No More Learning

positively all that he had said of the temper and af-
"fections of Scotland, and named many of those lords,
who had been mentioned by him as the most zealous
assertors of the covenant, " who," they undertook,
" should, upon the first opportunity, declare their
" abomination of it to the world ; whereof they knew
" there were some who had written against it, and
" were resolved to publish it as soon as they might
" do it with safety. " They advised his majesty,
" that he would not choose to do his business by
" halves, when he might with more security do it
" all together, ajid the dividing it would make both
" the more difficult. However," they besought him,
" to put no such restraint, as had been so much
" pressed, upon his commissioner, that though he
" should find the parliament most inclined to do that
" now, which every body confessed necessary to be
" done at some time, he should not accept their
" good-will, but hinder them from pursuing it, as
" very ungrateful to the king ; which," they said,
** would be a greater countenance to, and confirma-
" tion of, the covenant, than it had ever yet re-
" ceived, and a greater wound to episcopacy. " And
And pre- that indeed was consented to by all. And there-
upon the king resolved to put nothing like restraint
upon his commissioner from effecting that he wished
might be done to-morrow if it could be, but to leave it
entirely to his prudence to judge of the conjuncture,
with caution " not to permit it to be attempted, if
" he saw it would be attended with any ill conse-
" quence or hazard to his service. " And so the
commissioner, with the other officers for Scotland,
were dismissed to their full content ; and therewith



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 441

the king was at present eased, by having separated 1 66 1 .
one very important affair from the crowd of the rest, ~
which remained to perplex him.

That in Ireland was much more intricate, and The state of

. 1-11 Ireland at

the intricacy in many respects so involved, that no- that time.
body had a mind to meddle with it. The chancel-
lor had made it his humble suit to the king, " that
" no part of it might ever be referred to him ;" and
the duke of Ormond (who was most concerned in
his own interest that all men's interests in that king-
dom might be adjusted, that he might enjoy his,
which was the greatest of all the rest) could not see
any light in so much darkness, that might lead him
to any beginning. The king's interest had been so
totally extinguished in that kingdom for many years
past, that there was no person of any consideration
there, who pretended to wish that it were revived.
At Cromwell's death, and at the deposition of Rich-
ard, his younger son Harry was invested in the full
authority, by being lieutenant of Ireland. The
two presidents of the two provinces, were the lord
Broghill in that of Munster, and sir Charles Coote
in that of Connaught ; both equally depending upon
the lieutenant : and they more depended upon him
and courted his protection, by their not loving one
another, and being of several complexions and con-
stitutions, and both of a long aversion to the king
by multiplications of guilt. When Richard was
thrown out, the supreme power of the militia was
vested in Ludlow, and all the civil jurisdiction in
persons who had been judges of the king, and pos-
sessed ample fortunes, which they could no longer
hold than their authority should be maintained. But
the two presidents remained in their several pro-



442 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. viuces with their full power, either because they
~had not deserved to be suspected, or because they
could not easily be removed, being still subject to
the commissioners at Dublin. The next change of
government removed Ludlow and the rest of that
desperate crew, and committed the government to
others of more moderate principles, yet far enough
from wishing well to the king. In those revolutions
sir Charles Coote took an opportunity to send an ex-
press to the king, who was then at Brussels, with
the tender of his obedience, with great cautions as
to the time of appearing; only desired " to have
" such commissions in his hands as might be applied
" to his majesty's service in a proper conjuncture ;"
which were sent to him, and never made use of by
him. He expressed great jealousy of Broghill, and
an unwillingness that he should know of his engage-
ment. And the alterations succeeded so fast one
upon another, that they both chose rather to depend
upon general Monk than upon the king, imagining,
as they said afterwards, " that he intended nothing
" but the king's restoration, and best knew how to
" effect it. " And by some private letter, for there
was no order sent, to Coote and some other officers
there, " that they would adhere to his army for the
" service of the parliament against Lambert," Coote
found assistance to seize upon the castle of Dublin,
and the persons of those who were in authority,
who were imprisoned by them, and the government
settled in that manner as they thought most agree-
able to the presbyterian humour, until the general
was declared lieutenant of Ireland, who then sent



thedifferent commissioners to the same persons, who, as soon as

parties in . . .

Ireland, the king was proclaimed, sent their commissioners



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 443

to the king, who were called commissioners from
the state, and brought a present of money to the
king from the same, with all professions of duty
which could be expected from the best subjects.

These were the lord Broghill, sir Audly Mervin, i- c
sir John Clotworthy, and several other persons of i! ie state.
quality, much the greater number whereof had been
always notorious for the disservice they had done
the king; but upon the advantage of having been
discountenanced, and suffered long imprisonment and
other damages, under Cromwell, they called them-
selves the king's party, and brought expectations
with them to be looked upon and treated as such.
Amongst them was a brother, and other friends,
made choice of and more immediately trusted by
sir Charles Coote, who remained in the castle of
Dublin, and presided in that council that supplied
the government, and was thought to have the best
interest in the army as well as in his own province.
" And these men," he said, " had been privy to the
" service he meant to have done the king, and ex-
" pected the performance of several promises he had
" then made them by virtue of some authority had
" been sent to him to assure those, who should join
" with him to do his majesty service. " All these
commissioners from the state had instructions, to
which they were to conform in desiring nothing
from the king, but ** the settling his own authority
" amongst them, the ordering the army, the reviving
" the execution of the laws, and settling the courts
" of justice," (all which had been dissolved in the
late usurpation,) " and such other particulars as
" purely related to the public. " And their public
addresses were to this and no other purpose. But



444 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. then to their private friends, and such as they desired
~~ to make their friends, most of them had many pre-
tences of merit, and many expedients by which the
king might reward them, and out of which they
' would be able liberally to gratify their patrons. And
by this means all who served the king were fur-
nished with suits enough to make their fortunes, in
which they presently engaged themselves with very
troublesome importunity to the king himself, and to
all others who they thought had credit or power to
advance their desires. Nor was there any other art
so much used by the commissioners in their secret
conferences, as to deprave one another, and to dis-
cover the ill actions they had been guilty of, and
how little they deserved to be trusted, or had in-
terest to accomplish. The lord Broghill was the
man of the best parts, and had most friends by his
great alliance to promise for him. And he appeared
very generous, and to be without the least pretence
to any advantage for himself, and to be so wholly
devoted to the king's interest, and to the establish-
ing of the government of the church, that he quickly
got himself believed. And having free access to the
king, by mingling apologies for what he had done,
with promises of what he would do, and utterly re-
nouncing all those principles as to the church or state,
(as he might with a good conscience do,) which made
men unfit for trust, he made himself so acceptable
to his majesty, that he heard him willingly, because
he made all things easy to be done and compassed ;
and gave such assurances to the bedchamber men,
to help them to good fortunes in Ireland, which
they had reason to despair of in England, that he
wanted not their testimony upon all occasions, nor



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 445

their defence and vindication, when any thing was 1661.
reflected upon to his disadvantage or reproach.

2. There were many other deputies of several 2 - Deputies
classes in Ireland, who thought their pretences to be bishops and
as well grounded, as theirs who came from the state.
There were yet some bishops alive of that kingdom,
and other grave divines, all stripped of their dig-
nities and estates, which had been disposed of by
the usurping power to their creatures. And all they
(some whereof had spent time in banishment near
the king, and others more miserably in their own
country and in England, under the charity of those
who for the most part lived by the charity of others)
expected, as they well might, to be restored to what
in right belonged to them ; and besought his ma-
jesty " to use all possible expedition to establish the
" government of that church as it had always been,
" by supplying the empty sees with new prelates in
" the place of those who were dead, that all the
" schisms and wild factions in religion, which were
" spread over that whole kingdom, might be extir-
" pated and rooted out. " All which desires were
grateful to the king, and according to his royal in-
tentions, and were not opposed by the commissioners
from the state, who all pretended to be well wishers
to the old government of the church, and the more
by the experience they had of the distractions which
were introduced by that which had succeeded it,
and by the confusion they were now in without any.
Only sir John Clotworthy (who, by the exercise of
very ordinary faculties in several employments, whilst
the parliament retained the supreme power in their
hands, had exceedingly improved himself in under-
standing and ability of negociation) dissembled not



446 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 66 1 . his old animosity against the bishops, the cross, and



the surplice, and wished that all might be abolished ;
though he knew well that his vote would signify
nothing towards it. And that spirit of his had been
so long known, that it was now imputed to sincerity
and plain-dealing, and that he would not dissemble,
(which many others were known to do, who had the
same malignity with him,) and was the less ill
thought of, because in all other respects he was of a
generous and a jovial nature, and complied in all de-
signs which might advance the king's interest or
service,
s. A com. 3 There appeared likewise a committee deputed

mittee de-
puted by by the adventurers to solicit their right, which was

the adven- /

turers. the more numerous by the company or many alder-
men and citizens of the best quality, and many ho-
nest gentlemen of the country; who all desired
" that their right might not be disturbed, which
** had been settled by an act of parliament ratified
** by the last king before the troubles ; and that if it
" should be thought just, that any of the lands of
** which tliey stood possessed should be taken from
" them, upon what title soever, they might first be
" put into the possession of other lands of equal va-
*' lue, before they should be dispossessed of what

An account they had already. " All that they made claim to

of these ad- '

venturers, seemed to be confirmed by an act of parliament.
The case was this : When the rebellion first brake
out in Ireland, the parliament then sitting, and
there being so much money to be raised and already
raised for the payment of and disbanding two ar-
mies, and for the composing or compounding the
rebellion of Scotland, where the king was at that
time ; it had been propounded, " that the war of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 447

" Ireland might be carried on at the charges of par- 1661
" ticular men, and so all imposition upon the people ~
" might be prevented, if an act of parliament were
" passed for the satisfaction of all those who would
" advance monies for the war, out of the lands which
" should become forfeited. "

And this proposition being embraced, an act was
prepared to that purpose ; in which it was provided,
" that the forfeited lands in Leinster, Munster, Con-
" naught, and Ulster, should be valued at such seve-
" ral rates by the acre, and how many acres in
" either should be assigned for the satisfaction of
" one hundred pounds, and so proportionally for
" greater sums. That for all monies which should
" be subscribed within so many days (beyond which
" time there should be no more subscriptions) for
" that service, one moiety thereof should be paid to
4t the treasurer appointed, within few days, for the
" present preparations ; and the other moiety be
" paid within six months, upon the penalty of losing
" all benefit from the first payment. That when
" God should so bless their armies, (which they
" doubted not of,) that the rebels should be so near
" reduced, that they should be without any army
" or visible power to support their rebellion ; there
" should a commission issue out, under the great
** seal of England, to such persons as should be no-
" minated by the parliament, who should take the
" best way they could in their discretion think fit,
" to be informed, whether the rebels were totally
" subdued, and so the rebellion at an end. And
" upon their declaration, that the work was fully
" done and the war finished, other commissions
" should likewise issue out, in the same manner, for



448 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " the convicting and attainting all those who were
" guilty of the treason and rebellion by which their
" estates were become forfeited ; and then other
" commissions, for the distribution 6f the forfeited
" lands to the several adventurers, according to the
" sums of money advanced by them. The king was
" to be restrained from making any peace with the
" Irish rebels, or cessation, or from granting pardon
" to any of them ; but such peace, cessation, or par-
" don, should be looked upon as void and null. "
* This act the king had consented to and confirmed
in the year 1641, and in the agony of many troubles
which that rebellion had brought upon him, think-
ing it the only means to put a speedy end to that ac-
cursed rebellion, the suppression whereof would free
him from many difficulties. And upon the security
of this act, very many persons, of all qualities and af-
fections, subscribed and brought in the first moiety
of their money, and were very properly styled adven-
turers. Great sums of money were daily brought in,
and preparations and provisions and new levies of
men were made for Ireland. But the rebellion in
England being shortly after fomented by the parlia-
ment, they applied very much of that money brought
in by the adventurers, and many of the troops which
had been raised for that service, immediately against
the king : which being notoriously known, and his
majesty complaining of it, many honest gentlemen,
who had subscribed and paid one moiety, refused to
pay in the other moiety at the time, and so were
liable to lose the benefit of 1 their adventure ; which
they preferred before suffering their money to be
applied to the carrying on the rebellion against the
king, which they abhorred. And by this means



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 449

Ireland was misapplied ; and the rebellion spread
and prospered with little opposition for some time.
And the parliament, though the time for subscribing
was expired, enlarged it by ordinances of their own
to a longer day, and easily prevailed with many of
their own party, principally officers and citizens, to
subscribe and bring in their money ; to which it
was no small encouragement, that so many had lost
the benefit of their whole adventure by not paying
in the second payment, which would make the con-
ditions of the new adventurers the less hazardous.

When the success of the parliament had totally
subdued the king's arms, and himself was so inhu-
manly murdered, neither the forces in Ireland under
the king's authority, nor the Irish, who had too late
promised to submit to it, could make any long re-
sistance; so that Cromwell quickly dispersed them
by his own expedition thither : and by licensing as
many as desired it to transport as many from thence,
for the service of the two crowns of France and
Spain, as they would contract for, quickly made a
disappearance of any army in that kingdom to op-
pose his conquests. And after the defeat of the
king at Worcester, he seemed to all men to be in as
quiet a possession of Ireland as of England, and to
be as much without enemies in the one as the other
kingdom ; as in a short time he had reduced Scot-
land to the same exigent.

Shortly after that time, when Cromwell was in-
vested with the office of protector, all those commis-
sions were issued out, and all the formality was used
that was prescribed by that act for the adventurers.
Not only all the Irish nation (very few excepted)
were found guilty of the rebellion, and so to have

VOL. i. G g



450 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. forfeited all their estates; but the marquis of Or-
~~mond, the lord Inchiquin, and all the English catho-
lics, and whosoever had served the king, were de-
clared to be under the same guilt ; and the lands
seized upon for the benefit of the state. There were
very vast arrears of pay due to the army, a great
part e of which (now the war was ended) must be
disbanded ; for the doing whereof no money was to
be expected out of England, but they must be sa-
tisfied out of the forfeitures of the other kingdoms.
The whole kingdom was admeasured ; the accounts
of the money paid by the adventurers within the
time limited, and what was due to the army for
their pay, were stated ; and such proportions of
acres in the several provinces were assigned to the
adventurers and officers and soldiers, as were agree-
able to the act of parliament, by admeasurement.
v Where an officer of name had been likewise an ad-
venturer, his adventure and his pay amounted to
the more. And sometimes the whole company and
regiment contracted for money with their captains
or colonels, and assigned their interest in land to
them ; and possession was accordingly delivered,
without any respect to any titles by law to former
settlements, or descents of any persons soever, wives
or children ; except in some very few cases, where
the wives had been great heirs, and could not be
charged with any crime, such proportions were as-
signed as were rather agreeable to their own con-
veniences, than to justice and the right of the
claimers.

And that every body might with the more se-

e part] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 451

curity enjoy that which was assigned to him, they 1661,
had found a way to have the consent of many to~
their own undoing. They found the utter extirpa-
tion of the nation (which they had intended) to be
in itself very difficult, and to carry in it somewhat
of horror, that made some impression upon the
stone-hardness of their own hearts. After so many
thousands f destroyed by the plague which raged
over the kingdom, by fire, sword, and famine ; and
after so many thousands transported into foreign
parts, there remained still such a numerous people,
that they knew not how to dispose of: and though
they were declared to be all forfeited, and so to
have no title to any thing, yet they must remain
somewhere. They therefore found this expedient,
which they called an act of grace. There was a
large tract of land, even to the half of the province
of Connaught, that was separated from the rest by
a long and a large river, and which by the plague
and many massacres remained almost desolate. Into
this space and circuit of land they required all the
Irish to retire by such a day, under the penalty of
death ; and all who should after that time be found
in any other part of the kingdom, man, woman, or
child, should be killed by any body who saw or met
them. The land within this circuit, the most barren
in the kingdom, was out of the grace and mercy of
the conquerors assigned to those of the nation who
were enclosed, in such proportions as might with
great industry preserve their lives. And to those
persons, from whom they had taken great quantities
of land in other provinces, they assigned the greater

' thousands] millions g thousands] millions

Gg2



452 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. proportions within this precinct ; so that it fell to
~~ some men's lot, especially when they were accommo-
dated with houses, to have a competent livelihood,
though never to the fifth part of what had been
taken from them in a much better province. And
that they might not be exalted with this merciful
donative, it was a condition that accompanied this
their accommodation, that they should all give re-
leases of their former rights and titles to the land
that was taken from them, in consideration of what
was now assigned to them ; and so they should for
ever bar themselves and their heirs from ever laying
claim to their old inheritance. What should they
do ? they could not be permitted to go out of this
precinct to shift for themselves elsewhere ; and
without this assignation they must starve here, as
many did die every day of famine. In this deplor-
able condition, and under this consternation, they
found themselves obliged to accept or submit to the
hardest conditions of their conquerors, and so signed
such conveyances and releases as were prepared for
them, that they might enjoy those lands which be-
longed to other men.

And by this means the plantation (as they called
it) of Connaught was finished, and all the Irish na-
tion enclosed within that circuit ; the rest of Ireland
being left to the English ; some to the old lords and
just proprietors, who being all protestants, (for no
Roman catholic was admitted,) had either never
offended them, or had served them, or had made
composition for their delinquencies by the benefit of
some articles ; and h some to the adventurers and

11 and] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 453

soldiers. And a good and great part (as I remem- 1661,
ber, the whole province of Tipperary) Cromwell had ~
reserved to himself, as a demesne (as he called it)
for the state, and in which no adventurer or soldier
should demand his lot to be assigned, and no doubt
intended both the state and it for the making great
his own family. It cannot be imagined in how easy
a method, and with what peaceable formality, this
whole great kingdom was taken from the just lords
and proprietors, and divided and given amongst
those, who had no other right to it but that they
had power to keep it i ; no men having so great k
shares as they who had been instruments to murder
the king, and were not like willingly to part with it
to his successor. Where any great sums of money
for arms, ammunition, or any merchandise, had
been so long due that they were looked upon as des-
perate, the creditors subscribed all those sums as
lent upon adventure, and had their satisfaction as-
signed to them as adventurers. Ireland was the
great capital, out of which all debts were paid, all
services rewarded, and all acts of bounty performed.
And which is more wonderful, all this was l done
and settled, within little more than two years, to
that degree of perfection, that there were many
buildings raised for beauty as well as use, orderly
and regular plantations of trees, and fences and en-
closures raised m throughout the kingdom, purchases
made by one from the other at very valuable rates,
and jointures 1 made upon marriages, and all other
conveyances and settlements executed, as in a king-

' it] Omitted in MS. m fences and enclosures rais-

k great] Omitted in MS. ed] raising fences and enclo-

1 was] Not in MS. sures

Gg3



454 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. dom at peace within itself, and where no doubt
"could be made of the validity of titles. And yet in
all this quiet, there were very few persons pleased
or contented.

And these deputies for the adventurers, and for
those who called themselves adventurers, came not
only to ask the king's consent and approbation of
what had been done, (which they thought in justice
he could not deny, because all had been done upon
the warrant of a legal act of parliament,) but to
complain, " that justice had not been equally done
" in the distributions ; that this man had received
" much less than was his due, and others as much
" more than was their due ; that one had had great
" quantities of bogs and waste land assigned to him
" as tenantable, and another as much allowed as
" bogs and waste, which in truth were very tenant-
" able lands. " And upon the whole matter, they all
desired " a review might be made n , that justice
" might be done to all ;" every man expecting an
addition to what he had already, not suspecting
that any thing would be taken from him, to be re-
stored to the true owner.
Another And this agitation raised another party of adven-

class of ad- . 111

venturers turers, who thought they had at least as good a
right as any of the other ; and that was, they, or
the heirs and executors of them, who upon the first
making of the act of parliament, had subscribed
several good sums of money, and paid in their first
moieties ; but the rebellion coming on, and the mo-
nies already paid in being notoriously and visibly
employed contrary to the act, and against the per-

V

11 -be made] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 455

son of the king himself, they had out of conscience

forborne to pay the second moiety, lest it might

also be P so employed ; whereby, according to the
rigour of the law, they lost the benefit of the first
payment. And they had hitherto sustained that
loss, with many other, without having ever applied
themselves for relief. " But now, when it had
" pleased God to restore the king, and so many who
" had not deserved very well desired help from the
" king upon the equity of that act of parliament,
" where the letter of the law would do them no
" good % they presumed to think, that by the equity
" of the law they ought to be satisfied for the money
" they did really pay ; and that they should not un-
. " dergo any damage for not paying the other moiety,
" which out of conscience and for his majesty's ser-
" vice they had forborne to do. " No man will doubt
but that the king was very well inclined to gratify
this classis of adventurers, when he should find it in
his power. But it is time to return to the com-
mittee and deputies of the other parties in that dis-
tracted kingdom.

4. There was a committee sent from the army 4. A com-

,1 . . T i j t , n . -i mittee from

that was in present pay in Ireland, " tor the arrears t he army.
" due to them," which was for above a year's pay ;
most of those who had received satisfaction in land
for what was then due to them, as well officers as sol-
diers, being then disbanded, that they might attend
their plantations and husbandry, but in truth because
they were for the most part of the presbyterian fac-
tion, and so suspected by Cromwell not to be enough
inclined to him. The army now on foot, and to

to pay] to make P be] Omitted in MS. 'i good] king
Gg4



456 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. whom so great arrears were due, consisted for the
"greatest part of independents, anabaptists, and le-
vellers, who had corresponded with and been di-
rected by the general, when he marched from Scot-
land against Lambert : and therefore he had advised
the king to declare, " that he would pay all arrears
" due to the army in Ireland, and ratify the satisfac-
" tion that had been given to adventurers, officers,
" and soldiers there ;" which his majesty had accord-
ingly signified by his declaration from Breda. And
whoever considers the temper and constitution of
that army then on foot in that kingdom, and the
body of presbyterians that had been disbanded, and
remained still there in their habitations, together
with the body of adventurers, all presbyterians or
anabaptists; and at the same time remembers the
disposition and general affection of the army in
England, severed from their obedience to the general
and the good affection of some few superior officers ;
will not wonder that the king endeavoured, if it had
been possible, rather to please all, than by any un-
seasonable discovery of a resolution, how just soever,
to make any party desperate ; there being none so
inconsiderable, as not to have been able to do much
mischief.



5. A com- - 5 T]^ satisfaction that the officers and soldiers

mittee from

the officers had received in land, and the demand of the present

who bad .

served the army, had caused another committee to be sent and
employed by those reformed officers, who had served
the king under the command of the marquis of
Ormond, from the beginning of the rebellion to the
end thereof, with courage and fidelity; and had
since shifted beyond the seas, and some of them in
his majesty's service, or suffered patiently in that



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 457

kingdom under the insolence of their oppressors; 1-661.
who, because they had always fought against the~
Irish, were by articles, upon their laying down their
arms when they could no longer hold them in their
hands, permitted to remain in their own houses, or
such as they could get within that kingdom. These
gentlemen thought it a very incongruous thing, " that
" they who had constantly fought against the king's
" father and himself, should receive their pay and
" reward by his majesty's care, bounty, and as-
" signation ; and that they, who had as constantly
" fought for both, should be left to undergo all want
" and misery now his majesty was restored to his
" own. " And they believed their suit to be the
more reasonable, at least the easier to be granted, by
having brought an expedient with them to facilitate
their satisfaction. There had been some old order
or ordinance, that was looked upon as a law, where-
by it was provided, that all houses within cities or
corporate towns, which were forfeited, should be re-
served to be specially disposed of by the state, or in
such a manner as it should direct, to the end that all
care might be taken what manner of men should be
the inhabitants of such important places : and there-
fore such houses had not been, nor were to be, pro-
miscuously assigned to adventurers, officers, or sol-
diers, and so remained hitherto undisposed of. And
these reformed officers of the king made it their
suit, that those houses might be assigned to them in
proportions, according to what might appear to be
due to their several conditions and degrees in com-
mand. And to this petition, which might seem
equitable in itself, the commissioners from the state
gave their full approbation and consent, being ready



458 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 66 1 . to take all the opportunities to ingratiate themselves

"towards those whom they had oppressed as long as

they were able, and to be reputed to love the king's

party.

e. A com- (J. Lastly, there was a committee for, or rather the

mittee for

the Roman whole body of, the Irish catholics, who, with less
modesty than was suitable to their condition, de-
manded in justice to be restored to all the lands that
had been taken from them : alleging, " that they
" were all at least as innocent as any of them were,
" to whom their lands had been assigned. " They
urged " their early submission to the king, and the
" peace they had first made with the marquis of
" Ormond, by which an act of indemnity had been
" granted for what offences soever had been com-
" mitted, except such -in which none of them were
" concerned. " They urged " the peace they had
" made with the marquis of Ormond upon this king's
" first coming to the crown, wherein a grant of in-
" demnity was again renewed to them ;" and confi-
dently, though very unskilfully, pressed, " that the
" benefit of all those articles which were contained
" in that peace, might still be granted and observed
" to them, since they had done nothing to infringe
" or forfeit them, but had been oppressed and broken,
" as all his majesty's other forces had been. " They
urged " the service they had done to the king be-
" yond the seas 4 having been always ready to obey
" his commands, and stayed in r or left France or
" Spain as his majesty had commanded them, and
" were for the last two years received and listed as
" his own troops, and in his own actual service, un-

i

T in] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 459

" der the duke of York. " They pressed " the in- J661,
" tolerable tyranny they had suffered under, now
" almost twenty years ; the massacres and servitude
" they had undergone ; such devastation and laying
" waste their country, such bloody cruelty and exe-
" cutions inflicted on them, as had never been
" known nor could be paralleled amongst Christians :
" that their nation almost was become desolated, and
" their sufferings of all kinds had been s to such an
" extent, that they hoped had satiated their most
" implacable enemies. " And therefore they humbly
besought his majesty, " that in this general joy for his
" majesty's blessed restoration, and in which nobody
" could rejoice more than they, when all his majesty's
" subjects of his two other kingdoms (whereof many
" were not more innocent than themselves) had their
" mouths filled with laughter, and had all their
" hearts could desire, the poor Irish alone might not
" be condemned to perpetual weeping and misery
" by his majesty's own immediate act. " Amongst
these, with the same confidence, they who had been
transplanted into Connaught appeared, related the
circumstances of the persecution they had under-
gone, and " how impossible it had been for them to
" refuse their submission to that they had no power
" to resist ; and therefore that it would be against
" all conscience to allege their own consent, and
<( their releases, and other grants, which had they
" not consented to in that point of time, they, their
" wives, and children, could not have lived four and
" twenty hours. " All these particulars were great
motives to compassion, and disposed his majesty's

s had been] Not in MS.



460 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. heart to wish that any expedient might be found,

"which might consist with justice and necessary po-

licy, that though it might not make them very happy, 4

yet might preserve them from misery, until he should

hereafter find some opportunity to repair their con-

dition according to their several degrees and merit.

The kiug These several addresses being presented to his

greatly per- .

with majesty together, before any thing was yet settled



in England, and every party of them finding some
ses * friends, who filled the king's ears with specious dis-
courses on their behalf for whom they u spake, and
with bitter invectives against all the rest ; he was
almost confounded how to begin, and in what me-
thod to put the examination of all their pretences,
that he might be able to take such a view of them,
as to be able to apply some remedy, that might keep
the disease from increasing and growing worse, un-
til he could find some cure. He had no mind the
parliament should interpose and meddle in it, which
would have been grateful to no party ; and by good
fortune they were so full of business that they
thought concerned them nearer, that they had no
mind to examine or take cognizance of this of Ire-
land, which they well knew properly depended upon
the king's own royal pleasure and commands. But
these addresses were all of so contradictory a nature,
so inconsistent with each other, and so impossible
to. be reconciled, that if all Ireland could be sold at
its full value, (that is, if kingdoms could be valued
at a just rate,) and find a fit chapman or purchaser
to disburse the sum, it could not yield half enough

1 that though it might not very happy,
make them very happy,] that u they] he
might make them, though not



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 461

to satisfy half their demands ; and yet the king was 1661
not in a condition positively to deny any one party ~
that which they desired.

The commissioners from the state, in respect of
their quality, parts, and interest, and in regard of
their mission and authority, seemed the most proper
persons to be treated with, and the most like to be
prevailed upon not to insist upon any thing that
was most profoundly unreasonable. They had all
their own just fears, if the king should be severe ;
and there would have been a general concurrence in
all the rest, that he should have taken a full ven-
geance upon them : but then they who had most
cause to fear, thought they might raise their hopes
highest from that power that sent them, and which
had yet interest enough to do good and hurt ; and
they thought themselves secure in the king's decla-
ration from Breda, and his offer of indemnity, which
comprehended them. Then they were all desirous
to merit from the king; and their not loving one
another, disposed them the more to do any thing
that might be grateful to his majesty. But they
were all united and agreed in one unhappy extreme,
that made all their other devotion less applicable to
the public peace, that is, their implacable malice to
the Irish : insomuch as they concurred in their de-
sire, that they might gain nothing by the king's re-
turn, but be kept with the same rigour, and under
the same incapacity to do hurt, which they were till
then. For which instance they were not totally
without reason, from their barbarous behaviour in
the first beginning of the rebellion, which could not
be denied, and from their having been compelled to'
submit to and undergo the most barbarous servi-



462 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1C61. tilde, that could not be forgotten. And though era-
""dication was too foul a word to be uttered in the
ears of a Christian prince, yet it was little less or
better that they proposed in other words, and hoped
to obtain : whereas the king thought that miserable
people to be as worthy of his favour, as most of the
other parties ; and that his honour, justice, and po-
licy, as far as they were unrestrained by laws and
contracts, obliged him more to preserve them, at
least as much as he could. And yet it can hardly
be believed, how few men, in all other points very
reasonable, and who were far from cruelty in their
nature, cherished that inclination in the king; but
thought it in him, and more in his brother, to pro-
ceed from other reasons than they published : whilst
others, who pretended to be only moved by Christ-
ian charity and compassion, were more cruel to-
wards them, and made them more miserable, by ex-
torting great engagements from them for their pro-
tection and intercession, which being performed
would leave them in as forlorn a condition as they
were found.

In this intricacy and perplexity, the king thought
it necessary to begin with settling his own author-
ity in one person over that kingdom, who should
make haste thither, and establish such a council
there, and all courts of justice, and other civil offi-
cers, as might best contribute towards bringing the
rest in order. And to this purpose he made choice
of several persons of the robe, who had been known
by or recommended to the marquis of Ormond, but
of more by the advice and promotion of Daniel
O'Neile of his bedchamber, who preferred a friend
of his, and an Irishman, to the office of attorney



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 463

general, (a place in that conjuncture of vast im- 1CC1.
portance to the settlement,) and many other to be ~
judges. And all this list was made and settled
without the least communication with the chancel-
lor, who might have been presumed to be easily in-
formed of that rank of men. But to find a person
fit to send thither in the supreme authority, was
long deliberated by the king, and with difficulty to
be resolved. The general continued lord lieutenant The general
of Ireland, which he had no mind to quit, for he brd'iieu!
had a great estate there, having for some time been tenant-
general of that army, and received for the arrears of
his pay, and by Cromwell's bounty, and by some
purchases he made of the soldiers, an estate of at
least four thousand pounds per annum, which he
thought he could best preserve in the, supreme go-
vernment ; though he was willing to have it be-
lieved in the city and the army, that he retained it
only for the good of the adventurers, and that the
soldiers might be justly dealt with for their arrears.
Whatsoever his reason was, as profit was the highest
reason always with him, whoever was to be deputy
must be subordinate to him ; which no man of the
greatest quality would be, though he was to have his
commission from the king, and the same jurisdiction
in the absence of the lieutenant. There were some
few fit for the employment, who were not willing to
undertake it ; and many who were willing to under-
take it, but were not fit.

Upon the view of those of all sorts, the king
most inclined to the lord Roberts, who was a man of
more than ordinary parts, well versed in the know-
ledge of the laws, and esteemed of integrity not to
be corrupted by money. But then he was a sullen



464 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. morose man, intolerably proud, and had some hu-

mours as inconvenient as small vices, which made

him hard to live with, and which were afterwards
more discovered than at that time foreseen. He had
been in the beginning of the rebellion a leading
man in their councils, and a great officer in their
army, wherein he expressed no want of courage.
But after the defeat of the earl of Essex's army in
Cornwall, which was imputed to his positiveness
and undertaking for his county, the friendship be-
tween him and that earl was broken. And from
that time he did not only quit his command in the
army, but declined their councils, and remained for
the most part in the country ; where he censured
their proceedings, and had his conversation most
with those who were known to wish well to the
king, and who gave him a great testimony, as if he
would be glad to serve his majesty upon the first
opportunity. The truth is, the wickedness of the
succeeding time was so much superior and over-
shadowed all that had been done before, that they
who had only been in rebellion with the earl of Es-
sex, looked upon themselves as innocent, and justi-
fied their own allegiance, by loading the memory of
Cromwell with all the reproaches and maledictions
imaginable. The greatest exception that the king
had to the lord Roberts, who was already of the
privy council, by the recommendation and instance
of the general, was, that he was generally esteemed
a presbyterian, which would make him unfit for that
trust for many reasons ; besides that, he would not
cheerfully act the king's part in restoring and ad-
vancing the government of the church, which the
king was resolved to settle with all the advantages



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 4G5

which he could contribute towards it. Nor did the
lord Roberts profess to be an enemy to episcopacy.

Before the king would make any public declara-
tion of his purpose, he sent the lord treasurer and
the chancellor, who were most acquainted with him,
to confer freely with him, and to let him know the
good esteem his majesty had of him, and of his abi-
lities to serve him. " That the government of Ire-
" land would require a very steady and a prudent
" man : that the general did not intend to go into
" that kingdom, and yet would remain lieutenant
" thereof; from which office his majesty knew not
** how, nor thought it seasonable, to remove him,
" and therefore that the place must be supplied by
" a deputy ; for which office the king thought him
" the most fit, if it were not for one objection, which
" he had given them leave to inform him of parti-
" cularly, there being but one person more privy to
" his majesty's purpose, who was the marquis of Or-
" mond ; and that he might conclude, that the king
" was desirous to receive satisfaction to his objec-
" tion, by the way he took to communicate it to
" him :" and then they told him, " that he had the
" reputation of being a presbyterian ; and that his
" majesty would take his own word, whether he was
" or was not one. "

He answered without any kind of ceremony, to
which he was not devoted, . or so much as acknow-
ledging the king's favour in his inquiry, " that no
" presbyterian thought him to be a presbyterian, or
" that he loved their party. He knew them too well.
" That there could be no reason to suspect him to be
" such, but that which might rather induce men to
" believe him to be a good protestant, that he went

VOL. I. H h



466 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " constantly to church as well in the afternoons as
forenoons on the Sundays, and on those days for-
" bore to use those exercises and recreations which
" he used to do all the week besides. " He desired
them, " to assure the king, that he was so far from
" a presbyterian, that he believed episcopacy to be
" the best government the church could be subject
" to.
" They asked him then, " whether he would
" be willing to receive that government of deputy of
" Ireland, if the king were willing to confer it upon
" him. " There he let himself to fall to an acknow-
ledgment of the king's goodness, " that he thought
" him worthy of so great an honour :" but he could
not conceal the disdain he had of the general's per-
son, nor how unwilling he was to receive orders
from him, or to be an officer under his command.
They told him, " that there would be a necessity of
" a good correspondence between them, both whilst
" they stayed together in England, and when he
" should be in Ireland ; but beyond that there would
" be no obligation upon him, for that he was to re-
" ceive his commission immediately from the king,
" containing as ample powers as were in the lieu-
" tenant's own commission : that he was not the
" lieutenant's deputy, but the king's ; only that his
" commission ceased when the lieutenant should be
" upon the place, which he was never like to be. "
Upon the whole matter, though it appeared that the
superiority was a great mortification to him, he said,
" that he referred himself wholly to the king, to be
" disposed of as he thought best for his service, and
" that he would behave himself with all possible
" fidelity to him. "

Upon this report made to the king, shortly after



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 4(>7

his majesty in council declared, " that he had made

" the lord Roberts deputy of Ireland," and then Lord Ro . "~

charged him, " that he would prepare as soon as berts """? "

deputy of

" was possible for his journey thither, when those Ireland.
" officers, who were designed by him for the civil
" justice of the kingdom, should be ready to attend
" upon him ; and in the mean time, that he would
" send the commissioners, and all others who soli-
" cited any thing that had reference to Ireland, to
" wait upon him, to the end that he, being well in-
" formed of the nature and consistency of the several
" pretences, and of the general state of the kingdom,
" might be the better able to advise his majesty
" upon the whole matter, and to prescribe, for the
" entering upon it by parts, such a method, that his
" majesty might with less perplexity give his own
" determination in those particulars, which must
" chiefly depend upon himself and his direction. "
Thus the king gave himself a little ease, by refer-
ring the gross to the lord deputy, in whose hands we
shall for the present leave it, that we may take a
view of the other particulars, that more immediately
related to England ; though we shall be shortly called
back again to x Ireland, which enjoyed little repose
in the hands in which it was put.

The parliament spent most of the time upon the'ivans-

_. . . . i i j actions in

act of indemnity, in which private passions and am- parliament
mosities prevailed very far; one man contending to theaTLT
preserve this man, who, though amongst the foulest indemnity -
offenders, had done him some courtesy in the time
of his power; and another, with as much passion
and bitterness, endeavouring to have another con- ,

x to] for

H h 2



468 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I6G1. demned, who could not be distinguished from the
~~ whole herd by any infamous guilt, and who had dis-
obliged him, or refused to oblige him, when it was
in his power to have done it. The king had posi-
tively excepted none from pardon, because he was
to refer the whole to them ; but had clearly enough
expressed, that he presumed that they would not
suffer any of those who had sat as judges upon his
father, and condemned him to be murdered, to re-
main alive. And the guilty persons themselves
made so little doubt of it, that they made what shift
they could to make their escape into the parts be-
yond the seas, and many of them had transported
themselves ; whilst others lay concealed for other op-
portunities ; and some were apprehended when they
endeavoured to fly, and so were imprisoned.

The parliament published a proclamation, " that
" all who did not render themselves by a day named,
" should be judged as guilty, and attainted of trea-
" son ;" which many consented to, conceiving it to
amount to no more than a common process at law
to bring men to justice. But it was no sooner out,
than all they who had concealed themselves in order
to be transported, rendered themselves to the speaker
of the house of commons, and were by him com-
mitted to the Tower. And the house conceived it-
self engaged to save those men's lives, who had put
themselves into their power upon that presumption.
The house of peers insisted upon it in many confer-
ences, that the proclamation could bear no such in-
terpretation ; but as it condemned all who by flying
declined the justice of the kingdom, so it admitted
as many as would appear to plead their own inno-
cence, which if they could prove they would be safe.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 469

But the guilty, and with them the house of com- J661.
mons, declared, " that they could not but under-""
" stand, that they who rendered themselves should
" be in a better condition than they who fled be-
" yond the seas, which they were not in any degree,
" if they were put upon their trial ; for to be tried
" and to be condemned was the same thing, since
" the guilt of all was equally notorious and manifest. "
And this kind of reasoning prevailed upon the judg^
ments and understandings of many, who had ally
manner of detestation for the persons of the men. In
the end, the house of peers, after long contests, was
obliged to consent, " that all the persons who were
" fled, and those who had not rendered themselves,
" should be brought to a trial and attainted accord-
" ing to law, together with those who were or should
" be taken ;" whereby they would forfeit all their
estates to the king : " but for those who had ren-
" dered themselves upon the faith of the parliament,"
as they called it, " they should remain in such pri-
" sons as his majesty thought fit during their lives,
" and neither of them be put to death without con-
" sent of parliament. "

But then as by this means too many of those im-
pious persons remained alive, and some others who
were as bad as any were, upon some testimony of
the general, and by other interpositions of friends
upon the allegation of merit and services, preserv-
ed, with the king's consent too easily obtained, so
much as from attainder ; so to make some kind of
amends for this unhappy lenity, they resolved to ex-
cept a multitude of those they were most angry

v all] Not in MS.

H h 3



470 CONTLNUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. with from -pardon as to their estates, and to fine
others in great sums of money ; when worse men, at
least as bad, of either classis were exempted, as in-
cluded, by the power of their friends who were pre-
sent in the debate. And this contradiction and
faction brought such a spirit into the house, as dis-
turbed all other counsels ; whilst men, who wished
well enough to the matter proposed, opposed the
passing it, to cross other men who had refused to
agree with them in the pardoning or not pardoning
of persons : which dissension divided the house into
great animosities. And without doubt, the king's
credit and authority was at that time so great in
the house of commons, that he could have taken full
vengeance upon many of those with whom he had
reason to be offended, by causing them to be ex-
empted from pardon, or exposed to some damage of
estate. And there wanted not many, who used all
the credit they had, to inflame the king to that re-
taliation and revenge.

And it was then and more afterwards imputed to
the chancellor, that there were no more exceptions
in the act of indemnity, and that he laboured z for
expedition of passing it, and for excluding any ex-
traordinary exceptions ; which reproach he neither
then nor ever after was solicitous to throw off. But
his authority and credit, though he at that time was
generally esteemed, could not have prevailed in that
particular, (wherein there were few men without
some temptation to anger and indignation, and none
more than he, who had undergone injuries and in-
dignities from many men then alive,) but that it

z laboured] laboured more



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 471

was very evident to the king himself, and to all dis- 166J.
passioned men, that no person was so much con-~
cerned, though all were enough, that there should
be no longer delay in passing the act of indemnity, The ki|) s

*' T J concerned

as the king himself was ; there being no progress at the de-
made in any other business, by the disorder and jibing it.
ill humour that grew out of that. There was no
attempt to be made towards disbanding the army,
until the act of indemnity should be first passed ;
nor could they begin to pay off the navy, till they
were ready to pay off the arrears of the army. This
was the " remora" in all the counsels ; whilst there
wanted not those, who infused jealousies a into the
minds of the soldiers, and into the city b , " that the
" king had no purpose ever to consent to the act of
" indemnity," which was looked upon as the only
universal security for the peace of the nation : and
till that was done, no man could say that he dwelt
at home, nor the king, think himself in any good
posture of security. And therefore no man was
more impatient, and more instant in council and
parliament, to remove all causes which obstructed
that work, than the chancellor. And he put the
king in mind, " how much he had opposed some
" clauses and expressions which were in the declara-
" tion and letters from Breda," which notwithstand-
ing were inserted, as most agreeable to the general's
advice ; and that he then said to his majesty, in the
presence of those who were consulted with, " that
" it would come to his turn to insist upon the per-
" formance of those concessions, which he was against

a jealousies] Not in MS. c than the chancellor. ] Not

b the city] the jealousy of the in MS.
cities

H h 4



472 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " the making of, when many others would oppose
~ " them, which may be at that present would advise
" much larger :" which his majesty acknowledged to
he true, and confessed upon many occasions. And
the chancellor did in truth conceive, that the king's
taking advantage of the good inclinations of the
house to him, to dispose' 1 them to fall upon many
persons, who were men of another classis tb those
he desired might be excepted, (and of which pros-
pect there could be no end, every man having cause
to fear his own security by what he saw his neigh-
bour suffer, who was as innocent,) was directly con-
trary to the sense and integrity of his declaration,
and therefore to be avoided ; and that all things
were to be done by him that might facilitate and
advance the disbanding, that so the peace of the
kingdom might again depend upon the civil justice
and magistrates thereof. And all men who under-
stood in how ticklish a condition it then stood, con-
curred in that advice.
He inter- And this was the reason that the king used his

poses with . -i i i i

the pariia- authority, and they who were trusted by him their
credit and interest, for the suppressing those ani-
mosities, which had irreconciled many persons be-
tween themselves who were of public affections, by
the nomination of particular persons whose estates
should be made liable to penalties, the imposing of
which must again depend upon the parliament ;
which, besides the consumption of time, which was
very precious, would renew and continue the same
spirit of division, which already had done too much
mischief, and would inevitably have done much

d to dispose] and to dispose



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 473

more. But by this temper and composition the act 1661.
of indemnity was finished, passed the house of peers, And gets it
and received the royal assent, to the wonderful joy P assed -
of the people. And present orders were given for
the disbanding the army and payment of the navy,
as fast as money came in, for which several acts of
parliament were formerly passed. And by the former
delays, the intolerable burden both of army and navy
lay upon the kingdom near six months after the
king's return, and amounted not to so little as one
hundred thousand pounds by the month ; which
raised a vast debt, that was called the king's, who
had incessantly desired to have it prevented from
the first hour of his arrival.

After the bill of indemnity was passed, with some
other as important acts for the public peace, (as the
preserving those proceedings, which had been in
courts of justice for near twenty years, from being
ravelled into again as void or invalid, because they
had been before judges not legally qualified, which
would have brought an intolerable burden upon the
subject ; and some other acts,) the parliament was
willing to adjourn for some time; that their mem-
bers, who were appointed to attend the disbanding
the army in several places, and the payment of the
navy, might be absent with less inconvenience :
and the king was as willing to have some ease. And Tii



so it was adjourned for a month or six weeks ; i
which time, and even in the middle of the disband-
ing, there happened a very strange accident, that
was evidence enough of the temper or distemper of
the time.

The trial of those infamous persons who were in
prison for the murder of the king (and who were



474 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

166). appointed by the act of indemnity to be proceeded
"against with rigour, and who could not be tried till
that vote was passed) was no sooner over, and the
persons executed, with some of the same crew, who
being in Holland and Flanders were, by the permis-
sion and connivance of the e magistrates, taken by
the king's ministers there, and brought into Eng-
land, and put to death with their companions ; but
the people of that classis who were called Fanatics,
discovered a wonderful malignity in their discourses,
and vows of revenge for their innocent friends.
They caused the speeches they had made at their
deaths to be printed, in which there was nothing of
repentance or sorrow for their wickedness, but a
justification of what they had f done for the cause of
God ; and had several meetings to consult of the
best way to attempt their revenge, and of bringing
themselves into the same posture of authority and
power which they formerly had. The disbanding
the army seemed a good expedient to contribute to
their ends : and they doubted not, but as fast as
they disbanded they would repair to them, which
they could not so well do till then, because of the
many new officers who had been lately put over
them ; and to that purpose they had their agents in
several regiments to appoint rendezvouses. They
had conference of assassinating the general, " who,"
they said, " had betrayed them, and was the only
" person who kept the army together. "
Venner Matters being in this state, and some of their

insurrection companions every day taken and imprisoned upon
tics hi Lon discovery of their purposes, the king being gone to

don.

c the] those ' had] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 475

Portsmouth, and the parliament adjourned, they ap- 1661.
pointed a rendezvous in several places of London at~
twelve of the clock in the night ; the same being
assigned to their friends in the country. They had
not patience to make use of the silence of the night,
till they could draw their several bodies together.
But their several rendezvouses no sooner met, than
they fell into noise and exclamations, " that all men
" should take arms to assist the Lord Jesus Christ ;"
and when the watch came towards them, they re-
solutely defended themselves, and killed many of
those who came to assault them : so that the ala-
rum was in a short time spread over the city, and
from thence was carried to Whitehall, where the
duke of York was and the general, with a regiment
of guards and some horse, which were quickly drawn
together.

Sir Richard Browne was then lord mayor of Lon-
don, a very stout and vigilant magistrate, who was
equally feared and hated by all the seditious party,
for his extraordinary zeal and resolution in the
king's service. Nor was there any man in Eng-
land, who did raze out the memory of what he had
formerly done amiss, with a more signal acknow-
ledgment, or a more frank and generous engage-
ment against all manner of factions, which opposed
or obstructed his majesty's service; which made
him terrible and odious to all ; and to none more
than to the presbyterians, who had formerly seduced
him. Upon the alarum, which of itself had scat-
tered many of the conspirators as they were going
to or were upon the places to which they were
assigned, he was quickly upon his horse, accom-
panied with as many soldiers, officers, and friends,



476 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. as he could speedily draw together; and with those
~ marched towards that place where the most noise
was made ; and in his way met many who ran from
the fury of those, "who," they said, "were in
" arms ;" and reported " their numbers to be very
" great ; and that they killed all who opposed them. "
And true it was they had killed some, and charged
a body of the trainbands with so much courage, that
it retired with disorder. Yet when the mayor came,
he found the number so small, not above thirty men,
that he commanded them to lay down their arms ;
which when they refused to do, he charged them
briskly. And they defended themselves with that
courage and despair, that they killed and wounded
many of his men ; and very few of them yielded or
would receive quarter, till they were overborne with
numbers or fainted with wounds, and so were taken
and laid hands on.

Their captain, who was to command the whole
party in London, and had for his device in his en-
sign these words, THE LORD GOD AND GIDEON,
was a wine-cooper, of a competent estate, a very
strong man, who defended himself with his sword,
and killed some of those who assaulted him, till he
fell with his wounds, as some others about him did ;
all whom he had persuaded, that they should be able
to do as much upon their enemies, as Jonathan and
his armour-bearer did upon the Philistines, or any
others in the Old Testament had upon those whom
the Lord delivered into their hands. Nor could it
be founds, upon all his examinations, that there
was any other formed design, than what must pro-

s it be found] they find



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 477

bably attend the declaration of the army, of which 1661.
he was assured. He and the other hurt men were"
committed to the gaol, and to the special charge
of the surgeons, that they might be preserved for a
trial.

The next morning the council met early, and
having received an account of all that had passed,
they could not but conclude, that this so extrava-
gant an attempt could not be founded upon the
rashness of one man, who had been always looked
upon as a man of sense and reason. And thereupon
they thought it necessary to suspend the disbanding
the general's regiment of foot, which had the guard
of Whitehall, and was by the order of parliament to
have been disbanded the next day ; and writ to the
king " to approve of what they had done, and to
" appoint it to be continued till further order ;"
which his majesty consented to. And this was the
true ground and occasion of the continuing and in-
creasing the guard for his majesty's person ; which
no man at that time thought to be more than was
necessary. Order was given for the speedy trial of
Venner and his accomplices ; many whereof, with
himself, would have died of their wounds, if their
trial had been deferred for many days : but the sur-
geons' skill preserved them h till then ; where they
made no other defence for themselves than what is
before mentioned; nor did then, or at their deaths For which
(there being ten or a dozen executed) make the least ^erai of
show of sorrow for what they had attempted. dat^are

There is no occasion for i mentioning more of the exe cted.
particular proceedings of this parliament ; which
though it met afterwards at the time appointed,

11 them] Omitted in MS. j for] of



478 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

iGfil. and proceeded with all duty to the king, in raising
"~ great sums of money for the army and the navy, and
for the payment of other great debts, which they
thought themselves concerned to discharge, and
which had never been incurred by the king; and
likewise passed many good acts for the settling a
future revenue for the crown, and a vote that they
would raise that revenue to twelve hundred thou-
sand pounds yearly : yet they gave not any thing to
the king himself (all the rest was received and paid
by those who were deputed by them to that pur-
pose) but seventy thousand pounds towards the dis-
charge of his coronation, which he had appointed
to be in the beginning of May following. And this
seventy thousand pounds was all the money the king
received, or could dispose of, in a full year after his
coming to London ; so that there could not but be
a very great debt contracted in that time ; for the
payment whereof he must afterwards provide as
well as he could. I say, I shall not mention more
of the particulars of that parliament, because it was
foreseen by all, that though their meeting had pro-
duced all those good effects, in the restoring the
king, disbanding the army, and many other things,
which could be wished ; yet that the lasting validity
of all they had done would depend upon another
parliament, to be legally summoned by the king,
with all those formalities which this wanted; and
the confirmation of that parliament would be neces-
sary for the people's security, that they should en-
joy all that this had granted : so that when I shall
speak again of the proceedings of parliament, it will
be of that parliament which will be called by his
majesty's writ.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 479

Only before we dissolve this, and because there 1661,
hath been so little said of the license and distemper ~
in religion, which his majesty exceedingly appre-
hended would have received some countenance from
the parliament, we shall remember, that the king
having by his declaration from Breda referred the
composing and settling all that related to the go-
vernment of the church to the parliament, he could k
do nothing towards it himself: but by his gracious
reception of the old bishops who were still alive, and
his own practice in his devotions and the govern-
ment of his royal chapel, he ] declared sufficiently
what should be done in other places. The party of
the presbyterians was very numerous in the house .
of commons ; and had before the king's return made
a committee to devise such a government for the
church, as might either totally exclude bishops, or
make them little superior to the rest of the clergy.
But the spirit of the time had of itself elected many
members, notwithstanding the injunctions sent out
with the writs, and expressly contrary to such in-
junctions m , of a very different allay ; who, together
with such as were chosen after his majesty's return,
were numerous enough to obstruct and check any
prevalence of that party, though not of power
enough to compel them to consent to sober counsels.
And so the business was kept still at the committee,
now and then getting ground, and then cast back
again, as the sober members attended ; so that no
report was brought to the house from thence, which
might have given the king some trouble. And by
degrees the heads of that party grew weary of the

k he could] so that he could '" injunctions] elections

1 he] Not in MS.



480 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. warmth of their prosecution, which they saw not
"like to produce any notable fruit that they cared
for. The king desired no more, than that they
should do nothing ; being sure that in a little time
he should himself do the work best. And so in Sep-
tember, when he adjourned them, he took notice,
" that they had offered him no advice towards the
" composing the dissensions in religion ; and there-
" fore he would try, in that short adjournment of
" the parliament, what he could do towards it him-
" self. "

And thereupon he was himself present many
days, and for many hours each day, at a conference
between many of the London ministers, who were
the heads of the presbyterian party, with an equal
number of the orthodox clergy, who had been for so
many years deprived of all that they had : which
conference was held at Worcester house in the chan-
cellor's lodgings, to consider what ceremonies should
be retained in the church, and what alterations
should be made in the liturgy that had been for-
merly used; and the substance of this' conference
Tbekiug was afterwards published in print. The king upon
declaration this published a declaration concerning ecclesiastical
eccinlutu affairs* wherein he took notice " of the conference
cai affa. rs. na fo^ been in his own presence, and that he had
" commanded the clergy of both sides to meet to-
" gether at the Savoy, in the master's lodgings, and,
" if it were possible, to agree upon such an act of
" uniformity, that might be confirmed in parlia-
" ment. " And in the mean time he signified his
pleasure, " that nobody should be punished for not
" using The Book of Common Prayer which had
" been formerly established, or for discontinuing



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 481

" the surplice, and the sign of the cross; and that 1(161.
" all who desired to conform to the old practice in"~
" the using them all, should be at the same liberty :"
which declaration was read to, and put into the
hands of the divines of both sides for some days ;
and then they were again heard before his majesty
at Worcester house 11 . And though it cannot be de-
nied, that either party did desire that somewhat
might be put in, and somewhat left out, in neither
of which they were gratified ; yet it is most true,
they were both well content with it, or seemed so.
And the declaration was published in his majesty's
name before the return of the parliament.

Here I cannot but instance two acts of the pres-Twoin-

. . . f> . . ' stances of

bytenans, by which, if their humour and spmt were the disin-
not enough discovered and known, their want of in- fhe p'
genuity and integrity would be manifest ; and how j
impossible it is for men who would not be deceived
to depend on either. When the declaration had
been delivered to the ministers, there was a clause
in it, in which the king declared " his own constant
" practice of The Common Prayer; and that he
" would take it well from those who used it in their
" churches, that the common people might be again
" acquainted with the piety, gravity, and devotion
" of it ; and which he thought would facilitate
" their living in a good neighbourhood together;"
or words to that effect. When they had considered
the whole some days, Mr. Calamy and some other
ministers, deputed by the rest, came to the chancel-
lor to redeliver it to his hands. They acknowledged
" the king had been very gracious to them in his
" concessions ; though he had not granted all that

n house] Omitted in MS. not] Omitted in MS.

VOL. I. I i



terian min-
isters.



482 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " some of their brethren wished, yet they were con-

" tented :" only desired him, " that he would prevail

" with the king, that the clause mentioned before
" might be left out ; which," they protested, " was
" moved by them for the king's own end, and that
" they might shew their obedience to him, and re-
" solution to do him service. For they were re-
" solved themselves to do what the king wished ;
" and first to reconcile the people, who for near
" twenty years had not been acquainted with that
" form, by informing them that it contained much
" piety and devotion, and might be lawfully used ;
" and then that they would begin to use it them-
" selves, and by degrees accustom the people to it :
" which," they said, " would have a better effect,
" than if the clause were in the declaration ; for
" they should be thought in their persuasions to
" comply only with the king's recommendation, and
" to merit from his majesty, and not to be moved
" from the conscience of the duty ; and so they
" should take P that occasion to manifest their zeal
" to please the king. And they feared there would
" be other ill consequences from it, by the wayward-
" ness of the common people, who were to be treated
" with skill, and would not be prevailed upon all at
" once. " The king was to be present the next
morning, to hear the declaration read the last time
before both parties; and then the chancellor told
him, in the presence of all the rest, what the min-
isters had desired ; which they again enlarged upon
with the same protestations of their resolutions,
in such a manner, that his majesty believed they

v take] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 483

meant honestly; and the clause was left out. But icci.
the declaration was no sooner published, than, ob-
serving that the people were generally satisfied with
it, they sent their emissaries abroad : and many of
their letters were intercepted ; and particularly a
letter from Mr. Calamy to a leading minister in So-
mersetshire ; whereby he advised and entreated him,
" that he and his friends would continue and persist
" in the use of The Directory ; and by no means
" admit The Common Prayer in their churches ;
" for that he made no question but that they should
" prevail further with the king, than he had yet
" consented to in his declaration. "

The other instance was, that as soon as the decla-
ration was printed, the king received a petition in
the name of the ministers of London, and many
others of the same opinion with them, who had sub-
scribed that petition ; amongst whom none of those
who had attended the king in those conferences had
their names. They gave his majesty humble thanks
" for the grace he had vouchsafed to shew in his
" declaration, which they received as an earnest of
'* his future goodness and condescension in granting
" all those other concessions, which were absolutely
" necessary for the liberty of their conscience ;" and
desired, with much importunity and ill manners,
" that the wearing the surplice, and the using the
" cross in baptism, might be absolutely abolished
" out of the church, as being scandalous to all men
" of tender consciences. " From those two instances,
all men may conclude, that nothing but a severe
execution of the law can ever prevail upon that
classis of men to conform to government.

When the parliament came together again after .
i i 2



484 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. their adjournment, they gave the king public thanks
The pariia- f r his declaration, and never proceeded further in
agrin ""[* * ne ma tter of religion ; of which the king was very
is dissolved. gi a d : only some of the leaders brought a bill into
the house " for the making that, declaration a law ;"
which was suitable to their other acts of ingenuity,
to keep the church for ever under the same indul-
gence, and without any settlement; which being
quickly perceived, there was no further progress in
it. And the king, upon the nine and twentieth of
December, after having given them an ample testi-
mony of their kindness towards him, which he mag-
nified with many gracious expressions, and his royal
thanks for the settling his revenue, and payment of
the public debts, promised " to send out writs for
" the calling another parliament, which he doubted
" not would confirm all that they had done ; and in
" which he hoped many of them would be elected
" again to serve : " and so dissolved the present par-
liament with as general an applause as hath been
known ; though it was quickly known, that the re-
venue they had settled was not in value equal to
what they had computed. Nor did the monies they
granted in any degree arise to enough to pay either
the arrears to the army or the debts to the navy ;
both which must be the work of the ensuing parlia-
ment ; which was directed to meet upon the eighth
A new par- of May following : before which time, the king made

liament

summoned choice of worthy and learned men to supply the va-
cant sees of bishops, which had been void so many
years, and who were consecrated accordingly before
the parliament met. And before we come to that
tune, some particular occurrences of moment must
be first inserted.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 485

When the king arrived in England, monsieur 1661
Bordeaux was there ambassador from the king of ~
France, and had resided ambassador there about
three years in Cromwell's time, and lived in marvel-
lous lustre, very acceptable and dear to Cromwell,
having treated all the secret alliance between the
cardinal and him ; and was even trusted by the pro-
tector in many of his counsels, especially to discover
any conspiracy against him ; for he lived jovially,
made great entertainments to lords and ladies with-
out distinction, and amongst them would frequently
let fall i some expressions of compassion and respect
towards the king. After Cromwell's death, his cre-
dentials were quickly renewed to Richard his suc-
cessor, with whom all the former treaties were again
established. And when he was put down, he was
not long without fresh credit to the commonwealth
that succeeded : and so upon all vicissitudes was
supplied with authority to endear his master's affec-
tion to the present powers, and to let them know,
" how well the cardinal was disposed to join the
" power of France to their interest. " And his dex-
terity had been such towards all, that the cardinal
thought fit to send him new credentials against the
time of the king's coming to London. And within
few days after, when he had provided a new equi-
page to appear in more glory than he had ever yet
done, he sent to desire an audience from the king.

The earl of St. Alban's was newly come from
France ; and to him Bordeaux had applied himself,
who was always very ready to promote any thing
that might be grateful to that crown. But the king

fall] Not in MS.



s 486 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

166 1 . would not resolve any thing in the point, till he had

~~ conferred upon it with the council : where it being

debated, there was an unanimous consent, (the earl

of St. Alban's only excepted, who exceedingly la-

boured the contrary,) " that it could not stand with

" his majesty's honour to receive him as ambassador,

" who had transacted so many things to his disad-

" vantage, and shifted his face so often, always in

" conjunction with his greatest enemies ; and that

" it was a great disrespect in the crown of France

" towards his majesty in sending such a person, who

" they could not believe (without great undervaluing

The ambas- " the king) could be acceptable to him. " The king

France to himself was of that opinion ; and instead of assigning



a day for his audience, as was desired, he sent
mm an ex P ress command to depart the kingdom.
kingdom. And when he afterwards, with much importunity,
desired only to be admitted as a stranger to see his
majesty, and to speak to him, his majesty as posi-
tively refused to admit him to his presence. All
which was imputed principally to the chancellor,
who had with some warmth opposed his being re-
ceived as ambassador ; and when he sent by a per-
son well enough esteemed by the chancellor, "that
" he would receive a visit from him," he expressly
refused to see him. Whoever gave the advice, the
king had great honour by it in France itself, which
declared no kind of resentment of it ; and gave poor
Bordeaux such a reception, after having served them
five years with notable success, and spent his whole
estate in the service, that in a short time he died
heart-broken in misery, and uninquired after. And
forthwith that king sent the count of Soissons, the
most illustrious person in France, very nobly ac-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 487

companied and bravely attended, as his ambassador, 1661.
to congratulate his majesty's happy restoration, with ~~
all the compliments of friendship and esteem that
can be imagined.



There was another ambassador at the same time The a
in London, who might be thought to stand in the p^ru.
same predicament with Bordeaux, though in truth JlJrJjJ*
their cases were very different, and who received a ki " d 'y re

J ceived.

very different treatment. That was the ambassador
of Portugal, who had been sent by that crown to
finish a treaty that had been begun by another am-
bassador with Cromwell, who had been so ill used,
that they had put his brother publicly to death for
a rash action in which a gentleman had been killed ;
upon which he had got leave from his master to quit
the kingdom. And this other ambassador had been
sent in his room r ; and was forced to consent and
submit to very hard conditions, as a ransom for
that king's generosity in assisting the king in his
lowest condition, by receiving prince Rupert with
his majesty's fleet in Lisbon, and so preserving them
from a fleet much superior in number and goodness
of the ships, that pursued him by commission from
Cromwell : who took that action so to heart, that he
made war upon that kingdom, took their ships, ob-
structed their trade, and blocked up all their ports ;
whilst the Spanish army invaded them at land, and
took their towns in the very heart of the kingdom.
And to redeem that poor king from that terrible
persecution, that treaty had been submitted to ; in
which, besides the yearly payment of a great sum of
money from Portugal, which was to continue for

r room] Omitted in MS.

I i 4



488 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. many years, other great advantages in trade had
been" granted to England. The king made no scru-
ple of receiving this ambassador with a very good
countenance ; and as soon as he got his credentials,
gave him a public audience, with all the formality
and ceremony that in those cases are usual and
necessary.

An account And because in some time after a negociation was
treaty and set on foot of the highest importance, and had 8 its
witiTpor- effect in the king's marriage with the queen ; and
because, how acceptable soever both that treaty and
conclusion of it was then to the whole kingdom, that
affair was afterwards imputed to the chancellor, and
in the opinion of many proved to be the cause and
ground of all his misfortunes ; I shall here set down
all the particulars that introduced and attended that
negociation and treaty, with all the circumstances,
some whereof may appear too light, and yet are not
without weight, to make it appear to all the world,
how far the chancellor was from being the author
of that counsel, (and if he had been, there was no
reason to be ashamed of'it,) and that he did nothing
before, in, or after that treaty, but what was neces-
sary for a man in his condition, and what very well
became a person of that trust and confidence he was
in with his master.

It hath been remembered before, that upon the
publication of the duke's marriage, and the recon-
ciliation upon that affair, the chancellor was very
solicitous that the king himself would marry ; that
he desired the marquis of Ormond very earnestly to
advise him to it : and himself often put his majesty

* had] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 489

in mind of what he had said to him in France,
when the duke was persuaded to treat about a mar-
riage with mademoiselle de Longueville, " that his
" majesty was by no means to consent, that his heir
" apparent should marry before himself were mar-
" ried," for which he had given some reasons ; for
which at that time he underwent great displeasures.
And this discourse he had held often with the king :
and sure no man in England more impatiently de-
sired to see him married than he did. Indeed it was
no easy matter to find a person in all respects so fit,
that a man would take upon him to propose in par-
ticular ; nor did he think himself in many respects,
and with reference to the accidents which might
probably or possibly fall out, fit, if he could have
thought of one, to be the author of the proposition.

One day the king came to the chancellor's house The Por-
in the afternoon; and being alone with him,
majesty told him, " that he was come to confer
" with him upon an argument that he would well mgt: *
" like, which was about his own marriage ;" he said,
" the lord chamberlain" (who was then earl of
Manchester) " had held a discourse with him some
" days past, that seemed to have somewhat in it
" that was worth the thinking of. That he had
" told him, the Portugal ambassador had made him
" a visit, and having some conference with him con-
" cerning the king, towards whose person he pro-
" fessed a profound respect, he said it was time for
" his majesty to think of marriage ; which nothing
" could keep him from, but the difficulty of finding
" a fit consort for him. That there was in Portugal
" a princess, in her beauty, person, and age, very fit
" for him, and who would have a portion suitable



490 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. "to her birth and quality. That it is true she was
~~ " a catholic, and would never depart from her reli-
" gion ; but was totally without that meddling and
" activity in her nature, which many times made
" those of that religion troublesome and restless,
" when they came into a country where another re-
" ligion was practised. That she had been bred
" under a wise mother, who was still regent in that
" kingdom, who had carefully infused another spirit
" into her, and kept her from affecting to have any
" hand in business, and which she had never been
" acquainted with ; so that she would look only to
" enjoy her own religion, and not at all concern
" herself in what others professed. That he had
" authority to make the proposition to the king,
" with such particularities as included many ad-
" vantages above any, he thought, which could ac-
" company any overture of that kind from another
" prince. To which the chamberlain had added,
" that there could be no question, but that a pro-
" testant queen would in all respects be looked upon
" as the greatest blessing to the kingdom : but if
" such a one could not be found, he did really be-
" lieve, that a princess of this temper and spirit
" would be the best of all catholics. That the trade
" of Portugal was great here, and that England had
" a more beneficial commerce with that crown than
" with any other : which had induced Cromwell to
" make that peace, when he had upon the matter
" forsworn it ; and the making it had been the most
" popular action he had ever performed. "

His majesty said, " that he had only answered
" the chamberlain, that he would think of it. But
" that the very morning of this day, the ambassador



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 491

" of Portugal had been with him, and without any 1661.
" formality had entered into the same discourse, and ~~
" said all that the lord chamberlain had mentioned :
" to which he added, that he had authority to offer
" to his majesty five hundred thousand pounds ster-
" ling in ready money, as a portion with the infanta;
" and likewise to assign over, and for ever to annex
" to the crown of England, the possession of Tangier
" upon the African shore in the Mediterranean sea,
" a place of that strength and importance, as would
" be of infinite benefit and security to the trade of
" England ; and likewise to grant to the English
" nation a free trade in Brasil and in the East Indies,
" which they had hitherto denied to all nations but
" themselves. And for their security to enjoy that
" privilege, they would put into his majesty's hands
" and possession, and for ever annex to the crown of
" England, the island of Bombay ne, (with the towns
" and castles therein, which are within a very little
" distance from Bombayne' ;) which" hath within it-
" self a very good and spacious harbour, and would
" be a vast improvement to the East India trade.
" And those two places," he said, " of Tangier and
" Bombayne, might reasonably be valued above the
" portion in money. " The king mentioned all the The king
discourse as a matter that pleased him, and might the^pro-
prove of notable advantage to the kingdom ; and |losah
said, " that he had wished the ambassador to confer
" with him (the chancellor) upon it ;" and then
asked him " what he thought of it :" to which he
answered, " that he had not heard of it enough to
" think of it," (for he had never heard or thought

' Bombayne] Brasil ll which] and



492 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. of it before that moment ;) " and therefore he should
" not be able to do more when the ambassador came
" to him, than to hear what he said, and report it
" to his majesty for the present. " He only asked u ,
" whether his majesty had given over all thoughts
" of a protestant wife :" to which he answered, " he
" could find none such, except amongst his own sub-
" jects ; and amongst them he had seen none that
" pleased him enough to that end. " And observing
the chancellor to look fixedly upon him, he said,
" that he would never think more of the princess
" of Orange's daughter, her mother having used him
" so ill when he proposed it ; and if he should now
" think of it, he knew his mother would never con-
" sent to it, and that it would break his sister's
*' heart : therefore he had resolved never to enter-
" tain that thought again. And that he saw no
" objection against this overture from Portugal, that
" would not occur in x any other, where the advan-
" tages would not be so many or so great. "

What could the chancellor say ?