all  arrears,  and  the  cashiering 
of  every  officer  and  soldier,  were  the  lightest 
punishment  which  must  be  expected :  after  the 
dispersion  of  the  army,  no  farther  protection  re- 
mained to  them,  either  for  life  or  property,  but 
the  clemency  of  enraged  victors.  And  that,  even 
if  the  most  perfect  security  could  be  obtained, 
it  were  inglorious  to  be  reduced,  by  treachery  and 
deceit,  to  subjection  under  a  foe,  who,  in  the 
open  field,  had  so  often  yielded  to  their  superior 
valour. 

After  these  suggestions  had  been  infused  into 
the  army,  Lambert  suddenly  made  his  escape 
from  the  Tower,  and  threw  Monk  and  the  council 
of  state  into  great  consternation.  They  knew 
Lambert's  vigour  and  activity;  they  were  ac- 
acquainted  with  his  popularity  in  the  army ;  they 


1600.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  365 

were  sensible,  that,  though  the  soldiers  had  lately 
deserted  him,  they  sufficiently  expressed  their 
remorse  and  their  detestation  of  those,  who,  by 
false  professions,  they  found,  had  so  egregiously 
deceived  them.  It  seemed  necessary,  therefore, 
to  employ  the  greatest  celerity  in  suppressing  so 
dangerous  a  foe :  colonel  Ingoldsby,  who  had 
been  one  of  the  late  king's  judges,  but  who  was 
now  entirely  engaged  in  the  royal  cause,  was 
dispatched  after  him.  He  overtook  him  at  Da- 
ventry,  while  he  had  yet  assembled  but  four 
troops  of  horse.  One  of  them  deserted  him. 
Another  quickly  followed  the  example.  He  him- 
self, endeavouring  to  make  his  escape,  was  seized* 
by  Ingoldsby,  to  whom  he  made  submissions  not 
suitable  to  his  former  character  of  spirit  and 
valour.  Okey,  Axtel,  Cobbet,  Crede,  and  other 
officers  of  that  party,  were  taken  prisoners  with 
him.  All  the  roads  were  full  of  soldiers  hastening 
to  join  them.  In  a  few  days,  they  had  been 
formidable.  And  it  was  thought,  that  it  might 
prove  dangerous  for  Monk  himself  to  have  assem- 
bled any  considerable  body  of  his  republican 
army  for  their  suppression  :  so  that  nothing  could 
be  more  happy  than  the  sudden  extinction  of  this 
rising  flame. 

THE  RESTORATION. 

When  the  parliament  met,  they  chose  sir  Har- 
bottle  Grimstone  speaker,  a  man,  who,  though 
VOL.  VIII.  c  c 


SS6  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

he  had  for  some  time  concurred  with  the  late 
parliament,  had  long  been  esteemed  affectionate 
to  the  king's  service.  The  great  dangers  incurred 
during  former  usurpations,  joined  to  the  extreme 
caution  of  the  general,  kept  every  one  in  awe ; 
and  none  dared,  for  some  days,  to  make  any 
mention  of  the  king.  The  members  exerted  their 
spirit  chiefly  in  bitter  invectives  against  the 
memory  of  Cromwel,  and  in  execrations  against 
the  inhuman  murder  of  their  late  sovereign.  At 
last,  the  general,  having  sufficiently  sounded  their 
inclinations,  gave  directions  to  Annesley  president 
of  the  council,  to  inform  them,  that  one  sir  John 
Granville,  a  servant  of  the  king's,  had  been  sent 
over  by  his  majesty,  and  was  now  at  the  door 
with  a  letter  to  the  commons.  The  loudest 
acclamations  were  excited  by  this  intelligence. 
Granville  was  called  in :  the  letter,  accompanied 
with  a  declaration,  greedily  read :  without  one 
moment's  delay,  and  without  a  contradictory 
vote,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  an 
answer :  and  in  order  to  spread  the  same  satis- 
faction throughout  the  kingdom,  it  was  voted 
that  the  letter  and  declaration  should  imme- 
diately be  published. 

The  people,  freed  from  the  state  of  suspense 
in  which  they  had  so  long  been  held,  now  changed 
their  anxious  hope  for  the  unmixt  effusions  of 
joy ;  and  displayed  a  social  triumph  and  exult- 
ation, which  no  private  prosperity,  even  the 
greatest,  is  ever  able  fully  to  inspire.      Traditions 


1660.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  387 

remain  of  men,  particularly  of  Oughtred,  the 
mathematician,  who  died  of  pleasure,  when  in- 
formed of  this  happy  and  surprising  event.  The 
king's  declaration  was  well  calculated  to  uphold 
the  satisfaction  inspired  by  the  prospect  of  public 
settlement.  It  offered  a  general  amnesty  to  all 
persons  whatsoever ;  and  that  without  any  ex- 
ception  but  such  as  should  afterwards  be  made  by 
parliament :  it  promised  liberty  of  conscience ; 
and  a  concurrence  in  any  act  of  parliament, 
which,  upon  mature  deliberation,  should  be  offer- 
ed for  insuring  that  indulgence :  it  submitted 
to  the  arbitration  of  the  same  assembly  the  in- 
quiry into  all  grants,  purchases,  and  alienations : 
and  it  assured  the  soldiers  of  all  their  arrears,  and 
promised  them,  for  the  future,  the  same  pay  which 
they  then  enjoyed. 

The  lords,  perceiving  the  spirit  by  which  the 
kingdom,  as  well  as  the  commons,  was  animated, 
hastened  to  reinstate  themselves  in  their  ancient 
authority,  and  to  take  their  share  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  nation.  They  found  the  doors  of 
their  house  open ;  and  all  were  admitted  ;  even 
such  as  had  formerly  been  excluded  on  account  of 
their  pretended  delinquency. 

The  two  houses  attended  ;  while  the  king  was 
proclaimed  with  great  solemnity,  in  Palace-Yard, 
at  Whitehall,  and  at  Temple-Bar.  The  commons 
voted  500  pounds  to  buy  a  jewel  for  Granville, 
who  had  brought  them  the  king's  gracious  mes- 
sage:  a  present  of  50,000  pounds  was  conferred 
2 


3S8  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

on  the  king,  10,000  pounds  on  the  duke  of  York, 
5,000  pounds  on  the  duke  of  Glocester.  A  com- 
mittee of  lords  and  commons  was  dispatched  to 
invite  his  majesty  to  return  and  take  possession 
of  the  government.  The  rapidity  with  which  all 
these  events  were  conducted,  was  marvellous,  and 
discovered  the  passionate  zeal  and  entire  una- 
nimity of  the  nation.  Such  an  impatience  ap- 
peared, and  such  an  emulation,  in  lords,  and 
commons,  and  city,  who  should  make  the  most 
lively  expressions  of  their  joy  and  duty  ;  that,  as 
the  noble  historian  expresses  it,  a  man  could  not 
but  wonder  where  those  people  dwelt,  who  had 
done  all  the  mischief,  and  kept  the  king  so  many 
years  from  enjoying  the  comfort  and  support  of 
such  excellent  subjects.  The  king  himself  said, 
that  it  must  surely  have  been  his  own  fault  that 
he  had  not  sooner  taken  possession  of  the  throne ; 
since  he  found  every  body  so  zealous  in  pro- 
moting his  happy  restoration. 

The  respect  of  foreign  powers  soon  followed 
the  submission  of  the  king's  subjects.  Spain  in- 
vited him  to  return  to  the  Low  Countries,  and 
embark  in  some  of  her  maritime  towns.  France 
made  protestations  of  afTection  and  regard,  and 
offered  Calais  for  the  same  purpose.  The  States- 
general  sent  deputies  with  a  like  friendly  invita- 
tion. The  king  resolved  to  accept  of  this  last 
offer.  The  people  of  the  republic  bore  him  a 
cordial  affection  ;  and  politics  no  longer  restrained 
their  magistrates  from  promoting  and  expressing 


1660,  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  38$ 

that  sentiment.  As  he  passed  from  Breda  to  the 
Hague,  he  was  attended  by  numerous  crowds, 
and  was  received  with  the  loudest  acclamations ; 
as  if  themselves,  not  their  rivals  in  power  and 
commerce,  were  now  restored  to  peace  and  se- 
curity. The  States-general  in  a  body,  and  after- 
wards the  States  of  Holland  apart,  performed 
their  compliments  with  the  greatest  solemnity : 
every  person  of  distinction  was  ambitious  of  being 
introduced  to  his  majesty ;  all  ambassadors  and 
public  ministers  of  kings,  princes,  or  states,  re- 
paired to  him,  and  professed  the  joy  of  their 
masters  in  his  behalf:  so  that  one  would  have 
thought,  that  from  the  united  efforts  of  Christ- 
endom had  been  derived  this  revolution,  which 
diffused  every  where  such  universal  satisfaction. 

The  English  fleet  came  in  sight  of  Scheveling. 
Montague  had  not  waited  for  orders  from  the 
parliament ;  but  had  persuaded  the  officers,  of 
themselves,  to  tender  their  duty  to  his  majesty. 
The  duke  of  York  immediately  went  on  board, 
and  took  the  command  of  the  fleet  as  high 
admiral. 

When  the  king  disembarked  at  Dover,  he  was 
met  by  the  general,  whom  he  cordially  embraced. 
Never  subject  in  fact,  probably  in  his  intentions, 
had  deserved  better  of  his  king  and  country.  In 
the  space  of  a  few  months,  without  effusion  of 
blood,  by  his  cautious  and  disinterested  conduct 
alone,  he  had  bestowed  settlement  on  three  king- 
doms, -  which  had  long  been  torn  with  the  most 


Spo  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  WW 

violent  convulsions :  and  having  obstinately  re^ 
fused  the  most  inviting  conditions,  offered  him 
by  the  king  as  well  as  by  every  party  in  the 
kingdom,  he  freely  restored  his  injured  master  to 
the  vacant  throne.  The  king  entered  London 
on  the  29th  of  May,  which  was  also  his  birth-day. 
The  fond  imaginations  of  men  interpreted  as  a 
happy  omen  the  concurrence  of  two  such  joyful 
periods, 


************ 


At  this  sera,  it  may  be  proper  to  stop  a  moment 
and  take  a  general  survey  of  the  age,  so  far  as 
regards  manners,  finances,  arms,  commerce,  arts 
and  sciences.  The  chief  use  of  history  is,  that  it 
affords  materials  for  disquisitions  of  this  nature  ; 
and  it  seems  the  duty  of  an  historian  to  point  out 
the  proper  inferences  and  conclusions. 


MANNERS  AND  ARTS. 

No  people  could  undergo  a  change  more  sudden 
and  entire  in  their  manners,  than  did  the  English 
nation  during  this  period.  From  tranquillity, 
concord,  submission,  sobriety,  they  passed  in  an 
instant  to  a  state  of  faction,  fanaticism,  rebellion, 
and  almost  phrenzy.    The  violence  of  the  English 


1660.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  S91 

parties  exceeded  any  thing  which  we  can  now 
imagine  :  had  they  continued  but  a  little  longer, 
there  was  just  reason  to  dread  all  the  horrors  of 
the  ancient  massacres  and  proscriptions.  The 
military  usurpers,  whose  authority  was  founded 
on  palpable  injustice,  and  was  supported  by  no 
national  party,  would  have  been  impelled  by  rage 
and  despair  into  such  sanguinary  measures  ;  and 
if  these  furious  expedients  had  been  employed  on 
one  side,  revenge  would  naturally  have  pushed 
the  other  party,  after  a  return  of  power,  to  re- 
taliate upon  their  enemies.  No  social  intercourse 
was  maintained  between  the  parties ;  no  marriages 
or  alliances  contracted.  The  royalists,  though 
oppressed,  harassed,  persecuted,  disdained  all 
affinity  with  their  masters.  The  more  they  were 
reduced  to  subjection,  the  greater  superiority  did 
they  affect  above  those  usurpers,  who  by  vio- 
lence and  injustice  had  acquired  an  ascendant 
over  them. 

The  manners  of  the  two  factions  were  as 
opposite  as  those  of  the  most  distant  nations. 
"  Your  friends,  the  Cavaliers,"  said  a  parlia- 
mentarian to  a  royalist,  "  are  very  dissolute  and 
"  debauched."  "  True,"  replied  the  royalist, 
"  they  have  the  infirmities  of  men  :  but  your 
"  friends,  the  Roundheads,  have  the  vices  of 
*  devils,  tyranny,  rebellion,  and  spiritual  pride  V* 
Riot  and  disorder,  it  is  certain,  notwithstanding 

*  Sir  Philip  W«rwie. 


393  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1600. 

the  good  example  set  tliem  by  Charles  I.  pre- 
vailed very  much  among  his  partisans.  Being 
commonly  men  of  birth  and  fortune,  to  whom 
excesses  are  less  pernicious  than  to  the  vulgar, 
they  were  too  apt  to  indulge  themselves  in  all 
pleasures,  particularly  those  of  the  table.  Op- 
position to  the  rigid  preciseness  of  their  an- 
tagonists increased  their  inclination  to  good 
fellowship ;  and  the  character  of  a  man  of  plea- 
sure was  affected  among  them,  as  a  sure  pledge 
of  attachment  to  the  church  and  monarchy.  Even 
when  ruined  by  confiscations  and  sequestrations, 
they  endeavoured  to  maintain  the  appearance  of 
a  careless  and  social  jollity.  "  As  much  as  hope 
"  is  superior  to  fear,"  said  a  poor  and  merry 
cavalier,  "  so  much  is  our  situation  preferable  to 
W  that  of  our  enemies.  We  laugh  while  they 
"  tremble." 

The  gloomy  enthusiasm  which  prevailed  among 
the  parliamentary  party,  is  surely  the  most  curious 
spectacle  presented  by  any  history  ;  and  the  most 
instructive,  as  well  as  entertaining,  to  a  philo- 
sophical mind.  All  recreations  were  in  a  manner 
suspended  by  the  rigid  severity  of  the  presby- 
terians  and  independents.  Horse-races  and  cock- 
matches  were  prohibited  as  the  greatest  enor- 
mitiesd.  Even  bear-baiting  was  esteemed  hea- 
thenish and  unchristian ;  the  sport  of  it,  not  the 
inhumanity,  gave  offence.  Colonel  Hewson,  from 

*  Killing  no  Murder. 


1(560.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  3()3 

his  pious  zeal,  marched  with  his  regiment  into 
London,  and  destroyed  all  the  bears  which 
were  there  kept  for  the  diversion  of  the  citizens. 
This  adventure  seems  to  have  given  birth  to  the 
fiction  of  Hudibras.  Though  the  English  nation 
be  naturally  candid  and  sincere,  hypocrisy  pre- 
vailed among  them  beyond  any  example  in  ancient 
or  modern  times.  The  religious  hypocrisy,  it 
may  be  remarked,  is  of  a  peculiar  nature ;  and 
being  generally  unknown  to  the  person  himself, 
though  more  dangerous,  it  implies  less  falsehood 
than  any  other  species  of  insincerity.  The  Old 
Testament,  preferably  to  the  New,  was  the  fa- 
vourite of  all  the  sectaries.  The  eastern  poetical 
style  of  that  composition  made  it  more  easily 
susceptible  of  a  turn  which  was  agreeable  to  them. 

We  have  had  occasion,  in  the  course  of  this 
work,  to  speak  of  many  of  the  sects  which  pre- 
vailed in  England  :  to  enumerate  them  all  would 
be  impossible.  The  quakers,  however,  are  so  con- 
siderable, at  least  so  singular,  as  to  merit  some 
attention ;  and  as  they  renounced  by  principle 
the  use  of  arms,  they  never  made  such  a  figure  in 
public  transactions  as  to  enter  into  any  part  of 
our  narrative. 

The  religion  of  the  quakers,  like  most  others, 
began  with  the  lowest  vulgar,  and,  in  its  progress, 
came  at  last  to  comprehend  people  of  better 
quality  and  fashion,  George  Fox,  born  at  Dray- 
ton in  Lancashire  in  1624,  was  the  founder  of 
this  sect.  He  was  the  son  of  a  weaver,  and  was 
himself  bound  apprentice  to  a  shoe-maker.  Feeling 


894  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  16&). 

a  stronger  impulse  towards  spiritual  contempla- 
tions than  towards  that  mechanical  profession, 
he  left  his  master,  and  went  about  the  country 
clothed  in  a  leathern  doublet,  a  dress  which  he  long 
affected,  as  well  for  its  singularity  as  its  cheap- 
ness. That  he  might  wean  himself  from  sublunary 
objects,  he  broke  off  all  connexions  with  his 
friends  and  family,  and  never  dwelled  a  moment  in 
one  place;  lest  habit  should  beget  new  connexions, 
and  depress  the  sublimity  of  his  aerial  medita- 
tions. He  frequently  wandered  into  the  woods, 
and  passed  whole  days  in  hollow  trees,  without 
Company,  or  any  other  amusement  than  his  bible. 
Having  reached  that  pitch  of  perfection  as  to 
need  no  other  book,  he  soon  advanced  to  another 
state  of  spiritual  progress,  and  began  to  pay  less 
regard  even  to  that  divine  composition  itself. 
His  own  breast,  he  imagined,  was  full  of  the 
same  inspiration  which  had  guided  the  prophets 
and  apostles  themselves ;  and  by  this  inward  light 
must  every  spiritual  obscurity  be  cleared,  by  this 
living  spirit  must  the  dead  letter  be  animated. 

When  he  had  been  sufficiently  consecrated  in 
his  own  imagination,  he  felt  that  the  fumes  of 
self-applause  soon  dissipate,  if  not  continually 
supplied  by  the  admiration  of  others;  and  he 
began  to  seek  proselytes.  Proselytes  were  easily 
gained,  at  a  time  when  all  men's  affections  were 
turned  towards  religion,  and  when  the  most  ex- 
travagant modes  of  it  were  sure  to  be  most  popular. 
All  the  forms  of  ceremony,  invented  by  pride  and 
ostentation,  Fox  and  his  disciples,  from  a  supe- 


mo.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  395 

rior  pride  and  ostentation,  carefully  rejected :  even 
the  ordinary  rites  of  civility  were  shunned,  as  the 
nourishment  of  carnal  vanity  and  self-conceit. 
They  would  bestow  no  titles  of  distinction :  the 
name  of  friend  was  the  only  salutation  with  which 
they  indiscriminately  accosted  every  one.  To  no 
person  would  they  make  a  bow,  or  move  their 
hat,  or  give  any  signs  of  reverence.  Instead  of 
,that  affected  adulation,  introduced  into  modern 
tongues,  of  speaking  to  individuals  as  if  they 
were  a  multitude,  they  returned  to  the  simplicity 
of  ancient  languages  ;  and  thou  and  thee  were 
the  only  expressions  which,  on  any  consideration, 
they  could  be  brought  to  employ. 

Dress  too,  a  material  circumstance,  distin- 
guished the  members  of  this  sect.  Every  super- 
fluity and  ornament  was  carefully  retrenched: 
no  plaits  to  their  coat,  no  buttons  to  their  sleeves : 
no  lace,  no  ruffles,  no  embroidery.  Even  a  button 
to  the  hat,  though  sometimes  useful,  yet  not 
being  always  so,  was  universally  rejeeted  by  them 
with  horror  and  detestation. 

The  violent  enthusiasm  of  this  sect,  like  all  high 
passions,  being  too  strong  for  the  weak  nerves  to 
sustain,  threw  the  preachers  into  convulsions,  and 
shakings,  and  distortions  in  their  limbs  ;  and  they 
thence  received  the  appellation  of  quakers.  Amidst 
the  great  toleration  which  was  then  granted  to  all 
sects,  and  even  encouragement  given  to  all  in- 
novations, this  sect  alone  suffered  persecution. 
From  the  fervour  of  their  zeal,  the  quakers  broke 
into  churches,    disturbed    public   worship,    and 


39O  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1G60. 

harassed  the  minister  and  audience  with  railing 
and  reproaches.  When  carried  before  a  magi- 
strate, they  refused  him  all  reverence,  and  treated 
him  with  the  same  familiarity  as  if  he  had  been 
their  equal.  Sometimes  they  were  thrown  into 
mad-houses,  sometimes  into  prisons  :  sometimes 
whipped,  sometimes  pilloryed.  The  patience  and 
fortitude  with  which  they  suffered,  begat  com- 
passion, admiration,  esteem  e.  A  supernatural 
spirit  was  believed  to  support  them  under  those 
sufferings,  which  the  ordinary  state  of  humanity, 
freed  from  the  illusions  of  passion,  is  unable  to 
sustain. 

The  quakers  creeped  into  the  army  :  but  as 
they  preached  universal  peace,  they  seduced  the 
military  zealots  from  their  profession,  and  would 
soon,  had  they  been  suffered,  have  put  an  end, 
without  any  defeat  or  calamity,  to  the  dominion 
of  the  saints.  These  attempts  became  a  fresh 
ground  of  persecution,  and  a  new  reason  for  their 
progress  among  the  people. 

Morals  with  this  sect  were  carried,  or  affected 
to  be  carried,  to  the  same  degree  of  extravagance 

e  The  following  story  is  told  by  Whitlocke,  p.  5QQ.  Some 
quakers  at  Hasington  in  Northumberland  coming  to  the  minister 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  and  speaking  to  him,  the  people  fell  upon 
the  quakers,  and  almost  killed  one  or  two  of  them,  who  going 
out  fell  on  their  knees,  and  prayed  God  to  pardon  the  people,  who 
knew  not  what  they  did  ;  and  afterwards  speaking  to  the  people, 
so  convinced  them  of  the  evil  they  had  done  in  beating  them,  that 
the  country  people  fell  a  quarrelling,  and  beat  one  another  more 
than  they  had  before  beaten  the  quakers. 


1660,  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  3tf 

as  religion.  Give  a  quaker  a  blow  on  one  cheek, 
he  held  up  the  other :  ask  his  cloke,  he  gave 
you  his  coat  also  :  the  greatest  interest  could 
not  engage  him,  in  any  court  of  judicature,  to 
swear  even  to  the  truth  :  he  never  asked  more  for 
his  wares  than  the  precise  sum  which  he  was  de- 
termined to  accept.  This  last  maxim  is  laudable, 
and  continues  still  to  be  religiously  observed  by 
that  sect. 

No  fanatics  ever  carried  farther  the  hatred  to 
ceremonies,  forms,  orders,  rites,  and  positive  in- 
stitutions. Even  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper, 
by  all  other  sects  believed  to  be  interwoven  with 
the  very  vitals  of  Christianity,  were  disdainfully 
rejected  by  them.  The  very  sabbath  they  pro- 
faned. The  holiness  of  churches  they  derided  ; 
and  they  would  give  to  these  sacred  edifices  no 
other  appellation  than  that  of  shops  or  steeple* 
houses.  No  priests  were  admitted  in  their  sect : 
every  one  had  received  from  immediate  illumin- 
ation a  character  much  superior  to  the  sacerdotal. 
When  they  met  for  divine  worship,  each  rose  up 
in  his  place,  and  delivered  the  extemporary  in- 
spirations of  the  Holy  Ghost :  women  were  also 
admitted  to  teach  the  brethren,  and  were  con- 
sidered as  proper  vehicles  to  convey  the  dictates 
of  the  spirit.  Sometimes  a  great  many  preachers 
were  moved  to  speak  at  once :  sometimes  a  total 
silence  prevailed  in  their  congregations. 

Some  quakers  attempted  to  fast  forty  days  in 
imitation  of  Christ;  and  one  of  them  bravely 


898  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  166O. 

perished  in  the  experiment f.  A  female  quaker 
came  naked  into  the  church  where  the  protector 
sat ;  being  moved  by  the  spirit,  as  she  said,  to 
appear  as  a  sign  to  the  people.  A  number  of  them 
fancied,  that  the  renovation  of  all  things  had 
commenced,  and  that  clothes  were  to  be  rejected, 
together  with  other  superfluities.  The  sufferings 
which  followed  the  practice  of  this  doctrine,  were 
a  species  of  persecution  not  well  calculated  for 
promoting  it. 

James  Nay  lor  was  a  quaker,  noted  for  blas- 
phemy, or  rather  madness,  in  the  time  of  the 
protectorship.  He  fancied  that  he  himself  was 
transformed  into  Christ,  and  was  become  the  real 
saviour  of  the  world  ;  and  in  consequence  of  this 
frenzy,  he  endeavoured  to  imitate  many  actions 
of  the  Messiah  related  in  the  evangelists.  As  he 
bore  a  resemblance  to  the  common  pictures  of 
Christ,  he  allowed  his  beard  to  grow  in  a  like 
form  :  he  raised  a  person  from  the  dead s :  he 
was  ministered  unto  by  women h:  he  entered 
Bristol  mounted  on  a  horse  ;  I  suppose,  from  the 
difficulty  in  that  place  of  finding  an  ass  :  his  dis- 
ciples spread  their  garments  before  him,  and 
cried,  "  Hosannah  to  the  highest ;  holy,  holy 
"  is  the  Lord  God  of  Sabbaoth."     When  carried 

f  Whitlocke,  p.  624. 
■  Harleian  Miscellany,  vol.  vi.  p.  399.  One  Dorcas  Earberry 
made  oath  before  a  magistrate,  that  she  had  been  dead  two  days, 
and  that  Naylor  had  brought  her  to  life. 
"  Id.  ib. 


1660.  THE   COMMONWEALTH,  399 

before  the  magistrate,  he  would  give  no  other 
answer  to  all  questions  than  "  thou  hast  said  it." 
What  is  remarkable,  the  parliament  thought  that 
the  matter  deserved  their  attention.  Near  ten 
days  they  spent  in  inquiries  and  debates  about 
him1.  They  condemned  him  to  be  pilloryed, 
whipped,  burned  in  the  face,  and  to  have  his 
tongue  bored  through  with  a  red-hot  iron.  All 
these  severities  he  bore  with  the  usual  patience. 
So  far  his  delusion  supported  him.  But  the  sequel 
spoiled  all.  He  was  sent  to  Bridewell,  confined 
to  hard  labour,  fed  on  bread  and  water,  and  de- 
barred from  all  his  disciples,  male  and  female. 
His  illusion  dissipated,  and  after  some  time  he 
was  contented  to  come  out  an  ordinary  man,  and 
return  to  his  usual  occupations. 

The  chief  taxes  in  England,  during  the  time 
of  the  commonwealth,  were  the  monthly  assess- 
ments, the  excise,  and  the  customs.  The  assess- 
ments were  levied  on  personal  estates,  as  well  as 
on  land k;  and  commissioners  were  appointed  in 
each  county  for  rating  the  individuals.  The 
highest  assessment  amounted  to  120, 000  pounds 
a-month  in  England ;  the  lowest  was  35,000. 
The  assessments  in  Scotland  were  sometimes 
10,000  pounds  a-month l ;  commonly  6000.  Those 
on  Ireland  9000.  At  a  medium,  this  tax  might 
have   afforded    about   a    million    a-year.      The 


1  Thurloe,  vol.  v.  p.  708.  *  Scobel,  p,  419. 

1  Thurloe,  vol.  ii.  p.  476. 


400  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1660. 

excise,  during  the  civil  wars,  was  levied  on  bread, 
flesh-meat,  as  well  as  beer,  ale,  strong- waters,  and 
many  other  commodities.  After  the  king  was 
subdued,  bread  and  flesh-meat  were  exempted 
from  excise.  The  customs  on  exportation  were 
lowered  in  \656m.  In  1650,  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  levy  both  customs  and  excises. 
Cromwel  in  1657  returned  to  the  old  practice  of 
farming.  Eleven  hundred  thousand  pounds  were 
then  offered,  both  for  customs  and  excise,  a 
greater  sum  than  had  ever  been  levied  by  the 
commissioners" :' the  whole  of  the  taxes  during 
that  period  might  at  a  medium  amount  to  above 
two  millions  a-year ;  a  sum  which,  though  mo- 
derate, much  exceeded  the  revenue  of  any  former 
king0.  Sequestrations,  compositions,  sale  of 
crown  and  church  lands,  and  of  the  lands  of  de- 
linquents, yielded  also  considerable  sums,  but 
very  difficult  to  be  estimated.  Church  lands  are 
said  to  have  been  sold  for  a  million p.  None  of 
these  were  ever  valued  at  above  ten  or  eleven 
years  purchase s.  The  estates  of  delinquents 
amounted  to  above  200,000  pounds  a-year r. 
Cromwel  died  more  than  two  millions  in  debt*; 
though  the  parliament  had  left  him  in  the  trea- 

■  Scobel,  p.  8/6.  n  Thurloe,  vol.  vi.  p.  425. 

•  It  appears  that  the  hte  king's  revenue  from  1637,  to  the 
meeting  of  the  long  parliament,  was  only  900,000  pounds,  of 
which  200,000  may  be  esteemed  illegal. 

p  Dr.  Walker,  p.  14.  *  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  753. 

r  Thurloe,  vol.  ii.  p.  414,  •  Ibid.  vol.  vii.  p.  667. 


1660.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  401 

sury  above  500, 000  pounds ;  and  in  stores,  the 
value  of  700,000  pounds1. 

The  committee  of  danger  in  April  1648  voted 
to  raise  the  army  to  40,000  menu.  The  same 
year,  the  pay  of  the  army  was  estimated  at  80,000 
pounds  a-monthw.  The  establishment  of  the 
army  in  1652,  was  in  Scotland  15,000  foot,  2580 
horse,  560  dragoons ;  in  England,  4700  foot, 
2520  horse,  garrisons  6154.  In  all,  31,519,  besides 
officers  \  The  army  in  Scotland  was  afterwards 
considerably  reduced.  The  army  in  Ireland  was 
not  much  short  of  20,000  men ;  so  that,  upon  the 
whole,  the  commonwealth  maintained  in  1652  a 
standing  army  of  more  than  50,000  men.  Its  pay 
amounted  to  a  yearly  sum  of  1,047,715  pounds  ?. 
Afterwards  the  protector  reduced  the  establish- 
ment to  30,000  men,  as  appears  by  the  Instrument 
of  Government  and  Humble  Petition  and  Advice. 
His  frequent  enterprises  obliged  him  from  time 
to  time  to  augment  them.  Richard  had  on  foot 
in  England  an  army  of  13,258  men,  in  Scotland 
9506,  in  Ireland  about  10,000  men2.  The  foot 
soldiers  had  commonly  a  shilling  a-day\  The 
horse  had  two  shillings  and  six  pence ;  so  that 
many  gentlemen  and  younger  brothers  of  good 

*  World's  Mistake  in  Oliver  Cromwel. 

•  Whitlocke,  p.  298.  w  Ibid.  p.  378. 

*  Journal,  2d  December  165%  7  Id.  ibid. 

*  Journal,  6th  of  April  1659. 

•  Thurloe,  vol.  i.  p.  395,  vol.  ii.  p.  414. 

VOL.  VIII.  P  D 


402  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND*  1660. 

family  inlisted  in  the  protector's  cavalry b.  No 
wonder  that  such  men  were  averse  from  the  re- 
establishment  of  civil  government,  by  which,  they 
well  knew,  they  must  be  deprived  of  so  gainful  a 
profession. 

At  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Worcester,  the 
parliament  had  on  foot  about  80,000  men,  partly 
militia,  partly  regular  forces.  The  vigour  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  the  great  capacity  of  those 
members  who  had  assumed  the  government,  never 
at  any  time  appeared  so  conspicuous c. 

The  whole  revenue  of  the  public,  during 
the  protectorship  of  Richard,  was  estimated 
at  1,868,717  pounds:  his  annual  expences  at 
2,201,540  pounds.  An  additional  revenue  was 
demanded  from  parliament d. 

The  commerce  and  industry  of  England  in^ 
creased  extremely  during  the  peaceable  period 
of  Charles's  reign :  the  trade  to  the  East-Indies 
and  to  Guinea  became  considerable.  The  Eng- 
lish possessed  almost  the  sole  trade  with  Spain. 
Twenty  thousand  cloths  were  annually  sent  to 
Turkey e.  Commerce  met  with  interruption,  no 
doubt,  from  the  civil  wars  and  convulsions  which 
afterwards  prevailed;  though  it  soon  recovered 
after  the  establishment  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  war  with  the  Dutch,  by  distressing  the  com- 

*  Gumble's  Life  of  Monk.  c  Whitlccke,  p.  477. 

a  Journal,  7th  April  1659. 

•  Strafford's  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  421. 423.  430.  46/. 


1660.  THE    COMMONWEALTH.  403 

merce  of  so  formidable  a  rival,  served  to  en- 
courage trade  in  England  :  the  Spanish  war  was 
to  an  equal  degree  pernicious.  All  the  effects  of 
the  English  merchants,  to  an  immense  value, 
were  confiscated  in  Spain.  The  prevalence  of  de- 
mocratical  principles  engaged  the  country  gentle- 
men to  bind  their  sons  apprentices  to  merchants f; 
and  commerce  has  ever  since  been  more  honour- 
able in  England  than  in  any  other.  European 
kingdom.  The  exclusive  companies,  which  form- 
erly confined  trade,  were  never  expressly  abo* 
lished  by  any  ordinance  of  parliament  during  the 
commonwealth  ;  but  as  men  payed  no  regard  to 
the  prerogative  whence  the  charters  of  these  com- 
panies were  derived,  the  monopoly  was  gradually 
invaded,  and  commerce  increased  by  the  increase 
of  liberty.  Interest  in  1650  was  reduced  to  six 
per  cent. 

The  customs  in  England,  before  the  civil  wars, 
are  said  to  have  amounted  to  500,000  pounds  a- 
years:  a  sum  ten  times  greater  than  during  the 
best  period  in  queen  Elizabeth's  reign  :  but  there 
is  probably  some  exaggeration  in  this  matter. 

The  post-house  in  1653  was  farmed  at  10,000 
pounds  a-year,  which  was  deemed  a  considerable 
sum  for  the  three  kingdoms.  Letters  paid  only 
about  half  their  present  postage. 

From  1619  to  1638,   there  had  been  coined 
6,900,042  pounds.     From  1638  to  1657,  the  coin- 
Clarendon.  *  Lewis  Robert's  Treasure  of  Traffick. 
I 


404  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  lC6o. 

age  amounted  to  7,733,521  pounds  h.  Dr.  Dave- 
nant  has  told  us  from  the  registers  of  the  mint, 
that  between  1558  and  1659,  there  had  been 
coined  19,832,476  pounds  in  gold  and  silver. 

The  first  mention  of  tea,  coffee,  and  cho- 
colate, is  about  1660"1.  Asparagus,  artichoaks, 
cauliflower,  and  a  variety  of  sallads,  were  about 
the  same  time  introduced  into  England  k. 

The  colony  of  New  England  increased  by 
means  of  the  puritans,  who  fled  thither,  in  order 
to  free  themselves  from  the  constraint  which  Laud 
and  the  church  party  had  imposed  upon  them; 
and,  before  the  commencement  of  the  civil  wars, 
it  is  supposed  to  have  contained  25,000  souls1. 
For  a  like  reason,  the  catholics,  afterwards,  who 
found  themselves  exposed  to  many  hardships, 
and  dreaded  still  worse  treatment,  went  over  to 
America  in  great  numbers,  and  settled  the  colony 
of  Maryland. 

Before  the  civil  wars,  learning  and  the  fine  arts 
were  favoured  at  court,  and  a  good  taste  began 
to  prevail  in  the  nation.  The  king  loved  pictures, 
sometimes  handled  the  pencil  himself,  and  was  a 
good  judge  of  the  art.  The  pieces  of  foreign 
masters  were  bought  up  at  a  vast  price ;  and  the 
value  of  pictures  doubled  in  Europe  by  the  emu- 
lation between  Charles  and  Philip  IV.  of  Spain, 

h  Happy  future  State  of  England. 

1  Anderson,  vol.  ii.  p.  1 11.  k  Id.  Ibid, 

1  British  empire  in  America,  vol.  i.  p.  372. 


1C60.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  405 

who  were  touched  with  the  same  elegant  passion. 
Vandyke  was  caressed  and  enriched  at  court. 
Inigo  Jones  was  master  of  the  king's  buildings  ; 
though  afterwards  persecuted  by  the  parliament, 
on  account  of  the  part  which  he  hadjn  rebuilding 
St.  Paul's,  and  for  obeying  some  orders  of  council, 
by  which  he  was  directed  to  pull  down  houses, 
in  order  to  make  room  for  that  edifice.  Laws, 
who  had  not  been  surpassed  by  any  musician 
before  him,  was  much  beloved  by  the  king,  who 
called  him  the  father  of  music.  Charles  was  a 
good  judge  of  writing,  and  was  thought  by  some 
more  anxious  with  regard  to  purity  of  style  than 
became  a  monarch  m.  Notwithstanding  his  nar- 
row revenue,  and  his  freedom  from  all  vanity,  he 
lived  in  such  magnificence,  that  he  possessed  four 
and  twenty  palaces,  all  of  them  elegantly  and 
completely  furnished  ;  insomuch  that,  when  he 
removed  from  one  to  another,  he  was  not  obliged 
to  transport  any  thing  along  with  him. 

Cromwel,  though  himself  a  barbarian,  was  not 
insensible  to  literary  merit.  Usher,  notwithstand- 
ing his  being  a  bishop,  received  a  pension  from 
him.  Marvel  and  Milton  were  in  his  service. 
Waller,  who  was  his  relation,  wsls  caressed  by  him. 
That  poet  always  said,  that  the  protector  himself 
was  not  so  wholly  illiterate  as  was  commonly  ima- 
gined. He  gave  a  hundred  pounds  a-year  to  the 
divinity  professor  at  Oxford ;  and  an  historian 

m  Burnet. 


406  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1660. 

mentions  this  bounty  as  an  instance  of  his  love 
of  literature0.  He  intended  to  have  erected  a 
college  at  Durham  for  the  benefit  of  the  northern 
counties. 

Civil  wars,  especially  when  founded  on  prin- 
ciples of  liberty,  are  not  commonly  unfavourable 
to  the  arts  of  eloquence  and  composition  ;  or 
rather,  by  presenting  nobler  and  more  interesting 
objects,  they  amply  compensate  that  tranquillity 
of  which  they  bereave  the  muses.  The  speeches 
of  the  parliamentary  orators  during  this  period  are 
of  a  strain  much  superior  to  what  any  former  age 
had  produced  in  England  ;  and  the  force  and 
compass  of  our  tongue  were  then  first  put  to  trial. 
It  must,  however,  be  confessed,  that  the  wretched 
fanaticism  which  so  much  infected  the  parlia- 
mentary party,  was  no  less  destructive  of  taste 
and  science,  than  of  all  law  and  order.  Gaiety 
and  wit  were  proscribed  :  human  learning  de- 
spised :  freedom  of  inquiry  detested :  cant  and 
hypocrisy  alone  encouraged.  It  was  an  article 
positively  insisted  on  in  the  preliminaries  to  the 
treaty  of  Uxbridge,  that  all  play-houses  should 
for  ever  be  abolished.  Sir  John  Davenant,  says 
Whitlocke0,  speaking  of  the  year  1658,  published 
an  opera,  notwithstanding  the  nicety  of  the  times. 
All  the  king's  furniture  was  put  to  sale  :  his 
pictures,  disposed  of  at  very  low  prices,  enriched 

"  Neale's  History  of  the  Puritans,  vol.  iv,  p.  123. 
°  P.  639. 


1660s  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  407 

all  the  collections  in  Europe :  the  cartoons,  when 
complete,  were  only  appraised  at  300  pounds, 
though  the  whole  collection  of  the  king's  curio- 
sities was  sold  at  above  50,000  p.  Even  the  royal 
palaces  were  pulled  in  pieces,  and  the  materials 
of  them  sold.  The  very  library  and  medals  at 
St.  James's  were  intended  by  the  generals  to  be 
brought  to  auction,  in  order  to  pay  the  arrears  of 
some  regiments  of  cavalry  quartered  near  Lon- 
don :  but  Selden,  apprehensive  of  the  loss,  en- 
gaged his  friend  Whitiocke,  then  lord-keeper  for 
the  commonwealth,  to  apply  for  the  office  of 
librarian.  This  expedient  saved  that  valuable 
collection. 

It  is,  however,  remarkable,  that  the  greatest 
genius  by  far  that  shone  out  in  England  during 
this  period,  was  deeply  engaged  with  these  fana- 
tics, and  even  prostituted  his  pen  in  theological 
controversy,  in  factious  disputes,  and  in  justifying 
the  most  violent  measures  of  the  party.  This 
was  John  Milton,  whose  poems  are  admirable, 
though  liable  to  some  objections ;  his  prose  writ- 
ings disagreeable,  though  not  altogether  defective 
in  genius.  Nor  are  all  his  poems  equal :  his 
Paradise  Lost,  his  Comus,  and  a  few  others,  shine 
out  amidst  some  flat  and  insipid  compositions : 
even  in  the  Paradise  Lost,  his  capital  perform- 
ance, there  are  very  long  passages,  amounting  to 
near  a  third  of  the  work,  almost  wholly  destitute 

p  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xix.  p.  83. 


408  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

of  harmony  and  elegance,  nay,  of  all  vigour  of 
imagination.  This  natural  inequality  in  Milton's 
genius  was  much  increased  by  the  inequalities  in 
his  subject;  of  which  some  parts  are  of  them* 
selves  the  most  lofty  that  can  enter  into  human 
conception ;  others  would  have  required  the  most 
laboured  elegance  of  composition  to  support 
them.  It  is  certain,  that  this  author,  when  in  a 
happy  mood,  and  employed  on  a  noble  subject,  is 
the  most  wonderfully  sublime  of  any  poet  in  any 
language  ;  Homer  and  Lucretius  and  Tasso  not 
excepted.  More  concise  than  Homer,  more  simple 
than  Tasso,  more  nervous  than  Lucretius ;  had 
he  lived  in  a  later  age,  and  learned  to  polish  some 
rudeness  in  his  verses ;  had  he  enjoyed  better 
fortune,  and  possessed  leisure  to  watch  the  returns 
of  genius  in  himself,  he  had  attained  the  pinnacle 
of  perfection,  and  borne  away  the  palm  of  epic 
poetry. 

It  is  well  known,  that  Milton  never  enjoyed 
in  his  lifetime  the  reputation  which  he  deserved. 
His  Paradise  Lost  was  long  neglected :  prejudices 
against  an  apologist  for  the  regicides,  and  against 
a  work  not  wholly  purged  from  the  cant  of  former 
times,  kept  the  ignorant  world  from  perceiving 
the  prodigious  merit  of  that  performance.  Lord 
Somers,  by  encouraging  a  good  edition  of  it,  about 
twenty  years  after  the  author's  death,  first  brought 
it  into  request ;  and  Tonson,  in  his  dedication  of 
a  smaller  edition,  speaks  of  it  as  a  work  just  be- 
ginning to   be  known.     Even  during  the  pre- 


l6Go.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  409 

valence  of  Milton's  party,  he  seems  never  to 
have  been  much  regarded ;  and  Whitlocke q  talks 
of  one  Milton,  as  he  calls  him,  a  blind  man,  who 
was  employed  in  translating  a  treaty  with  Sweden 
into  Latin.  These  forms  of  expression  are  amus- 
ing to  posterity,  who  consider  how  obscure  Whit- 
locke himself,  though  lord-keeper  and  ambassador, 
and  indeed  a  man  of  great  abilities  and  merit,  has 
become  in  comparison  of  Milton. 

It  is  not  strange  that  Milton  received  no  en- 
couragement after  the  restoration :  it  is  more  to 
be  admired  that  he  escaped  with  his  life.  Many 
of  the  cavaliers  blamed  extremely  that  lenity  to- 
wards him,  which  was  so  honourable  in  the  king, 
and  so  advantageous  to  posterity.  It  is  said,  that 
he  had  saved  Davenant's  life  during  the  protector- 
ship ;  and  Davenant  in  return  afforded  him  like 
protection  after  the  restoration ;  being  sensible, 
that  men  of  letters  ought  always  to  regard  their 
sympathy  of  taste  as  a  more  powerful  band  of 
union,  than  any  difference  of  party  or  opinion  as 
a  source  of  animosity.  It  was  during  a  state  of 
poverty,  blindness,  disgrace,  danger,  and  old  age, 
that  Milton  composed  his  wonderful  poem,  which 
not  only  surpassed  all  the  performances  of  his 
cotemporaries,  but  all  the  compositions  which 
had  flowed  from  his  pen  during  the  vigour  of  his 
age  and  the  height  of  his  prosperity.  This  cir- 
cumstance is  not  the  least  remarkable  of  all  those 

q  P.  638. 


410  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  J660. 

which  attend  that  great  genius.    He  died  in  1 674-, 
aged  66. 

Waller  was  the  first  refiner  of  English  poetry, 
at  least  of  English  rhyme  ;  but  his  performances 
still  abound  with  many  faults,  and,  what  is  more 
material,  they  contain  but  feeble  and  superficial 
beauties.  Gaiety,  wit,  and  ingenuity,  are  their 
ruling  character  :  they  aspire  not  to  the  sublime; 
still  less  to  the'  pathetic.  They  treat  of  love, 
without  making  us  feel  any  tenderness ;  and 
abound  in  panegyric,  without  exciting  admir- 
ation. The  panegyric,  however,  on  Cromwel, 
contains  more  force  than  we  should  expect  from 
the  other  compositions  of  this  poet. 

Waller  was  born  to  an  ample  fortune,  was 
early  introduced  to  the  court,  and  lived  in  the 
best  company.  He  possessed  talents  for  eloquence 
as  well  as  poetry  ;  and  till  his  death,  which  hap- 
pened in  a  good  old  age,  he  was  the  delight  of 
the  house  of  commons.  The  errors  of  his  life 
proceeded  more  from  want  of  courage,  than  of 
"honour  or  integrity.     He  died  in  1687,  aged  82. 

Cowley  is  an  author  extremely  corrupted  by 
the  bad  taste  of  his  age  ;  but,  had  he  lived  even 
in  the  purest  times  of  Greece  or  Rome,  he  must 
always  have  been  a  very  indifferent  poet.  He  had 
no  ear  for  harmony  ;  and  his  verses  are  only 
known  to  be  such  by  the  rhyme,  which  terminates 
them.  In  his  rugged  untuneable  numbers  are 
conveyed  sentiments  the  most  strained  and  dis- 
torted;    long-spun   allegories,  distant  allusions, 


1660.  THE  COMMONWEALTH.  411 

and  forced  conceits.  Great  ingenuity,  however, 
and  vigour  of  thought,  sometimes  break  out 
amidst  those  unnatural  conceptions  :  a  few  ana^- 
creontics  surprise  us  by  their  ease  and  gaiety  : 
his  prose  writings  please,  by  the  honesty  and 
goodness  which  they  express,  and  even  by  their 
spleen  and  melancholy.  This  author  was  much 
more  praised  and  admired  during  his  lifetime,  and 
celebrated  after  his  death,  than  the  great  Milton. 
He  died  in  1667,  aged  49. 

Sir  John  Denham,  in  his  Cooper's  Hill  (for 
none  of  his  other  poems  merit  attention),  has  a 
loftiness  and  vigour,  which  had  not  before  him 
been  attained  by  any  English  poet  who  wrote  in 
rhyme.  The  mechanical  difficulties  of  that  mea- 
sure retarded  its  improvement.  Shakespeare, 
whose  tragic  scenes  are  sometimes  so  wonderfully 
forcible  and  expressive,  is  a  very  indifferent  poet 
when  he  attempts  to  rhyme.  Precision  and  neat- 
ness are  chiefly  wanting  in  Denham.  He  died  in 
1688,  aged  73. 

No  English  author  in  that  age  was  more  cele- 
brated both  abroad  and  at  home,  than  Hobbes : 
in  our  time,  he  is  much  neglected  :  a  lively  in- 
stance, how  precarious  all  reputations  founded  on 
reasoning  and  philosophy  !  A  pleasant  comedy, 
which  paints  the  manners  of  the  age,  and  exposes 
a  faithful  picture  of  nature,  is  a  durable  work, 
and  is  transmitted  to  the  latest  posterity.  But  a 
system,  whether  physical  or  metaphysical,  com- 
monly owes  its  success  to  its  novelty;  and  is  no 


412  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  .1660. 

sooner  canvassed  with  impartiality  than  its  weak- 
ness is  discovered.  Hobbes's  politics  are  fitted 
only  to  promote  tyranny,  and  his  ethics  to  en- 
courage licentiousness.  Though  an  enemy  to 
religion,  he  partakes  nothing  of  the  spirit  of 
scepticism ;  but  is  as  positive  and  dogmatical  as 
if  human  reason,  and  his  reason  in  particular, 
could  attain  a  thorough  conviction  in  these  sub- 
jects. Clearness  and  propriety  of  style  are  the 
chief  excellencies  of  Hobbes's  writings.  In  his 
own  person  he  is  represented  to  have  been  a  man 
of  virtue ;  a  character  no-wise  surprising,  not- 
withstanding his  libertine  system  of  ethics.  Ti- 
midity is  the  principal  fault  with  which  he  is 
reproached :  he  lived  to  an  extreme  old  age,  yet 
could  never  reconcile  himself  to  the  thoughts  of 
death.  The  boldness  of  his  opinions  and  sen- 
timents forms  a  remarkable  contrast  to  this  part 
of  his  character.     He  died  in  1679,  aged  91. 

Harrington's  Oceana  was  well  adapted  to  that 
age,  when  the  plans  of  imaginary  republics  were 
the  daily  subjects  of  debate  and  conversation; 
and  even  in  our  time,  it  is  justly  admired  as  a 
work  of  genius  and  invention.  The  idea,  how- 
ever, of  a  perfect  and  immortal  commonwealth 
will  always  be  found  as  chimerical  as  that  of  a 
perfect  and  immortal  man.  The  style  of  this 
author  wants  ease  and  fluency ;  but  the  good 
matter,  which  his  work  contains,  makes  com- 
pensation.    He  died  in  1677,  aged  66. 

Harvey   is  entitled  to   the  glory  of  having 


1660.  THE   COMMONWEALTH.  413 

made,  by  reasoning  alone,  without  any  mixture 
of  accident,  a  capital  discovery  in  one  of  the 
most  important  branches  of  science.  He  had 
also  the  happiness  of  establishing  at  once  his 
theory  on  the  most  solid  and  convincing  proofs  ; 
and  posterity  has  added  little  to  the  arguments 
suggested  by  his  industry  and  ingenuity.  His 
treatise  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  is  farther 
embellished  by  that  warmth  and  spirit  which  so 
naturally  accompany  the  genius  of  invention. 
This  great  man  was  much  favoured  by  Charles  I. 
who  gave  him  the  liberty  of  using  all  the  deer  in 
the  royal  forests  for  perfecting  his  discoveries  on 
the  generation  of  animals.  It  was  remarked, 
that  no  physician  in  Europe,  who  had  reached  forty 
years  of  age,  ever,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  adopted 
Harvey's  doctrine  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
and  that  his  practice  in  London  diminished  ex- 
tremely, from  the  reproach  drawn  upon  him  by 
that  great  and  signal  discovery.  So  slow  is  the 
progress  of  truth  in  every  science,  even  when  not 
opposed  by  factious  or  superstitious  prejudices  ! 
He  died  in  1657,  aged  79. 

This  age  affords  great  materials  for  history ; 
but  did  not  produce  any  accomplished  historian. 
Clarendon,  however,  will  always  be  esteemed  an 
entertaining  writer,  even  independent  of  our 
curiosity  to  know  the  facts  which  he  relates.  His 
style  is  prolix  and  redundant,  and  suffocates  us 
by  the  length  of  its  periods :  but  it  discovers 
imagination  and  sentiment,  and  pleases  us  at  the 


414  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1U6O. 

same  time  that  we  disapprove  of  it.  He  is  more 
partial  in  appearance  than  in  reality  :  for  he  seems 
perpetually  anxious  to  apologise  for  the  king  ;  but 
his  apologies  are  often  well  grounded.  He  is  less 
partial  in  his  relation  of  facts,  than  in  his  account 
of  characters  :  he  was  too  honest  a  man  to  falsify 
the  former;  his  affections  were  easily  capable, 
unknown  to  himself,  of  disguising  the  latter.  An 
air  of  probity  and  goodness  runs  through  the 
whole  work ;  as  these  qualities  did  in  reality  em 
bellish  the  whole  life  of  the  author.  He  died  in 
1674,  aged  66. 

These  are  the  chief  performances  which  en- 
gage the  attention  of  posterity.  Those  num- 
berless productions,  with  which  the  press  then 
abounded ;  the  cant  of  the  pulpit,  the  declam- 
ations of  party,  the  subtilties  of  theology,  all 
these  have  long  ago  sunk  in  silence  and  oblivion. 
Even  a  writer,  such  as  Selden,  whose  learning 
was  his  chief  excellency ;  or  Chilling  worth,  an 
acute  disputant  against  the  papists,  will  scarcely 
be  ranked  among  the  classics  of  our  language  or 
country. 


Charles  t^e  ^ecotrtu 


Chap.  LXVII. 


This  magistrate  (Godfrey)  had  been  missing  some  days  j  and 
after  much  search,  and  many  surmises,  his  body  was  found  lying 
in  a  ditch  at  Primrose-hill :  the  marks  of  strangling  were  thought 
to  appear  about  his  neck,  and  some  contusions  on  his  breast :  his 
own  sword  was  sticking  in  the  body ;  but  as  no  considerable  quan- 
tity of  blood  ensued  on  drawing  it,  it  wps  concluded,  that  it  had 
been  thrust  in  after  his  death,  and  that  he  had  not  killed  himself: 
he  had  rings  on  his  fingers,  and  money  in  his  pocket :  it  was  there- 
fore inferred,  that  he  had  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of  robbers. 
Without  farther  reasoning,  the  cry  rose,  that  he  had  been  assassi- 
nated by  the  papists,  on  account  of  his  taking  Oates's  evidence. 


1600.  CHARLES   II.  415 


CHAPTER   LXIII. 


New  ministry  ....  Act  of  indemnity  ....  Settlement  of  the 
revenue  ....  Trial  and  execution  of  the  regicides ....  Dissolu- 
tion of  the  convention ....  Parliament ....  Prelacy  restored 
....  Insurrection  of  the  millenarians ....  Affairs  of  Scotland 
....  Conference  at  the  Savoy  ....  Arguments  for  and  against 
a  comprehension ....  A  new  parliament ....  Bishops'  seats 
restored ....  Corporation  act ... .  Act  of  uniformity . . .  King's 
marriage  ....  Trial  of  Vane ....  and  execution  ....  Presby- 
terian clergy  ejected ....  Dunkirk  sold  to  the  French ....  De- 
claration of  indulgence  ....  Decline  of  Clarendon's  credit. 


CHARLES     II. 

Charles  II.  when  he  ascended  the  throne  of 
his  ancestors,  was  thirty  years  of  age.  He  pos- 
sessed a  vigorous  constitution,  a  fine  shape,  a 
manly  figure,  a  graceful  air ;  and  though  his  fea- 
tures were  harsh,  yet  was  his  countenance  in  the 
main  lively  and  engaging.  He  was  in  that  period 
of  life,  when  there  •  remains  enough  of  youth  to 
render  the  person  amiable,  without  preventing 
that  authority  and  regard  which  attend  the  years 
of  experience  and  maturity.  Tenderness  was  ex- 
cited by  the  memory  of  his  recent  adversities. 
His  present  prosperity  was  the  object  rather  of  ad- 


416  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

miration  than  of  envy.  And  as  the  sudden  and 
surprising  revolution,  which  restored  him  to  his 
regal  rights,  had  also  restored  the  nation  to  peace, 
law,  order,  and  liberty ;  no  prince  ever  obtained 
a  crown  in  more  favourable  circumstances,  or  was 
more  blest  with  the  cordial  affection  and  attach- 
ment of  his  subjects. 

This  popularity  the  king,  by  his  whole  de- 
meanor and  behaviour,  was  well  qualified  to  sup- 
port and  to  increase.  To  a  lively  wit  and  quick 
comprehension,  he  united  a  just  understanding, 
and  a  general  observation  both  of  men  and  things. 
The  easiest  manners,  the  most  unaffected  polite- 
ness, the  most  engaging  gaiety,  accompanied  his 
conversation  and  address.  Accustomed,  during 
his  exile,  to  live  among  his  courtiers  rather  like  a 
companion  than  a  monarch,  he  retained,  even 
while  on  the  throne,  that  open  affability,  which 
was  capable  of  reconciling  the  most  determined 
republicans  to  his  royal  dignity.  Totally  devoid 
of  resentment,  as  well  from  the  natural  lenity  as 
carelessness  of  his  temper,  he  insured  pardon  to 
the  most  guilty  of  his  enemies,  and  left  hopes  of 
favour  to  his  most  violent  opponents.  From  the 
whole  tenour  of  his  actions  and  discourse,  he 
seemed  desirous  of  losing  the  memory  of  past  ani- 
mosities, and  of  uniting  every  party  in  an  affection 
for  their  prince  and  their  native  country. 


1660.  CHARLES   II.  !  417 


NEW  MINISTRY. 

Into  his  council  were  admitted  the  most  emi- 
nent men  of  the  nation,  without  regard  to  former 
distinctions :  the  presbyterians,  equally  with  the 
royalists,  shared  this  honour.  Annesley  was  also 
created  earl  of  Anglesey;  Ashley  Cooper  lord 
Ashley ;  Denzil  Mollis  lord  Hollis.  The  earl  of 
Manchester  was  appointed  lord  chamberlain,  and 
lord  Say,  privy-seal.  Calamy  and  Baxter,  pres- 
byterian  clergymen,  were  even  made  chaplains  to 
the  king. 

Admiral  Montague,  created  earl  of  Sandwich, 
was  entitled,  from  his  recent  services,  to  great 
favour ;  and  he  obtained  it.  Monk,  created  duke 
of  Albemarle,  had  performed  such  signal  services, 
that,  according  to  a  vulgar  and  malignant  observ- 
ation, he  ought  rather  to  have  expected  hatred 
and  ingratitude :  yet  was  he  ever  treated  by  the 
king  with  great  marks  of  distinction.  Charles's 
disposition,  free  from  jealousy ;  and  the  prudent 
behaviour  of  the  general,  who  never  over-rated 
his  merits ;  prevented  all  those  disgusts  which 
naturally  arise  in  so  delicate  a  situation.  The 
capacity  too  of  Albemarle  was  not  extensive,  and 
his  parts  were  more  solid  than  shining.  Though 
he  had  distinguished  himself  in  inferior  stations, 
he  was  imagined,  upon  familiar  acquaintance,  not 
to  be  wholly  equal  to  those  great  achievements, 

VOL.  VIII.  E  e 


418  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1650. 

which  fortune,  united  to  prudence,  had  enabled 
him  to  perform ;  and  he  appeared  unfit  for  the 
court,  a  scene  of  life  to  which  he  had  never  been 
accustomed.  Morrice,  his  friend,  was  created 
secretary  of  state,  and  was  supported  more  by  his 
patron's  credit  than  by  his  own  abilities  or  ex- 
perience. 

But  the  choice  which  the  king  at  first  made  of 
his  principal  ministers  and  favourites,  was  the  cir- 
cumstance which  chiefly  gave  contentment  to  the 
nation,  and  prognosticated  future  happiness  and 
tranquillity.  Sir  Edward  Hyde,  created  earl  of 
Clarendon,  was  chancellor  and  prime  minister : 
the  marquis,  created  duke  of  Ormond,  was  steward 
of  the  household  :  the  earl  of  Southampton,  high 
treasurer :  sir  Edward  Nicholas,  secretary  of  state. 
These  men,  united  together  in  friendship,  and 
combined  in  the  same  laudable  inclinations,  sup- 
ported each  other's  credit,  and  pursued  the  in- 
terests of  the  public. 

Agreeable  to  the  present  prosperity  of  public 
affairs,  was  the  universal  joy  and  festivity  diffus- 
ed throughout  the  nation.  The  melancholy  au- 
sterity of  the  fanatics  fell  into  discredit,  together 
with  their  principles.  The  royalists,  who  had 
ever  affected  a  contrary  disposition,  found  in  their 
recent  success  new  motives  for  mirth  and  gaiety ; 
and  it  now  belonged  to  them  to  give  repute  and 
fashion  to  their  manners.  From  past  experience 
it  had  sufficiently  appeared,  that  gravity  was  very 
distinct  from  wisdom,  formality  from  virtue,  and 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  419 

hypocrisy  from  religion.  The  king  himself,  who 
bore  a  strong  propensity  to  pleasure,  served,  by 
his  powerful  and  engaging  example,  to  banish 
those  sour  and  malignant  humours,  which  had 
hitherto  engendered  such  confusion.  And  though 
the  just  bounds  were  undoubtedly  passed,  when 
men  returned  from  their  former  extreme;  yet 
was  the  public  happy  in  exchanging  vices,  per- 
nicious to  society,  for  disorders,  hurtful  chiefly 
to  the  individuals  themselves  who  were  guilty  of 
them. 

It  required  some  time  before  the  several  parts 
of  the  state,  disfigured  by  war  and  faction,  could 
recover  their  former  arrangement:  but  the  par- 
liament immediately  fell  into  good  correspondence 
with  the  king,  and  they  treated  him  with  the  same 
dutiful  regard  which  had  usually  been  paid  to  his 
predecessors.  Being  summoned  without  the  king's 
consent,  they  received,  at  first,  only  the  title  of 
a  convention  ;  and  it  was  not  till  he  passed  an  act 
for  that  purpose,  that  they  were  called  by  the  ap- 
pellation of  parliament.  All  judicial  proceedings, 
transacted  in  the  name  of  the  commonwealth  or 
protector,  were  ratified  by  a  new  law.  And  both 
houses,  acknowledging  the  guilt  of  the  former  re- 
bellion, gratefully  received  in  their  own  name, 
and  in  that  of  all  the  subjects,  his  majesty's 
gracious  pardon  and  indemnity. 


420  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1660. 


ACT  OF  INDEMNITY. 

The  king,  before  his  restoration,  being  afraid  of 
reducing  any  of  his  enemies  to  despair,  and  at  the 
same  time  unwilling  that  such  enormous  crimes  as 
had  been  committed  should  receive  a  total  impu- 
nity, had  expressed  himself  very  cautiously  in  his 
declaration  of  Breda,  and  had  promised  an  in- 
demnity to  all  criminals  but  such  as  should  be  ex- 
cepted by  parliament.  He  now  issued  a  proclam- 
ation, declaring  that  such  of  the  late  king's 
judges  as  did  not  yield  themselves  prisoners  within 
fourteen  days  should  receive  no  pardon.  Nineteen 
surrendered  themselves  :  some  were  taken  in  their 
flight :  others  escaped  beyond  sea. 

The  commons  seem  to  have  been  more  inclined 
to  lenity  than  the  lords.  The  upper  house,  in- 
flamed by  the  ill  usage  which  they  had  received, 
were  resolved,  besides  the  late  king's  judges,  to 
except  every  one  who  had  sitten  in  any  high  court 
of  justice.  Nay,  the  earl  of  Bristol  moved,  that 
no  pardon  might  be  granted  to  those  who  had  any- 
wise contributed  to  the  king's  death.  So  wide  an 
exception,  in  which  every  one  who  had  served 
the  parliament  might  be  comprehended,  gave  a 
general  alarm ;  and  men  began  to  apprehend,  that 
this  motion  was  the  effect  of  some  court  artifice  or 
intrigue.  But  the  king  soon  dissipated  these 
fears.     He  came  to  the  house  of  peers;  and,  in 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  421 

the  most  earnest  terms,  passed  the  act  of  general 
indemnity.  He  urged  both  the  necessity  of  the 
thing,  and  the  obligation  of  his  former  promise  : 
a  promise,  he  said,  which  he  would  ever  regard 
as  sacred ;  since  to  it  he  probably  owed  the  satis- 
faction, which  at  present  he  enjoyed,  of  meeting 
his  people  in  parliament.  This  measure  of  the 
king's  was  received  with  great  applause  and  satis- 
faction. 

After  repeated  solicitations,  the  act  of  indem- 
nity passed  both  houses,  and  soon  received  the 
royal  assent.  Those  who  had  an  immediate  hand 
in  the  late  king's  death,  were  there  excepted : 
even  Cromwel,  Ireton,  Bradshaw,  and  others  now 
dead,  were  attainted,  and  their  estates  forfeited. 
Vane  and  Lambert,  though  none  of  the  regicides, 
were  also  excepted.  St.  John  and  seventeen 
persons  more  were  deprived  of  all  benefits  from 
this  act,  if  they  ever  accepted  any  public  employ- 
ment. All  who  had  sitten  in  any  illegal  high 
court  of  justice  were  disabled  from  bearing  offices. 
These  were  all  the  severities  which  followed  such 
furious  civil  wars  and  convulsions. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  REVENUE. 

The  next  business  was  the  settlement  of  the  king's 
revenue.  In  this  work,  the  parliament  had  regard 
to  public  freedom,  as  well  as  to  the  support  of  the 
crown.    The  tenures  of  wards  and  liveries  had  long 


AM  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

been  regarded  as  a  grievous  burthen  by  the  nobility 
and  gentry  :  several  attempts  had  been  made 
during  the  reign  of  James  to  purchase  this  pre- 
rogative, together  with  that  of  purveyance ;  and 
200,000  pounds  a-year  had  been  offered  that 
prince  in  lieu  of  them  :  wardships  and  purvey- 
ance had  been  utterly  abolished  by  the  republican 
parliament :  and  even  in  the  present  parliament, 
before  the  king  arrived  in  England,  a  bill  had  been 
introduced,  offering  him  a  compensation  for  the 
emolument  of  these  prerogatives.  A  hundred 
thousand  pounds  a-year  was  the  sum  agreed  to ; 
and  half  of  the  excise  was  settled  in  perpetuity 
upon  the  crown  as  the  fund  whence  this  revenue 
should  be  levied.  Though  that  impost  yielded 
more  profit,  the  bargain  might  be  esteemed  hard ; 
and  it  was  chiefly  the  necessity  of  the  king's 
situation,  which  induced  him  to  consent  to  it. 
No  request  of  the  parliament,  during  the  present 
joy,  could  be  refused  them. 

Tonnage  and  poundage  and  the  other  half  of 
the  excise  were  granted  to  the  king  during  life. 
The  parliament  even  proceeded  so  far  as  to  vote 
that  the  settled  revenue  of  the  crown  for  all  charges 
should  be  1,200,000  pounds  a-year;  a  sum  greater 
than  any  English  monarch  had  ever  before  enjoyed. 
But  as  all  the  princes  of  Europe  were  perpetually 
augmenting  their  military  force,  and  consequently 
their  expence,  it  became  requisite  that  England, 
from  motives  both  of  honour  and  security,  should 
bear  some  proportion  to  them,   and  adapt  its  re- 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  423 

venue  to  the  new  system  of  politics  which  pre- 
vailed. According  to  the  chancellor's  computa- 
tion, a  charge  of  800,000  pounds  a-year  was  at 
present  requisite  for  the  fleet  and  other  articles, 
which  formerly  cost  the  crown  but  eighty  thou- 
sand. 

Had  the  parliament,  before  restoring  the  king, 
insisted  on  any  farther  limitations  than  those 
which  the  constitution  already  imposed ;  besides 
the  danger  of  reviving  former  quarrels  among 
parties  ;  it  would  seem  that  their  precautions  had 
been  entirely  superfluous.  By  reason  of  its  slen- 
der and  precarious  revenue,  the  crown  in  effect 
was  still  totally  dependent.  Not  a  fourth  part  of 
this  sum,  which  seemed  requisite  for  public  ex- 
pences,  could  be  levied  without  consent  of  parlia- 
ment; and  any  concessions,  had  they  been  thought 
necessary,  might,  even  after  the  restoration,  be 
extorted  by  the  commons  from  their  necessitous 
prince.  This  parliament  showed  no  intention  of 
employing  at  present  that  engine  to  any  such  pur- 
poses ;  but  they  seemed  still  determined  not  to 
part  with  it  entirely,  or  to  render  the  revenues  of 
the  crown  fixed  and  independent.  Though  they 
voted  in  general,  that  1,200,000  pounds  a-year 
should  be  settled  on  the  king,  they  scarcely 
assigned  any  funds  which  could  yield  two  thirds 
of  that  sum.  And  they  left  the  care  of  fulfilling 
their  engagements  to  the  future  consideration  of 
parliament. 

In  all  the  temporary  supplies  which  they  voted, 


424  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  l6Go. 

they  discovered  the  same  cautious  frugality.  To 
disband  the  army,  so  formidable  in  itself  and  so 
much  accustomed  to  rebellion  and  changes  of 
government,  was  necessary  for  the  security  both 
of  king  and  parliament ;  yet  the  commons  showed 
great  jealousy  in  granting  the  sums  requisite  for 
that  end.  An  assessment  of  70,000  pounds  a- 
month  was  imposed ;  but  it  was  at  first  voted  to 
continue  only  three  months:,  and  all  the  other 
sums,  which  they  levied  for  that  purpose,  by  a 
poll-bill  and  new  assessments,  were  still  granted 
by  parcels ;  as  if  they  were  not,  as  yet,  well  assured 
of  the  fidelity  of  the  hand  to  which  the  money 
was  entrusted.  Having  proceeded  so  far  in  the 
settlement  of  the  nation,  the  parliament  adjourned 
itself  for  some  time. 


TRIAL  AND  EXECUTION  OF  THE  REGICIDES. 

During  the  recess  of  parliament,  the  object, 
which  chiefly  interested  the  public,  was  the  trial 
and  condemnation  of  the  regicides.  The  general 
indignation,  attending  the  enormous  crime  of 
which  these  men  had  been  guilty,  made  their 
sufferings  the  subject  of  joy  to  the  people :  but  in 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  that  action,  in  the 
prejudices  of  the  times,  as  well  as  in  the  behaviour 
of  the  criminals,  a  mind,  seasoned  with  humanity, 
will  find  a  plentiful  source  of  compassion  and  in- 
dulgence.    Can  any   one,    without  concern  for 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  425 

human  blindness  and  ignorance,  consider  the  de- 
meanour of  general  Harrison,  who  was  first  brought 
to  his  trial  ?  With  great  courage  and  elevation  of 
sentiment,  he  told  the  court,  that  the  pretended 
crime,  of  which  he  stood  accused,  was  not  a  deed 
performed  in  a  corner :  the  sound  of  it  had  gone 
forth  to  most  nations ;  and  in  the  singular  and 
marvellous  conduct  of  it  had  chiefly  appeared  the 
sovereign  power  of  heaven.  That  he  himself, 
agitated  by  doubts,  had  often,  with  passionate 
tears,  offered  up  his  addresses  to  the  divine  Ma- 
jesty, and  earnestly  sought  for  light  and  convic- 
tion: he  had  still  received  assurance  of  a  heavenly 
sanction,  and  returned  from  these  devout  suppli- 
cations with  more  serene  tranquillity  and  satis- 
faction. That  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  were, 
in  the  eyes  of  their  Creator,  less  than  a  drop  of 
water  in  the  bucket;  nor  were  their  erroneous 
judgments  aught  but  darkness,  compared  with 
divine  illuminations.  That  these  frequent  illapses 
of  the  divine  spirit  he  could  not  suspect  to  be 
interested  illusions  ;  since  he  was  conscious,  that 
for  no  temporal  advantage,  would  he  offer  injury 
to  the  poorest  man  or  woman  that  trod  upon  the 
earth.  That  all  the  allurements  of  ambition,  all 
the  terrors  of  imprisonment,  had  not  been  able, 
during  the  usurpation  of  Cromwel,  to  shake  his 
steady  resolution,  or  bend  him  to  a  compliance 
with  that  deceitful  tyrant.  And  that  when  in- 
vited by  him  to  sit  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne, 
when  offered  riches  and  splendour  and  dominion, 


426  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1660. 

he  had  disdainfully  rejected  all  temptations ;  and 
neglecting  the  tears  of  his  friends  and  family, 
had  still,  through  every  danger,  held  fast  his 
principles  and  his  integrity. 

Scot,  who  was  more  a  republican  than  a  fanatic, 
had  said  in  the  house  of  commons,  a  little  before 
the  restoration,  that  he  desired  no  other  epitaph 
to  be  inscribed  on  his  tomb-stone  than  this ;  Here 
lies  Thomas  Scot,  who  adjudged  the  king  to  death. 
He  supported  the  same  spirit  upon  his  trial. 

Carew,  a  Millenarian,  submitted  to  his  trial, 
saving  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  his  right  to  the  go- 
vernment of  these  kingdoms.  Some  scrupled  to  say, 
according  to  form,  that  they  would  be  tried  by 
God  and  their  country ;  because  God  was  not 
visibly  present  to  judge  them.  Others  said,  that 
they  would  be  tried  by  the  word  of  God. 

No  more  than  six  of  the  late  king's  judges,  Har- 
rison, Scot,  Carew,  Clement,  Jones,  and  Scrope, 
were  executed  :  Scrope  alone,  of  all  those  who 
came  in  upon  the  king's  proclamation.  He  was  a 
gentleman  of  good  family  and  of  a  decent  cha- 
racter :  but  it  was  proved,  that  he  had  a  little 
before,  in  conversation,  expressed  himself  as  if  he 
were  no-wise  convinced  of  any  guilt  in  condemn- 
ing the  king.  Axtel,  who  had  guarded  the  high 
court  of  justice,  Hacker,  who  commanded  on  the 
day  of  the  king's  execution,  Coke,  the  solicitor 
for  the  people  of  England,  and  Hugh  Peters,  the 
fanatical  preacher,  who  inflamed  the  army  and 
impelled  them  to  regicide  ;  all  these  were  tried, 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  427 

and  condemned,  and  suffered  with  the  king's 
judges.  No  saint  or  confessor  ever  went  to  mar- 
tyrdom with  more  assured  confidence  of  heaven 
than  was  expressed  by  those  criminals,  even  when 
the  terrors  of  immediate  death,  joined  to  many  in- 
dignities, were  set  before  them.  The  rest  of  the 
king's  judges,  by  an  unexampled  lenity,  were  re- 
prieved ;  and  they  were  dispersed  into  several 
prisons. 

This  punishment  of  declared  enemies  inter- 
rupted not  the  rejoicings  of  the  court :  but  the 
death  of  the  duke  of  Glocester,  a  young  prince 
of  promising  hopes,  threw  a  great  cloud  upon 
them.  The  king,  by  no  incident  in  his  life, 
was  ever  so  deeply  affected.  Glocester  was 
observed  to  possess  united  the  good  qualities 
of  both  his  brothers :  the  clear  judgment  and 
penetration  of  the  king  ;  the  industry  and  appli- 
cation of  the  duke  of  York.  He  was  also  believed 
to  be  affectionate  to  the  religion  and  constitution 
of  his  country.  He  was  but  twenty  years  of  age, 
when  the  small-pox  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

The  princess  of  Orange,  having  come  to  Eng- 
land, in  order  to  partake  of  the  joy  attending  the 
restoration  of  her  family,  with  whom  she  lived  in 
great  friendshp,  soon  after  sickened  and  died. 
The  queen-mother  paid  a  visit  to  her  son  ;  and 
obtained  his  consent  to  the  marriage  of  the  princess 
Henrietta,  with  the  duke  of  Orleans,  brother  to 
the  French  king. 


428  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1660. 


DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  CONVENTION  PAR- 
LIAMENT.   December  29. 

After  a  recess  of  near  two  months,  the  parlia- 
ment met,  and  proceeded  in  the  great  work  of  the 
national  settlement.  They  established  the  post- 
office,  wine  licenses,  and  some  articles  of  the 
revenue.  They  granted  more  assessments,  and 
some  arrears,  for  paying  and  disbanding  the 
army.  Business  being  carried  on  with  great  un- 
animity, was  soon  dispatched  :  and  after  they  had 
sitten  near  two  months,  the  king,  in  a  speech  full 
of  the  most  gracious  expressions,  thought  proper 
to  dissolve  them. 

This  house  of  commons  had  been  chosen  during 
the  reign  of  the  old  parliamentary  party ;  and 
though  many  royalists  had  creeped  in  amongst 
them,  yet  did  it  chiefly  consist  of  presbyterians, 
who  had  not  yet  entirely  laid  aside  their  old 
jealousies  and  principles.  Lenthal,  a  member, 
having  said,  that  those  who  first  took  arms  against 
the  king,  were  as  guilty  as  those  who  afterwards 
brought  him  to  the  scaffold,  was  severely  repri- 
manded by  order  of  the  house;  and  the  most 
violent  efforts  of  the  long  parliament,  to  secure 
the  constitution,  and  bring  delinquents  to  justice, 
were  in  effect  vindicated  and  applauded r.     The 

*  Journals,  vol.viii.  p.  24-. 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  429 

claim  of  the  two  houses  to  the  militia,  the  first 
ground  of  the  quarrel,  however  exorbitant  an 
usurpation,  was  never  expressly  resigned  by  this 
parliament.  They  made  all  grants  of  money  with 
a  very  sparing  hand.  Great  arrears  being  due  by 
the  protector,  to  the  fleet,  the  army,  the  navy- 
office,  and  every  branch  of  service  ;  this  whole 
debt  they  threw  upon  the  crown,  without  esta- 
blishing funds  sufficient  for  its  payment.  Yet 
notwithstanding  this  jealous  care,  expressed  by 
the  parliament,  there  prevails  a  story,  that  Pop- 
ham,  having  sounded  the  disposition  of  the  mem- 
bers, undertook  to  the  earl  of  Southampton  to 
procure,  during  the  king's  life,  a  grant  of  two 
millions  a-year,  land-tax:  a  sum  which,  added 
to  the  customs  and  excise,  would  for  ever  have 
rendered  this  prince  independent  of  his  people. 
Southampton,  it  is  said,  merely  from  his  affection 
to  the  king,  had  unwarily  embraced  the  offer; 
and  it  was  not  till  he  communicated  the  matter  to 
the  chancellor,  that  he  was  made  sensible  of  its  per- 
nicious tendency.  It  is  not  improbable  that  such 
an  offer  might  have  been  made,  and  been  hearken- 
ed to;  but  it  is  no-wise  probable  that  all  the 
interest  of  the  court  would  ever,  with  this  house 
of  commons,  have  been  able  to  make  it  effectual. 
Clarendon  showed  his  prudence,  no  less  than  his 
integrity,  in  entirely  rejecting  it. 

The  chancellor,  from  the  same  principles  of 
conduct,  hastened  to  disband  the  army.  When 
the  king  reviewed  these  veteran  troops,  he  was 


430  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  16(50. 

struck  with  their  beauty,  order,  discipline,  and 
martial  appearance ;  and  being  sensible,  that  re- 
gular forces  are  most  necessary  implements  of 
royalty,  he  expressed  a  desire  of  finding  expedients 
still  to  retain  them.  But  his  wise  minister  set 
before  him  the  dangerous  spirit  by  which  these 
troops  were  actuated,  their  enthusiastic  genius, 
their  habits  of  rebellion  and  mutiny  ;  and  he  con- 
vinced the  king,  that,  till  they  were  disbanded, 
he  never  could  esteem  himself  securely  establish- 
ed on  his  throne.  No  more  troops  were  retained 
than  a  few  guards  and  garrisons,  about  1000  horse, 
and  4000  foot.  This  was  the  first  appearance, 
under  the  monarchy,  of  a  regular  standing  army 
in  this  island.  Lord  Mordaunt  said,  that  the 
king,  being  possessed  of  that  force,  might  now 
look  upon  himself  as  the  most  considerable  gentle- 
man in  England8.  The  fortifications  of  Glocester, 
Taunton,  and  other  towns,  which  had  made  re- 
sistance to  the  king  during  the  civil  wars,  were 
demolished. 

Clarendon  not  only  behaved  with  wisdom  and 
justice  in  the  office  of  chancellor :  all  the  counsels, 
which  he  gave  the  king,  tended  equally  to  pro- 
mote the  interest  of  prince  and  people.  Charles, 
accustomed  in  his  exile  to  pay  entire  deference 


'  King  James's  Memoirs.  This  prince  says,  that  Venner's  in- 
surrection furnished  a  reason  or  pretence  for  keeping  up  the 
guards,  which  were  intended  at  first  to  have  been  disbanded  with 
the  rest  of  the  army. 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  431 

to  the  judgment  of  this  faithful  servant,  continued 
still  to  submit  to  his  direction  ;  and  for  some  time 
no  minister  was  ever  possessed  of  more  absolute 
authority.  He  moderated  the  forward  zeal  of  the 
royalists,  and  tempered  their  appetite  for  revenge. 
With  the  opposite  party,  he  endeavoured  to  pre- 
serve inviolate  all  the  king's  engagements :  he 
kept  an  exact  register  of  the  promises  which  had 
been  made  for  any  service,  and  he  employed  all 
his  industry  to  fulfil  them.  This  good  minister 
was  now  nearly  allied  to  the  royal  family.  His 
daughter,  Ann  Hyde,  a  woman  of  spirit  and  fine 
accomplishments,  had  hearkened,  while  abroad, 
to  the  addresses  of  the  duke  of  York,  and,  under 
promise  of  marriage,  had  secretly  admitted  him 
to  her  bed.  Her  pregnancy  appeared  soon  after 
the  restoration;  and  though  many  endeavoured 
to  dissuade  the  king  from  consenting  to  so  unequal 
an  alliance,  Charles,  in  pity  to  his  friend  and  mi- 
nister, who  had  been  ignorant  of  these  engage- 
ments, permitted  his  brother  to  marry  her*.  Cla- 
rendon expressed  great  uneasiness  at  the  honour 
which  he  had  obtained :  and  said,  that,  by  being 
elevated  so  much  above  his  rank,  he  thence 
dreaded  a  more  sudden  downfal. 

PRELACY  RESTORED. 

Most  circumstances  of  Clarendon's  administra- 
tion have  met  with  applause :  his  maxims  alone 

King  James's  Memoirs, 


432  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1660. 

in  the  conduct  of  ecclesiastical  politics  have  by- 
many  been  deemed  the  effect  of  prejudices  narrow 
and  bigoted.  Had  the  jealousy  of  royal  power 
prevailed  so  far  with  the  convention  parliament, 
as  to  make  them  restore  the  king  with  strict  limi- 
tations, there  is  no  question  but  the  establishment 
of  presbyterian  discipline  had  been  one  of  the  con- 
ditions most  rigidly  insisted  on.  Not  only  that 
form  of  ecclesiastical  government  is  more  favour- 
able to  liberty  than  to  royal  power :  it  was  like- 
wise, on  its  own  account,  agreeable  to  the  majo- 
rity of  the  house  of  commons,  and  suited  their 
religious  principles.  But  as  the  impatience  of  the 
people,  the  danger  of  delay,  the  general  disgust 
towards  faction,  and  the  authority  of  Monk,  had 
prevailed  over  that  jealous  project  of  limitations, 
the  full  settlement  of  the  hierarchy,  together 
with  the  monarchy,  was  a  necessary  and  infallible 
consequence.  All  the  royalists  were  zealous  for 
that  mode  of  religion  ;  the  merits  of  the  episcopal 
clergy  towards  the  king,  as  well  as  their  sufferings 
on  that  account,  had  been  great ;  the  laws  which 
established  bishops  and  the  liturgy  were  as  yet  un- 
repealed by  legal  authority  ;  and  any  attempt  of 
the  parliament,  by  new  acts,  to  give  the  superi- 
ority to  presbyterian  ism,  had  been  sufficient  to 
involve  the  nation  again  in  bloocL,  and  confu- 
sion. Moved  by  these  views,  the  commons  had 
wisely  postponed  the  examination  of  all  religious 
controversy,  and  had  left  the  settlement  of  the 
church  to  the  king  and  to  the  ancient  laws. 


1660.  CHARLES    II.  433 

The  king  at  first  used  great  moderation  in  the 
execution  of  the  laws.  Nine  bishops  still  remained 
alive;  and  these  were  immediately  restored  to 
their  sees :  all  the  ejected  clergy  recovered  their 
livings :  the  liturgy,  a  form  of  worship  decent, 
and  not  without  beauty,  Avas  again  admitted  into 
the  churches  :  but,  at  the  same  time,  a  declara- 
tion was  issued,  in  order  to  give  contentment  to 
the  presbyterians,  and  preserve  an  air  of  mode- 
ration and  neutrality".  In  this  declaration,  the 
king  promised  that  he  would  provide  suffragan 
bishops  for  the  larger  dioceses ;  that  the  prelates 
should,  all  of  them,  be  regular  and  constant 
preachers ;  that  they  should  not  confer  ordina- 
tion, or  exercise  any  jurisdiction,  without  the  ad- 
vice and  assistance  of  presbyters,  chosen  by  the 
diocese ;  that  such  alterations  should  be  made  in  the 
liturgy  as  would  render  it  totally  unexceptionable ; 
that,  in  the  mean  time,  the  use  of  that  mode  of 
worship  should  not  be  imposed  on  such  as  were 
unwilling  to  receive  it ;  and  that  the  surplice,  the 
cross  in  baptism,  and  bowing  at  the  name  of 
Jesus,  should  not  be  rigidly  insisted  on.  This 
declaration  was  issued  by  the  king  as  head  of 
the  church ;  and  he  plainly  assumed,  in  many  parts 
of  it,  a  legislative  authority  in  ecclesiastical  mat 
ters.  But  the  English  government,  though  more 
exactly  defined  by  the  late  contests,  was  not  as  yet 
reduced,  in  every  particular,  to  the  strict  limits 

"  Pari.  Hist.  vol.  xxiii.  p.  173. 

vol.  vm.  i  f 


434  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1660. 

of  law.  And  if  ever  prerogative  was  justifiably 
employed,  it  seemed  to  be  on  the  present  occasion, 
when  all  parts  of  the  state  were  torn  with  past 
convulsions,  and  required  the  moderating  hand 
of  the  chief  magistrate  to  reduce  them  to  their 
ancient  order. 


.     INSURRECTION  OF  THE  MILLENARIANS, 

But  though  these  appearances  of  neutrality  were 
maintained,  and  a  mitigated  episcopacy  only 
seemed  to  be  insisted  on,  it  was  far  from  the  in- 
tention of  the  ministry  always  to  preserve  like 
regard  to  the  presbyterians.  The  madness  of  the 
fifth-monarchy-men  afforded  them  a  pretence  for 
departing  from  it.  Venner,  a  desperate  enthusiast, 
who  had  often  conspired  against  Cromwel,  having, 
by  his  zealous  lectures,  inflamed  his  own  imagin- 
ation and  that  of  his  followers,  issued  forth  at 
their  head  into  the  streets  of  London.  They 
were,  to  the  number  of  sixty,  completely  armed, 
believed  themselves  invulnerable  and  invincible, 
and  firmly  expected  the  same  success  which  had 
attended  Gideon  and  other  heroes  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Every  one  at  first  fled  before  them. 
One  unhappy  man,  who,  being  questioned,  said, 
"  He  was  for  God  and  king  Charles,"  was  in- 
stantly murdered  by  them.  They  went  triumph- 
antly from  street  to  street,  every  where  pro- 
claiming king  Jesus,  who,  they  said,  was  their 


1060.  CHARLES    II.  435 

invisible  leader.  At  length  the  magistrates, 
having  assembled  some  train-bands,  made  an  at- 
tack upon  them.  They  defended  themselves  with 
order,  as  well  as  valour;  and,  after  killing  many 
of  the  assailants,  they  made  a  regular  retreat  into 
Cane-Wood,  nearHampstead.  Next  morning  they 
were  chased  thence  by  a  detachment  of  the  guards ; 
but  they  ventured  again  to  invade  the  city,  which 
was  not  prepared  to  receive  therm  After  corni 
mitting  great  disorder,  and  traversing  almost 
every  street  of  that  immense  capital,  they  retired 
into  a  house,  which  they  were  resolute  to  defend 
to  the  last  extremity.  Being  surrounded,  and 
the  house  untiled,  they  were  fired  upon  from 
every  side,  and  they  still  refused  quarter.  The 
people  rushed  in  upon  them,  and  seized  the  few 
who  were  alive.  These  were  tried,  condemned, 
and  executed  ;  and  to  the  last  they  persisted  in 
affirming,  that  if  they  were  deceived,  it  was  the 
Lord  that  had  deceived  them. 

Clarendon  and  the  ministry  took  occasion, 
from  this  insurrection,  to  infer  the  dangerous 
spirit  of  the  presbyterians,  and  of  all  the  sectaries : 
hut  the  madness  of  the  attempt  sufficiently  proved, 
that  it  had  been  undertaken  by  no  concert,  and 
never  could  have  proved  dangerous.  The  well* 
known  hatred,  too,  which  prevailed  between  the 
presbyterians  and  the  other  sects,  should  have 
removed  the  former  from  all  suspicion  of  any 
concurrence  in  the  enterprise.  But  as  a  pretence 
was  wanted,  besides  their  old  demerits,  for  justi- 
2 


436  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  l6<5l. 

fying  the  intended  rigours  against  all  of  them, 
this  reason,  however  slight,  was  greedily  laid 
hold  of. 


AFFAIRS  OF  SCOTLAND. 

Affairs  in  Scotland  hastened  with  still  quicker 
steps  than  those  in  England  towards  a  settlement 
and  a  compliance  with  the  king.  It  was  de- 
liberated in  the  English  council,  whether  that 
nation  should  be  restored  to  its  liberty,  or  whether 
the  forts  erected  by  Cromwel  should  not  still  be 
upheld,  in  order  to  curb  the  mutinous  spirit  by 
which  the  Scots  in  all  ages  had  been  so  much 
governed.  Lauderdale,  who,  from  the  battle  of 
Worcester  to  the  restoration,  had  been  detained 
prisoner  in  the  Tower,  had  considerable  influence 
with  the  king ;  and  he  strenuously  opposed  this 
violent  measure.  He  represented,  that  it  was  the 
loyalty  of  the  Scottish  nation  which  had  engaged 
them  in  an  opposition  to  the  English  rebels  ;  and 
to  take  advantage  of  the  calamities  into  which, 
on  that  account,  they  had  fallen,  would  be  re- 
garded as  the  highest  injustice  and  ingratitude  : 
that  the  spirit  of  that  people  was  now  fully  sub- 
dued by  the  servitude  under  which  the  usurpers 
had  so  long  held  them,  and  would  of  itself  yield 
to  any  reasonable  compliance  with  their  legal 
sovereign,  if,  by  this  means,  they  recovered  their 
liberty  and  independence :  that  the  attachment  of 


1661.  CHARLES   II.  437 

the  Scots  towards  their  king,  whom  they  re- 
garded as  their  native  prince,  was  naturally  much 
stronger  than  that  of  the  English;  and  would 
afford  him  a  sure  resource,  in  case  of  any  rebellion 
among  the  latter :  that  republican  principles  had 
long  been,  and  still  were,  very  prevalent  with  his 
southern  subjects,  and  might  again  menace  the 
throne  with  new  tumults  and  resistance  :  that  the 
time  would  probably  come,  when  the  king,  instead 
of  desiring  to  see  English  garrisons  in  Scotland, 
would  be  better  pleased  to  have  Scottish  garrisons 
in  England,  who,  supported  by  English  pay, 
would  be  fond  to  curb  the  seditious  genius  of  that 
opulent  nation :  and  that  a  people,  such  as  the 
Scots,  governed  by  a  few  nobility,  would  more 
easily  be  reduced  to  submission  under  monarchy, 
than  one  like  the  English,  who  breathed  nothing 
but  the  spirit  of  democratical  equality. 

These  views  induced  the  king  to  disband  all 
the  forces  in  Scotland,  and  to  raze  all  the  forts 
which  had  been  erected.  General  Middleton, 
created  earl  of  that  name,  was  sent  commissioner 
to  the  parliament,  which  was  summoned.  A  very 
compliant  spirit  was  there  discovered  in  all  orders 
of  men.  The  commissioner  had  even  sufficient 
influence  to  obtain  an  act,  annulling,  at  once,  all 
laws  which  had  passed  since  the  year  1633,  on 
pretext  of  the  violence  which,  during  that  time, 
had  been  employed  against  the  king  and  his  father, 
in  order  to  procure  their  assent  to  these  statutes. 
This  was  a  very  large,  if  not  an  unexampled,  con- 


438  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  16*61. 

cession ;    and,   together    with   many   dangerous 
limitations,  overthrew  some  useful  barriers  which 
had  been  erected  to  the  constitution.     But  the 
tide  was  now  running  strongly  towards  monarchy ; 
and  the  Scottish  nation  plainly  discovered,  that 
their  past  resistance  had  proceeded  more  from 
the    turbulence   of    their  aristocracy,    and   the 
bigotry  of  their  ecclesiastics,  than  from  any  fixed 
passion  towards  civil  liberty.     The  lords  of  arti- 
cles were  restored,  with  some  other  branches  of 
prerogative;  and  royal  authority,   fortified  with 
more  plausible  claims  and  pretences,  was,  in  its 
full  extent,  re-established  in  that  kingdom. 

The  prelacy  likewise,   by  the  abrogating  of 
every  statute  enacted  in  favour  of  presbytery,  was 
thereby  tacitly  restored  ;  and  the  king  deliberated 
what  use  he   should   make   of  this   concession. 
Lauderdale,    who    at    bottom  was   a  passionate 
zealot  against  episcopacy,    endeavoured  to  per- 
suade him,  that  the  Scots,  if  gratified  in  this  fa- 
vourite point  of  ecclesiastical  government,  would, 
in  every  other  demand,  be  entirely  compliant  with 
the  king.     Charles,  though  he  had  no  such  at- 
tachment to  prelacy  as  had  influenced  his  father 
and    grandfather,   had  suffered  such  indignities 
from  the  Scottish  presbyterians,  that  he  ever  after 
bore  them  a  hearty  aversion.     He  said  to  Lau- 
derdale,  that  presbyterianism,   he  thought,    was 
not  a  religion  for  a  gentleman ;  and  he  could  not 
consent  to  its  farther  continuance  in  Scotland. 
Middleton  too  and  his  other  ministers  persuaded 


1661.  CHARLES   II.  439 

him,  that  the  nation  in  general  was  so  disgusted 
with  the  violence  and  tyranny  of  the  ecclesiastics, 
that  any  alteration  of  church  government  would 
be  universally  grateful.  And  Clarendon,  as  well 
as  Ormond,  dreading  that  the  presbyterian  sect, 
if  legally  established  in  Scotland,  would  acquire 
authority  in  England  and  Ireland,  seconded  the 
application  of  these  ministers.  The  resolution 
was  therefore  taken  to  restore  prelacy;  a  measure 
afterwards  attended  with  many  and  great  incon- 
veniencies  :  but  whether  in  this  resolution  Charles 
chose  not  the  lesser  evil,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
determine.  Sharp,  who  had  been  commissioned 
by  the  presbyterians  in  Scotland  to  manage  their 
interests  with  the  king,  was  persuaded  to  abandon 
that  party ;  and,  as  a  reward  for  his  compliance, 
was  created  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews.  The 
conduct  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  was  chiefly  en- 
trusted to  him  ;  and  as  he  was  esteemed  a  traitor 
and  a  renegade  by  his  old  friends,  he  became  on 
that  account,  as  well  as  from  the  violence  of  his 
conduct,  extremely  obnoxious  to  them. 

Charles  had  not  promised  to  Scotland  any  such 
indemnity  as  he  had  ensured  to  England  by  the 
declaration  of  Breda:  and  it  was  deemed  more 
political  for  him  to  hold  over  men's  heads,  for 
some  time,  the  terror  of  punishment,  till  they 
should  have  made  the  requisite  compliances  with 
the  new  government.  Though  neither  the  king's 
temper  nor  plan  of  administration  led  him  to 
severity,  some  examples,  after  such  a  bloody  and 


440  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1661. 

triumphant  rebellion,  seemed  necessary  ;  and  the 
marquis  of  Argyle,  and  one  Guthry,  were  pitched 
on  as  the  victims.     Two  acts  of  indemnity,  one 
passed  by  the  late  king  in  1641,  another  by  the 
present  in    J  651,    formed,    it   was    thought,   in- 
vincible obstacles  to  the  punishment  of  Argyle ; 
and  barred  all  inquiry  into  that  part  of  his  conduct 
which  might  justly  be  regarded  as  the  most  ex- 
ceptionable.    Nothing  remained  but  to  try  him 
for  his  compliance  with  the  usurpation ;  a  crime 
common  to  him  with  the  whole  nation,  and  such  a 
one  as  the  most   loyal  and  affectionate  subject 
might  frequently  by  violence  be  obliged  to  com- 
mit.    To  make  this  compliance  appear  the  more 
voluntary  and  hearty,   there  were  produced  in 
court,  letters  which  he  had  written  to  Albemarle, 
while  that  general  commanded  in  Scotland,  and 
which  contained  expressions  of  the  most  cordial 
attachment  to  the  established  government.     But 
besides  the   general  indignation  excited  by  Al- 
bemarle's discover}^  of  this  private  correspondence, 
men  thought,    that  even    the    highest   demon- 
strations of  affection  might,  during  jealous  times, 
be  exacted  as  a  necessary  mark  of  compliance  from 
a  person  of  such  distinction  as  Argyle,  and  could 
not,  by  any  equitable  construction,  imply  the  crime 
of  treason.     The  parliament,   however,   scrupled 
not  to  pass  sentence  upon  him  ;  and  he  died  with 
great  constancy  and  courage.     As  he  was  uni- 
versally known  to  have  been  the  chief  instrument 
of  the  past  disorders  and  civil  wars,  the  irregu- 


166U  CHARLES    II.  441 

larity  of  his  sentence,  and  several  iniquitous 
circumstances  in  the  method  of  conducting  his 
trial,  seemed,  on  that  account,  to  admit  of  some 
apology.  Lord  Lome,  son  of  Argyle,  having 
ever  preserved  his  loyalty,  obtained  a  gift  of  the 
forfeiture.  Guthry  was  a  seditious  preacher,  and 
had  personally  affronted  the  king  :  his  punishment 
gave  surprise  to  nobody.  Sir  Archibald  Johnstone 
of  Warriston  was  attainted  and  fled ;  but  was 
seized  in  France  about  two  years  after,  brought 
over,  and  executed.  He  had  been  very  active 
during  all  the  late  disorders,  and  was  even  su- 
spected of  a  secret  correspondence  with  the 
English  regicides. 

Besides  these  instances  of  compliance  in  the 
Scottish  parliament,  they  voted  an  additional  reve- 
nue to  the  king  of  40,000  pounds  a-year,  to  be 
levied  by  way  of  excise.  A  small  force  was  pur- 
posed to  be  maintained  by  this  revenue,  in  order 
to  prevent  like  confusions  with  those  to  which  the 
kingdom  had  been  hitherto  exposed.  An  act  was 
also  passed,  declaring  the  covenant  unlawful,  and 
its  obligation  void  and  null. 


CONFERENCE  AT  THE  SAVOY.  March  25. 

In  England,  the  civil  distinctions  seemed  to  be 
abolished  by  the  lenity  and  equality  of  Charles's 
administration.  Cavalier  and  Round-head  were 
heard  of  no  more  :  all  men  seemed  to  concur  in 


442  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  l66l. 

submitting  to  the  king's  lawful  prerogatives,  and 
in  cherishing  the  just  privileges  of  the  people  and 
of  parliament.  Theological  controversy  alone 
still  subsisted,  and  kept  alive  some  sparks  of  that 
flame  which  had  thrown  the  nation  into  com- 
bustion. While  catholics,  independents,  and  other 
sectaries,  were  content  with  entertaining  some 
prospect  of  toleration  ;  prelacy  and  presbytery 
struggled  for  the  superiority,  and  the  hopes  and 
fears  of  both  parties  kept  them  in  agitation.  A 
conference  was  held  in  the  Savoy  between  twelve 
bishops  and  twelve  leaders  among  the  presby- 
terian  ministers,  with  an  intention,  at  least  on 
pretence,  of  bringing  about  an  accommodation 
between  the  parties.  The  surplice,  the  cross  in 
baptism,  the  kneeling  at  the  sacrament,  the  bow- 
ing at  the  name  of  Jesus,  were  anew  canvassed  ; 
and  the  ignorant  multitude  were  in  hopes  that  so 
many  men  of  gravity  and  learning  could  not  fail, 
after  deliberate  argumentation,  to  agree  in  all 
points  of  controversy  :  they  were  surprised  to  see 
them  separate  more  inflamed  than  ever,  and  more 
confirmed  in  their  several  prejudices.  To  enter 
into  particulars  would  be  superfluous.  Disputes 
concerning  religious  forms  are,  in  themselves,  the 
most  frivolous  of  any  ;  and  merit  attention  only 
so  far  as  they  have  influence  on  the  peace  and 
order  of  civil  society. 


1061.  CHARLES    II.  443 


ARGUMENTS  FOR  AND  AGAINST  A  COM- 
PREHENSION, 

The  king's  declaration  had  promised,  that  some 
endeavours  should  be  used  to  effect  a  comprehen- 
sion of  both  parties ;  and  Charles's  own  indifference 
M'ith  regard  to  all  such  questions  seemed  a  fa- 
vourable circumstance  for  the  execution  of  that 
project.  The  partisans  of  a  comprehension  said, 
that  the  presbyterians,  as  well  as  the  prelatists, 
having  felt  by  experience  the  fatal  effects  of  ob- 
stinacy and  violence,  were  now  well  disposed 
towards  an  amicable  agreement :  that  the  bishops 
by  relinquishing  some  part  of  their  authority,  and 
dispensing  with  the  most  exceptionable  cere- 
monies, would  so  gratify  their  adversaries  as  to 
obtain  their  corral  and  affectionate  compliance, 
and  unite  the  whole  nation  in  one  faith  and  one 
worship :  that  by  obstinately  insisting  on  forms, 
in  themselves  insignificant,  an  air  of  importance 
was  bestowed  on  them,  and  men  were  taught  to 
continue  equally  obstinate  in  rejecting  them : 
that  the  presbyterian  clergy  would  go  every  rea- 
sonable length,  rather  than,  by  parting  with  their 
livings,  expose  themselves  to  a  state  of  beggary, 
at  best  of  dependence  :  and  that  if  their  pride 
were  flattered  by  some  seeming  alterations,  and  a 
pretence  given  them  for  affirming  that  they  had 
not  abandoned  their  former  principles,  nothing 


444  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1661. 

farther  was  wanting  to  produce  a  thorough  union 
between  those  two  parties,  which  comprehended 
the  bulk  of  the  nation. 

It  was  alleged  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
difference  between  religious  sects  was  founded, 
not  on  principle,  but  on  passion ;  and  till  the  ir- 
regular affections  of  men  could  be  corrected,  it 
was  in  vain  to  expect,  by  compliances,  to  obtain 
a  perfect  unanimity  and  comprehension :  that  the 
more   insignificant  the   objects    of  dispute   ap- 
peared, with  the  more  certainty  might  it  be  in- 
ferred,  that  the  real  ground  of  dissension  was 
different  from   that  which  was  universally  pre- 
tended :  that  the  love  of  novelty,   the  pride  of 
argumentation,  the  pleasure  of  making  proselytes, 
and  the  obstinacy  of  contradiction,    would  for 
ever  give  rise  to  sects  and  disputes ;  nor  was  it 
possible  that  such  a  source  of  dissension  could 
ever,  by  any  concessions,  be  entirely  exhausted  : 
that  the  church,  by  departing  from  ancient  prac- 
tices and  principles,  would  tacitly  acknowledge 
herself  guilty  of  error,  and  lose  that  reverence, 
so  requisite  for  preserving  the  attachment  of  the 
multitude ;  and  that  if  the  present  concessions 
(which  was   more  than  probable)  should  prove 
ineffectual,  greater  must  still  be  made  ;  and  in 
the  issue,  discipline  would  be  despoiled  of  all  its 
authority,  and  worship  of  all  its  decency,  without 
obtaining   that  end  which  had  been  so  fondly 
sought  for  by  these  dangerous  indulgences. 

The  ministry  were  inclined  to  give  the  prefer- 


l<56l.  CHARLES    II.  445 

ence  to  the  latter  arguments  ;  and  were  the  more 
confirmed  in  that  intention  by  the  disposition, 
which  appeared  in  the  parliament  lately  assembled. 
The  royalists  and  zealous  churchmen  were  at  pre- 
sent the  popular  party  in  the  nation,  and,  second- 
ed by  the  efforts  of  the  court,  had  prevailed  in 
most  elections.  Not  more  than  fifty-six  mem- 
bers of  the  presbyterian  party  had  obtained  seats 
in  the  lower  house w;  and  these  were  not  able 
either  to  oppose  or  retard  the  measures  of  the 
majority.  Monarchy,  therefore,  and  episcopacy, 
were  now  exalted  to  as  great  power  and  splendour 
as  they  had  lately  suffered  misery  and  depression. 
Sir  Edward  Turner  was  chosen  speaker. 

An  act  was  passed  for  the  security  of  the 
king's  person  and  government.  To  intend  or 
devise  the  king's  imprisonment,  or  bodily  harm, 
or  deposition,  or  levying  war  against  him,  was 
declared,  during  the  lifetime  of  his  present  ma- 
jesty, to  be  high  treason.  To  affirm  him  to  be  a 
papist  or  heretic,  or  to  endeavour  by  speech  or 
writing  to  alienate  his  subjects'  affections  from 
him ;  these  offences  were  made  sufficient  to  in- 
capacitate the  person  guilty  from  holding  any 
emploj'ment  in  church  or  state.  To  maintain  that 
the  long  parliament  is  not  dissolved,  or  that  either 
or  both  houses,  without  the  king,  are  possessed 
of  legislative  authority,  or  that  the  covenant  is 

w  Carte's  Answer  to  the  Bystander,  p.  79. 


446  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  \66u 

binding,  was  made  punishable  by  the  penalty  of 
premunire. 

The  covenant  itself,  together  with  the  act  for 
erecting  the  high  court  of  justice,  that  for  sub- 
scribing the  engagement,  and  that  for  declaring 
England  a  commonwealth,  were  ordered  to  be 
burnt  by  the  hands  of  the  hangman.  The  people 
assisted  with  great  alacrity  on  this  occasion. 

The  abuses  of  petitioning  in  the  preceding 
reign  had  been  attended  with  the  worst  con- 
sequences ;  and  to  prevent  such  irregular  prac- 
tices for  the  future,  it  was  enacted,  that  no  more 
than  twenty  hands  should  be  fixed  to  any  petition, 
unless  with  the  sanction  of  three  justices,  or  the 
major  part  of  the  grand  jury  ;  and  that  no  petition 
should  be  presented  to  the  king  or  either  house 
by  above  ten  persons.  The  penalty  annexed  to 
a  transgression  of  this  law  was  a  fine  of  a  hundred 
pounds  and  three  months  imprisonment. 


BISHOPS'  SEATS  RESTORED. 

The  bishops,  though  restored  to  their  spiritual 
authority,  were  still  excluded  from  parliament  by 
the  law  which  the  late  king  had  passed  imme- 
diately before  the  commencement  of  the  civil 
disorders.  Great  violence,  both  against  the  king 
and  the  house  of  peers,  had  been  employed  in 
passing  this  law  ;  and  on  that  account  alone,  the 


1661.  CHARLES    II.  447 

partisans  of  the  church  were  provided  with  a 
plausible  pretence  for  repealing  it.  Charles  ex- 
pressed much  satisfaction,  when  he  gave  his  assent 
to  the  act  for  that  purpose.  It  is  certain,  that  the 
authority  of  the  crown,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
church,  was  interested  in  restoring  the  prelates  to 
their  former  dignity.  But  those,  who  deemed 
every  acquisition  of  the  prince  a  detriment  to  the 
people,  were  apt  to  complain  of  this  instance  of 
complaisance  in  the  parliament. 

After  an  adjournment  of  some  months,  the 
parliament  was  again  assembled,  and  proceeded  in 
the  same  spirit  as  before.  They  discovered  no 
design  of  restoring,  in  its  full  extent,  the  ancient 
prerogative  of  the  crown  :  they  were  only  anxious 
to  repair  all  those  breaches,  which  had  been  made, 
not  by  the  love  of  liberty,  but  by  the  fury  of 
faction  and  civil  war.  The  power  of  the  sword 
had,  in  all  ages,  been  allowed  to  be  vested  in  the 
crown ;  and  though  no  law  conferred  this  pre- 
rogative, every  parliament,  till  the  last  of  the 
preceding  reign,  had  willingly  submitted  to  an 
authority  more  ancient,  and  therefore  more  sacred, 
than  that  of  any  positive  statute.  It  was  now 
thought  proper  solemnly  to  relinquish  the  violent 
pretensions  of  that  parliament,  and  to  acknow- 
ledge, that  neither  one  house,  nor  both  houses, 
independent  of  the  king,  were  possessed  of  any 
military  authority.  The  preamble  to  this  statute 
went  so  far  as  to  renounce  all  right  even  of  de- 
fensive arms  against  the  king ;  and  much  observ- 


448  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1661. 

ation  has  been  made  with  regard  to  a  concession 
esteemed  so  singular.     Were  these  terms  taken 
in  their  full  literal  sense,  they  imply  a  total  re- 
nunciation of  limitations  to  monarchy,  and  of  all 
privileges  in  the  subject,  independent  of  the  will 
of  the  sovereign.     For  as  no  rights  can  subsist 
without  some  remedy,  still  less  rights  exposed  to 
so  much  invasion  from  tyranny,  or  even  from 
ambition ;  if  subjects  must  never  resist,  it  follows, 
that  every  prince,  without  any  effort,  policy,  or 
violence,  is  at  once  rendered  absolute  and  un- 
controllable :  the  sovereign  needs  only  issue  an 
edict,  abolishing  every  authority  but  his  own  ; 
and  all  liberty,  from  that  moment,  is  in  effect 
annihilated.     But  this  meaning  it  were  absurd  to 
impute  to  the  present  parliament,  who,  though 
zealous  royalists,  showed  in  their  measures,  that 
they  had  not  cast  off  all  regard  to  national  pri- 
vileges.    They  were  probably   sensible,   that   to 
suppose  in  the  sovereign  any  such  invasion  of 
public   liberty  is  entirely  unconstitutional ;   and 
that  therefore  expressly  to   reserve,  upon   that 
event,  any  right  of  resistance  in  the  subject,  must 
be  liable  to  the  same  objection.     They  had  seen 
that  the  long  parliament,  under  colour  of  defence, 
had  begun  a  violent  attack  upon  kingly  power; 
and,  after  involving  the  kingdom  in  blood,  had 
finally  lost  that  liberty  for  which  they  had  so  im- 
prudently contended.    They  thought,  perhaps  er- 
roneously, that  it  was  no  longer  possible,  after 
such  public  and  such  exorbitant  pretensions,  to 


1661.  CHARLES   II.  44Q 

persevere  in  that  prudent  silence  hitherto  main- 
tained by  the  laws ;  and  that  it  was  necessary, 
by  some  positive  declaration,  to  bar  the  return 
of  like  inconveniencies.  When  they  excluded, 
therefore,  the  right  of  defence,  they  supposed, 
that  the  constitution  remaining  firm  upon  its 
basis,  there  never  really  could  be  an  attack  made 
by  the  sovereign.  If  such  an  attack  was  at  any 
time  made,  the  necessity  was  then  extreme  :  and 
the  case  of  extreme  and  violent  necessity,  no 
laws,  they  thought,  could  comprehend ;  because 
to  such  a  necessity  no  laws  could  beforehand  point 
out  a  proper  remedy. 


CORPORATION  ACT* 

The  other  measures  of  this  parliament  still  dis- 
covered a  more  anxious  care  to  guard  against 
rebellion  in  the  subject  than  encroachments  in  the 
crown:  the  recent  evils  of  civil  war  and  usurp- 
ation had  naturally  increased  the  spirit  of  sub- 
mission to  the  monarch,  and  had  thrown  the 
nation  into  that  dangerous  extreme.  During  the 
violent  and  jealous  government  of  the  parliament 
and  of  the  protectors,  all  magistrates,  liable  to 
suspicion,  had  been  expelled  the  corporations ; 
and  none  had  been  admitted,  who  gave  not  proofs 
of  affection  to  the  ruling  powers,  or  who  refused 
to  subscribe  the  covenant.  To  leave  all  authority 
in  such  hands  seemed  dangerous ;  and  the  par- 

VOL.   VIII.  G  G 


450  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1662. 

liament,  therefore,  empowered  the  king  to  appoint 
commissioners  for  regulating  the  corporations, 
and  expelling  such  magistrates  as  either  intruded 
themselves  by  violence,  or  professed  principles 
dangerous  to  the  constitution,  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical. It  was  also  enacted,  that  all  magistrates 
should  disclaim  the  obligation  of  the  covenant, 
and  should  declare,  both  their  belief,  that  it  was 
not  lawful,  upon  any  pretence  whatsoever,  to 
resist  the  king,  and  their  abhorrence  of  the  trai- 
terous  position  of  taking  arms  by  .the  king's  au- 
thority against  his  person,  or  against  those  who 
were  commissioned  by  him. 


ACT  OF  UNIFORMITY.    1662. 

The  care  of  the  church  was  no  less  attended  to 
by  this  parliament,  than  that  of  monarchy ;  and 
the  bill  of  uniformity  was  a  pledge  of  their 
sincere  attachment  to  the  episcopal  hierarchy,  and 
of  their  antipathy  to  presbyterianism.  Different 
parties,  however,  concurred  in  promoting  this  bill, 
which  contained  many  severe  clauses.  The  inde- 
pendents and  other  sectaries,  enraged  to  find  all 
their  schemes  subverted  by  the  presbyterians,  who 
had  once  been  their  associates,  exerted  them- 
selves to  disappoint  that  party  of  the  favour  and 
indulgence,  to  which,  from  their  recent  merits  in 
promoting  the  restoration,  they  thought  them- 
selves justly  entitled.     By  the  presbyterians,  said 


1652.  CHARLES    II.  451 

they,  the  war  was  raised :  by  them  was  the 
populace  first  incited  to  tumults:  by  their  zeal, 
interest,  and  riches,  were  the  armies  support- 
ed :  by  their  force  was  the  king  subdued  :  and 
if,  in  the  sequel,  they  protested  against  those 
extreme  violences,  committed  on  his  person  by 
the  military  leaders,  their  opposition  came  too 
late,  after  having  supplied  these  usurpers  with 
the  power  and  the  pretences,  by  which  they  main- 
tained their  sanguinary  measures.  They  had 
indeed  concurred  with  the  royalists  in  recalling 
the  king :  but  ought  they  to  be  esteemed,  on  that 
account,  more  affectionate  to  the  royal  cause  ? 
Rage  and  animosity,  from  disappointed  ambition, 
were  plainly  their  sole  motives  ;  and  if  the  king 
should  now  be  so  imprudent  as  to  distinguish 
them  by  any  particular  indulgences,  he  would 
soon  experience  from  them  the  same  hatred  and 
opposition  which  had  proved  so  fatal  to  his 
father. 

The  catholics,  though  they  had  little  interest 
in  the  nation,  were  a  considerable  party  at  court; 
and  from  their  services  and  sufferings  during  the 
civil  Avars,  it  seemed  but  just  to  bear  them  some 
favour  and  regard.  These  religionists  dreaded 
an  entire  union  among  the  protestants.  Were 
they  the  sole  nonconformists  in  the  nation,  the 
severe  execution  of  penal  laws  upon  their  sect 
seemed  an  infallible  consequence  j  and  they  used, 
therefore,  all  their  interest  to  push  matters  to 
2 


452  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  1662. 

extremity  against  the  presbyterians,  who  had 
formerly  been  their  most  severe  oppressors,  and 
whom  they  now  expected  for  their  companions  in 
affliction.  The  earl  of  Bristol,  who,  from  con- 
viction, or  interest,  or  levity,  or  complaisance  for 
the  company  with  whom  he  lived,  had  changed 
his  religion  during  the  king's  exile,  was  regarded 
as  the  head  of  this  party. 

The  church  party  had,  during  so  many  years, 
suffered  such  injuries  and  indignities  from  the 
sectaries  of  every  denomination,  that  no  modera- 
tion, much  less  deference,  was  on  this  occasion  to 
be  expected  in  the  ecclesiastics.  Even  the  laity 
of  that  communion  seemed  now  disposed  to  re- 
taliate upon  their  enemies,  according  to  the  usual 
measures  of  party  justice.  This  sect  or  faction 
(for  it  partook  of  both)  encouraged  the  rumours 
of  plots  and  conspiracies  against  the  government; 
crimes  which,  without  any  apparent  reason,  they 
imputed  to  their  adversaries.  And  instead  of 
enlarging  the  terms  of  communion,  in  order  to 
comprehend  the  presbyterians,  they  gladly  laid 
hold  of  the  prejudices,  which  prevailed  among 
that  sect,  in  order  to  eject  them  from  their 
livings.  By  the  bill  of  uniformity  it  was  required 
that  every  clergyman  should  be  re-ordained,  if  he 
had  not  before  received  episcopal  ordination ; 
should  declare  his  assent  to  every  thing  con- 
tained in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer ;  should 
take  the  oath  of  canonical  obedience;    should 


1662.  CHARLES   II.  453 

abjure  the  solemn  league  and  covenant;  and 
should  renounce  the  principle  of  taking  arms, 
on  any  pretence  whatsoever,  against  the  king. 

This  bill  reinstated  the  church  in  the  same 
condition  in  which  it  stood  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  civil  wars ;  and  as  the  old  persecuting 
laws  of  Elizabeth  still  subsisted  in  their  full  rigour, 
and  new  clauses  of  a  like  nature  were  now  enact- 
ed, all  the  king's  promises  of  toleration  and  of 
indulgence  to  tender  consciences  were  thereby 
eluded  and  broken.  It  is  true,  Charles,  in  his 
declaration  from  Breda,  had  expressed  his  in- 
tention of  regulating  that  indulgence  by  the 
advice  and  authority  of  parliament :  but  this  limit- 
ation could  never  reasonably  be  extended  to  a 
total  infringement  and  violation  of  his  engage- 
ments. However,  it  is  agreed,  that  the  king  did 
not  voluntarily  concur  with  this  violent  measure, 
and  that  the  zeal  of  Clarendon  and  of  the  church 
party  among  the  commons,  seconded  by  the  in- 
trigues of  the  catholics,  was  the  chief  cause  which 
extorted  his  consent. 

The  royalists,  who  now  predominated,  were 
very  ready  to  signalize  their  victory,  by  establish- 
ing those  high  principles  of  monarchy  which  their 
antagonists  had  controverted  :  but  when  any  real 
power  or  revenue  was  demanded  for  the  crown, 
they  were  neither  so  forward  nor  so  liberal  in  their 
concessions  as  the  king  would  gladly  have  wished. 
Though  the  parliament  passed  laws  for  regulating 
the   navy,  they  took   no  notice    of  the   army; 


454  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1662. 

and  declined  giving  their  sanction  to  this  dan- 
gerous innovation.  The  king's  debts  were  become 
intolerable ;  and  the  commons  were  at  last  con- 
strained to  vote  him  an  extraordinary  supply 
of  1,200,000  pounds,  to  be  levied  by  eighteen 
monthly  assessments.  But  besides  that  this  supply 
was  much  inferior  to  the  occasion,  the  king  was 
obliged  earnestly  to  solicit  the  commons,  before 
he  could  obtain  it ;  and,  in  order  to  convince  the 
house  of  its  absolute  necessity,  he  desired  them 
to  examine  strictly  into  all  his  receipts  and  dis- 
bursements. Finding  likewise  upon  inquiry,  that 
the  several  branches  of  revenue  fell  much  short  of 
the  sums  expected,  they  at  last,  after  much  delay, 
voted  a  new  imposition  of  two  shillings  on  each 
hearth ;  and  this  tax  they  settled  on  the  king 
during  life.  The  whole  established  revenue,  how- 
ever, did  not,  for  many  years,  exceed  a  million*; 
a  sum  confessedly  too  narrow  for  the  public  ex- 
pences.  A  very  rigid  frugality  at  least,  which 
the  king  seems  to  have  wanted,  would  have  been 
requisite  to  make  it  suffice  for  the  dignity  and 
security  of  government.  After  all  business  was 
dispatched,  the  parliament  was  prorogued, 

KING'S  MARRIAGE. 
Before  the  parliament  rose,  the  court  was  em- 

x  D'Estrades,  25th  of  July,  l66l.  Mr.  Ralph's  History,  vol.  i. 
p.  176.       • 


1662.  CHARLES   II.  455 

ployed  in  making  preparations  for  the  reception 
of  the  new  queen,  Catharine  of  Portugal,  to 
whom  the  king  was  betrothed,  and  who  had  just 
landed  at  Portsmouth.  During  the  time  that  the 
protector  carried  on  the  war  with  Spain,  he  was 
naturally  led  to  support  the  Portuguese  in  their 
revolt;  and  he  engaged  himself  by  treaty  to  supply 
them  with  10,000  men  for  their  defence  against 
the  Spaniards.  On  the  king's  restoration,  advances 
were  made  by  Portugal  for  the  renewal  of  the  al- 
liance ;  and  in  order  to  bind  the  friendship  closer, 
an  offer  was  made  of  the  Portuguese  princess,  and 
a  portion  of  500,000  pounds,  together  with  two 
fortresses,  Tangiers  in  Africa,  and  Bombay  in  the 
East  Indies.  Spain,  who,  after  the  peace  of  the 
Pyrenees,  bent  all  her  force  to  recover  Portugal, 
now  in  appearance  abandoned  by  France,  took 
the  alarm,  and  endeavoured  to  fix  Charles  in  an 
opposite  interest,  The  catholic  king  offered  to 
adopt  any  other  princess  as  a  daughter  of  Spain, 
either  the  princess  of  Parma,  or  what  he  thought 
more  popular,  some  protestant  princess,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Denmark,  Saxony,  or  Orange  :  and  on  any 
of  these,  he  promised  to  confer  a  dowry  equal  to 
that  which  was  offered  by  Portugal.  But  many 
reasons  inclined  Charles  rather  to  accept  of  the 
Portuguese  proposals.  The  great  disorders  in  the 
government  and  finances  of  Spain  made  the  exe- 
cution of  her  promises  be  much  doubted ;  and 
the  king's  urgent  necessities  demanded  some  im- 
mediate supply  of  money.     The  interest  of  the 


450  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1G62. 

English  commerce  likewise  seemed  to  require  that 
the  independency  of  Portugal  should  be  sup- 
ported, lest  the  union  of  that  crown  with  Spain 
should  put  the  whole  treasures  of  America  into 
the  hands  of  one  potentate.  The  claims  too  of 
Spain  upon  Dunkirk  and  Jamaica,  rendered  it 
impossible,  without  farther  concessions,  to  obtain 
the  cordial  friendship  of  that  power  :  and  on  the 
other  hand,  the  offer,  made  by  Portugal,  of  two 
such  considerable  fortresses,  promised  a  great 
accession  to  the  naval  force  of  England.  Above 
all,  the  proposal  of  a  protestant  princess  was  no 
allurement  to  Charles,  whose  inclinations  led  him 
strongly  to  give  the  preference  to  a  catholic  al- 
liance. According  to  the  most  probable  accounts ?, 
the  resolution  of  marrying  the  daughter  of  Por- 
tugal was  taken  by  the  king,  unknown  to  all  his 
ministers ;  and  no  remonstrances  could  prevail 
with  him  to  alter  his  intentions.  When  the 
matter  was  laid  before  the  council,  all  voices  con- 
curred in  approving  the  resolution  ;  and  the  par- 
liament expressed  the  same  complaisance.     And 

7  Carte's  Ormond,  vol.  ii.  p.  254.  This  account  seems  better 
supported,  than  that  in  Ablancourt's  Memoirs,  that  the  chan- 
cellor chiefly  pushed  the  Portuguese  alliance.  The  secret  trans- 
actions of  the  court  of  England  could  not  be  supposed  to  be  much 
known  to  a  French  resident  at  Lisbon :  and  whatever  opposition 
the  chancellor  might  make,  he  would  certainly  endeavour  to 
conceal  it  from  the  queen  and  all  her  family,  and  even  in  the  par- 
liament and  council  would  support  the  resolution  already  taken. 
Clarendon  himself  says  in  his  Memoirs,  that  he  never  either  opposed 
er  promoted  the  Portuguese  mutch. 


1(3(52.  CHARLES    II.  457 

thus  was  concluded,  seemingly  with  universal 
consent,  the  inauspicious  marriage  with  Catherine, 
a  princess  of  virtue,  but  who  was  neve  able, 
either  by  the  graces  of  her  person  or  humour,  to 
make  herself  agreeable  to  the  king.  The  report, 
however,  of  her  natural  incapacity  to  have  child- 
ren, seems  to  have  been  groundless ;  since  she 
was  twice  declared  to  be  pregnant z. 

The  festivity  of  these  espousals  was  clouded  by 
the  trial  and  execution  of  criminals.  Berkstead, 
Cobbet,  and  Okey,  three  regicides,  had  escaped 
beyond  sea ;  and  after  wandering  some  time  con- 
cealed in  Germany,  came  privately  to  Delft,  hav- 
ing appointed  their  families  to  meet  them  in  that 
place.  They  were  discovered  by  Downing,  the 
king's  resident  in  Holland,  who  had  formerly 
served  the  protector  and  commonwealth  in  the  same 
station,  and  who  once  had  even  been  chaplain  to 
Okey's  regiment.  He  applied  for  a  warrant  to 
arrest  them.  It  had  been  usual  for  the  States  to 
grant  these  warrants ;  though,  at  the  same  time, 
they  had  ever  been  careful  secretly  to  advertise 
the  persons,  that  they  might  be  enabled  to  make 
their  escape.  This  precaution  was  eluded  by  the 
vigilance  and  dispatch  of  Downing.  He  quickly 
seized  the  criminals,  hurried  them  on  board  a  fri- 
gate which  lay  off  the  coast,  and  sent  them  to 
England.  These  three  men  behaved  with  more 
moderation  and  submission,  than  any  of  the  other 

*  Lord  Lansdowne's  defence  of  General  Monk.  Temple,  vol.  ii. 
p.  154. 


458  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1662. 

regicides  who  had  suffered.  Okey  in  particular, 
at  the  place  of  execution,  prayed  for  the  king, 
and  expressed  his  intention,  had  he  lived,  of 
submitting  peaceably  to  the  established  govern- 
ment. He  had  risen  during  the  wars  from  being 
a  chandler  in  London  to  a  high  rank  in  the  army ; 
and  in  all  his  conduct  appeared  to  be  a  man  of 
humanity  and  honour.  In  consideration  of  his 
good  character  and  of  his  dutiful  behaviour,  his 
body  was  given  to  his  friends  to  be  buried, 


TRIAL  OF  VANE. 

The  attention  of  the  public  was  much  engaged 
by  the  trial  of  two  distinguished  criminals,  Lam- 
bert and  Vane.  These  men,  though  none  of 
the  late  king's  judges,  had  been  excepted  from 
the  general  indemnity,  and  committed  to  prison. 
The  convention-parliament,  however,  was  so  fa- 
vourable to  them,  as  to  petition  the  king,  if  they 
should  be  found  guilty,  to  suspend  their  execu- 
tion :  but  this  new  parliament,  more  zealous  for 
monarchy,  applied  for  their  trial  and  condemna- 
tion. Not  to  revive  disputes,  which  were  better 
buried  in  oblivion,  the  indictment  of  Vane  did 
not  comprehend  any  of  his  actions  during  the 
war  between  the  king  and  parliament :  it  extend- 
ed only  to  his  behaviour  after  the  late  -king's 
death,  as  member  of  the  council  of  state,  and 
secretary  of  the  navy,  where  fidelity  to  the  trust 


1652.  CHARLES    II.  45$ 

reposed  in  him  required  his  opposition  to  mon- 
archy. 

Vane  wanted  neither  courage  nor  capacity  to 
avail  himself  of  this  advantage.     He  urged,   that, 
if  a  compliance   with  the   government,   at  that 
time  established  in  England,  and  the  acknowledg- 
ing of  its  authority,   were  to  be  regarded  as  cri- 
minal, the  whole  nation  had  incurred  equal  guilt, 
and  none  would  remain,  whose  innocence  could 
entitle  them  to  try  or  condemn  him  for  his  pre- 
tended treasons  :  that  according  to  these  maxims, 
wherever '  an  illegal  authority  was  established  by 
force,    a  total   and    universal    destruction   must 
ensue  ;  while  the  usurpers  proscribed  one  part  of 
the  nation  for  disobedience,    the   lawful  prince 
punished    the    other   for  compliance :    that  the 
legislature   of  England,    foreseeing   this  violent 
situation,  had  provided  for  public  security  by  the 
famous  statute  of  Henry  VII. ;  in  which  it  was 
enacted,  that  no  man,  in  case  of  any  revolution, 
should  ever  be  questioned  for  his  obedience  to  the 
king  in  being :  that  whether  the  established  go- 
vernment were  a  monarchy  or  a  commonwealth, 
the  reason  of  the  thing  was  still  the  same ;  nor 
ought  the  expelled  prince  to  think  himself  intitled 
to  allegiance,   so  long  as  he  could  not  afford  pro- 
tection :  that  it  belonged  not  to  private  persons, 
possessed  of  no  power,  to  discuss  the  title  of  their 
governors ;  and  every  usurpation,   even  the  most 
flagrant,    would  equally  require   obedience  with 
the  most  legal  establishment :  that  the  contro- 
versy between  the  late  king  and  his  parliament  was 


460  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1(562. 

of  the   most  delicate   nature ;    and  men   of  the 
greatest  probity  had  been  divided  in  their  choice 
of  the  party   which   they  should  embrace :  that 
the  parliament,   being  rendered   indissoluble  but 
by  its  own  consent,    was  become  a  kind  of  co- 
ordinate power  with   the   king ;    and  as  the  case 
was  thus  entirely  new  and  unknown  to  the  con- 
stitution, it  ought  not  to  be  tried  rigidly  by  the 
letter  of  the  ancient  laws :  that  for  his  part,  all 
the  violences,    which  had  been  put  upon  the  par- 
liament,  and  upon  the  person  of  the  sovereign 
he  had  ever  condemned ;  nor  had  he  once  appear- 
ed in  the  house  for  some  time  before  and  after  the 
execution  of  the  king:  that  finding  the  whole 
government  thrown  into  disorder,  he  was  still  re- 
solved, in  every  revolution,  to  adhere  to  the  com- 
mons, the  root,  the  foundation  of  all  lawful  au- 
thority :    that   in   prosecution   of  this  principle* 
he  had  cheerfully  undergone  all  the  violence  of 
Cromwers  tyranny ;  and  would  now,  with  equal 
alacrity,  expose  himself  to  the  rigours  of  pervert- 
ed law  and  justice :    that   though  it  was  in  his 
power,  on  the  king's  restoration,  to  have  escaped 
from  his  enemies,  he  was  determined,  in  imitation 
of  the    most  illustrious  names  of  antiquity,    to 
perish  in  defence  of  liberty,  and  to  give  testimony 
with  his  blood  for  that  honourable  cause,  in  which 
he  had  been  inlisted  :  and  that,   besides  the  ties, 
by  which  God  and  nature  had  bound  him  to  his 
native  country,  he  was  voluntarily  engaged  by  the 
most  sacred  covenant,  whose  obligation  no  earthly 
power  should  ever  be  able  to  make  him  relinquish. 


1662.  CHARLES    II.  46l 


EXECUTION  OF  VANE.    June  14. 

All  the  defence,  which  Vane  could  make,  was 
fruitless.  The  court,  considering  more  the  ge- 
neral opinion  of  his  active  guilt  in  the  beginning 
and  prosecution  of  the  civil  wars,  than  the  articles 
of  treason  charged  against  him,  took  advantage 
of  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  brought  him  in  guilty. 
His  courage  deserted  him  not  upon  his  condemna- 
tion. Though  timid  by  nature,  the  persuasion 
of  a  just  cause  supported  him  against  the  terrors 
of  death ;  v/hile  his  enthusiasm,  excited  by  the 
prospect  of  glory,  embellished  the  conclusion  of 
a  life,  which,  through  the  whole  course  of  it,  had 
been  so  much  disfigured  by  the  prevalence  of  that 
principle.  Lest  pity  for  a  courageous  sufferer 
should  make  impression  on  the  populace,  drum- 
mers were  placed  under  the  scaffold,  whose  noise, 
as  he  began  to  launch  out  in  reflections  on  the 
government,  drowned  his  voice,  and  admonished 
him  to  temper  the  ardour  of  his  zeal.  He  was  not 
astonished  at  this  unexpected  incident.  In  all 
his  behaviour,  there  appeared  a  firm  and  animated 
intrepidity  ;  and  he  considered  death  but  as  a 
passage  to  that  eternal  felicity,  which  he  believed 
to  be  prepared  for  him. 

This  man,  so  celebrated  for  his  parliamentary 
talents,  and  for  his  capacity  in  business,  has  left 
some  writings  behind  him:  they  treat,  all  of  them, 


462  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  1662. 

of  religious  subjects,  and  are  absolutely  unintelli- 
gible: no  traces  of  eloquence,  or  even  of  common 
sense,  appear  in  them.  A  strange  paradox  !  did 
we  not  know,  that  men  of  the  greatest  genius, 
where  they  relinquish  by  principle  the  use  of  their 
reason,  are  only  enabled,  by  their  vigour  of 
mind,  to  work  themselves  the  deeper  into  error 
and  absurdity.  It  was  remarkable,  that,  as  Vane, 
by  being  the  chief  instrument  of  Strafford's  death, 
had  first  opened  the  way  for  that  destruction 
which  overwhelmed  the  nation ;  so  by  his  death 
he  closed  the  scene  of  blood.  He  was  the  last 
that  suffered  on  account  of  the  civil  wars.  Lam- 
bert, though  condemned,  was  reprieved  at  the 
bar ;  and  the  judges  declared,  that,  if  Vane's 
behaviour  had  been  equally  dutiful  and  submissive, 
he  would  have  experienced  like  lenity  in  the  king. 
Lambert  survived  his  condemnation  near  thirty 
years.  He  was  confined  to  the  isle  of  Guernsey ; 
where  he  lived  contented,  forgetting  all  his  past 
schemes  of  greatness,  and  entirely  forgotten  by 
the  nation  :  he  died  a  Roman  catholic. 


PRESBYTERIAN  CLERGY  EJECTED.    August  24. 

However  odious  Vane  and  Lambert  were  to  the 
presbyterians,  that  party  had  no  leisure  to  rejoice 
at  their  condemnation.  The  fatal  St.  Bartholo- 
mew approached  ;  the  day,  when  the  clergy  were 
obliged  by  the  late  law,  either  to  relinquish  their 


1662.  CHARLES    II.  4&3 

livings,  or  to  sign  the  articles  required  of  them. 
A  combination  had  been  entered  into  by  the  most 
zealous  of  the  presbyterian  ecclesiastics  to  refuse 
the  subscription  ;  in  hopes  that  the  bishops  would 
not  venture  at  once  to  expel  so  great  a  number 
of  the  most  popular  preachers.  The  catholic 
party  at  court,  who  desired  a  great  rent  among 
the  protestants,  encouraged  them  in  this  obstinacy, 
and  gave  them  hopes  that  the  king  would  protect 
them  in  their  refusal.  The  king  himself,  by  his 
irresolute  conduct,  contributed,  either  from  de- 
sign or  accident,  to  increase  this  opinion.  Above 
all,  the  terms  of  subscription  had  been  made  strict 
and  rigid,  on  purpose  to  disgust  all  the  zealous 
and  scrupulous  among  the  presbyterians,  and 
deprive  them  of  their  livings.  About  2000  of 
the  clerg}',  in  one  day,  relinquished  their  cures ; 
and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  court,  sacrificed 
their  interest  to  their  religious  tenets.  Fortified 
by  society  in  their  sufferings,  they  were  resolved 
to  undergo  any  hardships,  rather  than  openly  re- 
nounce those  principles,  which,  on  other  occa- 
sions, they  were  so  apt,  from  interest,  to  warp  or 
elude.  The  church  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  re- 
taliation ;  and  even  pushed,  as  usual,  the  venge- 
ance farther  than  the  offence.  During  the  do- 
minion of  the  parliamentary  party,  a  fifth  of  each 
living  had  been  left  to  the  ejected  clergymen ; 
but  this  indulgence,  though  at  first  insisted  on  by 
the  house  of  peers,  was  now  refused  to  the  presby- 


464  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  166'i. 

terians.  However  difficult  to  conciliate  peace 
among  theologians,  it  was  hoped  by  many,  that 
some  relaxation  in  the  terms  of  communion  might 
have  kept  the  presbyterians  united  to  the  church, 
and  have  cured  those  ecclesiastical  factions  which 
had  been  so  fatal,  and  were  still  so  dangerous. 
Bishopricks  were  offered  to  Calamy,  Baxter,  and 
Reynolds,  leaders  among  the  presbyterians ;  the 
last  only  could  be  prevailed  on  to  accept.  Dean- 
eries and  other  preferments  were  refused  by  many. 


DUNKIRK  SOLD  TO  THE  FRENCH. 

The  next  measure  of  the  king  has  not  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  justified  by  any  party  ;  but  is 
often  considered,  on  what  grounds  I  shall  not 
determine,  as  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes,  if  not 
blemishes,  of  his  reign.  It  is  the  sale  of  Dunkirk 
to  the  French.  The  parsimonious  maxims  of 
the  parliament,  and  the  liberal,  or  rather  careless 
disposition  of  Charles,  were  ill  suited  to  each 
other ;  and  notwithstanding  the  supplies  voted 
him,  his  treasury  was  still  very  empty  and  very 
much  indebted.  He  had  secretly  received  the 
sum  of  200,000  crowns  from  France  for  the  support 
of  Portugal ;  but  the  forces  sent  over  to  that 
country,  and  the  fleets  maintained  in  order  to  de- 
fend it,  had  already  cost  the  king  that  sum ; 
and  together  with  it,   near  double    the   money 


1662.  CHARLES   II.  465 

which  had  been  payed  as  the  queen's  portion  \ 
The  time  fixed  for  payment  of  his  sister's  portion 
to  the  duke  of  Orleans  was  approaching.  Tan- 
giers,  a  fortress  from  which  great  benefit  was  ex- 
pected, was  become  an  additional  burden  to  the 
crown  ;  and  Rutherford,  who  now  commanded  in 
Dunkirk,  had  increased  the  charge  of  that  garri- 
son to  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds  a- 
year.  These  considerations  had  such  influence, 
not  only  on  the  king,  but  even  on  Clarendon, 
that  this  uncorrupt  minister  was  the  most  forward 
to  advise  accepting  a  sum  of  money  in  lieu  of  a 
place  which  he  thought  the  king,  from  the  narrow 
state  of  his  revenue,  was  no  longer  able  to  retain. 
By  the  treaty  with  Portugal  it  was  stipulated  that 
Dunkirk  should  never  be  yielded  to  the  Spaniards : 
France  was  therefore  the  only  purchaser  that  re- 
mained. D'Estrades  was  invited  over  by  a  letter 
from  the  chancellor  himself  in  order  to  conclude 
the  bargain.  Nine  hundred  thousand  pounds 
were  demanded.  One  hundred  thousand  were 
offered.  The  English  by  degrees  lowered  their 
demand :  the  French  raised  their  offer :  and  the 
bargain  was  concluded  at  400,000  pounds.  The 
artillery  and  stores  were  valued  at  a  fifth  of  the 
sumb.  The  importance  of  this  sale  was  not,  at 
that  time,  sufficiently  known,  either  abroad  or  at 

a  D'Estrades,  17th  of  August  1662.    There  was  above  half  of 
500,000  pounds  really  paid  as  the  queen's  portion.     . 
b  D'Estrades,  21st  of  August,  12th  of  September  1062. 
VOL.  VIII.  H  H 


466  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1662. 

home0.  The  French  monarch  himself,  so  fond 
of  acquisitions,  and  so  good  a  judge  of  his  own 
interests,  thought  that  he  had  made  a  hard 
bargain d ;  and  this  sum,  in  appearance  so  small, 
was  the  utmost  which  he  would  allow  his  am- 
bassador to  offer. 


DECLARATION  OF  INDULGENCE.     December  26. 

A  new  incident  discovered  such  a  glimpse  of  the 
king's  character  and  principles,  as,  at  first,  the 
nation  was  somewhat  at  a  loss  how  to  interpret, 
but  such  as  subsequent  events,  by  degrees, 
rendered  sufficiently  plain  and  manifest.  He 
issued  a  declaration  on  pretence  of  mitigating  the 

c  It  appears,  however,  from  many  of  D'Estrades's  letters,  parti- 
cularly that  of  the  21st  of  August  1661,  that  the  king  might  have 
tranferred  Dunkirk  to  the  parliament,  who  would  not  have  refused 
to  bear  the  charges  of  it,  but  were  unwilling.togive  money  to  the 
king  for  that  purpose.  The  king,  on  the  other  hand,  was  jealous 
lest  the  parliament  should  acquire  any  separate  dominion  or  au- 
thority in  a  branch  of  administration  which  seemed  so  little  to 
belong  to  them  :  a  proof  that  the  government  was  not  yet  settled 
into  that  composure  and  mutual  confidence  which  is  absolutely 
requisite  for  conducting  it. 

d  Id.  3d  of  October  1 662.  The  chief  importance  indeed  of 
Dunkirk  to  the  English  was,  that  it  was  able  to  distress  their 
trade,  when  in  the  hands  of  the  French  :  but  it  was  Lewis  the 
XlVth  who  first  made  it  a  good  sea-port.  If  ever  England  have 
occasion  to  transport  armies  to  the  continent,  it  must  be  in  sup- 
port of  some  ally  whose  towns  serve  to  the  same  purpose  as  Dun- 
kirk would,  if  in  the  hands  of  the  English. 


1662.  CHARLES    II.  467 

rigours  contained  in  the  act  of  uniformity.     After 
expressing  his  firm  resolution  to  observe  the  ge- 
neral indemnity,   and  to  trust  entirely  to  the  af- 
fections   of   his    subjects,    not    to   any    military 
power,   for  the  support  of  his  throne,  he  men- 
tioned the  promises  of  liberty  of  conscience,  con- 
tained in  his  declaration  of  Breda.     And  he  sub- 
joined, that,    "  as  in  the  first  place  he  had  been 
"  zealous  to  settle  the  uniformity  of  the  church 
"  of  England,   in  discipline,   ceremony,  and  go- 
"  vernment,    and  shall  ever  constantly  maintain 
"  it :   so  as  for  what  concerns  the  penalties  uporl 
"  those  who,  living  peaceably,   do  not  conform 
"  themselves  thereunto,    through   scruple    and 
"  tenderness  of  misguided  conscience,   but  mo* 
"  destly  and  without  scandal  perform  their  devo- 
"  tions  in  their  own  way,  he  should  make  it  his 
"  special  care,  so  far  as  in  him  lay,  without  invad- 
"  ing   the  freedom  of  parliament,  to  incline  their 
"  wisdom  next   approaching  sessions  to  concur 
"  with  him  in  making  some  such  act  for  that  pur- 
11  pose,  as   may  enable  him  to  exercise,    with  a 
"  more  universal  satisfaction,   that  power  of  dis- 
"  pensing  which  he  conceived  to  be  inherent  in 
"  him6."     Here,    a  most  important  prerogative 
was  exercised  by  the  king  ;  but  under  such  art- 
ful reserves  and  limitations  as  might  prevent  the 
full  discussion  of  the  claim,  and  obviate  a  breach 
between  him  and  his  parliament.     The  foundation 

e  Rennet's  Register,  p  850. 


468  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1662. 

of  this  measure  lay  much  deeper,  and  was  of  the 
utmost  consequence. 

The  king,  during  his  exile,  had  imbibed 
strong  prejudices  in  favour  of  the  catholic  religion; 
and,  according  to  the  most  probable  accounts, 
had  already  been  secretly  reconciled  in  form  to 
the  church  of  Rome.  The  great  zeal,  expressed 
by  the  parliamentary  party  against  all  papists, 
had  always,  from  a  spirit  of  opposition,  inclined 
the  court,  and  all  the  royalists,  to  adopt  more 
favourable  sentiments  towards  that  sect,  which, 
through  the  whole  course  of  the  civil  wars,  had 
strenuously  supported  the  rights  of  the  sovereign. 
The  rigour  too,  which  the  king,  during  his  abode 
in  Scotland,  had  experienced  from  the  presby- 
terians,  disposed  him  to  run  into  the  other  extreme, 
and  to  bear  a  kindness  to  the  party  most  opposite 
in  its  genius  to  the  severity  of  those  religionists. 
The  solicitations  and  importunities  of  the  queen 
mother,  the  contagion  of  the  company  which 
he  frequented,  the  view  of  a  more  splendid  and 
courtly  mode  of  worship,  the  hopes  of  indulgence 
in  pleasure ;  all  these  causes  operated  powerfully 
on  a  young  prince,  whose  careless  and  disso- 
lute temper  made  him  incapable  of  adhering 
closely  to  the  principles  of  his  early  education. 
But  if  the  thoughtless  humour  of  Charles  rendered 
him  an  easy  convert  to  popery,  the  same  disposi- 
tion ever  prevented  the  theological  tenets  of  that 
sect  from  taking  any  fast  hold  of  him.  During  his 
vigorous  state  of  health,  while  his  blood  was  warm 


1662.  CHARLES    II.  46g 

and  his  spirits  high,  a  contempt  and  disregard  to 
all  religion  held  possession  of  his  mind ;  and  he 
might  more  properly  he  denominated  a  deist  than 
a  catholic.  But  in  those  revolutions  of  temper, 
when  the  love  of  raillery  gave  place  to  reflection, 
and  his  penetrating,  but  negligent,  understanding 
was  clouded  with  fears  and  apprehension,  he  had 
starts  of  more  sincere  conviction;  and  a  sect, 
which  always  possessed  his  inclination,  was  then 
master  of  his  judgment  and  opinion f 

But  though  the  king  thus  fluctuated,  during 
his  whole  reign,  between  irreligion,  which  he  more 
openly  professed,  and  popery,  to  which  he  retain- 
ed a  secret  propensity,  his  brother,  the  duke  of 
York,  had  zealously  adopted  all  the  principles 
of  that  theological  party.  His  eager  temper  and 
narrow  understanding  made  him  a  thorough  con- 
vert without  any  reserve  from  interest,  or  doubts 
from  reasoning  and  inquiry.  By  this  application 
to  business  he  had  acquired  a  great  ascendant  over 
the  king,  who,  though  possessed  of  more  discern- 
ment, was  glad  to -throw  the  burden  of  affairs  on 
the  duke,  of  whom  he  entertained  little  jealousy. 
On  pretence  of  easing  the  protestant  dissenters, 
they  agreed  upon  a  plan  for  introducing  a  general 
toleration,  and  giving  the  catholics  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  their  religion  ;    at  least,  the  exercise  of 

f  The  author  confesses  that  the  king's  zeal  for  popery  was  apt, 
at  intervals,  to  go  farther  than  is  here  supposed,  as  appears  from 
many  passages  in  James  the  second's  Memoirs. 


47Q  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  X6Q3. 

it  in  private  houses.  The  two  brothers  saw  with 
pleasure  so  numerous  and  popular  a  body  of  the 
clergy  refuse  conformity;  and  it  was  hoped  that, 
under  shelter  of  their  name,  the  small  and  hated 
sect  of  the  catholics  might  meet  with  favour  and 
protection. 

But  while  the  king  pleaded  his  early  promises 
of  toleration,  and  insisted  on  many  other  plausible 
topics,  the  parliament,  who  sat  a  little  after  the  de- 
claration was  issued,  could  by  no  means  be  satis- 
fied with  this  measure.  The  declared  intention  of 
easing  the  dissenters,  and  the  secret  purpose  of 
favouring  the  catholics,  were  equally  disagreeable 
to  them ;  and  in  these  prepossessions  they  were 
encouraged  by  the  king's  ministers  themselves, 
particularly  the  chancellor.  The  house  of  com- 
mons represented  to  the  king,  that  his  declaration 
of  Breda  contained  no  promise  to  the  presbyter 
rians  and  other  dissenters,  but  only  an  expression 
of  his  intentions,  upon  supposition  of  the  con- 
currence of  parliament :  that  even  if  the  non- 
conformists had  been  entitled  to  plead  a  promise, 
they  had  intrusted  this  claim,  as  all  their  other 
rights  and  privileges,  to  the  house  of  commons, 
who  were  their  representatives,  and  who  now  freed 
the  king  from  that  obligation  :  that  it  was  not  to 
be  supposed  that  his  majesty  and  the  houses  were 
so  bound  by  that  declaration  as  to  be  incapacitated 
from  making  any  laws  which  might  be  contrary  to 
it :  that  even  at  the  king's  restoration,  there  were 


1663.  CHARLES    II.  47! 

laws  of  uniformity  in  force  which  could  not  be 
dispensed  with  but  by  act  of  parliament :  and 
that  the  indulgence  intended  would  prove  most 
pernicious  both  to  church  and  state,  would  open 
the  door  to  schism,  encourage  faction,  disturb 
the  public  peace,  and  discredit  the  wisdom  of  the 
legislature.  The  king  did  not  think  proper,  after 
this  remonstrance,  to  insist  any  farther  at  present 
on  the  project  of  indulgence. 

In  order  to  deprive  the  catholics  of  all  hopes, 
the  two  houses  concurred  in  a  remonstrance 
against  them.  The  king  gave  a  gracious  answer ; 
though  he  scrupled  not  to  profess  his  gratitude 
towards  many  of  that  persuasion,  on  account  of 
their  faithful  services  in  his  father's  cause  and  in 
his  own.  A  proclamation,  for  form's  sake,  was 
soon  after  issued  against  Jesuits  and  Romish 
priests :  but  care  was  taken,  by  the  very  terms  of 
it,  to  render  it  ineffectual.  The  parliament  had 
allowed,  that  all  foreign  priests,  belonging  to  the 
two  queens,  should  be  excepted,  and  that  a  per- 
mission for  them  to  remain  in  England  should  still 
be  granted.  In  the  proclamation,  the  word 
foreign  was  purposely  omitted  ;  and  the  queens 
were  thereby  authorised  to  give  protection  to  as 
many  English  priests  as  they  should  think  proper. 

That  the  king  might  reap  some  advantage  from 
his  compliances,  however  fallacious,  he  engaged 
the  commons  anew  into  an  examination  of  his  re- 
venue, which,  chiefly  by  the  negligence  in  levy- 
ing it,   had  proved,  he  said,  much  inferior  to  the 


472  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1663. 

public  charges.  Notwithstanding  the  price  of 
Dunkirk,  his  debts,  he  complained,  amounted  to 
a  considerable  sum  ;  and  to  satisfy  the  commons 
that  the  money  formerly  granted  him  had  not 
been  prodigally  expended,  he  oifered  to  lay  before 
them  the  whole  account  of  his  disbursements.  It 
is,  however,  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  the  king, 
though  during  his  banishment  he  had  managed 
his  small  and  precarious  income  with  great  order 
and  oeconomy,  had  now  much  abated  of  these 
virtues,  and  was  unable  to  make  his  royal  revenues 
suffice  for  his  expences.  The  commons,  without 
entering  into  too  nice  a  disquisition,  voted  him 
four  subsidies;  and  this  was  the  last  time  that 
taxes  were  levied  in  that  manner. 

Several  laws  were  made  this  session  with  regard 
to  trade.  The  militia  also  came  under  considera- 
tion, and  some  rules  were  established  for  ordering 
and  arming  it.  It  was  enacted,  that  the  king 
should  have  no  power  of  keeping  the  militia  under 
arms  above  fourteen  days  in  the  year.  The  situ- 
ation of  this  island,  together  with  its  great  naval 
power,  has  always  occasioned  other  means  of  se- 
curity, however  requisite,  to  be  much  neglected 
amongst  us :  and  the  parliament  showed  here  a 
very  superfluous  jealousy  of  the  king's  strictness  in 
disciplining  the  militia.  The  principles  of  liberty 
rather  require  a  contrary  jealousy. 

The  earl  of  Bristol's  friendship  with  Clarendon, 
which  had  subsisted  with  great  intimacy  during 
their  exile  and  the  distresses  of  the  royal  party, 


16(53.  CHARLES    II.  4"3 

had  been  considerably  impaired  since  the  restora- 
tion, by   the  chancellor's  refusing  his  assent  to 
some  grants,  which  Bristol  had  applied  for  to  a 
court  lady:  and  a  little  after,  the  latter  nobleman, 
agreeably  to  the  impetuosity  and  indiscretion  of 
his  temper,  broke  out  against  the  minister  in  the 
most  outrageous   manner.     He  even   entered   a 
charge  of  treason  against  him  before  the  house  of 
peers ;  but  had  concerted  his  measures  so  impru- 
dently, that  the  judges,  when  consulted,  declared, 
that,  neither  for  its  matter  nor  its  form,  could  the 
charge  be  legally  received.     The  articles  indeed 
resemble  more  the  incoherent  altercations  of  a 
passionate  enemy,  than  a  serious  accusation,  fit  to 
be  discussed  by  a  court  of  judicature ;  and  Bristol 
himself  was  so  ashamed  of  his  conduct  and  defeat, 
that  he  absconded  during  some  time.     Notwith- 
standing his  fine  talents,  his  eloquence,  his  spirit, 
ard  his  courage,  he  could  never  regain  the  cha- 
racter which  he  lost  by  this  hasty  and  precipitate 
measure. 


DECLINE  OF  CLARENDON'S  CREDIT. 

But  though  Clarendon  was  able  to  elude  this  rash 
assault,  his  credit  at  court  was  sensibly  declining ; 
and  in  proportion  as  the  king  found  himself  estab- 
lished on  the  throne,  he  began  to  alienate  himself 
from  a  minister,  whose  character  was  so  little 
suited  to  his  own.     Charles's  favour  for  the  catho- 


474  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  l6<53. 

lies  was  always  opposed  by  Clarendon,  public 
liberty  was  secured  against  all  attempts  of  the 
over-zealous  royalists,  prodigal  grants  of  the  king 
were  checked  or  refused,  and  the  dignity  of  his 
own  character  was  so  much  consulted  by  the  chan- 
cellor, that  he  made  it  an  inviolable  rule,  as  did 
also  his  friend,  Southampton,  never  to  enter  into 
any  connexion  with  the  royal  mistresses  The 
king's  favourite  was  Mrs.  Palmer,  afterwards 
created  duchess  of  Cleveland  ;  a  woman  prodigal, 
rapacious,  dissolute,  violent,  revengeful.  She 
failed  not  in  her  turn  to  undermine  Clarendon's 
credit  with  his  master ;  and  her  success  was  at  this 
time  made  apparent  to  the  whole  world.  Secre- 
tary Nicholas,  the  chancellor's  great  friend,  was 
removed  from  his  place ;  and  sir  Harry  Bennet, 
his  avowed  enemy,  was  advanced  to  that  office. 
Bennet  was  soon  after  created  lord  Arlington. 

Though  the  king's  conduct  had  hitherto,  since 
his  restoration,  been,  in  the  main,  laudable,  men 
of  penetration  began  to  observe,  that  those  virtues 
by  which  he  had  at  first  so  much  dazzled  and  en- 
chanted the  nation,  had  great  show,  but  not  equal 
solidity.  His  good  understanding  lost  much  of 
its  influence  by  his  want  of  application  ;  his  bounty 
was  more  the  result  of  a  facility  of  disposition, 
than  any  generosity  of  character ;  his  social 
humour  led  him  frequently  to  neglect  his  dignity ; 
his  love  of  pleasure  was  not  attended  with  proper 
sentiment  and  decency  ;  and  while  he  seemed  to 
bear  a  good-will  to  every  one  that  approached 


1663.  CHARLES    II.  4/5 

him,  he  had  a  heart  not  very  capahle  of  friendship, 
and  he  had  secretly  entertained  a  very  bad  opinion 
and  distrust  of  mankind.  But  above  all,  what 
sullied  his  character,  in  the  eyes  of  good  judges, 
was  his  negligent  ingratitude  towards  the  unfortu- 
nate cavaliers,  whose  zeal  and  sufferings  in  the 
royal  cause  had  known  no  bounds.  This  conduct, 
however,  in  the  king,  may,  from  the  circum- 
stances of  his  situation  and  temper,  admit  of  some 
excuse;  at  least  of  some  alleviation.  Ashe  had 
been  restored  more  by  the  efforts  of  his  reconciled 
enemies  than  of  his  ancient  friends,  the  former 
pretended  a  title  to  share  his  favour;  and  being, 
from  practice,  acquainted  with  public  business, 
they  were  better  qualified  to  execute  any  trust 
committed  to  them.  The  king's  revenues  were 
far  from  being  large,  or  even  equal  to  his  neces- 
sary expences  ;  and  his  mistresses,  and  the  com- 
panion of  his  mirth  and  pleasures,  gained,  by 
solicitation,  every  request  from  his  easy  temper. 
The  very  poverty,  to  which  the  more  zealous  roy- 
alists had  reduced  themselves,  by  rendering  them 
insignificant,  made  them  unfit  to  support  the  king's 
measures,  and  caused  him  to  deem  them  a  useless 
incumbrance.  And  as  many  false  and  ridiculous 
claims  of  merit  were  offered,  his  natural  indolence, 
averse  to  a  strict  discussion  or  inquiry,  led  him  to 
treat  them  all  with  equal  indifference.  The  par- 
liament took  some  notice  of  the  poor  cavaliers. 
Sixty  thousand  pounds  were  at  one  time  distri- 
buted   among  them :  Mrs.   Lane  also,    and   the 


476  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1663. 

Penderells,  had  handsome  presents  and  pensions 
from  the  king.  But  the  greater  part  of  the  roy- 
alists still  remained  in  poverty  and  distress ;  aggra- 
vated by  the  cruel  disappointment  in  their  san- 
guine hopes,  and  by  seeing  favour  and  preferment 
bestowed  upon  their  most  inveterate  foes.  With 
regard  to  the  act  of  indemnity  and  oblivion,  they 
universally  said,  that  it  was  an  act  of  indemnity 
to  the  king's  enemies,  and  of  oblivion  to  his 
friends. 


16&4  CHARLES    II.  477 


CHAPTER    LXIV. 


A  new  Session ....  Rupture  with  Holland  ....  A  new  Session 
....  Victory  of  the  English  ... .  Rupture   with  France  .... 

Rupture  with  Denmark New  Session  ....  Sea-fight   of 

four  Days  ....  Victory  of  the  English  ....  Fire  of  London 
....  Advances  towards  Peace  ....  Disgrace  at  Chatham .... 
Peace  of  Breda ....  Clarendon's  Fall ....  and  Banishment .... 
State  of  France  ....  Character  of  Lewis  XIV  ....  French  In- 
vasion of  the  Low  Countries  ....  Negotiations  ....  Triple 
League ....  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle ....  Affairs  of  Scot- 
land ....  and  of  Ireland. 


A  NEW  SESSION.    March  16. 

I  he  next  session  of  parliament  discovered  a 
continuance  of  the  same  principles  which  had 
prevailed  in  all  the  foregoing.  Monarchy  and 
the  church  were  still  the  objects  of  regard  and 
affection.  During  no  period  of  the  present  reign 
did  this  spirit  more  evidently  pass  the  bounds  of 
reason  and  moderation. 

The  king,  in  his  speech  to  the  parliament,  had 
ventured  openly  to  demand  a  repeal  of  the  trien- 
nial act ;  and  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  declare 
that,   notwithstanding  the  law,  he  never  would 


•1/8  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1664. 

allow  any  parliament  to  be  assembled  by  the 
methods  prescribed  in  that  statute.  The  parlia- 
ment, without  taking  offence  at  this  declaration, 
repealed  the  law ;  and,  in  lieu  of  all  the  securities 
formerly  provided,  satisfied  themselves  with  a 
general  clause,  "  that  parliaments  should  not  be 
"  interrupted  above  three  years  at  the  most." 
As  the  English  parliament  had  now  raised  itself 
to  be  a  regular  check  and  control  upon  royal 
power,  it  is  evident  that  they  ought  still  to  have 
preserved  a  regular  security  for  their  meeting, 
and  not  have  trusted  entirely  to  the  good-will 
of  the  king,  who,  if  ambitious  or  enterprising, 
had  so  little  reason  to  be  pleased  with  these  as- 
semblies. Before  the  end  of  Charles's  reign,  the 
nation  had  occasion  to  feel  very  sensibly  the 
effects  of  this  repeal. 

By  the  act  of  uniformity,  every  clergyman, 
who  should  officiate  without  being  properly  qua- 
lified, was  punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment : 
but  this  security  was  not  thought  sufficient  for 
the  church.  It  was  now  enacted,  that  wherever 
five  persons  above  those  of  the  same  household 
should  assemble  in  a  religious  congregation,  every 
one  of  them  was  liable,  for  the  first  offence,  to  be 
imprisoned  three  months,  or  pay  five  pounds ;  for 
the  second,  to  be  imprisoned  six  months,  or  pay 
ten  pounds  ;  and  for  the  third,  to  be  transported 
seven  years,  or  pay  a  hundred  pounds.  The  par- 
liament had  only  in  their  eye  the  malignity  of  the 
sectaries  :  they  should  have  carried  their  attention 


1GG4.  CHARLES    II.  4/9 

farther,  to  the  chief  cause  of  that  malignity,  the 
restraint  under  which  they  laboured. 

The  commons  likewise  passed  a  vote,  that  the 
wrongs,  dishonours,  and  indignities,  offered  to 
the  English  by  the  subjects  of  the  United  Pro- 
vinces, were  the  greatest  obstructions  to  all 
foreign  trade  ;  and  they  promised  to  assist  the 
king  with  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  asserting  the 
rights  of  his  crown  against  all  opposition  what- 
soever. This  was  the  first  open  step  towards  the 
Dutch  war.  We  must  explain  the  causes  and 
motives  of  this  measure. 


RUPTURE  WITH  HOLLAND. 

i 
That  close  union  and  confederacy,  which,  during 
a  course  of  near  seventy  years,  has  subsisted, 
almost  without  interruption  or  jealousy,  between 
England  and  Holland,  is  not  so  much  founded  on 
the  natural  unalterable  interests  of  these  states,  as 
on  their  terror  of  the  growing  power  of  the 
French  monarch,  who,  without  their  combination, 
it  is  apprehended,  would  soon  extend  his  dominion 
over  Europe.  In  the  first  years  of  Charles's  reign, 
when  the  ambitious  genius  of  Lewis  had  not,  as 
yet,  displayed  itself,  and  when  the  great  force  of 
his  people  was,  in  some  measure,  unknown  even 
to  themselves,  the  rivalship  of  commerce,  not 
checked  by  any  other  jealousy  or  apprehension, 


y 


V 


4S0  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1664. 

had  in  England  begotten  a  violent  enmity  against 
the  neighbouring  republic. 

Trade  was  beginning,  among  the  English,  to 
be  a  matter  of  general  concern  ;  but  notwith- 
standing all  their  efforts  and  advantages,  their 
commerce  seemed  hitherto  to  stand  upon  a  foot- 
ing, which  was  somewhat  precarious/  The  Dutch, 
who  by  industry  and  frugality  were  enabled  to 
undersell  them  in  every  market,  retained  pos- 
session of  the  most  lucrative  branches  of  com- 
merce ;  and  the  English  merchants  had  the  mor- 
tification to  find  that  all  attempts  to  extend  their 
trade  were  still  turned,  by  the  vigilance  of  their 
rivals,  to  their  loss  and  dishonour.  Their  in* 
dignation  increased,  when  they  considered  the 
superior  naval  power  of  England  ;  the  bravery  of 
her  officers  and  seamen,  her  favourable  situation, 
which  enabled  her  to  intercept  the  whole  Dutch 
commerce.  By  the  prospect  of  these  advantages 
they  were  strongly  prompted,  from  motives  less 
just  than  political,  to  make  war  upon  the  States ; 
and  at  once  to  ravish  from  them  by  force  what 
they  could  not  obtain,  or  could  obtain  but  slowly, 
by  superior  skill  and  industry. 

The  careless  unambitious  temper  of  Charles 
rendered  him  little  capable  of  forming  so  vast  a 
project  as  that  of  engrossing  the  commerce  and 
naval  power  of  Europe  ;  yet  could  he  not  remain 
altogether  insensible  to  such  obvious  and  such 
tempting  prospects.     His  genius,  happily  turned 


\S 


1664.  CHARLES   II,  481 

towards  mechanics,  had  inclined  him  to  study 
naval  affairs,  which,  of  all  branches  of  business, 
he  both  loved  the  most  and  understood  the  best. 
Though  the  Dutch,  during  his  exile,  had  ex- 
pressed towards  him  more  civility  and  friendship 
than  he  had  received  from  any  other  foreign 
power ;  the  Louvestein  or  aristocratic  faction, 
which  at  this  time  ruled  the  commonwealth,  had 
fallen  into  close  union  with  France ;  and  could 
that  party  be  subdued,  he  might  hope  that  his 
nephew,  the  young  prince  of  Orange,  would  be 
reinstated  in  the  authority  possessed  by  his  an- 
cestors, and  would  bring  the  States  to  a  depend- 
ence under  England.  His  narrow  revenues  made 
it  still  requisite  for  him  to  study  the  humours  of 
his  people,  which  now  ran  violently  towards  war; 
and  it  has  been  suspected,  though  the  suspicion 
was  not  justified  by  the  event,  that  the  hopes  of 
diverting  some  of  the  supplies  to  his  private  use 
were  not  overlooked  by  this  necessitous  monarch. 
The  duke  of  York,  more  active  and  enter- 
prising, pushed  more  eagerly  the  war  with  Hol- 
land. He  desired  an  opportunity  of  distinguishing 
himself:  he  loved  to  cultivate  commerce:  he 
was  at  the  head  of  a  new  African  cpmpany,  whose 
trade  was  extremely  checked  by  the  settlements 
of  the  Dutch  :  and  perhaps  the  religious  pre- 
judices, by  which  that  prince  was  always  so  much 
governed,  began  even  so  early  to  instil  into  him 
an  antipathy  against  a  protestant  commonwealth, 
the  bulwark  of  the  reformation.     Clarendon  and 

VOL.  VIII.  I  I 


y 


482  HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND.  )664. 

Southampton,  observing  that  the  nation  was  not 
supported  by  any  foreign  alliance,  were  averse 
to  hostilities  ;  but  their  credit  was  now  on  the 
decline. 

By  these  concurring  motives,  the  court  and 
parliament  were  both  of  them  inclined  to  a  Dutch 
war.  The  parliament  was  prorogued  without 
voting  supplies:  but  as  they  had  been  induced, 
without  any  open  application  from  the  crown,  to 
pass  that  vote  above-mentioned  against  the  Dutch 
encroachments,  it  was  reasonably  considered  as 
sufficient  sanction  for  the  vigorous  measures  which 
were  resolved  on. 

Downing,  the  English  minister  at  the  Hague, 
a  man  of  an  insolent  impetuous  temper,  presented 
a  memorial  to  the  States,  containing  a  list  of  those 
depredations,  of  which  the  English  complained. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  all  the  pretended  depre- 
dations preceded  the  year  1662,  when  a  treaty  of 
league  and  alliance  had  been  renewed  with  the 
Dutch  ;  and  these  complaints  were  then  thought 
either  so  ill  grounded  or  so  frivolous,  that  they 
had  not  been  mentioned  in  the  treaty.  Two 
ships  alone,  the  Bonaventure  and  the  Good-hope, 
had  been  claimed  by  the  English  ;  and  it  was 
agreed  that  the  claim  should  be  prosecuted  by 
the  ordinary  course  of  justice.  The  states  had 
consigned  a  sum  of  money  in  case  the  cause 
should  be  decided  against  them ;  but  the  matter 
was  still  in  dependance.  Cary,  who  was  entrusted 
by  the  proprietors  with  the  management  of  the 


1664.  CHARLES    II.  483 

law-suit  for  the  Bonaventure,  had  resolved  to 
accept  of  thirty  thousand  pounds,  which  were 
offered  him ;  but  was  hindered  by  Downing, 
who  told  him,  that  the  claim  was  a  matter  of 
state  between  the  two  nations,  not  a  concern  of 
private  persons g.  These  circumstances  give  us 
no  favourable  idea  of  the  justice  of  the  English 
pretensions. 

Charles  confined  not  himself  to  memorials 
and  remonstrances.  Sir  Robert  Holmes  was  se^ 
cretly  dispatched  with  a  squadron  of  twenty-two 
ships  to  the  coast  of  Africa.  He  not  only  ex- 
pelled the  Dutch  from  cape  Corse,  to  which  the 
English  had  some  pretensions  !  he  likewise  seized 
the  Dutch  settlements  of  cape  Verde  and  the  isle 
of  Goree,  together  with  several  ship  strading  on 
that  coast.  And  having  sailed  to  America,  he 
possessed  himself  of  Nova  Belgia,  since  called 
New  York ;  a  territory  which  James  the  First 
had  given  by  patent  to  the  earl  of  Sterling,  but 
which  had  never  been  planted  but  by  the  Hol- 
landers. When  the  States  complained  of  these 
hostile  measures,  the  king,  unwilling  to  avow 
\vhat  he  could  not  well  justify,  pretended  to  be 
totally  ignorant  of  Holmes's  enterprise.  He  like- 
wise confined  that  admiral  to  the  Tower;  but 
some  time  after  released  him. 

The  Dutch,  finding  that  their  applications  for 
redress  were  likely  to  be  eluded,  and  that  a  ground 

«  Temple,  vol.  ii.  p.  42. 


484  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1664. 

of  quarrel  was  industriously  sought  for  by  the 
English,  began  to  arm  with  diligence.  They 
even  exerted,  with  some  precipitation,  an  act  of 
vigour,  which  hastened  on  the  rupture.  Sir  John 
Lawson  and  cle  Ruyter  had  been  sent  with  com- 
bined squadrons  into  the  Mediterranean,  in  order 
to  chastise  the  piratical  states  on  the  coast  of 
Barbary ;  and  the  time  of  their  separation  and 
return  was  now  approaching.  The  States  secretly 
dispatched  orders  to  cle  Ruyter,  that  he  should 
take  in  provisions  at  Cadiz  ;  and  sailing  towards 
the  coast  of  Guinea,  should  retaliate  on  the 
English,  and  put  the  Dutch  in  possession  of  those 
settlements  whence  Holmes  had  expelled  them. 
De  Ruyter,  having  a  considerable  force  on  board, 
met  with  no  opposition  in  Guinea.  All  the  new 
acquisitions  of  the  English,  except  cape  Corse, 
were  recovered  from  them.  They  were  even  dis- 
possessed of  some  old  settlements.  Such  of  their 
ships  as  fell  into  his  hands  were  seized  by  de 
Ruyter.  That  admiral  sailed  to  America.  He 
attacked  Barbadoes,  but  was  repulsed:  He  after- 
wards committed  hostilities  on  Long:  Island. 

Meanwhile,  the  English  preparations  for  war 
were  advancing  with  vigour  and  industry.  The 
king  had  received  no  supplies  from  parliament ; 
but  by  his  own  funds  and  credit  he  was  enabled 
to  equip  a  fleet :  the  city  of  London  lent  him 
100,000  pounds:  the  spirit  of  the  nation  seconded 
his  armaments:  he  himself  went  from  port  to 
port,   inspecting  with  great  diligence,  and   en- 


1664.  CHARLES    II.  485 

couraging  the  work:  and  in  a  little  time  the 
English  navy  was  put  in  a  formidable  con- 
dition. Eight  hundred  thousand  pounds  are  said 
to  have  been  expended  on  this  armament.  When 
Lawson  arrived,  and  communicated  his  suspicion 
of  de  Ruyter's  enterprise,  orders  were  issued  for 
seizing  all  Dutch  ships;  and  135  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  These  were  not  declared 
prizes,  till  afterwards,  when  war  was  proclaimed. 


A  NEW  SESSION.    November  24. 

The  parliament,  when  it  met,  granted  a  supply, 
the  largest  by  far  that  had  ever  been  given  to  a 
king  of  England,  yet  scarcely  sufficient  for  the 
present  undertaking.  Near  two  millions  and  a 
half  were  voted  to  be  levied  by  quarterly  pay- 
ments in  three  years.  The  avidity  of  the  mer- 
chants, together  with  the  great  prospect  of 
success,  had  animated  the  whole  nation  against 
the  Dutch. 

A  great  alteration  was  made  this  session  in  the 
method  of  taxing  the  clergy.  In  almost  all  the 
other  monarchies  of  Europe,  the  assemblies,  whose 
consent  was  formerly  requisite  to  the  enacting  of 
laws,  were  composed  of  three  estates,  the  clergy, 
the  nobility,  and  the  commonalty,  which  formed 
so  many  members  of  the  political  body,  of  which 
the  king  was  considered  as  the  head.  In  England 
too,  the    parliament  was  always  represented  as 


4S6  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  \fM. 

consisting  of  three  estates ;  but  their  separation 
was  never  so  distinct  as  in  other  kingdoms.  A 
convocation,  however,  had  usually  sitten  at  the 
same  time  with  the  parliament;  though  they  pos- 
sessed not  a  negative  voice  in  the  passing  of  laws, 
and  assumed  no  other  temporal  power  than  that 
of  imposing  taxes  on  the  clergy.  By  reason  of 
ecclesiastical  preferments,  which  he  could  bestow, 
the  king's  influence  over  the  church  was  more 
considerable  than  over  the  laity ;  so  that  the  sub- 
sidies, granted  by  the  convocation,  were  com- 
monly greater  than  those  which  were  voted  by 
parliament.  The  church,  therefore,  was  not  dis- 
pleased to  depart  tacitly  from  the  right  of  taxing 
herself,  and  allow  the  commons  to  lay  impositions 
on  ecclesiastical  revenues,  as  on  the  rest  of  the 
kingdom.  In  recompence,  two  subsidies,  which 
the  convocation  had  formerly  granted,  were  re- 
mitted, and  the  parochial  clergy  were  allowed  to 
vote  at  elections.  Thus  the  church  of  England 
made  a  barter  of  power  for  profit.  Their  con- 
vocations, having  become  insignificant  to  the 
crown,  have  been  much  disused  of  late  years. 

The  Dutch  saw,  with  the  utmost  regret,  a  war 
approaching,  whence  they  might  dread  the  most 
fatal  consequences,  but  which  afforded  no  pro- 
spect of  advantage.  They  tried  every  art  of  nego- 
tiation, before  they  would  come  to  extremities. 
Their  measures  were  at  that  time  directed  by 
John  de  Wit,  a  minister  equally  eminent  for 
greatness  of  mind,  for  capacit}',  and  for  integrity. 


tflft,  CHARLES    II.  437 

Though  moderate  in  his  private  deportment,  he 
knew  how  to  adopt  in  his  public  counsels  that 
magnanimity,  which  suits  the  minister  of  a  great 
state.  It  was  ever  his  maxim,  that  no  independent 
government  should  yield  to  another  any  evident 
point  of  reason  or  equity;  and  that  all  such  con- 
cessions, so  far  from  preventing  war,  served  to  no 
other  purpose  than  to  provoke  fresh  claims  and 
insults.  By  his  management  a  spirit  of  union  was 
preserved  in  all  the  provinces ;  great  sums  were 
levied ;  and  a  navy  was  equipped,  composed  of 
larger  ships  than  the  Dutch  had  ever  built  before, 
and  able  to  cope  with  the  fleet  of  England. 

As  soon  as  certain  intelligence  arrived  of  de 
Ruyter's  enterprises,  Charles  declared  war  against 
the  States,  His  fleet,  consisting  of  114  sail,  be- 
sides fire-ships  and  ketches,  was  commanded  by 
the  duke  of  York,  and  under  him  by  prince 
Rupert  and  the  earl  of  Sandwich.  It  had  about 
22,000  men  on  board.  Obdam,  who  was  admiral 
of  the  Dutch  navy,  of  nearly  equal  force,  declined 
not  the  combat.  In  the  heat  of  action,  when 
engaged  in  close  fight  with  the  duke  of  York, 
Obdam's  ship  blew  up.  This  accident  much  dis- 
couraged the  Dutch,  who  fled  towards  their  own 
coast.  Tromp  alone,  son  of  the  famous  admiral 
killed  during  the  former  war,  bravely  sustained 
with  his  squadron  the  efforts  of  the  English,  and 
protected  the  rear  of  his  countrymen.  The  van- 
quished had  nineteen  ships  sunk  and  taken.     The 


-1S8  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1665. 

victors  lost  only  one.     Sir  John  Lawson  died  soon 
after  of  his  wounds. 

It  is  affirmed,  and  with  an  appearance  of 
reason,  that  this  victory  might  have  been  ren- 
dered more  complete,  had  not  orders  been  issued 
to  slacken  sail  by  Brounker,  one  of  the  duke's 
bedchamber,  who  pretended  authority  from  his 
master.  The  duke  disclaimed  the  orders ;  but 
Brounker  never  was  sufficiently  punished  for  his 
temerity  \  It  is  allowed,  however,  that  the  duke 
behaved  with  great  bravery  during  the  action. 
He  was  long  in  the  thickest  of  the  fire.  The 
earl  of  Falmouth,  lord  Muskerry,  and  Mr.  Boyle, 
were  killed  by  one  shot  at  his  side,  and  covered 
him  all  over  with  their  brains  and  gore.  And  it 
is  not  likely,  that,  in  a  pursuit,  where  even  per- 
sons of  inferior  station,  and  of  the  most  cowardly 

h  King  James,  in  his  Memoirs,  gives  an  account  of  this  affair 
different  from  what  we  meet  with  in  any  historian.  He  says,  that 
while  he  was  asleep,  Brounker  brought  orders  to  sir  John  Harman, 
captain  of  the  ship,  to  slacken  sail.  Sir  John  remonstrated,  but 
obeyed.  After  some  time,  finding  that  his  falling  back  was  likely 
to  produce  confusion  in  the  fleet,  he  hoisted  the  sail  as  before  :  so 
that  the  prince  coming  soon  after  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  finding 
all  things  as  he  left  them,  knew  nothing  of  what  had  passed 
during  his  repose.  No  body  gave  him  the  least  intimation  of  it. 
It  was  long  after,  that  he  heard  of  it  by  a  kind  of  accident ;  and 
he  intended  to  have  punished  Brounker  by  martial  law ;  but  just 
about  that  time,  the  house  of  commons  took  up  the  question  and 
impeached  him,  which  made  it  impossible  for  the  duke  to  punish 
hiurotherwise  than  by  dismissing  him  his  service.  Brounker, 
before  the  house,  never  pretended  that  he  had  received  any 
orders  from  the  duke. 


1665.  CHARLES    II.  48.0 

disposition,  acquire  courage,  a  commander  should 
feel  his  spirits  to  flag,  and  should  turn  from  the 
back  of  an  enemy,  whose  face  he  had  not  been 
afraid  to  encounter. 

This  disaster  threw  the  Dutch  into  constern- 
ation, and  determined  de  Wit,  who  was  the  soul 
of  their  councils,  to  exert  his  military  capacity, 
in  order  to  support  the  declining  courage  of  his 
countrymen.  He  went  on  board  the  fleet,  which 
he  took  under  his  command ;  and  he  soon  re- 
medied all  those  disorders  which  had  been  oc- 
casioned by  the  late  misfortune.  The  genius  of 
this  man  was  of  the  most  extensive  nature.  He 
quickly  became  as  much  master  of  naval  affairs, 
as  if  he  had  from  his  infancy  been  educated  in 
them;  and  he  even  made  improvements  in  some 
parts  of  pilotage  and  sailing,  beyond  what  men 
expert  in  those  arts  had  ever  been  able  to  attain. 


RUPTURE  WITH  FRANCE. 

The  misfortunes  of  the  Dutch  determined  their 
allies  to  act  for  their  assistance  and  support.  The 
king  of  France  was  engaged  in  a  defensive  alliance 
with  the  states;  but  as  his  naval  force  was  yet  in 
its  infancy,  he  was  extremely  averse,  at  that  time, 
from  entering  into  a  war  with  so  formidable  a 
power  as  England.  He  long  tried  to  mediate  a 
peace  between  the  States,  and  for  that  purpose 
sent  an  embassy  to  London,  which  returned  with- 


4Q0  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  lOfe. 

out  effecting  any  thing.  Lord  Hollis,  the  English 
ambassador  at  Paris,  endeavoured  to  draw  over 
Lewis  to  the  side  of  England  ;  and,  in  his  master's 
name,  made  him  the  most  tempting  offers.  Charles 
was  content  to  abandon  all  the  Spanish  Low 
Countries  to  the  French,  without  pretending  to  a 
foot  of  ground  for  himself;  provided  Lewis  would 
allow  him  to  pursue  his  advantages  against  the 
Dutch  \  But  the  French  monarch,  though  the 
conquest  of  that  valuable  territory  was  the  chief 
object  of  his  ambition,  rejected  the  offer  as  con- 
trary to  his  interests :  he  thought,  that  if  the 
English  had  once  established  an  uncontrollable 
dominion  over  the  sea  and  over  commerce,  they 
would  soon  be  able  to  render  his  acquisitions  a 
dear  purchase  to  him.  When  de  Lionne,  the 
French  secretary,  assured  Van  Beuninghen,  am- 
bassador of  the  States,  that  this  offer  had  been 
pressed  on  his  master  during  six  months ;  "  I  can 
"  readily  believe  it,"  replied  the  Dutchman;  "  I 
M  am  sensible  that  it  is  the  interest  of  England  V 
Such  were  the  established  maxims  at  that  time 
with  regard  to  the  interests  of  princes.  It  must 
however  be  allowed,  that  the  politics  of  Charles,  in 
making  this  offer,  were  not  a  little  hazardous.  The 
extreme  weakness  of  Spain  would  have  rendered 
the  French  conquests  easy  and  infallible;  but  the 
vigour  of  the  Dutch,  it  might  be  foreseen,  would 

'  D'Estrades,  19th  December  1664. 
k  Ibid.  14  August  1665. 


1665.  CHARLES   II.  491 

make  the  success  of  the  English  much  more  preca- 
rious. And  even  were  the  naval  force  of  Holland 
totally,  annihilated,  the  acquisition  of  the  Dutch 
commerce  to  England  could  not  be  relied  on  as  a 
certain  consequence ;  nor  is  trade  a  constant  at- 
tendant of  power,  but  depends  on  many  other, 
and  some  of  them  very  delicate,  circumstances. 

Though  the  king  of  France  was  resolved  to 
support  the  Hollanders  in  that  unequal  contest  in 
which  they  were  engaged ;  yet  he  protracted  his 
declaration,  and  employed  the  time  in  naval  prer 
parations,  both  in  the  ocean  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean. The  king  of  Denmark  meanwhile  was 
resolved  not  to  remain  an  idle  spectator  of  the 
contest  between  the  maritime  powers.  The  part 
which  he  acted  was  the  most  extraordinary  :  he 
made  a  secret  agreement  with  Charles,  to  seize  all 
the  Dutch  ships  in  his  harbours,  and  to  share  the 
spoils  with  the  English,  provided  they  would  assist 
him  in  executing  this  measure.  In  order  to  in- 
crease his  prey,  he  perfidiously  invited  the  Dutch 
to  take  shelter  in  his  ports ;  and  accordingly  the 
East  India  fleet,  very  richly  laden,  had  put  into 
Bergen.  Sandwich,  who  now  commanded  the 
English  navy  (the  duke  having  gone  ashore),  dis- 
patched sir  Thomas  Tiddiman  with  a  squadron  to 
attack  them  ;  but  whether  from  the  king  of  Den- 
mark's delay  in  sending  orders  to  the  governor, 
or,  what  is  more  probable,  from  his  avidity  in 
endeavouring  to  engross  the  whole  booty,  the 
English  admiral,   though  he  behaved  with  great 


402  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1605. 

bravery,  failed  of  his  purpose.  The  Danish  go- 
vernor fired  upon  him,  and  the  Dutch,  having 
had  leisure  to  fortify  themselves,  made  a  gallant 
resistance. 


RUPTURE  WITH  DENMARK. 

The  king  of  Denmark,  seemingly  ashamed  of  his 
conduct,  concluded  with  sir  Gilbert  Talbot,  the 
English  envoy,  an  offensive  alliance  against  the 
States ;  and  at  the  very  same  time,  his  resident  at 
the  Hague,  by  his  orders,  concluded  an  offensive 
alliance  against  England.  To  this  latter  alliance 
he  adhered,  probably  from  jealousy  of  the  in- 
creasing naval  power  of  England  ;  and  he  seized 
and  confiscated  all  the  English  ships  in  his  har- 
bours. This  was  a  sensible  check  to  the  ad- 
vantages which  Charles  had  obtained  over  the 
Dutch.  Not  only  a  blow  was  given  to  the  Eng- 
lish commerce  ;  the  king  of  Denmark's  naval 
force  was  also  considerable,  and  threatened  every 
moment  a  conjunction  with  the  Hollanders.  That 
prince  stipulated  to  assist  his  ally  with  a  fleet  of 
thirty  sail ;  and  he  received  in  return  a  yearly 
subsidy  of  1,500,000  crowns,  of  which  300,000 
were  paid  by  France. 

The  king  endeavoured  to  counterbalance  these 
confederacies  by  acquiring  new  friends  and  allies. 
He  had  dispatched  sir  Richard  Fanshaw  into  Spain, 
who  met  with  a  very  cold  reception.  That  mon- 
archy was  sunk  into  a  state  of  weakness,   and  was 


1665.  CHARLES    II.  4()3 

menaced  with  an  invasion  from  France  ;  yet  could 
not  any  motive  prevail  with  Philip  to  enter  into 
cordial  friendship  with  England  Charles's  al- 
liance with  Portugal,  the  detention  of  Jamaica 
and  Tangiers,  the  sale  of  Dunkirk  to  the  French; 
all  these  offences  sunk  so  deep  in  the  mind  of  the 
Spanish  monarch,  that  no  motive  of  interest  was 
sufficient  to  outweigh  them. 

The  bishop  of  Munster  was  the  only  ally  that 
Charles  could  acquire.     This  prelate,  a  man  of 
restless  enterprise  and  ambition,  had  entertained 
a  violent  animosity  against  the  States ;  and  he 
was  easily  engaged,   by  the  promise  of  subsidies 
from  England,    to   make   an   incursion   on   that 
republic.    With  a  tumultuary  army  of  near  20,000 
men,  he  invaded  her  territories,   and  met  with 
weak  resistance.     The  land  forces  of  the  States 
were  as  feeble  and   ill-governed,  as  their  fleets 
were  gallant  and  formidable.     But  after  his  com- 
mitting great  ravages  in  several  of  the  provinces, 
a  stop  was  put  to   the  progress  of  this  warlike 
prelate.     He  had  not  military  skill  sufficient  to 
improve  the  advantages  which  fortune  had  put 
into  his  hands  :  the  king  of  France  sent  a  body  of 
6000  men  to  oppose  him  :  subsidies  were  not  re- 
gularly remitted  him  from  England ;  and  many" 
of  his  troops  deserted  for  want  of  pay  :  the  elector 
of  Brandenburgh  threatened  him  with  an  invasion 
in  his  own  state :  and  on  the  whole,  he  was  glad 
to   conclude   a   peace    under    the   mediation   of 
France.     On  the  first  surmise  of  his  intentions, 


494  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1665. 

sir  William  Temple  was  sent  from  London  with 
money  to  fix  him  in  his  former  alliance ;  but 
found  that  he  arrived  too  late. 

The  Dutch,  encouraged  by  all  these  favourable 
circumstances,  continued  resolute  to  exert  them- 
selves to  the  utmost  in  their  own  defence.     De 
Ruyter,  their  great  admiral,  was  arrived  from  his 
expedition  to  Guinea:  their  Indian  fleet  was  come 
home  in  safety :  their  harbours  were  crowded  with 
merchant  ships :  faction  at  home  was  appeased  i 
the  young   prince  of  Orange   had  put  himself 
under  the  tuition  of  the  States  of  Holland,  and  of 
de  Wit,  their  pensionary,  who  executed  his  trust 
with   honour   and    fidelity :  and   the   animosity, 
which   the    Hollanders   entertained   against   the 
attack  of  the  English,  so  unprovoked,    as  they 
thought  it,   made  them  thirst  for  revenge,  and 
hope  for  better  success  in  their  next  enterprise. 
Such  vigour  was  exerted  in  the  common  cause, 
that,  in  order  to  man  the  fleet,  all  merchant  ships 
were   prohibited   to  sail,  and  even  the  fisheries 
were  suspended  !. 

The  English  likewise  continued  in  the  same 
disposition,  though  another  more  grievous  cala-4 
mity  had  joined  itself  to  that  of  war.  The  plague 
had  broken  out  in  London ;  and  that  with  such 
violence,  as  to  cut  off,  in  a  year,  near  90,000  in- 
habitants.  The  king  was  obliged  to  summon  the 
parliament  at  Oxford4 

1  Tromp's  life.     D'Estrades,  5th  of  February  1665. 


1665.  CHARLES   II.  495 


FIVE-MILE-ACT. 

A  good  agreement  still  subsisted  between  the 
king  and  parliament.  They,  on  their  part,  una- 
nimously voted  him  the  supply  demanded,  twelve 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds,  to  be  levied 
in  two  years  by  monthly  assessments.  And  he, 
to  gratify  them,  passed  the  five-mile-act,  which 
has  given  occasion  to  grievous  and  not  unjust 
complaints.  The  church,  under  pretence  of  guard- 
ing monarchy  against  its  inveterate  enemies,  per- 
severed in  the  project  of  wreaking  her  own 
enmity  against  the  non-conformists.  It  was 
enacted,  that  no  dissenting  teacher  who  took  not 
the  non-resistance  oath  above  mentioned,  should, 
except  upon  the  road,  come  within  five  miles  of 
any  corporation,  or  of  any  place,  where  he  had 
preached  after  the  act  of  oblivion.  The  penalty 
was  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds,  and  six  months  im- 
prisonment. By  ejecting  the  non-conforming 
clergy  from  their  churches,  and  prohibiting  all 
separate  congregations,  they  had  been  rendered 
incapable  of  gaining  any  livelihood  by  their 
spiritual  profession.  And  now,  under  colour  of 
removing  them  from  places  where  their  influence 
might  be  dangerous,  an  expedient  was  fallen  upon 
to  deprive  them  of  all  means  of  subsistence.  Had 
not  the  spirit  of  the  nation  undergone  a  change, 


496  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1606. 

these  violences  were  preludes  to  the  most  furious 
persecution. 

However  prevalent  the  hierarchy,  this  law  did 
not  pass  without  opposition.  Besides  several  peers, 
attached  to  the  old  parliamentary  party,  South- 
ampton himself,  though  Clarendon's  great  friend, 
expressed  his  disapprobation  of  these  measures. 
But  the  church  party,  not  discouraged  with  this 
opposition,  introduced  into  the  house  of  commons 
a  bill  for  imposing  the  oath  of  non-resistance  on 
the  whole  nation.  It  was  rejected  only  by  three 
voices.  The  parliament,  after  a  short  session, 
was  prorogued. 

SEA  FIGHT  OF  FOUR  DAYS. 

After  France  had  declared  war,  England  was 
evidently  overmatched  in  force.  Yet  she  pos- 
sessed this  advantage  by  her  situation,  that  she 
lay  between  the  fleets  of  her  enemies,  and  might 
be  able,  by  speedy  and  well-concerted  operations, 
to  prevent  their  junction.  But  such  was  the  un- 
happy conduct  of  her  commanders,  or  such  the 
want  of  intelligence  in  her  ministers,  that  this 
circumstance  turned  rather  to  her  prejudice. 
Lewis  had  given  orders  to  the  duke  of  Beaufort, 
his  admiral,  to  sail  from  Toulon ;  and  the  French 
squadron,  under  his  command,  consisting  of  above 
forty  sail m, 'was  now  commonly  supposed  to  be 

*"  D'Estrades,  21st  of  May  \Qffi. 


1G66.  CHARLES  II.  4(j7 

entering  the  channel.  The  Dutch  fleet,  to  the 
number  of  seventy-six  sail,  was  at  sea,  under  the 
command  of  de  Ruyter  and  Tromp,  in  order  to 
join  him.  The  duke  of  Albemarle  and  prince 
Rupert  commanded  the  English  fleet,  which  ex- 
ceeded not  seventy-four  sail.  Albemarle,  who, 
from  his  successes  under  the  protector,  had  too 
much  learned  to  despise  the  enemy,  proposed  to 
detach  prince  Rupert  with  twenty  ships,  in  order 
to  oppose  the  duke  of  Beaufort.  Sir  George 
Ayscue,  well  acquainted  with  the  bravery  and 
conduct  of  de  Ruyter,  protested  against  the 
temerity  of  this  resolution  :  but  Albemarle's  au- 
thority prevailed.  The  remainder  of  the  English 
set  sail  to  give  battle  to  the  Dutch ;  who,  seeing 
the  enemy  advance  quickly  upon  them,  cut  their 
cables,  and  prepared  for  the  combat.  The  battle 
that  ensued  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  that 
we  read  of  in  story ;  whether  we  consider  its  long 
duration,  or  the  desperate  courage  with  which  it 
was  fought.  Albemarle  made  here  some  atone- 
ment by  his  valour  for  the  rashness  of  the  attempt. 
No  youth,  animated  by  glory  and  ambitious  hopes, 
could  exert  himself  more  than  did  this  man,  who 
was  now  in  the  decline  of  life,  and  who  had 
reached  the  summit  of  honours.  We  shall  not 
enter  minutely  into  particulars.  It  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  mention  the  chief  events  of  each  day's 
engagement. 

In  the  first  day,  sir  William  Berkeley,  vice^ 
admiral,  leading  the  van,  fell  into  the  thickest  o£ 

VOL.  VIII.  K  K 


4g8  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1666. 

the  enemy,  was  overpowered,  and  his  ship  taken. 
He  himself  was  found  dead  in  his  cabin,  all  co- 
vered with  blood.  The  English  had  the  weather- 
gage  of  the  enemy ;  but  as  the  wind  blew  •  so 
hard,  that  they  could  not  use  their  lower  tire,  they 
derived  but  small  advantage  from  this  circum- 
stance. The  Dutch  shot,  however,  fell  chiefly 
on  their  sails  and  rigging;  and  few  ships  were 
sunk  or  much  damaged.  Chain-shot  was  at  that 
time  a  new  invention ;  commonly  attributed  to  de 
Wit.  Sir  John  Harman  exerted  himself  ex- 
tremely on  this  day.  The  Dutch  admiral,  Evertz, 
was  killed  in  engaging  him.  Darkness  parted  the 
combatants. 

The  second  day,  the  wind  was  somewhat 
fallen,  and  the  combat  became  more  steady  and 
more  terrible.  The  English  now  found,  that  the 
greatest  valour  cannot  compensate  the  superiority 
of  numbers,  against  an  enemy  who  is  well  con- 
ducted, and  who  is  not  defective  in  courage. 
De  Ruyter  and  Van  Tromp,  rivals  in  glory  and 
enemies  from  faction,  exerted  themselves  in  emu- 
lation of  each  other;  and  de  Ruyter  had  the 
advantage  of  disengaging  and  saving  his  an- 
tagonist, who  had  been  surrounded  by  the  Eng- 
lish, and  was  in  the  most  imminent  danger.  Six- 
teen fresh  ships  joined  the  Dutch  fleet  during  the 
action ;  and  the  English  were  so  shattered,  that 
their  fighting  ships  were  reduced  to  twenty-eight, 
and  they  found  themselves  obliged  to  retreat 
"towards  their  own  coast.     The  Dutch  followed 


10J6.  CHARLES    II.  499 

them,  and  were  on  the  point  of  renewing  the 
combat,  when  a  calm,  which  came  a  little  before 
night,  prevented  the  engagement. 

Next  morning,  the  English  were  obliged  to 
continue  their  retreat;  and  a  proper  disposition 
was  made  for  that  purpose.  The  shattered  ships 
were  ordered  to  stretch  a-head ;  and  sixteen  of 
the  most  entire  followed  them  in  good  order,  and 
kept  the  enemy  in  awe.  Albemarle  himself  closed 
the  rear,  and  presented  an  undaunted  counten- 
ance to  his  victorious  foes.  The  earl  of  Ossory, 
son  of  Ormond,  a  gallant  youth,  who  sought 
honour  and  experience  in  every  action  throughout 
Europe,  was  then  on  board  the  admiral.  Albe* 
marie  confessed  to  him  his  intention  rather  to 
blow  up  his  ship  and  perish  gloriously,  than  yield 
to  the  enemy.  Ossory  applauded  this  desperate 
resolution. 

About  two  o'clock^  the  Dutch  had  come  up 
with  their  enemy,  and  were  ready  to  renew  the 
fight ;  when  a  new  fleet  was  descried  from  the 
south,  crowding  all  their  sail  to  reach  the  scene 
of  action.  The  Dutch  flattered  themselves  that 
Beaufort  was  arrived,  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of 
the  vanquished  :  the  English  hoped  that  prince 
Rupert  had  come,  to  turn  the  scale  of  action. 
Albemarle,  who  had  received  intelligence  of  the 
prince's  approach,  bent  his  course  towards  him. 
Unhappily,  sir  George  Ayscue,  in  a  ship  of  a 
hundred  guns,  the  largest  in  the  fleet,  struck  on 
the  Galloper  sands,  and  could  receive  no  assist- 
2 


500  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND*  1666. 

ancefrom  his  friends,  who  were  hastening  to  join 
the  reinforcement.  He  could  not  even  reap  the 
consolation  of  perishing  with  honour,  and  re- 
venging his  death  on  his  enemies.  They  were 
preparing  fireships  to  attack  him,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  strike.  The  English  sailors,  seeing  the 
necessity,  with  the  utmost  indignation  surren- 
dered themselves  prisoners. 

Albemarle  and  prince  Rupert  were  now  deter- 
mined to  face  the  enemy ;  and  next  morning  the 
battle  began  afresh,  with  more  equal  force  than 
ever,  and  with  equal  valour.  After  long  can- 
nonading, the  fleets  came  to  a  close  combat; 
which  was  continued  with  great  violence,  till 
parted  by  a  mist.  The  English  retired  first  into 
their  harbours. 

Though  the  English,  by  their  obstinate  cou- 
rage, reaped  the  chief  honour  in  this  engage- 
ment, it  is  somewhat  uncertain  who  obtained  the 
victory.  The  Hollanders  took  a  few  ships,  and 
having  some  appearances  of  advantage,  expressed 
their  satisfaction  by  all  the  signs  of  triumph  and 
rejoicing.  But  as  the  English  fleet  was  repaired 
in  a  little  time,  and  put  to  sea  more  formidable 
than  ever,  together  with  many  of  those  ships 
which  the  Dutch  had  boasted  to  have  burned  or 
destroyed ;  all  Europe  saw,  that  those  two  brave 
nations  were  engaged  in  a  contest,  which  was 
not  likely,  on  either  side,  to  prove  decisive. 


166&  CHARLES   II.  501 


VICTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH.    July  25. 

It  was  the  conjunction  alone  of  the  French,  that 
could  give  a  decisive  superiority  to  the  Dutch. 
In  order  to  facilitate  this  conjunction,  de  Ruyter, 
having  repaired  his  fleet,  posted  himself  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Thames.  The  English,  under  prince 
Rupert  and  Albemarle,  were  not  long  in  coming 
to  the  attack.  The  numbers  of  each  fleet  amount- 
ed to  about  eighty  sail ;  and  the  valour  and 
experience  of  the  commanders,  as  well  as  of  the 
seamen,  rendered  the  engagement  fierce  and 
obstinate.  Sir  Thomas  Allen,  who  commanded 
the  white  squadron  of  the  English,  attacked  the 
Dutch  van,  which  he  entirely  routed ;  and  he 
killed  the  three  admirals  who  commanded  it.  Van 
Tromp  engaged  sir  Jeremy  Smith;  and  during 
the  heat  of  action,  he  was  separated  from  de 
Ruyter  and  the  main  body,  whether  by  accident 
or  design  was  never  certainly  known.  De  Ruyter, 
with  conduct  and  valour,  maintained  the  combat 
against  the  main  body  of  the  English ;  and  though 
overpowered  by  numbers,  kept  his  station,  till 
night  ended  the  engagement.  Next  day,  finding 
the  Dutch  fleet  scattered  and  discouraged,  his  high 
spirit  submitted  to  a  retreat,  which  yet  he  con- 
ducted with  such  skill,  as  to  render  it  equally 
honourable  to  himself  as  the  greatest  victory. 
Full  of  indignation  however  at  yielding  the  su- 


002  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1066. 

periority  to  the  enemy,  he  frequently  exclaimed, 
11  My  God!  what  a  wretch  am  I!  among  so 
"  many  thousand  bullets,  is  there  not  one  to  put 
"  an  end  to  my  miserable  life?"  One  de  Witte, 
his  son-in-law,  who  stood  near,  exhorted  him, 
since  he  sought  death,  to  turn  upon  the  English, 
and  render  his  life  a  dear  purchase  to  the  victors. 
But  de  Ruyter  esteemed  it  more  worthy  a  brave 
man  to  persevere  to  the  uttermost,  and,  as  long 
as  possible,  to  render  service  to  his  country.  All 
that  night  and  next  day,  the  English  pressed  upon 
the  rear  of  the  Dutch ;  and  it  was  chiefly  by  the 
redoubled  efforts  of  de  Ruyter,  that  the  latter 
saved  themselves  in  their  harbours. 

The  loss  sustained  by  the  Hollanders  in  this 
action  was  not  very  considerable ;  but  as  violent 
animosities  had  broken  out  between  the  two  ad- 
mirals, who  engaged  all  the  officers  on  one  side  or 
other,  the  consternation,  which  took  place,  was 
great  among  the  provinces.  Tromp's  commission 
was  at  last  taken  from  him  ;  but  though  several 
captains  had  misbehaved,  they  were  so  effectually 
protected  by  their  friends  in  the  magistracy  of 
the  towns,  that  most  of  them  escaped  punishment, 
many  were  still  continued  in  their  commands. 

The  English  now  rode  incontestable  masters 
of  the  sea,  and  insulted  the  Dutch  in  their  har- 
bours. A  detachment  under  Holmes  was  sent 
into  the  road  of  Vlie,  and  burned  a  hundred  and 
forty  merchantmen,  two  men  of  war,  together 
with  Brandaris,  a  large  and  rich  village  on  the 


lo«5.  CHARLES    II.  503 

coast.  The  Dutch  merchants,  who  lost  by  this 
enterprise,  uniting  themselves  to  the  Orange 
faction,  exclaimed  against  an  administration, 
which,  they  pretended,  had  brought  such  disgrace 
and  ruin  on  their  country.  None  but  the  firm 
and  intrepid  mind  of  de  Wit  could  have  sup- 
ported itself  under  such  a  complication  of  ca- 
lamities. 

The  king  of  France,  apprehensive  that  the 
Dutch  would  sink  under  their  misfortunes ;  at 
least,  that  de  Wit,  his  friend,  might  be  dispossessed 
of  the  administration,  hastened  the  advance  of 
the  duke  of  Beaufort.  The  Dutch  fleet  like- 
wise was  again  equipped  ;  and,  under  the  com- 
mand of  de  Ruyter,  cruised  near  the  straits  of 
Dover.  Prince  Rupert  with  the  English  navy, 
now  stronger  than  ever,  came  full  sail  upon  them. 
The  Dutch  admiral  thought  proper  to  decline  the 
combat,  and  retired  into  St.  John's  road  near 
Bulloigne.  Here  he  sheltered  himself,  both  from 
the  English,  and  from  a  furious  storm  which 
arose.  Prince  Rupert  too  was  obliged  to  retire 
into  St.  Helens ;  where  he  stayed  some  time,  in 
order  to  repair  the  damages  which  he  had  sustain- 
ed. Meanwhile  the  duke  of  Beaufort  proceeded 
up  the  channel,  and  passed  the  English  fleet  un- 
perceived  ;  but  he  did  not  find  the  Dutch,  as  he 
expected.  De  Ruyter  had  been  seized  with  a 
fever  :  many  of  the  chief  officers  had  fallen  into 
sickness :  a  contagious  distemper  was  spread 
through  the  fleet :  and  the  States  thought  it  ne- 


304  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1663. 

cessary  to  recall  them  into  their  harbours,  before 
the  enemy  could  be  refitted.  The  French  king, 
anxious  for  his  navy,  which,  with  so  much  care 
and  industry,  he  had  lately  built,  dispatched  orders 
to  Beaufort,  to  make  the  best  of  his  way  to  Brest. 
That  admiral  had  again  the  good  fortune  to  pass 
the  English.  One  ship  alone,  the  Ruby,  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy. 


FIRE  OF  LONDON.     September  3. 

While  the  war  continued  without  any  decisive 
success  on  either  side,  a  calamity  happened  in 
London,  which  threw  the  people  into  great  con- 
sternation. Fire,  breaking  out  in  a  baker's  house 
near  the  bridge,  spread  itself  on  all  sides  with 
such  rapidity,  that  no  efforts  could  extinguish  it, 
till  it  laid  in  ashes  a  considerable  part  of  the  city. 
The  inhabitants,  without  being  able  to  provide 
effectually  for  their  relief,  were  reduced  to  be 
spectators  of  their  own  ruin;  and  were  pursued 
from  street  to  street  by  the  flames,  which  unex- 
pectedly gathered  round  them.  Three  days  and 
nights  did  the  fire  advance ;  and  it  was  only  by 
the  blowing  up  of  houses,  that  it  was  at  last  ex- 
tinguished. The  king  and  duke  used  their 
utmost  endeavours  to  stop  the  progress  of  the 
flames ;  but  all  their  industry  was  unsuccessful. 
About  four  hundred  streets,  and  thirteen  thousand 
houses,  were  reduced  to  ashes. 


1666.  CHARLES    II.  505 

The  causes  of  this  calamity  were  evident.  The 
narrow  streets  of  London,  the  houses  built  en- 
tirely of  wood,  the  dry  season,  and  a  violent  east 
wind  which  blew ;  these  were  so  many  concurring 
circumstances,  which  rendered  it  easy  to  assign 
the  reason  of  the  destruction  that  ensued.  But 
the  people  were  not  satisfied  with  this  obvious 
account.  Prompted  by  blind  rage,  some  ascribed 
the  guilt  to  the  republicans,  others  to  the  catho- 
lics ;  though  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  the 
burning  of  London  could  serve  the  purposes  of 
either  party.  As  the  papists  were  the  chief  objects 
of  public  detestation,  the  rumour,  which  threw 
the  guilt  on  them,  was  more  favourably  received 
by  the  people.  No  proof  however,  or  even  pre- 
sumption, after  the  strictest  inquiry  by  a  com- 
mittee of  parliament,  ever  appeared  to  authorise 
such  a  calumny  ;  yet,  in  order  to  give  counten- 
ance to  the  popular  prejudice,  the  inscription 
engraved  by  authority  on  the  monument,  ascribed 
this  calamity  to  that  hated  sect.  This  clause  was 
erazed  by  order  of  king  James,  when  he  came  to 
the  throne;  but  after  the  revolution  it  was  re- 
placed. So  credulous,  as  well  as  obstinate,  are 
the  people,  in  believing  every  thing  which  flatters 
their  prevailing  passion  ! 

The  fire  of  London,  though  at  that  time  a 
great  calamity,  has  proved  in  the  issue  beneficial 
both  to  the  city  and  the  kingdom.  The  city  was 
rebuilt  in  a  very  little  time ;  and  care  was  taken 
to  make  the  streets  wider  and  more  regular  than 


505  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  16(3(5. 

before.  A  discretionary  power  was  assumed  by 
the  king  to  regulate  the  distribution  of  the  build- 
ings, and  to  forbid  the  use  of  lath  and  timber, 
the  materials  of  which  the  houses  were  formerly 
composed.  The  necessity  was  so  urgent,  and  the 
occasion  so  extraordinary,  that  no  exceptions  were 
taken  at  an  exercise  of  authority,  which  otherwise 
might  have  been  deemed  illegal.  Had  the  king 
been  enabled  to  carry  his  power  still  farther,  and 
made  the  houses  be  rebuilt  with  perfect  regularity, 
and  entirely  upon  one  plan ;  he  had  much  con- 
tributed to  the  convenience,  as  well  as  embellish- 
ment, of  the  city.  Great  advantages,  however, 
have  resulted  from  the  alterations,  though  not 
carried  to  the  full  length.  London  became  much 
more  healthy  after  the  fire.  The  plague,  which 
used  to  break  out  with  great  fury  twice  or  thrice 
every  century,  and  indeed  was  always  lurking  in 
some  corner  or  other  of  the  city,  has  scarcely 
ever  appeared  since  that  calamity. 

The  parliament  met  soon  after,  and  gave  the 
sanction  of  law  to  those  regulations  made  by  royal 
authority  ;  as  well  as  appointed  commissioners  for 
deciding  all  such  questions  of  property,  as  might 
arise  from  the  fire.  They  likewise  voted  a  supply 
of  1,800,000  pounds  to  be  levied,  partly  by  a  poll- 
bill,  partly  by  assessments.  Though  their  inquiry 
brought  out  no  proofs,  which  could  fix  on  the 
papists  the  burning  of  London,  the  general  aver- 
sion against  that  sect  still  prevailed  ;  and  com- 
plaints were  made,  probably  without  much  founds 


1667.  CHARLES    II.  507 

ation,  of  its  dangerous  increase.  Charles,  at 
the  desire  of  the  commons,  issued  a  proclamation 
for  the  banishment  of  all  priests  and  Jesuits;  but 
the  bad  execution  of  this,  as  well  as  the  former 
edicts,  destroyed  all  confidence  in  his  sincerity, 
whenever  he  pretended  an  aversion  towards  the 
catholic  religion.  Whether  suspicions  of  this 
nature  had  diminished  the  king's  popularity,  is 
uncertain ;  but  it  appears,  that  the  supply  was 
voted  much  later  than  Charles  expected,  or  even 
than  the  public  necessities  seemed  to  require. 
The  intrigues  of  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  a  man 
who  wanted  only  steadiness  to  render  him  ex- 
tremely dangerous,  had  somewhat  embarrassed 
the  measures  of  the  court ;  and  this  was  the  first 
time  that  the  king  found  any  considerable  reason 
to  complain  of  a  failure  of  confidence  in  this  house 
of  commons.  The  rising  symptoms  of  ill-humour 
tended,  no  doubt,  to  quicken  the  steps  which 
were  already  making  towards  a  peace  with  foreign 
enemies. 


ADVANCES  TOWARDS  PEACE. 

Charles  began  to  be  sensible,  that  all  the  ends, 
for  which  the  war  had  been  undertaken,  were 
likely  to  prove  entirely  abortive.  The  Dutch, 
even  when  single,  had  defended  themselves  with 
vigour,  and  were  every  day  improving  in  their 
military   skill  and    preparations.      Though    their 


508  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1667. 

trade  had  suffered  extremely,  their  extensive  credit 
enabled  them  to  levy  great  sums  ;  and  while  the 
seamen  of  England  loudly  complained  of  want  of 
pay,  the  Dutch  navy  was  regularly  supplied  with 
money  and  every  thing  requisite  for  its  subsistence. 
As  two  powerful  kings  now  supported  them,  every 
place,  from  the  extremity  of  Norway  to  the 
coasts  of  Bayonne,  was  become  hostile  to  the 
English.  And  Charles,  neither  fond  of  action,  nor 
stimulated  by  any  violent  ambition,  earnestly 
sought  for  means  of  restoring  tranquillity  to  his 
people,  disgusted  with  a  war,  which,  being  joined 
with  the  plague  and  fire,  had  proved  so  fruitless 
and  destructive. 

The  first  advances  towards  an  accommodation 
were  made  by  England.  When  the  king  sent  for 
the  body  of  sir  William  Berkeley,  he  insinuated 
to  the  States  his  desire  of  peace  on  reasonable 
terms  :  and  their  answer  corresponded  in  the  same 
amicable  intentions.  Charles,  however,  to  main- 
tain the  appearance  of  superiority,  still  insisted 
that  the  States  should  treat  at  London  ;  and  they 
agreed  to  make  him  this  compliment  so  far  as 
concerned  themselves  :  but  being  engaged  in  al- 
liance with  two  crowned  heads,  they  could  not, 
they  said,  prevail  with  these  to  depart  in  that  re- 
spect from  their  dignity.  On  a  sudden,  the  king 
went  so  far  on  the  other  side  as  to  offer  the  send- 
ing of  ambassadors  to  the  Hague;  but  this  pro- 
posal, which  seemed  honourable  to  the  Dutch, 
was  meant  only  to  divide  and  distract  them,  by 


1667.  CHARLES    II.  509 

affording  the  English  an  opportunity  to  carry  on 
cabals  with  the  disaffected  party.  The  offer  was 
therefore  rejected  ;  and  conferences  were  secretly 
held  in  the  queen-mother's  apartments  at  Paris, 
where  the  pretensions  of  both  parties  were  discuss- 
ed. The  Dutch  made  equitable  proposals  ;  either 
that  all  things  should  be  restored  to  the  same  con- 
dition in  which  they  stood  before  the  war ;  or  that 
both  parties  should  continue  in  possession  of  their 
present  acquisitions.  Charles  accepted  of  the 
latter  proposal ;  and  almost  every  thing  was  ad- 
justed, except  the  disputes  with  regard  to  the 
isle  of  Polerone.  This  island  lies  in  the  East 
Indies,  and  was  formerly  valuable  for  its  produce 
of  spices.  The  English  had  been  masters  of  it; 
but  were  dispossessed  at  the  time  when  the  vio- 
lences were  committed  against  them  at  Amboyna. 
Cromwel  had  stipulated  to  have  it  restored ;  and 
the  Hollanders,  having  first  entirely  destroyed  all 
the  spice  trees,  maintained,  that  they  had  executed 
the  treaty,  but  that  the  English  had  been  anew  ex- 
pelled during  the  course  of  the  war.  Charles  re- 
newed his  pretensions  to  this  island  ;  and  as  the 
reasons  on  both  sides  began  to  multiply,  and 
seemed  to  require  a  long  discussion,  it  was  agreed 
to  transfer  the  treaty  to  some  other  place ;  and 
Charles  made  choice  of  Breda. 

Lord  Hollis  and  Henry  Coventry  were  the 
English  ambassadors.  They  immediately  desired, 
that  a  suspension  of  arms  should  be  agreed  to, 
till  the  several  claims  should  be  adjusted  :  but 


510  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1667. 

this  proposal,  seemingly  so  natural,  was  rejected 
by  the  credit  of  de  Wit.  That  penetrating  and 
active  minister,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
characters  of  princes  and  the  situation  of  affairs, 
had  discovered  an  opportunity  of  striking  a  blow, 
which  might  at  once  restore  to  the  Dutch  the 
honour  lost  during  the  war,  and  severely  revenge 
those  injuries,  which  he  ascribed  to  the  wanton 
ambition  and  injustice  of  the  English. 

Whatever  projects  might  have  been  formed  by 
Charles  for  secreting  the  money  granted  him  by 
parliament,  he  had  hitherto  failed  in  his  intention. 
The  expences  of  such  vast  armaments  had  exhaust* 
ed  all  the  supplies";  and  even  a  great  debt  was 
contracted  to  the  seamen.  The  king  therefore 
was  resolved  to  save,  as  far  as  possible,  the  last 
supply  of  1,800,000  pounds;  and  to  employ  it  for 
payment  of  his  debts,  as  well  those  which  had 
been  occasioned  by  the  war,  as  those  which  he 
had  formerly  contracted.  He  observed,  that  the 
Dutch  had  been  with  great  reluctance  forced  into 
the  war,  and  that  the  events  of  it  were  not  such 
as  to  inspire  them  with  great  desire  of  its  continu- 


D  The  Dutch  had  spent  on  the  war  near  40  millions  of  livres  jh 
year,  above  three  millions  sterling :  a  much  greater  sum  than  had 
been  granted  by  the  English  parliament.  D'Estrades,  24  th  of  De- 
cember 1 665  -,  1st  of  January  1666.  Temple,  vol.  i.  p.  71.  It 
was  probably  the  want  of  money  which  engaged  the  king  to  pay 
the  seamen  with  tickets ;  a  contrivance  which  proved  so  much  to 
their  loss. 


166;.  CHARLES    II.  5U 

ance.  The  French,  he  knew,  had  been  engaged 
into  hostilities  by  no  other  motive  than  that  of 
supporting  their  ally;  and  were  now  more  de- 
sirous than  ever  of  putting  an  end  to  the  quarrel. 
The  differences  between  the  parties  were  so  incon- 
siderable, that  the  conclusion  of  peace  appeared 
infallible ;  and  nothing  but  forms,  at  least  some 
vain  points  of  honour,  seemed  to  remain  for  the 
ambassadors  at  Breda  to  discuss.  In  this  situation, 
Charles,  moved  by  an  ill-timed  frugality,  remitted 
his  preparations,  and  exposed  England  to  one  of 
the  greatest  affronts  which  it  has  ever  received. 
Two  small  squadrons  alone  were  equipped  ;  and 
during  a  war  with  such  potent  and  martial  enemies, 
every  thing  was  left  almost  in  the  same  situation 
as  in  times  of  the  most  profound  tranquillity. 


DISGRACE  AT  CHATHAM.    June  10. 

De  Wit  protracted  the  negotiations  at  Breda, 
and  hastened  the  naval  preparations.  The  Dutch 
fleet  appeared  in  the  Thames  under  the  command 
of  de  Ruyter,  and  threw  the  English  into  the 
utmost  consternation.  A  chain  had  been  drawn 
across  the  river  Med  way ;  some  fortifications  had 
been  added  to  Sheerness  and  Upnore-castle :  but 
all  these  preparations  were  unequal  to  the  present 
necessity.  Sheerness  was  soon  taken ;  nor  could 
it  be  saved  by  the  valour  of  sir  Edward  Sprague, 
who  defended  it.     Having  the  advantage  of  a 


512  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1667. 

spring  tide  and  an  easterly  wind,  the  Dutch  pressed 
on  and  broke  the  chain,  though  fortified  by  some 
ships,  which  had  been  there  sunk  by  orders  of  the 
duke  of  Albemarle.  They  burned  the  three  ships 
which  lay  to  guard  the  chain,  the  Matthias,  the 
Unity,  and  the  Charles  the  Fifth.  After  damag- 
ing several  vessels,  and  possessing  themselves  of 
the  hull  of  the  Royal  Charles,  which  the  English 
had  burned,  they  advanced  with  six  men  of  war 
and  five  fire-ships,  as  far  as  Upnore-castle,  where 
they  burned  the  Royal  Oak,  the  Loyal  London, 
and  the  Great  James.  Captain  Douglas,  who 
commanded  on  board  the  Royal  Oak,  perished 
in  the  flames,  though  he  had  an  easy  opportunity 
of  escaping.  "Never  was  it  known,"  he  said, 
"  that  a  Douglas  had  left  his  post  without 
orders0."  The  Hollanders  fell  down  the  Med  way 
without  receiving  any  considerable  damage ;  and 
it  was  apprehended,  that  they  might  next  tide 
sail  up  the  Thames,  and  extend  their  hostilities 
even  to  the  bridge  of  London.  Nine  ships  were 
sunk  at  Woolwich,  four  at  Black  wall :  platforms 
were  raised  in  many  places,  furnished  with  artillery 
the  train-bands  were  called  out ;  and  every  place 
was  in  a  violent  agitation.  The  Dutch  sailed 
next  to  Portsmouth,  where  they  made  a  fruitless 
attempt :  they  met  with  no  better  success  at  Ply- 
mouth :  they  insulted  Harwich :  they  sailed  again 
upon  the  Thames  as  far  as  Tilbury,  where  they 

•  Temple,  vol.  ii.  p.  41. 


J^7.  CHARLES    II.  513 

were  repulsed.  The  whole  coast  was  \n  alarm ; 
and  had  the  French  thought  proper  at  this  time  to 
join  the  Dutch  fleet  and  to  invade  England,  con- 
sequences the  most  fatal  might  justly  have  been 
apprehended.  But  Lewis  had  no  intention  to 
push  the  victory  to  such  extremities.  His  interest 
required  that  a  balance  should  be  kept  between 
the  two  maritime  powers ;  not  that  an  uncontrolled 
superiority  should  be  given  to  either. 

Great  indignation  prevailed  amongst  the  Eng- 
lish, to  see  an  enemy,  whom  they  regarded  as  infe- 
rior, whom  they  had  expected  totally  to  subdue, 
and  over  whom  they  had  gained  many  honourable 
advantages,  now  of  a  sudden  ride  undisputed 
masters  of  the  ocean ;  burn  their  ships  in  their 
very  harbours,  fill  every  place  with  confusion, 
and  strike  a  terror  into  the  capital  itself.  But 
though  the  cause  of  all  these  disasters  could  be 
ascribed  neither  to  bad  fortune,  to  the  misconduct 
of  admirals,  nor  to  the  ill  behaviour  of  seamen, 
but  solely  to  the  avarice,  at  least  to  the  impro- 
vidence, of  the  government ;  no  dangerous  symp- 
toms of  discontent  appeared,  and  no  attempt  for 
an  insurrection  was  made  by  any  of  those  numer- 
ous sectaries,  who  had  been  so  openly  branded 
for  their  rebellious  principles,  and  who  upon  that 
supposition  had  been  treated  with  such  seventy  p. 

p  Some  non-conformists,  however,  both  in  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land, had  kept  a  correspondence  with  the  States,  and  had  enter- 
tained projects  for  insurrections,  but  they  were  too  weak  even  to 
attempt  the  execution  of  them.   D'Estrades,  13th  October  \QQ5. 
VOL.  VIII.  L  L 


514  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND,  1667. 

In  the  present  distress,  two  expedients  were 
embraced:  an  army  of  12,000  men  was  suddenly- 
levied  ;  and  the  parliament,  though  it  lay  under 
prorogation,  was  summoned  to  meet.  The  houses 
were  very  thin  ;  and  the  only  vote  which  the 
commons  passed  was  an  address  for  breaking  the 
army  ;  which  was  complied  with.  This  expression 
of  jealousy  shewed  the  court  what  they  might 
expect  from  that  assembly ;  and  it  was  thought 
more  prudent  to  prorogue  them  till  next  winter. 


PEACE  OF  BREDA.    July  10. 

But  the  signing  of  the  treaty  at  Breda  extricated 
the  king  from  his  present  difficulties.    The  English 
ambassadors  received  orders  to  recede  from  those 
demands,  which,  however  frivolous  in  themselves, 
could  not  now  be  relinquished,   without  acknow- 
ledging  a  superiority  in  the  enemy.     Polerone 
remained  with    the   Dutch ;  satisfaction  for  the 
ships  Bonaventure  and  Good-hope,  the  pretended 
grounds  of  the  quarrel,  was  no  longer  insisted  on : 
Acadie  was  yielded  to  the  French.     The  acqui- 
sition of  New- York,  a  settlement  so  important  by 
its  situation,   was  the  chief  advantage  which  the 
English  reaped  from  a  war,  in  which  the  national 
character  of  bravery  had  shone  out  with  lustre, 
but  where  the   misconduct  of  the  government, 
especially  in  the  conclusion,  had  been  no  less  ap- 
parent. 


1667.  CHARLES   II.  515 


CLARENDON'S  FALL. 

To  appease  the  people  by  some  sacrifice  seemed 
requisite  before  the  meeting  of  parliament ;  and 
the  prejudices  of  the  nation  pointed  out  the  victim. 
The  chancellor  was  at  this  time  much  exposed  to 
the  hatred  of  the  public,  and  of  every  party  which 
divided  the  nation.  All  the  numerous  sectaries 
regarded  him  as  their  determined  enemy ;  and 
ascribed  to  his  advice  and  influence  those  perse- 
cuting laws  to  which  they  had  lately  been  exposed. 
The  catholics  knew,  that  while  he  retained  any 
authority,  all  their  credit  with  the  king  and  the 
duke  would  be  entirely  useless  to  them,  nor  must 
they  ever  expect  any  favour  or  indulgence.  Even 
the  royalists,  disappointed  in  their  sanguine  hopes 
of  preferment,  threw  a  great  load  of  envy  on 
Clarendon,  into  whose  hands  the  king  seemed  at 
first  to  have  resigned  the  whole  power  of  govern- 
ment. The  sale  of  Dunkirk,  the  bad  payment 
of  the  seamen,  the  disgrace  at  Chatham,  the  un- 
successful conclusion  of  the  war ;  all  these  mis- 
fortunes were  charged  on  the  chancellor,  who, 
though  he  had  ever  opposed  the  rupture  with 
Holland,  thought  it  still  his  duty  to  justify  what 
he  could  not  prevent.  A  building,  likewise,  of 
more  expence  and  magnificence  than  his  slender 
fortune  could  afford,  being  unwarily  undertaken 
by  him,  much  exposed  him  to  public  reproach, 
2 


5\6  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND,  1667. 

as  if  he  had  acquired  great  riches  by  corruption. 
The  populace  gave  it  commonly  the  appellation 
of  Dunkirk  House. 

The  king  himself,  who  had  always  more  re- 
vered than  loved  the  chancellor,  was  now  totally 
estranged  from  him.  Amidst  the  dissolute  man- 
ners of  the  court,  that  minister  still  maintained 
an  inflexible  dignity,  and  would  not  submit  to  any 
condescensions,  which  he  deemed  unworthy  of  his 
age  and  character.  Buckingham,  a  man  of  pro- 
fligate morals,  happy  in  his  talent  for  ridicule, 
but  exposed  in  his  own  conduct  to  all  the  ridicule 
which  he  threw  on  others,  still  made  him  the 
object  of  his  raillery,  and  gradually  lessened  in 
the  king  that  regard  which  he  bore  to  his  minister* 
When  any  difficulties  arose  either  for  want  of 
power  or  money,  the  blame  was  still  thrown  on 
him,  who,  it  was  believed,  had  carefully  at  the 
restoration  checked  all  lavish  concessions  to  the 
king.  And  what  perhaps  touched  Charles  more 
nearly,  he  found  in  Clarendon,  it  is  said,  obstacles 
to  his  pleasures,  as  well  as  to  his  ambition. 

The  king,  disgusted  with  the  homely  person 
of  his  consort,  and  desirous  of  having  children, 
had  hearkened  to  proposals  of  obtaining  a  divorce, 
on  pretence  either  of  her  being  pre-engaged  to 
another,  or  of  having  made  a  vow  of  chastity 
before  her  marriage.  He  was  farther  stimulated 
by  his  passion  for  Mrs.  Stuart,  daughter  of  a 
Scotch  gentleman ;  a  lady  of  great  beauty,  and 
whose  virtue  he  had  hitherto  found  impregnable  : 


1067-  CHARLES    II.  517 

But  Clarendon,  apprehensive  of  the  consequences 
attending  a  disputed  title,  and  perhaps  anxious 
for  the  succession  of  his  own  grandchildren, 
engaged  the  duke  of  Richmond  to  marry  Mrs. 
Stuart,  and  thereby  put  an  end  to  the  king's  hopes. 
It  is  pretended  that  (Charles  never  forgave  this 
disappointment. 

When  politics,  therefore,  and  inclination  both 
concurred  to  make  the  king  sacrifice  Clarendon  to 
popular  prejudices,  the  memory  of  his  past  services 
was  not  able  any  longer  to  delay  his  fall.  The 
great  seal  was  taken  from  him,  and  given  to  sir 
Orlando  Bridgeman,  by  the  title  of  Lord  Keeper. 
Southampton,  the  treasurer,  was  now  dead,  who 
had  persevered  to  the  utmost  in  his  attachments 
to  the  chancellor.  The  last  time  he  appeared  at 
the  council-table,  he  exerted  his  friendship  with  a 
vigour  which  neither  age  nor  infirmities  could 
abate.  "  This  man,"  said  he,  speaking  of  Cla- 
rendon, <(is  a  true  protestant  and  an  honest 
"  Englishman;  and  while  he  enjoys  power,  we 
"  are  secure  of  our  laws,  liberties,  and  religion. 
"  I  dread  the  consequences  of  his  removal." 

But  the  fall  of  the  chancellor  was  not  sufficient 
to  gratify  the  malice  of  his  enemies :  his  total 
ruin  was  resolved  on.  The  duke  of  York  in  vain 
exerted  his  interest  in  behalf  of  his  father-in-law. 
Both  prince  and  people  united  in  promoting  that 
violent  measure  ;  and  no  means  were  thought  so 
proper  for  ingratiating  the  court  with  a  parliament, 
which  had  so  long  been  governed  by  that  very 


518  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  16G7. 

minister,  who  was  now  to  be  the  victim  of  their 
prejudices. 

Some  popular  acts  paved  the  way  for  the  session; 
and  the  parliament,  in  their  first  address,  gave  the 
king  thanks  for  these  instances  of  his  goodness, 
and  among  the  rest,  they  took  care  to  mention 
his  dismission  of  Clarendon.  The  king,  in  reply, 
assured  the  houses,  that  he  would  never  again 
employ  that  nobleman  in  any  public  office  what- 
soever. Immediately,  the  charge  against  him  was 
opened  in  the  house  of  commons  by  Mr.  Seymour, 
afterwards  sir  Edward,  and  consisted  of  seventeen  ' 
articles.  The  house,  without  examining  parti- 
culars, farther  than  hearing  general  affirmations 
that  all  would  be  proved,  immediately  voted  his 
impeachment.  Many  of  the  articles*  we  know 
to  be  either  false  or  frivolous  ;  and  such  of  them 
as  we  are  less  acquainted  with,  we  may  fairly  pre- 
sume to  be  no  better  grounded.  His  advising  the 
sale  of  Dunkirk  seems  the  heaviest  and  truest  part 
of  the  charge ;  but  a  mistake  in  judgment,  al- 
lowing it  to  be  such,  where  there  appear  no 
symptoms  of  corruption  or  bad  intentions,  it 
would  be  very  hard  to  impute  as  a  crime  to  any 
minister.  The  king's  necessities,  which  occasion- 
ed that  measure,  cannot,  with  any  appearance  of 
reason,  be  charged  on  Clarendon ;  and  chiefly 
proceeded  from  the  over-frugal  maxims  of  the 
parliament  itself,  in  not  granting  the  proper  sup- 
plies to  the  crown. 

*  See  note  [M]  vol.  X. 


1<507.  CHARLES    II.  519 

When  the  impeachment  was  carried  up  to  the 
peers,  as  it  contained  an  accusation  of  treason  in 
general,  without  specifying  any  particulars,  it 
seemed  not  a  sufficient  ground  for  committing 
Clarendon  to  custody.  The  precedents  of  Straf- 
ford and  Laud  were  not,  by  reason  of  the  vio- 
lence of  the  times,  deemed  a  proper  authority ; 
but  as  the  commons  still  insisted  upon  his  com- 
mitment, it  was  necessary  to  appoint  a  free  con- 
ference between  the  houses.  The  lords  persevered 
in  their  resolution  ;  and  the  commons  voted  this 
conduct  to  be  an  obstruction  to  public  justice, 
and  a  precedent  of  evil  and  dangerous  tendency. 
They  also  chose  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  vindi- 
cation of  their  own  proceedings. 

Clarendon,  finding  that  the  popular  torrent, 
united  to  the  violence  of  power,  ran  with  impetuo- 
sity against  him,  and  that  a  defence,  offered  to 
such  prejudiced  ears,  would  be  entirely  ineffectual, 
thought  proper  to  withdraw.  At  Calais  he  wrote 
a  paper  addressed  to  the  house  of  lords.  He  there 
said,  that  his  fortune,  which  was  but  moderate, 
had  been  gained  entirely  by  the  lawful,  avowed 
profits  of  his  office,  and  by  the  voluntary  bounty 
of  the  king  ;  that  during  the  first  years  after  the 
restoration  he  had  always  concurred  in  opinion 
with  the  other  counsellors,  men  of  such  reputa- 
tion that  no  one  could  entertain  suspicions  of  their 
wisdom  or  integrity ;  that  his  credit  soon  declined, 
and  however  he  might  disapprove  of  some  mea- 
sures,  he  found  it  vain  to  oppose  them ;  that  his 


$20  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1GG7. 

repugnance  to  the  Dutch  war,  the  source  of  all 
the  public  grievances,  was  always  generally  known, 
as  well  as  his  disapprobation  of  many  unhappy  steps 
taken  in  conducting  it ;  and  that  whatever  pre- 
tence might  be  made  of  public  offences,  his  real 
crime,  that  which  had  exasperated  his  powerful 
enemies,  was  his  frequent  opposition  to  exorbitant 
grants,  which  the  importunity  of  suitors  had  ex- 
torted from  his  majesty. 


CLARENDON'S  BANISHMENT- 

The  lords  transmitted  this  paper  to  the  commons, 
under  the  appellation  of  a  libel ;  and  by  a  vote  of 
both  houses,  it  was  condemned  to  be  burned  by 
the  hands  of  the  hangman.  The  parliament  next 
proceeded  to  exert  their  legislative  power  against 
Clarendon,  and  passed  a  bill  of  banishment  and 
incapacity,  which  received  the  royal  assent.  He 
retired  into  France,  where  he  lived  in  a  private 
manner.  He  survived  his  banishment  six  years ; 
and  he  employed  his  leisure  chiefly  in  reducing 
into  order  the  History  of  the  Civil  Wars,  for  which 
he  had  before  collected  materials.  The  perform- 
ance does  honour  to  his  memory  ;  and,  except 
Whitlocke's  Memorials,  is  the  most  candid  account 
of  those  times,  composed  by  any  contemporary 
author. 

Clarendon  was  always  a  friend  to  the  liberty 
and  constitution  of  his  country.     At  the  com- 


1667.  CHARLES    II.  521 

mencement  of  the  civil  wars,  he  had  entered  into 
the  late  king's  service,  and  was  honoured  with  a 
great  share  in  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  that 
monarch:  he  was  pursued  with  unrelenting  ani- 
mosity by  the  long  parliament :  he  had  shared  all 
the  fortunes,  and  directed  all  the  counsels,  of  the 
present  king  during  his  exile:  he  had- been  ad- 
vanced to  the  highest  trust  and  offices  after  the 
restoration:  yet  all  these  circumstances,  which 
might  naturally  operate  with  such  force,  either  on 
resentment,  gratitude,  or  ambition,  had  no  in- 
fluence on  his  uncorrupted  mind.  It  is  said,  that 
when  he  first  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law,  his 
father  exhorted  him  with  great  earnestness  to  shun 
the  practice  too  Common  in  that  profession,  of 
straining  every  point  in  favour  of  prerogative,  and 
perverting  so  useful  a  science  to  the  oppression  of 
liberty  :  and  in  the  midst  of  these  rational  and 
virtuous  counsels,  which  he  re-iterated,  he  was 
suddenly  seized  with  an  apoplexy,  and  expired  in 
his  son's  presence.  This  circumstance  gave  addi- 
tional weight  to  the  principles  which  he  inculcated. 
The  combination  of  king  and  subject  to  oppress 
so  good  a  minister  affords,  to  men  of  opposite 
dispositions,  an  equal  occasion  of  inveighing 
against  the  ingratitude  of  princes,  or  ignorance 
of  the  people.  Charles  seems  never  to  have  mi- 
tigated his  resentment  against  Clarendon;  and 
the  national  prejudices  pursued  him  to  his  retreat 
in  France.  A  company  of  English  soldiers,  being 
quartered  near  him,    assaulted  his  house,  broke 


522  HISTORY   OF    ENGLAND.  1608. 

open  the  doors,  gave  him  a  dangerous  wound 
on  the  head,  and  would  have  proceeded  to  the 
last  extremities,  had  not  their  officers,  hearing 
of  the  violence,  happily  interposed. 

The  next  expedient  which  the  king  embraced, 
in  order  to  acquire  popularity,  is  more  deserving 
of  praise ;  and,  had  it  been  steadily  pursued, 
would  probably  have  rendered  his  reign  happy, 
certainly  his  memory  respected.  It  is  the  Triple 
Alliance  of  which  I  speak  ;  a  measure  which  gave 
entire  satisfaction  to  the  public. 


STATE  OF  FRANCE. 

The  glory  of  France,  which  had  long  been  eclips- 
ed, either  by  domestic  factions,  or  by  the  superior 
force  of  the  Spanish  monarchy,  began  now  to 
break  out  with  great  lustre,  and  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  neighbouring  nations.  The  in- 
dependent power  and  mutinous  spirit  of  the  no- 
bility were  subdued  :  the  popular  pretensions  of 
the  parliament  restrained  :  the  Hugonot  party 
reduced  to  subjection  :  that  extensive  and  fertile 
country,  enjoying  every  advantage  both  of  climate 
and  situation,  was  fully  peopled  with  ingenious 
and  industrious  inhabitants  :  and  while  the  spirit 
of  the  nation  discovered  all  the  vigour  and  bravery 
requisite  for  great  enterprises,  it  was  tamed  to  an 
entire  submission  under  the  will  of  the  sovereign. 


1668.  CHARLES    II.  523 


CHARACTER  OF  LEWIS  XIV. 

The  sovereign  who  now  filled  the  throne  was  well 
adapted,  by  his  personal  character,  both  to  in- 
crease and  to  avail  himself  of  these  advantages. 
Lewis  XIV.  endowed  with  every  quality  which 
could  enchant  the  people,  possessed  many  which 
merit  the  approbation  of  the  wise.  The  masculine 
beauty  of  his  person  was  embellished  with  a  noble 
air:  the  dignity  of  his  behaviour  was  tempered 
with  affability  and  politeness :  elegant  without 
effeminacy,  addicted  to  pleasure  without  neglect- 
ing business,  decent  in  his  very  vices,  and  beloved 
in  the  midst  of  arbitrary  power,  he  surpassed  all 
cotemporary  monarchs,  as  in  grandeur,  so  like- 
wise in  fame  and  glory. 

His  ambition,  regulated  by  prudence,  not  by 
justice,  had  carefully  provided  every  means  of 
conquest ;  and  before  he  put  himself  in  motion, 
he  seemed  to  have  absolutely  ensured  success. 
His  finances  were  brought  into  order:  a  naval 
power  created :  his  armies  increased  and  dis- 
ciplined :  magazines  and  military  stores  provided: 
and  though  the  magnificence  of  his  court  was 
supported  beyond  all  former  example,  so  regular 
was  the  ceconomy  observed,  and  so  willingly  did 
the  people,  now  enriched  by  arts  and  commerce, 
submit  to  multiplied  taxes,  that  his  military  force 


524  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  l6G3. 

much  exceeded  what  in  any  preceding  age  had 
ever  been  employed  by  any  European  monarch. 

The  sudden  decline  and  almost  total  fall  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy  opened  an  inviting  field  to  so 
enterprising  a  prince,  and  seemed  to  promise  him 
easy  and  extensive  conquests.  The  other  nations 
of  Europe,  feeble  or  ill  governed,  were  astonished 
at  the  greatness  of  his  rising  empire :  and  all  of 
them  cast  their  eyes  towards  England,  as  the 
only  power  which  could  save  them  from  that 
subjection  with  which  they  seemed  to  be  so  nearly 
threatened. 

The  animosity  which  had  anciently  subsisted 
between  the  English  and  French  nations,  and 
which  had  been  suspended  for  above  a  century  by 
the  jealousy  of  Spanish  greatness,  began  to  revive 
and  to  exert  itself.  The  glory  of  preserving  the 
balance  of  Europe,  a  glory  so  much  founded  on 
justice  and  humanity,  flattered  the  ambition  of 
England ;  and  the  people  were  eager  to  provide 
for  their  own  future  security,  by  opposing  the 
progress  of  so  hated  a  rival.  The  prospect  of 
embracing  such  measures  had  contributed,  among 
other  reasons,  to  render  the  peace  of  Breda  so 
universally  acceptable  to  the  nation.  By  the 
death  of  Philip  IV.  king  of  Spain,  an  inviting 
opportunity,  and  some  very  slender  pretences, 
had  been  afforded  to  call  forth  the  ambition  of 
Lewis. 

At  the  treaty  of  the  Pyrenees,  when  Lewis 


^668.  CHARLES    n.  v* 

espoused  the  Spanish  princess,  he  had  renounced 
every  title  of  succession  to   every  part  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy;  and   this   renunciation  had 
been    couched  in  the  most  accurate  and  most 
precise  terms  that  language  could  afford.     But 
on  the  death  of  his  father-in-law,  he  retracted 
his    renunciation,    and    pretended    that    natural 
rights,  depending  on  blood  and  succession,  could 
not  be  annihilated  by  any  extorted  deed  or  con- 
tract.   Philip  had  left  a  son,  Charles  II.  of  Spain  ; 
but  as  the  queen  of  France  was  of  a  former  mar- 
riage, she  laid  claim  to  a  considerable  province  of 
the  Spanish  monarchy,  even  to  the  exclusion  of 
her  brother.     By  the  customs  of  some  parts  of 
Brabant,  a  female  of  a  first  marriage  was  preferred 
to  a  male  of  a  second,  in  the  succession  to  private 
inheritances ;    and   Lewis   thence   inferred,   that 
his  queen  had  acquired  a  right  to  the  dominion 
of  that  important  dutchy. 


FRENCH  INVASION  OF  THE  LOW  COUNTRIES. 

A  claim  of  this  nature  was  more  properly 
supported  by  military  force  than  by  argument 
and  reasoning.  Lewis  appeared  on  the  frontiers 
of  the  Netherlands  with  an  army  of  40,000  men, 
commanded  by  the  best  generals  of  the  age,  and 
provided  with  every  thing  necessary  for  action. 
The  Spaniards,  though  they  might  have  foreseen 
this   measure,  were   totally   unprepared.      Their 


526  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1668. 

towns,  without  magazines,  fortifications,  or  gar- 
risons, fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French  king,  as 
soon  as  he  presented  himself  before  them.  A  the, 
Lisle,  Tournay,  Oudenarde,  Courtray,  Charleroi, 
Binche,  were  immediately  taken :  and  it  was 
visible  that  no  force  in  the  Low  Countries  was 
able  to  stop  or  retard  the  progress  of  the  French 
arms. 

This  measure,  executed  with  such  celerity  and 
success,  gave  great  alarm  to  almost  every  court 
in  Europe.  It  had  been  observed  with  what 
dignity,  or  even  haughtiness,  Lewis,  from  the 
time  he  began  to  govern,  had  ever  supported  all 
his  rights  and  pretensions.  D'Estrades,  the  French 
ambassador,  and  Watteville  the  Spanish,  having 
quarrelled  in  London,  on  account  of  their  claims 
for  precedency,  the  French  monarch  was  not 
satisfied  till  Spain  sent  to  Paris  a  solemn  embassy, 
and  promised  never  more  to  revive  such  contests. 
Crequi,  his  ambassador  at  Rome,  had  met  with  an 
affront  from  the  pope's  guards :  the  pope,  Alex- 
ander VII.  had  been  constrained  to  break  his 
guards,  to  send  his  nephew  to  ask  pardon,  and  to 
allow  a  pillar  to  be  erected  in  Rome  itself,  as  a 
monument  of  his  own  humiliation.  The  king  of 
England  too  had  experienced  the  high  spirit  and 
unsubmitting  temper  of  Lewis.  A  pretension  to 
superiority  in  the  English  flag  having  been  ad- 
vanced, the  French  monarch  remonstrated  with 
such  vigour,  and  prepared  himself  to  resist  with 
such  courage,  that  Charles  found  it  more  prudent 


16GS.  CHARLES   II.  527 

to  desist  from  his  vain  and  antiquated  claims. 
The  king  of  England,  said  Lewis  to  his  ambas- 
sador D'Estrades,  may  know  my  force,  but  he 
knows  not  the  sentiments  of  my  heart :  every 
thing  appears  to  me  contemptible  in  comparison 
of  glory q.  These  measures  of  conduct  had  given 
strong  indications  of  his  character  :  but  the  in- 
vasion of  Flanders  discovered  an  ambition  which, 
being  supported  by  such  overgrown  power,  me- 
naced the  general  liberties  of  Europe. 

As  no  state  lay  nearer  the  danger,  none  was 
seized  with  more  terror  than  the  United  Pro- 
vinces. They  were  still  engaged,  together  with 
France,  in  a  war  against  England  ;  and  Lew  is 
had  promised  them  that  he  would  take  no  step 
against  Spain  without  previously  informing  them: 
but,  contrary  to  this  assurance,  he  kept  a  total 
silence,  till  on  the  very  point  of  entering  upon 
action.  If  the  renunciation  made  at  the  treaty  of 
the  Pyrenees  was  not  valid,  it  was  foreseen,  that 
upon  the  death  of  the  king  of  Spain,  a  sickly 
infant,  the  whole  monarchy  would  be  claimed  by 
Lewis,  after  which  it  would  be  vainly  expected  to 
set  bounds  to  his  pretensions.  Charles,  acquainted 
with  these  well-grounded  apprehensions  of  the 
Dutch,  had  been  the  more  obstinate  in  insisting 
on  his  own  conditions  at  Breda ;  and  by  delaying 
to  sign  the  treaty,  had  imprudently  exposed  him- 
self to  the  signal  disgrace  which  he  received  at 

i  25  th  of  January  ^662. 


528  HISTORY   OF  ENGLAND.  1668. 

Chatham.  De  Wit,  sensible  that  a  few  weeks 
delay  would  be  of  no  consequence  in  the  Low 
Countries,  took  this  opportunity  of  striking  an 
important  blow,  and  of  finishing  the  war  with 
honour  to  himself  and  to  his  country. 


NEGOTIATIONS. 

Negotiations  meanwhile  commenced  for  the 
saving  of  Flanders  ;  but  no  resistance  was  made 
to  the  French  arms.  The  Spanish  ministers  ex* 
claimed  every  where  against  the  flagrant  injustice 
of  Lewis's  pretensions,  and  represented  it  to  be 
the  interest  of  every  power  in  Europe,  even  more 
than  of  Spain  itself,  to  prevent  his  conquest  of 
the  Low  Countries.  The  emperor  and  the  German 
princes  discovered  evident  symptoms  of  discon 
tent ;  but  their  motions  were  slow  and  backward. 
The  States,  though  terrified  at  the  prospect  of 
having  their  frontier  exposed  to  so  formidable  a 
foe,  saw  no  resource,  no  means  of  safety.  Eng- 
land indeed  seemed  disposed  to  make  opposition 
to  the  French  ;  but  the  variable  and  impolitic 
conduct  of  Charles  kept  that  republic  from 
making  him  any  open  advances,  by  which  she 
might  lose  the  friendship  of  France,  without  ac- 
quiring any  new  ally.  And  though  Lewis,  dread- 
ing a  combination  of  all  Europe,  had  offered 
terms  of  accommodation,  the  Dutch  apprehend- 
ed lest  these,  either  from  the  obstinacy  of  the 


1<568.  CHARLES    II.  529 

Spaniards,  or  the  ambition  of  the  French,  should 
never  be  carried  into  execution. 

Charles  resolved  with  great  prudence  to  take 
the  first  step  towards  a  confederacy.  Sir  William 
Temple,  his  resident  at  Brussels,  received  orders 
to  go  secretly  to  the  Hague,  and  to  concert  with 
the  States  the  means  of  saving  the  Netherlands. 
This  man,  whom  philosophy  had  taught  to  despise 
the  world,  without  rendering  him  unfit  for  it, 
was  frank,  open,  sincere,  superior  to  the  little 
tricks  of  vulgar  politicians :  and  meeting  in  de 
Wit  with  a  man  of  the  same  generous  and  en- 
larged sentiments,  he  immediately  opened  his 
master's  intentions,  and  pressed  a  speedy  con- 
clusion. A  treaty  was  from  the  first  negotiated 
between  these  two  statesmen  with  the  same  cor- 
diality as  if  it  were  a  private  transaction  between 
intimate  companions*  Deeming  the  interests  of 
their  country  the  same,  they  gave  full  scope  to 
that  sympathy  of  character  which  disposed  them 
to  an  entire  reliance  on  each  other's  professions 
and  engagements.  And  though  jealousy  against 
the  house  of  Orange  might  inspire  de  Wit  with 
an  aversion  to  a  strict  union  with  England,  he 
generously  resolved  to  sacrifice  all  private  con- 
siderations to  the  public  service. 

Temple  insisted  on  an  offensive  league  between 
England  and  Holland,  in  order  to  oblige  France 
to  relinquish  all  her  conquests  :  but  de  Wit  told 
him,  that  this  measure  was  too  bold  and  pre- 
cipitate to  be  agreed  to  by  the  States.     He  said, 

VOL.  VIII.  m  M 


530  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1668. 

that  the  French  were  the  old  and  constant  allies 
of  the  republic;  and,  till  matters  came  to  ex- 
tremities, she  never  would  deem  it  prudent  to 
abandon  a  friendship  so  well  established,  and 
rely  entirely  on  a  treaty  with  England,  which 
had  lately  waged  so  cruel  a  war  against  her :  that 
ever  since  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  there  had  been 
such  a  fluctuation  in  the  English  councils,  that  it 
was  not  possible,  for  two  years  together,  to  take 
any  sure  or  certain  measures  with  that  kingdom : 
that  though  the  present  ministry,  having  entered 
into  views  so  conformable  to  national  interest, 
promised  greater  firmness  and  constancy,  it  might 
still  be  unsafe,  in  a  business  of  such  consequence, 
to  put  entire  confidence  in  them  :  that  the  French 
monarch  was  young,  haughty,  and  powerful ;  and 
if  treated  in  so  imperious  a  manner,  would  expose 
himself  to  the  greatest  extremities  rather  than 
submit :  that  it  was  sufficient,  if  he  could  be  con- 
strained to  adhere  to  the  offers  which  he  himself 
had  already  made;  and  if  the  remaining  provinces 
of  the  Low  Countries  could  be  thereby  saved 
from  the  danger,  with  which  they  were  at  present 
threatened  :  and  that  the  other  powers,  in  Ger- 
many and  the  north,  whose  assistance  they  might 
expect,  would  be  satisfied  with  putting  a  stop  to 
the  French  conquests,  without  pretending  to  re- 
cover the  places  already  lost. 

The  English  minister  was  content  to  accept  of 
the  terms  proposed  by  the  pensionary.  Lewis 
had  offered  to  relinquish  all  the  queen's  rights,  on 


166S-  CHARLES    II. 


331 


condition  either  of  keeping  the  conquests  which 
he  had  made  last  campaign,  or  of  receiving,  in 
lieu  of  them,  Franchecomte,  together  with  Cam* 
bray,  Aire,  and  St.  Omers.  De  Wit  and  Temple 
founded  their  treaty  upon  this  proposal.  They 
agreed  to  offer  their  mediation  to  the  contending 
powers,  and  oblige  France  to  adhere  to  this  al- 
ternative, and  Spain  to  accept  of  it.  If  Spain 
refused,  they  agreed,  that  France  should  not  pro- 
secute her  claim  by  arms,  but  leave  it  entirely  to 
England  and  Holland  to  employ  force  for  making 
the  terms  effectual.  And  the  remainder  of  the 
Low  Countries  they  thenceforth  guaranteed  to 
Spain.  A  defensive  alliance  was  likewise  con- 
cluded between  Holland  and  England. 

The  articles  of  this  confederacy  were  soon  ad- 
justed by  such  candid  and  able  negotiators  :  but 
the  greatest  difficulty  still  remained.  By  the  con- 
stitution of  the  republic,  all  the  towns  in  all  the 
provinces  must  give  their  consent  to  every  al- 
liance ;  and  besides  that  this  formality  could  not 
be  dispatched  in  less  than  two  months,  it  was 
justly  to  be  dreaded,  that  the  influence  of  France 
would  obstruct  the  passing  of  the  treaty  in  some 
of  the  smaller  cities.  D'Estrades,  the  French 
ambassador,  a  man  of  abilities,  hearing  of  the 
league  which  was  on  the  carpet,  treated  it  lightly ; 
"  Six  weeks  hence,"  said  he,  "  we  shall  speak 
"  to  it."  To  obviate  this  difficulty,  de  Wit  had 
the  courage,  for  the  public  good,  to  break  through 
the  laws  in  so  fundamental  an  article ;  and  by  his 
2 


532  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1668. 

authority,  he  prevailed  with  the  States  General  at 
once  to  sign  and  ratify  the  league :  though  they 
acknowledged  that,  if  that  measure  should  dis- 
please their  constituents,  they  risked  their  heads 
by  this  irregularity.  After  sealing,  all  parties 
embraced  with  great  cordiality.  Temple  cried 
out,  At  Breda,  as  friends :  here  as  brothers.  And 
de  Wit  added,  that  now  the  matter  was  finished 
it  looked  like  a  miracle. 


TRIPLE  LEAGUE. 

Room  had  been  left  in  the  treaty  for  the  accession 
of  Sweden,  which  was  soon  after  obtained ;  and 
thus  was  concluded  in  five  days  their  triple  league; 
an  event  received  with  equal  surprise  and  appro- 
bation by  the  world.  Notwithstanding  the  un- 
fortunate conclusion  of  the  last  war,  England  now 
appeared  in  her  proper  station,  and,  by  this  wise 
conduct,  had  recovered  all  her  influence  and 
credit  in  Europe.  Temple  likewise  received  great 
applause ;  but  to  all  the  compliments  made  him 
on  the  occasion,  he  modestly  replied,  that  to  re- 
move things  from  their  centre,  or  proper  element, 
required  force  and  labour ;  but  that  of  themselves 
they  easily  returned  to  it. 

The  French  monarch  was  extremely  displeased 
with  this  measure.  Not  only  bounds  were  at  pre- 
sent set  to  his  ambition  :  such  a  barrier  was  also 
raised  as  seemed  for   ever   impregnable.     And 


1W8.  CHARLES    II.  53S 

though  his  own  offer  was  made  the  foundation  of 
the  treaty,  he  had  prescribed  so  short  a  time  for 
the  acceptance  of  it,  that  he  still  expected,  from 
the  delays  and  reluctance  of  Spain,  to  find  some 
opportunity  of  eluding  it.     The  court  of  Madrid 
showed   equal   displeasure.      To   relinquish   any 
part  of  the  Spanish  provinces,  in  lieu  of  claims,  so 
apparently  unjust,   and   these  urged  with  such 
violence  and  haughtiness,  inspired  the  highest  dis- 
gust. Often  did  the  Spaniards  threaten  to  abandon 
entirely  the  Low  Countries,  rather  than  submit 
to  so  cruel  a  mortification ;  and  they  endeavoured, 
by  this  menace,  to  terrify  the  mediating  powers 
into  more  vigorous  measures  for  their  support. 
But  Temple  and  de  Wit  were  better  acquainted 
with   the  views  and  interests  of  Spain.     They 
knew,  that  she  must  still  retain  the  Low  Coun- 
tries,  as  a  bond  of  connection  with  the  other 
European  powers,  who  alone,  if  her  young  mon- 
arch should  happen  to  die  without  issue,  could 
insure  her  independency  against  the  pretensions  of 
France.     They  still  urged,  therefore,  the  terms 
of  the  triple  league,  and  threatened  Spain  with 
war  in  case  of  refusal.     The  plenipotentiaries  of 
all  the  powers  met  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.     Temple 
was  minister  for  England ;  Van  Beuninghen  for 
Holland  ;  D'Ohna  for  Sweden. 


334  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1668. 


TREATY  OF  AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 

Spain  at  last,  pressed  on  all  hands,  accepted  of 
the  alternative  offered ;  but  in  her  very  com- 
pliance, she  gave  strong  symptoms  of  ill-humour 
and  discontent.  It  had  been  apparent,  that  the 
Hollanders,  entirely  neglecting  the  honour  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy,  had  been  anxious  only  for 
their  own  security ;  and,  provided  they  could 
remove  Lewis  to  a  distance  from  their  frontier, 
were  more  indifferent  what  progress  he  made  in 
other  places.  Sensible  of  these  views,  the  queen- 
regent  of  Spain  resolved  still  to  keep  them  in  an 
anxiety,  which  might  for  the  future  be  the  found- 
ation of  an  union  more  intimate  than  they  were 
willing  at  present  to  enter  into.  Franchecomt6, 
by  a  vigorous  and  well-concerted  plan  of  the 
French  king,  had  been  conquered,  in  fifteen  days, 
during  a  rigorous  season,  and  in  the  midst  of 
winter.  She  chose,  therefore,  to  recover  this 
province,  and  to  abandon  all  the  towns  conquered 
in  Flanders  during  the  last  campaign.  By  this 
means,  Lewis  extended  his  garrisons  into  the 
heart  of  the  Low  Countries ;  and  a  very  feeble 
barrier  remained  to  the  Spanish  provinces. 

But  notwithstanding  the  advantages  of  his 
situation,  the  French  monarch  could  entertain 
small  hopes  of  ever  extending  his  conquests  on 
that  quarter,  which  lay  the  most  exposed  to  his 


1663.  CHARLES    II. 


535 


ambition,  and  where  his  acquisitions  were  of  most 
importance.  The  triple  league  guaranteed  the 
remaining  provinces  to  Spain ;  and  the  emperor 
and  other  powers  of  Germany,  whose  interest 
seemed  to  be  intimately  concerned,  were  invited 
to  enter  into  the  same  confederacy.  Spain  herself, 
having,  about  this  time,  under  the  mediation  of 
Charles,  made  peace  on  equal  terms  with  Portugal, 
might  be  expected  to  exert  more  vigour  and  op 
position  to  her  haughty  and  triumphant  rival. 
The  great  satisfaction,  expressed  in  England,  on 
account  of  the  counsels  now  embraced  by  the 
court,  promised  the  hearty  concurrence  of  parlia- 
ment in  every  measure  which  could  be  proposed 
for  opposition  to  the  grandeur  of  France.  And 
thus  all  Europe  seemed  to  repose  herself  with 
security  under  the  wings  of  that  powerful  con- 
federacy, which  had  been  so  happily  formed  for 
her  protection.  It  is  now  time  to  give  some 
account  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  Scotland  and  in 
Ireland. 


AFFAIRS  OF  SCOTLAND. 

The  Scottish  nation,  though  they  had  never  been 
subject  to  the  arbitrary  power  of  their  prince,  had 
but  very  imperfect  notions  of  law  and  liberty  ;  and 
scarcely  in  any  age  had  they  ever  enjoyed  an  ad- 
ministration, which  had  confined  itself  within  the 
proper  boundaries.     By  their  final  union  alone 


536  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1G68. 

with  England,  their  once  hated  adversary,  they 
have  happily  attained  the  experience  of  a  govern- 
ment perfectly  regular,  and  exempt  from  all 
violence  and  injustice.  Charles,  from  his  aversion 
to  business,  had  intrusted  the  affairs  of  that  coun-* 
try  to  his  ministers,  particularly  Middleton ;  and 
these  could  not  forbear  making  very  extraordinary 
stretches  of  authority. 

There  had  been  intercepted  a  letter,  Avritten 
by  lord  Lome  to  lord  Duffus,  in  which,  a  little 
too  plainly,  but  very  truly,  he  complained,  that 
his  enemies  had  endeavoured  by  falsehood  to  pre- 
possess the  king  against  him.  But  he  said,  that 
he  had  now  discovered  them,  had  defeated  them, 
and  had  gained  the  person,  meaning  the  earl  of 
Clarendon,  upon  whom  the  chief  of  them  de- 
pended. This  letter  was  produced  before  the 
parliament;  and  Lome  was  tried  upon  an  old 
tyrannical,  absurd  law  against  Leasing-making ; 
by  which  it  was  rendered  criminal  to  belie  the 
subjects  to  the  king,  or  create  in  him  an  ill 
opinion  of  them.  He  was  condemned  to  die  :  but 
Charles  was  much  displeased  with  the  sentence, 
and  granted  him  a  pardon  \ 

It  was  carried  in  parliament,  that  twelve  per- 
sons, without  crime,  Avitness,  trial,  or  accuser, 
should  be  declared  incapable  of  all  trust  or  office; 
and  to  render  this  injustice  more  egregious,  it 
was  agreed,  that  these  persons  should  be  named 

•  Burnet,  p.  149. 


3<568.  CHARLES  II.  537 

by  ballot :  a  method  of  voting  which  several  re- 
publics had  adopted  at  elections,  in  order  to 
prevent  faction  and  intrigue;  but  which  could 
serve  only  as  a  cover  to  malice  and  iniquity,  in 
the  inflicting  of  punishments.  Lauderdale,  Craw- 
ford, and  sir  Robert  Murray,  among  others,  were 
incapacitated  :  but  the  king,  who  disapproved  of 
this  injustice,  refused  his  assent  *. 

An  act  was  passed  against  all  persons,  who 
should  move  the  king  for  restoring  the  children 
of  those  who  were  attainted  by  parliament ;  an 
unheard  of  restraint  on  applications  for  grace 
and  mercy.  No  penalty  was  affixed ;  but  the 
act  was  but  the  more  violent  and  tyrannical  on 
that  account.  The  court-lawyers  had  established 
it  as  a  maxim,  that  the  assigning  of  a  punishment 
was  a  limitation  of  the  crown:  whereas  a  law, 
forbidding  any  thing,  though  without  a  penalty, 
made  the  offenders  criminal.  And  in  that  case, 
they  determined,  that  the  punishment  was  arbi- 
trary ;  only  that  it  could  not  extend  to  life.  Mid- 
dleton  as  commissioner  passed  this  act ;  though 
he  had  no  instructions  for  that  purpose. 

An  act  of  indemnity  passed ;  but  at  the  same 
time  it  was  voted,  that  all  those  who  had  offended 
during  the  late  disorders,  should  be  subjected  to 
fines;  and  a  committee  of  parliament  was  ap- 
pointed for  imposing  them.  These  proceeded 
without  any  regard  to  some  equitable  rules,  which 

4  Burnet,  p.  152. 


538  HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.  1668. 

the  king  had  prescribed  to  themu.  The  most 
obnoxious  compounded  secretly.  No  consider- 
ation was  had,  either  of  men's  riches,  or  of  the 
degrees  of  their  guilt :  no  proofs  were  produced  : 
inquiries  were  not  so  much  as  made :  but  as  fast 
as  information  was  given  in  against  any  man,  he 
w,as  marked  down  for  a  particular  fine :  and  all 
was  transacted  in  a  secret  committee.  When  the 
list  was  read  in  parliament,  exceptions  were  made 
to  several :  some  had  been  under  age  during  the 
civil  wars ;  some  had  been  abroad.  But  it  was 
still  replied,  that  a  proper  time  would  come,  when 
every  man  should  be  heard  in  his  own  defence. 
The  only  intention,  it  was  said,  of  setting  the 
fines  was,  that  such  persons  should  have  no  benefit 
by  the  act  of  indemnity,  unless  they  paid  the  sum 
demanded :  every  one  that  chose  to  stand  upon 
his  innocence,  and  renounce  the  benefit  of  the 
indemnity,  might  do  it  at  his  peril.  It  was  well 
known,  that  no  one  would  dare  so  far  to  set  at 
defiance  so  arbitrary  an  administration.  The  king 
wrote  to  the  council,  ordering  them  to  supersede 
the  levying  of  those  fines  :  but  Middleton  found 
means,  during  some  time,  to  elude  these  orders  x. 
And  at  last,  the  king  obliged  his  ministers  to 
compound  for  half  the  sums  which  had  been  im- 
posed. In  all  these  transactions,  and  in  most 
others,  which  passed  during  the  present  reign,  we 
still  find  the  moderating  hand  of  the  king,  inter- 

■  Burnet,  p.  147.  *  Id.  p.  201. 


,6°8-  CHARLES    II.  53y 

posed  to  protect  the  Scots  from  the  oppressions 
which  their  own  countrymen,  employed  in  the 
ministry,  were  desirous  of  exercising  over  them. 
But  the  chief  circumstance,  whence  were  de- 
rived all  the  subsequent  tyranny  and  disorders  in 
Scotland,  was  the  execution  of  the  laws  for  the 
establishment  of  episcopacy ;  a  mode  of  govern- 
ment, to  which  a  great  part  of  the  nation  had 
entertained  an  unsurmountable  aversion.  The 
rights  of  patrons  had  for  some  years  been  abolish- 
ed ;  and  the  power  of  electing  ministers  had  been 
vested  in  the  kirk-session,  and  lay-elders.  It  was 
now  enacted,  that  all  incumbents,  who  had  been 
admitted  upon  this  title,  should  receive  a  present- 
ation from  the  patron,  and  should  be  instituted 
anew  by  the  bishop,  under  the  penalty  of  depriv- 
ation. The  more  rigid  presbyterians  concerted 
measures  among  themselves,  and  refused  obe- 
dience :  they  imagined  that  their  number  would 
protect  them.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  parishes, 
above  a  third  of  the  kingdom,  were  at  once  de- 
clared vacant.  The  western  counties  chiefly  were 
obstinate  in  this  particular.  New  ministers  were 
sought  for  all  over  the  kingdom;  and  no  one 
was  so  ignorant  or  vicious  as  to  be  rejected.  The 
people,  who  loved  extremely  and  respected  their 
former  teachers ;  men  remarkable  for  the  severity 
of  their  manners,  and  their  fervor  in  preaching  ; 
were  inflamed  against  these  intruders,  who  had 
obtained  their  livings  under  such  invidious  circum- 
stances, and  who  took  no  care,  by  the  regularity  of 


510  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  1669. 

their  manners,  to  soften  the  prejudices  entertained 
against  them.  Even  most  of  those  who  retained 
their  livings  by  compliance,  fell  under  the  im- 
putation of  hypocrisy,  either  by  their  shewing  a 
disgust  to  the  new  model  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment, which  they  had  acknowledged  ;  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  by  declaring  that  their  former  ab- 
horrence to  presbytery  and  the  covenant  had  been 
the  result  of  violence  and  necessity.  And  as 
Middleton  and  the  new  ministry  indulged  them- 
selves in  great  riot  and  disorder,  to  which  the 
nation  had  been  little  accustomed,  an  opinion 
universally  prevailed,  that  any  form  of  religion, 
offered  by  such  hands,  must  be  profane  and 
impious. 

The  people,  notwithstanding  their  discontents, 
were  resolved  to  give  no  handle  against  them,  by 
the  least  symptom  of  mutiny  or  sedition :  but 
this  submissive  disposition,  instead  of  procuring  a 
mitigation  of  the  rigours,  was  made  use  of  as  an 
argument  for  continuing  the  same  measures, 
which,  by  their  vigour,  it  was  pretended,  had  pro- 
duced so  prompt  an  obedience.  The  king,  how- 
ever, was  disgusted  with  the  violence  of  Mid 
dletony;  and  he  made  Rothes  commissioner  in 
his  place.  This  nobleman  was  already  president 
of  the  council ;  and  soon  after  was  made  lord 
keeper  and  treasurer.  Lauderdale  still  continued 
secretary  of  state,  and  commonly  resided  at 
London. 

y  Burnet,  p.  202. 


1658-  CHARLES    II. 


541 


Affairs  remained  in  a  peaceable  state,  till  the 
severe  law  was  made  in  England  against  con- 
venticles2. The  Scottish  parliament  imitated  that 
violence,  by  passing  a  like  act.  A  kind  of  high 
commission  court  was  appointed  by  the  privy- 
council,  for  executing  this  rigorous  law,  and  for 
the  direction  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  But  even 
this  court,  illegal  as  it  might  be  deemed,  was 
preferable  to  the  method  next  adopted.  Military 
force  was  let  loose  by  the  council.  Wherever  the 
people  had  generally  forsaken  their  churches,  the 
guards  were  quartered  throughout  the  country. 
Sir  James  Turner  commanded  them,  a  man  whose 
natural  ferocity  of  temper  was  often  inflamed  by 
the  use  of  strong  liquors.  He  went  about,  and 
received  from  the  clergy  lists  of  those  who  ab- 
sented themselves  from  church,  or  were  supposed 
to  frequent  conventicles.  Without  any  proof  or  * 
legal  conviction,  he  demanded  a  fine  from  them, 
and  quartered  soldiers  on  the  supposed  delin- 
quents, till  he  received  payment.  As  an  insur- 
rection was  dreaded  during  the  Dutch  war,  new 
forces  were  levied,  and  intrusted  to  the  command 
of  Dalziel  and  Drummond  ;  two  officers,  who  had 
served  the  king  during  the  civil  wars,  and  had 
afterwards  engaged  in  the  service  of  Russia, 
where  they  had  increased  the  native  cruelty  of 
their  disposition.  A  full  career  was  given  to  their 
tyranny  by  the  Scottish  ministry.     Reprcsent- 


1<5G4. 


542  HISTORY    OF   ENGLAND.  1(563. 

ations  were  made  to  the  king  against  these  enor- 
mities. He  seemed  touched  with  the  state  of  the 
country;  and  besides  giving  orders,  that  the  eccle* 
siastical  commission  should  be  discontinued,  he 
signified  his  opinion,  that  another  way  of  pro- 
ceeding was  necessary  for  his  service*. 

This  lenity  of  the  king's  came  too  late  to 
remedy  the  disorders.  The  people,  inflamed  with 
bigotry,  and  irritated  by  ill  usage,  rose  in  arms. 
They  were  instigated  by  Guthry,  Semple,  and 
other  preachers.  They  surprised  Turner  in  Dum- 
fries, and  resolved  to  have  put  him  to  death ; 
but  finding,  that  his  orders,  which  fell  into  their 
hands,  were  more  violent  than  his  execution  of 
them,  they  spared  his  life.  At  Laneric,  after  many 
prayers,  they  renewed  the  covenant,  and  publish* 
ed  their  manifesto;  in  which  they  professed  all 
submission  to  the  king :  they  desired  only  the  re- 
establishment  of  presbytery  and  of  their  former 
ministers.  As  many  gentlemen  of  their  party 
had  been  confined  on  suspicion ;  Wallace  and 
Learmont,  two  officers,  who  had  served,  but  in 
no  high  rank,  were  entrusted  by  the  populace  with 
the  command.  Their  force  never  exceeded 
two  thousand  men ;  and  though  the  country  in 
general  bore  them  favour,  men's  spirits  were  so 
subdued,  that  the  rebels  could  expect  no  farther 
accession  of  numbers.  Dalziel  took  the  field  to 
oppose  their  progress.     Their  number  was  now 

a  Burnet,  p.  213. 


1GG8.  CHARLES  II. 


M3 


diminished  to  eight  hundred;  and  these,  having 
advanced  near  Edinburgh,  attempted  to  find  their 
way  back  into  the  west  by  Pentland  Hills.  They 
were  attacked  by  the  king's  forces b.  Finding  that 
they  could  not  escape,  they  stopped  their  march. 
Their  clergy  endeavoured  to  infuse  courage  into 
them.  After  singing  some  psalms,  the  rebels 
turned  on  the  enemy ;  and  being  assisted  by  the 
advantage  of  the  ground,  they  received  the  first 
charge  very  resolutely.  But  that  was  all  the 
action :  immediately  they  fell  into  disorder,  and 
fled  for  their  lives.  About  forty  were  killed  on 
the  spot,  and  a  hundred  and  thirty  taken  prisoners. 
The  rest,  favoured  by  the  night,  and  by  the 
weariness,  and  even  by  the  pity  of  the  king's 
troops,  made  their  escape. 

The  oppressions  which  these  people  had  suffer- 
ed, the  delusions  under  which  they  laboured,  and 
their  inoffensive  behaviour  during  the  insur- 
rection, made  them  the  objects  of  compassion. 
Yet  were  the  king's  ministers,  particularly  Sharpe, 
resolved  to  take  severe  vengeance.  Ten  were 
hanged  on  one  gibbet  at  Edinburgh :  thirty-five 
before  their  own  doors  in  different  places.  These 
criminals  might  all  have  saved  their  lives,  if  they 
would  have  renounced  the  covenant.  The  exe- 
cutions were  going  on,  when  the  king  put  a  stop 
to  them.  He  said,  that  blood  enough  had  al- 
ready been  shed,  and  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the 

fc  28th  November  1666. 


544  HISTORY    OF  ENGLAND.  1668. 

privy- council,  in  which  he  ordered  that  such  of 
the  prisoners  as  should  simply  promise  to  obey 
the  laws  for  the  future,  should  be  set  at  liberty, 
and  that  the  incorrigible  should  be  sent  to  the 
plantations c.  This  letter  was  brought  by  Burnet, 
archbishop  of  Glasgow;  but  not  being  imme- 
diately delivered  to  the  council  by  Sharpe,  the 
president d,  one  Maccail,  had  in  the  interval  been 
put  to  the  torture,  under  which  he  expired.  He 
seemed  to  die  in  an  ecstasy  of  joy.  "  Farewel 
"  sun,  moon,  and  stars  ;  farewel  world  and  time; 
"  farewel  weak  and  frail  body :  welcome  eternity, 
"  welcome  angels  and  saints,  welcome  Saviour  of 
"  the  world,  and  welcome  God,  the  judge  of 
"  all  !"  Such  were  his  last  words  ;  and  these  ani- 
mated speeches  he  uttered  with  an  accent  and 
manner,  which  struck  all  the  byestanders  with 
astonishment. 


AFFAIRS  OF  IRELAND. 

The  settlement  of  Ireland,  after  the  restoration, 
was  a  work  of  greater  difficulty  than  that  of 
England,  or  even  of  Scotland.  Not  only  the  power, 
during  the  former  usurpations,  had  there  been 
vested  in  the  king's  enemies:  the  whole  property, 
in  a  manner,  of  the  kingdom  had  also  been 
changed  ;  and  it   became  necessary  to  redress, 

c  Burnet,  p.  237.  d  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  255. 


l6(*-  CHARLES    II. 


54S 


but  with  as  little  violence  as  possible,  many  griev* 
ous  hardships  and  iniquities,  which  were  there 
complained  of. 

The  Irish  catholics  had  in  1648  concluded  a 
treaty  with  Ormond,  the  king's  lieutenant,  in 
which  they  had  stipulated  pardon  for  their  past  re- 
bellion, and  had  engaged  under  certain  conditions 
to  assist  the  royal  cause:  and  though  the  violence 
of  the  priests  and  the  bigotry  of  the  people  had 
prevented,  in  a  great  measure,  the  execution  of 
this  treaty;  yet  were  there  many,  who  having 
strictly,  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives,  adhered  to  it, 
seemed  on  that  account  well  entitled  to  reap  the 
fruits  of  their  loyalty.  Cromwel,  having  without 
distinction  expelled  all  the  native  Irish  from  the 
three  provinces  of  Munster,  Leinster,  and  Ulster, 
had  confined  them  to  Connaught  and  the  county 
of  Clare ;  and  among  those  who  had  thus  been 
forfeited,  were  many  whose  innocence  was  alto* 
gether  unquestionable.  Several  protestants  like- 
wise, and  Ormond  among  the  rest,  had  all  along 
opposed  the  Irish  rebellion ;  yet  having  afterwards 
embraced  the  king's  cause  against  the  parliament, 
they  were  all  of  them  attainted  by  Cromwel.  And 
there  were  many  officers  who  had,  from  the  com* 
mencement  of  the  insurrection,  served  in  Ireland, 
and  who,  because  they  would  not  desert  the  king, 
had  been  refused  all  their  arrears  by  the  English 
commonwealth. 

To  all  these  unhappy  sufferers  some  justice 
seemed  to  be  due :  but  the  difficulty  was  to  find 

VOL.   VIII.  N  tf 


.140  HISTORY  OF    ENGLAND.  1668. 

the  means  of  redressing  such  great  and  extensive 
iniquities.  Almost  all  the  valuable  parts  of  Ire- 
land had  been  measured  out  and  divided,  either 
to  the  adventurers,  who  had  lent  money  to  the 
parliament  for  the  suppression  of  the  Irish  rebel- 
lion, or  to  the  soldiers,  who  had  received  land  in 
lieu  of  their  arrears.  These  could  not  be  dispos- 
sessed, because  they  were  the  most  powerful  and 
only  armed  part  of  Ireland  ;  because  it  was  requi- 
site to  favour  them,  in  order  to  support  the  pro- 
testant  and  English  interest  in  that  kingdom ; 
and  because  they  had  generally,  with  seeming  zeal 
and  alacrity,  concurred  in  the  king's  restoration. 
The  king,  therefore,  issued  a  proclamation ;  in 
which  he  promised  to  maintain  their  settlement, 
and  at  the  same  time  engaged  to  give  redress  to 
innocent  sufferers.  There  was  a  quantity  of  land 
as  yet  undivided  in'  Ireland  ;  and  from  this  and 
some  other  funds,  it  was  thought  possible  for  the 
king  to  fulfil  both  these  engagements. 

A  court  of  claims  was  erected,  consisting  al- 
together of  English  commissioners,  who  had  no 
connexion  with  any  of  the  parties,  into  which  Ire- 
land was  divided.  Before  these  were  laid  four 
thousand  claims  of  persons  craving  restitution  on 
account  of  their  innocence  ;  and  the  commission- 
ers had  found  leisure  to  examine  only  six  hundred. 
It  already  appeared,  that,  if  all  these  were  to  be 
restored,  the  funds,  whence  the  adventurers  and 
soldiers  must  get  reprisals,  would  fall  short  of 
giving  them  any  tolerable  satisfaction.     A  great 


1663.  CHARLES    II.  547 

alarm  and  anxiety  seized  all  ranks  of  men :  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  every  party  were  excited: 
these  eagerly  grasped  at  recovering  their  paternal 
inheritance :  those  were  resolute  to  maintain  their 
new  acquisitions. 

The  duke  of  Ormond  was  created  lord-lieu- 
tenant ;  being  the  only  person,  whose  prudence 
and  equity  could  compose  such  jarring  interests. 
A  parliament  was  assembled  at  Dublin  ;  and  as  the 
lower  house  was  almost  entirely  chosen  by  the 
soldiers  and  adventurers,  who  still  kept  possession, 
it  was  extremely  favourable  to  that  interest.  The 
house  of  peers  shewed  greater  impartiality. 

An  insurrection  was  projected,  together  with  a 
surprisal  of  the  castle  of  Dublin,  by  some  of  the 
disbanded  soldiers ;  but  this  design  was  happily 
defeated  by  the  vigilance  of  Ormond.  Some  of 
the  criminals  were  punished.  Blood,  the  most  de- 
sperate of  them,   escaped  into  England. 

But  affairs  could  not  long  remain  in  the  con- 
fusion and  uncertainty  into  which  they  had  fallen. 
All  parties  seemed  willing  to  a'  ate  somewhat  of 
their  pretensions,  in  order  to  attain  some  stability; 
and  Ormond  interposed  his  authority  for  that 
purpose.  The  soldiers  and  adventurers  agreed  to 
relinquish  a  third  of  their  possessions;  and  as 
they  had  purchased  their  lands  at  very  low  prices, 
they  had  reason  to  think  themselves  favoured  by 
this  composition.  All  those,  who  had  been  at- 
tainted on  account  of  their  adhering  to  the  king, 
were  restored;  and  some  of  the  innocent  Irish. 


548  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  1608. 

It  was  a  hard  situation,  that  a  man  was  obliged  to 
prove  himself  innocent  in  order  to  recover  pos- 
session of  the  estate  which  he  and  his  ancestors 
had  ever  enjoyed  :  but  the  hardship  was  augment- 
ed, by  the  difficult  conditions  annexed  to  this 
proof.  If  the  person  had  ever  lived  in  the  quarters 
of  the  rebels,  he  was  not  admitted  to  plead  his 
innocence ;  and  he  was,  for  that  reason  alone, 
supposed  to  have  been  a  rebel.  The  heinous 
guilt  of  the  Irish  nation  made  men  the  more 
readily  overlook  any  iniquity,  which  might  fall  on 
individuals  ;  and  it  was  considered,  that,  though 
it  be  always  the  interest  of  all  good  government 
to  prevent  injustice,  it  is  not  always  possible  to 
remedy  it,  after  it  has  had  a  long  course,  and  has 
been  attended  with  great  successes. 

Ireland  began  to  attain  a  state  of  some  com- 
posure when  it  was  disturbed  by  a  violent  act, 
passed  by  the  English  parliament,  which  prohibited 
the  importation  of  Irish  cattle  into  England6. 
Ormond  remonstrated  strongly  against  this  law. 
He  said,  that  the  present  trade,  carried  on  be- 
tween England  and  Ireland,  was  extremely  to  the 
advantage  of  the  former  kingdom,  which  received 
only  provisions  or  rude  materials,  in  return  for 
every  species  of  manufacture :  that  if  the  cattle 
of  Ireland  were  prohibited,  the  inhabitants  of  that 
island  had  no  other  commodity,  by  which  they 
could  pay  England  for  their  importations,  and 

•  In  1666. 


1<568.  CHARLES    II.  549 

must  have  recourse  to  other  nations  for  a  supply : 
that  the  industrious  inhabitants  of  England,  if 
deprived  of  Irish  provisions,  which  made  living 
cheap,  would  be  obliged  to  augment  the  price  of 
labour,  and  thereby  render  their  manufactures  too 
dear  to  be  exported  to  foreign  markets :  that  the 
indolent  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  finding  provisions 
fall  almost  to  nothing,  would  never  be  induced 
to  labour,  but  would  perpetuate  to  all  generations 
their  native  sloth  and  barbarism  :  that  by  cutting 
off  almost  entirely  the  trade  between  the  kingdoms, 
all  the  natural  bands  of  union  were  dissolved,  and 
nothing  remained  to  keep  the  Irish  in  their  duty 
but  force  and  violence  :  and  that,  by  reducing 
that  kingdom  to  extreme  poverty,  it  would  be 
even  rendered  incapable  of  maintaining  that  mili- 
tary power,  by  which,  during  its  well-grounded 
discontents,  it  must  necessarily  be  retained  in 
subjection. 

The  king  was  so  much  convinced  of  the  just- 
ness of  these  reasons,  that  he  used  all  his  interest 
to  oppose  the  bill,  and  he  openly  declared,  that 
he  could  not  give  his  assent  to  it  with  a  safe  con- 
science. But  the  commons  were  resolute  in  their 
purpose.  Some  of  the  rents  of  England  had  fallen 
of  late  years,  which  had  been  ascribed  entirely 
to  the  importation  of  Irish  cattle :  several  intrigues 
had  contributed  to  inflame  that  prejudice,  par- 
ticularly those  of  Buckingham  and  Ashley,  who 
were  desirous  of  giving  Ormond  disturbance  in 
his  government :  and  the  spirit  of  tyranny  of 


&50  HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND.  l€6a. 

which  nations  are  as  susceptible  as  individuals, 
had  extremely  animated  the  English  to  exert  their 
superiority  over  their  dependent  state.  No  affair 
could  be  conducted  with  greater  violence  than 
this  was  by  the  commons.  They  even  went  so  far 
in  the  preamble  of  the  bill  as  to  declare  the  im- 
portation of  Irish  cattle  to  be  a  nuisance.  By  this 
expression  they  gave  scope  to  their  passion,  and 
at  the  same  time  barred  the  king's  prerogative,  by 
which  he  might  think  himself  entitled  to  dispense 
with  a  law  so  full  of  injustice  and  bad  policy. 
The  lords  expunged  the  word :  but  as  the  king 
was  sensible  that  no  supply  would  be  given  by 
the  commons,  unless  they  were  gratified  in  their 
prejudices,  he  was  obliged  both  to  employ  his  in- 
terest with  the  peers  for  making  the  bill  pass,  and 
to  give  the  royal  assent  to  it.  He  could  not,  how- 
ever, forbear  expressing  his  displeasure  at  the 
jealousy  entertained  against  him,  and  at  the  in- 
tention which  the  commons  discovered  of  retrench- 
ing his  prerogative. 

This  law  brought  great  distress  for  some  time 
upon  the  Irish;  but  it  has  occasioned  their  apply- 
ing with  greater  industry  to  manufactures,  and 
has  proved  in  the  issue  beneficial  to  that  kingdom. 


END    OF    VOLUME    VIII. 


h 


"~4 


Thomas  Davison,  Printer, 
White-friars. 


% 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


BECBYRL  0CF2.J1 


WE 


Form  L! 


J 


f)