No More Learning

The ninth article was, " That he had introduced The ninth

. . . _ article.

" an arbitrary government in his majesty s to*
" reign plantations ; and had caused such as
" complained thereof before his majesty and
" his council, to be long imprisoned for so
" doing. "

To this he said, that though he could not possibly HIS answei
comprehend the full meaning of that article, yet
because he had heard of many discourses made of
the authority that he assumed to himself over the
plantations, and the great advantage and benefit
that he had drawn to himself from thence, he was
very willing to take that occasion to relate all that
he knew, and all that he had done, with reference
to any of his majesty's plantations ; declaring in the
first place, that at his majesty's return, and before,
he had used all the endeavours he could to prepare
and dispose the king to a great esteem of his planta-
tions, and to encourage the improvement of them
by all the ways that could reasonably be proposed
to him. And he had been confirmed in that opinion
and desire, as soon as he had a view of the entries
in the custom-house ; by which lie found what a
great revenue accrued to the king from those planta-
tions, insomuch as the receipts from thence had
upon the matter repaired the decrease and diminu-
tion of the customs, which the late troubles had

D d 4



408 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. brought upon other parts of trade, from what it had
~ formerly yielded.

The first consideration that offered itself before
the king that related to the plantations, was con-
cerning the Barbadoes ; which having been most
discoursed of since, and, as he had heard, with some
reflections upon him of partiality and injustice, he
said, he would in the first place set down all he
knew in that affair, and how he came to meddle

in it.

Before the beginning of the late troubles, the king
had granted the island of the Barbadoes to the earl
of Carlisle and his heirs for ever, upon a supposition
that it had been first discovered, possessed, and
planted at his charge : and the said earl sent a go-
vernor and people thither, and enjoyed it to his
death ; and by his will settled it for the payment of
his debts, which were very great. The troubles fall-
ing out in a short time after, little or no profit had
been drawn from thence towards the satisfaction of
those debts ; and the executors and trustees totally
neglected the taking care of it, or prosecuting the
plantation. But in and after the war many citi-
zens, merchants, and gentlemen, who were willing
or forced to withdraw themselves from England,
transported themselves thither, and planted without
asking any body's leave, and without being opposed
or contradicted by any body.

About the year 1647, or thereabouts, the late
earl of Carlisle, son and heir of the former earl
to whom the inheritance of that island belonged,
treated with the late lord Willoughby of Parham,
how that island might be so husbanded, that the
plantation might be advanced, and profit made by



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 409

it; which would at last redound to himself, when 1668.
the debt should be paid. The late king was then ~~
in the hands of the army : and with his majesty's
approbation and consent, it was agreed between the
said earl and the said lord, " that a lease should be
" made by the earl of Carlisle to the lord Willough-
" by, of all the profits which should arise out of that
" plantation, for the term of twenty-one years or
" thereabouts ; a moiety of the whole profits to be
" received by the lord Willoughby himself for his
" own use, in recompense for his pains and charge.
" And he was likewise to receive a commission from
" the said earl, to be governor of that and the rest
" of the Caribbee islands," (all which were compre-
hended in the charter granted by the king to the
earl of Carlisle;) "and that a commission should be
" likewise procured from the king or the prince of
" Wales, by which the lord Willoughby was to be
" constituted governor of the said islands. "

About that time the fleet in the Downs returned
to their obedience to the king, withdrawing them-
selves to the coast of Holland to offer their service
to the prince of Wales, his majesty that now is ; the
lord Willoughby then likewise coming over to him,
to serve him in any condition his highness would
employ him in. That summer being passed without
any good success, the lord Willoughby then inform-
ed the prince of what had passed between the earl
of Carlisle and him with the king his father's con-
sent ; which his highness had likewise received
from his majesty himself, with much recommenda-
tion of the lord Willoughby. He said, he was then
attending upon the prince in Holland, as one of the
king's council assigned by his majesty for that ser-



410 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. vice. Upon the understanding this whole case, the
" prince, upon the unanimous advice of the council,
thought fit to grant such a commission of governor
of the Barbadoes and the other islands, as he de-
sired : and he had the more reason to desire it, (not-
withstanding the earl of Carlisle's grant and commis-
sion,) because the principal planters upon the Barlm-
does had been officers in the king's army, or of ma-
nifest affections to him, and always looked upon as
of his party.

With this commission the lord Willoughby had,
at his great charge and expense, transported him-
self to the Barbadoes, and was there received as go-
vernor ; and made a contract with the planters,
" that so much should be paid upon the hundred to
" the earl of Carlisle," to whom the propriety of the
whole belonged. But before this agreement could
be well executed, or any profit drawn from thence,
the island was reduced to the obedience of the par-
liament and of Cromwell, and a governor appointed
by them ; the lord Willoughby being sent into Eng-
land, where he remained till the king's return, and
had given unquestionable evidence of his affection
to the king's service, for which he had often been
committed to prison before and after Cromwell's
death.

As soon as the king returned, the lord Willoughby
(who had then eight or nine years to come of his
lease formerly granted to him by the earl of Carlisle,
who was then likewise living, and ready to do any
other act to the lord Willoughby's advantage) re-
solved to return himself to the Barbadoes, and de-
sired the king to renew his commission to him for
the government ; which his majesty was very will-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 411

ing to do, as to a person he esteemed very much, 1668.
and who had spent very much of his own fortune, as ~
was notoriously known, in that service. But the
Barbadoes and all those other islands were now be-
come of another consideration and value, than they
had been of before the troubles : the Barbadoes it-
self was (by that confluence and resort thither as
was mentioned before) so fully planted, that there
was no room for new comers, and they had sent
very many of their people to the other islands to
plant ; many citizens of London had raised very
great estates there, and every year received a very
great revenue from thence ; and e the king's customs
from that one island came to a very great sum of
money yearly.

All these men, who f had entered upon that plant-
ation as a waste place, and had with great charge
brought it to that perfection, and with great trouble,
begun now to apprehend, that they must depend
upon the good-will of the earl of Carlisle and lord
Willoughby for the enjoyment of their estates there,
which they had hitherto looked upon as their own.
All these men joined together in an appeal to the
king, arid humbly prayed " his protection, and that
" they might not be oppressed by those two lords. "
They pleaded, " that they were the king's subjects ;
" that they had repaired thither as to a desolate
" place, and had by their industry obtained a liveli-
" hood there, when they could not with a good con-
" science stay in England. That if they should be
*' now left to those lords to ransom themselves and
" compound for their estates, they must leave the

e and] Not in MS. f who] Not in MS.



418 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. "country; and the plantation would be destroyed,
~" which yielded his majesty so good a revenue.
** That they could defend themselves by law against
** the earl of Carlisle's title, if his majesty did not
" countenance it by a new grant of the government
" to the lord Willoughby : and therefore they were
" suitors to his majesty, that he would not s destroy
" them by that countenance. "

At the same time, the creditors of the late earl
of Carlisle (whose debts were to be satisfied by the
profits of that plantation, by the will and settlement
of the said earl) petitioned the king, " that they
" might be in the first place provided for : their
" principal-money due to them at the death of the
" earl amounted to no less than fifty thousand
" pounds, of which they had never yet received one
" penny; and therefore that the profits which should
" arise ought in the first place to be applied to them,
" there having been many families utterly ruined for
" want of their monies so due to them. " The king
appointed to hear all their several pretences at the
council-board, where they all attended with their
council : and after his majesty had spent three or four
days himself in hearing the several allegations, find-
ing 11 new pretences and difficulties every day to arise,
(which shall be mentioned anon,) the king appointed
several of the lords of the council " to consider of
" the whole matter, and to confer with the several
" parties, and, if it were possible, to make an end
" between them by their own consent ; otherwise
" to report the several titles to his majesty, with
" such expedients as in their judgments they thought

not] Omitted in MS. h finding] and finding



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 413

" most like to produce a general satisfaction, with-
" out endangering the plantation," the preservation
whereof . his majesty took to heart. The chancellor
was one of that committee, and took very much
pains in reading the charters, grants, and leases, and
many other papers and despatches which concerned
that affair ; and conferred with several of the per-
sons interested ; to the end that he might the bet-
ter discern what could be done, having never under-
stood or heard any thing of the matter, or that con-
cerned that plantation, otherwise than what he hath
before set down upon the despatch of the lord Wil-
loughby to ' Holland ; nor had he the least k inclina-
tion or bias to any party. Upon the hearing all the
allegations before the lords, the several pretences
and titles appeared to them to be these ; which they
afterwards reported to the king.

The lord Willoughby demanded nothing from the
king, but his commission to be governor for the re-
mainder of the years which had been granted to
him by the earl of Carlisle ; to the end that he
might receive one moiety of those profits which
should arise to the earl, and which had been assign-
ed to him with the consent and approbation of the
late king, and of his majesty that now is ; upon
which he had undertaken that voyage, and spent so
much of his estate.

The earl of Carlisle, whilst this contention was
depending, died, and by his will devised his interest
in the Barbadoes to the earl of Kinnoul, who like-
wise petitioned the king for the preservation of his
right : but neither he, nor the person under whom

1 to] in k least] Not in MS.



414 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. he claimed, had any pretence till all the debts should
be satisfied ; nor did the earl of Kinnoul demand
any thing till then, but believed the profit would
arise yearly to so much, that the debts would
quickly be satisfied, and then the whole was to come
to him.

There was another title that preceded the earl of
Carlisle's, which was that of the earl of Marlbo-
rough, who alleged, and proved it to be true, rt that
" the Barbadoes and those adjacent islands were
" first granted by the king to his grandfather the
" earl of Marlborough, who was then lord high
" treasurer of England, before the earl of Carlisle
" had any pretence thereunto ; and that the lord
" treasurer had afterwards consented that the same
" should be granted to the earl of Carlisle, upon a
" full contract, that he should first receive for ever
" the sum of three hundred pounds by the year out
" of the first profits of the plantations ; which sum
" of three hundred pounds had never been yet paid :
" and therefore the earl of Marlborough desired, as
" heir to his grandfather, to have satisfaction for the
" arrears, and that the growing rent might be se-
" cured to him. "

The creditors were of two kinds : the first, and
who had first petitioned the king, as was said be-
fore, had an assignment made to them by the execu-
tors and trustees of the earl of Carlisle upon his will,
and who at his death owed them the full sum of
fifty thousand pounds or thereabouts. The other
creditors consisted of several tradesmen and ar-
tificers, to whom the said earl was indebted for
wares and goods which they had delivered for his
use; and of several servants for their arrears of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 415

wages : and all those had, during the late troubles, 1 668.
exhibited their bill in chancery against the executors
and overseers of the late earl, and had obtained a
decree in that court for their satisfaction out of the
profits of those plantations, (which decree stood con-
firmed by the late act of judicial proceedings ;) and,
as he remembered, their debts amounted to thirty
thousand pounds or thereabout. None of the cre-
ditors in general, of one or the other sort, had ever
received one shilling from the time that the earl had
first assigned it.

The planters insisted positively, "that the char-
" ter granted to the earl of Carlisle by the king was
" void in point of law :" for which their council al-
leged many reasons. And having spent much time
upon that argumentation, they concluded with two
humble propositions to the king. 1. " That his ma-
" jesty would give them leave to prosecute in his
" name in the exchequer, and at their own charge,
" to repeal that grant to the earl of Carlisle ; by
" which they should be freed from the arbitrary
" power and oppression which would be exercised
" upon them under the colour of that charter, and
" his majesty might receive a great benefit to him-
" self, by taking the sovereignty into his own hands,
" to which it belonged. And in that case they of-
" fered in their own names, and for the rest of the
" planters who were in the island, to consent to an
" imposition of so much in the hundred, which they
" confidently averred would amount in the year to
" ten thousand pounds at the least ; out of which his
" majesty's governor might be well supported, and
" his majesty dispose of the overplus as he should
" think fit. " 2. " If his majesty would not suffer



416 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

X

1668. " the charter to be repealed, that he would leave
"" " those who claimed under the earl of Carlisle's pa-
" tent to their remedy at law, and leave the planters
" to their own defence ; which they hoped in justice
" could not be denied to them, since they alone had
" been at the charge to settle the plantation, which
" brought every year so great a revenue to the
" crown, when the earl had not been at the least ex-
" pense thereupon : and if his majesty should not 1
" assist their pretences with his royal authority,
" they must all quit the plantation. "

These being the several pretences of the several
persons, and nothing being to be done by agreement
between themselves, their interests being so distinct
and inconsistent with each other ; his majesty
thought fit, in the first place, to refer the considera-
tion of the validity and legality of the patent to his
council at law; who, upon full deliberation and
after the hearing of all parties, returned their opin-
ion, " that their patent was void, and that his ma-
" jesty might take the same into his own power. "
This report was no sooner made to his majesty, but
that he very graciously declared, "that he would
" not receive from hence any benefit or advantage
" to himself, until all their pretences had received
" satisfaction ; and that he would make no further
" use of avoiding the said charter, than to dispose
" the profits of the plantation to those, who in jus-
" tice had any pretence in law or equity to receive
" the same : and therefore that the lord Willoughby
" should proceed in his voyage to the Barbadoes,
" and should receive according to his bargain a

1 not] now



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 417

"moiety of the profits; and that the other part 10(58.
" should he disposed of for the satisfaction of the
" debts and other incumbrances. " In order to
which, his majesty appointed the same committee of
the lords to meet again, and to adjust the several
proportions.

When they met again, they had all the persons
concerned with them, or ready to be called in upon
any occasion ; and they all appeared very glad that
the king had taken the care and protection of the
plantation upon himself, which was all the security
the planters had or could desire. And the lords'
first care was, to make some computation that
might be depended upon, as the yearly revenue that
would arise upon the imposition within the island.
But the planters would not be drawn to any parti-
cular agreement in that point, not so much as to
consent to what should be imposed upon every hun-
dred ; but on the contrary declared, " that too much
" had been undertaken in that kind by one of their
" own number, Mr. Kendall, in his discourse before
" the king in the council," and declared, " that the
" plantation could not bear the imposition he had
" mentioned. That whatsoever was to be done of
" that nature was to be transacted by an assembly
" in the island : and that all that they could pro-
" mise for themselves was, that they would use
" their utmost endeavours with their friends in the
" island, that when the lord Willoughby should ar-
" rive there and call an assembly, they should cou-
" sent to as great an imposition as the 'plantation
" would bear : by which," they said, " a good reve-
" nue would arise to the king for the purposes afore-
" said. "

VOL. III. E e



418 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. The creditors had great reason to be glad of the
~ resolution his majesty had taken : for though it
would be a long time before they could be fully sa-
tisfied out of a moiety of the profits, though it
should arise to the highest computation, yet in time
they should receive all, and should every year re-
ceive some ; which would lessen their debt, and re-
lieve those who were in the highest necessities, of
which there was a great number. Whereas they
had hitherto in so many years received not one
penny : and it was evident, that without his ma-
jesty's authority they never should, since the planters
were resolved never to consent to any imposition,
nor submit to "any authority that should be exer-
cised under the earl of Carlisle's patent, without a
due course of law ; the way to obtain which would
be very difficult to find out. And they understood
well enough, that, without his majesty's grace and
bounty to them, the repeal or avoiding the earl of
Carlisle's patent would put a quick end to all their
pretences.

The greatest difficulty that did arise was from
the earl of Kinnoul, to whom the last earl of Carlisle
had devised these islands by his will : and he had a
great mind to go thither himself, and take posses-
sion of his right ; and his council had persuaded
him, " that the king's charter granted to the first
" earl of Carlisle was good and valid in law, and
" that they believed they could defend and maintain
" it in any court of justice. " Then his own estate
in Scotland was so totally lost by the iniquity of the
time, and his father's having so frankly declared
himself for the king, when very few of that nation
lost any thing for their loyalty, that he had very lit-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 419

tie left to support himself; and therefore was willing 1GG8.
to retire into any place abroad, where he might find"
but a bare subsistence. But when he considered
again, that he could have no pretence to any thing-
till after the creditors were fully satisfied, and how
long it was like to be before they could be satisfied,
there remaining still due to the creditors of both
kinds no less than fourscore thousand pounds, prin-
cipal-money ; he did not believe that his insisting
upon the patent would be worth the charge and ha-
zard he must inevitably be put to : and therefore,
upon further deliberation with his friends, he will-
ingly referred himself and all his interest to the
king's gracious determination, as all the rest of the
pretenders and interested persons had done.

The case being thus fully stated to the lords, and
every man's interest and pretence clearly appearing
before them, they considered seriously amongst
themselves what they might reasonably propose to
the several persons, in order to their agreement
amongst themselves ; or, that proving ineffectual,
what advice they might reasonably give his ma-
jesty. They were unanimously of opinion, " not to
" advise his majesty to cause the patent to be called
" in question : for though they doubted not, upon
" the opinion of his learned council, that the same
" would be judged void and illegal ; yet they did
" not think it a seasonable time, when the nation
" was so active and industrious in foreign plant -
" ations, that they should see a charter or patent
" questioned and avoided, after it hath been so
" many years allowed and countenanced, and under
" which it hath m so long flourished, and was almost

111 hath] had

E e 2



420 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. " grown to perfection. And that since his majesty
""" had declared, that, notwithstanding any right of
" his own, all possible care should be taken for the
" satisfaction of the creditors, as well as for the pre-
" servation and support of the plantation ; it would
" be equally equitable and honourable in his ma-
" jesty, not to leave the earl of Kinnoul the only
" person unconsidered, and bereaved of all his pre-
" tence. But that they would humbly move his
" majesty, that he would graciously vouchsafe to as-
" sign some present maintenance to the said earl,
" which his unhappy condition required, out of the
" revenue that should be there settled, and until the
" debts should be paid ; and that after that time
" such an augmentation might be made to him, as
" his majesty in his royal bounty should think fit :
" in consideration whereof, the earl should procure
" the patent to be brought in and surrendered ;"
which he promised should be done accordingly, as
soon as the settlement should be made of that pro-
portion which should be assigned to him.

" That the lord Willoughby should enjoy the be-
" nefit of his former contract with the earl of Car-
" lisle, and approved by his majesty, during the re-
" mainder of those years which are not yet expired ;
" that he should make what haste he could thither,
" and call an assembly, to the end that such an im-
" position might be agreed upon to be paid to his
" majesty as should be reasonable, in consideration
" of the great benefit they had already and should
" still enjoy, in being continued and secured in their
" several plantations, in which as yet they were as it
" were but tenants at will, having no other pretence
" of right but the possession : and therefore, that



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 421

" those merchants and planters who had petitioned ]6fi8.

" the king should, according to their obligation and

" promise made by them to his majesty, use all their

" credit with those in the island, that the imposition

" might arise to such a proportion, that the revenue

" might answer the ends proposed ; and that one

" moiety of that revenue should be enjoyed by the

" lord Willoughby for his term.

" That the annuity of three hundred pounds by
" the year should be paid to the earl of Marl-
" borough, according to the original contract men-
" tioned before ; and that the assignment, that his
" majesty would likewise be pleased to make to the
" earl of Kinnoul, should be first paid : and then
" that the remainder of that moiety should be re-
" ceived to the use of the creditors. And that
" when the lord Willoughby's term should be ex-
" pired, his majesty should be desired, after the re-
" servation of so milch as he should think fit for the
" support of his governor, that all the remainder
" might be continued towards the creditors, until
" their just debts should be paid. "

These particulars appearing reasonable to the
lords, all persons concerned were called, and the
same communicated to them, who appeared all well
contented : and thereupon the lords resolved to pre-
sent the same to his majesty, which they did accord-
ingly at the board ; and his majesty with a full ap-
probation and advice of the whole council ratified
the same. Whereupon that order was made by the
king in council, which comprehends all the par-
ticulars mentioned before ; which was delivered to
the lord Willoughby, with his majesty's express
command, " that he should see it punctually and

E e 3



422 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. " precisely executed ;" and the like order was deli-
vered by the clerk of the council to every other per-
son mentioned, who desired the same: to which order
he did for the more certainty refer himself, being
in no degree confident (having then no other help
than his memory) that all was set down with that
exactness as it ought to be. And, he said, as he
had throughout the whole affair taken very great
pains to reduce it to that agreement, which at that
time seemed to be satisfactory to all the persons
concerned, so he had not the least temptation of par-
ticular benefit to himself; and he did still believe it
to be very just, reasonable, and agreeable to his ma-
jesty's justice and goodness, all circumstances being
considered. And though it may be, in strictness of
law, and by the avoiding the grant made to the earl
of Carlisle, his majesty might have possessed him-
self of the whole island, without any tender consider-
ation of the planters or the creditors ; he said, he
was not ashamed that he had never given his ma-
jesty that or the like counsel, in that or any other
matter of the like nature ; and if he had, he was
confident his majesty would have abhorred it, and
not have thought the better of him for giving it.

The other part of that article, " That he had
** caused such as complained of the arbitrary govern-
" ment in the plantations before the king and coun-
" cil, to be long imprisoned for so doing," did refer,
he supposed, to the commitment of one Farmer ;
who, being sent over a prisoner by the lord Wil-
loughby in a ship that came from thence, made his
appearance at Oxford, his majesty being then there
in the sickness time, which, he said, was the first
moment that he had ever heard of the man or the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 423

matter. And at the same time one of the secreta- 16C8.
lies of state received a letter from the lord Wil-
loughby, which was sent by the same ship, in which
his lordship had sent a direct, full charge of mutiny,
sedition, and treason against the said Farmer ; and
by his letter informed the secretary of all his beha-
viour and carriage, with all the circumstances there-
of; and " that he had, by his seditious practices,
" prevailed so far upon a disaffected party in that
" island, that the lord Willoughby found himself
" obliged in the instant to send him on board the
" ship, without which he did apprehend a general
" revolt in the island from his majesty's obedience :"
and he did therefore desire, " that Farmer might not
" be suffered to return thither before the island
" should be reduced to a better temper. " The man
was called in before the king and council, and the
charge that the lord Willoughby had sent read to
him, the greatest part whereof he could not deny ;
and in his discourse upon it he behaved himself so
peremptorily and insolently before the king, that his
majesty thought it very necessary to commit him ;
nor did any one counsellor then present appear to
think otherwise.

And he did confess, that the discharging him
from his imprisonment was some time afterwards
moved, and that he was always against his dis-
charge ; being of opinion that it would be impossible
for the lord Willoughby, or any other governor in
any of the plantations, to preserve his majesty's
right and to support the government, if he should
be so far discountenanced, that a man, being sent
over by him as a prisoner under so particular and
heinous a charge, should be upon his appearance

E e 4



424 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. here set at liberty. But his opinion was, " that he
~~ " should be sent back a prisoner thither, that he
" might be tried by the law and justice of the
" island, and receive condign punishment for his
" offence :" and, he said, he could not deny but that
he was still of the same opinion ; and, if it were an
error, it proceeded from the weakness of his under-
standing, which was not in his power to reform.

He said, what he had here set down was all that
occurred to his memory with reference to the island
of the Barbadoes, which being not particularly men-
tioned in the article, but comprehended under the
general expression of his majesty's foreign plant-
ations, and secretly and maliciously insinuated in
private discourses, he took himself to be obliged to
give some answer to what, how generally soever,
had been charged. And he hoped it would not be
imputed as a crime to him, if he had taken more
pains than other men in that important service of
his majesty concerning his foreign plantations, which
he did not think had been enough taken to heart :
and if his desire and readiness to take any pains, or
give any assistance to the advancement of that ser-
vice, had induced many persons to apply themselves
to him on those occasions, he hoped it should not be
charged upon him as over-activity, or ambition to
engross more business into his hands than he was
entitled to ; for which he had this excuse to make
for himself, that he found the pains he took to be
acceptable to his majesty. And he was so far from
having any particular design of advantage to him-
self, that he did profess and declare, that from all or
any of his majesty's plantations he never had the
least reward, or least present made to him ; except



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 425
that the now lord Willoughby once told him, "that 1668.



" his brother had sent over some pieces of the speck-
" led wood which grows in Surinam, with direction,
" that if he liked it, he might have what he would
" of it ;" whereupon he had some pieces of it, which
he thought might have been applied to the making
of cabinets or the adorning of wainscot, (but as they
were very small, so the middle of every piece was
wind-shaken and rotten, that they could not be ap-
plied to any considerable use ;) and except some
blocks of walnut-tree which the governor of Virginia
sent to him, and of which he made some table boards
and frames for chairs ; the workmanship whereof
cost much more than the wood was worth. And
these two particulars contained all the rewards and
presents or profit, that ever he received from all his
majesty's plantations, or any body to his use.

The tenth article was, " That he did reject and Thetenth

J article.

" frustrate a proposal and undertaking approved
" by his majesty, for the preservation of Nevis
" and St. Christopher's, and reducing the French
" plantations to his majesty's obedience, after
" the commissions were drawn for that pur-
" pose ; which was the occasion of such great
" losses and damages in those parts. "
To which he answered, that he never did reject His answer.
or frustrate any such proposal or undertaking, never
taking upon him in the least degree to make a judg-
ment of enterprises of that nature ; nor was ever
any such proposition made to him. But he did
very well remember, that his majesty himself did
once deliver to the council a paper, which he said
one of his servants (Mr. Marsh) had presented to
him, containing some propositions for ships and men



426 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. to be sent by his majesty for the recovery of St.
"~ Christopher's, which had been newly taken by the
French. Upon the reading which paper and pro-
positions, the same were referred to the considera-
tion of the general, one of the secretaries of state,
and to the vice-chamberlain, who were to confer
with Mr. Marsh, and such others as joined with
him. And they were at the same time appointed
to consider of another proposition delivered in writ-
ing by the now lord Willoughby, and some mer-
chants of London who were planters in the Barba-
does, for the supplying and better securing that
island, and the rest of those Caribbee islands ; and
for the reducing and recovering any of them which
were or might be taken by the enemy. Upon the
latter of which somewhat was afterwards done : and
if the other concerning Nevis and St. Christopher's
was rejected, of which, he said, he knew nothing,
he presumed it was, because it either appeared un-
practicable, or not consistent with his majesty's
other affairs.

Theeie- The eleventh article was, " That he advised and
tide. " effected the sale of Dunkirk to the French

" king, being part of his majesty's dominions,
" together with the ammunition, artillery, and
" all sorts of stores there ; and for no greater
" value than the said ammunition, artillery,
" and stores were worth. "

This whole transaction of the sale of Dunkirk,
with all the circumstances, is so fully related in this
discourse, in the place and at the time when" this af-
fair was transacted n , that any repetition here is to

" Vol. ii. p. 242, &c.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 427

no purpose : and whosoever turns back and reads it 1668.
will clearly see, that he had no hand in the counsel ; ~~
though he is far from condemning it, or believing
that it was not necessary, as his majesty's affairs at
that time stood. To which may be added, that the
treatment he received after his coming into France
was an unquestionable evidence, that that king did
never take himself to be beholden to him for that or
any other service ; as in truth he never was.

The twelfth article was, " That he did unduly The twelfth

. , article.

" cause his majesty s letters patents under the
" great seal of England to one Dr. Crowther
" to be altered, and the enrolment thereof to
" be unduly razed. "

To which he said, that when he heard of this His answer,
charge, he could not comprehend what the meaning
thereof was, being most assured that he had never
*' caused any alteration to be made in any of his
" majesty's letters patents under the great seal, or
*' the enrolment thereof to be razed. " But upon
inquiry he was informed, that Dr. Crowther, who
was chaplain to his royal highness the duke of York,
and had attended upon his person during the whole
time that his highness was beyond the seas, upon
his majesty's return into England, had obtained from
the king his royal presentation to the parsonage of
Treddington in the county of Worcester ; which
presentation, according to course, passed under the
great seal of England. That when he brought his
action against the intruder, who refused to give
him possession, and the record was carried down to
the assizes in the county ; when the doctor's coun-

county] country



428 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. cil were P to open his title, and thereupon to produce
~ the king's presentation, they found, upon perusal
thereof, that either by misinformation or negligence
of the clerk, instead of the county of Worcester,
where the rectory was, the county of Warwick was
inserted : upon which mistake the doctor was ne-
cessitated to be nonsuited. And thereupon he forth-
with made a journey to London to advise with his
council, and the most experienced clerks, how to re-
cover the misfortune that had befallen him, and that
his majesty's right might not be destroyed by such
an oversight in the clerk. And it seems he was by
them advised, as the usual way in cases of that na-
ture, to petition the king, " that in his majesty's
" presence the presentation might be mended, and
*' Worcester inserted instead of Warwick, and that
" thereupon the great seal might be again affixed to
" it ;" all which was done accordingly, as in such
cases is usual.

The thir- The thirteenth article was, " That he had in an
tide. " arbitrary way examined and drawn into

" question divers of his majesty's subjects con-
" cerning their lands, tenements, goods and
" chattels, and properties ; determined thereof
" at the council-table, and stopped proceedings
" at law, and threatened some that pleaded the
" statute of 17 Car. "

Hi. answer. To this he said, he must here again lament his
own misfortunes, that he was exposed to public re-
proach under a general odious charge, without in-
serting any one particular to which he might make
his defence. He had therefore no more to say, but

i 1 were] was



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 429

that he was very innocent as to any crime laid to 1668.
his charge in that article : and that he had been so ~
far from " examining and drawing into question any
" of his majesty's subjects concerning their lands,
" tenements, goods and chattels, and properties, and
" determining the same at the council-table, and
" stopping proceedings at law ;" that he did not
know or believe, that any one case of that nature
had been ever determined there, at least when he had
been present. That he had always discountenanced
such addresses, and procured all petitions of that
kind to be rejected as often as they have been ten-
dered : and, he said, he took himself obliged to say,
for the vindication of his majesty's honour and jus-
tice, that there had not been so many years passed,
since the erection of the council-table, with so little
disturbance or disquiet to the subjects concerning
their lands, tenements, goods, and properties, as
have i been since his majesty's happy return ; nor
hath the ordinary course of proceedings at law been
less obstructed.

The fourteenth article was, " That he had caused'^'* four -

teenth ar-

" quo warrantos to be issued out against most tide.
" of the corporations in England, to the intent
" that he might receive great sums of money
" from them for renewing their charters ; which
" when they complied withal, he caused the
" said quo warrantos to be discharged, and
" prosecution thereon to cease. "

To this he answered, that he never caused any His answer.
quo warranto to issue out against any one corpora-
tion in England, but by his majesty's express com-

". have] hath



430 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

i nani I , or by order of the board ; which was always
upon some miscarriage or misbehaviour in the cor-
poration : and that lie did not remember that he had
ever moved the king against any particular corj>ora-
tion, but that of Woodstock ; and which his duty to
his majesty had obliged him to do, being intrusted
by his majesty with the command of his house and
park there, and being his majesty's steward of his
majesty's honour and manor of Woodstock, upon
which that borough had always depended.

He said, his majesty having conferred that charge
upon him, he was no sooner possessed of it by the
death of the late earl of Lindsey, who enjoyed that
place before, than he received a petition from several
inhabitants and burgesses of the borough of Wood-
stock, who complained, " that the mayor and jus-
" tices had lately procured their charter to be re-
" newed, without the privity or consent of the bo-
" rough ; and that under pretence of renewing it,
" they had procured many new clauses to be in-
" serted, and thereby reduced much of the govern-
" ment, which before depended on the whole cor-
" poration, into their own hands ; and had thereby
" likewise procured a piece of ground, the benefit
" whereof did formerly belong to all the burgesses,
" and was usually applied to the relief of such of
" them who were decayed in their estates, to be
" now granted to the mayor and a select number of
" the justices, and the profits thereof to be at their
" disposal, to the great prejudice of the borough and
" the inhabitants thereof. " He referred this peti-
tion to Mr. Justice Morton, who lived within four
or five miles thereof, and desired him to examine
the truth of those allegations, and to certify him



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 431

whether the complaints were just and reasonable. 1668.
Whereupon he took the pains to go to the town,"
and to confer with the mayor and justices, and heard
the allegations of the petitioners ; and upon the
whole matter certified, " that he found several im-
" portant alterations in the new charter from what
" had been in the old, and some new concessions. "

And at the same time sir William Fleetwood, who
was ranger of the parks, certified him, " that since
" the renewing their charter, the mayor and justices
" were not so good neighbours to his majesty's game
" as they had formerly been, and had withdrawn
" many of those services which they had used to
" perform : and that when any trespasses were com-
" mitted by those of the borough upon his majesty's
" woods or game, which happened very frequently,
" and complaint was thereof made 'to the mayor
" and justices, who had the sole jurisdiction within
" the borough ; there was so slight and perfunctory
" examination thereof, that the prosecutors were
" wearied out, and no justice could be obtained. "

That it was his duty to inform the king of those
proceedings, who was much offended thereat, and
thereupon gave his direction to his attorney general
to bring a quo warranto, and to repeal the charter
which had been so unduly procured, and in which
his majesty had been so grossly deceived and abused :
and he did believe that there was the less vigour
used in the prosecution of that quo warranto be-
cause the mayor and justices for some time had pre-
tended that they would surrender the said charter,
and receive a new one in such a manner as his ma-
jesty thought fit, though they afterwards changed



432 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1668. their mind. And this was the only charter, he said,



which he gave direction for the prosecution of.

Nor did he ever give order, upon the receipt of
any money, to discharge any quo warranto, or cause
the prosecution thereupon to cease : nor did he ever
receive the least sum of money for the granting or
renewing any charter, other than the usual fees
received for the same by the clerk of the hanaper,
and accounted to the seal ; which fee, as he did re-
member, did amount to thirteen shillings and four-
pence, or thereabouts.
The fif- The fifteenth article was, " That he procured the

teenth ar-

ticle. " bills of settlement for Ireland, and received

" great sums of money for the same, in a most
" corrupt and unlawful manner. "

His answer. To this article there needs no other answer than
what is contained in two r several places of this dis-
course, in which so full a relation is made of the
whole settlement of Ireland, with all the circum-
stances that accompanied it, that it would be to no
purpose to repeat it in this place. And therein it
appears what money the chancellor received from
Ireland, and how he came to receive 8 any, and by
what injustice he came to receive no more ; all which
was not only well known to the king himself, but to
very many of those, who promoted the accusation
directly contrary to what they knew to be true.
The six. The sixteenth article was, " That he had deluded
" and betrayed his majesty and the nation in
" all foreign treaties and negotiations relating
" to the late war,"

r Vol. i. p. 441 . &c. and vol. ii. to receive] Omitted in MS.
p. 17. &r.






EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 433

To which he said, that he did heartily wish that 1668.
those particular treaties, and the particulars in those Ul3 atlswe
treaties, had been mentioned, wherein it was con-
ceived that he had deluded and betrayed his ma-
jesty, that he might at large have set down what-
soever he had known or done in those treaties ; and
then it would easily have been made appear, how
far he had been from betraying or deluding him.
That it was never any ambition of his own that
brought him to have a part in any treaty : he said,
God knew, that he heartily wished to have meddled
in nothing, but the administration of that great office
the king had thought fit to have trusted him with.
But his majesty had then so good an opinion of him,
that he required and commanded his service in many
of those treaties : and therefore it would be neces-
sary for him, according to the method he had hi-
therto used, to mention every particular treaty that
had been entered into since the time of his majesty's
return into England, and the part that he had in it ;
being as willing to be called to the strictest account
for any other treaty he had been engaged in when
he had been abroad, or for any counsel he had ever
given in his life, public or private ; wherein, he
doubted not, he should be found to have behaved
himself (according to the weak abilities God had
given him) with fidelity to his master, and with all
imaginable affection to his country, how unhappily
soever he had been represented.

The first treaty, he said, was with the crown of
Portugal ; in which he was none of the commis-
sioners who treated, and was only present when any
report was made by the commissioners to the king,

VOL. III. F f



484 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. or to the council-board, where all the articles were
~~ debated ; and he did not remember that there had
been any difference of opinion upon any of them :
and that treaty had been generally held the best
that hath been made with any crown, the merchants
having thereby greater advantages in trade than
they have in any other place, besides many other
great benefits, with a great enlargement of his ma-
jesty's empire.

The second treaty was with the States of the
United Provinces ; in which likewise he was none
of the commissioners who treated : but all that was
by them transacted was still brought to the council-
board, and debated there in his majesty's presence ;
in which the rule by which his majesty guided him-
self was, that he would not remit any of those con-
cessions which had been formerly made by them in
their last treaty with Cromwell ; and their unwill-
ingness to consent to that was the reason that their
ambassadors proceeded so slowly. And his majesty
had the less reason to be solicitous for expedition,
because the king of France had given his royal word,
and proposed it himself, " that the two crowns might
" proceed in the several treaties with the Dutch to-
" gether, that so they might be brought to those
" good conditions, that they might live like good
" neighbours with both the crowns, which," he ob-
served, " they were not naturally inclined to do ;"
and promised positively, " that for his part he would
" not conclude any thing with the Dutch, before
" he had entirely communicated the same to his
" majesty. " Notwithstanding which engagement,
France entered into and finished their treaty ; and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.
435

in it made that secret article, which they declared 1668.
afterwards to be the ground of c their obligation to""
assist the Dutch in the ensuing war. However, his
majesty proceeded not, till the Holland ambassadors
consented to all that had been before granted to
Cromwell : which being done, the peace was made
and ratified on both sides ; and without doubt was
with more advantage and honour to the English,
than ever had been provided by any former treaty
between the crown of England and those States.

From the two crowns of Sweden and Denmark
ambassadors extraordinary arrived at London shortly
after the king's return, and the several treaties were
made with both those crowns before the departure
of the ambassadors : in neither of which treaties the
chancellor was a commissioner, nor knew any thing
that passed in either, but as it was represented at
the council-board, and debated in his majesty's pre-
sence ; nor did he ever hear that either of them was
reckoned a disadvantageous treaty, both of them
containing as much benefit to the English as any
treaties which had been made before with those
crowns. He said, it was very true, that there were
some unusual expressions of kindness and friend-
ship in the treaty with Denmark ; which, in respect
of that king's being at that time in a very low con-
dition, under the disadvantageous conditions of the
treaty at Copenhagen newly submitted to, and under
almost as ill a treaty extorted from that crown by
the Dutch, and yet being in terrible apprehension of
some new oppression from the one and from the
other, the ambassador did very earnestly solicit to

* of] and
F f 2



436 GONTINUAtlON OF THE LIFE OF

1C68. have inserted; and which were upon great deli-
beration allowed and inserted by his majesty's own
particular direction, in consideration of the near al-
liance in blood between his majesty and that king,
and the civilities and obligations his majesty had
received from Denmark, during his being in Holland
after the murder of his father, and during his being
in Scotland, when the king of Denmark sent him
horses, arms, and ammunition. Of which his ma-
jesty had so great a sense, that he was often heard
to say, " that if it had pleased God to have brought
" him home before that disadvantageous peace at
" Copenhagen had been made," (which had been
done by the countenance of the English ships, and
the threats of those who were then ambassadors from
the governing power in England,) " he would have
" done the best he could to have defended and pro-
" tected him :" and therefore he did very readily yield
to that article drawn by the ambassador ; his majesty
declaring at the same time, " that he was very will-
" ing that those princes, who were neighbours to Den-
" mark, and from whom that kingdom apprehended
" new oppressions, should know his majesty's reso-
" lutions to support that king, and to defend him
" from new injuries ;" to which the policy of his go-
vernment, as well as his friendship, inclined and
obliged him ; though it is very true, the king of
Denmark did shortly after make very ill returns to
his majesty for that his so signal affection.

These were all the treaties made by the king be-
fore the war with the Dutch, (for there was very
little progress made either with France or Spain, for
the reasons mentioned before,) except only a short
treaty with the elector of Brandenburgh ; which



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 437

treaty was, for the most part, particular with refer-
ence only to the prince of Orange, his majesty's ne-
phew, and for the better ordering his affairs. In
which treaty his majesty likewise employed five or
six of his council : and the few articles between his
majesty and that elector in point of state were like-
wise transacted by them, and debated and considered
at the council-board, and in which all things were
inserted for his majesty's benefit and service ; and if
they had not been afterwards violated by the elector,
the king would have reaped much fruit and advan-
tage even from that treaty.

After the war was entered into with Holland, his
majesty sent Mr. Coventry to Sweden, and sir Gil-
bert Talbot to Denmark, to dispose those two crowns
to a confidence in each other, and then to dispose
them both to adhere to his majesty, or at least not
to assist or favour the Dutch. The treaty with
Sweden succeeded to his majesty's wish, and was
concluded in a league defensive, very much to the
king's satisfaction, and with the full approbation of
the whole board ; that crown having manifested so
much affection, and such an inclination to an entire
conjunction with him, that upon very reasonable
conditions they would have been induced to have
entered into a league offensive, and even into the
present war against the Dutch : in order to which,
they sent their ambassadors to the king at the same
time when Mr. Coventry returned, and they became
the mediators for the peace ; having first declared
to his majesty, " that if the treaty should prove in-
" effectual, the crown of Sweden would immediately
" join with his majesty against the Dutch. " What
became of the other treaty with Denmark is publicly

F f 3



438 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. known, his majesty having declared to all the world
~" how perfidiously he was treated by the Dane.

There remains only one other treaty to be men-
tioned, which is the last with the Dutch, upon which
the peace was made : and therefore it will be neces-
sary to set down the inducements to that treaty, the
whole progress and conclusion of it ; by all which it
will easily appear that his majesty was neither be-
trayed nor deluded in it, or, if he were, that it was
not done by him.

After so many encounters and various successes
in the war, which had been carried on with a much
greater expense than his majesty at his first en-
trance into it was persuaded it would cost him ;
when he saw the strength and power of the Dutch
so much increased by the conjunction of France and
Denmark, who supplied them with money, ships,
and, what they more wanted, with men as many as
they desired ; and that all the propositions he could
make to Spain could not induce them to enter into
such an alliance with him, as might embark them
against France, notwithstanding it was evident to
all but themselves, that the French resolved to break
the peace with them, having at that time published
those declarations which they afterwards made the
ground of the war: his majesty clearly discerned,
that the Dutch grew less weary of the war than
they had before seemed to have been ; and that they
would be able, with that assistance and conjunction,
to continue the war with less inconvenience than
his majesty was like to do.

He had found it necessary for straitening the trade
of the enemy, (the depriving them of which could
only induce them to desire a peace, and which he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 439

could not do by the strength of his own ships, IfiGS.
which were still kept together to encounter their"
fleet,) to grant commissions upon letters of marque
to as many private men of war as desired the same,
and with such strict orders and limitations as are
necessary in those cases ; and he found indeed the
advantage very great, in the damage those men of
war did to the enemy, which was considerable, and
gave them great trouble. On the other side, the
common seamen chose much rather to go on board
those men of war, where their profit out of their
shares of the booty was greater, and their hazards
much less, than in the king's ships, where they got
only blows without booty, though their pay and pro-
visions were much greater than they had been in
any former time : so that when the royal fleet was
to be set out, there was greater difficulty in procur-
ing seamen and mariners to man it.

And then, whereas the advancement of trade was
made the great end of the war, it was now found
necessary to suppress all trade, that there might be
mariners enough to furnish the ships for the carry-
ing on the war. And this inconvenience produced
another mischief: for by the great diminution and
even suppression of trade, there was likewise so great
a fall in the customs, excise, and all other branches
of the king's revenue, that it was evident enough
that his majesty would have little to carry on the
war, but what should arise by imposition in parlia-
ment upon the people; who already complained
loudly of the decay of their rents, of the small and
low prices which their commodities yielded by the
cessation of trade, and especially by the carrying all
the money in specie from the several counties to

F f 4



440 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. London for the carrying on the war. And the par-
liament itself appeared so weary of it, that, instead
of granting a new supply proportionable to the
charge, they fell upon expedients to raise money by
the sale of part of the king's revenue, which was al-
ready too small to support the ordinary and necessary
expense of the crown.

But above all, his majesty was most discouraged
by the extreme license of the seamen in general ;
but especially of those who were called privateers,
set out in the particular ships of war upon adven-
ture, who made no distinction between friends and
foes; but, as if the sea had been their own quar-
ters, they seized upon all ships which passed within
their view, and either pillaged them entirely, and so
dismissed them, (which they usually did to those
which they foresaw would be delivered by the course
of justice,) or else brought them into the harbours,
after they had taken from them what they best
liked. And then the formal proceedings in the
court of admiralty were so dilatory, and involved in
so many appeals,that the prosecution of justice for in-
juries received grew as grievous as the injury itself;
which drew an universal clamour from all nations,
" that without being parties to the war they were
" all treated as enemies. "

France had made the damage they had this way
received, and the interruption of their trade, a great
part of their quarrel, and one ground of their con-
junction with the Dutch. From Spain, which really
wished better to us than to our enemies, the com-
plaints were as great ; " that their whole trade was
" destroyed ; their ships of Flanders,, which supplied
" Spain with what they wanted for themselves, and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 441

" with what was necessary for their trade and inter- 1668.
" course with the Indies, were all taken as Dutch,"
" because it was very hard to distinguish them by
" their language :" which was likewise the case of
all the Hanse-towns, which made grievous com-
plaints, and had without doubt received great da-
mage. Those princes of Italy whose dominions
reached to the sea, as the two republics of Venice
and Genoa, and the duke of Florence, expostulated
very grievously for their ships taken by those free-
booters of Scotland and of Ireland, both which na-
tions enriched themselves very much upon such de-
predations. And how much soever the royal navy
was weakened every day, the number of those men
of war wonderfully increased ; so that those kind of
ships, of England, Scotland, and Ireland, covered the
whole ocean : and of those ships which were taken
and carried into Scotland or Ireland, (in England
there were many redeliveries,) it was observed,
that there were vestigia nulla retrorsum. Even
Sweden itself, with whom a new stricter alliance
was entered into at that time, with as severe restric-
tions to that license of the men of war as could be
contrived for the liberty and security of the trade of
that crown, complained exceedingly of the violation
of all those concessions and provisions, and that their
ships were every day taken and plundered. And
this universal complaint began to awaken all princes
to a jealousy, that the English endeavoured to re-
strain all trade, till they could make themselves the
entire masters of it, and by their naval power put
some imposition upon the whole traffick of Europe.
It is very true, at the first entrance into the war
there had been many unskilful expressions even in



442 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. the parliament itself, as well as in the frequent dis-
~~ courses of parliament-men, " that by this war, and
" by suppressing the power of the Dutch at sea,"
(of which they made not the least doubt,) " the king
" would be able to give the law to all the trade of
" the world, and that no ships should pass the sea
" without paying some tribute to England :" which
liberty and rashness of discourse made great impres-
sion upon those who wished mischief enough to the
Dutch, till they saw what danger might ensue to
themselves by the success of the English ; and
thereupon wished that they might break themselves
upon each other, without advantage to either party.
And this general distemper and complaint made
the deeper impression upon the king, by his dis-
cerning an extreme difficulty, if not an impossi-
bility, to give any just remedy to it ; and conse-
quently, that he should be shortly looked upon as
a common enemy.

He had taken very great pains, upon deliberate
consultations, to suppress that odious irregularity
and destructive license that was practised amongst
the seamen, and had in many particular cases him-
self examined the excess, and caused exemplary jus-
tice to be done upon the offenders, and restitution
to be made of what had been taken, at least of what
was left ; for no justice could preserve the injured
persons from being losers. He had granted such
rules and privileges and protection to the ports in
Flanders, and to others of his allies, as themselves
desired, and looked upon as full security ; but then
he quickly found, that from those very ports and in
those very ships which enjoyed those privileges, the
trade of the Dutch was driven on : so that it was



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 443

evident that by that liberty, which other nations 1668.
thought themselves in justice entitled to, if not re-
strained, the Hollanders themselves would be easily
able to carry on their whole trade in the ships of
Flanders, Hamburgh, and the other free towns, or
in their own ships owned by the other ; and that
the restraint would likewise be impossible, without
a total suppression of those men of war, and a revo-
cation of all commissions granted to them or any of
them, which would likewise be attended with the
freedom and security of trade to all his majesty's
enemies.

In the last encounter at sea, the Prince Royal,
and three other of his majesty's navy, had been
lost ; and another, the London, had been burned in
the river by the negligence of the seamen ; for there
was never any discovery made, that there was any
purpose or malice in it. The French had obliged
themselves, that the duke of Beaufort, admiral of
France, should, with the whole fleet under his com-
mand, amounting to eighteen good ships, join with
the Dutch ; and the king of Denmark was likewise
engaged to send all his great ships, which were ten
or a dozen, in order to the like conjunction : so that
it was evident to his majesty, that the enemy would
be much superior to him in strength and power,
though he had been able to have manned and set
out all his royal navy ; which he well foresaw he
should not be able to do, both for want of money
and want of seamen, who were already in great dis-
order and mutiny for want of their pay, of which
there was indeed a great arrear due to them. And,
which was worse, there was grown such an ani-
mosity amongst the principal officers of the fleet be-



444 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. tween themselves, that the whole discipline was
"" corrupted ; so that it was hard to resolve into what
hands to put the government thereof, if it could
have been made ready.

Upon which, and the whole state of affairs, and
upon deliberation and frequent consultation with
the principal officers of the sea, and such others
whose experience in such matters rendered them
most capable to give advice, the king found it most
counsellable to resolve to make a defensive war the
next year, and to lay up all his great ships, and to
have some squadrons of the lighter vessels to con-
tinue in several quarters assigned to them, which
should be ready to take all advantages which should
be offered ; and that there should be likewise ready
in the river another good squadron of ships against
the end of the summer, which being ready to join
with those which lay out, when the enemy was
weary and their ships foul, would be able to take
many notable advantages upon them ; of which they
who advised it were so confident, that they did be-
lieve this defensive way thus ordered and prosecut-
ed would prove a greater damage to the enemy in
their trade, and all other respects, than they had
ever undergone. And in all this counsel and reso-
lution the chancellor had no other part than being
present ; and, not understanding the subject-matter
of debate, could not be able to answer any of the
reasons that had been alleged.

These considerations, upon a full survey of his ill
condition at home and abroad, induced the king to
wish that there were a good end of the war ; of
which inclination his majesty vouchsafed to inform
the chancellor, well knowing that he would be very



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 445

glad to contribute all he could to it, as a thing he iocs.

desired most in this world, and which he thought

would prove the greatest benefit to the king and
kingdom ; and his majesty likewise told him, " that
" he found all those, who had been most forward
" and impatient to enter into this war, were now
" weary of it, and would be glad of a peace :" so
that there remained now nothing to do, but for his
majesty to advise with those whom he thought fit,
(for there seemed many reasons to conceal both the
inclination to peace, and the resolution not to set
out a summer fleet, from being publicly known,)
what method to observe, and what expedients to
make use of, for the better procuring this wished
for peace, without appearing to be too solicitous or
importunate for it, or so weary of the war as in
truth he was. And to this consultation the king
was pleased to call together with his royal brother,
prince Rupert, the chancellor, the general, the lord
treasurer, and those other honourable persons with
whom he used to advise in his most secret and most
important affairs.

That which occurred first to consider was, whe-
ther there were any hope to divide the French from
the Dutch ; upon which supposition the prospect
was not unpleasant, the war with one of them being
hopefully enough to be pursued ; the conjunction
was only formidable. And to this purpose several
attempts had been made both in France and in Hol-
land ; both sides being equally resolved not to sepa-
rate from each other, till a joint peace should be
made with England, though they both owned a
jealousy of each other : those of Holland having a
terrible apprehension and foresight of the king of



446 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

J668. France's designs upon Flanders, which would make
his greatness too near a neighbour to their territo-
ries ; besides that the logic of his demands upon the
devolution and nullity of the treaty upon the mar-
riage was equally applicable to their whole interest,
as it was to their demands from the king of Spain.
And France, upon all the attacks they had made
both in France with the Dutch ambassador there,
and in Holland by their own ambassador, found
clearly, that they were to expect no assistance from
the Dutch in their designs, and that at least they
wished them ill success, and would probably contri-
bute to it upon the first occasion : and this made
them willing to put an end to their so strict alliance,
which was already very chargeable to them, and not
like to be attended with any notable advantage, ex-
cept in weakening an ally from whom they might
probably receive mucli more advantage.

However, neither the one nor the other would be
induced to enter into any treaty apart, though they
both seemed willing and desirous of a peace; in
order to which, the Dutch, through the Swedes am-
bassadors' hands, had writ to the king, " to offer a
" treaty in any such neutral place as his majesty
" should make choice of;" professing, " that they
" should make no scruple of sending their ambassa-
" dors directly to his majesty, but that their con-
" junction with the other two crowns, who required
" a neutral place, would not admit that condescen-
" sion. " And at the same time they intimated to
the Swedes ambassadors, " that the king of France
" would not send his ambassadors into Flanders, or
" any place of the king of Spain's dominions ;" and
therefore wished, " that his majesty would make



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 447

" choice of Dusseldorp, Cologne, Francfort, or Ham- 1668.
" burgh, or any other place that his majesty should"
" think more convenient than the other, under that
" exception :" all which places, and in truth any
other out of the king of Spain's dominions, were at
such a distance, (the winter being now near over,)
that there could be no reasonable expectation of the
fruit of the treaty in time to prevent more acts of
hostility.

How the treaty came afterwards to be introduced
by overtures from France, and what preliminaries
were first proposed from thence by the earl of St.
Alban's, and how agreed to by his majesty ; how
the place of the treaty came to be adjusted, the am-
bassadors chosen, and the whole progress thereupon,
and the publication of the articles of the peace ; is
so particularly set forth in this narrative before 11 ,
that it needs not to be repeated here. And one of
the ambassadors repairing, as is there said, to the
king, and giving him an account of all that had
passed before any thing was concluded, and every
particular having been debated at the council-board
and consented to ; he said, he could not understand
how his majesty could be deluded or betrayed in
that treaty, which passed with such a full examina-
tion and disquisition, and in all which debates his
majesty himself had taken the pains to discourse
more, and to enlarge in the answer to all objections
which were foreseen, than he had been ever known
to have done upon any other article.

It is very true, that the chancellor had been com-
manded by the king to write most of the letters

11 Page 203, &c. and p. 260, &c. of this volume.



448 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. which had been sent to the earl of St. Alban's, from
~" the time of his going over concerning the treaty, his
lordship having likewise directed most of his letters
to him ; and most of the despatches to the ambassa-
dors were likewise prepared by him, they being by
their instructions (without his desire or privity) to
transmit all accounts to one of the secretaries or to
himself. But, he said, it was as true, that he never
received a letter from either of them, but it was
read entirely, in his majesty's presence, to those
lords of the council who were assigned for that
service, where directions were given what answer
should be returned ; and he never did return any
answer to either of them, without having first read
it to the council, or having first sent it to one of the
secretaries, to be read to his majesty. And he did
with a very good conscience protest to all the world,
that he never did the least thing, or gave the least
advice, relating to the war, or relating to the peace,
which he would not have done, if he had been to
expire the next minute, and to have given an ac-
count thereof to God Almighty.

And as his majesty prudently, piously, and pas-
sionately desired to put an end to that war, so no
man appeared more delighted with the peace when
it was concluded, than his majesty himself did ,
though, he said, as far as he could make any judg-
ment of public affairs, the publication of that peace
was attended with the most universal joy and accla-
mations of the whole nation, that can be imagined.
Nor is it easy to forget the general consternation
that the city and people of all conditions were in,
when the Dutch came into the river as high as Chat-
ham ; and when the distemper in the court itself



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 449

was so great, that many persons of quality and title, lOfis.
in the galleries and privy lodgings, very indecently
every day vented their passions in bitter execrations
against those who had first counselled and brought
on the war, wishing x that an end were put to it by
any peace ; some of which persons, within very few
days after, as bitterly inveighed against the peace
itself, and against the promoters of it. But, he
said, he was yet so far from repenting or being
ashamed of the part lie had in it, that he looked
upon it as a great honour, that the last service he
performed for his majesty was the sealing the pro-
clamations, and other instructions, for the conclusion
and perfection of that peace, the great seal of Eng-
land being that very day sent for and taken from
him.

The seventeenth and last article was, " That he The sovcn-
" was a principal author of that fatal counsel c ie. "
" of dividing the fleet about June 1666. "

For answer to this, he set down at large an ac-iiisanswo,
count of all the agitation that was in council upon
that affair, and that the dividing and separation of
the fleet at that time was by the election and advice
of the two generals, and not by the order or direc-
tion of the council : all which hath been at large, in
that part of this discourse which relates to the
transactions of that time*', set down, and therefore
needs not to be again inserted.

He took notice of the prejudice that might befall
him, in the opinion of good men, by his absenting
himself, and thereby declining the full examination
and trial which the public justice would have allow-

x wishing] and wishing > P. 69, &c. of this volume.

VOL. III. G g



450 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. ed him ; which obliged him to set down all the par-
~~ ticulars which passed from the taking the seal from
him, the messages he had received by the bishop of
Hereford, and finally the advice and command the
bishop of Winchester brought him from the duke of
York with the approbation of the king. Upon all
which, and the great distemper that appeared in the
two houses at that time, and which was pacified
upon his withdrawing, he did hope, that all dispas-
sioned men would believe that he had not deserted
and betrayed his own innocence ; but on the con-
trary, that he had complied with that obligation and
duty which he had always paid to his majesty and
to his service, in choosing at that time to sacrifice
his own honour to the least intimation of his ma-
jesty's pleasure, and when the least inconvenience
might have befallen it by his obstinacy, though
in his own defence : and concluded, that though
his enemies, who had by all the evil arts imagin-
able contrived his destruction, had yet the power
and the credit to infuse into his majesty's ears
stories of words spoken and things done by him, of
all which he was as innocent as he was at the time
of his birth, and other jealousies of a nature so
odious, that themselves had not the confidence pub-
licly to own ; yet, he said, notwithstanding all those
disadvantages for the present, he did not despair,
but that his majesty, in his goodness and justice,
might in due time discover the foul artifices which
had been used to gain credit with him, and would
reflect graciously upon some poor services (how over-
rewarded soever) heretofore performed by him, the
memory whereof would prevail with him to think,
that the banishing him out of his country, and fore-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 451

ing him to seek his bread in foreign parts at this 1668.
age, is a very severe judgment. However, he was
confident that posterity will clearly discern his inno-
cence and integrity in all those particulars, which
have been as untruly as maliciously laid to his charge
by men who did nothing before, or have done any
thing since, that will make them be thought to be
wise or honest men ; and will believe his misfortunes
to have been much greater than his faults.

As soon as he had digested and transmitted this The chan -

i . -,. -,. . . t i . cellorenjoys

his answer and vindication to his children, which he great tra. r.
did in a short time after his arrival at Montpelier, I'Liin his
he appeared to all men who conversed with him to
be entirely possessed of so much tranquillity of
mind, and so unconcerned in all that had been done
to him or said of him, that men believed the temper
to be affected with much art ; and that it z could not
be natural in a man, who was known to have so
great an affection for his own country, the air and
climate thereof; and to take so much delight and
pleasure in his relations, from whom he was now ba-
nished, and at such a distance, that he could not
wish that they should undergo the inconveniences
in many respects which were like to attend their
making him many visits. But when there was vi-
sibly always in him such a vivacity and cheerfulness
as could not be counterfeited, that was not inter-
rupted nor clouded upon such ill news as came
every week out of England, of the improvement of
the power and insolence of his enemies ; all men
concluded, that he had somewhat about him above
a good constitution, and prosecuted him with all the

7 that it] Not in MS.
Gg2



452 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. offices of civility and respect they could manifest to-



wards a stranger.

TWO appre- There were two inconveniences which he foresaw
gfvTbim might happen, and could not but discompose the se-

ZL ullca ~ renit r f his mind - The first and that which g ave

' ' lhein - him least apprehension, though he could not avoid

sufficiency

of ins for- the thinking of it. nor the trouble of those thoughts

tune.

which could not be separated from it, was, how he
should be able to draw as much money out of Eng-
land as would support his expense ; which, though
husbanded with as much frugality as could be used
with any decency, he foresaw would amount to a
greater proportion than he had proposed to himself.
His indisposition and infirmity, which either kept
him under the actual and sharp visitation of the
gout, or, when the vigour of that was abated, in
much weakness of his limbs when the pain was
gone, were so great, that he could not be without
the attendance of four servants about his own per-
son ; having, in those seasons when he enjoyed most
health and underwent least pain, his knees, legs, and
feet so weak, that he could not walk, especially up
or down stairs, without the help of two men ; and
when he was seized upon by the gout, they were
not able to perform the office of watching : so that
to the English servants which he had brought with
him, which with a cook, and a maid to wash his
linen, amounted to six or seven, he was compelled
to take four or five French servants for the mar-
ket and other offices of the house ; and his lodg-
Thi* soon ing cost him above two hundred pistoles. But all

removed by . _ . .

bis cons- the apprehensions of this kind were upon short re-



flections composed, in the assurance he had of the
children, affection and piety of his children, who he believed



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 453

out of his and their own state would raise enough HJO'8.
for his unavoidable disbursements.

The other apprehension stuck closer to him, and ? The
made him even tremble in the very reflection. He again perse"
could not forget the treatment he had between Ca-j^j"'
lais and Roan, and the strange violent importunity
that was used to him to get out of the kingdom,
when he had not strength to get out of his bed.
And though he was now at ease from such inhuman
pressures ; yet his enemies, who had even extorted
that importunity from a people not inclined to such
incivilities, had still the same power, and the same
malice, and a froppish kind of insolence, that delight-
ed to deprive him of any thing that pleased him,
and manifestly pleased itself in vexing him. And
if they should again prevail with the same ministers
to remove him from his quiet, and oblige him to
new journeys, the same spirit would chase him from
place to place ; there being none in view like to be
superior to their influence, when France had been
subdued by it. So that besides the impossibility of
preserving the peace and repose of his mind in so
grievous a fatigue, and continual torture of his body,
he saw no hope of rest but in his grave. And against
this kind of tyranny he could by no reasonable dis-
course with himself provide any security, or stock of
courage to support it.

His friend the abbot Mountague, who was the
only advocate he had to that court, used all his
powerful rhetoric to allay those fears, and to comfort
him against those melancholic apprehensions, by as-
suring him, " that the ministers were far from such
" inclinations, and that nothing but reason of state
" could dispose them to that severity :" yet he prc-



464 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. pared him not to think of removing from Montpe-
~~lier, without first acquainting that court with it.
And when afterwards he proposed to him, " that he
" might have leave to reside in Orleans, or some
" other city, at such a nearer distance from England,
' that his children or friends might more easily repair
" to him ;" the court a did not like the proposition,
but proposed Moulins, whither they would not yet
give him a pass, till first their ambassador in Eng-
land should know that it would not be unacceptable
to his majesty : so that he found himself upon the
matter not only banished from his country, but con-
fined to Montpelier, without any assurance that he
should not be again shortly banished from thence.
Tins re- However after he had revolved all the expedients

moved by

an entire that occurred to him for the prevention of such a
to Provi- mischief, he concluded there was no other remedy
to be applied to those contingencies, than in acqui-
escing in the good pleasure of God, and depending
upon him to enable him to bear what no discretion
or foresight of his own could prevent. And in this
composure of mind he betook himself to his books,
and to the entertainment and exercise of such
thoughts, as were most like to divert him from
others which would be more unpleasant.

blessed him very much in this composure



served an j retreat. And the first consolation he adminis-

trcatruent.

tered to himself was from the reflection upon the
wonderful and unusual proceedings and prosecution
that had been against him, in another kind of man-
ner, and after another measure, than used to be
practised by the most bitter enemies, and than was

a the court] but the court



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 455

necessary to their ends and advantages who had 1668.
contrived them : not to mention the malice and in-~
justice of their first design of removing him from
the trust and credit he had with the king, and to
alienate his majesty's affection and kindness from
him, to which the corrupt hopes and expectation of
benefit to themselves might incline them ; and then
such unrighteous ends cannot naturally be prose-
cuted but by as unrighteous means. When they
were not only privy to but contrivers of his escape,
which they looked upon as attended with more be-
nefit to them than his imprisonment or the taking
his life could have been ; when they were secure of
his absence, and of no more being troubled or con-
tradicted by him, by the bill of banishment, by
which they broke their faith and promises to the
king, and made him depart from his own resolu-
tions : to what purpose was all their other prosecu-
tion of him both at home and abroad, more deroga-
tory to the king's honour, and that innate goodness
of nature and clemency that all men know he
abounds in, than mischievous to him ? why must he
be absurdly charged with counsels and actions, of
which he could never be suspected ? and why must
his name be struck out of all books of council, and
catalogues and lists of servants, that it might not
appear that he had ever been a counsellor of state,
or a magistrate of justice ; a method that was never
practised towards the greatest malefactor? to what
worthy or necessary end could that exorbitant de-
mand be made and pursued in France, to expose
him and the honour of that crown to the general
reproach of all men, with such unparalleled circum-
stances ?

Gg 4



456 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. These very extraordinary attempts and unheard
of devices seemed to all wise men but the last effort



Which raise

his cone- of vulgar spirited persons, and the faint grasping of
God? " impotent malice ; and instead of depressing the spi-
rits of him they hated, raised his confidence, that
God would not permit such gross inventions of very
ill and shortsighted men to triumph in the ruin of
an honest man, whose heart was always fixed upon
his protection, and whom he had so often preserved
from more powerful stratagems : and he did really
believe, that the divine justice would at some time
expose the pride and ambition of those men to the
infamy they deserved.

He reflects To those persons with whom he did with the most
duct from freedom communicate, he did often profess, that
the ki^g^ upon the strictest inquisition he could make into all
turn ' his actions from the time of the king's return, when
his condition was generally thought to have been
very prosperous, though at best it was exercised with
many thorns which made it uneasy, he could not
reflect upon any one thing he had done, (amongst
many which he doubted not were justly liable to the
reproach of weakness and vanity,) of which he was
And blames so much ashamed, as he was of the vast expense he
cSy'for had made in the building of his house ; which had
idi" 5 ' more contributed to that gust of envy that had so
violently shaken him, than any misdemeanour that
he was thought to have been guilty of; and which
had infinitely discomposed his whole affairs, and
broken his estate. For all which he had no other
excuse to make, than that he was necessitated to
quit the habitation he was in at Worcester-house,
which the owner required, and for which he had
always paid five hundred pounds yearly rent, and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 457

could not find any convenient house to live in, ex- HJGS.
cept he built one himself, (to which he was naturally
too much inclined ;) and that he had so much en-
couragement thereunto from the king himself, that
his majesty vouchsafed to appoint the place upon
which it should stand, and graciously to bestow the
inheritance of the land upon him after a short term
of years, which he purchased from the present pos-
sessor : which approbation and bounty of his ma-
jesty was his greatest encouragement. And his
own unskilfulness in architecture, and the positive
undertaking of a gentleman, (who had skill enough,
and a good reward for his skill,) that the expense
should not amount to a third part of what in truth
it afterwards amounted to, which he could without
eminent inconvenience have disbursed, involved him a
in that rash enterprise, that proved so fatal and
mischievous to him ; not only in the accumulation
of envy and prejudice that it brought upon him, but
in the entanglement of a great debt, that broke all
his measures ; and, under the weight of his sudden,
unexpected misfortune, made his condition very un-
easy, and near insupportable.

And this he took all occasions to confess, and to
reproach himself with the folly of it. And yet,
when his children and his nearest friends proposed
and advised the sale of it in his banishment, for the
payment of his debts, and making some provision
for two younger children ; he remained still so much
infatuated with the delight he had enjoyed, that,
though he was deprived of it, he hearkened very
unwillingly to the advice ; and expressly refused to

1 him] Omitted in MS.



458 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1G68. approve it, until such a sum should be offered for it,
~ as held some proportion to the money he had laid
out ; and could not conceal some confidence he had,
that he should live to be restored to it, and to be
vindicated from the brand he suffered under, except
his particular complete ruin were involved in the
general distraction and confusion of his country, of
which he had a more sensible and serious appre-
hension.

His three He was wont to say, " that of the infinite bless-
" ings which God had vouchsafed to confer upon
. c " him almost from his cradle," amongst which he

business, delighted in the reckoning up many signal instances,
" he esteemed himself so happy in none as in his
" three acquiescences," which he called " his three
" vacations and retreats he had in his life enjoyed
" from business of trouble and vexation ;" and in
every of which God had given him grace and op-
portunity to make full reflections upon his actions,
and his observations upon what he had done him-
self, and what he had seen others do and suffer ; to
repair the breaches in his own mind, and to fortify
himself with new resolutions against future encount-
ers, in an entire resignation of all his thoughts and
purposes into the disposal of God Almighty, and in
a firm confidence of his protection and deliverance
in all the difficulties he should be obliged to contend
with ; towards b the obtaining whereof, he renewed
those vows and promises of integrity and hearty en-
deavour to perform his duty, which are the only
means to procure the continuance of that protection
and deliverance.

b towards] and towards



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 459

The first of these recesses or acquiescences was, 1668.
his remaining and residing in Jersey, when the~
prince of Wales, his now majesty, first went into
France upon the command of the queen his mother,
contrary, as to the time, to the opinion of the coun-
cil the king his father had directed him to govern
himself by, and, as they conceived, contrary to his
majesty's own judgment, the knowing whereof they
only waited for; and his stay there, during that
time that his highness first remained at Paris and
St. Germain's, until his expedition afterwards to the
fleet and in the Downs. His second was, when he
was sent by his majesty as his ambassador, together
with the lord Cottington, into Spain ; in which two
full years were spent before he waited upon the king
again. And the third was his last recess, by the
disgrace he underwent, and by the act of banish-
ment. In which three acquiescences, he had learned Tlie g reat

benefits he

more, knew himself and other men much better, received in
and served God and his country with more devotion,
and he hoped more effectually, than in all the other
more active part of his life.

He used to say, that he spent too much of his A summary

. , . . , . recapitula-

younger years in company and conversation, and too t i n of his
little with books ; which was in some degree repair- llfe '
ed, by the greatest part of his conversation being
with persons of very eminent parts of learning and
virtue, and never with men of loose and debauched
manners. And he took great pleasure frequently to
remember and mention the names of those with
whom he kept most company, when he first entered
into the world ; many whereof lived to be very
eminent in church and state : to whose informa-
tion and example, and to the affection, awe, and



40 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF



1668. reverence, he had to their persons, he did acknow-
~ ledge to owe all that was commendable in c him.
He did very much affect to be loved and esteemed
amongst men of good name and reputation, which
made him warily avoid the company of loose and
dissolute men, and to preserve himself from any
notable scandal of any kind, and to live caute} if not
caste. Nor was the conversation he lived in liable
to any other exception, than that it was with men
superior to him in their quality and their fortunes,
which exposed him to greater expense, than his for-
tune would warrant : and yet it pleased God to
preserve him from ever undergoing any reproach or
inconvenience.

He accused himself of entering too soon out of a
life of ease and pleasure and too much idleness, into
a life of too much business, that required more la-
bour and experience and knowledge than he was
supplied for ; for he put on his gown as soon as he
was called to the bar ; and, by the countenance of
persons in place and authority, as soon engaged him-
self in the business of the profession as he put on his
gown, and to that degree in practice, that gave little
time for study, that he had too much neglected be-
fore ; besides that he still indulged to his beloved
conversation. Few years passed before the troubles
in Scotland appeared, and the little parliament was
convened; which being dissolved and presently a
new one called, he was a member in both, and
wholly gave himself up to the public affairs agitated
there, and where he was enough esteemed and em-
ployed, till the spirit reigned there, and drove men
of his principles from thence.

1 in] l<>



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 461

He was entirely and without reserve trusted, JGG8.
with two other of his friends, in all the king's af-~~
fairs which related to the parliament, before the re-
bellion appeared ; which brought him into prejudice
and jealousy with many of both houses, who before
were very kind to him. And in the beginning of
the rebellion he was sworn of the privy-council and
made chancellor of the exchequer : and from this
time the pains he took, and the great fatigue lie
underwent, were notorious to all men ; insomuch
as, the refreshment of dinner excepted, for he never
supped, he had very little of the day, and not much of
the night, vacant from the most important business.

When the prince was separated from his father,
the king commanded him to attend his highness into
the west, under more than a common trust : and' 1
the inequality of humours amongst the counsellors,
the wants and necessities of the prince's little court
and family, the want of wisdom in his governor,
that made him want that respect from the prince
and all other people that was due to him, the faction
amongst all the country gentlemen, and, above all,
the ill success in the king's affairs, and the preva-
lence of the parliament in all places, made the pro-
vince he had very uncomfortable and uneasy. The
unavoidable necessity of transporting the person of
the prince out of the kingdom (which was intrusted
only to four of the council by the king, and by his
command reserved from his governor and another)
when there should be apparent danger of his falling
into the hands of the rebels, and the as necessary
deferring it till that danger was even in view, and

(l and] and by



CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. the designs of some of the prince's servants with



the county to obstruct and prevent it when it was
in view ; the executing it in a seasonable article of
time before or in the moment that it was suspected,
and disguising it by a retreat to Scilly, and staying
there till they could be provided for a farther voy-
age ; and then the prince's remove from thence to
Jersey, the contests which happened there between
the counsellors upon the queen's commands for his
highness's present repair into France, her majesty's
declared displeasure, and the personal animosities
which grew from thence between the persons in the
greatest trust ; were all particulars of that weight
and distraction, that made great impression upon
his mind and faculties, which needed much reflection
and contemplation to compose them.
H. S first re- This first retreat gave him opportunity and leisure

treat in the

island of to call himself to a strict account for whatsoever he
had done, upon revolving of all his particular actions,
and the behaviour of other men ; and to compose
those affections and allay those passions, which, in
the warmth of perpetual actions and chafed by con-
tinual contradictions, had need of rest, and cool c
and deliberate cogitations. He had now time to
mend his understanding, and to correct the defects
and infirmities of his nature, by the observation of
and reflection upon the grounds and successes of
those counsels he had been privy to, upon the se-
veral tempers and distempers of men employed both
in the martial and civil affairs of the greatest im-
portance, and upon the experience he had and the
observation he had made in the three or four last

e cool] rold



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 463

years, where the part he had acted himself differed
so much from all the former transactions and com-
merce of his life.

He had originally in his nature so great a tender-
ness and love towards mankind, that he did not only
detest all calumniating and detraction towards the
lessening the credit or parts or reputation of any
man, but did really believe that all men were such
as they seemed or appeared to be ; that they had
the same justice and candour and goodness in their
nature, that they professed to have ; and thought no
men to be wicked and dishonest and corrupt, but
those who in their manners and lives gave unques-
tionable evidence of it ; and even amongst those he
did think most to err and do amiss, rather out of
weakness and ignorance, for want of friends and
good counsel, than out of the malice and wickedness
of their natures.

But now, upon the observation and experience
he had in the parliament, (and he believed he could
have made the discovery no where else, without
doubt not so soon,) he reformed all those mistakes,
and mended that easiness of his understanding.
He had seen those there, upon whose ingenuity and
probity he would willingly have deposited all his
concernments of this world, behave themselves with
that signal uningenuity and improbity that must
pull up all confidence by the roots ; men of the most
unsuspected integrity, and of the greatest eminence
for their piety and devotion, most industrious to im-
pose upon and to cozen men of weaker parts and
understanding, upon the credit of their sincerity, to
concur with them in mischievous opinions, which
they did not comprehend, and which conduced to



CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. dishonest actions they did not intend. He saw the
~ most bloody and inhuman rebellion contrived by
them who were generally believed to l>e the most
solicitous and zealous for the peace and prosperity
of the kingdom, with such art and subtilty, and so
great pretences to religion, that it looked like ill-
nature to believe that such sanctified persons could
entertain any but holy purposes. In a word, religion
was made a cloak to cover the most impious designs ;
and reputation of honesty, a stratagem to deceive
and cheat others who had no mind to be wicked.
The court was f as full of murmuring, ingratitude,
and treachery, and 6 as willing and ready to rebel
against the best and most bountiful master in the
world, as the country and the city. A barbarous
and bloody fierceness and savageness had extin-
guished all relations, hardened the hearts and bowels
of all men ; and an universal malice and animosity
had even covered the most innocent and best-na-
tured people and nation upon the earth.

These unavoidable reflections first made him dis-
cern how weak and foolish all his former imaginations
had been, and how blind a surveyor* he had been of
the inclinations and affections of the heart of man ;
and it made him likewise conclude from thence,
how uncomfortable and vain the dependance must
be upon any thing in this world, where whatsoever
is good and desirable suddenly perisheth, and no-
thing is lasting but the folly and wickedness of the
inhabitants thereof. In this first vacation, he had
leisure to read many learned and pious books ; and
here he began to compose his Meditations upon the

1 was] Not in MS. and] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 465

Psalms, by applying those devotions to the present 1668.
afflictions and calamities of his king and country. He ~
began now; by the especial encouragement of the
king, who was then a prisoner in the army, to write
The History of the late Rebellion and Civil Wars, and
finished the four first books thereof; and made an
entry upon some exercises of devotion, which he
lived to enlarge afterwards.

When he had enjoyed, in that pleasant island of
Jersey, full two years, in as great serenity of mind
as the separation from country, wife, and children,
can be imagined to admit, he received a command
from the queen, then at St. Germain's, and an ex-
press order from the king, upon which the other had
been sent, his majesty being then prisoner in the
Isle of Wight, that he should forthwith attend the
person of the prince of Wales, who, upon the revolt
of the ships under the command of the parliament
in the Downs, and their profession of obedience to
the king, was advised to make all possible haste to
them ; and the chancellor was required to wait upon
his highness at Roan upon a day assigned, which
was past before the orders came to him.

And then h without any delay he used all possible
diligence to find the prince ; who with greater ex-
pedition, without coming to Roan, passed to Calais,
and from thence to Holland to possess the ships
which he found there, and possessed with all that
alacrity (which is always very loud) that seamen
can express ; and by the assistance of the prince of
Orange got more victual quickly on board, that he
might be in the Downs with the fleet to second

h then] though
VOL. III. H h



466 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

lf>68. some attempt which was already on foot in Kent,
~" and others expected in several parts of the kingdom.
And the chancellor having in his way called upon
the lord Cottington at Roan, and together with him,
and some other persons of honour and quality, made
what haste they could to Dieppe, that they might
there embark for any place where they should hear
the prince to be ; there ' they were informed, that
his highness was at the Brill in Holland. And
thereupon they put themselves on board a French
man of war, and upon the sea were taken prisoners
by Ostenders, who, upon the advantage of being in
the ship of an enemy, concluded them to be lawful
prize, and treated them accordingly, with all the
circumstances of barbarity ; and after having plun-
dered them thoroughly of money and jewels of great
value, and stripped most of their servants to their
shirts, they carried them in great triumph to Ostend;
where though their persons were used with civility
and respect, and presently set at liberty, yet they
were compelled to stay there many days, in hope to
obtain the jewels and money of which they had
been robbed, and, finding that not to be done, (those
privateers being subject to no discipline, nor regard-
ing the orders of the admiralty, or any other go-
vernor,) to make such provision as was necessary for
a further voyage.