No More Learning

The king Whether the king grew less inclined to marry,
much" and liked the liberty he enjoyed too well to be will-
wu&tbe S to k e restrained; or whether what had been
treaty. g^ { o n j m o f ^he m f an ta's person, and her unapt-
ness for children, had made some impression in him ;
or whether the earl of Bristol's describing the per-
sons of the Italian ladies, and magnifying their con-
h and] he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 509

versations (in which arguments he had naturally a 1661.
very luxurious style, unlimited by any rules of truth ~
or modesty ;) it is not to be denied, that his majesty
appeared much colder, and less delighted to speak
of Portugal, than he had been, and would sometimes
wish l " that the ambassador had not gone, and that
" he would quickly return without commission to
" give his majesty satisfaction. " He seemed to re-
flect upon a war with Spain, "which," he said,
" could not possibly be avoided in that alliance," with
more apprehension than he had formerly done, when
that contingency had been debated. All which dis-
courses troubled the lords who had been trusted,
very much, not conceiving that the ambassador's
frantic discourse could have any weight in it, or that
the earl of Bristol (whose levity and vanity was
enough known to the king) could make that impres-
sion in him. However, it appeared, that the earl
was much more in private with him than he had used
to be, many hours shut up together ; and when the
king came from him, that he seemed to be perplexed
and full of thoughts.

One morning the earl came to the chancellor, and
after some compliments and many protestations of
his inviolable friendship, he told him, " he was come
" to take his leave of him for some months, being
" to begin a long journey as soon as he should part
" with him ; for he had already kissed the king's
" hand : and his friendship would not permit him
" to be reserved towards him, and to keep a se-
" cret of that vast importance from his knowledge. "

He said, " that the king had heard such unanswer-

\

' wish] Omitted in MS.



510 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " able reasons against this marriage with Portugal,
~~ " that he was firmly resolved never more to entertain
" a thought of it ; that the Spanish ambassador had
" recommended two princesses to him, whereof he
" might take his choice, of incomparable beauty and
" all excellent parts of mind, who should be en-
" dowed as a daughter of Spain by that king, to
" whom they were allied ;" and so named the ladies.
He said, " this discourse had prevailed very far upon
" the king, as a thing that could raise no jealousies
" in France, with whom he desired so to live, that
" he might be sure to have peace in his own domin-
" ions. There was only one thing in which he
" desired to be better satisfied, which was thfe per-
" sons, beauties, and good humours of the princesses;
" and that he had so good an opinion of his judg-
" ment, that he was confident if he saw them, he
" would easily know whether either of them were
" like to please his majesty ; and would so far trust
" him, that if he did believe, knowing his majesty
" so well as he did, that one of them would be grate-
" ful, he should carry power with him to propound
" and conclude a treaty ; which," he said, " he car-
" ried with him, and likewise other letters, upon
" which he should first find such access and admis-
" sion, as would enable him to judge of their nature
" and humour as well as of their beauty. " He
seemed much transported with the great trust re-
posed in him, and with the assurance that he should
make the king and kingdom happy. And he said,
" one -reason, besides his friendship, that had made
" him impart this great secret, was a presumption,
" that now he knew how far his majesty was dis-
" posed and in truth engaged in this particular, he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 511

" would not do any thing to cross or interrupt the 1 6C 1
" design. " The chancellor, enough amazed, by some
questions found he was utterly uninformed, how far
the king stood engaged in Portugal ; and knowing
the incredible power the earl had over himself, to
make him believe any thing he had a mind should
be true, he used little more discourse with him than
" to wish him a good journey. "

Upon the first opportunity he told the king all
that the earl had said to him ; with which his ma-
jesty seemed not pleased, as expecting that the se-
cret should have been kept better. He did not dis-
semble his not wishing that the treaty with Portugal
might succeed ; and confessed " that he had sent the
" earl of Bristol to see some ladies in Italy, who
" were highly extolled by the Spanish ambassador,"
but denied that he had given him such powers as
he bragged of. The chancellor thereupon asked
him, " whether he well remembered his engagement,
" which he had voluntarily made, and without any
" body's persuasion, to the king and queen regent ;"
and desired him " to impart his new resolution to
" the lords who were formerly trusted by him.
" That probably he might find good reason and
" just arguments to break off the treaty with Por-
" tugal ; which ought to be first done, before he
" embarked himself in another : otherwise that he
" would so far expose his honour to reproach, that
" all princes would be afraid of entering into any
" treaty with him. " This was every word of per-
suasion, that he then or ever after used to him upon
this affair; nor did it at that time seem to make
any impression in him. However, he sent for the
lord treasurer, and conferred at large with him and



512 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1GG1. the lord marquis of Ormond. And finding them
""exceedingly surprised with what he had done, and
that they gave the same and other stronger argu-
ments against it than the other had done, his ma-
jesty seemed to recollect himself, and to think, that
whatever resolution he should think fit to take in
the end, that he had not chosen the best way and
method of proceeding towards it ; and resolved to
call the earl back, " which," he said, " he could infal-
" libly do by sir Kenelm Digby, who knew how to
" send a letter to him, before he had proceeded fur-
" ther in his journey, it having been before agreed,
" that he should make a halt in such and such places,
" to the end that he might be advertised of any new
" occurrences. " And his majesty did write the same
night to him " to return, because it was necessary
" to have some mere conference with him. " And
the letter was sent by sir Kenelm Digby, and pro-
bably received by the earl in time. But he conti-
nued his journey into Italy ; and after his return
pretended not to have received that letter, or any
other order to return, till it was too late, being at
that time entered upon the borders or confines of
Italy ; in which he had not the good fortune to be
believed.

The Portu- The ambassador of Portugal despatched his voy-
ba-wador 1 age with more expedition than could have been ex-
[ 8 et c u r 1 d5y and pected, and returned, as he believed, with at least
received. ^ f u jj satisfaction to all particulars as could be ex-
pected; but found his reception with such a cold-
ness, that struck the poor gentleman (who was na-
turally hypochondriac) to the heart ; nor could he be
informed from whence this distemper proceeded.
And therefore he forbore to deliver his letters, which



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 513

he thought might more expose the honour of his 1661,
master and mistress to contempt, and remained qui- ~
etly in his house, without demanding a second audi-
ence ; until he could by some way or other be in-
formed what had fallen out since his departure, that
could raise those clouds which appeared in every
man's looks. He saw the Spanish ambassador ex-
ceedingly exalted with the pride of having put an
insolent affront upon the ambassador from France,
which cost his master dear, and heard that he had
bragged loudly of his having broken the treaty of
Portugal. And it is very true, that he did every
day somewhat either vainly or insolently, that gave
the king offence k , or lessened the opinion he had of
his discretion, and made him withdraw much of that
countenance from him, which he had formerly given
him. This, and the return of the Portugal ambas-
sador with a new title of marquis de Sande, (an
evidence according to the custom of that court, that
he had well served his master in his employment,)
put him into new fury ; so that he came to the
king with new expostulations, and gave him a me-
morial, in which he said, " that he had order from
" his master to let his majesty know, that if his ma-
" jesty should proceed towards a marriage with the
" daughter of the duke of Braganza, his master's
" rebel, he had order to take his leave presently, and
" to declare war against him. " The king returned
some sharp answer presently to him, and told him
" he might be gone as soon as he would, and that
" he would not receive orders from the catholic
" king, how to dispose himself in marriage. " Upon

k offence] Omitted in MS.
VOL. I. L 1



166). which the ambassador seemed to think he had gone
~~ too far ; and the next day desired another audience,
wherein he said, " he had received new orders : and
" that his catholic majesty had so great an affection
" for his majesty and the good of his affairs, that
" having understood that, in respect of the present
" distempers in religion, nothing could be more mis-
" chievous to him than to marry a catholic ; there-
" fore," he declared, " that if there were any pro-
" testant lady, who would be acceptable to his ma-
" jesty," (and named the daughter of the princess
dowager of Orange,) " the king of Spain would give
" a portion with her, as with a daughter of Spain ;
" by which his majesty's affairs and occasions would
" be supplied. "

The multiplying these and many bther extrava-
gancies made the king reflect upon all the ambas-
sador's proceedings and behaviour, and revolve the
discourses he had held with him ; and to reconsider,
whether they had not made greater impressions
upon him, than the weight of them would bear. He
had himself spoken with some who had seen the
infanta, and described her to be a person very dif-
ferent from what the ambassador had delivered. He
had seen a picture that was reported to be very like
her ; and upon the view of it his majesty said, " that
" person could not be unhandsome. " And by de-
grees considering the many things alleged by the
ambassador, which could not be known by him, and
could result from nothing but his own malice, his
majesty returned to his old resolution ; and spake at
large with the Portugal 1 ambassador with his usual

' Portugal] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 515

freedom, and received both the letters and informa- 1661.
tion he brought with him, and declared " that he"
" was fully satisfied in all the particulars. "

Nor did the carriage of the Spanish ambassador Extrava-

. . . 1*1 11* i i;:mt beba-

contribute a little towards his majesty s resolution : v . our of the



for he, without any other ground than from his own
fancy, (for the king had not declared his purpose to
any, nor was the thing spoken of abroad,) and from
what he collected from his majesty's sharp replies to
his insolent expressions, took upon him to do an
act of the highest extravagancy, that hath been
done in Europe by the minister of any state in this
age. He caused to be printed in English the copies
of the memorials which he had presented to the
king, and of the discourses he had made against
the match with Portugal, with the offers the king
of Spain had made to prevent so great a mischief to
the kingdom, and other seditious papers to the same
purpose ; and caused those papers to be spread abroad
in the army and amongst the populace m ; some
whereof were cast out of his own windows amongst
the soldiers, as they passed to and from the guard.
Upon which unheard of misdemeanour, the king was For winch
so much incensed, that he sent the secretary of state qSiiedto
" to require him forthwith to depart the kingdom, I^JJ,*
" without seeing his majesty's face," which he would
not admit him to do ; and to let him know, " that
" he would send a complaint of his misbehaviour to
" the king his master, from whom he would expect
" that justice should be done upon him. " The am-
bassador received this message with exceeding trou-
ble and grief, even to tears, and desired, " to be ad-

m the populace] Omitted in MS.
L 12



516 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " mitted to see the king, and to make his humble

~~" submission, and to beg his pardon ; which he was

" ready to do :" but that being denied, within few

days he departed the kingdom, carrying with him

the character of a very bold rash man.

AH incident There was an accident about this time, that it is

that pro-
motes the probable did confirm the king in his resolution con-

. cerning Portugal. At this time cardinal Mazarine
was dead, and had never been observed to be merry
and to enjoy his natural pleasant humour, from the
time of the king's restoration, which had deceived
all his calculations, and broken all his measures.
Upon his death the ministry was committed to three
persons, (the king himself being still present at all
their consultations,) monsieur de Tellier and mon-
sieur de Lionne, the two secretaries of state, and
monsieur Fouquet, surintendant of the finances and
procureur general du roy, who was a man of extra-
ordinary parts, and being not forty years of age,
enjoyed his full vigour of body and mind, and in
respect of his sole power over the finances was looked
upon as the premier ministre. This man, as soon
. as he was in the business, sent an express into
' England with a letter to the chancellor. The mes-
senger was La Basteede, who, having been secretary
during the time of his being in England to Bor-
deaux whilst he was ambassador, spake English
very well. He, as soon as he arrived, went to the
chancellor's house, and desired one of his servants
to let his lord know, " that he was newly come from
J* France, and that he desired to be admitted to a
" private audience with him, where nobody else
" might be present :" and so he was brought into a
back room, whither the chancellor came to him ; to



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 517

whom he presented a letter directed to him from J<]61.
monsieur Fouquet. The letter after general com-""
pliments took notice " of the great trust he had
" with his master ; and that he being now admitted
" to a part of his master's most secret affairs, and
" knowing well the affection that was between the
" two kings, much desired to hold a close and se-
" cret correspondence together, which he presumed
" would be for the benefit of both their masters. "
The rest contained only a credential, " that he
" should give credit to all that the bearer should say,
'* who was a person entirely trusted by him. " And
then he entered upon his discourse, consisting of
these parts :

1. " That the king of France was troubled to Some, part u
" hear, that there was some obstruction fallen out tures from
" in the treaty with Portugal ; and that it would be * '
" a very generous thing in his majesty to undertake
" the protection of that crown, which if it should
" fall into the possession of Spain, would be a great
" damage and a great shame to all the kings in
" Europe. That himself had heretofore thought of
" marrying the infanta of that kingdom, who is a
" lady of great beauty and admirable endowments ;
" but that his mother and his then minister, and
" indeed all other princes, so much desired the peace
" between the crowns, that he was diverted from
" that design. And that for the perfecting that
" peace and his marriage with Spain, he had been
" compelled to desert Portugal for the present ; and
" was obliged to send no kind of assistance thither,
" nor to receive any ambassador from thence, nor to
'' have any there : all which he could not but ob-
" serve for some time. But that Portugal was well

L 1 3



518 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " assured of the continuance of his affection, and
~" that he would find some opportunity by one way
" or other to preserve it. That he foresaw that his
" majesty might not be provided so soon after his
" return, in regard of his other great expenses, to
" disburse such a sum of money, as the sending a
" vigorous assistance, which was necessary, would
" require. But for that he would take care ; and for
" the present cause to be paid to his majesty three
" hundred thousand pistoles, which would defray
" the charge of that summer's expedition ; and for
" the future, provision should be made proportionable
" to the charge :" and concluded, " that he believed
" the king could not bestow himself better in mar-
" riage, than with the infanta of Portugal. "

2. A second part was, " that there were now in
" France ambassadors from the States of the United
" Provinces, and the like in England, to renew the
" alliance with both crowns ; which they hoped to
" do upon the disadvantageous terms they had used
" to obtain it. That those people were grown too
" proud and insolent towards ail their neighbours,
" and treated all kings as if they were at least their
" equals : that France had been ill used by them,
" and was sensible of it ; and that the king had not
" been much beholden to them. " And therefore he
proposed, " that both kings upon this occasion would
" so communicate their counsels, that they might
" reduce that people to live like good neighbours,
" and with more good manners ; and that they would
" treat solely and advance together, and that the one
" should promise not to conclude any thing without
" communicating it to the other : so that both trea-
" ties might be concluded together. "



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 519

3. " That those particulars, and whatsoever passed 1 66 1
" between M. Fouquet and the chancellor, might be~~
" retained with wonderful secrecy ; which it would
" not be, if it were communicated to the queen or
" the earl of St. Alban's," (who were at that time in
France :) " and therefore his Christian majesty de-
" sired, that neither of them should know of this eor-
" respondence, or any particular that passed by it. "

When the gentleman had finished his discourse,
the chancellor told him, " that he knew M. Fouquet
" to be so wise a man, that he would not invite or
" enter into such a correspondence, without the pri-
" vity and approbation of his master : and he pre-
" sumed that he had likewise so good an opinion of
" him, as to believe, that he would first inform his
" majesty of all that he received from him, before
" he would return any answer himself. That he
" would take the first opportunity to acquaint the
" king his master ; and if he would come the next
" day at the same hour" (which was about four in
the afternoon) " to the same place, he would return
" his answer. "

The king came the next day before the hour as-
signed to the chancellor's house. And when he
heard the gentleman was come, his majesty vouch-
safed himself to go into that back room ; and (the
chancellor telling the other, " that he should be wit-
*' ness to his majesty's approbation of his correspond-
" ence") took n notice of the letter he had brought,
and asked many kind questions concerning M. Fou-
quet, who was known to him, and told him, " that
" he was very well pleased with the correspondence

11 look] and took
L 1 4



1661. " proposed ; and that the chancellor should perform
~ " his part very punctually, and with the secrecy
" that was desired ; and that he would give his own
" word, that the queen and the earl of St. Alban's
" should know nothing that should pass in this cor-
" respondence :" which the chancellor observing with
the fidelity he ought to do, and this P coming after
to be known, it * kindled a new jealousy and dis-
pleasure in the queen, that was never afterwards
Which the extinguished. The king told him, " he would upon
the encouragement and promise of the French
" king, of the performance whereof he could make
" no doubt, proceed in the treaty with Portugal ;
" and give that kingdom the best assistance he could,
" without beginning a war with Spain. That for
" the treaty with Holland, which was but newly be-
" gun," (for the States who had made choice of and
nominated their ambassadors before the king left the
Hague, did not send them in near six months after ;
which his majesty looked upon as a great disrespect,)
" he would comply with what the king desired ;
" and that his Christian majesty should from time
" to time receive an account how it should advance,
" and that he would not conclude any thing with-
" out his privity. " How ill both these engagements
which related to Portugal and Holland were after-
wards observed by France, is fit for another discourse
by itself. The gentleman, much satisfied with what
the king had said, proposed " that he would make
" a cipher against the next day to be left in the
" chancellor's hand ; because M. Fouquet desired, for
" preservation of the secret* that the chancellor

and] nor P and this] Not in MS. 1 it] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 521

" would always write with his own hand in English, 1G61.
" directed in such a manner as he should propose ; ~~
" which would always bring the letters safe to the
" hands of him, La Basteede, who was appointed by
" the king to keep that cipher, and to maintain that
" correspondence. "

There was another circumstance that attended An instancc

. . . ofthechan-

this private negotiation, that may not be unfitly in- ceiior's un-
serted here, and is a sufficient manifestation of the tegrity. '"
integrity of the chancellor, and how far he was from
being r that corrupt person, which his most corrupt
enemies would have him thought to be. The next
morning after he had seen the king, La Basteede
came again, and desired an audience with the chan-
cellor. He said, " he had somewhat else in his in-
" structions to say, which he had not yet thought
" fit to offer. " And from thence he entered in a
confused manner to enlarge " upon the great power,
" credit, and generosity of M. Fouquet, the extent
" of his power and office, that he could disburse and
" issue great sums of money without any account so
" much as to the king himself; without which li-
" berty, the king knew many secret services of the
" highest importance could not be performed. " He
said, " he knew the straits and necessities, in which
" the chancellor and others about the king had lived
" for many years : and though he was now returned
" with much honour, and in great trust with his
" master, yet he did suppose he might be some time
" without those furnitures of householdstuff and
" plate, which the grandeur of his office and place
" required. And therefore that he had sent him a

r being] Not in MS.



522 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " present, which in itself was but small, and was only
~ " the earnest of as much every year, which should
" be constantly paid, and more, if he had occasion
" to use it ; for M. Fouquet did not look upon it as
" of moment to himself. But he knew well the
" faction in all courts, and that he must have many
" enemies ; and if he did not make himself friends
" by acts of generosity and bounty, he must be op-
" pressed; and that he had designed this supply
" only to that purpose. " He shewed him then bills
of exchange and credit for the sum of ten thousand
pounds 'sterling, to be paid at sight : and said, " that
" he had been with the merchant, who would be
" ready to pay it that afternoon ; so that whoever
" he would please to appoint should receive it. " The
chancellor had heard him with much indignation,
and answered him warmly, " that if this correspond-
" ence must expose him to such a reproach, he
" should unwillingly enter into it ; and wished him to
" tell M. Fouquet, that he would only receive wages
" from his own master. " The gentleman so little
looked for a refusal, that he would not understand
it ; but persisted to know " who should receive the
" money, which," he said, " should be paid in such
" a manner, that the person who paid it should
" never know to whom it was paid; and that it
" should always remain a secret ;" still pressing it
with importunity, till the other went with manifest
anger out of the room.

That afternoon the king and duke (who was
likewise informed of the correspondence) came to
the chancellor, and found him out of humour. He
told him, " that Fouquet could not be an honest
" man, and that he had no mind to hold that cor-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 523

" respondence with him;" and thereupon repeated JG61
what had passed in the morning, with much choler : ~
which made them both laugh at him, saying, " the
" French did all their business that way :" and the
king told him " he was a fool," implying, " that
" he should take his money. " Whereupon the chan-
cellor besought him " not to appear to his servants
" so unconcerned in matters of that nature, which
" might produce ill effects ;" and desired him to
consider, " what the consequence of his receiving
" that money, with what secrecy soever, must be.
" That the French king must either believe that he
" had received it without his majesty's privity, and
" so look upon him as a knave fit to be depended
,'* upon in any treachery against his master ; or that
" it was with his majesty's approbation, which must
" needs lessen his esteem of him, that he should per-
" mit his servants of the nearest trust to grow rich
" at the charge of another prince, who might the
" next day become his enemy. " To which the king
smiling made no other reply, " than that few men
" were so scrupulous ;" and commanded him " to
" return a civil answer to M. Fouquet's letter, and
" to cherish that correspondence, which," he said,
" might be useful to him, and could produce no in-
" conveniency s . " And so, when La Basteede (who
could not forbear to use new importunity with him
to receive the money, till he found he was much
offended) brought him the cipher, he delivered him
his letter for M. Fouquet. And the next week after
his return, the king of France writ to him in his
own hand, " that the correspondence M. Fouquet

* inconveniency] inconvenience



524 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " had invited him to was with his majesty's privity;
~ " and that he was well pleased with it. " And so
the correspondence continued till that great man's
fall: and then the king sent all the letters which
had passed, and the cipher, to the chancellor ; and
writ to him, " from that time to communicate with
" all freedom with his ambassador ;" which he was
before restrained from.

After the king had himself conferred at large
with the Portugal ambassador, he referred him
again to give the lords, with whom he had formerly
treated, an account how all particulars were ad-
justed in Portugal ; " which were," he said, " in this
The mea- " manner. For the portion, the queen regent, having
" resolved not to dispose of any of the money that
" was provided for the war, had sold her own jewels,
of marriage. an( j mucn O f her own plate, and had borrowed
" both plate and jewels from the churches and mo-
" nasteries : by which means she had the whole
" portion ready, which was all sealed up in bags,
" and deposited where nobody could take it to ap-
" ply to any other use. For the delivery of Tangier,
" that the old governor, (who had lived there long,
" and was humorous,) on l whom the queen could
" not confidently depend, was removed ; and another
" sent, before he left Lisbon, to take that charge,
" who was a creature of the queen's, who could not
" deceive her, and was so far trusted, that he knew
" for what end he was sent thither, and cheerfully
" undertook to perform it : and that the fleet which
" should be sent for the queen should first go to
" Tangier, and take possession thereof; and till that

1 on] of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 525

" should be delivered into his majesty's hands, the
" queen should not embark upon the fleet, nor till"
" all the money should be put on board. That for
" the delivery of Bombayne, it was resolved like-
" wise, that the vice-king and governor of Goa u ,
" under whom that island likewise is, should be
" forthwith recalled ; and that another," (whom he
named,) " of whom the queen had all assurance,
" should be sent to that high charge, and should be
" transported thither in the fleet which the king
" would send to receive the island, and would de-
" liver the same to the person designed to receive
" it. " He added, " that there would be another se-
*' curity given, greater than any of the rest, and
** such a one as had never been given before in
" such a case. That the queen should be delivered
" on board the fleet, and transported into England,
" before she was married : which was such a trust
" that had never been reposed in any prince, who,
" if he would break his word, might put an ever-
" lasting reproach upon their nation. "

The cause of this extraordinary circumstance was
truly this. The power of Spain was so great in the
court of Rome, notwithstanding the interposition
and threatening mediation of France, (whose am-
bassador declared that Portugal should choose a pa-
triarch, and have no longer dependence upon the
pope,) that neither Urban, in whose reign that king-
dom severed itself from Spain, nor Innocent, nor
Alexander, would acknowledge the duke of Bra-
ganza for king, nor receive an ambassador or other
minister from him : so that they now foresaw, that

11 Goa] Brasil



526 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. if they should, in what manner soever, demand a



dispensation at Rome, (without which the marriage
could not be celebrated in Portugal,) the interest of
Spain would cause it to be denied, or granted in
such a manner as should be worse for them ; for the
queen would have been mentioned only as the
daughter and sister of the duke of Braganza. And
before they would receive that affront, the most jea-
lous and most apprehensive nation in the world
chose rather to send the daughter of the kingdom
to be married in England, and not to be married till
she came thither.

The king Upon the whole matter, the king thought not fit
whole to to make any further exceptions, but resolved to as-
sem ble his whole privy-council, and to communicate
the matter to them ; for it did remain a secret yet,
no man knowing or speaking of it. The council
was so full, that there was only one counsellor that
was absent. The king informed them of all that
had passed in that affair, " how it was first proposed
" to him, and the objections which occurred to him
'* against it ; for the better clearing whereof the
" ambassador had made a voyage into Portugal, and
" was returned with such satisfaction to all particu-
" lars, that he thought it now time to communicate
" the whole to them, that he might receive their ad-
" vice. " He commanded then the particular propo-
sitions, which were offered by the ambassador, to be
reported. And thereupon he commanded and con-
jured all the lords severally to give him their ad-
vice ; for he said, " he had not yet so firmly re-
" solved, but that he might change his mind, if he
" heard reasons to move him : and therefore they
" would not deal faithfully with him, if they did not



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 527

" with all freedom declare their judgment to him. " 1601.
In short, every man delivered his opinion, and every ~
one agreed in the opinion, " that it was very fit for
" his majesty to embrace the propositions, which
" were of great advantage to himself and the king-
" dom ;" and that their advice was, " that he should which u
'* speedily and without more delay conclude the ^^h
" treaty. " And thereupon his majesty said, " that JJ
" he looked upon so unanimous a concurrence as a
" good omen, and that he would follow their ad-
" vice. *'



END OF VOL. I.


THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES



FROM THE LIBRARY OF
ERNEST CARROLL MOORE



THE LIFE



OF



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON,

LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND,



AND



CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.



Ne quidfalsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat. CICKRO.



THE LIFE



OF

EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON,

LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND,

AND

CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD :

IN WHICH IS INCLUDED

A CONTINUATION

OF HIS

HISTORY OF THE GRAND REBELLION.



WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.



A NEW EDITION,

EXHIBITING A FAITHFUL COLLATION OF THE ORIGINAL MS. ,
WITH ALL THE SUPPRESSED PASSAGES.



VOL. II.



OXFORD,
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

MDCCCXXVII.



CoBegt
Library



THE

CONTINUATION

OF



THE LIFE



OF



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.



ALL this was done between the dissolution of the 1661.
parliament in December, and the assembling the The new
other in May following. And a upon the first day of J^ ent
its coming together, which was upon the eighth of Ma y 8 -
May, the very day b that his majesty had been pro-
claimed the year before, he told d them " that he had The kin s' s

speech.

" deferred it a week, that they might meet upon
" that day, for the memory of the former day. "
The king, after some gracious expressions of his
confidence in them, told them " that they would
" find what method he thought best for their pro-
" ceeding, by two bills which he had caused to be
" provided for them, which were for confirmation of
" all that had been enacted in the last meeting;"
and repeated what he had said to them when he

a following. And] following, twelvemonth
and c before,] before them.

b the very day] the very day ll he told] And he told

VOL. II. B



2 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. was last there: " that next to the miraculous bless-
Hc prefse$ ing of God Almighty, and indeed as an immediate
them to effect of that blessing, he did impute the good dis-

< . min m the

act of in- position and security they were all in, to the happy
" act of indemnity and oblivion : that," his majesty
said, " was the principal corner-stone that supported
" that excellent building, that created kindness in
" them to each other ; and confidence was their joint
" and common security. " He told them, " he was
" still of the same opinion, and more, if it were pos-
" sible, of that opinion than he had been, by the ex-
" perience he had of the benefit of it, and from the
" unreasonableness of what some men said against
" it. " He desired them " to provide full remedies
" for future mischiefs ; to be as severe as they would
" against new offenders, especially if they were so
" upon old principles ; and that they would pull up
" those principles by the roots. But," his majesty
said, " he should never think him a wise man, that
" would endeavour to undermine and shake that
" foundation of the public peace, by infringing that
" act in the least degree ; or that he could be his
" friend, or wish him well, who would persuade him
" ever to consent to the breach of a promise he had
" so solemnly made when he was abroad, and had
" performed with that solemnity after, and because
" he had promised it : and that he could not sus-
" pect any attempts of that kind by any men of
" merit and virtue. "

And this warmth of his majesty upon this sub-
ject was not then more than needed : for the armies
being now disbanded, there were great combinations
entered into, not to confirm the act of oblivion ;
which they knew without confirmation would sig-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 3

nify nothing. Men were well enough contented, 1661.
that the king should grant indemnity to all men""
that had rebelled against him ; that he should grant
their lives and fortunes to them, who had forfeited
them to him : hut they thought it very unreason-
able and unjust, that the king should release those
debts which were immediately due to them, and
forgive those trespasses which had been committed
to their particular damage. They could not endure
to meet the same men in the king's highway, now
it was the king's highway again, who had hereto-
fore affronted them in those ways, because they
were not the king's, and only because they knew
they could obtain no justice against them. They
could not with any patience see those men, who not
only during the war had oppressed them, plundered
their houses, and had their own adorned with the
furniture they had robbed them of, ride upon the
same horses which they had then taken from them
upon no other pretence, but because they were bet-
ter than their own; but after the war was ended,
had committed many insolent trespasses upon them
wantonly, and to shew their power of justice of
peace, or committee men, and had from the lowest
beggary raised great estates, out of which they were e
well able to satisfy, at least in some degree, the da-
mages the other had sustained. And those and other
passions of this kind, which must have invalidated
the whole act of indemnity, could not have been ex-
tinguished without the king's influence, and indeed
his immediate interposition and industry.

When his majesty had spoken all he thought fit He . ac *

c were] Not in MS.
B 2



4 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. upon that subject, he told them, "he could not
them w ;th " conclude without telling them some news, news
his intended that he thought would be very acceptable to them ;
" and therefore he should think himself unkind and
" ill-natured, if he should not impart it to them.
" That he had been often put in mind by his friends,
" that it was high time to marry ; and he had
" thought so himself, ever since he came into Eng-
" land : but there appeared difficulties enough in
" the choice, though many overtures had been made
"to him. And if he should never marry till he
" could make such a choice, against which there
" could be no foresight of any inconvenience that
" might ensue, they would live to see him an old
" bachelor, which he thought they did not desire to
" do. " He said, " he could now tell them, not only
" that he was resolved to marry, but whom he re-
" solved to marry, if it pleased God. That towards
" his resolution, he had used that deliberation, and
" taken that advice, that he ought to do in a case
" of that importance, and with a full consideration
" of the good of his subjects in general, as of him-
" self.
It was with the daughter of Portugal. That
" when he had, as well as he could, weighed all that
" occurred to himself, the first resolution he took,
" was to state the whole overtures which had been
" made to him, and in truth all that had been said
" against it, to his privy council ; without hearing
" whose advice, he never did nor ever would resolve
" any thing of public importance. And," he said,
" he told them with great satisfaction and comfort
" to himself, that after many hours debate in full
" council f , (for he thought there was not above one
f in full council] in a full council



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 5

" absent,) and he believed upon weighing all that 1661.
" could be said upon that subject, for or against it ;
" the lords, without one dissenting voice, advised
" him with all imaginable cheerfulness to this mar-
" riage : which he looked upon as very wonderful,
" and even as some instance of the approbation of
" God himself. That he had thereupon taken his own
" resolution, and concluded with the ambassador of
" Portugal, who was departing with the whole treaty
" signed, which they would find to contain many
" great advantages to the kingdom ; and that he
" would make all the haste he could, to fetch them
" a queen hither, who he doubted not would bring
" great blessings with her, to him and them. "

The next day the two houses of parliament, after The two

, . . houses ex-

they had expressed all the joy imaginable amongst press their
them, sent to the king, "that he would appoint alionont.
" time when he would admit them to his presence :"
which when he had done, both houses of parliament,
in a body, presented by the speaker of the house of
peers their humble thanks to his majesty, " for that
" he had vouchsafed to acquaint them with his reso-
" lution to marry, which had exceedingly rejoiced
" their hearts, and would, they doubted not, draw
" down God's blessing upon his majesty and the
" kingdom. " Shortly after, the fleet was made ready,
and the earl of Sandwich, admiral thereof, was like-
wise made ambassador to Portugal, and appointed
to receive the queen, and to conduct her into Eng-
land.

This was the whole proceeding, from the begin-
ning to the end of that treaty about the marriage
of the king ; by the whole circumstances whereof it
is apparent enough, that no particular corruption in

B 3



6 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

166). any single person could have brought it to pass in
~~ that manner, and that the chancellor never proposed
it, nor heard of it but from the king himself, nor
advanced it afterwards more than every one of the
other lords did ; and if he had done less, he could
neither have been thought a prudent or an honest
man : * to which no more shall be added, than that
neither before or in the treaty, or after the mar-
riage, he ever received the least reward or the least
present from Portugal. &
New bi- During the interval of parliament, the king had

shops ap- ,

pointed, made choice of many very eminent and learned men,
who were consecrated to some of the sees of bishops
which were void ; that the preservation of the suc-
cession might not depend upon the lives of the few
bishops who remained, and who were all very aged :
which could not have been done sooner, nor till the
other parliament, to whom the settlement of the
church had been referred, was dissolved. Nor could
he yet give any remedy to the licence in the prac-
tice of religion, which in all places was full of scan-
dal and disorder, because the liturgy was not yet
finished ; till when, the indulgence by his declara-
tion was not to be restrained. But at the same
time that he issued out his writs for convening the

A convoca- parliament, he had likewise h sent summons to the

tion sum- n-i ni

moued. bishops, for the meeting of the clergy in convoca-
tion, which is the legal synod in England ; against
the coming together whereof the liturgy would be
finished, which his majesty intended to send thither

* to which Portugal. ] Thus riage, he never received the least

in MS. : to which no more shall reward, or the least present from

be added, that neither before, or Portugal.
in the treaty, or after the mar- h likewise] like



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 7

to be examined, debated, and confirmed. And then 1661.
he hoped to provide, with the assistance of the par-~~
liament, such a settlement in religion, as would pre-
vent any disorder in the state upon those pretences.
And it was very necessary to lose no time in the
prosecution of that cure ; for the malignity against
the church appeared to increase, and to be greater
than it was upon the coming in of the king.

The old bishops who remained alive, and such
deans and chapters as were numerous enough for
the corporation, who had been long kept fasting,
had now appetites proportionable. Most of them
were very poor, and had undergone great extremi-
ties; some of the bishops having supported them-
selves and their families 1 by teaching schools, and
submitting to the like low condescensions. And
others saw, that if they died before they were en-
abled to make some provision for them, their wives
and children must unavoidably starve : and there-
fore they made haste to enter upon their own. And
now an ordinance of parliament had not strength
enough to batter an act of parliament. They called
their old tenants to account for rent, and to renew
their estates if they had a mind to it ; for most old
leases were expired in the long continuance of the
war, and the old tenants had been compelled either
to purchase a new right and title from the state,
(when the ordinance was passed for taking away all
bishops, deans, and chapters, and for selling all the
lands which belonged to them,) or to sell their pre-
sent estates to those, who had purchased the rever-
sion and the inheritance thereof: so that lx)th the

1 families] family
B 4



8 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. one and the other, the old tenants and the new pur-
~~ chasers, repaired to the true owners as soon as the
king was restored ; the former expecting to be re-
stored again to the possession of what they had sold,
under an unreasonable pretence of a tenant right,
(as they called it,) because there remained yet (as in
many cases there did) a year or some other term of
their old leases unexpired, and because they had out
of conscience forborne to buy the inheritance of the
church, which was first offered to them. And for
the refusal thereof, and such a reasonable fine as
was usual, they hoped to have a new lease, and to
be readmitted to be tenants to the church. The
other, the purchasers, (amongst which there were
some very infamous persons,) appeared as confident,
and did not think, that according to the clemency
that was practised towards all sorts of men, it could
be thought justice, that they should lose the entire
sum they had disbursed upon the faith of that go-
vernment, which the whole kingdom submitted to ;
but that they should, instead of the inheritance they
had an ill title to, have a good lease for lives or
years granted to them by them who had now the
right ; at least, that upon the old rent and moderate
fines they should be continued tenants to the church,
without any regard to those who had sold both their
possession, and with that all the right or title that
they might pretend to, for a valuable consideration.
And they had the more hope of this, because the
king had granted a commission, under the great
seal of England, to some lords of the council and to
other eminent persons, to interpose and mediate with
the bishops and clergy in such cases, as ought not
to be prosecuted with rigour.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 9

But the bishops and clergy concerned had not the 1661.
good fortune to please their old or their new tenants. A c i aniour
They had been very barbarously used themselves ; ? J 8t the



and that had too much quenched all tenderness to- bish P s and

. . cJergy by

wards others. They did not enough distinguish be- their te-
tween persons: nor did the suffering any man had" 8
undergone for fidelity to the king, or his affection
to the church eminently expressed, often prevail for
the mitigation of his fine ; or if it did sometimes,
three or four stories of the contrary, and in which
there had been some unreasonable hardness used,
made a greater noise and spread further, than their
examples of charity and moderation. And as honest
men did not k usually fare the better for any merit,
so the purchasers who offered most money, did not
fare the worse for all the villainies they had com-
mitted. And two or three unhappy instances of this
kind brought scandal upon the whole church, as if
they had been all guilty of the same excesses, which
they were far from. And by this means the new
bishops, who did not all follow the precedents made
by the old, underwent the same reproaches : and
many of them who had most adhered to their order,
and for so doing had undergone for twenty years
together sundry persecutions and oppressions, were
not in their present passion so much pleased with
the renewing it, as they expected to have been. Yet
upon a very strict examination of the true grounds
of all those misprisions, (except some few instances
which cannot be defended,) there will be found more
passion than justice in them ; and that there was
even a necessity to raise as much money as could be

* not] Not in MS.



10 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. justly done, for the repairing the cathedrals, which
"were all miserably ruinated or defaced, and for the
entirely building up many houses of the prebends,
which had been pulled down or let fall to the
ground. And those ways much more of those mo-
nies which were raised by fines were issued and ex-
pended, than what went into the private purses of
them, who had a right to them, and had need
enough of them. But the time began to be fro-
ward again, and all degrees of men were hard to
be pleased ; especially when they saw one classis of
men restored to more than they had ever lost, and
preferred to a plenty they had never been acquaint-
ed with, whilst themselves remained remediless after
so many sufferings, and without any other testimony
of their courage and fidelity, than in the ruin of
their fortunes, and the sale of their inheritance.
The king's Another great work was performed, between the

coronation, .

April 23. dissolution of the last and the beginning of the next
parliament, which was the ceremony of the king's
coronation ; and was done with the greatest solem-
nity and glory, that ever any had been seen in that
kingdom. That the novelties and new inventions,
with which the kingdom had been so much intoxi-
cated for so many years together, might be discoun-
tenanced and discredited in the eyes of the people,
for the folly and want of state thereof; his majesty
had directed the records and old formularies should
be examined, and thereupon all things should be
prepared, and all forms accustomed be used 1 , that
might add lustre and splendour to the solemnity. A
court of claims was erected, where before the lords

1 accustomed be used] accustomed to be used



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 11

commissioners for that service, all persons made 1661.
claim to those privileges and precedency, which"
they conceived to be due to their persons, or the of-
fices of which they were possessed, in the ceremony
of the coronation ; which were allowed or rejected
as their right appeared.

The king went early in the morning to the Tower
of London in his coach, most of the lords being there
before. And about ten of the clock they set for-
ward towards Whitehall, ranged in that order as
the heralds had appointed ; those of the long robe,
the king's council at law, the masters of the chan-
cery, and judges, going first, and so the lords in
their order, very splendidly habited, on rich foot-
cloths ; the number of their footmen being limited,
to the dukes ten, to the earls eight, and to the vis-
counts six, and the barons four, all richly clad, as
their other servants were. The whole show was
the most glorious in the order and expense, that had
been ever seen in England ; they who rode first be-
ing in Fleet-street when the king issued out of the
Tower, as was known by the discharge of the ord-
nance : and it was near three of the clock in the
afternoon, when the king alighted at Whitehall.
The next morning the king rode in the same state
in his robes and with his crown on his head, and all
the lords in their robes, to Westminster-hall ; where
all the ensigns for the coronation were delivered to
those who were appointed to carry them, the earl
of Northumberland being made high constable, and
the earl of Suffolk earl marshal, for the day. And
then all the lords in their order, and the king him-
self, walked on foot upon blue cloth from Westmin-



12 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. ster-hall to the abbey church, where, after a sermon

: preached by Dr. Morley, (then bishop of Worcester,)

in Henry the Seventh's chapel, the king was sworn,
crowned, and anointed, by Dr. Juxon, archbishop of
Canterbury, with all the solemnity that in those
cases had been used. All which being done, the
king returned in the same manner on foot to West-
minster-hall, which was adorned with rich hangings
and statues ; and there the king dined, and the lords
on either side at tables provided for them : and all
other ceremonies were performed with great order
and magnificence.
TWO un- I should not have enlarged thus much upon the

lucky acci- .

dents which ceremony of the coronation, it may be not men-
tioned it, (a perfect narration having been then made
and published of it, with all the grandeur and mag-
nificence of the city of London,) but that there were
two accidents in it, the one absolutely new, the
other that produced some inconveniences which
were not then discerned. The first was, that it be-
ing the custom in those great ceremonies or tri-
umphs of state, that the master of the king's horse
(who is always a great man, and was now the duke
of Albemarle, the general) rides next after the king
with a led horse in his hand : in this occasion the
duke of York privately prevailed with the king,
who had not enough reverence for old customs,
without any consultation, that his master of his
horse, (so he was called,) Mr. Jermyn, a younger
brother of a very private gentleman's family, should
ride as near his person, as the general did to his
majesty, and lead a horse likewise in his hand; a
thing never heard of before. Neither in truth hath



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 13

the younger brother of the king such an officer as 1661,
master of his horse, which is m a term restrained
within the family of the king, queen, and prince of
Wales ; and the two masters of the horse to the
queen and prince are subordinate to the king's mas-
ter of his horse, who hath the jurisdiction over the
other. The lords were exceedingly surprised and
troubled at this, of which they heard nothing till
they saw it ; and they liked it the worse, because
they discerned that it issued from a fountain, from
whence many bitter waters were like to flow, the
customs of the court of France, whereof the king
and the duke had too much the image in their
heads, and than which there could not be a copy
more universally ingrateful and odious to the Eng-
lish nation.

The other was : In the morning of the corona-
tion, whilst they sat at the table in Westminster-
hall, to see the many ensigns of the coronation de-
livered to those lords who were appointed to carry
them, the earl of Northumberland, who was that ,
day high constable, came to the king and told him,
" that amongst the young noblemen who were ap-
" pointed to carry the several parts of the king's
" mantle, the lord Ossory, who was the eldest son
" to the duke of Ormond, challenged the place be-
" fore the lord Percy, who was his eldest son ;
" whereas," he said, " the duke of Ormond had no
" place in the ceremony of that day, as duke, but
" only as earl of Brecknock, and so the eldest sons
" of all ancienter earls ought to take place of his
" eldest son ;" which was so known a rule, and of so

m is] Omitted in MS.



14 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. general a concernment, that the king could not
choose but declare it, and send a message to the
lord Ossory by the lord chamberlain, " that he
" should desist from his pretence. " This, and the
public manner of asking and determining it, pro-
duced two ill effects. The first, a jealousy and ill
understanding between the two great families : the
one naturally undervaluing and contemning his
equals, without paying much regard to his supe-
riors ; and the other not being used to be contemned
by any, and well knowing that all the advantages
the earl had in England, either in antiquity or for-
tune, he had the same in Ireland, and that he had
merited and received an increase of title, when the
other had deserved to lose that which he was born
to. The other, was a jealousy and prejudice that it
raised in the nobility of England, as if the duke of
Ormond (who in truth knew nothing of it) had en-
tered upon that contest, in hope that by his interest
in the king, he should be 'able to put this eternal
affront upon the peers of England, to bring them
upon the same level with those of Ireland, who
had no such esteem. And it did not a little add to
their envy, that he had behaved himself so wor-
thily throughout the ill times, that he was the ob-
ject of an universal reverence at home and abroad ;
which was a reproach to most of them, whose ac-
tions would not bear the light. But as the duke
was not in the least degree privy to the particular
contest, nor raised the value of himself from any
merit in his services, nor undervalued others upon
the advantage of their having done amiss ; so he
was abundantly satisfied in the testimony of his own
conscience, and in his unquestionable innocence,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 15

and from thence too much despised the prejudice 1661.
and the envy the others had towards him, the marks n ~
whereof he was compelled afterwards to bear, which
he did with the same magnanimity.

Before we proceed further in the relation of what
was afterwards done, it will not be unseasonable in
this place to give an account of somewhat that was
not done, and which was generally expected to have
been done, and as generally censured because it was
not ; the reason whereof is known to very few. The A solemn
king had resolved before his coming into England, of th
that as soon as he should be settled in any cond
tion of security, and no just apprehension of future
troubles, he would take up and remove the body of
his father, the last king, from Windsor, and inter it
with all solemnity at Westminster; and that the
court should continue in mourning till the corona-
tion. And many good people thought this so neces-
sary, that they were much troubled that it was not
done, and liked not the reasons which were given,
which made it appear that it had been considered.
The reasons which were given in public discourses
from hand to hand, were two. The first ; that now
ten years were past since that woful tragedy, and
the joy and the triumph for the king's return had
composed the minds of the people, it would not be
prudent to renew the memory of that parricide, by
the spectacle of a solemn funeral ; lest it might
cause such commotions of the vulgar in all places,
as might produce great disorders and insurrections
amongst those who had formerly served the king-
dom, as if it were a good season and a new provo-

11 the marks] and ihe marks



16 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. cation to take revenge upon their neighbours, who
~~ had formerly tyrannized over them ; which might
likewise have caused the soldiers, who were newly
disbanded, to draw themselves together for their
own security : and so the peace would be at least
disturbed. The other was ; that to perform this in-
terment in any private manner, would be liable to
very just censure, when all things relating to the
king himself had showed so magnificently ; and if it
were done with the usual pomp of a solemn inter-
ment of a king, the expense would be so vast, that
there would be neither money found nor credit for
the charge thereof.
But upon These were the reasons alleged and spread abroad ;

search the . . ,. , .

body could nor was either of them m itself without weight to
found? thinking men. But the true reason was : at the
time of that horrid murder, Windsor was a garrison
under the command of a citizen, who was an ana-
baptist, with all his officers and soldiers. The men
had broken down all the wainscot, rails, and parti-
tions, which divided the church, defaced all the mo-
numents and other marks, and reduced the whole
into the form of a stable or barn, and scarce fit for
any other use; when Cromwell had declared that
the royal body should be privately interred in the
church of the castle at Windsor, and the marquis
of Hertford, the duke of Richmond, the earls of
Southampton and Lindsey, had obtained leave to be
present (only to be present, for they had no power
to prepare or do any thing in it) at their master's
burial. Those great men were not suffered to have
above three servants each, to enter into the castle

nor] or



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 17

with them; and it may easily be concluded, that 1661.
their own noble hearts were too full of sorrow, to
send their eyes abroad to take notice of the places
by which they passed. They found the church so
wild a place, that P they knew not where they were ;
and as soon as ^ the royal body was put into the
ground, they were conducted out of the castle to
their lodging in the town, and the next morning re-
turned to their several houses. Shortly after the
king returned from beyond the seas, he settled the
dean and chapter of Windsor, with direction to put
his royal chapel there into the order it used to be,
and to repair the ruins thereof, which was a long
and a difficult work. His majesty commanded the
dean carefully to inform himself of the place, in
which the king's body had been interred, and to
give him notice of it. Upon inquiry he could not
find one person in the castle or in the town who
had been present at the burial. When the parlia-
ment first seized upon the castle and put a garrison
into it, shortly after, they not only ejected r all the
prebends and singingmen of the royal chapel, but
turned out 8 all the officers and servants who had any
relation to the king or to the church, except only
those who were notorious for their infidelity towards
the king or the church : and of those, or of the offi-
cers or soldiers of the garrison, there could not now
one man be found, who was in the church when the
king was buried. The duke of Richmond and the
marquis of Hertford were both dead : and the king
sent (after he had received that account from the

P that] Not in MS. had not only ejected

i soon asj Not in MS. a but turned out] but had

r they not only ejected] they turned out

VOL. II. C



18 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. dean) the two surviving lords, the earl of South-
""ampton and of Lindsey, to Windsor; who taking
with them as many of those three servants who had
been admitted to attend them, as were now living,
they could not recollect their memories, nor find
any one mark by which they could make any judg-
ment, near what place the king's body lay. They
made some guess, by the information of the work-
men who had been now employed in the new pave-
ment of the church, and upon their observation of
any place where the earth * had seemed to lie lighter,
that it might be in or near that place : but when
they had caused it to be digged, and searched in u
and about it, they found nothing. And upon their
return, the king gave over * all further thought of in-
quiry : and those other reasons were cast abroad
upon any occasional inquiry or discourse of that
subject.
The affairs That which gave the king most trouble, and de-

of Ireland

resumed, prived him of that ease and quiet which he had
promised to himself during the vacation between
the two parliaments, was the business of Ireland ;
which we shall now take up again, and continue the
relation without interruption, as long as we shall
think fit to make any mention of that affair. We
left it in the hands of the lord Roberts, whom the
king had declared deputy of Ireland, presuming that
he would upon conference with the several parties,
who were all appointed to attend him, so shape and
model the whole bulk, that it might be more ca-
pable of some further debate before his majesty

1 upon their observation of earth
any place where the earth] u in] Omitted in MS.
upon their observation that the * over] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 19

in council: but that hand did not hold it many J6C1.
days.

That noble lord, though of a good understanding, character
was of so morose a nature, that it was no easy mat- bertYth?
ter to treat with him. He had some pedantic parts of deputy>
learning, which made his other parts of judgment the
worse, for he had some parts of good knowledge in
the law, and in antiquity, in the precedents of for-
mer times ; all which were rendered the less useful,
by the other pedantry contracted out of some books,
and out of the ill conversation he had y with some
clergymen and people in quality much below him,
by whose weak faculties he raised the value of his
own, which were very capable of being improved in
better company. He was naturally proud and im-
perious ; which humour was increased by an ill
education; for excepting some years spent in the
inns of court amongst the books of the law, he
might be very justly said to have been born and
bred in Cornwall. There were many days passed
after the king's declaration of him to be deputy, be-
fore he could be persuaded to visit the general, who
he knew was to continue lieutenant ; and when he
did visit him, it was with so ill a grace, that the
other received no satisfaction in it, and the less, be-
cause he plainly discerned that it proceeded from
pride, which he bore the more uneasily, because as
he was now the greater man, so he knew himself to
be of a much better family. He made so many
doubts and criticisms upon the draught of his pa-
tent, that the attorney general was weary of attend-
ing him ; and when all things were agreed on at

y had] had had
c 2



20 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. night, the next morning produced new dilemmas.
But that which was worse than all this, he received
those of the Irish nation of the best quality, and who
were of the privy council and chief command in that
kingdom, so superciliously ; received their informa-
tion so negligently, and gave his answers so scorn-
fully ; that after they had waited upon him four or
five days, they besought the king that they might
not be obliged to attend him any more. And it was
evident, that his carriage towards them was not to
be submitted to by persons of his own quality, or of
any liberal education : nor did he make any advance
towards the business.

This gave the king very great trouble, and them
as much pleasure who had never liked the designa-
tion. He knew not what to do with his deputy, nor
what to do for Ireland. The lord Roberts was not
a man that was to be disgraced and thrown off,
without much inconvenience and hazard. He had
parts which in council and parliament (which were
the two scenes where all the king's business lay)
were very troublesome ; for of all men alive who had
so few friends, he had the most followers. They
who conversed most with him, knew him to have
many humours which were very intolerable; they
who were but a little acquainted with him, took him
to be a man of much knowledge, and called his mo-
rosity gravity, and thought the severity of his man-
ners made him less grateful to the courtiers. He
had no such advantageous faculties in his delivery,
as could impose upon his auditors ; but he was never
tedious, and his words made impression. In a word,
he was such a man as the king thought worthy to
be compounded with. And therefore his majesty



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 21

appointed the lord chancellor and the lord treasurer 1C6I.
to confer with him, and to dispose him to accept the The kin
office of privy seal, which gave him a great pre-



cedence that would gratify that passion which was offer of the

. . n . . _ _ . . privy seal.

strongest in him ; tor in his nature he preferred
place before money, which his fortune stood more in
need of. And the king thought, it would be no ill
argument to incline him to give over the thought of
Ireland, that it was impossible for the king to sup-
ply him for the present with near any such sum of
money as he had very reasonably demanded, for the
satisfaction of the army there, (which was upon the
matter to be new modelled, and some part of it dis-
banded,) with the reduction of many officers, and for
his own equipage.

They began their approach to him, by asking
him " when he would be ready for his journey to
" Ireland;" to which he answered with some quick-
ness, " that he was confident there was no purpose
" to send him thither, for that he saw there was no
" preparation of those things, without which the king
" knew well that it was not possible for him to go ;
" nor had his majesty lately spoken to him of it.
" Besides, he had observed, that the chancellor had
" for many days past called him at the council, and
" in all other places where they met, by the name of
" lord Roberts ; whereas, for some months before, he
" had upon all occasions and in all places treated
" him with the style of lord deputy : which gave him
" first cause to believe, that there was some altera-
" tion in the purpose of sending him thither. " They
both assured him, " that the king had no other per-
" son in his view but himself for that service, if he
" were disposed to undertake it vigorously ; but that

c 3



1661. " tne king had forborne lately to speak with him of

" it, because he found it impossible for him to pro-

" vide the money he proposed ; and it could not be
" denied, that he had proposed it very reasonably in
" all respects. However, it being impossible to pro-
" cure it, and that he could not go without it, for
" which he could not be blamed, his majesty must
" find some other expedient to send his authority
" thither, the government there being yet so loose,
" that he could not but every day expect to receive
" news of some great disorder there, the ill conse-
" quence whereof would be imputed to his majesty's
" want of care and providence. That his majesty
" had yet forborne to think of that expedient, till he
" might do it with his consent and advice, and until
" he could resolve upon another post, where he might
" serve his majesty with equal honour, and by which
" the world might see the esteem he had of him.
" And therefore since it would be both unreasonable
" and unjust, to press him to go for Ireland without
" those supplies, and it was equally impossible to pre-
" pare and send those supplies ;" they said, " the
" king had commanded them to propose to him, that
" he would make him lord privy seal, an office he
" well understood. And if he accepted that and
" were possessed of it, (as he should immediately be,)
" his majesty would enter upon new considerations
" how to settle the tottering condition of Ireland. "
The lord's dark countenance presently cleared lip,
having no doubt expected to be deprived of his title
to Ireland, without being assigned any other any
where else : and now being offered the third place
of precedence in the nobility, the privy seal going
next to the treasurer, upon a very short recollection,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 23
he declared "that he received it as a great honour, 1661.



" that the king would make use of his service z in any Lord RO-
" place, and that he submitted wholly to his good
" pleasure, and would serve him with great fidelity. "
The next day the king gave him the privy seal at the p |ace of

deputy.

the council-board, where he was sworn and took his
place ; and to shew his extraordinary talent, found a
way more to obstruct and puzzle business, at least
the despatch of it, than any man in that office had
ever done before : insomuch as the king found him-
self compelled, in a short time after, to give order
that most grants and patents, which required haste,
should pass by immediate warrant to the great seal,
without visiting the privy seal ; which preterition
was not usual, and brought some inconvenience and
prejudice to the chancellor.

Though the king had within himself a prospect of
the expedient, that would be fittest for him to make
use of for the present, towards the settlement of Ire-
land ; yet it was absolutely necessary for him, even
before he could make use of that expedient, to put
the several claims and petitions of right which were
depending before him, and which were attended with
such an unruly number of suitors, into some such
method of examining and determining, that they
might not be left in the confusion they were then in. The kin R
And this could not be done, without his imposing parties,
upon himself the trouble of hearing once at large, all
that every party of the pretenders could allege for
the support of their several pretences : and this he
did with incredible patience for very many days to-
gether. We shall first mention those interests, which

z use] Not in MS.
c 4



24 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. gave the king least trouble, because they admitted



least debate.
The king's ft was looked upon as very scandalous, that the

fneud re-

tored by marquis of Ormond should remain so long without
i lament, the possession of any part of his estate ; which had
been taken from him upon no other pretence, but his
adhering to the king. And therefore there was an
act of parliament passed with the consent of all par-
ties, that he should be presently restored to all his
estate ; which was done with the more ease, because
the greatest part of it (for his wife's land had been
before assigned to her in Cromwell's time, or rather
in his son Harry's) lay within that province, which
Cromwell out of his husbandry had reserved for him-
self, exempt from all title or pretence of adventurer
or soldier : what other part of his estate either the
one or the other were possessed of, in their own
judgments it a was so impossible for them to enjoy,
that they very willingly yielded it up to the marquis,
in hope of having recompense made to them out of
other lands. There could as little be said against
the restoration of the earl of Inchiquin to his estate,
which had been taken from him and distributed
amongst the adventurers and soldiers, for no other
cause but his serving the king. There were likewise
some others of the same classis, who had nothing ob-
jected to them but their loyalty, who were put into
the possession of their own estates. And all this
gave no occasion of murmur ; every man of what in-
terest soever believing, or pretending to believe, that
the king was obliged in honour, justice, and con-
science, to cause that right to be done to those who
had b served him faithfully.

a it] Omitted in MS. b had] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 25

There could be as little doubt, and there was as 1661.
little opposition visible, in the claim of the church : church _
so that the king made choice of many grave divines,



to whom he assigned bishoprics in Ireland, and sent new bishops

appointed.

them thither, to be consecrated by the bishops who
remained alive there according to the laws of that
kingdom ; and conferred the other dignities and
church-preferments upon worthy men, who were all
authorized to enter upon those lands, which belonged
to their several churches. And in this general zeal
for the church, some new grants were made of lands
and impropriations, which were not enough delibe-
rated, and gave afterwards great interruption to the
settlement of the kingdom, and brought envy upon
the church and churchmen, when the restoration to
what was their own was generally well approved.

The pretences of the adventurers and soldiers were
very much involved and perplexed : yet they gave
the king little other trouble, than the general care
and solicitude, that by an unseasonable disturbance
of their possessions there, the soldiers who had been
disbanded and those of the standing army (who for
the most part had the same ill affections) might not
unite together, and seize upon some places of defence,
before his affairs in that kingdom should be put in
such an order as to oppose them. And next that ap-
prehension, his majesty had no mind that any of
those soldiers, either who had been disbanded, and
put into possession of lands for the arrears of their
pay, and upon which they now lived ; or of the other,
the standing army, many whereof were likewise in
possession of lands assigned to them ; I say, the king
was not without apprehension, that the resort of ei-
ther of these into England might find too many of



26 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. their old friends and associates, ready to concur
with them in any desperate measures c , and for con-
trolling of which he was not d enough provided even
in this kingdom. But for their private and particular
interest, the king cared not much how it was com-
pounded, nor considered the danger if it were not
compounded. For besides the factions, divisions, and
animosities, which were between themselves, and
very great ; they could have no cause of complaint
against the king, who would take nothing from them
to which they had the least pretence of law or right.
And for their other demands, he would leave them
to litigate between themselves ; it being evident to
all men, that there must be some judicatory erected
by act of parliament, that only could examine and
put an end to all those pretences : the perusal e and
examination of which act of parliament, when the
same should be prepared, his majesty resolved that
all parties should have, and that he would hear their
particular exceptions to it, before he would transmit
it into Ireland to be passed.

That which gave the king the only trouble and so-
licitude, was the miserable condition of the Irish na-
tion, that was so near an extirpation ; the thought
whereof his majesty's heart abhorred. Nor can it
be denied, that either from the indignation he had
against those, in whose favour the other poor people
were miserably destroyed, or from his own natural
compassion and tenderness, and the just regard of
the merit of many of them who had served him with
The king fidelity, he had a very strong and princely inclination

inclined to J \ J , .

faTour the to do the best he could, without doing apparent in-

pretensions

of the Irish e measures] Omitted in MS. e the perusal] and the per

catholics. . - . , . J . ,, ,

d not] Not m MS. usal.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 27

justice, to preserve them in a tolerable condition of 1661.
subjects. This made him give them, who were most
concerned and solicitous on their behalf, liberty to re-
sort to his presence ; and hear f all they could allege
for themselves, in private or in public. And this in-
dulgence proved to their disadvantage, and exalted
them so much, that when they were heard in public
at the board, they behaved themselves with less mo-
desty towards their adversaries, who stood upon the
advantage-ground, and with less reverence in the
presence of the king, than the truth of their con-
dition and any ordinary discretion would have re-
quired. And their disadvantage was the greater,
because they who spake publicly on their behalf, and
were very well qualified to speak, and left nothing
for the matter unsaid that was for their purpose,
were men, who from the beginning to the end of the
rebellion, had behaved themselves eminently ill to-
wards the king. And they of their adversaries who
spake against them, had great knowledge and expe-
rience of all that had passed on either side, and
knew how to press it home when it was seasonable.

They of the Irish, who were all united under the The pica of
name of the confederate catholics of Ireland, ma
their first approach wisely for compassion ; and
urged " their great and long sufferings ; the loss of
" their estates for five or six and twenty years ; the
" wasting and spending of the whole nation in bat-
" ties, and transportation of vast multitudes of men
" into the parts beyond the seas, whereof many had
" the honour to testify their fidelity to the king by
" real services, and many of them returned into Eng-

f and hear] and to hear



28 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " land with him, and were still in his service; the
" great numbers of men, women, and children, that
" had been massacred and executed in cold blood,
" after the king's government had been driven from
" thence ; the multitudes that had been destroyed
" by famine and the plague, those two heavy judg-
" ments having raged over the kingdom for two or
" three years ; and at last, as a persecution unheard
" of, the transplanting the small remainder of the na-
" tion into one corner of the province ofConnaught,
" where yet much of the lands was taken from them.