A fleet must be prepared equal to
what the Dutch would infallibly make ready against
the spring, and worthy of the presence of the duke
of York, who was impatient to engage his own per-
son in the conduct of it ; and the king had given
his promise to him that he should, when he had,
God knows, no purpose that there should be a war.
what the Dutch would infallibly make ready against
the spring, and worthy of the presence of the duke
of York, who was impatient to engage his own per-
son in the conduct of it ; and the king had given
his promise to him that he should, when he had,
God knows, no purpose that there should be a war.
Edward Hyde - Earl of Clarendon
And so that affair ended.
T 2
276 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. During this agitation in London, it was discern-
ible enough that there were great jealousies between
the Scots lords. The commissioner and the other
had cause to believe, that the king gave much more
credit to Lautherdale than to them, and looked
upon him as a man of great interest in that country,
when they knew he had none, being neither in his
quality or fortune amongst those who were esteemed
men of power and dependance. And he thought
them linked in a faction against him, to lessen the
value the king had of him, which indeed was the
foundation of all his credit and interest. What
countenance soever he set upon it, he was sensibly
afflicted at the downfall of the presbytery, and that
Middleton had brought that to pass without any
difficulty, (as he had before told the king he would,)
which he had assured his majesty was impossible to
be effected but in long time and by many stratagems.
The marquis of Argyle had been a man univer-
sally odious to the whole nation, some ministers and
preachers excepted : and there had been always
thought to have been an implacable animosity from
Lautherdale towards him ; and after the king's re-
turn no man had appeared more against him, nor
more insisted upon his not being admitted to his
majesty's presence, or for his being sent into Scot-
land to be tried. Yet after all this it was discover-
ed, that he had interposed all he could with his ma-
jesty to save him, and employed all his interest in
Scotland to the same purpose. And the marquis
was no sooner executed, but the earl of Lautherdale
had prevailed with the king immediately to give his
Lord Lome son, the lord Lorne, (who had remained in London
and created to solicit on his father's behalf,) leave to kiss his
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 277
hand, and to create him earl of Argyle, and to con- 1663.
fer on him the office of general justice in the High- ear] of Ar _
lands, by which his father had been qualified to
most of the wickednesses he had committed; all
which the parliament of Scotland should have
treated as * the most sensible affront to them that
they could undergo.
It was well known that this young man, who was
captain of the king's guard when he was in Scot-
land, had treated his majesty with that rudeness
and barbarity, that he was much more odious to
him than his father ; and in all the letters which
Lautherdale had found opportunity to write, whilst
he was a prisoner in England, to the king when he
was beyond the seas, he inveighed equally against
the son as the father, and never gave him any other
title than, "That Toad's Bird:" so that nobody
could imagine from whence this change could pro-
ceed, but from a design to preserve an interest in
the presbyterian party against the time he should
have occasion to use them.
Then there were circumstances in this grace of
the king to the lord Lome, that exceeded all men's
comprehension : for his majesty caused all the estate
of the marquis of Argyle, which did not appear in
any degree so considerable as it was generally be-
lieved to have been, to be seized upon as forfeited
to him ; and then would grant it to the son so abso-
lutely, that neither the owners should recover what
had been injuriously and violently taken from them
for their loyalty to the king, nor the creditors re-
ceive satisfaction for the just debts which were due
1 have treated asj Omitted in MS.
T 3
278 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16( ' 3 - to them, and which must have been satisfied if the
king had retained the forfeiture. But upon the ap-
plication of the commissioner and the other lords,
that the king would hear all persons concerned,
there was some mitigation in those particulars, not-
withstanding all the opposition which Lautherdale
did barefaced make on the behalf of the lord Lome,
and which the other bore with great indignation :
which he knew very well, and did believe that the
oath and subscription, which he well knew they had
contrived for the next session of parliament, was le-
velled at him; that not taking it, as they did not
believe he would do, the secretary of Scotland's
place might become void, which they had much ra-
ther should have been in any man's hand than in
his. And therefore he took all occasions to profess
and declare, besides his constant raillery against the
presbytery, " that if they should require him to sub-
" scribe that he is a Turk, he would do it before he
" would lose his office. "
The matter of these offences being most in pri-
vate, and so not publicly taken notice of, they made
a fair show and kept good quarter towards each
other. And the king consenting to all that the
commissioner proposed with reference to the public,
being indeed abundantly satisfied with his comport-
ment, and at parting promising to give him the of-
fice of treasurer, when by Crawford's refusing to
. The com- subscribe it should become void ; they, with all their
aJiTbishops bishops, returned again for Scotland with incurable
Scotland, jealousy of Lautherdale, who remained waiting upon
the king, and resolved to cross all their designs he
could, and quietly to expect a better opportunity to
undo what he could not for the present prevent.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 279
It is time now to return to the parliament of 1664.
England, which, according to the time of the pro- The Eng .
rogation, met again in March towards the entrance ^^J, 1 ^.
into the year 1664 : when at their first meeting the
king informed them at large of the insurrection that
had been endeavoured in the summer before in
Yorkshire, which, how foolishly soever contrived,
was a very great instance of the distemper of the
nation ; that three years after the disbanding of the
army, the officers thereof should remain still so un-
quiet, as to hope to give any signal disturbance to
the peace of the kingdom, by such a commotion as
they could upon their credit raise.
The continual discourse of plots and insurrections An insur-
had so wearied the king, that he even resolved to tended in
give no more countenance to any such informations, Yorksbire >
nor to trouble himself with inquiry into them ; but
to leave the peace of the kingdom against any such
attempts to the vigilance of the civil magistrates,
and the care of the officers of the militia, which he
presumed would be sufficient to quell and suppress
any ordinary fanatic design. And upon this reso-
lution, and to avoid the reproach of the late times,
of contriving plots only to commit men to prison
against whom there was any prejudice, he totally
neglected the first information he received of this
seditious purpose. But when the intelligence was
continued from several parts, and so particular for
the time and place of the rendezvous, and for the
seizing upon the city of York ; and there was evi-
dence that some men of estate and fortune, and who
were held wary and discreet men, were engaged in
it ; his majesty thought it time to provide against it,
and not only commended the care of it to the lords
T 4
280 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
I6fi4. lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of the counties
~~ adjacent, but sent likewise several troops of his own
horse to possess the city of York before the day ap-
pointed, and to attend some of the places of the ren-
But prc- dezvous. And they came very seasonably, and sur-
vented. . . , , . _ , .
prised many upon the very place, before their com-
pany was strong enough to make resistance. Others
did make some resistance, but quickly fled and were
dispersed. Many were taken, and upon their ex-
amination behaved themselves as if they were sure
to be quickly rescued ; for it appeared that they did
believe that the insurrection would have been ge-
neral throughout the kingdom, and that all the dis-
banded army would have been brought together at
several rendezvouses.
All the prisons in the north were so full, that the
king thought it necessary to send down four or five
of the judges of the several benches of Westminster-
hall to York, with a commission of oyer and ter-
miner, to examine the whole matter. There, though
the judges did not believe that they had discovered
the bottom of the whole conspiracy, they found
Some of the cause to condemn very many ; whereof seventeen or
eighteen were executed, some reprieved, and very
many left in prison to be tried at the next assizes.
Amongst those who were executed, the man who
was most looked upon was one Rymer, of the qua-
lity of the better sort of grand-jurymen, and held a
wise man, and was known to be trusted by the
greatest men who had been in rebellion : and he
was discovered by a person of intimate trust with
him, who had heretofore the same affections with
him, but would venture no more. He was a sullen
man, and used few words to excuse himself, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 281
none to hurt any body else ; though he was thought 1664.
to know much, and that having a good estate he~
would never have embarked in a design that had no
probability of success. Some of the prisoners de-
clared, " that they were assured by those who en-
" g a e d them, that such and such great men would
" appear at the rendezvous or soon after. " But
that was not thought a sufficient ground to trouble
any man, though some of them were very liable to
suspicion ; since in all combinations of that kind, it
is a most usual artifice to work upon weak men, by
persuading them that other men, of whom they have
great esteem, are engaged in it, who in truth know
nothing of it.
The judges were returned from York little time
before the parliament met ; and therefore the king
thought it fit to awaken them to much vigilance, by
informing them with what secrecy that conspiracy
had been carried. And his majesty assured them, The king's
" that he was not yet at the bottom of that busi-
" ness ; and that it appeared manifestly, that this n
" conspiracy was but a branch of that which he had
" discovered as well as he could to them about two
" years since, and had been then executed nearer
" hand, if he had not by God's goodness come to
" the knowledge of some of the principal contrivers,
" and so secured them from doing the mischief they
" intended. "
His majesty told them, " that they would wonder
" (yet he said what was true) that they were now
" even in those parts, when they see their friends
" under trial and execution, still pursuing the same
" consultations : and it was evident that they had cor-
" respondence with desperate persons in most coun-
282 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " ties, and a standing council in London itself, from
~" " which they received their directions, and by whom
" they were advised to defer their last intended in-
" surrection. But those orders served only to dis-
" tract them, and came too late to prevent their
" destruction. " He said, " he knew more of their
" intrigues, than they thought he did ; and hoped he
*' should shortly discover the bottom : in the mean
" time he desired the parliament, that they might
" all be as watchful to prevent, as they were to con-
" trive their mischief. " He said, " he could not
*' upon this occasion omit to tell them, that these
" desperate men in their counsels (as appeared by
" several examinations) had not been all of one mind
" in the ways of carrying on their wicked resolu-
" tions. Some would still insist upon the authority
" of the long parliament, of which they say they have
" members enough willing to meet : others have fan-
" cied to themselves, by some computation of their
" own, upon some clause in the triennial bill, that
" this present parliament was at an end some months
" since ; and that for want of new writs they may
" assemble themselves, and choose members for par-
" liament ; and that this is the best expedient to
" bring themselves together for their other pur-
" poses. For the long parliament," his majesty said,
" that he and they together could do no more than
" he had done to inform and compose the minds of
" men ; let them proceed upon that at their peril.
" But he- thought there had been nothing done to
" disabuse men in respect of the triennial bill. He
" confessed that he had often himself read over that
" bill ; and though there is no colour for the fancy
" of the determination of this parliament ; yet he
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 283
" would not deny to them, that he had always ex- 1665.
" pected that they would, and even wondered that"
" they had not considered the wonderful clauses in
" that bill, which had passed in a time very uncare-
" ful for the dignity of the crown, or the security of
" the people. " His majesty desired the speaker and
the gentlemen of the house of commons, " that
" they would once give that triennial bill a reading
" in their house ; and then in God's name they
" might do what they thought fit for him, them-
" selves, and the whole kingdom. " His majesty
said, " that he needed not tell them how much he
" loved parliaments : never king was so much be-
" holden u to parliaments as he had been ; nor did
" he think that the crown could ever be happy with-
" out frequent parliaments. But he wished them
'* to assure themselves, that if he should think other-
" wise, he would never suffer a parliament to come
" together by the means prescribed by that bill. "
He renewed his thanks to them " for the free
" supply they gave him the last session of four sub-
" sidies ; yet he could not but tell them, that that
" supply was fallen much short of what he expected
" and they intended. That it would hardly be be-
" lieved, yet they knew it to be true, that very many
" persons, who have estates of three or four thou-
" sand pounds by the year, do not pay for these four
" subsidies sixteen pounds : so that whereas they
*' intended and declared, that they should be col-
" lected according to former precedents, they do not
" now arise to half the proportion they did in the
" time of queen Elizabeth ; and yet sure the crown
11 beholden] beholding
1665. " wants more now than it did then, and the subject
~~" is at least as well able to give. " His majesty said,
" the truth is, by the license of the late ill time, and
" ill humour of this, too many of the people, and
" even of those who make fair professions, believe it
" to be no sin to defraud the crown of any thing
" that is due to it. That they no sooner gave him
" tonnage and poundage, than men were devising
" all the means they could to steal custom ; nor
" could the farmers be so vigilant for the collection,
" as others were to steal the duties. They gave him
" the excise, which all people abroad believed to be
" the most insensible imposition that can be laid
" upon a people : what conspiracies and combina-
" tions were entered into against it by the brewers,
" who he was sure did not bear the burden them-
" selves, even to bring that revenue to nothing, they
" would hear in Westminster-hall. They had given
" him the chimney-money, which they had reason
" to believe was a growing revenue, for men build
" at least fast enough ; and they would therefore
" wonder, that it was already declined, and that this
" half year brings in less than the former did. " He
desired them therefore, " that they would review that
" bill ; and since he was sure that they would have
" him receive whatsoever they gave, that he might
" have the collecting and husbanding of it by his
" own officers, and then he doubted not but to im-
" prove that receipt, and he would be cozened as
" little as he could. "
His majesty concluded with " desiring and con-
" juring them to keep a very good correspondence
" together, that it might not be in the power of any
" seditious or factious spirits to make them jealous
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 285
" of each other, or either of them jealous of him, till 1665.
" they see him pretend one thing and do another, ~~
" which he was sure they had never yet done. " He
assured them, " it should be in nobody's power to
" make him jealous of them. " And so desired them,
" that they would despatch what they found neces-
" sary, that they might be ready for a session within
" two months or thereabout, because the season of
" the year would invite them all to take the country
" air. "
It was very happy for his majesty, that he did
cut out their work to their hand, and asked no
money of them, and limited them a short time to
continue together. It made their counsels very una-
nimous : and though they raised no new taxes and
impositions upon the people, they made what they
had before raised much more valuable to the king
than it was before, by passing other acts and decla-
rations for the explaining many things, and the bet-
ter collecting the money they had formerly given ;
which much added to his majesty's profit without
grieving the people, who were rather gratified in the
remedies which were provided against frauds and
cozenage.
The parliament had sat but very little more than The trien.
ten days, when they presented a bill to his majesty repealed.
for the repeal of the triennial bill, which he had re-
commended to them ; which x was so grateful to
him, that he came in person to the house to pass
it and to thank them : and he told them, " that
" every good Englishman would thank them for it ;
" for it could only have served to discredit parlia-
x which] and which
286 CONTINUATON OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. " ments, to make the crown jealous of parliaments
"~ " and parliaments of the crown, and persuaded
" neighbour princes that England was not governed
" under a monarch. " The truth is : it had passed
in a very jealous and seditious time, when the
wickedness was first in hatching, that ripened after-
wards to a dismal perfection ; and when all, who
were sworn never to consent to the disherison of the
crown, thought only of preserving their own inhe-
ritance which they had gotten, or improving it at
the expense of the crown ; and made it manifest
enough, that it should wither, at least while it stood
upon the head of that king ; for at that time the
conspiracy went no further, that is amongst those
who had then credit to promote its passage, though
they were weak men who thought it could rest
there.
some acts As they made this entrance, so they were wholly
passed.
intent upon matters of moment, and despatched all
they intended to do within the two months, in
which the king desired they would be ready for a
prorogation. And as there was greater order and
unanimity in their debates, so they despatched more
business of public importance and consequence, than
any other parliament had done in twice the time :
for, besides the repeal of the odious bill before men-
tioned, they made a very good additional bill for the
chimney-money, which made that revenue much
more considerable; and they passed likewise an-
other bill against the frequenting of conventicles,
which was looked upon as the greatest discounte-
nance the parliament had yet given to all the fac-
tions in religion, and if it had been vigorously exe-
cuted would no doubt have produced a thorough re-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 287
formation. They made likewise a very good act, I6C5.
and very necessary for a time of such corruption, ~"
that had contracted new ways of dishonesty and vil-
lany that former times had not thought of, when
many unworthy and . cowardly masters of ships and
seamen had been contented to be robbed, and to
suffer y all their owners' goods to be taken, upon an
allowance made to them by the pirates ; for the dis-
covery and punishment whereof the law had not
enough provided. They therefore presented a bill
to the king, " for the discovery and punishment of
" all such treacherous and infamous actions ; and
" for the reward of such honest and stout seamen, as
" should manfully and courageously defend their
" owners' goods, and therein maintain the honour of
" the nation. "
All this they presented to his majesty, and it z was
confirmed by his royal assent on the seventeenth of
May ; when his majesty, after giving such thanks to
them as they deserved, told them, " he did not in-
" tend to bring them together again till the month
" of November, that they might enjoy the summer
" in the transaction of their own affairs : yet be-
" cause there might some emergent occasion fall
" out, that might make him wish to find them to-
" gether sooner, he would prorogue them only to
" August ; and before the day they should have sea-
" sonable notice, by proclamation, not to give their
" attendance, except such occasion should fall out. "
And so they were prorogued to a day in August, The pariia
but met not till November following. ro s ui.
During this short session of parliament, they, who
> suffer] Not in MS. * it] Not in MS.
288 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. were very solicitous to promote a war with Holland,
~~ forget not what they had to do ; but they quickly
discerned that it was not a good season to mention
the giving of money, (which the king himself had
forborne to mention, that the people might see one
session of parliament pass without granting new im-
positions, which they had not yet seen,) and there-
fore it would be as unseasonable to speak of a war.
However, they made such an approach towards it,
as might make a further advance much more easy.
The mer- The merchants in the committee of trade much la-
monstr&te mented the obstructions and discouragements, which
DutTh! the tnev na d l n & f un d in their commerce by sea with a
other nations, and which were not removed even by
the blessed return of the king ; all which they im-
puted to the pride and insolence of the Hollanders,
" who," they said, " observed no laws of commerce,
"or any conditions which themselves consented to.
" That by their fraud and practice the English were
" almost driven out of the East and West Indies,
" and had their trade in Turkey and in Africa much
" diminished. In sum, that besides many insuffer-
" able indignities offered by them to his majesty and
" to the crown of England, his subjects had in few
" years sustained the damage of seven or eight hun-
" dred thousand pounds sterling. "
All which with some particular instances being
reported from the committee of trade to the house,
they had desired an audience from his majesty, and
then presented this grievance to him, and desired
his majesty, " that he would give such order in it,
" as to his wisdom should seem fit, that might pro-
a with] and with
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 289
' duce just and honourable satisfaction. " The king, 1665:
who continued firm to his former resolution, an-~
swered them, " that he would transmit the address
" they had presented to him to his resident at the
" Hague, with order that he should inform the
" States of it, and require satisfaction, which he
" hoped the States General would yield unto, rather
" than compel b him to demand justice in another
" way. " The answer pleased them well, nor could
they wish that the prosecution should be put into
a better hand than the resident's, who was a mem-
ber of the house, and a man who had inflamed them
more than the merchants themselves against the
Dutch.
That resident was sir George Downing, a man of character of
an obscure birth, and more obscure education, which Downing*
he had received in part in New England: he had
passed through many offices in Cromwell's army, of
chaplain, scoutmaster, and other employments, and
at last got a very particular credit and confidence
with him, and under that countenance married a
beautiful lady of a very noble extraction, which
was the fate of many bold men in that presump-
tuous time. And when Cromwell had subdued the
Dutch to that temper he wished, and had thereupon
made a peace with them, he sent this man to reside
as his agent with them, being a man of a proud and
insolent spirit, and who c would add to any imperious
command of his somewhat of the bitterness of his
own spirit.
And he did so fully execute his charge in all
b than compel] than they compel c who] Omitted in MS.
VOL. I. U
290 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. things, especially when he might manifest his ani-
""mosity against the royal party, that when the king
himself had once, during his residence at Brussels,
for his divertisement made a journey incognito, with
not above four persons, to see Amsterdam, and
from thence the towns of North Holland ; Downing
coming to have notice of it delivered a memorial to
the States of Holland, wherein he enclosed the third
article of their treaty, by which they were obliged
" not to suffer any traitor, rebel, or any other per-
" son, who was declared an enemy to the common-
" wealth of England, to reside or stay in their do-
" minions ;" and told them, " that Charles Stuart and
" the marquis of Ormond had been lately in Am-
" sterdam, and were still in some places adjacent ;"
and required " that they might not be permitted to
" remain in any part of their dominions. " Where-
upon the States of Holland sent presently to the
princess royal, who was then at her country house
at Hounslerdike, " that if her brother were then
" with her or should come to her, he should forth-
" with depart out of their province :" and not satis-
fied herewith, they published an order in the Hague
to the same purpose, which was sent to Amsterdam
and other towns according to their custom.
With this rude punctuality he behaved himself
during the life of Cromwell, and whilst his son re-
tained the usurpation ; but when he saw him thrown
out with that contempt, and that the government
was not like to be settled again till there was a re-
sort to the old foundation, he bethought himself how
he might have a reserve of the king's favour. And
the marquis of Ormond making about that time a
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 291
journey incognito to the Hague, to treat of' 1 a mar- 1C65.
riage for his eldest son with a noble lady whose*"
friends lived there, Downing found opportunity to
have a private conference with him, and made offer
of his service to the king, if his devotion might be
concealed, without which it would be useless to his
majesty. And for an earnest of his fidelity, he in-
formed him of some particulars which were of mo-
ment for the king to know : amongst which one
was, " that a person, who in respect of his very ho-
" nourable extraction, and the present obligations
" himself had to the royal family, was not suspected,
" gave him, as he had long done, constant intelli-
" gence of what the king did, and of many particu-
" lars which in their nature deserved to be more se-
" cret, which he had always sent to Cromwell whilst
" he was living ; but since his death, having a reso-
" lution to serve the king, he had never disserved
" him, and would hereafter give him notice of any
" thing that it would be necessary for him e to be
" informed of with reference to England or to Hol-
land. "
The marquis thought it very fit to accept of such
an instrument, and promised him " to acquaint his
" majesty with his good affection, who he presumed
" would receive it graciously, and give him as much
" encouragement to continue it as his present condi-
" tion would permit. " To which the other replied,
" that he knew the king's present condition too well
" to expect any reward from him : but if his ma-
" jesty would vouchsafe, when he should be re-
a to treat of] Omitted in MS. f for him] Not. in MS.
u 2
292 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16C5. " stored, to confirm to him the office he then held
" of a teller in the exchequer, and continue him in
" this employment he then had in Holland, where
" he presumed he should be able to do him more
" service than a stranger could do, he would think
" himself abundantly rewarded. " Of all which when
the marquis advertised the king at his return to
Brussels, he had authority to assure him " of the
" king's acceptation, and that all that he expected
" should be made good. "
This was the ground and reason, that when the
king came to the Hague the year following to em-
bark for England, he received Downing so gra-
ciously, and knighted him, and left him there as his
resident; which they who were near the king, and
knew nothing of what had passed, wondered at as
much as strangers who had observed his former be-
haviour. And the States themselves, who would not
at such a time of public joy do any thing that might
be ingrateful to his majesty, could not forbear to la-
ment in private, " that his majesty would depute a
" person to have his authority, who had never used
" any other dialect to persuade them to do any thing
" he proposed, but threats if they should not do it,
" and who at several times had disobliged most of
" their persons by his insolence. " And from the
time of his majesty's departure from thence, he
never made those representations which men in
those ministeries used to do, but put the worst com-
mentaries upon all their actions. And when, he sat
afterwards as a member of the house, returning still
in the interval of parliament to his employment at
the Hague, he took all opportunities to inveigh
war.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 293
against their usurpations in trade; and either did or 16G5.
pretended to know many of their mysteries of ini-~~
quity, in opening of which he rendered himself ac-
ceptable to the house, though he was a voluminous
speaker, which naturally they do not like.
When this province was committed to him of Heendea -
vours to
expostulation for the injuries sustained in several bring on a
places from the Dutch, he had his wish, and used
little modesty in the urging of it. They answered,
" that most of the particulars of which he com-
" plained were put under oblivion by the late
" treaty, and that in consideration thereof they had
" yielded to many particulars for the benefit of the
" English ; and that for the other particulars, they
" were likewise by the same treaty referred to a
" process in justice, of which they had yet no cause
" to complain : nor had there been any action pre-
" tended to be committed since the treaty was con-
" eluded," which was not many months before, " that
" might occasion a misunderstanding. " And surely
at this time when these things were urged all this
was true : but he, according to the method he had
been accustomed to f , insisted upon his own de-
mands ; and frequently reproached them with their
former submissions to Cromwell, and their present
presumptions upon the goodness and generosity of
the king.
It is without question, that the States General
did, by the standard of their own wariness and cir-
cumspection, not suspect that the king did intend to
make a war upon them. They well knew the straits
and necessities in which his affairs stood, with re-
f to] Not in MS.
u 3
294 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1605. fercnce to money, and to the several distempers of
~ the nation in matters of religion, which might pro-
bably grow more dangerous if there were a foreign
war; and concluded, that Downing's importunities
and menaces were but the results of his own impe-
tuosity, and that the king would not be solicitous to
interrupt and part with his own peace. And there-
fore their own ships they sent out as they used to
do 1 , and those for the coast of Guinea better prepared
and stronger than of course. Nor was the royal
company less vigilant to carry on that trade, but
about the same time sent a stronger fleet of mer-
chants' ships than they had ever before done ; and
for their better encouragement the king lent them
two of his own ships for a convoy.
The iso- And at this time they gave the king an advantage
lent beha- . . . . , , 1*11
viour of the in point of justice, and which concerned all other
the coast"of nations in point of traffick and commerce. It had
Guinea, j^^ | je g UI1 by them in the East Indies; where
they had * planted themselves in great and strong
towns, and had many harbours well fortified, in
which they constantly maintained a great number
of good and strong ships ; by which they were ab-
solute masters of those seas, and forced the neigh-
bour kings and princes to enter into such terms of
amity with them as they thought fit to require.
And if they found that any advantageous trade was
driven in any port by any other nation, they pre-
sently sent their ships to lie before that port, and
denounced war against the prince to whom that
port belonged ; which being done, they published a
declaration, " that it should not be lawful for any
s they had] after they had
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 295
" nation whatsoever to trade in the territories of J665.
" that prince with whom they then were in war. "
And upon this pretence they would not suffer an
English ship, belonging to the East India company,
to enter into a port to lade and take in a cargason
of goods, that had been provided by their factors
there before there was any mention or imagination
of such a war, and of which there was no other in-
stance of hostility than the very declaration. And
at this time they transplanted this new prerogative
to Guinea : and having, as they said, for there was
no other evidence of it, a war with one of those
princes, they would not suffer the English ships to
enter into those harbours where they had always
traded. The king received animadversion of this
unheard of insolence and usurpation, and added this
more just complaint to the former, and required his
resident " to demand a positive renunciation of all
" pretence to such an odious usurpation, and a revo-
" cation of those orders which their officers had
" published. " To this complaint and demand they
deferred to make answer, till their ambassador had
presented a grievance to the king.
One of those ships of war, which the king had An English
lent to the royal company for the convoy of their seizes a
fleet to Guinea, had in the voyage thither assaulted on u t c he 01
and taken a fort belonging to the Dutch near Cape
Verde; which was of more incommodity to them
than of benefit to the English. Of this invasion
their ambassador made a loud complaint, and de-
manded, " that the captain might be punished se-
" verely ; and in the mean time that the king would
" give a present order to him, the ambassador, for
" the redelivery of the place and all that was in it,
u 4
296 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. " and he would send it to his masters, who would
~" forthwith send a ship to demand it. " The king
had in truth heard nothing of it ; and assured the
ambassador, " that the captain, if he had done any
" such thing, had not the least commission or au-
" thority for the doing it ; and that he was sure he
" was upon his way homeward, so that he might be
" expected speedily ; and then he should be sure to
" undergo such punishment as the nature of his
" offence required, when the matter should be ex-
" amined, and they should then receive full repara-
" tion. " This answer, how reasonable soever, satis-
fied them not : nothing would serve their h turn but
a present restitution, before his majesty could be
informed of the provocation or ground that had pro-
duced so unwarrantable an action. They gave pre-
sent orders for the equipping a very great fleet, and
the raising many land soldiers, making greater pre-
parations for war than they had made in many years
The Dutch before. They likewise prepared a strong fleet for
strmTg'fleet Guinea, and granted a commission (which was pub-
for Guinea. lighed in pT ^ n ^ to the comman( jer in chief, " to
" make war upon the English in those parts, and to
" do them all the mischief he i could. "
Prince Rupert, who had been heretofore with the
fleet then under his command, in the beginning of
the king's reign, upon the coast of Guinea, (and by
the report and testimony he gave of that coast the
royal company had received greater k encourage-
ment,) now ] upon this insolent demeanour of the
Dutch, and publishing the commission they had sent
h their] Not in MS. k greater] great
' he] they l now] and now
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 297
to their commander in chief, offered m his service to 1665.
the king, " to sail into those parts with such a fleet ~"
" as his majesty thought fit to send, with which he
" made little doubt to secure trade, and abate the
" presumption of the Dutch. " And hereupon a fleet The English
was likewise preparing for that purpose, to be com-n^eCiTe. "
manded by prince Rupert.
The parliament had before declared, when they
made their address to the king against the Dutch
for obstructing the trade, " that they would with
" their lives and fortunes assist his majesty against
" all oppositions whatsoever, which he should meet
" with in the removal of those obstructions ;" which
they believed would terrify, but in truth made the
Dutch merry : and in some of their declarations or
answers to Downing's memorials, they mentioned
it with too much pride and contempt. And in this The pariia-
posture the disputes were when the parliament met'
again in November, which came together for the
most part without a desire either to give money or
make war. And Downing, who laboured heartily
to incense us and to provoke them, in all his de-
spatches declared, " that all those insolences pro-
" ceeded only from the malignity of the States of
" Holland, which could vent itself no further than
" in words ; but that the States General, without
"whose concurrence no war could be made, abhor-
" red the thought of it :" and there is no doubt that
was true. And the Dutch ambassador, who re-
mained at London, and was a very honest weak
man, and did all the offices he could to prevent it,
did not think it possible it could come to pass ; " and
m offered] he offered
298 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " that there might be some scuffles upon the coast of
~~ " Guinea, by the direction of the West India com-
" pany, of whose actions the States General took no-
" tice, but would cause justice to be done upon
" complaint, and not suffer the public peace to be
" disturbed upon their pretences. " And so the king
forbore to demand any supply from the parlia-
ment, because an ordinary supply would rather
discredit his demands than advance them, and he
could not expect an extraordinary supply but when
the war was unquestionable. And the States Ge-
neral at this time were made a property by the
States of Holland, (who had given private orders
for their own concernments,) and presented an
humble desire to the king by their ambassador,
" that prince Rupert's fleet might stay in harbour,
" as theirs likewise that was prepared for Guinea
" should do, till some means might be found for
" the accommodation of all differences. " Whereas
before they pretended, that they would send their
Guinea fleet through the Channel, convoyed by
their admiral with a fleet of fifty sail ; which re-
port had before stopped prince Rupert, when he
was under sail for Guinea, to wait and expect that
piece of bravery. But this address from the States
General made all men believe there would be an
accommodation, without so much as any hostility in
Guinea.
The uea- But it was quickly discovered, that they were
hariour of the honester men when they gave the worst words.
the Dutch. For before the states General sent to the king to
stop prince Rupert in harbour, " and that their
" fleets should likewise remain in their harbours,"
the States of Holland, or that committee that was
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 299
qualified by them, had with great privacy sent orders 1 665.
to De Ruyter, who was in the Mediterranean, " to
" make all possible haste with his fleet to go to the
" coast of Guinea, and not only to retake the fort near
" Cape Verde that the English had taken from them,
" but likewise to take what places he could which
" were in possession of the English, and to do them
" what damage he could in those parts :" so that
they might well offer that their fleet should now
remain in their harbours in Holland.
When De Ruyter had been sent into the Medi-
terranean, the pretence was, that it was against the
pirates 0f Algiers and Tunis, who had in truth
preyed very much upon the Dutch, taken very many
of their ships, and had abundance of their subjects
in chains. And when that fleet was sent into the
Mediterranean, their ambassador had desired the
king, " that his majesty's fleet that was then in those
" parts might upon all occasions join with De Ruy-
" ter, when opportunity should be offered thereby
" to infest the Turks ;" which the king consented
to, and sent orders accordingly. But the Dutch
had no such purpose : his business was to ransom
their captives with money, and not to exact the deli-
very of them by force ; and to make an accommo-
dation for the time to come as well as he could.
And when the English fleet was at any time in
pursuit of any of the Turks' vessels, and expected
that the Dutch, by whom they must pass, would
have given a little stop to their flight, which they
might easily have done; they rather assisted than
obstructed their escape. And having made a very
dishonourable peace with the pirates, he made haste
to prosecute his orders for the coast of Guinea.
300 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. As soon as the king knew of this impudent af-
h front, and that De Ruyter was in truth gone out of
an tefzed. * the Mediterranean, he thought he might justly seize
upon any ships of theirs, to satisfy the damage that
he could not but sustain by De Ruyter in Guinea :
and so, it being the season of the year that the
Dutch fleet returned with their wines from Bour-
deaux, Rochelle, and other parts of France, such of
them as were forced by the weather to put into the
English harbours were seized upon. And the duke
of York, having put himself on board with a fleet of
about fifty sail, upon the report of the Dutch being
come out to defend their ships, took many others,
even upon their own coasts ; which they chose ra-
ther to suffer, than to venture out of their ports
to relieve them. However, there was not any one
of all those ships suffered to be unladen, or any pre-
judice done to them ; but they were all preserved
unhurt, till notice might arrive from Guinea what
The Dutch De Ruyter had done there. But undoubted intelli-
hostmtieT gence arrived in a very short time after, that De
in Gumea. R uv t er j^ declared and begun the war upon the
coast of Africa, not only by a forcible retaking the
fort which had been taken from them, and which
his majesty had offered to deliver, but by seizing
upon several English ships in those parts, and by
assaulting and taking other his majesty's forts and
places, and exercising all the acts of hostility which
his commission authorized him n to do.
They refuse . And in a very short time after, the East India
the iVand company complained and informed the king, " that
" wnen their officer had demanded the redelivery of
" him] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 301
the isle of Poleroone according to the article of 1665.
" the late treaty, and delivered the letters and or-
" ders from the States General and States of Hol-
" land, which their ambassadors had given at Lon-
" don, to the governor and captain of that island ;
" he , after making him stay two or three days
" there with his ship and the men he had brought
" with him, told him, that upon a better perusal of
" the orders which he had brought, he found that
" they were not sufficient ; and therefore till he
" should receive fuller orders, he could not give up
" the place. " And so the officer and ship, which
had been sent at a great charge, were P necessitated
to return without any other ^ effect than the affront
and indignity to his majesty.
When there was now no remedy, and the war
was actually made upon the king upon what provo-
cation soever, there was nothing to be done but to
resort to the parliament, which had been so earnest
to enter into it.
A fleet must be prepared equal to
what the Dutch would infallibly make ready against
the spring, and worthy of the presence of the duke
of York, who was impatient to engage his own per-
son in the conduct of it ; and the king had given
his promise to him that he should, when he had,
God knows, no purpose that there should be a war.
It was quickly 1 " discovered, that there was not the
same alacrity towards a war now, after it was
begun, in the parliament, as there had been when
they made their vote : and they would have been
glad that any expedient might have been found for
he] who f i other] Not in MS.
P were] was T quickly] now quickly
302 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. a reconciliation, and that the captain might have
been called in question, who first gave offence by
taking the fort from the Dutch near Cape Verde,
which some had pressed for when he came home,
before any more mischief was u done ; and the not
calling him in question made many believe, that he
had done nothing without warrant or promise of
protection.
The Dutch still disclaimed all thought or purpose
of war, and seemed highly offended with their go-
vernor of Poleroone, and protested, " that the not-
" delivery of the place proceeded only from want of
" an order from the governor of Batavia, which or-
" der came the next day after the English ship was
" departed : but that they had given notice of it to
" the English factory at Bantam, that the same or
" another English ship might return and receive it ;
" and they were confident that it was then in the
" hand of the English. " But it was now too late to
expect any honourable peace, at least without mak-
ing very notable preparations for a war, which could *
not be done without ready money. And whatever
orders had been given for the preservation of the
Dutch ships, it quickly appeared that much of them
had been embezzled or disposed of, before they
were brought to any judicatory, or adjudged to be
prize ; and there was too much cause to fear, that
the rest would be disposed of to other purposes than
the support of the war; though nothing was more
positively spoken, than that the war would main-
tain itself.
The parliament still promised fairly, and entered
u was] Omitted in MS. * could] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 303
upon consultation how and what money to raise. 1665.
And now the king commanded the chancellor and Z
Measures
the treasurer to meet with those members of the takento
_ . dispose the
house of commons, with whom they had used to parliament
consult, and to whom the king had joined others sup
upon whom he was told he might more depend, and for a war>
to adjust together what sum should be proposed, and
how and in what manner to propose and conduct it.
It was about the month of January. And though
the duke took indefatigable pains, by going himself
sometimes to Portsmouth and sometimes to Chat-
ham, to cause the ships and all provisions to be
ready, that he might be at sea before the Dutch ;
yet let what advance could be made, as indeed
there was great, nothing could be said to be done,
till a great stock of ready money could be provided ;
and it would be long after the parliament had done
their part, before ready money would be got ; and
therefore no more time must be lost, without taking
a particular resolution.
The meeting of those persons the king appointed A meeting
was at Worcester-house, where the chancellor and L-dTami
treasurer (who were known to be averse from the comm
war) told the rest, " that there was no more debate for that
purpose.
" now to be, war or no war : it was come upon us,
" and we were now only to contrive the best way of
" carrying it on with success ; which could only be
" done by raising a great present sum of money,
" that the enemy might see that we were prepared
" to continue it as well as to begin. " They who
were most desirous of the war, as sir Harry Bennet
and Mr. Coventry, (who were in truth the men who
brought it upon the nation,) with their friends, were
of the opinion, " that there should not be a great
3P4 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " sum demanded at present, but only so much as
~~ " might carry out the fleet in the spring, and that Y
" sufficient provisions might be made for the sum-
" mer service : and then, when the war was once
" thoroughly entered into, another and a better sup-
" ply might be gotten about Michaelmas, when
" there was reason to hope, that some good success
" would dispose all men to a frank prosecution of
" the war. " Whereas these gentlemen had hitherto
inflamed the king with an assurance, " that he
" could not ask more money of the parliament than
" they would readily give him, if he would be en-
" g a g e d in this war which the whole kingdom so
" much desired. "
The chancellor and the treasurer were of opinion,
" that the house of commons could never be in a
" better disposition to give, than they were at pre-
" sent ; that hereafter they might grow weary, and
" apt to find fault with the conduct, especially when
" they found the country not so well pleased with
** the war as they were now conceived to be : where-
" as, now the war was begun, and the king engaged
" in it as much as he could be after ten battles, and
" all upon their desire and their promise ; they
" could not refuse to give any thing proposed with-
" in the compass of that reason, which all under-
" standing men might examine and judge of. That
" it was evident enough, that the true ground of all
" the confidence the Dutch had was from their opin-
" ion of the king's necessities and want of money,
" and their belief that the parliament would supply
" him very sparingly, and not long to continue such
y that] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 305
" an expense, as they very well knew that a war at 1665.
" sea would require : and they would be much con- ~"
" firmed in this their imagination, if at the begin-
" ning they should see the parliament give him such
" a sum of money, as seemed to be implied by what
" had been said. That they therefore thought it
" absolutely necessary, that the king should propose
" as much, that is, that his friends should move for
" such a sum, as might upon a reasonable computa-
" tion, which every man would be ready to make,
" and of which wise men upon experience would ea-
" sily make an estimate, carry on the war for a full
" year ; that is, for the setting out the present fleet
" and paying it off upon its return, and for the set-
" ting out another fleet the next spring. If this were
" now done, his majesty would not be involved in
" importunate necessities the next winter ; but he
" might calmly and deliberately consult upon such
" further supplies, as the experience of what would
" be then past should suggest to be necessary : and
" that this would give his majesty such a reputation
" with all his neighbours, and such terror to his
" enemies, that it would probably dispose them to
" peace. "
They told them, " the best method to compute
" what the expense might amount to in a year,
" would be by reflecting upon the vast disproportion
" of the charge we were now already engaged in,
" and what had been estimated four months since,
" when the war was designed. That it was well
" known to Mr. Coventry, who had been always
" present at those conferences, that it had been said
" by the most experienced sea-officers, and those
" who had fought all the late battles against the
VOL. II. X
1665. " Dutch, that a fleet of forty or fifty such ships, as
the king's were, would be strength sufficient to
" beat all the ships the Dutch had out of the narrow
" seas ; and one very eminent man amongst them
" said, he would not desire above fifty ships to fight
" with all they had, and that he was confident
" that a greater number than fifty could never
" be brought to fight orderly or usefully : and yet
" that there were at present no fewer than four-
" score good ships preparing for the duke. And
" the charge in many other particulars appeared al-
" ready to amount to double the sum that was first
" computed. "
They concluded, " that a less sum than two mil-
" lions and a half" (which is five and twenty hun-
dred thousand pounds sterling) " ought not to be
" proposed, and being once proposed ought to be in-
" sisted on and pursued without consenting to any
" diminution ; for nobody could conceive that it
" would do more than maintain the war one year,
" which the parliament could not refuse to provide
" for in the beginning, as there was a so much in
" truth of it already expended in the preparations
" and expedition the duke had made in November,
" when he went to sea upon the fame of the Dutch
" fleet's intention to convoy their Guinea ships
" through the channel. "
There was not a man in the company, who did
not heartily wish that that sum or a greater might
be proposed and granted : but they all, though they
agreed in few other things, protested, " that they
" could not advise that so prodigious a sum should
as there was] and there being already
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 307
"be as much as named; and that they did not lf>65.
" know any one man, since it could not be thought"
" fit that any man who had relation to the king's
" service should move it, who had the courage to
" attempt it, or would be persuaded to it. "
The two lords continued very obstinate, " that a
" less sum should not be named for the reasons they
" had given," which the other confessed to be just;
and they acknowledged too, "that the proposition
" ought not to be made by any man who was b re-
" lated to the court, or was thought to be in any
" grace there that might dispose him, nor yet by
" any gentleman, how well soever thought of, who
" was of a small estate, and so to pay little of so
" great a sum he was so liberal to give. " They
therefore desired them " to name some of those
" members, who were honest worthy men, and
" looked upon as lovers of their country, and of
" great fortunes, unsuspected to have any designs
" at court; and if they were not enough acquainted
" with them, the lords would find some way by
" themselves or others to move them to it. " Where-
upon they named five or six persons very well
known, of whom the house had a very good esteem,
but without any hope that any c of them would be
prevailed with to undertake it. The lords said,
" they would try what might be done, and give
" them notice the next day, that if it were possible
" it might be the business of the following day. "
The chancellor and the treasurer chose three
Norfolk gentlemen of those who had been named,
because they were good friends and grateful to each
b was] Omitted in MS. c any] either
X 2
308 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. other, and desired them the next day " that they
~~ " might confer together. " They told them, " they
" knew well the state of affairs ; the parliament had
" engaged the king in a war, that could not be car-
" ried on without a vast expense : and therefore if
" at the entrance into it there should be a small or
" an ordinary supply given, it would blast all their
" hopes, and startle all other princes from joining,
" with whom the Dutch were not in favour, and
" who would be inclined to the king, if they saw
" such a provision for the war as would be sufficient
" to continue it for some time. And therefore they
" desired to confer with them, who upon all occa-
" sions manifested good affections to the king, and
" whose advice had a great influence upon the house,
" upon the whole matter how it might be conduct-
" ed. " They all consented to what had been said,
and promised their own concurrence and utmost en-
deavours to compass what the king should desire.
The lords said, " they promised themselves more
" from them, and that they would not only concur,
" but propose what should be necessary to be grant-
" ed. " And thereupon they enlarged upon the
charge which was already in view, and upon what
was to be expected, and concluded " that two mil-
" lions and a half were necessary to be insisted on ;"
and desired, " that when the debate should be en-
" tered upon, which they hoped might be the next
" day, one of them would propose this sum and the
" other would second it. "
They looked long one upon another, as if they
were surprised with the sum. At last one of them
said, " that the reasons were unanswerable for a li-
" beral supply ; yet he did not expect that so prodi-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 309
" gious a sum, which he believed had never yet 1665.
" been mentioned in parliament to be granted at :
" one time, would be proposed : however, he did
" not think it too much, and that he would do the
" best he could to answer any objections which
" should be made against it, as he doubted many
" would ; but he confessed he durst not propose it. "
Another was of the same mind, and with many good
professions desired to be excused as to the first pro-
posing it. The third, who was sir Robert Paston, a
person of a much greater estate than both the other,
who had yet very good fortunes, and a gentleman
of a very ancient extraction by his father, (and his
mother was daughter to the earl of Lindsey,) de-
clared very frankly, " that he was satisfied in his
" conscience, that it would be very good for the
" kingdom as well as for the king that such a sum
" should be granted : and therefore if they thought
" him fit to do it, he would propose it the next
" morning, let other men think what they would of
" him for it. "
The lords gave him the thanks they ought to do,
and said what was necessary to confirm him, and to
thank the other gentlemen for their promise to se-
cond him, and gave notice to the rest of the resolu-
tion, that they might call for the debate the next
day ; which was entered into with a general cheer-
fulness, every man acknowledging the necessity and
the engagement of the house, but no man adventur-
ing to name the proportion that should be given.
When the house was in a deep silence expecting sir Robert
that motion, sir Robert Paston, who was no fre-
quent speaker, but delivered what he had a mind
say very clearly, stood up, mentioned shortly the
x 3
310 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1G65. obligation, the charge of the war, and "that the
~~" present supply ought to be such as might as well
" terrify the enemy as assist the king ; and therefore
" he proposed that they might give his majesty two
" millions and a half, which would amount to five
" and twenty hundred thousand pounds. " The si-
lence of the house was not broken ; they sat as in
amazement, until a gentleman, who was believed to
wish well to the king, without taking notice of what
had been proposed, stood up, and moved that they
might give the king a much less proportion. But
then the two others, who had promised to second,
renewed the motion one after the other ; which
seemed to be entertained with a consent of many,
and was contradicted by none : so that, after a
short pause, no man who had relation to the court
speaking a word, the speaker put it to the question,
" whether they would give the king five and twenty
" hundred thousand pounds for the carrying on the
which is " war against the Dutch ;" and the affirmative
byThe made a good sound, and very few gave their nega-
house. j. j ve a ] OU( j ) an( j it was notorious very many sat si-
lent. So the vote was presently drawn up into an
order ; and the house resolved the next day to be in
a committee, to agree upon the way that should be
taken for the raising this vast sum, the proportion
whereof could no more be brought into debate.
This brave vote gave the king the first liking of
the war : it was above what he had expected or in-
deed wished to be proposed. And they, who had
been at the first conference, and delivered the reso-
lution of the two lords as impossible to be com-
passed, not without insinuation as if it were affected
only to indispose the house to the war, (yet they did
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 311
not think fit to vary from the proportion, till they 1665.
saw the success of the proposition, which the lords'"
were engaged to procure a fit person to make,) when
they found the conclusion to be such as could be
wished, they commended the counsel, and fell into
another extreme, that in the thing itself and in the
consequence did very much harm ; which shall be
next mentioned, after I have said that there ap-
peared great joy and exaltation of spirit upon this
vote, and not more in the court than upon the ex-
change, the merchants generally being unskilfully
inclined to that war, above what their true interest
could invite them to, as in a short time afterwards
they had cause to confess.
The king sent to the lord mayor to call a com-
mon council, and commanded the chancellor, trea-
surer, and other lords of his council, to go thither ;
who, upon the credit of this vote of the house of
commons for this noble supply, prevailed with the
city presently to furnish the king with the loan of
two hundred thousand pounds ; which being within
few days paid into the hands of the treasurer of the
navy, all preparations for the fleet, and of whatever
else was necessary for the expedition, were pro-
vided with marvellous alacrity : and the parliament
made what haste was possible to despatch the bill,
by which their great present might be collected from
the people.
It hath been said before, that in most vacant
places, upon the death of any members, ways were
found out to procure some of the king's domestic
servants to be d elected in their places ; so that his
d to be] Not in MS.
x 4
312 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. majesty had many voices there at his . devotion;
~ which did not advance his service. These men con-
fidently ran out of the house still to inform the
king of what was doing, commended this man, and
discommended another who deserved better; and
would many times, when his majesty spake well of
any man, ask his majesty " if he would give them
" leave to let that person know how gracious his
" majesty was to him, or to bring him to kiss his
" hand. " To which he commonly consenting, every
one of his servants delivered some message from
him to a parliament-man, and invited him to court
as if the king would be willing to see him. And by
this means the rooms at court, where the king was,
were always full of the members of the house of
commons ; this man brought to kiss his hand, and
the king induced to confer with that man, and to
thank him for his affection, which never could con-
clude without some general expression of grace or
promise, which the poor gentleman always inter-
preted to his own advantage, and expected some
fruit from it that it could never yield : all which,
being contrary to all former order, did the king no
good, and rendered those unable to do him service
who were inclined to it.
sir H. Ben- The new secretary, and sir Charles Berkley, who
net and sir . . .
c. Berkiey by this time was entered very far into the kings
amuse *? r favour and his confidence, were the chief, and by
R. paston. their places had access to him in all places and
hours : and they much disliked the officiousness of
the others, as if they presumed to invade their pro-
vince. They thought it but their due, that the king
should take his measures of the house of commons
by no other report but theirs, nor dispense his graces
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 313
there through any other conduit. They took this 1665.
occasion to caress sir Robert Paston, who was a~~
stranger to them, and to magnify the service he had
done the king, and the great sense the king had of
it, and that he e did long to give him his own thanks:
they invited him to come to the court, and sir
Charles Berkley told him as from the king, " that
" his majesty resolved to make him a baron. " And
by these daily courtships and importunities the gen-
tleman, who was well satisfied with what he had
done, and never proposed any advantage to himself
from it, was amused, and thought he was not to
refuse any honour the king thought him worthy of,
nor to neglect those graces which were offered to
him by persons of their interest. Yet he made not
haste to go to the court, believing that it might
make him less capable of serving the king, and that
any favour his majesty should do him would be
more seasonable hereafter than at present, lest he
might be thought to have made that motion in the
house upon promise of the other reward. Yet after
continued invitations he went thither, and those
gentlemen presented him to the king, who spake very
graciously to him, told him, " he had done him great
" service, which he would never forget," and many
other princely expressions, and " that he should be
" glad to see him often," but no particular to that
purpose which had been mentioned to him.
When he went next, he found his majesty's coun-
tenance the same : but they, who had courted and
amused him so much, grew every day more dry and
reserved towards him ; of which he complained to a
e that he] Not in MS.
314 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. friend of his who he knew had interest in the chan-
cellor, and desired him to acquaint him with all that
had passed, who had not till then heard that he had
been at court, and when he was informed of the
whole relation was very much troubled, well know-
ing, that how acceptable soever those kinds of
courtships were for few days, they were attended
with many inconveniences when the end was not
correspondent with the beginning. He knew well
the resolution the king had taken to create no more
noblemen, the number whereof already too much
exceeded : however, he was very sorry, that a person
of that quality and merit should be exposed to any
indignity, for having endeavoured in such a con-
juncture to do his majesty a signal service, and suc-
ceeded so well ; and spake with the king at large of
it, and gave his majesty a full account of the mo-
desty and temper of the gentleman, of his quality
and interest, and what had been said and promised
to him. The king was troubled, owned all that he
had said himself to him, as being very hearty, and
" that he would never forget the service he had
" done, but requite it upon any opportunity ;" but
protested, " that he had never made any such pro-
" mise, nor given sir Charles Berkley any authority
" to mention any such thing to him, which would
" prove very inconvenient ;" and therefore wished,
" that his friend would divert him from prosecuting
" such a pretence, which he knew to be contrary to
" his resolution. "
The chancellor knew not what to say, but truly
advertised his friend of all the king had said, who
again informed sir Robert Paston, who thought
himself very hardly treated, and went to sir Charles
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 315
Berkley, who had not the same open arms, yet as- 1665.
sured him, " that he had said nothing to him but by ~~
" the king's direction, which he must aver. That he
" did not use to interpose or move the king in any
" of his affairs : but if he would desire the chancel-
" lor to take notice of it, who he knew had a great
" affection for him, and upon whose desire he had
" performed that great service, he was confident it
" would be attended with the success he wished, to
" which he would contribute all his endeavours ;"
intimating, " that if he had not what he desired, he
'* might impute it to the chancellor. " Upon which
sir Robert, who was well assured of the chancellor's
kindness, concluded that his court friends had de-
luded him, or expected money, which he would not
give: and so the matter ended with prejudice to
the king.
Notwithstanding these and the like very incon-
venient activities, which lost more friends than were
gotten by them, the noise of this stupendous supply,
given to the king at one time, made good impres-
sions upon all who had any affections for the king,
and was wondered at in those places where money
was most plenty. In Holland it wrought even to
consternation, and the common people cried aloud
for peace, and the States pretended to have great
hope as well as desire of it, and sent their ambas-
sador, who remained still in England, new orders
to solicit it.
In the mean time the king neglected not to apply The condu
what endeavours he could use, to dispose his allies England in
to act such parts as their own interest might
sonably invite them to. From France he expected
only neutrality, by reason he knew he had renewed
316 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. the alliance with the States; but never suspected,
~ that it was in such a manner as would hinder the
neutrality. Spain could do little good or harm, nor
durst it to engage against Holland : yet all was
done that was necessary towards a good correspond-
ence with it. The two northern kings would find
themselves concerned, at least to wish better to one
side than to the other ; and had been both so dis-
obliged by the Dutch, that had it not been for the
irreconcileable jealousy they had of each other, they
might have been united to the interest of England.
But Denmark had in the late war given what they
could not keep nor recover, and yet could hardly be
without; and Sweden looked with too much con-
tempt upon the weakness and unactivity of their
neighbour, to give back any thing they had got :
and this restrained them both from provoking an
enemy that might give strength to the other.
Yet Denmark had the year before by Hannibal
Zested, who went ambassador into France and made
England his way, made many complaints to the
king " of the oppression the crown of Denmark un-
" derwent by the Dutch, and the resolution it had
" to shake off that yoke as soon as an opportunity
" should be offered ;" and made a request to the king,
" that he would endeavour to make the alliance so
" fast between Denmark and Sweden, that the jea-
" lousy of each other might hinder neither of them
" from doing any thing that was for their own in-
" terest, without prejudice to the other. " And when
the difficulty was alleged, in regard that Sweden
would never be persuaded to part with Elsineur,
and those other places which had been given up in
the late treaty; Hannibal Zested consented that
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 317
what was done in that treaty should be again con- ] 665.
firmed, and said " his master was willing and desir-
" ous that the king of England should undertake
" and be caution for the observation of this treaty ;"
implying, " that if this were done, and thereby the
" fear of any further attempt from Sweden were ex-
" tingufshed, Denmark would not be long without
" redeeming itself from the vexation which it en-
" dured from Holland, which, upon former neces-
" sities and ill bargains, upon the matter had an ex-
" emption from paying all duties upon their own
" great trade through the Sound, as much to the
" prejudice of all other princes as of the poor crown
" of Denmark. " This having so lately passed from
a minister of that crown, the king thought it a good
time to endeavour to do that office between the two
crowns, and thereby to unite them both to the king
in this conjunction against the Dutch ; at least that
they might both remain good friends to his majesty,
and supply him with all those provisions without
which his navy could not be supported, and as far
as was possible restrain the Dutch from those sup-
plies, by making such large contracts with the Eng-
lish, that there would not be enough left for the
other.
Upon this ground he sent Mr. Henry Coventry of Ambassa-
his bedchamber to the Swede, whose friendship he Denmark
much more valued as more able to assist him, and ^ Swe "
upon whose word he could more firmly depend.
And to Denmark he sent sir Gilbert Talbot, who
was acceptable to that crown by his having per-
formed many offices of respect to the prince of Den-
mark, when he had been incognito in England,
318 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. and waited upon him f to several parts of the king-
~ dom which he had a mind to see, and so caused him
to be entertained in several gentlemen's houses in
his journey, of which the prince seemed very sensi-
ble when he departed. That which was expected
from that negotiation, except the confidence could
be created between the two crowns, was only to
preserve Denmark a friend, that he might not fa-
vour the Dutch, and might recall all his subjects out
of their service ; and that we might have the same
freedom of trade, and the security of his ports for
our men of war.
Proposals Whilst the king took this care for the advance-
bishop of ment of his affairs abroad, there was an advantage
offered him, that looked as if it came from Heaven.
rfutTif the There came one day a gentleman, who looked rather
like a carter, who spoke ill English, and desired that
he might have a private audience with the chancel-
lor ; who presently sent for him, and in a short time
knew him to be a Benedictine monk, who had been
sometimes with him at Cologne, and belonged to the
English abbey at Lamspring in Westphalia, where a
very reverend person of the family of Gascoigne in
Yorkshire was abbot, with whom the chancellor had
much acquaintance, and esteemed him very much ;
and he had, during the time the king stayed in Co-
logne, sent this monk several times thither, who was
likewise a gentleman, but by living long in Germany
had almost forgot the language as well as the man-
ners of his own country. His business now was to
deliver him a letter (whereof he knew little of the
contents) from the bishop of Munster, upon the
{ him] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 319
edge of whose dominions that English abbey was 1665.
seated, which had likewise a territory that extended
to the principality of the other, and received much
favour and protection from the other ; who desired
the abbot to give him an honest man, that would
carry a letter from him to the court of England :
upon which this monk was deputed, the rather be-
cause he was known to the chancellor. The matter
of the letter was no more, than " that if the war
" against Holland was to be resolutely prosecuted
" by the king of England, he (the bishop) conceived
" that a conjunction with those allies, who could
" infest the Dutch by land as his majesty would do
" by sea, might not be unacceptable to his majesty ;
" and in that case, upon the answer to this letter,
" he would send a fit person to make some proposi-
" tions to the king and to treat with him. " The
instructions the monk had, were " to make all pos-
" sible haste back, and that as soon as he returned
" on that side the sea, he should send the answer he
** had received, by the post, so directed as was ap-
" pointed ; and then that himself should stay at
" Brussels till he received further orders. "
The chancellor quickly informed the king of this
despatch, to whom the monk was likewise known ;
and his majesty immediately assembled those lords
with whom he consulted in the most secret cases.
Every body knew so much of the bishop of Mun-
ster, that he was a warlike prince, having had
command in armies before he dedicated himself to
the church, and that he had a great animosity
against Holland, which had disobliged him in the
highest point, by encouraging his subjects to rebel
against him, and those of his city of M unster to
320 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. shut their gates against him: and when he endea-
~ voured to reduce them by force, and to that purpose
had besieged them with his army, the Dutch sent an
army to relieve it, and declared that they would
protect that city. And by this means, and by the
mediation of the neighbour princes, who had no
mind that the peace of their country should be
disturbed by such an incursion, the bishop was hin-
dered from taking that vengeance upon his rebel
subjects which he intended, and compelled to ac-
cept of such conditions as did not please him. And
all this was but two years before, and boiled still in
his breast, that was naturally very hot. But he was
a poor prince, unable to give any disturbance to the
United Provinces, whose dominions extended within
a day's march of his. However, every man was of
opinion, that the proposition ought to be very kindly
received, and the bishop invited to send his agent.
And to that purpose the chancellor wrote to him,
and the monk was despatched the next day. And
having observed his orders in sending away the an-
swer, he was very few days at Brussels, when a ser-
vant of the bishop arrived with orders that the
monk should accompany him back into England :
and so they both arrived in London in less time than
could be expected.
The gentleman who came from the bishop was a
very proper man, well-bred, a baron of that country,
but a subject to the bishop : he brought with him a
letter of credit from the bishop to the king, and full
authority to treat and conclude according to his in-
structions, which he likewise presented to his ma-
jesty. He brought likewise a letter to the chancel-
lor from the elector of Mentz, in which he recom-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 321
mended to him the person whom the bishop of Mun- 1GC5.
ster should send, and declared " that he believed"
" the bishop of Munster would be able to perform
" whatsoever he should undertake :" which letter
was a very great encouragement to the king: for
his majesty knew the elector of Mentz very well to
be a very wise prince and notoriously his friend, and
that he would not say so much of the ability of the
bishop to perform, except he knew particularly his
design, and what he would undertake to do.
The baron's instructions were to propose, " that
" his majesty would cause one hundred thousand
" pounds to be immediately paid, by bills of ex-
" change at Hamburgh or Cologne or Francfort, to
" such persons as the bishop should appoint to re-
" ceive it ; and should promise to pay fifty thou-
" sand pounds by the month in the same places
" for three months to come : afterwards he hoped
" the army would provide for its own support. This
" being undertaken on his majesty's part, the bishop
" would be engaged, within one month after the
" first bills of exchange for the one hundred thousand
" pounds should be delivered into the hands of his
" agent the baron, that he would be in the dominions
" of the States General with an army of sixteen
" thousand foot and four thousand horse ; with
" which he was very confident he should within few
"days be possessed of Arnheim, and shortly after
" of Utrecht : and if the king's fleet came before
" Amsterdam, that army of the bishop should march
" to what place or quarter his majesty should
" direct. "
The baron was asked, " how it could be possible
" for the bishop, though a gallant prince and very
VOL. II. Y
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " active, to draw together such an army in so short
" a time out of his small province ; and how he was
" sure that his neighbours, who two years before
" had compelled him to make so disadvantageous a
" peace with the Dutch, would not again use the
" same violent importunity to obstruct his proceed-
" ings. " To which he answered, " that the bishop
" would never undertake to bring such an army to-
" gether in so short a time, in which they could not
" be levied, but that he knows they are already le-
" vied, and upon an assurance of money can be
" brought together in the short time proposed : for
" the other, the interposition of his neighbours, he
" had not then, when they prevailed, half that army
" which he was sure he should now have ; besides,
" those neighbours were now as much incensed
" against the Dutch as his master was, and would
" all engage with him against them ; and that
" many of the army that is designed were at
" present quartered in their dominions ; and that
" the bishop intended not to march in his own pri-
" vate capacity, but as general of the empire, for
" which the elector of Mentz had undertaken to
" procure him a commission. " He was demanded
" how his master stood with France, and whether
" he did not fear that it would either prevent the
" enterprise by mediation, or disappoint it by send-
" ing aid to Holland. " He answered, " his mas-
" ter was confident France would not do him any
" harm : that he had sent an agent, from whom he
" should be sure to receive letters by every post. "
And within few days after, he shewed a letter that
he had received from that agent, in which he said,
" that Monsieur de Lionne bade him assure the bi-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 323
" shop, that his Christian majesty would do nothing 1665.
" to his prejudice. "
This being the state of that affair, the king consi-
dered what he was to do. The propositions made
by the bishop were such, as it was not possible for
him to comply with. But then it was presumed by
every body, that very much would be abated of the
money that was demanded : for it was not an aux-
iliary army that was to be raised for the king's ser-
vice, whose conquests were to be applied to his be-
nefit, but an army raised to revenge the injuries
which himself had received, and what he should get
must be to his own account ; and his majesty's hos-
tility at sea would as much facilitate his enterprise
at land, as the marching of his army might probably
disturb and distract their preparations for the sea.
Yet it could not be expected, that the bishop could
draw this army together (and the attempt was not
to be made with less force) without a good supply
of money, nor keep it together without pay.
The advantage, that would with God's blessing
attend this conjunction, spread itself to a very large
prospect. That the people generally in the pro-
vinces were very unsatisfied with this war, was a
thing notorious ; and that the province of Holland
which began it, and was entirely governed by De
Wit, did even compel the other provinces to concur
with them, partly upon hope that a further progress
would be prevented by treaty, or that a peace would
follow upon the first engagement. But when they
should see an army of twenty thousand men, which
they suspected not, to invade their country at land,
and in that part where they were most secure, and
from whence so much of their necessary provisions
Y 2
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. were daily brought; they must be in great conster-
~~ nation, and draw all their land army together,
which they had not done in near twenty years, and
could not be done to any effect without vast charge,
which would put the people into a loud distraction.
Finally, there was great reason to cherish the de-
sign : and therefore the king resolved by an unani-
mous advice to undertake any thing towards it, that
could be in his power to perform.
There was one difficulty occurred, that had not
been thought of nor so much as apprehended by the
baron, which was the return of the money, whatso-
ever should be assigned to that service ; for of the
three places proposed by him, besides the secrecy
that was requisite, all the trade of London could not
assign one thousand pounds in the month to be paid
upon Cologne and Francfort ; nor could Hamburgh
itself be charged with twenty thousand pounds in
three months' time : which when the agent knew,
he seemed amazed, and said, " they had believed
" that it had been as easy to have transmitted
" money to those three towns, as it was for them
" to receive it from thence. "
In conclusion, the king gave his answer in
writing, what sum of money he would cause to be
paid at once for the first advance, that the bishop
might begin his march, and what he would after-
wards cause to be paid by the month ; which being
less than the baron's instructions would admit him
to accept, he sent an express with it to the bishop :
and " till his return," he desired, " that the king
" would appoint some person of experience to confer
** with him ; and they might together inform them-
" selves of the best expedients to return money into
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 325
" Germany, since his majesty had hitherto only un- 1 665.
" dertaken to pay his assignations in London. " ~
What success this treaty afterwards had will be re-
lated in its place.
These advantages from abroad being in this man-
ner deliberated and designed, it may be very season-
able to look back, and consider what preparations
were made at home towards the carrying on f this
war, for which the parliament had provided so boun-
tifully : and if ordinary prudence had been applied
to the managery, if any order and method had been
consulted and steadily pursued for the conducting
the whole, the success would have been answerable,
and at least any inconvenience from the sudden
want of money would have been prevented. But
whoever was at any near % distance in that time
when those transactions were in agitation, as there
are yet many worthy men who were, or shall be
able to procure a sincere information of the occur-
rences of that time, will be obliged to confess, that
they who contrived the war had the entire conduct-
ing it, and were the sole causes of all the ill effects
of it ; which cannot be set down particularly with-
out wounding those, who were by their confidence
in ill instruments made accessary to those mischiefs,
in which themselves suffered most. Nor is it the
end of this true relation to fix a brand upon- the me-
mory of those, who deserve it from the public and
from very many worthy men, but is to serve only
for a memorial to cast my own eyes upon, when I
cannot but reflect upon those proceedings ; and by
my consent shall never come into any hands but
1 on] Omitted in MS. f- near] Not in MS.
Y 3
326 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. theirs, who for their own sakes will take care to
"preserve it from any public view or perusal.
The state It cannot be denied and may very truly be aver-
red, that from the hour of the king's return, and
being possessed of the entire government, the na-
val affairs were never put into any order. That
province, being committed to the duke as lord high
admiral of England, was entirely h engrossed by his
servants, in truth by Mr. Coventry, who was newly
made his secretary, and who made use of his
other servants, who were better known to him, to
infuse into his highness the opinion, " that whoever
" presumed to meddle in any thing that related to
" the navy or the admiralty, invaded his jurisdiction,
" and would lessen him in the eyes of the people ;
" and that he ought to be jealous of such men, as of
" those who would undermine his greatness ; and
" that as he was superior to all men by being the
" king's brother, so being high admiral he was to
" render account to none but to the king, nor suffer
" any body else to interpose in any thing relating to
" it. " Whereas in truth there is no officer of the
crown more subject to the council-board than the
admiral of England, who is to give an account of all
his actions and of every branch of his office con-
stantly to the board, and to receive their orders :
nor hath he the nomination of the captains of the
ships, till upon the presentation of their names he
receives their approbation, which is never denied.
Nor was there any counsellor who had ever sat at
the board in the last king's time, to whom this was
not as much known as any order of the table.
h entirely] so entirely
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 327
But there was no retrieving this authority, not 1665.
only from the influence Mr. Coventry, and they of ~
the family who adhered to him, had upon the duke,
but from the king's own inclination, who thought
that those officers, who immediately depended upon
himself and only upon himself, were more at his
devotion than they who were obliged to give an
account to any other superior. And from the time
that he came first into France, he had not been ac-
customed to any discourse more than to the under-
valuing the privy-council, as if it shadowed the king
too much, and usurped too much of his authority,
and too often superseded his own commands. And
the queen his mother had, upon these discourses,
always some instances of the authority which in
such a case the council had assumed against the
king's judgment ; the exception to which, according
to the relation which nobody could question, seemed
to be very reasonable. This kind of discourse, be-
ing the subject of every day, made so great impres-
sion that it could never be defaced, and made the
election and nomination of counsellors less consi-
dered, since they were to be no more advised with
afterwards than before.
Another argument, that used to be as frequently
insisted upon by the queen, and with more passion
and indignation, was of the little respect and reve-
rence that by the law or custom of England was
paid to the younger sons of the crown ; and though
there was nobody present in those conversations who
knew any thing of the law or custom in those cases,
yet all that was said was taken as granted. And
not only the duke but the king himself had a mar-
vellous prejudice to the nation in that part of good
Y 4
328 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. manners: and it was easily agreed, that the model
~" of France was in those and other cases much more
preferable, and which was afterwards observed in
too many.
This being then the state and temper of the royal
family when the king returned, which then consisted
of the duke of Gloucester, and two princesses more
than it now hath ; the very next morning after the
fleet came to Scheveling, the duke went on board
and took possession of it as lord high admiral : and
so his secretary provided new commissions for all
the officers who were in present command, for which
it is probable they all paid very liberally ; for with
him the custom began to receive five pounds for
every warrant signed by the duke, and for which
uo secretary to any lord admiral formerly had ever
received above twenty shillings. Mr. Coventry, who
was utterly unacquainted with all the rules and cus-
toms of the sea, and knew none of the officers, but
was much courted by all, as the secretary to the
admiral always is, made choice of captain Pen,
whom the king knighted as soon as he came on
board ; who from a common man had grown up un-
der Cromwell to the highest command, and was in
great favour with him till he failed in the action of
St. Domingo, when he went admiral at sea, as Ven-
ables was general at land, for which they were both
imprisoned in the Tower by Cromwell, nor ever em-
ployed by him afterwards : but upon his death he
had command again at sea, as he had at this time
under Mountague when he came to attend the king.
With this man Mr. Coventry made a fast friendship,
and was guided by him in all things.
All the offices which belonged to the ships, to the
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 329
navy,' to the yards, to the whole admiralty, (except 1665.
the three superior officers, which are not in the dis-~
posal of the admiral,) were now void, and to be
supplied by the duke, that is, by Mr. Coventry;
who by the advice of sir William Pen, who was
solely trusted by him in the brocage, conferred them
upon those (without observing any other rule) who
would give most money, not i considering any honest
seaman who had continued in the king's service, or
suffered long imprisonment for him. And because
an incredible sum of money did k and would rise
this way, some principal officers in the yards, as the
master smith and others, and the keepers of the
stores, yielding seven, eight hundred, or a thousand
pounds ; he had the skill to move the duke to be-
stow such money as would arise upon such place
upon sir Charles Berkley, for another to another, and
for some to be divided between two or three : by
which means the whole family was obliged, and re-
tained to justify him ; and the duke himself looked
upon it as a generosity in Mr.
T 2
276 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. During this agitation in London, it was discern-
ible enough that there were great jealousies between
the Scots lords. The commissioner and the other
had cause to believe, that the king gave much more
credit to Lautherdale than to them, and looked
upon him as a man of great interest in that country,
when they knew he had none, being neither in his
quality or fortune amongst those who were esteemed
men of power and dependance. And he thought
them linked in a faction against him, to lessen the
value the king had of him, which indeed was the
foundation of all his credit and interest. What
countenance soever he set upon it, he was sensibly
afflicted at the downfall of the presbytery, and that
Middleton had brought that to pass without any
difficulty, (as he had before told the king he would,)
which he had assured his majesty was impossible to
be effected but in long time and by many stratagems.
The marquis of Argyle had been a man univer-
sally odious to the whole nation, some ministers and
preachers excepted : and there had been always
thought to have been an implacable animosity from
Lautherdale towards him ; and after the king's re-
turn no man had appeared more against him, nor
more insisted upon his not being admitted to his
majesty's presence, or for his being sent into Scot-
land to be tried. Yet after all this it was discover-
ed, that he had interposed all he could with his ma-
jesty to save him, and employed all his interest in
Scotland to the same purpose. And the marquis
was no sooner executed, but the earl of Lautherdale
had prevailed with the king immediately to give his
Lord Lome son, the lord Lorne, (who had remained in London
and created to solicit on his father's behalf,) leave to kiss his
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 277
hand, and to create him earl of Argyle, and to con- 1663.
fer on him the office of general justice in the High- ear] of Ar _
lands, by which his father had been qualified to
most of the wickednesses he had committed; all
which the parliament of Scotland should have
treated as * the most sensible affront to them that
they could undergo.
It was well known that this young man, who was
captain of the king's guard when he was in Scot-
land, had treated his majesty with that rudeness
and barbarity, that he was much more odious to
him than his father ; and in all the letters which
Lautherdale had found opportunity to write, whilst
he was a prisoner in England, to the king when he
was beyond the seas, he inveighed equally against
the son as the father, and never gave him any other
title than, "That Toad's Bird:" so that nobody
could imagine from whence this change could pro-
ceed, but from a design to preserve an interest in
the presbyterian party against the time he should
have occasion to use them.
Then there were circumstances in this grace of
the king to the lord Lome, that exceeded all men's
comprehension : for his majesty caused all the estate
of the marquis of Argyle, which did not appear in
any degree so considerable as it was generally be-
lieved to have been, to be seized upon as forfeited
to him ; and then would grant it to the son so abso-
lutely, that neither the owners should recover what
had been injuriously and violently taken from them
for their loyalty to the king, nor the creditors re-
ceive satisfaction for the just debts which were due
1 have treated asj Omitted in MS.
T 3
278 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16( ' 3 - to them, and which must have been satisfied if the
king had retained the forfeiture. But upon the ap-
plication of the commissioner and the other lords,
that the king would hear all persons concerned,
there was some mitigation in those particulars, not-
withstanding all the opposition which Lautherdale
did barefaced make on the behalf of the lord Lome,
and which the other bore with great indignation :
which he knew very well, and did believe that the
oath and subscription, which he well knew they had
contrived for the next session of parliament, was le-
velled at him; that not taking it, as they did not
believe he would do, the secretary of Scotland's
place might become void, which they had much ra-
ther should have been in any man's hand than in
his. And therefore he took all occasions to profess
and declare, besides his constant raillery against the
presbytery, " that if they should require him to sub-
" scribe that he is a Turk, he would do it before he
" would lose his office. "
The matter of these offences being most in pri-
vate, and so not publicly taken notice of, they made
a fair show and kept good quarter towards each
other. And the king consenting to all that the
commissioner proposed with reference to the public,
being indeed abundantly satisfied with his comport-
ment, and at parting promising to give him the of-
fice of treasurer, when by Crawford's refusing to
. The com- subscribe it should become void ; they, with all their
aJiTbishops bishops, returned again for Scotland with incurable
Scotland, jealousy of Lautherdale, who remained waiting upon
the king, and resolved to cross all their designs he
could, and quietly to expect a better opportunity to
undo what he could not for the present prevent.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 279
It is time now to return to the parliament of 1664.
England, which, according to the time of the pro- The Eng .
rogation, met again in March towards the entrance ^^J, 1 ^.
into the year 1664 : when at their first meeting the
king informed them at large of the insurrection that
had been endeavoured in the summer before in
Yorkshire, which, how foolishly soever contrived,
was a very great instance of the distemper of the
nation ; that three years after the disbanding of the
army, the officers thereof should remain still so un-
quiet, as to hope to give any signal disturbance to
the peace of the kingdom, by such a commotion as
they could upon their credit raise.
The continual discourse of plots and insurrections An insur-
had so wearied the king, that he even resolved to tended in
give no more countenance to any such informations, Yorksbire >
nor to trouble himself with inquiry into them ; but
to leave the peace of the kingdom against any such
attempts to the vigilance of the civil magistrates,
and the care of the officers of the militia, which he
presumed would be sufficient to quell and suppress
any ordinary fanatic design. And upon this reso-
lution, and to avoid the reproach of the late times,
of contriving plots only to commit men to prison
against whom there was any prejudice, he totally
neglected the first information he received of this
seditious purpose. But when the intelligence was
continued from several parts, and so particular for
the time and place of the rendezvous, and for the
seizing upon the city of York ; and there was evi-
dence that some men of estate and fortune, and who
were held wary and discreet men, were engaged in
it ; his majesty thought it time to provide against it,
and not only commended the care of it to the lords
T 4
280 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
I6fi4. lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of the counties
~~ adjacent, but sent likewise several troops of his own
horse to possess the city of York before the day ap-
pointed, and to attend some of the places of the ren-
But prc- dezvous. And they came very seasonably, and sur-
vented. . . , , . _ , .
prised many upon the very place, before their com-
pany was strong enough to make resistance. Others
did make some resistance, but quickly fled and were
dispersed. Many were taken, and upon their ex-
amination behaved themselves as if they were sure
to be quickly rescued ; for it appeared that they did
believe that the insurrection would have been ge-
neral throughout the kingdom, and that all the dis-
banded army would have been brought together at
several rendezvouses.
All the prisons in the north were so full, that the
king thought it necessary to send down four or five
of the judges of the several benches of Westminster-
hall to York, with a commission of oyer and ter-
miner, to examine the whole matter. There, though
the judges did not believe that they had discovered
the bottom of the whole conspiracy, they found
Some of the cause to condemn very many ; whereof seventeen or
eighteen were executed, some reprieved, and very
many left in prison to be tried at the next assizes.
Amongst those who were executed, the man who
was most looked upon was one Rymer, of the qua-
lity of the better sort of grand-jurymen, and held a
wise man, and was known to be trusted by the
greatest men who had been in rebellion : and he
was discovered by a person of intimate trust with
him, who had heretofore the same affections with
him, but would venture no more. He was a sullen
man, and used few words to excuse himself, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 281
none to hurt any body else ; though he was thought 1664.
to know much, and that having a good estate he~
would never have embarked in a design that had no
probability of success. Some of the prisoners de-
clared, " that they were assured by those who en-
" g a e d them, that such and such great men would
" appear at the rendezvous or soon after. " But
that was not thought a sufficient ground to trouble
any man, though some of them were very liable to
suspicion ; since in all combinations of that kind, it
is a most usual artifice to work upon weak men, by
persuading them that other men, of whom they have
great esteem, are engaged in it, who in truth know
nothing of it.
The judges were returned from York little time
before the parliament met ; and therefore the king
thought it fit to awaken them to much vigilance, by
informing them with what secrecy that conspiracy
had been carried. And his majesty assured them, The king's
" that he was not yet at the bottom of that busi-
" ness ; and that it appeared manifestly, that this n
" conspiracy was but a branch of that which he had
" discovered as well as he could to them about two
" years since, and had been then executed nearer
" hand, if he had not by God's goodness come to
" the knowledge of some of the principal contrivers,
" and so secured them from doing the mischief they
" intended. "
His majesty told them, " that they would wonder
" (yet he said what was true) that they were now
" even in those parts, when they see their friends
" under trial and execution, still pursuing the same
" consultations : and it was evident that they had cor-
" respondence with desperate persons in most coun-
282 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " ties, and a standing council in London itself, from
~" " which they received their directions, and by whom
" they were advised to defer their last intended in-
" surrection. But those orders served only to dis-
" tract them, and came too late to prevent their
" destruction. " He said, " he knew more of their
" intrigues, than they thought he did ; and hoped he
*' should shortly discover the bottom : in the mean
" time he desired the parliament, that they might
" all be as watchful to prevent, as they were to con-
" trive their mischief. " He said, " he could not
*' upon this occasion omit to tell them, that these
" desperate men in their counsels (as appeared by
" several examinations) had not been all of one mind
" in the ways of carrying on their wicked resolu-
" tions. Some would still insist upon the authority
" of the long parliament, of which they say they have
" members enough willing to meet : others have fan-
" cied to themselves, by some computation of their
" own, upon some clause in the triennial bill, that
" this present parliament was at an end some months
" since ; and that for want of new writs they may
" assemble themselves, and choose members for par-
" liament ; and that this is the best expedient to
" bring themselves together for their other pur-
" poses. For the long parliament," his majesty said,
" that he and they together could do no more than
" he had done to inform and compose the minds of
" men ; let them proceed upon that at their peril.
" But he- thought there had been nothing done to
" disabuse men in respect of the triennial bill. He
" confessed that he had often himself read over that
" bill ; and though there is no colour for the fancy
" of the determination of this parliament ; yet he
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 283
" would not deny to them, that he had always ex- 1665.
" pected that they would, and even wondered that"
" they had not considered the wonderful clauses in
" that bill, which had passed in a time very uncare-
" ful for the dignity of the crown, or the security of
" the people. " His majesty desired the speaker and
the gentlemen of the house of commons, " that
" they would once give that triennial bill a reading
" in their house ; and then in God's name they
" might do what they thought fit for him, them-
" selves, and the whole kingdom. " His majesty
said, " that he needed not tell them how much he
" loved parliaments : never king was so much be-
" holden u to parliaments as he had been ; nor did
" he think that the crown could ever be happy with-
" out frequent parliaments. But he wished them
'* to assure themselves, that if he should think other-
" wise, he would never suffer a parliament to come
" together by the means prescribed by that bill. "
He renewed his thanks to them " for the free
" supply they gave him the last session of four sub-
" sidies ; yet he could not but tell them, that that
" supply was fallen much short of what he expected
" and they intended. That it would hardly be be-
" lieved, yet they knew it to be true, that very many
" persons, who have estates of three or four thou-
" sand pounds by the year, do not pay for these four
" subsidies sixteen pounds : so that whereas they
*' intended and declared, that they should be col-
" lected according to former precedents, they do not
" now arise to half the proportion they did in the
" time of queen Elizabeth ; and yet sure the crown
11 beholden] beholding
1665. " wants more now than it did then, and the subject
~~" is at least as well able to give. " His majesty said,
" the truth is, by the license of the late ill time, and
" ill humour of this, too many of the people, and
" even of those who make fair professions, believe it
" to be no sin to defraud the crown of any thing
" that is due to it. That they no sooner gave him
" tonnage and poundage, than men were devising
" all the means they could to steal custom ; nor
" could the farmers be so vigilant for the collection,
" as others were to steal the duties. They gave him
" the excise, which all people abroad believed to be
" the most insensible imposition that can be laid
" upon a people : what conspiracies and combina-
" tions were entered into against it by the brewers,
" who he was sure did not bear the burden them-
" selves, even to bring that revenue to nothing, they
" would hear in Westminster-hall. They had given
" him the chimney-money, which they had reason
" to believe was a growing revenue, for men build
" at least fast enough ; and they would therefore
" wonder, that it was already declined, and that this
" half year brings in less than the former did. " He
desired them therefore, " that they would review that
" bill ; and since he was sure that they would have
" him receive whatsoever they gave, that he might
" have the collecting and husbanding of it by his
" own officers, and then he doubted not but to im-
" prove that receipt, and he would be cozened as
" little as he could. "
His majesty concluded with " desiring and con-
" juring them to keep a very good correspondence
" together, that it might not be in the power of any
" seditious or factious spirits to make them jealous
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 285
" of each other, or either of them jealous of him, till 1665.
" they see him pretend one thing and do another, ~~
" which he was sure they had never yet done. " He
assured them, " it should be in nobody's power to
" make him jealous of them. " And so desired them,
" that they would despatch what they found neces-
" sary, that they might be ready for a session within
" two months or thereabout, because the season of
" the year would invite them all to take the country
" air. "
It was very happy for his majesty, that he did
cut out their work to their hand, and asked no
money of them, and limited them a short time to
continue together. It made their counsels very una-
nimous : and though they raised no new taxes and
impositions upon the people, they made what they
had before raised much more valuable to the king
than it was before, by passing other acts and decla-
rations for the explaining many things, and the bet-
ter collecting the money they had formerly given ;
which much added to his majesty's profit without
grieving the people, who were rather gratified in the
remedies which were provided against frauds and
cozenage.
The parliament had sat but very little more than The trien.
ten days, when they presented a bill to his majesty repealed.
for the repeal of the triennial bill, which he had re-
commended to them ; which x was so grateful to
him, that he came in person to the house to pass
it and to thank them : and he told them, " that
" every good Englishman would thank them for it ;
" for it could only have served to discredit parlia-
x which] and which
286 CONTINUATON OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. " ments, to make the crown jealous of parliaments
"~ " and parliaments of the crown, and persuaded
" neighbour princes that England was not governed
" under a monarch. " The truth is : it had passed
in a very jealous and seditious time, when the
wickedness was first in hatching, that ripened after-
wards to a dismal perfection ; and when all, who
were sworn never to consent to the disherison of the
crown, thought only of preserving their own inhe-
ritance which they had gotten, or improving it at
the expense of the crown ; and made it manifest
enough, that it should wither, at least while it stood
upon the head of that king ; for at that time the
conspiracy went no further, that is amongst those
who had then credit to promote its passage, though
they were weak men who thought it could rest
there.
some acts As they made this entrance, so they were wholly
passed.
intent upon matters of moment, and despatched all
they intended to do within the two months, in
which the king desired they would be ready for a
prorogation. And as there was greater order and
unanimity in their debates, so they despatched more
business of public importance and consequence, than
any other parliament had done in twice the time :
for, besides the repeal of the odious bill before men-
tioned, they made a very good additional bill for the
chimney-money, which made that revenue much
more considerable; and they passed likewise an-
other bill against the frequenting of conventicles,
which was looked upon as the greatest discounte-
nance the parliament had yet given to all the fac-
tions in religion, and if it had been vigorously exe-
cuted would no doubt have produced a thorough re-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 287
formation. They made likewise a very good act, I6C5.
and very necessary for a time of such corruption, ~"
that had contracted new ways of dishonesty and vil-
lany that former times had not thought of, when
many unworthy and . cowardly masters of ships and
seamen had been contented to be robbed, and to
suffer y all their owners' goods to be taken, upon an
allowance made to them by the pirates ; for the dis-
covery and punishment whereof the law had not
enough provided. They therefore presented a bill
to the king, " for the discovery and punishment of
" all such treacherous and infamous actions ; and
" for the reward of such honest and stout seamen, as
" should manfully and courageously defend their
" owners' goods, and therein maintain the honour of
" the nation. "
All this they presented to his majesty, and it z was
confirmed by his royal assent on the seventeenth of
May ; when his majesty, after giving such thanks to
them as they deserved, told them, " he did not in-
" tend to bring them together again till the month
" of November, that they might enjoy the summer
" in the transaction of their own affairs : yet be-
" cause there might some emergent occasion fall
" out, that might make him wish to find them to-
" gether sooner, he would prorogue them only to
" August ; and before the day they should have sea-
" sonable notice, by proclamation, not to give their
" attendance, except such occasion should fall out. "
And so they were prorogued to a day in August, The pariia
but met not till November following. ro s ui.
During this short session of parliament, they, who
> suffer] Not in MS. * it] Not in MS.
288 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. were very solicitous to promote a war with Holland,
~~ forget not what they had to do ; but they quickly
discerned that it was not a good season to mention
the giving of money, (which the king himself had
forborne to mention, that the people might see one
session of parliament pass without granting new im-
positions, which they had not yet seen,) and there-
fore it would be as unseasonable to speak of a war.
However, they made such an approach towards it,
as might make a further advance much more easy.
The mer- The merchants in the committee of trade much la-
monstr&te mented the obstructions and discouragements, which
DutTh! the tnev na d l n & f un d in their commerce by sea with a
other nations, and which were not removed even by
the blessed return of the king ; all which they im-
puted to the pride and insolence of the Hollanders,
" who," they said, " observed no laws of commerce,
"or any conditions which themselves consented to.
" That by their fraud and practice the English were
" almost driven out of the East and West Indies,
" and had their trade in Turkey and in Africa much
" diminished. In sum, that besides many insuffer-
" able indignities offered by them to his majesty and
" to the crown of England, his subjects had in few
" years sustained the damage of seven or eight hun-
" dred thousand pounds sterling. "
All which with some particular instances being
reported from the committee of trade to the house,
they had desired an audience from his majesty, and
then presented this grievance to him, and desired
his majesty, " that he would give such order in it,
" as to his wisdom should seem fit, that might pro-
a with] and with
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 289
' duce just and honourable satisfaction. " The king, 1665:
who continued firm to his former resolution, an-~
swered them, " that he would transmit the address
" they had presented to him to his resident at the
" Hague, with order that he should inform the
" States of it, and require satisfaction, which he
" hoped the States General would yield unto, rather
" than compel b him to demand justice in another
" way. " The answer pleased them well, nor could
they wish that the prosecution should be put into
a better hand than the resident's, who was a mem-
ber of the house, and a man who had inflamed them
more than the merchants themselves against the
Dutch.
That resident was sir George Downing, a man of character of
an obscure birth, and more obscure education, which Downing*
he had received in part in New England: he had
passed through many offices in Cromwell's army, of
chaplain, scoutmaster, and other employments, and
at last got a very particular credit and confidence
with him, and under that countenance married a
beautiful lady of a very noble extraction, which
was the fate of many bold men in that presump-
tuous time. And when Cromwell had subdued the
Dutch to that temper he wished, and had thereupon
made a peace with them, he sent this man to reside
as his agent with them, being a man of a proud and
insolent spirit, and who c would add to any imperious
command of his somewhat of the bitterness of his
own spirit.
And he did so fully execute his charge in all
b than compel] than they compel c who] Omitted in MS.
VOL. I. U
290 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. things, especially when he might manifest his ani-
""mosity against the royal party, that when the king
himself had once, during his residence at Brussels,
for his divertisement made a journey incognito, with
not above four persons, to see Amsterdam, and
from thence the towns of North Holland ; Downing
coming to have notice of it delivered a memorial to
the States of Holland, wherein he enclosed the third
article of their treaty, by which they were obliged
" not to suffer any traitor, rebel, or any other per-
" son, who was declared an enemy to the common-
" wealth of England, to reside or stay in their do-
" minions ;" and told them, " that Charles Stuart and
" the marquis of Ormond had been lately in Am-
" sterdam, and were still in some places adjacent ;"
and required " that they might not be permitted to
" remain in any part of their dominions. " Where-
upon the States of Holland sent presently to the
princess royal, who was then at her country house
at Hounslerdike, " that if her brother were then
" with her or should come to her, he should forth-
" with depart out of their province :" and not satis-
fied herewith, they published an order in the Hague
to the same purpose, which was sent to Amsterdam
and other towns according to their custom.
With this rude punctuality he behaved himself
during the life of Cromwell, and whilst his son re-
tained the usurpation ; but when he saw him thrown
out with that contempt, and that the government
was not like to be settled again till there was a re-
sort to the old foundation, he bethought himself how
he might have a reserve of the king's favour. And
the marquis of Ormond making about that time a
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 291
journey incognito to the Hague, to treat of' 1 a mar- 1C65.
riage for his eldest son with a noble lady whose*"
friends lived there, Downing found opportunity to
have a private conference with him, and made offer
of his service to the king, if his devotion might be
concealed, without which it would be useless to his
majesty. And for an earnest of his fidelity, he in-
formed him of some particulars which were of mo-
ment for the king to know : amongst which one
was, " that a person, who in respect of his very ho-
" nourable extraction, and the present obligations
" himself had to the royal family, was not suspected,
" gave him, as he had long done, constant intelli-
" gence of what the king did, and of many particu-
" lars which in their nature deserved to be more se-
" cret, which he had always sent to Cromwell whilst
" he was living ; but since his death, having a reso-
" lution to serve the king, he had never disserved
" him, and would hereafter give him notice of any
" thing that it would be necessary for him e to be
" informed of with reference to England or to Hol-
land. "
The marquis thought it very fit to accept of such
an instrument, and promised him " to acquaint his
" majesty with his good affection, who he presumed
" would receive it graciously, and give him as much
" encouragement to continue it as his present condi-
" tion would permit. " To which the other replied,
" that he knew the king's present condition too well
" to expect any reward from him : but if his ma-
" jesty would vouchsafe, when he should be re-
a to treat of] Omitted in MS. f for him] Not. in MS.
u 2
292 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16C5. " stored, to confirm to him the office he then held
" of a teller in the exchequer, and continue him in
" this employment he then had in Holland, where
" he presumed he should be able to do him more
" service than a stranger could do, he would think
" himself abundantly rewarded. " Of all which when
the marquis advertised the king at his return to
Brussels, he had authority to assure him " of the
" king's acceptation, and that all that he expected
" should be made good. "
This was the ground and reason, that when the
king came to the Hague the year following to em-
bark for England, he received Downing so gra-
ciously, and knighted him, and left him there as his
resident; which they who were near the king, and
knew nothing of what had passed, wondered at as
much as strangers who had observed his former be-
haviour. And the States themselves, who would not
at such a time of public joy do any thing that might
be ingrateful to his majesty, could not forbear to la-
ment in private, " that his majesty would depute a
" person to have his authority, who had never used
" any other dialect to persuade them to do any thing
" he proposed, but threats if they should not do it,
" and who at several times had disobliged most of
" their persons by his insolence. " And from the
time of his majesty's departure from thence, he
never made those representations which men in
those ministeries used to do, but put the worst com-
mentaries upon all their actions. And when, he sat
afterwards as a member of the house, returning still
in the interval of parliament to his employment at
the Hague, he took all opportunities to inveigh
war.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 293
against their usurpations in trade; and either did or 16G5.
pretended to know many of their mysteries of ini-~~
quity, in opening of which he rendered himself ac-
ceptable to the house, though he was a voluminous
speaker, which naturally they do not like.
When this province was committed to him of Heendea -
vours to
expostulation for the injuries sustained in several bring on a
places from the Dutch, he had his wish, and used
little modesty in the urging of it. They answered,
" that most of the particulars of which he com-
" plained were put under oblivion by the late
" treaty, and that in consideration thereof they had
" yielded to many particulars for the benefit of the
" English ; and that for the other particulars, they
" were likewise by the same treaty referred to a
" process in justice, of which they had yet no cause
" to complain : nor had there been any action pre-
" tended to be committed since the treaty was con-
" eluded," which was not many months before, " that
" might occasion a misunderstanding. " And surely
at this time when these things were urged all this
was true : but he, according to the method he had
been accustomed to f , insisted upon his own de-
mands ; and frequently reproached them with their
former submissions to Cromwell, and their present
presumptions upon the goodness and generosity of
the king.
It is without question, that the States General
did, by the standard of their own wariness and cir-
cumspection, not suspect that the king did intend to
make a war upon them. They well knew the straits
and necessities in which his affairs stood, with re-
f to] Not in MS.
u 3
294 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1605. fercnce to money, and to the several distempers of
~ the nation in matters of religion, which might pro-
bably grow more dangerous if there were a foreign
war; and concluded, that Downing's importunities
and menaces were but the results of his own impe-
tuosity, and that the king would not be solicitous to
interrupt and part with his own peace. And there-
fore their own ships they sent out as they used to
do 1 , and those for the coast of Guinea better prepared
and stronger than of course. Nor was the royal
company less vigilant to carry on that trade, but
about the same time sent a stronger fleet of mer-
chants' ships than they had ever before done ; and
for their better encouragement the king lent them
two of his own ships for a convoy.
The iso- And at this time they gave the king an advantage
lent beha- . . . . , , 1*11
viour of the in point of justice, and which concerned all other
the coast"of nations in point of traffick and commerce. It had
Guinea, j^^ | je g UI1 by them in the East Indies; where
they had * planted themselves in great and strong
towns, and had many harbours well fortified, in
which they constantly maintained a great number
of good and strong ships ; by which they were ab-
solute masters of those seas, and forced the neigh-
bour kings and princes to enter into such terms of
amity with them as they thought fit to require.
And if they found that any advantageous trade was
driven in any port by any other nation, they pre-
sently sent their ships to lie before that port, and
denounced war against the prince to whom that
port belonged ; which being done, they published a
declaration, " that it should not be lawful for any
s they had] after they had
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 295
" nation whatsoever to trade in the territories of J665.
" that prince with whom they then were in war. "
And upon this pretence they would not suffer an
English ship, belonging to the East India company,
to enter into a port to lade and take in a cargason
of goods, that had been provided by their factors
there before there was any mention or imagination
of such a war, and of which there was no other in-
stance of hostility than the very declaration. And
at this time they transplanted this new prerogative
to Guinea : and having, as they said, for there was
no other evidence of it, a war with one of those
princes, they would not suffer the English ships to
enter into those harbours where they had always
traded. The king received animadversion of this
unheard of insolence and usurpation, and added this
more just complaint to the former, and required his
resident " to demand a positive renunciation of all
" pretence to such an odious usurpation, and a revo-
" cation of those orders which their officers had
" published. " To this complaint and demand they
deferred to make answer, till their ambassador had
presented a grievance to the king.
One of those ships of war, which the king had An English
lent to the royal company for the convoy of their seizes a
fleet to Guinea, had in the voyage thither assaulted on u t c he 01
and taken a fort belonging to the Dutch near Cape
Verde; which was of more incommodity to them
than of benefit to the English. Of this invasion
their ambassador made a loud complaint, and de-
manded, " that the captain might be punished se-
" verely ; and in the mean time that the king would
" give a present order to him, the ambassador, for
" the redelivery of the place and all that was in it,
u 4
296 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. " and he would send it to his masters, who would
~" forthwith send a ship to demand it. " The king
had in truth heard nothing of it ; and assured the
ambassador, " that the captain, if he had done any
" such thing, had not the least commission or au-
" thority for the doing it ; and that he was sure he
" was upon his way homeward, so that he might be
" expected speedily ; and then he should be sure to
" undergo such punishment as the nature of his
" offence required, when the matter should be ex-
" amined, and they should then receive full repara-
" tion. " This answer, how reasonable soever, satis-
fied them not : nothing would serve their h turn but
a present restitution, before his majesty could be
informed of the provocation or ground that had pro-
duced so unwarrantable an action. They gave pre-
sent orders for the equipping a very great fleet, and
the raising many land soldiers, making greater pre-
parations for war than they had made in many years
The Dutch before. They likewise prepared a strong fleet for
strmTg'fleet Guinea, and granted a commission (which was pub-
for Guinea. lighed in pT ^ n ^ to the comman( jer in chief, " to
" make war upon the English in those parts, and to
" do them all the mischief he i could. "
Prince Rupert, who had been heretofore with the
fleet then under his command, in the beginning of
the king's reign, upon the coast of Guinea, (and by
the report and testimony he gave of that coast the
royal company had received greater k encourage-
ment,) now ] upon this insolent demeanour of the
Dutch, and publishing the commission they had sent
h their] Not in MS. k greater] great
' he] they l now] and now
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 297
to their commander in chief, offered m his service to 1665.
the king, " to sail into those parts with such a fleet ~"
" as his majesty thought fit to send, with which he
" made little doubt to secure trade, and abate the
" presumption of the Dutch. " And hereupon a fleet The English
was likewise preparing for that purpose, to be com-n^eCiTe. "
manded by prince Rupert.
The parliament had before declared, when they
made their address to the king against the Dutch
for obstructing the trade, " that they would with
" their lives and fortunes assist his majesty against
" all oppositions whatsoever, which he should meet
" with in the removal of those obstructions ;" which
they believed would terrify, but in truth made the
Dutch merry : and in some of their declarations or
answers to Downing's memorials, they mentioned
it with too much pride and contempt. And in this The pariia-
posture the disputes were when the parliament met'
again in November, which came together for the
most part without a desire either to give money or
make war. And Downing, who laboured heartily
to incense us and to provoke them, in all his de-
spatches declared, " that all those insolences pro-
" ceeded only from the malignity of the States of
" Holland, which could vent itself no further than
" in words ; but that the States General, without
"whose concurrence no war could be made, abhor-
" red the thought of it :" and there is no doubt that
was true. And the Dutch ambassador, who re-
mained at London, and was a very honest weak
man, and did all the offices he could to prevent it,
did not think it possible it could come to pass ; " and
m offered] he offered
298 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " that there might be some scuffles upon the coast of
~~ " Guinea, by the direction of the West India com-
" pany, of whose actions the States General took no-
" tice, but would cause justice to be done upon
" complaint, and not suffer the public peace to be
" disturbed upon their pretences. " And so the king
forbore to demand any supply from the parlia-
ment, because an ordinary supply would rather
discredit his demands than advance them, and he
could not expect an extraordinary supply but when
the war was unquestionable. And the States Ge-
neral at this time were made a property by the
States of Holland, (who had given private orders
for their own concernments,) and presented an
humble desire to the king by their ambassador,
" that prince Rupert's fleet might stay in harbour,
" as theirs likewise that was prepared for Guinea
" should do, till some means might be found for
" the accommodation of all differences. " Whereas
before they pretended, that they would send their
Guinea fleet through the Channel, convoyed by
their admiral with a fleet of fifty sail ; which re-
port had before stopped prince Rupert, when he
was under sail for Guinea, to wait and expect that
piece of bravery. But this address from the States
General made all men believe there would be an
accommodation, without so much as any hostility in
Guinea.
The uea- But it was quickly discovered, that they were
hariour of the honester men when they gave the worst words.
the Dutch. For before the states General sent to the king to
stop prince Rupert in harbour, " and that their
" fleets should likewise remain in their harbours,"
the States of Holland, or that committee that was
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 299
qualified by them, had with great privacy sent orders 1 665.
to De Ruyter, who was in the Mediterranean, " to
" make all possible haste with his fleet to go to the
" coast of Guinea, and not only to retake the fort near
" Cape Verde that the English had taken from them,
" but likewise to take what places he could which
" were in possession of the English, and to do them
" what damage he could in those parts :" so that
they might well offer that their fleet should now
remain in their harbours in Holland.
When De Ruyter had been sent into the Medi-
terranean, the pretence was, that it was against the
pirates 0f Algiers and Tunis, who had in truth
preyed very much upon the Dutch, taken very many
of their ships, and had abundance of their subjects
in chains. And when that fleet was sent into the
Mediterranean, their ambassador had desired the
king, " that his majesty's fleet that was then in those
" parts might upon all occasions join with De Ruy-
" ter, when opportunity should be offered thereby
" to infest the Turks ;" which the king consented
to, and sent orders accordingly. But the Dutch
had no such purpose : his business was to ransom
their captives with money, and not to exact the deli-
very of them by force ; and to make an accommo-
dation for the time to come as well as he could.
And when the English fleet was at any time in
pursuit of any of the Turks' vessels, and expected
that the Dutch, by whom they must pass, would
have given a little stop to their flight, which they
might easily have done; they rather assisted than
obstructed their escape. And having made a very
dishonourable peace with the pirates, he made haste
to prosecute his orders for the coast of Guinea.
300 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. As soon as the king knew of this impudent af-
h front, and that De Ruyter was in truth gone out of
an tefzed. * the Mediterranean, he thought he might justly seize
upon any ships of theirs, to satisfy the damage that
he could not but sustain by De Ruyter in Guinea :
and so, it being the season of the year that the
Dutch fleet returned with their wines from Bour-
deaux, Rochelle, and other parts of France, such of
them as were forced by the weather to put into the
English harbours were seized upon. And the duke
of York, having put himself on board with a fleet of
about fifty sail, upon the report of the Dutch being
come out to defend their ships, took many others,
even upon their own coasts ; which they chose ra-
ther to suffer, than to venture out of their ports
to relieve them. However, there was not any one
of all those ships suffered to be unladen, or any pre-
judice done to them ; but they were all preserved
unhurt, till notice might arrive from Guinea what
The Dutch De Ruyter had done there. But undoubted intelli-
hostmtieT gence arrived in a very short time after, that De
in Gumea. R uv t er j^ declared and begun the war upon the
coast of Africa, not only by a forcible retaking the
fort which had been taken from them, and which
his majesty had offered to deliver, but by seizing
upon several English ships in those parts, and by
assaulting and taking other his majesty's forts and
places, and exercising all the acts of hostility which
his commission authorized him n to do.
They refuse . And in a very short time after, the East India
the iVand company complained and informed the king, " that
" wnen their officer had demanded the redelivery of
" him] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 301
the isle of Poleroone according to the article of 1665.
" the late treaty, and delivered the letters and or-
" ders from the States General and States of Hol-
" land, which their ambassadors had given at Lon-
" don, to the governor and captain of that island ;
" he , after making him stay two or three days
" there with his ship and the men he had brought
" with him, told him, that upon a better perusal of
" the orders which he had brought, he found that
" they were not sufficient ; and therefore till he
" should receive fuller orders, he could not give up
" the place. " And so the officer and ship, which
had been sent at a great charge, were P necessitated
to return without any other ^ effect than the affront
and indignity to his majesty.
When there was now no remedy, and the war
was actually made upon the king upon what provo-
cation soever, there was nothing to be done but to
resort to the parliament, which had been so earnest
to enter into it.
A fleet must be prepared equal to
what the Dutch would infallibly make ready against
the spring, and worthy of the presence of the duke
of York, who was impatient to engage his own per-
son in the conduct of it ; and the king had given
his promise to him that he should, when he had,
God knows, no purpose that there should be a war.
It was quickly 1 " discovered, that there was not the
same alacrity towards a war now, after it was
begun, in the parliament, as there had been when
they made their vote : and they would have been
glad that any expedient might have been found for
he] who f i other] Not in MS.
P were] was T quickly] now quickly
302 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. a reconciliation, and that the captain might have
been called in question, who first gave offence by
taking the fort from the Dutch near Cape Verde,
which some had pressed for when he came home,
before any more mischief was u done ; and the not
calling him in question made many believe, that he
had done nothing without warrant or promise of
protection.
The Dutch still disclaimed all thought or purpose
of war, and seemed highly offended with their go-
vernor of Poleroone, and protested, " that the not-
" delivery of the place proceeded only from want of
" an order from the governor of Batavia, which or-
" der came the next day after the English ship was
" departed : but that they had given notice of it to
" the English factory at Bantam, that the same or
" another English ship might return and receive it ;
" and they were confident that it was then in the
" hand of the English. " But it was now too late to
expect any honourable peace, at least without mak-
ing very notable preparations for a war, which could *
not be done without ready money. And whatever
orders had been given for the preservation of the
Dutch ships, it quickly appeared that much of them
had been embezzled or disposed of, before they
were brought to any judicatory, or adjudged to be
prize ; and there was too much cause to fear, that
the rest would be disposed of to other purposes than
the support of the war; though nothing was more
positively spoken, than that the war would main-
tain itself.
The parliament still promised fairly, and entered
u was] Omitted in MS. * could] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 303
upon consultation how and what money to raise. 1665.
And now the king commanded the chancellor and Z
Measures
the treasurer to meet with those members of the takento
_ . dispose the
house of commons, with whom they had used to parliament
consult, and to whom the king had joined others sup
upon whom he was told he might more depend, and for a war>
to adjust together what sum should be proposed, and
how and in what manner to propose and conduct it.
It was about the month of January. And though
the duke took indefatigable pains, by going himself
sometimes to Portsmouth and sometimes to Chat-
ham, to cause the ships and all provisions to be
ready, that he might be at sea before the Dutch ;
yet let what advance could be made, as indeed
there was great, nothing could be said to be done,
till a great stock of ready money could be provided ;
and it would be long after the parliament had done
their part, before ready money would be got ; and
therefore no more time must be lost, without taking
a particular resolution.
The meeting of those persons the king appointed A meeting
was at Worcester-house, where the chancellor and L-dTami
treasurer (who were known to be averse from the comm
war) told the rest, " that there was no more debate for that
purpose.
" now to be, war or no war : it was come upon us,
" and we were now only to contrive the best way of
" carrying it on with success ; which could only be
" done by raising a great present sum of money,
" that the enemy might see that we were prepared
" to continue it as well as to begin. " They who
were most desirous of the war, as sir Harry Bennet
and Mr. Coventry, (who were in truth the men who
brought it upon the nation,) with their friends, were
of the opinion, " that there should not be a great
3P4 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " sum demanded at present, but only so much as
~~ " might carry out the fleet in the spring, and that Y
" sufficient provisions might be made for the sum-
" mer service : and then, when the war was once
" thoroughly entered into, another and a better sup-
" ply might be gotten about Michaelmas, when
" there was reason to hope, that some good success
" would dispose all men to a frank prosecution of
" the war. " Whereas these gentlemen had hitherto
inflamed the king with an assurance, " that he
" could not ask more money of the parliament than
" they would readily give him, if he would be en-
" g a g e d in this war which the whole kingdom so
" much desired. "
The chancellor and the treasurer were of opinion,
" that the house of commons could never be in a
" better disposition to give, than they were at pre-
" sent ; that hereafter they might grow weary, and
" apt to find fault with the conduct, especially when
" they found the country not so well pleased with
** the war as they were now conceived to be : where-
" as, now the war was begun, and the king engaged
" in it as much as he could be after ten battles, and
" all upon their desire and their promise ; they
" could not refuse to give any thing proposed with-
" in the compass of that reason, which all under-
" standing men might examine and judge of. That
" it was evident enough, that the true ground of all
" the confidence the Dutch had was from their opin-
" ion of the king's necessities and want of money,
" and their belief that the parliament would supply
" him very sparingly, and not long to continue such
y that] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 305
" an expense, as they very well knew that a war at 1665.
" sea would require : and they would be much con- ~"
" firmed in this their imagination, if at the begin-
" ning they should see the parliament give him such
" a sum of money, as seemed to be implied by what
" had been said. That they therefore thought it
" absolutely necessary, that the king should propose
" as much, that is, that his friends should move for
" such a sum, as might upon a reasonable computa-
" tion, which every man would be ready to make,
" and of which wise men upon experience would ea-
" sily make an estimate, carry on the war for a full
" year ; that is, for the setting out the present fleet
" and paying it off upon its return, and for the set-
" ting out another fleet the next spring. If this were
" now done, his majesty would not be involved in
" importunate necessities the next winter ; but he
" might calmly and deliberately consult upon such
" further supplies, as the experience of what would
" be then past should suggest to be necessary : and
" that this would give his majesty such a reputation
" with all his neighbours, and such terror to his
" enemies, that it would probably dispose them to
" peace. "
They told them, " the best method to compute
" what the expense might amount to in a year,
" would be by reflecting upon the vast disproportion
" of the charge we were now already engaged in,
" and what had been estimated four months since,
" when the war was designed. That it was well
" known to Mr. Coventry, who had been always
" present at those conferences, that it had been said
" by the most experienced sea-officers, and those
" who had fought all the late battles against the
VOL. II. X
1665. " Dutch, that a fleet of forty or fifty such ships, as
the king's were, would be strength sufficient to
" beat all the ships the Dutch had out of the narrow
" seas ; and one very eminent man amongst them
" said, he would not desire above fifty ships to fight
" with all they had, and that he was confident
" that a greater number than fifty could never
" be brought to fight orderly or usefully : and yet
" that there were at present no fewer than four-
" score good ships preparing for the duke. And
" the charge in many other particulars appeared al-
" ready to amount to double the sum that was first
" computed. "
They concluded, " that a less sum than two mil-
" lions and a half" (which is five and twenty hun-
dred thousand pounds sterling) " ought not to be
" proposed, and being once proposed ought to be in-
" sisted on and pursued without consenting to any
" diminution ; for nobody could conceive that it
" would do more than maintain the war one year,
" which the parliament could not refuse to provide
" for in the beginning, as there was a so much in
" truth of it already expended in the preparations
" and expedition the duke had made in November,
" when he went to sea upon the fame of the Dutch
" fleet's intention to convoy their Guinea ships
" through the channel. "
There was not a man in the company, who did
not heartily wish that that sum or a greater might
be proposed and granted : but they all, though they
agreed in few other things, protested, " that they
" could not advise that so prodigious a sum should
as there was] and there being already
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 307
"be as much as named; and that they did not lf>65.
" know any one man, since it could not be thought"
" fit that any man who had relation to the king's
" service should move it, who had the courage to
" attempt it, or would be persuaded to it. "
The two lords continued very obstinate, " that a
" less sum should not be named for the reasons they
" had given," which the other confessed to be just;
and they acknowledged too, "that the proposition
" ought not to be made by any man who was b re-
" lated to the court, or was thought to be in any
" grace there that might dispose him, nor yet by
" any gentleman, how well soever thought of, who
" was of a small estate, and so to pay little of so
" great a sum he was so liberal to give. " They
therefore desired them " to name some of those
" members, who were honest worthy men, and
" looked upon as lovers of their country, and of
" great fortunes, unsuspected to have any designs
" at court; and if they were not enough acquainted
" with them, the lords would find some way by
" themselves or others to move them to it. " Where-
upon they named five or six persons very well
known, of whom the house had a very good esteem,
but without any hope that any c of them would be
prevailed with to undertake it. The lords said,
" they would try what might be done, and give
" them notice the next day, that if it were possible
" it might be the business of the following day. "
The chancellor and the treasurer chose three
Norfolk gentlemen of those who had been named,
because they were good friends and grateful to each
b was] Omitted in MS. c any] either
X 2
308 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. other, and desired them the next day " that they
~~ " might confer together. " They told them, " they
" knew well the state of affairs ; the parliament had
" engaged the king in a war, that could not be car-
" ried on without a vast expense : and therefore if
" at the entrance into it there should be a small or
" an ordinary supply given, it would blast all their
" hopes, and startle all other princes from joining,
" with whom the Dutch were not in favour, and
" who would be inclined to the king, if they saw
" such a provision for the war as would be sufficient
" to continue it for some time. And therefore they
" desired to confer with them, who upon all occa-
" sions manifested good affections to the king, and
" whose advice had a great influence upon the house,
" upon the whole matter how it might be conduct-
" ed. " They all consented to what had been said,
and promised their own concurrence and utmost en-
deavours to compass what the king should desire.
The lords said, " they promised themselves more
" from them, and that they would not only concur,
" but propose what should be necessary to be grant-
" ed. " And thereupon they enlarged upon the
charge which was already in view, and upon what
was to be expected, and concluded " that two mil-
" lions and a half were necessary to be insisted on ;"
and desired, " that when the debate should be en-
" tered upon, which they hoped might be the next
" day, one of them would propose this sum and the
" other would second it. "
They looked long one upon another, as if they
were surprised with the sum. At last one of them
said, " that the reasons were unanswerable for a li-
" beral supply ; yet he did not expect that so prodi-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 309
" gious a sum, which he believed had never yet 1665.
" been mentioned in parliament to be granted at :
" one time, would be proposed : however, he did
" not think it too much, and that he would do the
" best he could to answer any objections which
" should be made against it, as he doubted many
" would ; but he confessed he durst not propose it. "
Another was of the same mind, and with many good
professions desired to be excused as to the first pro-
posing it. The third, who was sir Robert Paston, a
person of a much greater estate than both the other,
who had yet very good fortunes, and a gentleman
of a very ancient extraction by his father, (and his
mother was daughter to the earl of Lindsey,) de-
clared very frankly, " that he was satisfied in his
" conscience, that it would be very good for the
" kingdom as well as for the king that such a sum
" should be granted : and therefore if they thought
" him fit to do it, he would propose it the next
" morning, let other men think what they would of
" him for it. "
The lords gave him the thanks they ought to do,
and said what was necessary to confirm him, and to
thank the other gentlemen for their promise to se-
cond him, and gave notice to the rest of the resolu-
tion, that they might call for the debate the next
day ; which was entered into with a general cheer-
fulness, every man acknowledging the necessity and
the engagement of the house, but no man adventur-
ing to name the proportion that should be given.
When the house was in a deep silence expecting sir Robert
that motion, sir Robert Paston, who was no fre-
quent speaker, but delivered what he had a mind
say very clearly, stood up, mentioned shortly the
x 3
310 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1G65. obligation, the charge of the war, and "that the
~~" present supply ought to be such as might as well
" terrify the enemy as assist the king ; and therefore
" he proposed that they might give his majesty two
" millions and a half, which would amount to five
" and twenty hundred thousand pounds. " The si-
lence of the house was not broken ; they sat as in
amazement, until a gentleman, who was believed to
wish well to the king, without taking notice of what
had been proposed, stood up, and moved that they
might give the king a much less proportion. But
then the two others, who had promised to second,
renewed the motion one after the other ; which
seemed to be entertained with a consent of many,
and was contradicted by none : so that, after a
short pause, no man who had relation to the court
speaking a word, the speaker put it to the question,
" whether they would give the king five and twenty
" hundred thousand pounds for the carrying on the
which is " war against the Dutch ;" and the affirmative
byThe made a good sound, and very few gave their nega-
house. j. j ve a ] OU( j ) an( j it was notorious very many sat si-
lent. So the vote was presently drawn up into an
order ; and the house resolved the next day to be in
a committee, to agree upon the way that should be
taken for the raising this vast sum, the proportion
whereof could no more be brought into debate.
This brave vote gave the king the first liking of
the war : it was above what he had expected or in-
deed wished to be proposed. And they, who had
been at the first conference, and delivered the reso-
lution of the two lords as impossible to be com-
passed, not without insinuation as if it were affected
only to indispose the house to the war, (yet they did
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 311
not think fit to vary from the proportion, till they 1665.
saw the success of the proposition, which the lords'"
were engaged to procure a fit person to make,) when
they found the conclusion to be such as could be
wished, they commended the counsel, and fell into
another extreme, that in the thing itself and in the
consequence did very much harm ; which shall be
next mentioned, after I have said that there ap-
peared great joy and exaltation of spirit upon this
vote, and not more in the court than upon the ex-
change, the merchants generally being unskilfully
inclined to that war, above what their true interest
could invite them to, as in a short time afterwards
they had cause to confess.
The king sent to the lord mayor to call a com-
mon council, and commanded the chancellor, trea-
surer, and other lords of his council, to go thither ;
who, upon the credit of this vote of the house of
commons for this noble supply, prevailed with the
city presently to furnish the king with the loan of
two hundred thousand pounds ; which being within
few days paid into the hands of the treasurer of the
navy, all preparations for the fleet, and of whatever
else was necessary for the expedition, were pro-
vided with marvellous alacrity : and the parliament
made what haste was possible to despatch the bill,
by which their great present might be collected from
the people.
It hath been said before, that in most vacant
places, upon the death of any members, ways were
found out to procure some of the king's domestic
servants to be d elected in their places ; so that his
d to be] Not in MS.
x 4
312 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. majesty had many voices there at his . devotion;
~ which did not advance his service. These men con-
fidently ran out of the house still to inform the
king of what was doing, commended this man, and
discommended another who deserved better; and
would many times, when his majesty spake well of
any man, ask his majesty " if he would give them
" leave to let that person know how gracious his
" majesty was to him, or to bring him to kiss his
" hand. " To which he commonly consenting, every
one of his servants delivered some message from
him to a parliament-man, and invited him to court
as if the king would be willing to see him. And by
this means the rooms at court, where the king was,
were always full of the members of the house of
commons ; this man brought to kiss his hand, and
the king induced to confer with that man, and to
thank him for his affection, which never could con-
clude without some general expression of grace or
promise, which the poor gentleman always inter-
preted to his own advantage, and expected some
fruit from it that it could never yield : all which,
being contrary to all former order, did the king no
good, and rendered those unable to do him service
who were inclined to it.
sir H. Ben- The new secretary, and sir Charles Berkley, who
net and sir . . .
c. Berkiey by this time was entered very far into the kings
amuse *? r favour and his confidence, were the chief, and by
R. paston. their places had access to him in all places and
hours : and they much disliked the officiousness of
the others, as if they presumed to invade their pro-
vince. They thought it but their due, that the king
should take his measures of the house of commons
by no other report but theirs, nor dispense his graces
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 313
there through any other conduit. They took this 1665.
occasion to caress sir Robert Paston, who was a~~
stranger to them, and to magnify the service he had
done the king, and the great sense the king had of
it, and that he e did long to give him his own thanks:
they invited him to come to the court, and sir
Charles Berkley told him as from the king, " that
" his majesty resolved to make him a baron. " And
by these daily courtships and importunities the gen-
tleman, who was well satisfied with what he had
done, and never proposed any advantage to himself
from it, was amused, and thought he was not to
refuse any honour the king thought him worthy of,
nor to neglect those graces which were offered to
him by persons of their interest. Yet he made not
haste to go to the court, believing that it might
make him less capable of serving the king, and that
any favour his majesty should do him would be
more seasonable hereafter than at present, lest he
might be thought to have made that motion in the
house upon promise of the other reward. Yet after
continued invitations he went thither, and those
gentlemen presented him to the king, who spake very
graciously to him, told him, " he had done him great
" service, which he would never forget," and many
other princely expressions, and " that he should be
" glad to see him often," but no particular to that
purpose which had been mentioned to him.
When he went next, he found his majesty's coun-
tenance the same : but they, who had courted and
amused him so much, grew every day more dry and
reserved towards him ; of which he complained to a
e that he] Not in MS.
314 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. friend of his who he knew had interest in the chan-
cellor, and desired him to acquaint him with all that
had passed, who had not till then heard that he had
been at court, and when he was informed of the
whole relation was very much troubled, well know-
ing, that how acceptable soever those kinds of
courtships were for few days, they were attended
with many inconveniences when the end was not
correspondent with the beginning. He knew well
the resolution the king had taken to create no more
noblemen, the number whereof already too much
exceeded : however, he was very sorry, that a person
of that quality and merit should be exposed to any
indignity, for having endeavoured in such a con-
juncture to do his majesty a signal service, and suc-
ceeded so well ; and spake with the king at large of
it, and gave his majesty a full account of the mo-
desty and temper of the gentleman, of his quality
and interest, and what had been said and promised
to him. The king was troubled, owned all that he
had said himself to him, as being very hearty, and
" that he would never forget the service he had
" done, but requite it upon any opportunity ;" but
protested, " that he had never made any such pro-
" mise, nor given sir Charles Berkley any authority
" to mention any such thing to him, which would
" prove very inconvenient ;" and therefore wished,
" that his friend would divert him from prosecuting
" such a pretence, which he knew to be contrary to
" his resolution. "
The chancellor knew not what to say, but truly
advertised his friend of all the king had said, who
again informed sir Robert Paston, who thought
himself very hardly treated, and went to sir Charles
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 315
Berkley, who had not the same open arms, yet as- 1665.
sured him, " that he had said nothing to him but by ~~
" the king's direction, which he must aver. That he
" did not use to interpose or move the king in any
" of his affairs : but if he would desire the chancel-
" lor to take notice of it, who he knew had a great
" affection for him, and upon whose desire he had
" performed that great service, he was confident it
" would be attended with the success he wished, to
" which he would contribute all his endeavours ;"
intimating, " that if he had not what he desired, he
'* might impute it to the chancellor. " Upon which
sir Robert, who was well assured of the chancellor's
kindness, concluded that his court friends had de-
luded him, or expected money, which he would not
give: and so the matter ended with prejudice to
the king.
Notwithstanding these and the like very incon-
venient activities, which lost more friends than were
gotten by them, the noise of this stupendous supply,
given to the king at one time, made good impres-
sions upon all who had any affections for the king,
and was wondered at in those places where money
was most plenty. In Holland it wrought even to
consternation, and the common people cried aloud
for peace, and the States pretended to have great
hope as well as desire of it, and sent their ambas-
sador, who remained still in England, new orders
to solicit it.
In the mean time the king neglected not to apply The condu
what endeavours he could use, to dispose his allies England in
to act such parts as their own interest might
sonably invite them to. From France he expected
only neutrality, by reason he knew he had renewed
316 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. the alliance with the States; but never suspected,
~ that it was in such a manner as would hinder the
neutrality. Spain could do little good or harm, nor
durst it to engage against Holland : yet all was
done that was necessary towards a good correspond-
ence with it. The two northern kings would find
themselves concerned, at least to wish better to one
side than to the other ; and had been both so dis-
obliged by the Dutch, that had it not been for the
irreconcileable jealousy they had of each other, they
might have been united to the interest of England.
But Denmark had in the late war given what they
could not keep nor recover, and yet could hardly be
without; and Sweden looked with too much con-
tempt upon the weakness and unactivity of their
neighbour, to give back any thing they had got :
and this restrained them both from provoking an
enemy that might give strength to the other.
Yet Denmark had the year before by Hannibal
Zested, who went ambassador into France and made
England his way, made many complaints to the
king " of the oppression the crown of Denmark un-
" derwent by the Dutch, and the resolution it had
" to shake off that yoke as soon as an opportunity
" should be offered ;" and made a request to the king,
" that he would endeavour to make the alliance so
" fast between Denmark and Sweden, that the jea-
" lousy of each other might hinder neither of them
" from doing any thing that was for their own in-
" terest, without prejudice to the other. " And when
the difficulty was alleged, in regard that Sweden
would never be persuaded to part with Elsineur,
and those other places which had been given up in
the late treaty; Hannibal Zested consented that
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 317
what was done in that treaty should be again con- ] 665.
firmed, and said " his master was willing and desir-
" ous that the king of England should undertake
" and be caution for the observation of this treaty ;"
implying, " that if this were done, and thereby the
" fear of any further attempt from Sweden were ex-
" tingufshed, Denmark would not be long without
" redeeming itself from the vexation which it en-
" dured from Holland, which, upon former neces-
" sities and ill bargains, upon the matter had an ex-
" emption from paying all duties upon their own
" great trade through the Sound, as much to the
" prejudice of all other princes as of the poor crown
" of Denmark. " This having so lately passed from
a minister of that crown, the king thought it a good
time to endeavour to do that office between the two
crowns, and thereby to unite them both to the king
in this conjunction against the Dutch ; at least that
they might both remain good friends to his majesty,
and supply him with all those provisions without
which his navy could not be supported, and as far
as was possible restrain the Dutch from those sup-
plies, by making such large contracts with the Eng-
lish, that there would not be enough left for the
other.
Upon this ground he sent Mr. Henry Coventry of Ambassa-
his bedchamber to the Swede, whose friendship he Denmark
much more valued as more able to assist him, and ^ Swe "
upon whose word he could more firmly depend.
And to Denmark he sent sir Gilbert Talbot, who
was acceptable to that crown by his having per-
formed many offices of respect to the prince of Den-
mark, when he had been incognito in England,
318 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. and waited upon him f to several parts of the king-
~ dom which he had a mind to see, and so caused him
to be entertained in several gentlemen's houses in
his journey, of which the prince seemed very sensi-
ble when he departed. That which was expected
from that negotiation, except the confidence could
be created between the two crowns, was only to
preserve Denmark a friend, that he might not fa-
vour the Dutch, and might recall all his subjects out
of their service ; and that we might have the same
freedom of trade, and the security of his ports for
our men of war.
Proposals Whilst the king took this care for the advance-
bishop of ment of his affairs abroad, there was an advantage
offered him, that looked as if it came from Heaven.
rfutTif the There came one day a gentleman, who looked rather
like a carter, who spoke ill English, and desired that
he might have a private audience with the chancel-
lor ; who presently sent for him, and in a short time
knew him to be a Benedictine monk, who had been
sometimes with him at Cologne, and belonged to the
English abbey at Lamspring in Westphalia, where a
very reverend person of the family of Gascoigne in
Yorkshire was abbot, with whom the chancellor had
much acquaintance, and esteemed him very much ;
and he had, during the time the king stayed in Co-
logne, sent this monk several times thither, who was
likewise a gentleman, but by living long in Germany
had almost forgot the language as well as the man-
ners of his own country. His business now was to
deliver him a letter (whereof he knew little of the
contents) from the bishop of Munster, upon the
{ him] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 319
edge of whose dominions that English abbey was 1665.
seated, which had likewise a territory that extended
to the principality of the other, and received much
favour and protection from the other ; who desired
the abbot to give him an honest man, that would
carry a letter from him to the court of England :
upon which this monk was deputed, the rather be-
cause he was known to the chancellor. The matter
of the letter was no more, than " that if the war
" against Holland was to be resolutely prosecuted
" by the king of England, he (the bishop) conceived
" that a conjunction with those allies, who could
" infest the Dutch by land as his majesty would do
" by sea, might not be unacceptable to his majesty ;
" and in that case, upon the answer to this letter,
" he would send a fit person to make some proposi-
" tions to the king and to treat with him. " The
instructions the monk had, were " to make all pos-
" sible haste back, and that as soon as he returned
" on that side the sea, he should send the answer he
** had received, by the post, so directed as was ap-
" pointed ; and then that himself should stay at
" Brussels till he received further orders. "
The chancellor quickly informed the king of this
despatch, to whom the monk was likewise known ;
and his majesty immediately assembled those lords
with whom he consulted in the most secret cases.
Every body knew so much of the bishop of Mun-
ster, that he was a warlike prince, having had
command in armies before he dedicated himself to
the church, and that he had a great animosity
against Holland, which had disobliged him in the
highest point, by encouraging his subjects to rebel
against him, and those of his city of M unster to
320 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. shut their gates against him: and when he endea-
~ voured to reduce them by force, and to that purpose
had besieged them with his army, the Dutch sent an
army to relieve it, and declared that they would
protect that city. And by this means, and by the
mediation of the neighbour princes, who had no
mind that the peace of their country should be
disturbed by such an incursion, the bishop was hin-
dered from taking that vengeance upon his rebel
subjects which he intended, and compelled to ac-
cept of such conditions as did not please him. And
all this was but two years before, and boiled still in
his breast, that was naturally very hot. But he was
a poor prince, unable to give any disturbance to the
United Provinces, whose dominions extended within
a day's march of his. However, every man was of
opinion, that the proposition ought to be very kindly
received, and the bishop invited to send his agent.
And to that purpose the chancellor wrote to him,
and the monk was despatched the next day. And
having observed his orders in sending away the an-
swer, he was very few days at Brussels, when a ser-
vant of the bishop arrived with orders that the
monk should accompany him back into England :
and so they both arrived in London in less time than
could be expected.
The gentleman who came from the bishop was a
very proper man, well-bred, a baron of that country,
but a subject to the bishop : he brought with him a
letter of credit from the bishop to the king, and full
authority to treat and conclude according to his in-
structions, which he likewise presented to his ma-
jesty. He brought likewise a letter to the chancel-
lor from the elector of Mentz, in which he recom-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 321
mended to him the person whom the bishop of Mun- 1GC5.
ster should send, and declared " that he believed"
" the bishop of Munster would be able to perform
" whatsoever he should undertake :" which letter
was a very great encouragement to the king: for
his majesty knew the elector of Mentz very well to
be a very wise prince and notoriously his friend, and
that he would not say so much of the ability of the
bishop to perform, except he knew particularly his
design, and what he would undertake to do.
The baron's instructions were to propose, " that
" his majesty would cause one hundred thousand
" pounds to be immediately paid, by bills of ex-
" change at Hamburgh or Cologne or Francfort, to
" such persons as the bishop should appoint to re-
" ceive it ; and should promise to pay fifty thou-
" sand pounds by the month in the same places
" for three months to come : afterwards he hoped
" the army would provide for its own support. This
" being undertaken on his majesty's part, the bishop
" would be engaged, within one month after the
" first bills of exchange for the one hundred thousand
" pounds should be delivered into the hands of his
" agent the baron, that he would be in the dominions
" of the States General with an army of sixteen
" thousand foot and four thousand horse ; with
" which he was very confident he should within few
"days be possessed of Arnheim, and shortly after
" of Utrecht : and if the king's fleet came before
" Amsterdam, that army of the bishop should march
" to what place or quarter his majesty should
" direct. "
The baron was asked, " how it could be possible
" for the bishop, though a gallant prince and very
VOL. II. Y
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " active, to draw together such an army in so short
" a time out of his small province ; and how he was
" sure that his neighbours, who two years before
" had compelled him to make so disadvantageous a
" peace with the Dutch, would not again use the
" same violent importunity to obstruct his proceed-
" ings. " To which he answered, " that the bishop
" would never undertake to bring such an army to-
" gether in so short a time, in which they could not
" be levied, but that he knows they are already le-
" vied, and upon an assurance of money can be
" brought together in the short time proposed : for
" the other, the interposition of his neighbours, he
" had not then, when they prevailed, half that army
" which he was sure he should now have ; besides,
" those neighbours were now as much incensed
" against the Dutch as his master was, and would
" all engage with him against them ; and that
" many of the army that is designed were at
" present quartered in their dominions ; and that
" the bishop intended not to march in his own pri-
" vate capacity, but as general of the empire, for
" which the elector of Mentz had undertaken to
" procure him a commission. " He was demanded
" how his master stood with France, and whether
" he did not fear that it would either prevent the
" enterprise by mediation, or disappoint it by send-
" ing aid to Holland. " He answered, " his mas-
" ter was confident France would not do him any
" harm : that he had sent an agent, from whom he
" should be sure to receive letters by every post. "
And within few days after, he shewed a letter that
he had received from that agent, in which he said,
" that Monsieur de Lionne bade him assure the bi-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 323
" shop, that his Christian majesty would do nothing 1665.
" to his prejudice. "
This being the state of that affair, the king consi-
dered what he was to do. The propositions made
by the bishop were such, as it was not possible for
him to comply with. But then it was presumed by
every body, that very much would be abated of the
money that was demanded : for it was not an aux-
iliary army that was to be raised for the king's ser-
vice, whose conquests were to be applied to his be-
nefit, but an army raised to revenge the injuries
which himself had received, and what he should get
must be to his own account ; and his majesty's hos-
tility at sea would as much facilitate his enterprise
at land, as the marching of his army might probably
disturb and distract their preparations for the sea.
Yet it could not be expected, that the bishop could
draw this army together (and the attempt was not
to be made with less force) without a good supply
of money, nor keep it together without pay.
The advantage, that would with God's blessing
attend this conjunction, spread itself to a very large
prospect. That the people generally in the pro-
vinces were very unsatisfied with this war, was a
thing notorious ; and that the province of Holland
which began it, and was entirely governed by De
Wit, did even compel the other provinces to concur
with them, partly upon hope that a further progress
would be prevented by treaty, or that a peace would
follow upon the first engagement. But when they
should see an army of twenty thousand men, which
they suspected not, to invade their country at land,
and in that part where they were most secure, and
from whence so much of their necessary provisions
Y 2
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. were daily brought; they must be in great conster-
~~ nation, and draw all their land army together,
which they had not done in near twenty years, and
could not be done to any effect without vast charge,
which would put the people into a loud distraction.
Finally, there was great reason to cherish the de-
sign : and therefore the king resolved by an unani-
mous advice to undertake any thing towards it, that
could be in his power to perform.
There was one difficulty occurred, that had not
been thought of nor so much as apprehended by the
baron, which was the return of the money, whatso-
ever should be assigned to that service ; for of the
three places proposed by him, besides the secrecy
that was requisite, all the trade of London could not
assign one thousand pounds in the month to be paid
upon Cologne and Francfort ; nor could Hamburgh
itself be charged with twenty thousand pounds in
three months' time : which when the agent knew,
he seemed amazed, and said, " they had believed
" that it had been as easy to have transmitted
" money to those three towns, as it was for them
" to receive it from thence. "
In conclusion, the king gave his answer in
writing, what sum of money he would cause to be
paid at once for the first advance, that the bishop
might begin his march, and what he would after-
wards cause to be paid by the month ; which being
less than the baron's instructions would admit him
to accept, he sent an express with it to the bishop :
and " till his return," he desired, " that the king
" would appoint some person of experience to confer
** with him ; and they might together inform them-
" selves of the best expedients to return money into
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 325
" Germany, since his majesty had hitherto only un- 1 665.
" dertaken to pay his assignations in London. " ~
What success this treaty afterwards had will be re-
lated in its place.
These advantages from abroad being in this man-
ner deliberated and designed, it may be very season-
able to look back, and consider what preparations
were made at home towards the carrying on f this
war, for which the parliament had provided so boun-
tifully : and if ordinary prudence had been applied
to the managery, if any order and method had been
consulted and steadily pursued for the conducting
the whole, the success would have been answerable,
and at least any inconvenience from the sudden
want of money would have been prevented. But
whoever was at any near % distance in that time
when those transactions were in agitation, as there
are yet many worthy men who were, or shall be
able to procure a sincere information of the occur-
rences of that time, will be obliged to confess, that
they who contrived the war had the entire conduct-
ing it, and were the sole causes of all the ill effects
of it ; which cannot be set down particularly with-
out wounding those, who were by their confidence
in ill instruments made accessary to those mischiefs,
in which themselves suffered most. Nor is it the
end of this true relation to fix a brand upon- the me-
mory of those, who deserve it from the public and
from very many worthy men, but is to serve only
for a memorial to cast my own eyes upon, when I
cannot but reflect upon those proceedings ; and by
my consent shall never come into any hands but
1 on] Omitted in MS. f- near] Not in MS.
Y 3
326 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. theirs, who for their own sakes will take care to
"preserve it from any public view or perusal.
The state It cannot be denied and may very truly be aver-
red, that from the hour of the king's return, and
being possessed of the entire government, the na-
val affairs were never put into any order. That
province, being committed to the duke as lord high
admiral of England, was entirely h engrossed by his
servants, in truth by Mr. Coventry, who was newly
made his secretary, and who made use of his
other servants, who were better known to him, to
infuse into his highness the opinion, " that whoever
" presumed to meddle in any thing that related to
" the navy or the admiralty, invaded his jurisdiction,
" and would lessen him in the eyes of the people ;
" and that he ought to be jealous of such men, as of
" those who would undermine his greatness ; and
" that as he was superior to all men by being the
" king's brother, so being high admiral he was to
" render account to none but to the king, nor suffer
" any body else to interpose in any thing relating to
" it. " Whereas in truth there is no officer of the
crown more subject to the council-board than the
admiral of England, who is to give an account of all
his actions and of every branch of his office con-
stantly to the board, and to receive their orders :
nor hath he the nomination of the captains of the
ships, till upon the presentation of their names he
receives their approbation, which is never denied.
Nor was there any counsellor who had ever sat at
the board in the last king's time, to whom this was
not as much known as any order of the table.
h entirely] so entirely
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 327
But there was no retrieving this authority, not 1665.
only from the influence Mr. Coventry, and they of ~
the family who adhered to him, had upon the duke,
but from the king's own inclination, who thought
that those officers, who immediately depended upon
himself and only upon himself, were more at his
devotion than they who were obliged to give an
account to any other superior. And from the time
that he came first into France, he had not been ac-
customed to any discourse more than to the under-
valuing the privy-council, as if it shadowed the king
too much, and usurped too much of his authority,
and too often superseded his own commands. And
the queen his mother had, upon these discourses,
always some instances of the authority which in
such a case the council had assumed against the
king's judgment ; the exception to which, according
to the relation which nobody could question, seemed
to be very reasonable. This kind of discourse, be-
ing the subject of every day, made so great impres-
sion that it could never be defaced, and made the
election and nomination of counsellors less consi-
dered, since they were to be no more advised with
afterwards than before.
Another argument, that used to be as frequently
insisted upon by the queen, and with more passion
and indignation, was of the little respect and reve-
rence that by the law or custom of England was
paid to the younger sons of the crown ; and though
there was nobody present in those conversations who
knew any thing of the law or custom in those cases,
yet all that was said was taken as granted. And
not only the duke but the king himself had a mar-
vellous prejudice to the nation in that part of good
Y 4
328 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. manners: and it was easily agreed, that the model
~" of France was in those and other cases much more
preferable, and which was afterwards observed in
too many.
This being then the state and temper of the royal
family when the king returned, which then consisted
of the duke of Gloucester, and two princesses more
than it now hath ; the very next morning after the
fleet came to Scheveling, the duke went on board
and took possession of it as lord high admiral : and
so his secretary provided new commissions for all
the officers who were in present command, for which
it is probable they all paid very liberally ; for with
him the custom began to receive five pounds for
every warrant signed by the duke, and for which
uo secretary to any lord admiral formerly had ever
received above twenty shillings. Mr. Coventry, who
was utterly unacquainted with all the rules and cus-
toms of the sea, and knew none of the officers, but
was much courted by all, as the secretary to the
admiral always is, made choice of captain Pen,
whom the king knighted as soon as he came on
board ; who from a common man had grown up un-
der Cromwell to the highest command, and was in
great favour with him till he failed in the action of
St. Domingo, when he went admiral at sea, as Ven-
ables was general at land, for which they were both
imprisoned in the Tower by Cromwell, nor ever em-
ployed by him afterwards : but upon his death he
had command again at sea, as he had at this time
under Mountague when he came to attend the king.
With this man Mr. Coventry made a fast friendship,
and was guided by him in all things.
All the offices which belonged to the ships, to the
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 329
navy,' to the yards, to the whole admiralty, (except 1665.
the three superior officers, which are not in the dis-~
posal of the admiral,) were now void, and to be
supplied by the duke, that is, by Mr. Coventry;
who by the advice of sir William Pen, who was
solely trusted by him in the brocage, conferred them
upon those (without observing any other rule) who
would give most money, not i considering any honest
seaman who had continued in the king's service, or
suffered long imprisonment for him. And because
an incredible sum of money did k and would rise
this way, some principal officers in the yards, as the
master smith and others, and the keepers of the
stores, yielding seven, eight hundred, or a thousand
pounds ; he had the skill to move the duke to be-
stow such money as would arise upon such place
upon sir Charles Berkley, for another to another, and
for some to be divided between two or three : by
which means the whole family was obliged, and re-
tained to justify him ; and the duke himself looked
upon it as a generosity in Mr.
