No More Learning

"

The lord privy seal, either upon the observation
of the countenance of the house or advertisement of
his friends b , or unwilling to venture his reputation
in the enterprise, had given over the game the first



Lord Ash- d a y 9 an( j nO w spake not at all : but the lord Ashley

ley speaks

for it. adhered firmly to his point, spake often and with
great sharpness of wit, and had a cadence in his
words and pronunciation that drew attention. He
said, " it was the king's misfortune that a matter of
" so great concernment to him, and such a preroga-

b friends} friend



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 347

" tive as it may be would be found to be inherent 1665.
" in him without any declaration of parliament,"
" should be supported only by such weak men as
. " himself, who served his majesty at a distance,
" whilst the great officers of the crown thought fit
" to oppose it ; which he more wondered at, because
" nobody knew more than they the king's unshake-
" able firmness in his religion, that had resisted and
" vanquished so many great temptations ; and there-
" fore he could not be thought unworthy of a
" greater trust with reference to it, than he would
" have by this bill. "

The chancellor, having not been present at theThechau-
former debate upon the first day, thought it fit to sp eaks
sit silent in this, till he found the house in some ex- again
pectation to hear his opinion : and 'then he stood up
and said, " that no man could say more, if it were
" necessary or pertinent, of the king's . constancy in
" his religion, and of his understanding the constitu-
" tion and foundation of the church of England,
" than he ; no man had been witness to more as-
" saults which he had sustained than he had been,
" and of many victories ; and therefore, if the ques-
" tion were how far he might be trusted in that
" point, he should make no scruple in declaring,
" that he thought him more worthy to be trusted
'* than any man alive. But there was nothing in
" that bill that could make that the question, which
" had confounded all notions of religion, and erected
"a chaos of policy to overthrow all religion and go-
" vernment : so that the question was not, whether
" the king were worthy of that trust, but whether
" that trust were worthy of the king. That it had
" been no new thing for kings to divest themselves



348 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

\

1665. " of many particular rights and powers, because
~~ " they were thereby exposed to more trouble and
" vexation, and so deputed that authority to others
" qualified by them c : and he thought it a very un-
" reasonable and unjust thing to commit such a
" trust to the king, which nobody could suppose he
" could execute himself, and yet must subject him
" to daily and hourly importunities, which must be
" so much the more uneasy to a nature of so great
" bounty and generosity, that nothing is so un-
" grateful to him as to be obliged to deny. "
And drops In the vehemence of this debate, the lord Ashley

some un- ,,-, in

guarded ex- having used some language that he knew reflected
upon him, the chancellor let fall some unwary ex-
pressions, which were turned to his reproach and re-
membered long after. When he insisted upon the
wildness and illimitedness in the bill, he said, "it
" was ship-money in religion, that nobody could
" know the end of, or where it would rest ; that if
" it were passed, Dr. Goffe or any other apostate
" from the church of England might be made a bi-
" shop or archbishop here, all oaths and statutes
" and subscriptions being dispensed with :" which
were thought two envious instances, and gave
his enemies opportunities to make glosses and re-
flections upon to his disadvantage. In this debate
it fell out that the duke of York appeared very
much against the bill ; which was imputed to the
chancellor, and served to " heap coals of fire upon
" his head. " In the end, very few having spoken
for it, though there were many who would have
consented to it, besides the catholic lords, it was

c them] him



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 349

agreed that there should be no question put for the 1665.
commitment ; which was the most civil way of re- ~~
jecting it, and left it to be no more called for.

The king was infinitely troubled at the ill sue- The king
cess of this bill, which he had been assured would with the
pass notwithstanding the opposition that was ex-
pected ; and it had produced one effect that was rer;
foreseen though not believed, in renewing the bit-
terness against the Roman catholics. And they,
who watched all occasions to perform those offices,
had now a large field to express their malice against
the chancellor and the treasurer, " whose pride only
" had disposed them to shew their power and credit
" in diverting the house from gratifying the king,
" to which they had been inclined ;" and his majesty
heard all that could be said against them without
any dislike. After two or three days he sent for
them both together into his closet, which made it
generally believed in the court, that he resolved to
take both their offices from them, and they did in
truth believe and expect it (1 : but there was never
any cause appeared after to think that it was in his
purpose. He spake to them of other business, with-
out taking the least notice of the other matter, and
dismissed them with a countenance less open than
he used to have towards them, and made it evident
that he had not the same thoughts of them he had
formerly.

And when the next day the chancellor went to
him alone, and was admitted into his cabinet, and
began to take notice " that he seemed to have dis-
" satisfaction in his looks towards him ;" the king, in

d it] Omitted in MS.



350 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. more choler thairhe had ever before seen him, told
~ him, " his looks were such as they ought to be ;
" that he was very much unsatisfied with him, and
" thought he had used him very ill ; that he had de-
" served better of him, and did not expect that he
" would have carried himself in that manner as he
" had done in the house of peers, having known his
" majesty's own opinion from himself, which it seem-
" ed was of no authority with him if it differed from
" his judgment, to which he would not submit
" against his reason. "

The other, with the confidence of an honest man,
entered upon the discourse of the matter, assured
him " the very proposing it had done his majesty
" much prejudice, and that they who were best af-
" fected to his service in both houses were much
" troubled and afflicted with it : and of those who
" advised him to it, one knew nothing of the con-
" stitution of England, and was not thought to wish
" well to the religion of it ; and the other was so
" well known to him, that nothing was more won-
" derful than that his majesty should take him for a
" safe counsellor. " He had recourse then again to the
matter, and used some arguments against it which
had not been urged before, and which seemed to
make impression. He heard all he said with pa-
tience, but seemed not to change his mind, and an-
swered ho more than " that it was no time to speak
" to the matter, which was now passed ; and if it
" had been unseasonably urged, he might still have
" carried himself otherwise than he had done ;" and
so spake of somewhat else.

His majesty did not withdraw any of his trust or
confidence from him in his business, and seemed to



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 351

have the same kindness for him : but from that time 1665.
he never had the same credit with him as he had ~
before. The lord Ashley got no ground, but sir
Harry Bennet very much, who, though he spake
very little in council, shewed his power out of it, by
persuading his majesty to recede from many resolu-
tions he had taken there. And afterwards, in all
the debates in council which were preparatory to
the war, and upon those particulars which have
been mentioned before, which concerned the justice
and policy that was to be observed, whatsoever was
offered by the chancellor or treasurer was never
considered. It was answer enough, " that they were
" enemies to the war;" which was true, as long as it
was in deliberation : but from the time it was re-
solved and remediless, none of them who promoted
it contributed any thing to the carrying it on pro-
portionably to what was done by the other two.

There was another and a greater mischief than And witu
hath been mentioned, that resulted from that un- shops.
happy debate ; . which was the prejudice and disad-
vantage that the bishops underwent by their so una-
nimous dislike of that bill. For from that time the
king never treated any of them with that respect as
he had done formerly, and often spake of them too
slightly ; which easily encouraged others not only
to mention their persons very negligently, but their
function and religion itself, as an invention to im-
pose upon the free judgments and understandings of
men. What was preached in the pulpit was com-
mented upon and derided in the chamber, and
preachers acted, and sermons vilified as laboured dis-
courses, which the preachers made only to shew
their own parts and wit, without any other design



352 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. than to be commended and preferred. These grew
to be the subjects of the mirth and wit of the court ;
and so much license was e manifested in it, that gave
infinite scandal to those who observed it, and to those
who received the reports of it : and all serious and
prudent men took it as an ill presage, that whilst all
warlike preparations were made in abundance suit-
able to the occasion, there should so little prepara-
tion of spirit be for a war against an enemy, who
might possibly be without some of our virtues, but
assuredly was without any of our vices.
The plague There begun now to appear another enemy, much

breaks out. '

more formidable than the Dutch, and more difficult
to be struggled with ; which was the plague, that
brake out in the winter, and made such an early
progress in the spring, that though the weekly num-
bers did not rise high, and it appeared to be only in
the outskirts of the town, and in the most obscure
alleys, amongst the poorest people ; yet the ancient
men, who well remembered in what manner the last
great plague (which had been near forty years be-
fore) first brake out, and the progress it afterwards
made, foretold a terrible summer. And many of
them removed their families out of the city to coun-
try habitations ; when their neighbours laughed at
their providence, and thought they might have
stayed without danger: but they found shortly that
they had done wisely. In March it spread so much,
that the parliament was very willing to part : which
was likewise the more necessary, in regard that so
many of the members of the house of commons were
assigned to so many offices and employments which

e was] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 353

related to the war, and which required their imme- I6G5.
diate attendance. For though the fleet was not yt ~"
gone out, yet there were many prizes daily brought
in, besides the first seizure, which by this time was
adjudged d lawful prize; in all which great loss was
sustained by the license of officers as well as com-
mon men, and the absence of such as should restrain
and punish it : so that, as soon as the bill was passed
the houses for the good aid they had given the king,
and was ready for the royal assent, his majesty
passed it, and prorogued the parliament in April The parii
(which was in I665 e ) till September following; his l"Ji. ro ~
majesty declaring, " that if it pleased God to extin-
" guish or allay the fierceness of the plague," which
at that time raged more, " he should be glad to meet
" them then ; by which time they would judge by
" some success of the war, what was more to be
" done. But if that visitation increased, they should
" have notice by proclamation that they might not
" hazard themselves. "

The parliament being thus prorogued, there was The fleet
the same reason to hasten out the fleet; towards prepar
which the duke left nothing undone, which his un-
wearied industry and example could contribute to-
wards it f , being himself on board, and having got
all things necessary into his own ship that he cared
for. But he found that it was absolutely requisite
to put out to sea, though many things were wanting
in other ships, even of beer and other provision of
victual; not only to be before the enemy, but be-
cause % he saw it would be impossible, whilst the
ships were in port, to keep the seamen from going

d adjudged] adjusted f it] Omitted in MS.

* 1665] by error in MS. 55. B because] Omitted in MS.

VOL. II. A. a



354 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 665. on shore, by which they might bring the plague on
~~ bgard with them ; and there was already a suspicion
that the infection was got into one of the smaller
ships.

It hath been said before, that all things relating
to the fleet were upon the matter wholly governed
The duke by Mr. Coventry. It is very true, that the officers
ch of the navy constantly attended the duke together



those three sea-captains who have been named
b e f ore : \) U ^ from the time that the war was declared,
his highness consulted daily, for his own informa-
tion and instruction, with sir John Lawson and sir
George Ayscue and sir William Pen, all men of
great experience, and who had commanded in seve-
ral battles. Upon the advice of these men the duke
always made his estimates and all propositions to
the king. There was somewhat of rivalship between
the two last, because they had been in equal com-
mand : therefore the duke took sir William Pen
into his own ship, and made him captain of it ;
which was a great trust, and a very honourable com-
mand, that exempted him from receiving any or-
ders but from the duke, and so extinguished the
other emulation, the other two being flag-officers
and to command several squadrons.

In all conferences with these men Mr. Coventry's
presence and attendance was necessary, both to re-
duce all things into writing which were agreed upon,
and to be able to put the duke in mind of what he
was to do. Lawson was the man of whose judg-
ment the duke had the best esteem; and he was
in truth, of a man of that breeding, (for he was a
perfect tarpawlin,) a very extraordinary person ;
he understood his profession incomparably well,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 355

spake clearly and pertinently, but not pertinaciously 1CG5.
enough when he was contradicted. Ayscue was a
gentleman, but had kept ill company too long, which
had blunted his understanding, if it had been ever
sharp : he was of few words, yet spake to the pur-
pose and to be easily understood. Pen, who had
much the worst understanding, had a great mind to
appear better bred, and to speak like a gentleman ;
he had got many good words, which he used at ad-
venture ; he was a formal man, and spake very lei-
surely but much, and left the matter more intricate
and perplexed than he found it. He was entirely
governed by Mr/Coventry, who still learned enough
of him to offer any thing rationally in the debate, or
to cross what was not agreeable to his own fancy,
by which he was still swayed out of the pride and
perverseness of his will.

Upon debate and conference with these men, the
duke brought propositions to the king reduced into
writing by Mr. Coventry ; and the king commonly
consulted them with the lord treasurer in his h pre-
sence, the propositions being commonly for increase
of the expense, which Mr. Coventry was solicitous
by all the ways possible to contrive. To those con-
sultations the duke always brought the sea-officers,
and Mr. Coventry, who spake much more than they,
to explain especially what sir William Pen said, who
took upon himself to speak most, and often what
the others had never thought though they durst not
contradict ; and sir John Lawson often complained,
" that Mr. Coventry put that in writing which had
" never been proposed by them, and would continue

h his] the

A a 2



356 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " disputing it till they yielded. " Every conference
~~ raised the charge very much ; and what they pro-
posed yesterday as enough was to-day made twice as
much ; if they proposed six fire-ships to be provided,
within two or three days they demanded twelve :
so there could be no possible computation of the
charge.

The duke By this means the fleet that was now ready to
LI. put to sea amounted to fourscore sail ; and the king
willingly consented, upon the reasons the duke pre-
sented to him, that they should set sail as soon as
was possible. And before the end of April the duke
was with the whole fleet at sea, and visited the coast
of Holland, and took many ships in their view, their
Many no- fleet being not yet in readiness. Many noblemen,

blemen go IO-T-* i i -i T^

as voiun- the earl of Peterborough, the lord viscount Ferrers,
and others, with many gentlemen of quality, went
as volunteers, and were distributed into the several
ships with much countenance by the duke, and as
many taken into his own ship as could be done with
convenience.

The duke of Buckingham had from the first men-
tion of the war, which he promoted all he could, de-
clared " that he would make one in it :" and when it
was declared, he desired to have the command of a
ship, which the duke positively denied to give him,
except the king commanded it, (and his majesty
was content to refer that, as he did the nomination
of all the other officers, to his brother,) and did not
think fit that a man, of what quality soever, who
had never been at sea, should his first voyage have
the command of any considerable ship, (and a small
one had not been for his honour ;) at which he was
much troubled. Yet his friends told him that he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 357

was too far engaged, to stay at home when his royal 1 665.
highness ventured his own person : and thereupon ~
he resolved to go a volunteer, and put himself on
board a flag-ship, the captain whereof was in his fa-
vour. And then he desired, " that in respect of his
" quality, and his being a privy counsellor, he might
" be present in all councils of war. " The duke
thought this not reasonable, and would not make a
new precedent. There were many of the ancient
nobility, earls and barons, who were then on board
as volunteers ; and if the consideration of quality
might entitle them to be present in council, all or-
ders would be broken, there being none called but
flag-officers : and therefore his royal highness posi-
tively refused to gratify him in that point ; which
the duke of Buckingham thought (it being enough
known that the duke had neither esteem or kind-
ness for him) to be such a personal disobligation, that
would well excuse him for declining the enterprise.
And pretending that he did appeal to the king in
point of light, he left the fleet, and returned to the
shore to complain. And we return back too to the
view of other particulars.

There were two persons, whom the king and his Some new
brother did desire to make remarkable by some pe
extraordinary favours : one of which was equally
grateful to both, sir Charles Berkley, who had been sir Charles
lately created an Irish viscount by the name of lord
Fitzharding, the old and true surname of the fa-
mily; upon whom the king had, for reasons only
known to himself, set his affection so much, that he
had never denied any thing he asked for himself or
for any body else, and was well content that he
should be looked upon as his favourite. He had

A a 3



358 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. been long thought so to the duke, who was willing
~~ to promote any thing to his advantage : and the
king had deferred those instances only till the par-
liament should be prorogued, lest it should raise the
appetites of others to make suits, which he had hi-
therto defended himself from, by declaring he would
make no more lords. But the parliament was no
sooner prorogued, than it was resolved to be put in
execution : and when it was to be done, the chan-
cellor had the honour to be present alone with the
king and duke, when it seemed to be first thought
of. And when the duke proposed it as a suit to the
king, that he would make the lord Fitzharding an
earl, extolling his courage and affection to the king ;
he was pleased with the motion to that degree, that
he extolled him with praises which could be applied
to few men : and it was quickly resolved that he
should be an earl of England, and a title was as soon
found out ; and so he was created earl of Falmouth,
before he had one foot of land in the world.

And to gratify the king for this favour, the duke
likewise proposed that the king would make sir
And sir H. Harry Bennet a lord, whom all the world knew he
Arlington! did not care for ; which was as willingly granted :
and he had no more estate than the other, and could
not so easily find a title for his barony. But be-
cause he had no mind to retain his own name, which
was no good one, his first warrant was to be created
Cheney, which was an ancient barony expired, and
to which family he had not the least relation : and
for some days upon the signing the warrant he was
called lord Cheney, until a gentleman of the best

1 he] who



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 359

quality in Buckinghamshire, who, though he had no 1665.
title to the barony, was yet of the same family, and~~
inherited most part of the estate, which was very
considerable, and was married to a daughter of the
duke of Newcastle, heard of it, and made haste to
stop it. He went first to sir Harry Bennet himself,
and desired him " not to affect a title to which he
" had no relation ; and to which though he could
" not pretend of direct right, yet he was not so k
" obscure but that himself or a son of his might
" hereafter be thought worthy of it by the crown ;
" and in that respect it would be some trouble to
" him to see it vested in the family of a stranger. "
The secretary did not give him so civil an answer
as he expected, having no knowledge of the gentle-
man. Yet shortly after, upon information of his
condition and quality, (as he was in all respects very
worthy of consideration,) the patent being not yet
prepared, he was contented to take the title of a
little farm that had belonged to his father and was
sold by him, and now in . the possession of another
private person ; and so was created lord Arlington,
the proper and true name of the place being Har-
lington, a little* village between London and Ux~
bridge.

The king took the occasion to make these two Mr. Fre*.
noblemen from an obligation that lay upon him to created ior<i
confer two honours at the same time ; the one upon ^
Mr. Frescheville, of a very ancient family in Derby-
shire, and a fair estate, who had been always bred
in the court, a menial servant of the last king, and
had served him in the head of a troop of horse raised

k so] Not in MS.
A a 4



360 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. at his own charge^ in the war, and whom his late
~ majesty had promised to make a baron.

And Mr. The other was Mr. Richard Amndel of Trerice
in Cornwall, a gentleman as well known by what
el ne na d done and suffered in the late time, as by the
eminency of his family, and the fortune he was still
master of after the great depredation of the time.
John Arundel, his father, was of the best interest
and estate of the gentlemen of Cornwall: and in
the beginning of the troubles, when the lord Hopton
* tne otner gentlemen with him were forced to

i>>y- retire into Cornwall, he and his friends supported
them, and gave the first turn and opposition to the
Current of the parliament's usurpation; and to them,
their courage and activity, all the success that the
lord Hopton had afterwards was justly to be im-
puted as to the first rise. The old gentleman was
then above seventy years of age, and infirm ; but all
his sons he engaged in the war : the two eldest
were eminent officers, both members of the house of
commons, and the more zealous soldiers by having
been witnesses of the naughty proceedings of those
who had raised the rebellion. The eldest was
killed in the head of his troop, charging and driving
back a bold sally that was made out of Plymouth
when it was besieged : and this other gentleman of
whom we now speak, and who was then the younger
brother, was an excellent colonel of foot to the end
of the war.

When sir Nicholas Slanning, who was governor of
Pendennis, lost his life bravely in the siege of Bris-
tol, the king knew not into what hands to commit
that important place so securely, as by sending a
commission to old John Arundel of Trerice to com-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 361

mand, well knowing that it must be preserved prin- 1 665.
cipally by his interest ; and in respect of his age ~
joined his eldest son with him : and after his death
he added the younger brother to the command, of
whom we are speaking, who was in truth then
looked upon as the most powerful person in that
county.

When the king, then prince, was compelled, after
almost the whole west was lost, to retire into Corn-
wall, he remained in Pendennis castle, and from
thence made his first embarkation to Scilly : and at
parting, out of a princely sense of the affection and
service of that family, he took the old gentleman
aside, and in the presence of his son wished him "to
" defend the place as long as he could, because re-
" lief might come, of which there was some hope
" from abroad;" and promised him, "if he lived to
" come back into England, he would make him a
" baron ; and if he were dead, he would make it
" good to his son. " The old man behaved him
bravely to his death, having all his estate taken
from him ; and his son remained as eminently faith-
ful, and had as deep marks of it as any man : so
that at the king's return, who never forgat his pro-
mise, he might have received the effect of it in the
first creation, if he had desired it ; but he chose ra-
ther to recover the bruises his fortune had endured
by seizures and sequestrations, before he would em-
bark him in a condition that must presently raise
his expense in his way of living. And as soon as
he found himself at ease in that respect, he got a
friend to inform the king, " that he was ready to re-
" ceive his bounty. "

And his majesty, being under these two obliga-



362 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. tions, was willing to take the same opportunity to
"prefer the two other persons he loved so well. But
at the same time that he declared his resolution for
the last two, (but what concerned the others had
been long known and expected,) his majesty re-
flected upon the number of the house of peers,
which was in many respects found grievous, and de-
clared to his brother and the chancellor, who were
only present, "that no importunity should prevail
" with him to make any more lords in many years,
" and till the present number should be lessened ;"
in which resolution the duke willingly concurred,
and protested " that he would never more importune
" him in that point. " The reason of mentioning
this declaration and resolution will appear here-
after. This creation was no sooner over, than the
new earl of Falmouth went with the duke to sea :
for though his relation was now immediately to the
king and near his person, yet he thought himself
obliged not to be from the duke when he was to be
engaged in so much danger ; and he was confessed
by all men to abound in a most fearless cou-
rage.

A parti- It will not be unseasonable in this place to take a
of 6 *~ view of an act of state that passed about this time,
pa- an( ^ which afterwards administered matter of re-
tent, proach against the chancellor, and was made use of
by his enemies as an evidence of his corruption ; for
the better understanding whereof, it will be neces-
sary to begin the relation from the original ground
of the counsel. About the first Christmas after the
king's happy return into England, the chancellor,
treasurer, privy seal, and the two chief justices
(being the persons appointed by the statute for that



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 363

purpose) met together to set the prices upon the 1665.
several sorts of wines ; and were attended, according
to custom, by the company of vintners, and the
chief merchants in the city who traded in that com-
modity. And being first to limit the merchants to
a reasonable rate, before they could prescribe any
price to the vintners upon the retail, they found, by
the best inquiry they could make, that the first
prices beyond the seas which the merchants paid for
their wines were so excessive, that the retail could
not be brought within any compass ; and that since
the beginning of the troubles the price of wines in
general was exceedingly increased, and particularly
that of the Canaries was almost double to what it
had been in the year 1640.

The chancellor knew very well, by the corre-
spondence he had held in the Canaries, (during the
time that he had served his majesty as his ambas-
sador in Spain,) that the whole trade for the Canary
wine was driven solely by the English, and the com-
modity entirely vended in the king's dominions, all
Christendom beside not spending any quantity of
that wine : and thereupon he asked the merchants
" whether what he had reported was not true, and
" what would be the way to remedy that mis-
chief. "

They all confessed it to be very true, and " that
" it was a great reproach to the nation to be so
" much imposed upon in a trade that they might
" govern themselves : and that the unreasonable
" prices of the wine were not the greatest prejudice
" that was befallen that trade. That before the
" troubles they had been so far from employing any
" stock of money for the support of that traffick, that



364 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " they used to send their ships fully laden with all
~" " commodities thither, which yielded very good
" markets, being sent from thence into the West
" Indies with their Plate fleets ; and that the very
" pipe-staves which they carried did very near sup-
" ply the value of their wine, so that they brought
" home the proceed of their commodities either in
" pieces of eight, or such other merchandizes as had
" been brought thither from the Indies, and upon
" which they received great profit. OQ the con-
" trary, that the trade was now wholly driven by
" ready money ; that the commodities they send thi-
" ther are not taken off, except at their own prices,
" so that they have for the late years sent their ves-
" sels empty thither, except only with some few
" pipe-staves, which by the destruction in Ireland
" they could not send in any great proportion ; and
" that their ships return from thence with no other
" lading but those wines, which they trade for in
" ready money, either by pieces of eight sent in
" their ships from hence, or by bills of exchange
" charged upon some known merchants in Spain.
" That over and above these disadvantages, the
" Spaniards in those islands had of late imposed
" new duties upon the wine, and laid other imposi-
" tions upon the merchants than the English nation
" had been ever accustomed to. " They said, " all
" these inconveniences proceeded from the immo-
" derate appetite this nation hath for that sort of
" wine, and therefore they take from them as much
" as they can make ; and from our own disorder
" and irregularity in buying them, and contending
" who shall get the most, and so raising the price
" upon one another, and making the Spaniards



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 365
themselves the judges what the merchants shall 1G65.



" pay.

The lords, upon consultation between themselves,
found the matter too hard for them, and that the
reformation of so much evil must be made by de-
grees, and upon a representation of the whole, with
the difficulties which attended it, to the king and
his privy-council, whose wisdoms only could provide
a remedy proportionable to the mischiefs. For the
present, as they resolved not to raise the prices at
which wine was at that time bought and sold, (which
they believed, how reasonably soever it might be
done, would yet be very unpopular,) so they thought
it not just to draw down and abate those prices,
since it appeared to them that the wines cost more
in proportion upon the places of their growth. They
declared therefore to the merchants and to the vint-
ners, " that though for the present they would per-
" mit the same prices to continue for the next year,
" which they had been sold for the present year,"
and which indeed were confirmed by the late act of
parliament, " they should hereafter take care what
" markets they made ; for that they were resolved
" the next year to make the prices much lower botli
" to the merchant and to the vintner :" and so, upon
the report made by the lords of the whole matter to
the king in council, and of what they thought fit to
be done for the present, a proclamation was pub-
lished accordingly.

The next year both the merchants and vintners
were very earnest suitors to the lords at their ac-
customed meeting, that greater prices might be al-
lowed, or at least that the same might be continued ;
making it very evident, that their wines cost them



366 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. more than they had done the year before. Upon the
"debate the Canary merchants were much divided.
Some of them insisted very importunately to have
the price raised, " because it was notorious that
" they had paid much more than formerly, by rea-
" son," as they alleged, " that the vintage had not
" yielded near the proportion that it used to do. "
Others, though confessing the increase of price, yet
pretended a more public spirit and the necessity of a
reformation : and therefore they pressed as earn-
estly, " that the price might not be raised, but that
" they might be permitted to take what they had
" done already for this year. " It was quickly dis-
covered whence this moderation proceeded ; and
that the last proposers had a great quantity of wine
upon their hands, which had been provided the year
before, and so might well be sold at the same price ,
but that the former had no old wine left, but were
supplied with a full provision of new, which had
cost them so much dearer. Both the one and the
other desired the lords, " that whatever resolution
" they took for the present, a clause might be in-
" serted in the proclamation, that, the next year
" which followed, Canary wine should not be sold
" for above four and twenty pounds the pipe, and
" that every year after it should be drawn lower,"
as it might well be, it having been sold in the year
1640 for twenty pounds the pipe; though, in the
year when his majesty returned, it had been per-
mitted to be sold at six and thirty pounds the pipe.
" Such a clause," they said, " would give notice to
" the islanders, and oblige them to sell their wines
. " at more reasonable rates, and would render the
" merchants unexcusable if they should give greater. "



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 367

Notwithstanding all their allegations, the lords re-
membered what they had declared to them the last
year, which was as fair a warning as any thing they
could now say would be. And accordingly they set
lower prices upon all wines for the year to come
than had been allowed the last, as the most effec-
tual warning for the future : which was thought a
very rigorous proceeding ; but being reported to the
king and council, what they had done was allowed
and confirmed, and his majesty was well contented
that such a clause -as they had proposed should be
inserted in the proclamation ; which was accordingly
done.

The year following, when the lords met again
according to custom, which is, as hath been said,
about Christmas, they found not the least reforma-
tion ; on the contrary, that the Canary merchants
had paid dearer than ever, which made them all
more solicitous to have the price raised, and the
vintners as importunate for their retail. And in-
deed the vintners seemed to be in a much worse
condition than the merchants. And they made it
appear, " that they were often compelled to pay
" higher prices to the merchant than were l imposed
" by their lordships ; without which they could get
" no good wine, and so must give over their keep-
" ing house : that the penalty upon the merchant
" was very small, being not above forty shillings a
" pipe, and the crime not easy to be discovered, as
" was evident by there not having been one mer-
" chant questioned in many years for that common
" transgression ; whereas on the vintner's part the

1 were] was



368 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " penalty was very severe, and easily discovered by
~ " any man who went to a tavern and would be an
" informer, and that most of the vintners in Lon-
" don were at that very time sued in the exchequer
" upon those very penalties, which, if exacted, must
" produce their ruin. "

The merchants excused themselves for their pre-
sent pretence, and for their having given more for
their wines than was lawful for them to have done
by their own desire : " that they had done their
" best, and that the greatest traders amongst them
" had consented between themselves not to suffer
" the prices to be raised upon them ; but that they
" found it ineffectual, and that though they should
" give over their trades, it would produce no refor-
" mation. That the trade was open to all adven-
" turers, and that there had been many ships sent
" from England in that very year by Jews, and
" people of several trades, who had never been be-
" fore known to trade to the Canaries : insomuch
" as when they who had been long bred up to the
" trade, and had been long factors in those islands,
" sent their ships thither, they found other English
" ships there, and the wines bought at a greater
" price than they had allowed their factors to give ;
" so that they must either have their ships return
" empty and unladen, or take the wines at the prices
" other men gave. That they had chosen the latter, as
" well to continue their trade, as to draw home some
" part of the stock they had in that country. That
" they could imagine but two ways to reform that
" excess : the one, by putting the trade into such a
" method and m under such rules, as might restrain
ra and"! as in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 369

" that license, and not leave it in the power of per- 1(565.
" sons who never had been in the trade to give the ~~
" law to it ; and by this means the islanders would
" find it necessary to set reasonable prices . upon
" their commodities, and to yield such other advan-
" tages and privileges to the merchants as they had
" heretofore enjoyed. The other, that the king
" would by his proclamation prohibit the importa-
" tion of any Canary wines into his dominions : and
" hereby he would quickly receive such propositions
" from Spain, as would put it into his own power to
" make the reformation ; otherwise the islanders had
" been persuaded that England could not live with-
" out their wines. "

The lords were resolved, notwithstanding all that
had been said, that they would execute the former
proclamation, and reduce the prices of wines to
what had been then determined : and after they
had given a full account of the whole business to
the king in council, the resolution was approved,
and a proclamation was issued out to that purpose.
The merchants and vintners applied themselves to
his majesty, and to many of the lords of the council,
and thought they had encouragement enough to
hope for a relief in an appeal to the king and coun-
cil by petition ; and they had thereupon a day as-
signed to be heard. Many of the lords thought it
very hard, if not unjust, to compel men to sell
cheaper than they bought, which was the truth of
the case, and which must oblige both merchants and
vintners to sophisticate and corrupt their wines to
preserve their estates ; which might probably turn
to the great damage of the whole kingdom, in pro-
ducing sickness and diseases : and this charitable

VOL. II. B b



370 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. and generous consideration prevailed with the major
~ part of the lords to be well contented, and to wish
that some indulgence might be exercised towards
them. On the contrary, when the king had well
weighed the whole proceedings, and with trouble
and indignation considered the obstinate vice of the
nation, which made it ridiculous to all the world, he
expressed a positive resolution to vindicate himself
and his government from this reproach. He thought
the adhering firmly to the prices which had been re-
solved upon by the lords would be the best preface
to this reformation, though it might be attended
with particular damage to particular persons, who
had yet less cause to complain, because their own
advice had been followed. And thereupon his ma-
jesty declared, " that he would make no alteration ;"
but withal told them, " that if they could make any
" proposition to him for the better regulation of the
" trade," (for they had themselves mentioned a char-
ter,) " he would graciously receive any propositions
" they would make, and gratify them in what was
" just :" and so, notwithstanding all attempts which
were often repeated, the price set by the lords was
ratified for the year following.
The pnnci- Shortly after, many of the merchants who had al-

pal Canary . . . . . . . . . i

merchants ways traded to the Cananes did petition the king,
^ " that they might be incorporated ; and that none
" might be permitted to trade thither but such who
" would be of that corporation, and observe the con-
" stitutions which should be made by them :" which
petition was presented to the king at the council-
board ; and being read, his majesty (according to
his custom in matters of difficulty and public con-
cernment) directed it to be read again on that



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 371

day month, at which time his majesty presumed 1665.
that all who would oppose it would present their"
reasons and objections against it, which he desired
to hear. At the day appointed, though there was
no petition against it, yet it was observed that there
were many of the most eminent merchants of that
trade, whose names were not to the petition, nor who"
otherwise appeared desirous to have a charter grant-
ed : which his majesty considering, he put off the de-
bate for another week, and directed " that the other
" merchants by name should be desired to be present,
" and to give their advice freely upon the point. "

And there was at that day a very full appearance ;
when his majesty directed, " that a relation should
" be made to them of the whole progress that had
" been in the business, and the damage and disho-
" nour the nation underwent in the carrying on
" that trade : that many merchants had presented a
" petition to him, containing an expedient to bring
" it into better order ; but finding them not to ap-
" pear in it, and being informed that they were best
" acquainted with and most engaged in that trade,
" he had sent for them to know their opinion, whe-
" ther they thought what was proposed to be rea-
" sonable and fit to be granted, and if so, why they
" did not concern themselves in it. " They an-
swered, "that the reason why they had not ap-
" peared in it was, because they thought they
" should be losers by it, and therefore were not soli-
" citous to procure a grant from his majesty to their
" own damage ;" and so enlarged " upon the nature
" of the trade, their long experience in it, and the
" greatness of their stock, which they should not be

" who] Not in MS.
B b2



372 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665 - " allowed to continue under any regulation. But
" as they did not think themselves in a situation
" to be solicitous for a change, so they could not
" deny, being required by his majesty to speak the
" truth, but that the proposition that was made was
" for the public good and benefit of the kingdom,
" and that they conceived no other way to redeem
" that trade, and the nation from the insolence
" which the Spaniard exercised upon them;" imply-
ing, " that if his majesty would command them,
" they would likewise, concur and join in the carry-
ing " ing on the service. " To which his majesty giving
thepetu them gracious encouragement, they all seemed to
depart of one mind ; and his majesty remained con-
firmed in the former opinion he had of it.

But there remained yet an objection, which was
principally insisted on by the ministers of the re-
venue, who alleged very reasonably, "that this new-
" modelling the trade must produce some alteration,
" and would meet some opposition from the Spa-
" niard, which for the time would lessen the customs
" and entitle the farmers to a defalcation. " The
petition was therefore referred to the farmers of the
customs, who were to attend the next council-day :
and being then called, they did acknowledge, " that
" the design proposed would prove very profitable
" to the kingdom in many respects," upon which
they enlarged, " and that in the end it would not be
" attended with any diminutions of the customs ;
" but for the present," they said, " they could not
" but expect, that the obstinacy and contradiction of
" the Spaniard would give such a stop to trade, at

in a situation] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 373

" least for one year, that if his majesty did not reim- 1665.
" burse them for what should fall short in the re-~
" ceipt of custom, they must look to be very great
" losers. " The merchants on the other hand offered
" to be bound, that if they did not the first year
" bring in as much as had been usually entered,
" they would make good what should be wanting to
" the farmers upon a medium. " Whereupon his
majesty himself declared, " that he would not, for a
" small damage to himself, hinder the kingdom
" from enjoying so great a benefit:" and he com-
manded his solicitor general, who then attended the
board, " to prepare such a charter as might provide
" for all those good ends which were desired in the
" petition," and which had been so largely debated ;
and it was notorious, that there had never been
a greater concurrence of the board in any direc-
tion.

Many months passed before the charter was pre-
pared ; in which time there was never the least new
objection made against it, nor was it known that
any man was unsatisfied with it. After it was en-
grossed and had passed the king's hand, it was
brought to the great seal ; and there the lord mayor The city of
of London and the court of aldermen had entered
caveat to stop the passing of it. The chancellor, ac-
cording to course, appointed a time when he would
hear all parties. The city alleged an order made a
year or two before by the king in council, upon a
complaint then exhibited by the court of aldermen
against the Turkey company and other corporations,
" in which," they said, " there were very many mer-
" chants of the best trade and of the greatest estates
" in the city, who would never take out their free-

BbS



374 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " dom, and so refused to bear any charge or office
"" " in it, to the very great prejudice and dishonour of
" the city and of the government thereof; since
" they were thereby compelled to call inferior ci-
" tizens to be aldermen, before they had estates to
. " bear the charge of it, whilst the gravest and
" the richest men, who were most fit, could not be
" obliged to accept of it, because they were not free-
" men. " The persons concerned, which were indeed
a great number of very valuable and substantial
men and of great estates, answered, " that they had
" traded very many years without finding any rea-
" son to take out their freedom, which they might
" do or not do as they thought best for themselves ;
" that they had always paid scot and lot in the se-
" veral parishes where they lived with the highest of
" the inhabitants, and were taxed the more because
" they had not taken out their freedom, they who
" taxed them being always freemen ; that they
" were grown old now, and had no mind to become
" young freemen, but would rather give over their
" trade, and retire into the country where they had
" estates. "

Besides the rules which the king gave upon the
difference then in question, he was pleased to de-
clare, and appointed it to be entered as an order in
the council-book, "that care should be taken, that
" in all charters which he should hereafter renew or
" grant to any companies or corporations in the city
" of London, they should first make themselves free-
" men of the city ; by which they might be liable
" to the charges of it, as other citizens are. " They
said, " that there were many of this company that
" was now to be incorporated who were not free-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 375

" men :" and therefore the lord mayor and court of J66. 0.
aldermen desired the benefit of the king's order,"
which was read.

The merchants confessed, "that many of them
" were not freemen, and resolved not to be :" they
said, " they had never heard of this order, and were
" sorry that they had spent so much money to no



" purpose. " The chancellor declared to them, " that The
" he could not seal their charter till they had com- fuses to
" plied with the king's determination, and given 86



" court of aldermen satisfaction :" and they .

had satisfied

seemed as positive that they would rather be with- thecit y-
out their charter, than they would submit to the
other inconveniences : and so they departed. But
after some days' deliberation and consultation be-
tween themselves, and when they found that there
was no possibility to procure a dispensation from
that order, they treated with the city, and agreed
with them in the preparing a clause to be inserted
in their charter, by which they were obliged in so
many years to become freemen ; which clause,
being approved by all parties, was in the king's pre-
sence entered in the bill that his majesty had
signed, and being afterwards added to the engross-
ment, it was again thus reformed and sent to the
great seal, and presented to the chancellor to be
sealed.

There were by this time several new caveats en-
tered against it at the seal ; all which the chancellor
heard, and settled every one of them to the joint sa-
tisfaction of all parties, and all caveats were with-
drawn. There was then a rumour, that there
would be some motions made against it in the house
of commons : and some parliament-men, who serv-

B b 4



376 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 665. ed for the western boroughs, came to the chancellor,
~ and desired him " that he would defer the sealing it
" for some days till they might be heard, since it
" would undo their western trade ; and," they said,
" they resolved to move the house of commons to
" put a stop to it. " The chancellor informed them
of the whole progress it had passed, and told them,
" he believed that they would hardly be able to
"offer any good reasons against it:" however,
since it was then well known that the parliament
would be prorogued within ten or twelve days, he
said " he would suspend the sealing it till then, to
" the elid that they might offer any objections
" against it there or any where else. " But though
the parliament sat longer than it was then con-
ceived it would have done, there was no mention or
notice taken of it : and after the prorogation no ap-
plication was further made for the stopping it, and
the merchants pressed very importunately that it
might be sealed, alleging with reason " that the de-
" ferring it so long had been very much to their
" prejudice. " Whereupon the chancellor conceived
that it would not consist with his duty to delay it
longer, and so affixed the great seal to it.

The company then chose a governor and other
officers according to their charter, and made such
orders and by-laws as they thought fit for the carry-
ing on and advancement of their trade, which they
might alter when they thought convenient ; and for
the present they resolved upon a joint stock, and
assigned so many shares to each particular man.

Somediffe- _ 5 . . / ,. . , .

In this composition and distribution there fell out
some difference between themselves, which could
e taken n otice of abroad : and even some of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 377

them, who first petitioned and were most solicitous 1655.

to procure the charter, did what they could to hin-

der the effect of it ; sent privately to their factors
at the Canaries, " to oppose any orders that should
" be sent from the governor and the company, and
" that they should do all they could to incense the
" Spaniards against the charter," and bade them
promise " that all their wine should be taken off in
"spite of the corporation. " Whereupon great dis-
orders did arise in the Canaries between the English
themselves ; and by the conjunction of the Spaniards
with those few English who opposed the charter,
they proceeded so far as to send the principal factors
for the company out of the island into Spain, and to
make a public act by the governor and council
there, " that no ship belonging to the company
" should be suffered to come into the harbour, or to
"take in any lading from the island:" all which
was transacted there many months before it was
known in England, and probably would have been
prevented or easily reformed, if it had not pleased
God that the plague at this time spread very much
in London, and if the war with the Dutch had not
restrained all English ships from going to the Cana-
ries for the space of a year ; which intermission,
not to be prevented nor in truth foreseen, gave
some advantage to the merchants at home who op-
posed their charter, who complained for the not-
return of their several stocks within the time that
the company had promised they should be re-
turned.

I am not willing to resume this discourse in
another place, which I should be compelled to do if
I discontinued the relation in this place, as in point



378 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. of time I should do; but I choose rather to insert

~~here what fell out afterwards, and to finish the ac-

count of that affair, that there may be no occasion

in the current of this narration to mention any par-

ticulars that related to it.

When the king was at Oxford, and was informed
of what had passed at the Canaries, some mer-
chants appeared there to petition against the char-
ter, whereof there were some who were the first pe-



are titioners for it. His majesty appointed a day for the

referred to J J J

the king; solemn hearing it in the presence of his privy-coun-
cil, the governor being likewise summoned and pre-
sent there. Upon opening all their grievances the
petitioners themselves confessed, " that they could
" not complain of the charter ; that it was a just and
" necessary charter, and for the great benefit of the
" kingdom, though some private men might for
" the present be losers by it : that their complaint
" was only against their constitutions and by-laws,
" and the severe prosecution thereupon contraiy to
" the intention of the charter itself;" instancing,
amongst other things, " the very short day limited
" by the charter, after which they could not continue
" their . trade without being members of the corpo^
" ration ; and that day was so soon after the sealing
" the charter, that it was not possible for them to
" draw their stocks from thence in so short a time. "
When they had finished all their objections, the
king observed to them, " that they complained only
" of what themselves had done, and not at all of the
" charter, which gave them only authority to choose
" a governor, and to make constitutions and by-
" laws, but directed not what the constitutions and
" by-laws should be, which were the result of their



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 379

" own consultations P, in which the major part must 1665.
" have concurred; and of that kind the resolution ~~
" for a joint stock was one, which and all the rest
" they might alter again at the next court, if the
" major part were grieved with it. " But because
they had complained of some particulars, in which
they might have reason on their side, his majesty
expressed a willingness to mediate and to make an
agreement between them : and thereupon he re-
quired the governor to answer such and such parti-
culars which seemed to have most of justice ; but
the governor answered all at large, and made it
clearly appear, that they had in truth no cause of
complaint. As to the short day that was assigned
for the drawing away their stocks, which had the
greatest semblance of reason in all they complained
of, he said, " they had no reason to mention their
" want of warning, for that the day was well enough
" known to them long before the sealing the char-
" ter, and might very well have been complied
" with," (the reasons why the sealing the charter
was so long deferred are set down before,) " and
" could be no reason to them to neglect the giving
" direction in their own concernments ; but that
" they knew likewise, that the day was enlarged to
" a day desired by themselves, that there might be
" no pretence for discontent :" and thereupon the
order of the court to that purpose was read to his
majesty, and they could not deny it to be true.

In conclusion, since it did appear that their stock
did in truth still remain in the Canaries, and in jus-
tice belonged to them, whether it was their fault or

P consultations] erroneously in MS. constitutions



380 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. their misfortune that it had not been drawn over in
who time ; the king persuaded the governor and his as-
fiesaii sistants'to give them such satisfaction in that and
other particulars, that before they retired from his
majesty's presence they were unanimously agreed
upon all their pretences : and though some of the
lords, upon some insinuations and discourses which
they had heard, had believed the company to have
been in the wrong, they were now fully convinced
of the contrary, and believed the charter to be
founded upon great reason of state, and that the
execution of it had been very justifiable and with
great moderation. And it is to be observed, that
the parliament being then assembled at Oxford,
there was not the least complaint against that char-
ter or corporation.
Avmdica- And this was the whole progress of that affair,

tion of the . .

chancellor until it served some men's turns to make it after-
fair. 1S wards matter of reproach to the chancellor, in a time
when he had too great a weight of the king's dis-
pleasure upon him to defend himself from that and
other calumnies, which few men thought him guilty
of. And if the motives of state were not of weight
enough to support the patent, more ought not to be
objected to him than to every other counsellor, there
having never * been a more unanimous concurrence
at that board in any advice they have given : and
the delays he used in the passing the charter after
it came to his hand, his giving so long time for
the making objections against it, and his so posi-
tively opposing the company with reference to their
being freemen of the city, are no signs that he had

') never] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 381

such a mind to please them, as a man would have 1665.
who had been corrupted by them, or who was to
have a share in the profit of the patent, as was after-
wards suggested, but never believed by any to whom
he was in any degree known, who knew well that he
frequently refused to receive money that he might
very lawfully have done, and never took a penny
which he was obliged to refuse. He was indeed, as
often at that affair came to be debated, very clear in
his judgment for the king's granting it, and always
continued of the same opinion : nor did he ever deny,
that some months after the patent was sealed the
governor made him a present in the name of the
corporation, as it is presumed he did to many other
officers through whose hands it passed, and which
was never refused by any of his predecessors when
it came from a community upon the passing a char-
ter ; which he never concealed from the king, who
thought he might well do it. In the last place it is
to be remembered, that after all the clamour against
this charter in parliament, and upon the arguing
against the legality of it by eminent lawyers before
the house of peers, it was so well supported by the
king's attorney general and other learned lawyers,
that the lords would not give judgment against it :
but the governor and the corporation durst not
dispute it further with the house of commons, but
chose to surrender their charter into the king's
hands.

The French had their ambassador, monsieur Oom-
minge, remaining still in England, who pretended
to be ready to finish still the treaty of commerce,
but formalized so much upon every article, though



382 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. nothing was demanded but what had been granted



to Cromwell, that it was concluded that he wanted
power, though somewhat was imputed to the capri-
ciousness of his nature, which made him hard to
treat with, and not always vacant at the hours him-
self assigned, being hypochondriac and seldom sleep-

The French [ n cr without OplUHl. As SOOn as the War Was de-
send am-
bassador^ clared, the king of France sent two other ambassa*-

land under dors, whereof, for the countenance and splendour of
mediation . ** the duke of Vcrnucil was one, who being uncle
to both the kings was received rather under that re-
lation than in the other capacity, and was lodged
and treated by the king during the whole time of
his stay. With him came likewise monsieur Cour-
tine, a master of requests, and much the quickest r
man of the three, and upon whose parts and address
most of the business depended. The former ambas-
sador was joined in commission with the other two :
and their declared business was to mediate a peace
between the king and the Dutch, when there had
been yet little harm done, only great preparations
made on both sides for the war ; which they did not
seem very solicitous to interrupt, but contented
themselves with declaring at their first audience,
" that the king their master out of Christianity,
" and to prevent the effusion of Christian blood, de-
" sired to mediate a peace, which the States of the
" United Provinces were very willing 8 he should do,
" and professed to have a very great desire of peace ;
" which made his Christian majesty hope that he
" should find the same good inclinations here, and
" if he might be informed what his majesty did re-

r quickest], quicker R willing] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 383

" quire, or what would be grateful to him, he did
" not doubt but that he should persuade the States to
" submit to it. "

And with this general discourse, and without de-
livering any memorial in writing, the ambassadors
acquiesced for many months, as if their business was
only that the Dutch ambassador, who remained still
in London, might know and send word to his mas-
ters that they had begun their mediation. Other-
wise they seemed in all their discourses to make some
kind of apology for being sent, implying, " as if the
" extraordinary importunity of the Dutch had pre-
" vailed with the king to undertake this mediation,
" and which he did the rather, upon their promise
" that they would yield to any thing he should
" advise them ; and he was very far from desiring
" that his majesty might not receive ample satisfac-
" tion in whatsoever he required :" so that the king
did not imagine, whatever information he had re-
ceived before, and whatever jealousy he had enter-
tained, that this embassy would be concluded in the
denunciation of a war against him. Nor is it pro-
bable that the ambassadors themselves at that time
knew that they were to perform that office, though
it was afterwards evident that the matter had been
long before resolved in France. They lived between
the two courts, for the queen mother was likewise
at that time at her palace of Somerset-house, in
much jollity, and as vacant from any affairs till they
might receive new orders from court, but spending
much time with the Dutch ambassador, whom they
persuaded " that they were very intent upon and
" had much advanced the treaty," as appeared by
the ambassador's letters to the Hague.



384 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. The plague increased so fast, that the queen mo-
The ueen ther, who had all the winter complained of her in-
mother disposition of health, and declared that she would in

leaves Eng-
land, the summer go again into France, took that occa-
sion x albeit she was recovered to a very good state ;
and about the end of July removed and embarked
for France, and took so many things with her, that
it was thought by many that she did not intend ever
to return into England. Whatever her intentions at
that time were, she never did see England again,,
though she lived many years after.

The duke It was in April that the duke went to sea : and
y from the day of his going thither with the fleet, let-
* ers an ^ OI> ders came from him to the day of the
battle for an addition of more ships, upon intelli-
gence of an increase of strength added to the enemy,
though they yet lay still in the harbours, whilst the
duke was upon their coasts. But Mr. Coventry still
made new demands, and wrote to the chancellor,
" that whilst the king's brother was at sea and ven-
" tured his own person, nobody who wished him
" well 1 would, for saving money, hinder any thing
" from being sent that his highness thought neces-
" sary for his defence :" and all things were sent,
though procured with wonderful difficulty.

The treasurer had believed, when all the provi-
sions were delivered which had been demanded, and
all computations satisfied which had been made, and
the fleet at sea, that there would have been no more
expense till its return ; whereas every day added
new expense which had not been thought of: and
the requiring of more ships was then believed, and

1 well] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 385

more afterwards, to proceed from the restless spirit 1665.
of Mr. Coventry, who cared not how much he in-""
creased u the expense, and 'was willing to put the
treasurer and all the king's ministers to contend
with all difficulties, that he might reproach their
laziness or want of ability. But they did not gratify
him in that, but all the ships, and whatever else was
sent for, were sent ; insomuch as the fleet amounted
to no less than one hundred sail, and was now re- He retires
tired, for want of somewhat to do, to our own coast, iuh coastf"
where they resolved to attend the motion of the
enemy: and in this time most of the volunteers,
having endured the unpleasantness of the sea above
a month, begun to think that the war was not so
necessary as they had thought it to be.

The duke's family, that was numerous in his own
ship, were not at ease, and found less respect from
the seamen than they had x looked for : they grew
into factions between themselves, and the earl of
Falmouth and Mr. Coventry were rivals who should
have most interest in the duke, who loved the earl
best, but thought the other the wiser man, who sup-
ported Pen (who disobliged all the courtiers) even
against the earl, who contemned Pen as a fellow of
no sense, and not worthy of the charge and trust
that was reposed in him. In this discomposure and
having nothing to do, every body grew angry at the
occasion that brought them thither, and wished for
peace.

The earl of Falmouth, as in a time of leisure, was
sent by the duke with compliments to the king, and
to vgive him an account of the good state of the



how much he increased] to increase x had] Not in MS.
VOL. II. C C



386 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. fleet : he visited the chancellor, to whom he had al-
~~ ways paid great respect and made many professions ;
and he told him, " that they were all mad who had
" wished this war, and that himself had been made
" a fool to contribute to it, but that his eyes were
" open, and a month's experience at sea had enough
" informed him of the great hazards the king ran in
" it. " He reproached Pen " as a sot, and a fellow
" that? he thought would be found without courage. "
He told him, " that the king and the duke too were
" both inclined to peace, and discerned that the
" charge and expense of the war would be insup-
" portable ;" and concluded, " that as soon as this
" action should be over, which could not be avoided
" many days if the Dutch fleet put to sea, as it could
" not be doubted it would, it would be good time to
" make a peace, which he desired him to think of,
" and to speak with the king, whom he would find
" disposed to it :" and so he returned to the fleet.
The Dutch And by that time the Dutch were come out, and
the next day were in view. They were near of
equal number, and well manned, under the com-
mand of Opdam, the admiral of the whole fleet, upon
whom the States had conferred that charge, that
the prince of Orange's party might conclude, that
they never intended that he should have the charges
of his father and grandfather, and likewise to gratify
the nobility of Holland, that had a very small share
in the government. And this gentleman, who had
never been at sea before, and had but a small for-
tune, was of that number, and had joined with that
faction which was averse from the family of Orange.

> that] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 387

The fleets came within sight of each other on the 1665.
first of June, and had some skirmishes, which conti- ~~
nued on the second, the wind favouring neither party,
as willing to keep them asunder : but upon the third
it served both their turns, and brought them as near
each other as they could desire to be.



Nor di the Dutch seem to advance with less cou-The first
rage and resolution. Opdam the Dutch admiral g^ement!
with his squadron bore directly upon the duke, with
a resolution to board him : but before he came near
enough, and very little before, whether by an acci-
dent within his own ship, or from a grenado or other
shot out of the duke's ship, his gunroom took fire,
and in a moment the ship sunk without any man
being saved. The vice-admiral of the same squa-
dron, being a Zealander, pursued the same resolution,
and had boarded the duke if captain Jeremy Smith,
a captain of the duke's squadron, had not put him-
self between and boarded the vice-admiral, who was
equally attacked by the duke : and so that ship was
taken after most of the men were killed ; and the
captain himself was so wounded, that he only lived
to be brought on board the duke's ship, and to com-
plain of his companions " for not having seconded him
" according to an oath they had taken on board their
" admiral the day before," and died within half an
hour, to the great trouble of the duke, who gave
him a great testimony for a very gallant man, and
much desired to preserve him.

The fight continued all the day with very great The Dutch

J n 2T are worsted.

loss of men on all sides, though after the first two
hours the Dutch, seeing many of their best ships
burned and more taken, did all that the wind would
give them leave to separate themselves from the

cc 2



388 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

. 1665. English fleet, which pursued them so close, that
~~ they found they lost more by flying than by fighting,
and did lessen their sails to give some stop to the
pursuit till the night might favour them : and the
evening no sooner came, but they hoisted up all
their sails, and intended nothing but their escape.

When there was no more to be done by the ap-
proach of the night, the duke, who was infinitely
tired with the labour of the day, having lost above
two hundred men aboard his own ship, whereof some
were z persons of quality, who stood next his own
person, and shall be named anon, was prevailed with
to repose himself after he had taken some suste-
nance ; which he did, after he had given the master
of the ship, an honest and a skilful seaman, direct
and positive charge " to bear up in that manner
" upon the Dutch fleet that he might lose no ground,
" but find himself as near, when the day should
" appear, as he was then when he went to sleep. "
The fleet had no guide but the lanthorn of the ad-
miral, and were not to outsail him of course, and
The re- behaved themselves accordingly. But when the
their fleet duke arose and the day appeared, the Dutch fleet
night? 8 by was ou t of view ; and before he could reach them,
they were got into their ports, or under the shelter
of their flats, that it was not counsellable for the
great ships to pursue them further : yet some of
those ships which made not so much way, or had not
steered so directly, were taken by the lesser ships
that followed them. And the duke had received so
many blows on his own and the other ships, that it
was necessary to retire into a port, where they might
be repaired.

z were] Omitted in MS. & into] in



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 389

It was a day of signal triumph, the action of it 1665.
having much surpassed all that was done in Crom- The great
well's time, whose navals were much greater thanj^ 8 tc h fthe
had ever been in any age : but the Dutch had never
then fought with so much courage and resolution ;
nor were their ships then in strength to be com-
pared to the English, as Van Trump assured them,
" and that except they built better ships, they would
" be as often beaten as they fought with the Eng-
" lish. " And from that time they new-built all their
navy, and brought now with them as good ships as
any the king had : and the men for some hours
behaved themselves well. In that day the duke
sunk, burned, and took eighteen good ships of war,
whereof half were of the best they had, with the
loss of one single small ship, for there was no more
missing of his whole fleet. It is true the number of
the killed and wounded men was very great, and
was thought the greater, because in the great mas-
sacre that was on the other side there was no man,
except Opdam their admiral, who had a name.
There were many excellent officers killed and taken,
men of courage and of great experience in naval
affairs, and therefore an irreparable damage to them ;
but they had grown up from common seamen, and
so were of no other quality than every mariner of
the fleet.

On the part of the English, besides above two Persons .
hundred men that were killed on board the duke's th a e"side of
own ship, there fell the earl of Falmouth, who hath theEnglish:

* The earl of

been lately spoken of, and the lord Muskerry, eldest^' mouth;
son to the earl of Clancarty, a young man of extra- 1 '
ordinary courage and expectation, who had been
colonel of a regiment of foot in Flanders under the

c c 3



390 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. duke, and had the general estimation of an excel-

*~ lent officer : he was of the duke's bedchamber, and

the earl and he were at that time so near the duke,

that his highness was all covered with their blood.

Mr. Richard There fell likewise in the same ship Mr. Richard
Boyle, a younger son of the earl of Burlington, a
youth of great hope, who came newly home from
travel, where he had spent his time with singular
advantage, and took the first opportunity to lose his
life in the king's service. There were many other
gentlemen volunteers in the same ship, who had the
,same fate.

In prince Rupert's ship, who did wonders that
day, and in that of the earl of Sandwich, who be-
haved him with notable courage and conduct, there
were very many men slain, and some gentlemen vo-
lunteers, of the best families, whose memories should

The eari be preserved. The earl of Marlborough, who had

borough ; the command of one of the best ships, and had great
experience at sea, having made many long voyages
at sea, and being now newly returned from the East
Indies, whither the king had sent him with a squa-
dron of ships to receive r the island of Bombayne from
Portugal, was in this battle likewise slain. He was
a man of wonderful parts in all kinds of learning,
which he took more delight in than his title ; and
having no great estate descended to him, he brought
down his mind to his fortune, and lived very retired,
but with more reputation than any fortune could

The eari of have given him. The earl of Portland was a vo-
lunteer on board his ship, and lost his life by his
side, being a young man of very good parts, newly
come of age, and the son of a very wise and worthy
father, who died few months before : and he having



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 391

a long and entire friendship with the earl of Marl- 1665.
borough, his son, though of a melancholic nature,"
intended to lead an active life, and to apply himself
to it under the conduct of his father's friend, with
whom he died very bravely.

There was another almost irreparable loss this An <* ' r
day in sir John Lawson, who was admiral of a squa- son ;
dron, and of so eminent skill and conduct in all ma-
ritime occasions, that his counsel was most consi-
dered in all debates, and the greatest seamen were
ready to receive advice from him. In the middle of
the battle he received a shot with a musket-bullet
upon the knee, with which he /ell : and finding that
he could no more stand, and was in great torment,
he sent to the duke to desire him to send another
man to command his ship ; which he presently did.
The wound was not conceived to be mortal ; and
they made haste to send him on shore, as far as
Deptford or Green wich, where for some days there
was hope of his recovery; but shortly his wound
gangrened, and so he died with very great courage,
and profession of an entire duty and fidelity to the
king.

He was indeed of all the men of that time, and of His ch -

. . racter.

that extraction and education, incomparably the
modestest and the wisest man, and most worthy to
be confided in. He was of Yorkshire near Scar-
borough, of that rank of people who are bred to
the sea from their cradle. And a young man of
that profession he was, when the parliament first
possessed themselves of the royal navy ; and Hull
being in their hands, all the northern seamen easily
betook themselves to their service : and his in-
dustry and sobriety made him quickly taken notice

c c 4



392 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1C65. of, and to be preferred from one degree to another,
till from a common sailor he was promoted to be a
captain of a small vessel, and from thence to the
command of the best ships.

He had been in all the actions performed by
Blake, some of which were very stupendous, and in
all the battles which Cromwell had fought with the
Dutch, in which he was a signal officer and very
much valued by him. He was of that classis of reli-
gion which were called independents, most of which
were anabaptists, who were generally believed to
have most aversion to the king, and therefore em-
ployed in most offices of trust. He was commander
in chief of the fleet when Richard was thrown out :
and when the contest grew between the rump and
Lambert, he brought the whole fleet into the river,
and declared for that which was called the parlia-
ment; which brake the neck of all other designs,
though he intended only the better settlement of the
commonwealth.

When the council of state was settled between
the dissolution of the rump and the calling the par-
liament, they did not like the temper of the fleet,
nor especially of Lawson, who, under the title of
vice-admiral, had the whole command of the fleet,
which was very strong, and in which there were
many captains they liked well : yet they durst not
remove the vice-admiral, lest his interest in the sea-
men, which was very great, should give them new
trouble. The expedient they resolved upon was to
send colonel Mountague as admiral to command the
fleet, without removing Lawson, who continued still
in his command, and could not refuse to be com-
manded by Mountague, who had always been his



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 393

superior officer, and who had likewise a great in- 1665.
terest in very many of the officers and seamen. ""
Yet Mountague, who brought with him a firm reso-
lution to serve the king, which was well known to
his majesty, had no confidence in Lawson till the
parliament had proclaimed the king : and when he
brought the fleet to Scheveling to receive the king,
all men looked upon the vice-admiral as a great ana-
baptist, and not fit to be trusted. But when the
king and the duke had conferred with him, they liked
him very well : and he was from time to time in
the command of vice-admiral in all the fleets which
were sent into the Mediterranean. Nor did any
man perform his duty better : he caused all persons,
how well qualified soever, who he knew were affect-
ed to a republic, to be dismissed from the service,
and brought very good order into his own ship, and
frequented the church-prayers himself, and made
all the seamen do so. He was very remarkable in
his affection and countenance towards all those who
had faithfully served the king, and never commend-
ed any body to the duke to be preferred but such ;
and performed to his death all that could be ex-
pected from a brave and an honest man.

It looked like some presage that he had of his
own death, that before he went to sea he came to
the treasurer and the chancellor, to whom he had al-
ways borne much respect, and spake to them in a
dialect he had never before used, for he was a very
generous man, and lived in his house decently and
plentifully, and had never made any the least suit
or pretence for money. Now he told them, " that
" he was going upon an expedition in which many
" honest men must lose their lives : and though he



394 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665^ " had no apprehension of himself, but that God

" would protect him as he had often done in the

" same occasions, yet he thought it became him
" against the worst to make his condition known to
" them, and the rather, because he knew he was es-
" teemed generally to be rich. " He said, " in truth
" he thought himself so some few months since,
" when he was worth eight or nine thousand
" pounds : but the marriage of his daughter to a
" ytmng gentleman in quality and fortune much
" above him, (Mr. Richard Norton of Southwick in
" Hampshire, who had fallen in love with her, and
" his father, out of tenderness to his son, had con-
" sen ted to it,) had obliged him to give her such a
" portion as might in some degree make her worthy
" of so great a fortune ; and that he had not re-
" served so much to himself and wife, and all his
" other children, which were four or five, as he had
" given to that daughter. " He desired them there-
fore, " that if he should miscarry in this enterprise,
" the king would give his wife two hundred pounds
** a year for her life ; if he lived, he desired no-
" thing. He hoped he should make some provision
" for them by his own industry : nor did he desire
" any other grant or security for this two hundred
" pounds yearly, than the king's word and promise,
" and that they would see it effectual. " The suit
was so modest, and the ground of making it so just
and reasonable, that they willingly informed his ma-
jesty of it, who as graciously granted it, and spake
himself to him of it with very obliging circum-
stances ; so that the poor man went very contentedly
to his work, and perished as gallantly in it with an
universal lamentation. And it is to be presumed



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 395

that the promise was as well performed to his wife : 1665.
sure it is, it was exactly complied with whilst either ~
of those two persons had any power.

The victory and triumph of that day was surely
very great, and a just argument of public joy : how
it came to be no greater shall be said anon. And
the trouble and grief in many noble families, for the
loss of so many worthy and gallant persons, could
not but be very lamentable in wives, in fathers and
mothers, and the other nearest relations : but no The king
sorrow was equal, at least none so remarkable, as froubied at



the king's was for the earl of Falmouth. They
who knew his majesty best, and had seen how un- Falmouth -
shaken he had stood in other very terrible assaults,
were amazed at the flood of tears he shed upon this
occasion The immenseness of the victory, and the
consequences that might have attended it ; the
safety and preservation of his brother with so much
glory, on whose behalf he had had so terrible appre-
hensions during the three days' fight, having by the
benefit of the wind heard the thunder of the ordnance
from the beginning, even after by the lessening of
the noise, as from a greater distance, he concluded
that the enemy was upon flight : yet all this, and
the universal joy that he saw in the countenance of
all men for the victory and the safety of the duke,
made no impression in him towards the mitigation
of his passion for the loss of this young favourite, in
whom few other men had ever observed any virtue
or quality which they did not wish their best friends
without ; and very many did believe that his death
was a great ingredient and considerable part of the
victory. He was young and of insatiable ambition ;
and a little more experience might have taught him



396 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. all things which his weak parts were capable of.
~~ But they who observed the strange degree of favour
he had on the sudden arrived to, even from a detes-
tation the king had towards him, and concluded
from thence, and more from the deep sorrow the
king was possessed with for his death, to what a
prodigious height he might have reached in a little
time more, were not at all troubled that he was
taken out of the way.

The duke, after he had given directions for the
speedy repairing of the fleet, and for the present
sending out such ships as could quickly be made
ready to ride b before the coast of Holland, made
haste to present himself to the king, and to the
queen his mother, who was ready to begin her
journey to France, and had stayed some days to see
the success of the naval fight, and afterwards to see
the duke ; and within few days after his arrival her
majesty left the kingdom.

The rea- And now the whisper began in the duke's family
f tne reason, why the victory, after so great advan-
* a g es > na ^ n t been pursued with that vigour that
might have made it more destructive to the enemy
than it proved to be. The master of the duke's
ship (captain ) pursued his orders very punc-
tually after the duke was gone to sleep, and kept
within a just distance of the Dutch fleet that re-
mained in order together, for many fled in confusion
and singly to that part of the coast that they
thought they knew best ; and many of them were
taken. But the duke was no sooner in sleep, but
Mr. Brounker of his bedchamber, who with wonder-

b ride] rise



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 397

ful confusion had sustained the terror of the day, 1665.
resolved to prevent the like on the day succeeding. ~
He first went to sir William Pen, who commanded
the ship, and told him, " that he knew well how
" miraculously the duke was preserved that day, and
" that they ought not further to tempt God ;" wished
him to remember, " that the duke was not only the
" king's brother, but the heir apparent of the crown,
" and what the consequence would be if he should
" be lost. And therefore it would concern him not
" to suffer the duke's known and notorious courage
" to engage him in a new danger, which he would
" infallibly be exposed to c the next morning, if they
" continued to make so much sail as they did, and
" to keep so near the Dutch, who fled, but if they
" were pressed and in despair would fight as stoutly
" as they had done in the beginning. And there-
" fore he desired and advised him to give the master
" order to slacken the sails, that the Dutch might
" get what ground they could, to avoid a further
" encounter. " Pen answered him honestly, and told
him, " he durst give no such orders, except he had
" a mind to be hanged, for the duke had himself
" given positive charge to the contrary. '*

Mr. Brounker, when he could not prevail there,
confidently went to the master of the ship, who was
an honest and a stout man, and carefully kept the
steerage himself,, that he might be sure to observe
the order he had received from his highness, and
told him, " that it was the duke's pleasure that he
" should slack the sails, without taking notice of it
" to any man. " Whereupon the master did as he

1 exposed to] Omitted in MS.



398 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. was commanded, making no doubt that a servant so
~near the person of his highness, and in so much
favour with him, would not d have brought such an
order without due authority.

And by this means the remainder of the fleet
escaped, which otherwise would probably have been
all taken : for it was afterwards known, that there
was such a confusion amongst the officers, that no-
body would obey ; for though in truth the right of
commanding, according to the course observed
amongst them, after the death of Opdam, was in
the vice-admiral of Zealand, yet, he being likewise
killed, the other could not agree. But young
Trump, the son of the old famous admiral, who had
behaved himself very bravely all the day, challenged
the command in the right of Holland; but John
Evertson of Zealand, brother to him that was killed,
required it as his right : which begat so great an
animosity as well as confusion amongst them, that
the morning, if they had been pursued, would in all
probability have proved 6 as dismal to them as the
day before had done.

But the duke never suspected this, nor did any
presume to tell him of it, which made many men
presume that it was done with privity f of Mr. Co-
ventry, not only for the great friendship between
him and Brounker, but because both Pen and the
master were so silent when the duke was so much
troubled the next morning : nor did the duke come
to hear of it till some years after, when Mr. Broun-
ker's ill course of life and his abominable nature had
rendered him so odious, that it was taken notice of

a not] Omitted in MS.