No More Learning

Coventry returned, and they became
the mediators for the peace ; having first declared
to his majesty, " that if the treaty should prove in-
" effectual, the crown of Sweden would immediately
" join with his majesty against the Dutch. " What
became of the other treaty with Denmark is publicly

F f 3



438 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 439

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

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

F f 4



440 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 441

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



442 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 443

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

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



444 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 445

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

desired most in this world, and which he thought

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

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



446 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 447

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

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

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

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



448 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 449

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

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

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

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

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

VOL. III. G g



450 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 451

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

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

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

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

7 that it] Not in MS.
Gg2



452 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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



wards a stranger.

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

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

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

sufficiency

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

tune.

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

removed by . _ . .

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



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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 453

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

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

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



464 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

moved by

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

blessed him very much in this composure



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

trcatruent.

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

a the court] but the court



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 455

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

Gg 4



456 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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



Which raise

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 457

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

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

1 him] Omitted in MS.



458 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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

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

b towards] and towards



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 459

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

benefits he

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

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

. , . . , . recapitula-

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



40 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF



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

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

1 in] l<>



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 461

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

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

(l and] and by



CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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



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

treat in the

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

e cool] rold



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 463

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

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

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



CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

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

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



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 465

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

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

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

h then] though
VOL. III. H h



466 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

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

The fleet was then in the Downs in so good a
posture, by the access of other ships and vessels to

1 there] and I here-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 467

it, and by some notable commotions on land, that
the prospect was fair and hopeful. And the prince
received the advertisement no sooner, than he was
pleased to send a frigate to Flushing for those who
had been so long expected. But the winds proved
then so cross and tempestuous in the gentlest season
of the year, that after several attempts at sea, they
were so often driven back again into the harbour,
sometimes by very dangerous storms, that in the end
they received new directions to attend the prince at
the Hague, the fleet being at the same time under
sail for that coast.

The earl of Lautherdale was at that time come
to the fleet as commissioner from the kingdom of
Scotland, to inform the prince, that duke Hamil-
ton with a powerful army was already marched into
England; and thereupon to invite his highness to
make what haste he could, to put himself in the
head of that army, according to a promise the king
had made in some private treaty with the Scots ;
and which the queen had sent very positive com-
mands to be observed and obeyed. This was the
reason, not without other more reasonable motives,
so suddenly to quit the Downs, that he might get
more victual for the fleet, and therewith sail to the
north, and disembark in such a place as should be
nearest to the Scots army, with which he doubted
not to find a very considerable conjunction of the
English ; since he knew that sir Marmaduke Lang-
dale had possessed himself with a body of English
officers and gentlemen, of Berwick, and sir Philip
Musgrave had done the same with the like assist-
ance, at Carlisle, before the Scots began their
march.

H h 2



44)8 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

16fi8. The lord Cottington and the chancellor came to
"the Hague the next day after the prince's arrival,
and were very graciously received by his highness,
and with a wonderful kindness by all the court, and
all the gentlemen who had attended upon him ; not
so much out of affection to them, as out of detesta-
tion of one another, who had kept company for the
space of two months last past.

The prince had found the common seamen full of
such a keen devotion for his service upon the true
principles of the cause, and for the redemption of
the king his father out of prison, and so full of in-
dignation against those who had formerly misled
them into rebellion, especially the presbyterians ;
that as they had before the declaration set all those
officers on shore by force, who were appointed by
the parliament to command them, so now they
thought the new ones, which they had chosen for
themselves, not fierce and resolute enough for their
purposes. The truth is ; there had been much un-
skilful tampering amongst them by emissaries from
Paris, and other attempts. And the duke of York,
having made his escape very little time before, and
being then at the Hague when the fleet came to
Helvoetsluys, upon the first notice lost no time in
making haste to them.
It was generally known,
that the king his father had long designed to make
him high admiral of England ; and k the commission
which had been formerly granted to the earl of
Northumberland they ' all knew to be repealed and
cancelled : so that he no sooner came to the fleet,
but he was received with the usual acclamations of

k and] and that ' they] and which they



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 469

joy as their admiral, and he as cheerfully assumed
the command. And his small family presently be-
gan to propagate their several factions and animo-
sities, with which they abounded, to make such par-
ties amongst the seamen as might advance their
several pretences. And in this posture the prince
found the fleet when he came to it, and resolved to
take the command immediately into his own hand,
and that the duke should remain at the Hague with
his sister, till that expedition were over ; and so he
made haste with the fleet into the Downs, hoping
that some present occasion would be the best expe-
dient to extinguish that fire, and compose those dis-
tempers, which he discerned already to be kindled
amongst the seamen.

The advice and instruction which were brought
from Paris were grounded upon the treaty with
Scotland, the marching of that army, and the ex-
pectation of some notable attempt by the presbyterian
party in London ; in order to which, all address
was to be made to that city, and a declaration to be
published to gratify that party. This secret was
intrusted only to one of the council, and one other
who was to be ministerial in whatsoever the other
directed. And this temper was quickly discovered
when they came into the Downs, by the great care m
that was taken to give no offence or interruption to
the trade of the city, which all men believed would
be the best means to reduce it. Ships of return,
richly laden, were suffered quietly to pass thither ;
others coming from thence, very well freighted, were
likewise quietly permitted to prosecute their voyage :

1T1 care] Omittni in MS.
H h 3



470 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 668. all which was passionately opposed by prince Rupert
"and all the rest of the council. And this contra-
diction was quickly known to the lords of the bed-
chamber, and others, who had no reverence for that
council, and were now the more inflamed upon this
division of opinion. And the seamen likewise com-
ing to take notice of it, cried out, " the prince was
" betrayed ;" and grew into such rage and fury, that
they declared, " that they would throw those over-
" board who gave the prince such evil counsel. "
Two or three unprosperous attempts at land, and
then the lord Lautherdale's coming thither, and the
order thereupon for the fleet to sail presently for
Holland for the reasons aforesaid, kindled all those
sparkles into a bright flame of dissension, so uni-
versal, that there were very few who spake with any
civility of one another, or without the highest ani-
mosity that can be imagined.

This was the distracted condition of affairs when
the lord Cottington and the chancellor came to the
Hague ; the council divided between themselves,
and more offended with the court for presumption
in making themselves of the council, and opposing
whatsoever the other directed, by their private whis-
pering to the prince in reproach of them, and their
public murmurings against their persons for the
counsel they gave, every man endeavouring to in-
cense others against those who were not affected by
him ; and this ill humour increased by such an uni-
versal poverty, that very few knew where to find a
subsistence for three months to come, or how to dis-
pose of themselves. The clamour from the fleet was
so high for new victual and for money, that there
was apprehension just enough, tha,t they would pro-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 471

vide for themselves by returning to their old station ; 1 6(58.
to which they had both opportunity and invitation, ~~
by the parliament's having set out another fleet su-
perior in power to them, that were already at anchor
in their view, under the command of the earl of
Warwick, to block them up in that inconvenient
harbour. The sudden news of the total defeat of
the Scots army, and shortly after of the loss of Col-
chester, and taking the persons of so many gallant
gentlemen, and murdering some of them in cold
blood ; the daily warm contests in council upon the
insolent behaviour and the unreasonable demands of
the lord Lautherdale, who as peremptorily insisted
upon the prince's going immediately with the fleet
into Scotland, as he had done before the total defeat
of duke Hamilton, and without expecting to hear
what alteration that fatal change had produced in
that kingdom, which was very reasonable to appre-
hend, and in truth had at that time really fallen out :
these and many other ill presages made the chancellor
quickly find, that in his two years' repose in Jersey
he had not fortified himself enough against future
assaults, nor laid in ballast to be prepared to ride
out the storms and tempests that he was like to be
engaged in.

The preservation of the fleet was a consideration
that would bear no delay ; and was in a short time,
though with infinite difficulties and contests full of
animosity, resolved to be by committing the charge
of it to prince Rupert, who was to carry it into
Ireland, where were many good ports in his majes-
ty's obedience. But that was no sooner done, but
the horrid murder of the king, and the formed dis-
solution of the monarchy there, and erecting and

Pi h 4-



472 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 G68. establishing the government in that kingdom with a
"seeming general consent, at least without any visible
appearance or possibility of contradiction or oppo-
sition ; the faint proclamation of the present king in
Scotland, under the same conditions which they
would have imposed, and with all the circumstances
with which they had prosecuted the rebellion against
his father; the resolution what was fit for the young
king to undertake in his own person, and the dismal
prospect, how all the neighbour princes were soli-
citous not to pay him any such civilities, as might
encourage him to expect any thing from them ; were
all arguments of perplexity and consternation to all
men, who had been moderately versed in the trans-
action of affairs ; and were too many things to be
looked upon at once, and yet could not be effectually
looked upon but together. So that the chancellor
used to say, " that all the business he had been
" conversant in, from the beginning to his coming
" to the Hague, had not administered half the diffi-
" culties and disconsolation, had not half so much
" disturbed and distracted his understanding, and
" broken his mind, as the next six months from that
" time had done. " Nor coukl he see any light be-
fore him to present a way to the king, by entering
into which he might hopefully avoid the greatest
misery that ever prince had been exposed to. His
own particular condition (under so general a morti-
fication) afflicted him very little, having long com-
posed himself by a resolution, with God's blessing,
to do his duty without hesitation, and to leave all
the rest to the disposition of Providence.

When the fleet was committed to the government
of prince Rupert to embark for Ireland, it was



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 473

enough foreseen by those who foresaw what natu-
rally might fall out, that Ireland was probably like
to be the place whither it might be the most coun-
sellable for the prince himself to repair. But as it
was not then seasonable in many respects to pub-
lish such an imagination ; so it was not possible to
keep the fleet where it then was, or in any port of
the dominions of Holland, where the States were
already perplexed what answer they should return
if the new commonwealth should demand the ships,
or whether they were not obliged to deliver them :
and therefore no time was to be lost. Nor was the
voyage itself like to be secure, but by the benefit of
the winter season, and the unquiet seas they were
to pass through ; which would have made it too
dangerous a voyage for the person of the prince,
who must find a shorter passage thither, when it
should be necessary.

When that inhuman impiety was acted at Lon-
don, and the young king had in some degree reco-
vered his spirits from the sudden astonishment, and
had received the vile proclamation and propositions
from Scotland, his majesty with those few who
were of nearest trust concluded, " that it would be
" shortly of necessity to transport himself into Ire-
" land ;" which was to be the highest secret, that
it might be equally unsuspected in England and in
Scotland. " That he should incognito, or with a light
" train, pass through France to Nantz, or some
" other port of Bretagne, where two or three ships
" of war, which he could not doubt of obtaining by
" the favour of his brother the prince of Orange,
" might attend him ; and from thence he might



474 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. " with least hazard embark for the nearest coast of
" Ireland, where the marquis of Ormond might
" meet him. "

This being concluded in that manner, the lord
Cottington went in a morning to the king before
he was dressed ; and desired, " that when he was
" ready, he would give him a private audience in
" his closet. " He there told him, " that his majesty
" had taken the most prudent resolution that his
" condition would admit, for Ireland ; where there
" remained yet some foundation for hope. That for
" himself he was so old and infirm," (for to his seven-
ty-five years, which was then his age, he had fre-
quent and painful visitations of the gout and the
stone,), "that his majesty could not expect his per-
" sonal attendance in so many journeys by land as
" he must he exposed to: yet haying served the crown
" throughout the reign of his grandfather and his
" father, he was very desirous to finish his life in his
" majesty's service.

" That he had reflected upon the woful condition
" his affairs were in, not more by the power of his
" rebels, than by being abandoned by all his neigh-
" bour princes. That it was too apparent, that nei-
" ther of them would embark themselves in his
" quarrel ; so that the utmost he could hope from
" them was, that in some secret manner they might
" contribute such a supply and relief to him, as
" might give him a subsistence, till some new acci-
" dents and alterations at home or abroad might
" produce a more seasonable conjuncture. That
" even in that particular, he doubted the magna-
" nimity or generosity of princes would not be very



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 475

" conspicuous : however it being all his present de- 1668.
" pendance, he must try all the ways he could to
" provoke them to that disposition.

" That lie knew the crown of Spain was so low
" at that time, that whatever their inclinations
" might be, they could neither supply him with
" ships or men or money towards the raising or
" supporting of an army : yet that he knew too,
" that there is such a proportion of honour, and of a
" generous compassion and bounty, that is insepa-
" rable from that crown, and even runs through
" that people, which other nations are not inspired
" with. And he was confident, that if his majesty
" sent an ambassador thither, how necessitous so-
" ever that court might be, it would never refuse
' to make such an assignment of money to him as
" might, well husbanded, provide a decent support
" for him in Ireland ; where likewise the king of
" Spain had power to do his majesty more offices
" than any other prince could do, or he any where
" else, by the universal influence he had upon the
" Irish nation. And general Owen O'Neile, who
" was the only man that then obstructed the union
" of that people in a submission to the king, had
" been bred up in the court of Spain, and had spent
" all his time in the service of that crown, and had
" still his sole dependance upon it ; and therefore it
" was to be presumed, that he might be induced by
" direction from Madrid, to conform himself to a
" conjunction with the marquis of Ormond, the
" king's lieutenant there. " He said, " that his ma-
" jesty knew well that he had spent a great part of
" his life in that court, in the service of his grand-
'' father and father ; and he would be willing to



476 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. *' enc * his days there, if it were thought of use to
" his affairs. "

The discourse was too reasonable not to make im-
pression upon the king; which discovering in his
countenance, the other desired him, " that he would
" think that day upon all that he had said, without
" communicating it to any body, till the next morn-
" ing, when he would again wait on him, to know
" his opinion upon the whole ; for if his majesty
" should approve of what he proposed, he had an-
" other particular to offer, before the matter should
" be publicly debated. " When he came the next
morning, and found the king was n much pleas-
ed with what he had before discoursed, and asked
what the other particular was that he intended to
offer ; the lord Cottington told him, " that he was
" very glad his majesty was so well pleased with
" what he had proposed, which he confessed the
" more he had revolved himself, the more hopeful
" the success appeared to him ; which made him
" the more solicitous, that through any inadver-
" tency such a design might not miscarry. "

He put him then in mind again " of his great
" age, how unlike it was that he should be able to
" hold out such a journey, or, if he did, the fatigue
" thereof would probably cast him into a fit of the
" gout or the stone, or both, which if he should out-
" live, he should be long detained from the prosecu-
" tion of his business, which the less vigorously pur-
" sued would be more ineffectual ;" and therefore
proposed, " that he might have a companion with
** him, of more youth and a stronger constitution,

11 was] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 477

" who would receive some benefit by the informa- 1668.
" tion and advice he should be able to give him, the ~
" advantage whereof would redound for the present,
" and might more in the future, to the king's ser-
" vice ;" and in fine proposed, " that the chancellor
" of the exchequer might be joined in the commis-
" sion with him, and accompany him into Spain,
" from whence if they made haste in their journey,
" they might make such a progress in that court,
" that he might be able to attend his majesty in
" Ireland in a very short time after his arrival
" there ; whilst himself remained still at Madrid, to
" prosecute all further opportunities to advance his
" service. "

The king was surprised with the overture ; and
asked " whether the chancellor would be willing to
" undertake the employment, and whether he had
" spoken with him of it. " To which the other pre-
sently replied, " that he knew not, nor had ever
" spoke to him of it, nor would do, till his majesty,
" if he liked it, should first prepare him ; for he
" knew well he would at first be startled at it, and it
" may be might take it unkindly. That he knew well
" how much of the weight of his business lay upon
" the chancellor's shoulders, and in that respect that
" many others would not be willing he should be ab-
" sent : yet that there was a long vacation in view,
" and there could be little to be done till the
" king should come into Ireland ; and by that time
" he might be with him again, with such a return
" from Spain as might be welcome and convenient
" to him. And therefore if his majesty would first
" break the matter to him, he would then take the
'* work upon him ; and he believed he should give



478 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF



IMS. " ^ im 8ucn reasons, since he could not suspect his
" friendship," (which was very notorious, and they
lived then together,) " as would dispose him to the
" journey. "

When the king spake to him of it, as a thing that
had resulted from his own thoughts ; " that he had
" more hope to obtain some supply from Spain, than
" from any other place ; that no man could be so fit
" to solicit it as the lord Cottington, and nobody so
" fit to accompany him as he, who might be with
" him in Ireland in a short time ;" he said, " he had
" spoken with lord Cottington to undertake the em-
" ployment, to which he was not averse ; but he had
" expressly refused to undertake it alone, and he
" knew that no companion would-be so acceptable
" to him as he would be. "

The chancellor did not at first dissemble the ap-
prehension, that this device had been contrived at
Paris, where he knew that neither of them were ac-
ceptable, nor were wished to be about the king, or
to have so much credit with him as they were both
thought to have : but the king quickly expelled that
jealousy. And he desired a short time to consider
of it ; and received such reasons (besides kindness
in the invitation) from the lord Cottington, that he
did not submit only to the king's pleasure, but very
willingly undertook the employment : and, though
it was afterwards delayed by the importunity of
many, and the queen's own advice, who thought the
chancellor's attendance about the person of the king
her son to be more useful to his service, than it was
like to be in the other climate, the king was firm to
his purpose ; and despatched them shortly after his
coming into France, when he resolved and prepared



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 479

for his own expedition into Ireland, in order to 16C8.
which there were then some Dutch ships of war"
that waited for him at St. Male's.

This was the occasion and ground of his second His sec v ntl

retreat in

retreat and recess from a very uneasy condition, of Spain.
which he was not more weary in respect of the diffi-
culty and melancholy of the business, from which he
could not entirely disentangle himself by absence,
than in respect of the company he was to keep in
the conducting it, who had humours and inclinations
uneasy to him, irresolute in themselves, and contrary
for the most part to his judgment. And he did still
acknowledge, that he did receive much refreshment
and benefit by that negotiation. For though the
employment proved ineffectual to the purposes for
which it was intended, by the king's finding it ne-
cessary to divert his intended journey for Ireland,
into that of Scotland ; yet he had vacancy to recol-
lect and compose his broken thoughts ; and mended
his understanding, in the observation and expe-
rience of another kind of negotiation than he had
formerly been acquainted with, under the assistance,
advice, and friendship of the most able person, and
the best acquainted with foreign negotiations and
the general interests of the several kings and states
in Christendom, of any statesman then alive in Eu-
rope, and who delighted in giving him all the infor-
mation he could. He was conversant in a court of
another nature and humour, of another kind of
grandeur and gravity, of another constitution and
policy ; and where ambassadors are more esteemed
and regarded, and live with more conversation and
a better intelligence amongst themselves, than in
any other court in the world.



480 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1668. The less of business he had, he was the more va-
~~ cant to study the language and the manners and the
government of that nation. He made a collection
of and read many of the best books which are extant
in that language, especially in the histories of their
civil and ecclesiastical state. Upon the reading the
Pontifical History written by Illescas in two volumes,
and continued by one or two others in three other
volumes, he begun there first his Animadversions
upon the Superiority and Supremacy of the Pope,
which he afterwards continued to a perfect work.
Here he resumed the continuation of his Devotions
on the Psalms, and other discourses of piety and de-
votion, which he reviewed and enlarged in his later
times of leisure. Though he underwent in this em-
ployment many mortifications of several kinds, yet
he still acknowledged that he learned much dur-
ing the time of his being in Spain, from whence he
returned a little before the battle of Worcester ; and
after the king's miraculous escape into France, he
quickly waited upon his majesty, and was never se-
parated from his person, till sixteen or seventeen
years after by his banishment.

His third This he called his third and most blessed recess,
his banish- in which God vouchsafed to exercise many of his
mercies towards him. And though he entered into
it with many very disconsolate circumstances ; yet
in a short time, upon the recovery of a better state
of health, and being remitted into a posture of ease
and quietness, and secure from the power of his ene-
mies, he recovered likewise a marvellous tranquil-
lity and serenity of mind, by making a strict review
and recollection into all the actions, all the faults
and follies, committed by himself and others in his



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 481

last continued fatigue of seventeen or eighteen 1668.
years ; in which he had received very many signal
instances of God's favour, and in which he had so
behaved himself, that he had the good opinion and
friendship of those of the best fame, reputation, and
interest, and was generally believed to have deserved
very well of the king and kingdom.

In all this retirement he was very seldom vacant,
and then only when he was under some sharp visita-
tion of the gout, from reading excellent books, or
writing some animadversions and exercitations of
his own, as appears by the papers and notes which
he left. He learned the Italian and French lan-
guages, in which he read many of the choicest
books. Now he finished the work which his heart
was most set upon, the History of the late Civil
Wars and Transactions to the Time of the King's
Return in the Year 1660; of which he gave the
king advertisement. He finished his Reflections
and Devotions upon the Psalms of David, which he
dedicated to his children ; which was ended at
Montpelier before the death of the duchess. He
wrote and finished his Answer to Mr. Hobbes's Le-
viathan, to which he prefixed an epistle dedicatory
to the king, if his majesty would permit it. He
wrote a good volume of Essays, Divine, Moral, and
Political, to which he was always adding. He pre-
pared a Discourse Historical of the Pretence and
Practice of the successive Popes from the Begin-
ning of that Jurisdiction they assume ; in which he
thought he had fully vindicated the power and au-
thority of kings from that odious usurpation. He
entered upon the forming a method for the better
disposing the History of England, that it may be
VOL. in. I i



482 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE.

more profitably and exactly communicated than it
hath yet been. He left so many papers of several
kinds, and cut out so many pieces of work, that a
man may conclude, that he never intended to be
idle.

In a word, he did not only by all possible admi-
nistrations subdue his affections and passions, to
make his mind conformable to his present fortune ;
but did all he could to lay in a stock of patience
and provision, that might support him in any fu-
ture exigent or calamity that might befall him : yet
with a cheerful expectation, that God would deliver
him from that powerful combination which then op-
pressed him.



THE END.