mously, " that the whole charge
contained
nothing
~ " of treason though it were all true.
~ " of treason though it were all true.
Edward Hyde - Earl of Clarendon
And
therefore it could not but seem strange to all men,
that when we had only made a treaty of peace with
Holland, and that so newly, and upon so long con-
sideration, and had none with either of the crowns,
we should so much desire to enter into a war with
them.
However, the duke's heart was set upon it, and
he loved to speak of it, and the benefits which would
attend it. He spake of it to the king, whom he The king
found no ways inclined to it, and therefore he knewt i t mc
it was unfit to propose it in council : yet he spake
often of it to such of the lords of whom he had the
best opinion, and found many of them to concur
with him in the opinion of the advantages which
might arise from thence. And sometimes he thought
he left the king disposed to it, by an argument
which he found prevailed with many : " that the
" differences and jealousies in point of trade, which
" did every day fall out and would every day in-
" crease between the English and the Dutch, who
" had in the late distractions gotten great advan-
" tages, would unavoidably produce a war between
" them ; and then that the question only was, whe-
y which] and which
238 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " ther it were not better for us to begin it now,
~ " when they do not expect it, and we are better
" prepared for it than probably we shall be then ;
" or to stay two or three years, in which the same
" jealousy would provoke them to be well provided,
" when probably we might not be ready. That we
" had the best sea officers in the world, many of.
" whom had often beaten the Dutch, and knew how
" to do it again ; and a multitude of excellent mari-
" ners and common seamen : all which, if they
" found that nothing would be done at home, would
" disperse themselves in merchant voyages to the
" Indies and the Straits ; and probably so many
" good men would never be found together again. "
And with such arguments he many times thought
that he left the king much moved : but when he
spake to him again (though he knew that he had no
kindness for the Dutch) his majesty was changed,
and very averse to a war ; which he imputed to
The chan- the chancellor, who had . not dissembled, as often as
poses itS*" his highness spake to him, to be passionately and
obstinately against it. And he did take all the op-
portunities he could find to confirm the king in his
aversion to it, who was in his heart averse from it,
by presenting to him the state of his own affairs,
" the great debt that yet lay upon him, which with
" peace and good husbandry might be in some time
" paid ; but a war would involve him in so much
" greater, that no man could see the end of it. That
" he would be able to preserve himself against the
" factions and distempers in his own kingdom, and
" probably suppress them, if he were without a fo-
" reign enemy : but if he should be engaged in a
" war abroad, his domestic divisions, especially those
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 239
" in religion, would give him more trouble than he 1663.
" could well struggle withal.
" That it was an erroneous assumption, that the
" Dutch would be better provided for a war two or
" three years hence, and his majesty worse, for
" which there was no reason. That within that
" time it would be his own fault, if the distempers
" in his three kingdoms were not composed, which
" would make him much fitter for a war ; whereas
" now neither of them could be said to be in peace,
" that of Ireland being totally unsettled, and that of
" Scotland not yet well pleased, and England far
" from it. That in that time it was very probable
" that the two crowns would be again engaged in a
" war ; since it was generally believed, and with
" great reason, that France only expected the death
" of the king of Spain, who was very infirm, and
" meant then to fall into Flanders, having at the
" same time with great expense provided great ma-
" gazines of corn and hay upon the borders, which
" could be for no other end. That whilst he conti-
" nued in peace, his friendship would be valuable to
" all the princes of Europe, and the two crowns
" would strive who should gain him : but if he en-
" gaged in a war, and in such a war as that with z
" Holland, which would interrupt and disturb all
" the trade of the kingdom, upon which the greatest
" part of his revenue did rise ; all other princes
" would look on, and not much esteem any offices
" he could perform to them. And lastly, that a
" little time might possibly administer a just occa-
" sion of a war, which at present there was not. "
' that witli] Not in MS.
240 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. These, and better arguments which the king's
"own understanding suggested to him, made him
fully resolve against the war, and to endeavour to
change his brother from affecting it, which wrought
not at all upon him ; but finding that many things
fell from the king in the argument, which had been
alleged to himself by the chancellor, he concluded
the mischief came from him, and was displeased ac-
The duke cordingly, and complained to his wife, " that her fa-
with him " ther should oppose him in an affair upon which he
" knew his heart was so much set, and of which
" every body took so much notice ;" which troubled
her very much. And she very earnestly desired her
father, " that he would no more oppose the duke in
" that matter. " He answered her, " that she did
" not enough understand the consequence of that
" affair ; but that he would take notice to the duke
" of what she had said, and give him the best an-
" swer he could. " And accordingly he waited upon
the duke, who very frankly confessed to him, " that
" he took it very unkindly, that he should so posi-
*' tively endeavour to cross a design so honourable
" in itself, and a so much desired by the city of Lon-
" don ; and he was confident it b would be very
" grateful to the parliament, and that they would
" supply the king with money enough to carry it
" on, which would answer the chief objection. That
" he was engaged to pursue it, and he could not but
" be sorry and displeased, that every body should
" see how little credit he had with him. "
ceiior satis- The chancellor told him, " that he had no appre-
duke. be " hension that any sober man in England, or his
a and] Not in M. S. b it] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.
" highness himself, should believe that he could 16(53.
" fail in his duty to him, or that he would omit~~
" any opportunity to make it manifest, which he
" could never do without being a fool or a madman.
" On the other hand, he could never give an advice,
" or consent to it whoever gave it, which in his
" judgment and conscience would be very mischiev,-
" ous to the crown and to the kingdom, though his
" royal highness or the king himself were inclined
'? to it. " He did assure him, " that he found the
" king very averse from any thought of this war, be-
" fore he ever discovered his own opinion of it ;"
but denied not, "that he had taken all opportuni-
" ties to confirm him in that judgment by argu-
" ments that he thought could not be answered ;
" and that the consequence of that war would be
" very pernicious. That he did presume that many
" good men, with whom he had conferred, did seem
" to concur with his highness out of duty to him,
" arid as they saw it would be grateful to him, or
" upon a sudden, and without making those reflec-
" tions which would afterwards occur to them, and
" make them change their minds. That a few mer-
" chants, nor all the merchants in London, were
. " not c the city of London, . which had had war
" enough, and could only become rich by peace.
" That he did not think the parliament would be
" forward to encourage that war ; nor should the
" king be desirous that they should interpose their
" advice in it, since it was a subject entirely in the
" king's own determination : but if they should ap-
" pear never so forward in it, he was old enough to
c not] Omitted in MS.
VOL. II. R
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " remember when a parliament did advise, and upon
" the matter compel, his grandfather king James to
" enter into a war with Spain, upon promise of
" ample supplies ; and yet when he was engaged in
" it, they gave him no more supply ; so that at last
" the crown was compelled to accept of a peace not
" very honourable. "
Beside the arguments he had used to the king,
he besought his highness to reflect upon some others
more immediately relating to himself, "upon the
" want of able men to conduct the counsels upon
" which such a war must be carried on ; how few
" accidents might expose the crown to those dis-
" tresses, that it might with more difficulty be
" buoyed up than it had lately been ;" with many
other arguments, which he thought made some im-
The design pression upon the duke. And for some months
fo- the pre- . .
sent drop- there was no more mention or discourse in the
court of the war ; though they who first laid the de-
sign still cultivated it, and made little doubt d of
bringing it at last to pass.
The sale At or about this time there was a transaction of
great importance, which at the time was not popular
nor indeed understood, and afterwards was objected
against the chancellor in his misfortunes, as a princi-
pal argument of his infidelity and corruption ; which
was the sale of Dunkirk: the whole proceeding where-
of shall be plainly and exactly related from the be-
ginning to the end thereof.
The charge and expense the crown was at ; the
pay of the land forces and garrisons; the great
fleets set out to sea for the reduction of the Turkish
(1 doubt] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 243
pirates of Algiers and Tunis, and for guarding the j 663.
narrow seas, and security of the merchants ; the
constant yearly charge of the garrison of Dunkirk, of
,that at Tangier, and the vast expense of building a
mole there, for which there was an establishment,
together with the garrisons at Bombay ne and in
Jamaica, (none of which had been known to the
crown in former times ;) and the lord treasurer's
frequent representation of all this to the king, as so
prodigious an expense as could never be supported ;
had put his majesty to frequent consultations how
he might lessen and save any part of it. But no
expedient could be resolved upon. The lord trea-
surer, who was most troubled when money was
wanted, had many secret conferences with the ge-
neral and with the best seamen, of the benefit that
accrued to the crown by keeping of Dunkirk ; the
constant charge and expense whereof amounted to
above one hundred and twenty thousand pounds
yearly : and he found by them that it was a place
of little importance. It is true that he had- con-
ferred of it with the chancellor, with whom he held
a fast friendship ; but found him so averse from it, The chan-
that he resolved to speak with him no more, till the against it.
king had taken some resolution. And to that pur-
pose he persuaded the general to go with him to
the king and to the duke of York, telling them both,
" that the chancellor must know nothing of it :"
and after several debates the king thought it so
counsellable a thing, that he resolved to have it de-
bated before that committee which he trusted in his
most secret affairs ; and the chancellor being then
lame of the gout, he commanded that all those lords
should attend him at his house. Beside his majesty
R 2
244 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. himself and the duke of York, there appeared the
The busi- lord treasurer, the general, the earl of Sandwich,
fenreTto a ^ e vice-chamberlain sir George Carteret, who had
committee, been a great commander at sea, and the two secre-
taries of state. When the king entered the room
with the lord treasurer, he desired his majesty, smil-
ing, " that he would take the chancellor's staff
" from him, otherwise he would break his head. "
When they were all sat, the king told him, " they
" were all come to debate an affair that he knew
" he was against, which was the parting with Dun-
" kirk ; but he did believe, when he had heard all
" that was said for it and against it, he would
" change his mind, as he himself had done. " And
so the debate was entered into in this method, after
enough was said of the straits the crown was in, and
what the yearly expense was.
Reasons 1. " That the profit which did or could accrue to
parting " the kingdom by the keeping of Dunkirk was very
" inconsiderable, whether in war or peace. That
" by sea it was very little useful, it being no harbour,
" nor having place for the king's ships to ride in
" with safety ; and that if it were in the hand of
" an enemy, it could do us little prejudice, because
" three or four ships might block it up, and keep it
" from infesting its neighbours : and that though
" heretofore it had been a place of license at sea, and
" had much obstructed trade by their men of war,
" yet that proceeded only from the unskilfulness of
" that time in applying proper remedies to it ; which
" was manifest by Cromwell's blocking them up,
" and restraining them when he made war upon
" them, insomuch as all the men of war left that
" place, and betook themselves to other harbours.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 245
" That it was so weak to the land (notwithstanding 1663.
" the great charge his majesty had been at in the"
" fortifications, which were not yet finished) by the
" situation and the soil, that it required as many
" men within to defend it, as the army should con-
" sist of that besieged it ; otherwise that it could
" aever hold out and endure a siege of two months :
" as it appeared clearly by its having been taken
" and retaken so many times within the late years,
" in all which times it never held out so long, though
" there was always an army at no great distance to
" relieve it.
2. " That the charge of keeping and maintaining
" it, without any accidents from the attempt of an
" enemy, did amount unto above one hundred and
" twenty thousand pounds by the year, which was
" a sum the revenue of the crown could not supply,
" without leaving many other particulars of much
" more importance unprovided for. " And this was
not lightly or cursorily urged ; but the state of the
revenue, and the constant and indispensable issues,
were at the same time presented and carefully
examined.
3. " It could not reasonably be believed, but that
" if Dunkirk was kept, his majesty would be shortly
" involved in a war with one of the two crowns.
" The Spanish ambassador had already demanded
" restitution of it in point of justice, it having been
" taken from his master by the late usurper, in a
" time when there was not only a peace between
" his majesty and the king of Spain, but when his
" majesty resided, and was entertained by the ca-
" tholic king, in Flanders : and at this time both
" France and Spain inhibited their subjects from
R 3
246 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. "paying those small contributions to the garrison
~" at Dunkirk, and endeavoured to restrain the go-
" vernor himself from enjoying some privileges,
" which had been always enjoyed by him from the
" time that it had been put into Cromwell's hands. "
And it was upon this and many other reasons then
conceived, " that as it would be very hard for the
" king to preserve a neutrality towards both crowns,
" even during the time of the war between them,"
(which temper was thought very necessary for his
majesty's affairs ;) " so it would be much more diffi-
" cult long to avoid a war with one of them upon
" the keeping Dunkirk, if the peace that was newly
" made should remain firm and unshaken. "
Upon these reasons, urged and agreed upon by
those who could not but be thought very competent
judges, in respect of their several professions and
The king great experience, the king resolved to ease himself
resolves to _ - . ' 111 i /> TX i i
dispose of of the insupportable burden of maintaining Dunkirk,
and to part with it in such a manner as might be
most for his advantage and benefit. There remained
then no other question, than into what hand to put
it : and the measure of that was only who would
give most money for it, there being no inclination
to prefer one before another. It was enough under-
stood, that both crowns would be very glad to have
it, and would probably both make large offers for it.
Reasons for B u t it was then as evident, that whatsoever France
selling it to
France. should contract for, the king would be sure to re-
ceive, and the business would be soon despatched :
whereas on the other hand it was as notorious and
evident to his majesty, and to all who had any
knowledge of the court of Spain, and of the scarcity
of money there and in Flanders ; that how large of-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 24-7
fers soever the Spaniard might make, they could J663.
not be able in any time to pay any considerable sum
of money ; and that there would be so much time
spent in consult between Madrid and Brussels before
it could be despatched, that the keeping it so long
in his majesty's hands would in the expense disap-
point him of a good part of the end in parting
with it. Besides that it seemed at that time pro-
bable, that the Spaniard would shortly declare him-
self an enemy ; for besides that he demanded Dun-
kirk as of right, so he likewise required the resti- ~
tution of Tangier and Jamaica upon the same reason,
and declared, " that without it there could be no
" lasting peace between England and Spain," and
refused so much as to enter upon a treaty of alliance
with the king, before he should promise to make
such a restitution.
There wanted not in this conference and debate
the consideration of the States of the United Pro-
vinces, as persons like enough to desire the posses-
sion of Dunkirk, from whence they had formerly re-
ceived so much damage, and were like enough to
receive more whenever they should be engaged in
any war : and if in truth they should have any such
desire, more money might be reasonably required,
and probably be obtained from them, than could be
expected from either of the kings. But upon the
discussion of that point, it did appear to every man's
reason very manifest, that though they had rather
that Dunkirk should be put into the hands of the
Spaniard than delivered to France, or than it should
be detained by the English ; yet they durst not re-
ceive it into their own possession, which neither of
the two crowns would have approved of, and so it
R 4
248 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. would have exposed them to the displeasure, if not
~ to the hostility, of both the kings.
Upon this full deliberation, his majesty inclined
rather to give it up to France than to Spain ; but
deferred any positive resolution till he had imparted
The king the whole matter to the council-board, where the
refers it to . . .
the privy- debate was again resumed, principally, " whether it
" were more counsellable to keep it at so vast a
" charge, or to part with it for a good sum of money. "
And in that debate the mention of what had been
heretofore done in the house of commons upon that
subject was not omitted, nor the bill that they had
sent up to the house of peers for annexing it inse-
parably to the -crown : but that was not thought of
moment ; for as it had been suddenly entertained in
the house of commons, upon the Spanish ambas-
sador's first proposition for the restitution, so it was
looked upon in the house of peers as unfit in it-
self, and so laid aside after once being read, (which
had been in the first convention soon after the king's
return,) and so expired as soon as it was born. After
a long debate of the whole matter at the council-
board, where all was averred concerning the useless-
ness and weakness of the place, by those who had
where only said it at the committee ; there was but one lord
of the council who offered his advice to the king
against parting with it : and the ground of that
lord's dissenting, who was the earl of St. Alban's,
was enough understood to have nothing of public in
it, but to draw the negotiation for it into his own
hands. In conclusion, his majesty resolved to put
it into the hands of France, if that king would
comply with his majesty's expectation in the pay-
ment of so much money as he would require for it :
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 249
and a way was found out, that the king might pri- 1663.
vately be advertised of that his majesty's resolution,"
if he should have any desire to deal for it.
The advertisement was very welcome to the
French king, who was then resolved to visit Flan-
ders as soon as he should know of the death of the
king of Spain, which was expected every day. Nor
had he deferred it till then, upon the late affront
his ambassador had received at London from the
Spanish ambassador, (who by a contrived and la-
boured stratagem had got the precedence for his
coach before the other ; which the king of France
received with that indignation, that he sent pre-
sently to demand justice at Madrid, commanded his
ambassador to retire from thence, and would not
suffer the Spanish ambassador to remain in Paris
till he should have satisfaction, and was resolved to
have begun a war upon it,) if the king of Spain had
not acknowledged the fault of his ambassador, and
under his hand declared the precedence to belong to
France ; which declaration was sent to the courts of
all princes : and so for the present that spark of fire
was extinguished, or rather raked up.
The king sent M. D'Estrades privately to London Monsieur
. . D'Estrades
to treat about Dunkirk, without any character, but comes over
pretending to make it his way to Holland, whither
he was designed ambassador. After he had waited pnce>
upon the king, his majesty appointed four or five of
the lords of his council, whereof the chancellor and
treasurer and general were three, to treat with
M. D'Estrades for the sale of Dunkirk ; when the
first conference was spent in endeavouring to per-
suade him to make the first offer for the price, which
he could not be drawn to : so that the king's com-
250 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. missioners were obliged to make their demand.
~~And they asked the sum of seven hundred thousand
pounds sterling, to be paid upon the delivery of
Dunkirk and Mardike into the possession of the
king of France ; which sum appeared to him to be
so stupendous, that he seemed to think the treaty at
an end, and resolved to make no offer at all on the
part of his master. And so the conference brake
up.
At the next meeting he offered three millions of
livres, which according to the common account
amounted to three hundred thousand pistoles, which
the king's commissioners as much undervalued ; so
that any further conference was discontinued, till he
had sent an express or two into France, and till
their return : for as the expectation of a great sum
of ready money was the king's motive to part with
it, besides the saving the monthly charge ; so they
concluded that his necessities would oblige him to
part with it at a moderate price. And after the re-
turn of the expresses, the king's commissioners in-
sisting still upon what D'Estrades thought too much,
and he offering what they thought too little, the
treaty seemed to be at an end, and he prepared for
his return. In conclusion, his majesty being fully
as desirous to part with it as the king of France
could be to have it, it was agreed and concluded,
The price " that upon the payment of five hundred thousand
upon? " pistoles in specie at Calais to such persons as the
" king should appoint to receive it, his majesty's
" garrison of Dunkirk and Mardike should be with-
" drawn, and those places put into the hands of the
" king of France:" all which was executed accord-
ingly. And without doubt it was a greater sum of
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 251
money than was ever paid at one payment by any 1663.
prince in Christendom, upon what occasion soever ; ""
and every body seemed very glad to see so vast a sum
of money delivered into the Tower of London, as it
was all together ; the king at the same time declar-
ing, " that no part of it should be applied to any or-
" dinary occasion, but be preserved for some press-
" ing accident, as an insurrection or the like," which
was reasonably enough apprehended.
Nor was there e the least murmur at this bargain A vi
tion of the
in all the sessions of the parliament which sat after, chancellor
. -. _,, in this af-
until it fell out to some men s purposes to reproach fair.
the chancellor : and then they charged him " with
" advising the sale of Dunkirk, and that the very
" artillery, ammunition, and stores amounted to
" a greater value than the king received for the
" whole ;" when upon an estimate that had been
taken f of all those, they were not esteemed to be
more worth than twenty thousand pounds sterling ;
and the consideration of those, when the king's
commissioners insisted upon their being all shipped
for England, and the necessity of keeping them
upon the place where they were, had prevailed with
M. D'Estrades to consent to that sum of five hun-
dred thousand pistoles. But whether the bargain
was ill or well made, there could be no fault imputed
to the chancellor, who had no more to do in the
transaction than is before set down, the whole mat-
ter having been so long deliberated and so fully de-
bated. Nor did he ever before, or in, or after the
transaction, receive the value of half a crown for re-
ward or present, or any other consideration relating
e there] Omitted in MS. f taken] Omitted in MS.
252 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. to that affair: and the treatment he received after
"his coming into France was evidence enough, that
that king never thought himself beholden to him.
The queen A little before this time, the queen mother re-
brings a na- turned again for England, having disbursed a great
10 sum f money in making a noble addition to her
S " palace of Somerset-house. With the queen there
came over a youth of about ten or a dozen years of
age, who was called by the name of Mr. Crofts, be-
cause the lord Crofts had been trusted to take care
of his breeding ; but he was generally thought to be
the king's son, begotten upon a private Welch wo-
man of no good fame, but handsome, who had trans-
ported herself to the Hague, when the king was
first there, with a design to obtain that honour,
which a groom of the bedchamber willingly pre-
ferred her to ; and there it was this boy was born.
The mother lived afterwards for some years in France
in the king's sight, and at last lost his majesty's fa-
vour: yet the king desired to have the son deli-
vered to him, that he might take care of his educa-
tion, which she would not consent to. At last the
lord Crofts got him into his charge ; and the mo-
ther dying at Paris, he had the sole tuition of him,
and took care for the breeding him suitable to the
quality of a very good gentleman. And the queen
after some years came to know of it, and frequently
had him brought to her, and used him with much
grace ; and upon the king's desire brought him with
her from Paris into England, when he was about
twelve years of age, very handsome, and performed,
those exercises gracefully which youths of that age
used to learn in France. The king received him
with extraordinary fondness, and was willing that
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 253
every body should believe him to be his son, though 1663.
he did not yet make any declaration that he looked""
upon him as such, otherwise than by his kindness
and familiarity towards him. He assigned a liberal
maintenance for him ; but took not that care for a
strict breeding of him % as his age required.
The general, during the time of his command in
Scotland, had acquaintance with a lady of much ho-
nour there, the countess of Weemes, who had been
before the wife of the earl of Buccleugh, and by him
had one only daughter, who inherited his very great
estate and title, and was called the countess of Buc-
cleugh, a child of eight or ten years of age. All
men believed, that the general's purpose was to get
this lady for his own son, a match h suitable enough:
but the time being now changed, the lord Lauther-
dale, being a good courtier, thought his country-
woman might be much better married, if she were
given to the king for this youth, towards whom he
expressed so much fondness, those kinds of extrac-
tions carrying little disadvantage with them in Scot-
land ; and the general, whatever thoughts he had
before, would not be so ill a courtier as not to ad-
vance such a proposition. The lady was already in
possession of the greatest fortune in Scotland, which
would have a fair addition upon the death of her
mother. i>:< f
The king liked the motion well ; and so the mo-
ther was sent to, to bring up her daughter to Lon-
don, they being then both in Scotland. And when
they came, the king trusted the earl of Lautherdale
principally to treat that affair with the mother, who
e him] it h match] Not in MS.
254 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. had rather have been referred to any other body,
"~ having indeed some just exceptions. They were
traded to both yet under the years of consent ; but that time
ess of BUC- drawing on, such a contract was drawn up as had
leugh * been first proposed to the king, which was, " that
" the whole estate, for want of issue by the young
" lady, or by her death, should be devolved upon
" the young man who was to marry her, and his
" heirs for ever ; and that this should be settled by
" act of parliament in Scotland. " Matters being
drawn to this length, and writings being to be pre-
pared, it was now necessary that this young gentle-
man must have a name, and the Scots advocate had
prepared a draught, in which he was styled the
king's natural son : and the king was every day
pressed by the great lady, and those young men who
knew the customs of France, to create him a noble-
man of England ; and was indeed very willing to be
advised to that purpose.
The king Till this time, this whole matter was treated in
consults the 11-
chancellor secret amongst the ocots : but now the king thought
son 5 fit to consult it with others ; and telling the chan-
cellor of all that had passed, shewed him the draught
prepared by the Scots advocate, and asked him
" what he thought of it," and likewise implied,
" that he thought fit to give him some title of ho-
" nour. " After he had read it over, he told his ma-
The chan- jesty, " that he need not give him any other title of
vice. " honour than he would enjoy by his marriage, by
" which he would by the law of Scotland be called
" earl of Buccleugh, which would be title enough ;
" and he desired his majesty to pardon him, if he
" found fault with and disliked the title they had
" given him who prepared that draught, wherein
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 255
" they had presumed to style him the king's natural 1663.
" son, which was never, at least in many ages, used
" in England, and would have an ill sound in Eng-
" land with all his people, who thought that those
" unlawful acts ought to be concealed, and not pub-
" lished and justified. That France indeed had,
" with inconvenience enough to the crown, raised
" some families of those births ; but it was always
" from women of great quality, and who had never
" been tainted with any other familiarity. And
" that there was another circumstance required in
" Spain, which his majesty should do well to ob-
" serve in this case, if he had taken a resolution in
" the main ; which was, that the king took care for
" the good education of that child whom he believed
" to be his, but never publicly owned or declared
" him to be such, till he had given some notable evi-
" dence of his inheriting or having acquired such
" virtues and qualities, as made him in the eyes of
" all men worthy of such a descent. That this gen-
" tleman was yet young, and not yet to be judged
" of: and therefore if he were for the present mar-
" ried to this young lady, and assumed her title, as
" he must do, his majesty might defer for some
" years making any such declaration ; which he
" might do when he would, and which at present
" would be as unpopular an action in the hearts of
" his subjects as he could commit. "
Though the king did not seem to concur in all
that was said, he did not appear at all offended, and
only asked him, " whether he had not conferred
" with the queen his mother upon that subject. "
When he assured him, " he had not, nor with any
" other person, and though helwd heard some gene-
256 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " ral discourse of his majesty's purpose to make that
" marriage, he had never heard either of the other
" particulars mentioned ;" the king said, " he had
*' reason to ask the question, because many of those
" things, which he had said had been spoken to him
" by the queen his mother, who was entirely of his
" opinion, which she used not to be ;" and con-
cluded, " that he would confer with them together,"
seeming for the present to be more moved and
doubtful in the matter of the declaration, than in
the other, of the creation; and said, " there was
" no reason, since she brought all the estate, that
" she should receive no addition by her husband. "
The queen afterwards took an occasion to speak at
large to the chancellor of it with much warmth, and
The king manifestation that she did not like it. But the king
owns his spake with neither of them afterwards upon it, but
creates" him signed the declaration, and created him to be duke
f Monmouth ; very few persons dissuading it, and
the lady employing all her credit to bring it to pass:
and the earl of Bristol (who in those difficult cases
was usually consulted) pressed it as the only way to
make the king's friendship valuable.
Since the earl of Bristol is mentioned upon this
occasion, it will not be unseasonable to give him the
next part in this relation. Though he had left no
way unattempted to render himself gracious to the
king, by saying and doing all that might be accept-
able unto him, and contriving such meetings and
jollities as he was pleased with ; and though his ma-
jesty had been several ways very bountiful to him,
and had particularly given him at one time ten
thousand pounds in money, with which he had pur-
chased Wimbleton of the queen, and had given him
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 257
Ashdown-forest and other lands in Sussex: yet he 1663.
found he had not that degree of favour and interest ~~
in the king's affections, as he desired, or desired
that other people should think he had. The change
of his religion kept him from being admitted to the
council, or to any employment of moment. And
whereas he made no doubt of drawing the whole
dependance of the Roman catholics upon himself,
and to have the disposal of that interest, and to that
purpose had the Jesuits firm to him ; he found that he
had no kind of credit with them, nor was admitted
by them to their most secret consultations, and that
the fathers of the society had more enemies than
friends amongst the catholics.
His estate had been sold and settled by his own
consent, upon the marriage of his eldest son twice
to great fortunes : so that when he returned from
beyond the seas, he could not return to his estate as
others did, and had little more to subsist upon than
the king's bounty ; and that was not poured out
upon him in the measure he wished, though few per-
sons tasted more of it. He was in his nature very
covetous, and ready to embrace all ways that were
offered to get money, whether honourable or no, for
he had not a great power over himself, and could
not bear want, which he could hardly avoid, for he
was nothing provident in his expenses, when he had
any temptation from his ambition or vanity. Be-
sides, his appetite to play and gaming, in which he
had no skill, and by which he had all his life spent
whatever he could get, was not at all abated. He
spent as much money at Wimbleton in building and
gardening, as the land was worth.
By all these means he found himself in straits,
VOL. II. S
258 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. which he could neither endure nor get from, and
""which transported him to that degree, that he re-
solved to treat the king in another manner than
he had ever yet presumed to do. And having asked
somewhat of him that his majesty did not think fit
The eari of to grant, he told him, " he knew well the cause of
travagant*" " his withdrawing his favour from him ; that it pro-
to the'kiDg. " cee ded only from the chancellor, who governed
" him and managed all his affairs, whilst himself
" spent his time only in pleasures and debauchery :"
and in this passion upbraided him with many ex-
cesses, to which no man had contributed more than
he had done. He said many truths which ought to
have been more modestly and decently mentioned,
and all this in the presence of the lord Aubigny,
who was as much surprised as the king ; and con-
cluded, " that if he did not give him satisfaction '
" within such a time," (the time allowed did not ex-
ceed four and twenty hours,) " he would do some-
" what that would awaken him out of his slumber,
" and make him look better to his own business ;"
and added many threats against the chancellor.
The king stood all this time in such confusion, that
though he gave him more sharp words than were
natural to him, he had not that presentness of mind
(as he afterwards accused himself) as he ought to
have had ; and said, " he ought presently to have
" called for the guard," it being in his own closet,
" and sent him to the Tower. "
The court and the town was full of the discourse
that the earl of Bristol would accuse the chancellor
of high treason, who knew nothing of what had
' give him satisfaction] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 259
passed with the king. And it seems when the time 16C3.
was past that he prescribed to the king to give him ~~
satisfaction, he came one morning to the house of
peers with a paper in his hand ; and told the lords,
" that he could not but observe, that after so glori- He accuse*
3 . thechan-
" ous a return with which God had blessed the kingceiiorof
" and the nation, so that all the world had expected, !
" that the prosperity of the kingdom would have
" far exceeded the misery and adversity that it had
" for many years endured ; and after the parliament
" had contributed more towards it, than ever parlia-
" ment had done : notwithstanding all which, it was
" evident to all men, and lamented by those who
" wished well to his majesty, that his affairs grew
" every day worse and worse ; the king himself lost
" much of his honour, and the affection he had in
" the hearts of the people. That for his part he
? ' looked upon it with as much sadness as any man,
" and had made inquiry as well as he could from
" whence this great misfortune, which every body
*' was sensible of, could proceed ; and that he was
" satisfied in his own conscience, that it proceeded
" principally from, the power and credit and sole
" credit of the chancellor : and therefore he was re-
" solved, for the good of his country, to accuse the
" lord chancellor of high treason ; which he had
" done in the paper which he desired might be read,
" all written with his own hand, to which he sub-
" scribed his name. "
The paper contained many articles, which he
called Articles of High Treason and other Misde-
meanors ; amongst which one was, " that he had
" persuaded the king to send a gentleman (a crea-
" ture of his own) to Rome with letters to the pope,
s 2
260 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " to give a cardinal's cap to the lord Aubigny, who
~~" was almoner to the queen. " The rest contained
" his assuming to himself the government of all
" public affairs, which he had administered unskil-
" fully, corruptly, and traitorously ; which he was
" ready to prove. "
The chancellor, without any trouble in his coun-
tenance, told the lords, " that he had had the ho-
" nour heretofore to have so much the good opinion
" and friendship of that lord, that he durst appeal
" to his own conscience, that he did not himself be-
" lieve one of those articles to be true, and knew
" the contrary of most of them. And he was glad
" to find that he thought it so high a crime to send
" to Rome, and to desire a cardinal's cap for a ca-
" tholic lord, who had been always bred from his
" cradle in that faith : but he did assure them, that
" that gentleman was only sent by the queen to
" the pope, upon an affair that she thought herself
** obliged to comply with him in, and in hope to do
" some good office to Portugal ; and that the king
" had neither writ to the pope, nor to any other
" person in Rome. " He spake at large to most of
the articles, to shew the impossibility of their being
true, and that they reflected more upon the king's
honour than upon his ; and concluded, " that he
" was sorry that lord had not been better advised,
" for he did believe that though all that was alleged
" in the articles should be true, they would not all
" amount to high treason, upon which he desired
" the judges might be required to deliver their
" opinion ; the which the lords ordered the judges
" to do. " It was moved by one of the lords, " that
" the copy of the articles might be sent to the king,
EDWARD ARL OF CLARENDON. 261
" because he was mentioned so presumptuously in 1663.
" them ;" which was likewise agreed; and the arti-~
cles were delivered to the lord chamberlain to pre-
sent to the king.
The chancellor had promised that day to dine in
Whitehall, but would not presume to go thither till
he had sent to the king, not thinking it fit to go
into his court, whilst he lay under an accusation of
high treason, without his leave. His majesty sent
him word, " that he should dine where he had ap-
" pointed, and as soon as he had dined that he
" should attend him. " Then his majesty told him
and the lord treasurer all that had passed between
the earl of Bristol and him in the presence of the
lord Aubigny; and in the relation of it expressed
great indignation, and was angry with himself,
" that he had not immediately sent him to the
" Tower, which," he said, " he would do as soon as
" he could apprehend him. " He used the chancel-
lor with much grace, and told him, "that the earl of
" Bristol had not treated him so ill as he had done
" his majesty ; and that his articles were more to
" his dishonour, and reflected more upon him, for
" which he would have justice. "
His majesty commanded the lord chamberlain to
return his thanks to the house, " for the respect
" they had shewed to him in sending those articles
" to him ;" and to let them know, " that he looked
" upon them as a libel against himself more than a
" charge against the chancellor, who upon his know-
" ledge was innocent in all the particulars charged
" upon him ;" which report the lord chamberlain
made the next morning to the house ; and at the
same time the judges declared their opinion unani-
s 3
262 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 663.
mously, " that the whole charge contained nothing
~ " of treason though it were all true. " Upon which
the earl of Bristol, especially upon what the lord
chamberlain had reported from the king, appeared
in great confusion, and lamented his condition,
" that he, for endeavouring to serve his country
" upon the impulsion of his conscience, was discoun-
" tenanced, and threatened with the anger and dis-
" pleasure of his prince ; whilst his adversary kept
" his place in the house, and had the judges so much
" at his devotion that they would not certify against
" him. " The chancellor moved the house, " that a
" short day might be given to the earl, to bring in
" his evidence to prove the several matters of his
" charge ; otherwise that he might have such repa-
" ration, as was in their judgments proportionable
" to the indignity. " The earl said, " he should
" not fail to produce witnessess to prove all he had
" alleged, and more : but that he could not appoint
" a time when he could be ready for a hearing,
" because many of his most important witnesses
" were beyond the seas, some at Paris, and others
" in other places ; and that he must examine the
" duke of Ormond, who was lieutenant in Ireland,
" and the earl of Lautherdale, who was then in
" Scotland, and must desire commissioners h to that
" purpose. "
The eari of But from that day he made no further instance :
mmbupon an ^ understanding that the king had given warrants
warrantee * a ser g eail t a ^ arms to apprehend him, he con-
apprehend cealed himself in several places for the space of near
him.
two years ; sending sometimes letters and petitions
k commissioners] commissions
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 263
by his wife to the king, who would not receive them. 1 663.
But in the end his majesty was prevailed with by~
the lady and sir Harry Bennet to see him in pri-
vate ; but would not admit him to come to the
court, nor repeal his warrants for his apprehension :
so that he appeared not publicly till the chancellor's
misfortune ; and then he came to the court and to
the parliament in great triumph, and shewed a more
impotent malice than was expected from his gene-
rosity and understanding.
We shall in the next place take a view of Scot- The affairs
land, whither we left Middleton sent the king's com-
missioner, who performed his part with wonderful
dexterity and conduct, and with more success than
some of his countrymen were pleased with. We
have remembered before the debate upon his in-
structions, and the earnest advice and caution given
by Lautherdale against any hasty attempt to make
alteration in the matters of the church, which was
at last left to the discretion of the commissioner, to
proceed in such a manner, and at such a time, as he
found most convenient. As soon as he came thi-Thecom-
ther, he found himself received with as universal an
exclamation, and the king's authority as cheerfully ed '
submitted to, as can be imagined or could be wish-
ed ; and such a consent to every thing he proposed,
that he made no question but any thing his majesty
required would find an entire obedience. The earl
of Glencarne, who was chancellor, and the earl of
Rothes, and all the nobility of any interest or credit,
were not only faithful to the king, but fast friends
to Middleton, and magnified his conduct in all their
letters.
The earl of Crawford alone, who was treasurer,
s 4
264 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. which is an office that cannot be unattended by a
~ great faction in that kingdom, retained still his ri-
gid affection for the presbytery, when the ministers
themselves grew much less rigid, and were even
ashamed of the many follies and madnesses they had
committed. But the earl of Crawford did all he
could to raise their spirits, and to keep them firm to
the kirk. In all other particulars he was full of de-
votion to the king, being entirely of the faction of
Hamilton, and nearly allied to it; and when the
king was in Scotland had served him signally, and
had then been made by him high treasurer of that
kingdom ; and upon Cromwell's prevailing and con-
junction with Argyle, was as odious as any man to
them both, and had for many years been prisoner in
England till the time of the king's return. There
was always a great friendship between him and
Lautherdale ; the former being a man of much the
greater interest, and of unquestionable courage ;
the other excelling him in all the faculties which
are necessary to business, and being 1 a master in
dissimulation.
Middleton, and the lords who went with him,
and the general, (upon whose advice the king de-
pended as much in the business of Scotland,) were
all earnest with his majesty to remove the earl of
Crawford from that great office, which would enable
him to do mischief. But the king's good-nature
prevailed. over him, though he knew him as well as
they did : and he thought it too hardhearted a thing
to remove a man, whom he found a prisoner for his
service, from an office he had formerly conferred
1 being] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 265
upon him for his merit, and which he had not for- 1663.
feited by any miscarriage. And it may be it was~
some argument to him of his sincerity, that when
others, who to his majesty's own knowledge were as
rigid presbyterians as he, were now very frank in
renouncing and disclaiming all obligations from it,
he, of all the nobility, was the only man who still
adhered to it, when it was evident to him that he
should upon the matter be undone by it. However,
the king sent him down with the rest into Scot-
land, being confident that he would do nothing to
disserve him, as in truth he never did; and re-
solved m that, when the business of the church came
to be agitated, if he did continue still refractory, he
would take the staff from him, and confer n it upon
Middleton : who, though all things were very fair
between him and Lautherdale, to whom all his de-
spatches must be addressed, yet depended more upon
those of the English council, to whom the king had
required the secretary to communicate all that he
received from the commissioner, and all the de-
spatches which he should make to him. And by this
means no orders were sent from the king which re-
strained him from proceeding in the matter of the
church according to discretion, as he was appointed
by his instructions ; though Lautherdale did not dis-
semble, when letters came from Scotland "of the
" good posture the king's affairs were in there, and
" that any thing might be brought to pass that he
" desired," to receive other letters to which he gave
more credit ; and was still as solicitous that no-
m resolved] Not in MS. " confer] resolved to confer
266 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. thing might be attempted with reference to the
~ kirk.
Proceedings As soon as the parliament was convened at Edin-
scotch par- burgh, and the commissioner found the temper of
iiament. them to be such as he could wish, the marquis of
Argyle (who had been sent by sea from the Tower
The mar- o f London to Leith) was brought to his trial upon
gyie tried, many, articles of treason and murder ; wherein all
and execut- his confederacies with Cromwell were laid open,
and much insisted upon to prove his being privy
to the resolution of taking the king's life, and ad-
vising it : and though there was great reason to sus-
pect it, and most men believed it, the proofs were
not clear enough to convict him. But then the evi-
dence was so full and clear of so many horrid mur-
ders committed by his order upon persons in his dis-
pleasure, and his immediate possessing himself of
their estates, and other monstrous and unheard of
acts of oppression ; that the parliament condemned
him to be hanged upon a gallows of an unusual
height, and in or near the place where he had
caused the marquis of Mountrose to be formerly ex-
ecuted : all which was performed the same day
with the universal joy of the people ; the unfortu-
nate person himself shewing more resolution and
courage than was expected from him, and expressing
much affection and zeal for the covenant, for which
he desired all men should believe he was put to
Giiaspy, a death. There was likewise one seditious preacher,
ecuted? CX Giiaspy, who had been a notorious and malicious re-
bel against the last and the present king, underwent
the same trial and judgment, with the same faith
in the covenant, and without show of repentance.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 267
And it was much wondered at, that no more of 1663.
that tribe, which had kindled the fire that had al-
most burned two kingdoms, and never had endea-
voured to extinguish it, were ever brought to jus-
tice ; and that the lives of two men should be
thought a sufficient sacrifice for that kingdom to
offer for all the mischief it had done.
When this work was done, the parliament without
hesitation repealed all those acts prejudicial to the
crown and the royal dignity, which had been made
since the beginning of the rebellion, and upon which
all the rebellions had been founded ; and branded
their beloved covenant with all the reproaches it de-
served, and this even with the consent and approba-
tion of the general assembly of the kirk. By all
which the obstructions were removed ; and it was
now in the power of the king to make bishops as
heretofore, and to settle the church in the same go-
vernment to which it had formerly been subject.
But the commissioner thought not this enough; and
apprehended that the king might yet be persuaded,
though there was no such appearance, " that the
" people were against it, and that it would be better
"to defer it:" and therefore the parliament pre- Tie pariia-
pared a petition to the king, highly aggravating the on the '
wickedness of the former time in destroying episco-
pacy, without which they could not have brought SCO
their wicked devices to pass; and therefore they
were humble suitors to his majesty, " that he would
" make choice of such grave divines, as he thought
" fit to be consecrated bishops, for all the vacant
" sees," they being at that time all vacant, there
being not one bishop of the nation alive.
And the commissioner having declared that he
268 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. meant to prorogue the parliament, they appointed a
Theypre _ draught of an oath or subscription to be prepared
Crationof a ams * * ne nex * session, whereby every man, who
the cove- wa s possessed of a church or any other ecclesiastical
promotion in that kingdom, should be bound to re-
nounce the covenant upon the penalty of being de-
prived ; intimating likewise, that they resolved, at
the next meeting, " that no man should be capable
" of holding any office, or of being a privy counsel-
" lor, who would not formally subscribe the same. "
And settle They settled a standing militia of forty thousand
fore* 1D men, to be always ready to march upon the king's
orders ; and raised two good troops of horse, and
provided for the payment of them ; and granted
such a sum of money to the king, as could be rea-
sonably expected from so poor and harassed a coun-
try, and which would serve the defraying the neces-
Thecom- sary expenses thereof. And all this being done,
missioner . .
returns to and the prorogation made, the commissioner and
some of the other lords came to London to kiss the
king's hand, and to receive his further directions,
having so fully despatched all his former orders.
They brought likewise with them some other propo-
sitions, which will be mentioned anon.
The king received the commissioner with open
arms, and was very well pleased with all that he
had done ; and nobody seemed to magnify it more
than Lautherdale, who was least satisfied with it.
Nor could he now longer oppose the making of bi-
shops there : so having presented the names of such
persons to the king who were thought fit to be con-
secrated bishops, whereof some had been with his
majesty abroad, they were all sent for to London ;
and such of them who had not before received their
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 269
ordination from a bishop, but from the presbytery 1663.
in Scotland, whereof the archbishop of St. Andrew's Scotch bi _
was one, first received orders of deacon and priest sh P s C ? IU
secrated.
from the bishop of London, and were afterwards
consecrated in the usual form by the bishops who
were then near the town, and made so great a feast
as if it had been at the charge of their country.
The commissioner, the chancellor, the earl of
Rothes and others, with the lord Lautherdale, were
deputed by the parliament to be humble suitors to
the king ; " since they had performed on their part
" all that was of the duty of good subjects, and were
" ready to give any other testimony of their obedi-
" ence that his majesty would require ; and since
" the whole kingdom was entirely at his devotion,
" and in such a posture that they were able as
" well as willing to preserve the peace thereof, and
" to suppress any seditious party that should at-
" tempt any disturbance; that his majesty would J e h s ^ c t ^ tch
" now remove the English garrisons from thence, English
" and permit the fortifications and works, which had ma"be
" been erected at a vast charge, to be demolished, Wl
" that there might remain no monuments of the
" slavery they had undergone. " And this they
demanded as in justice due to them, " since there
" were few men now alive, none in the least power,
" who had contributed to the ills which had been
" committed ; and all the men of power had under-
" gone for ten or a dozen years as great oppression
" as could be put upon them, because they would
" not renounce their fidelity to the king : and since
" it had pleased God to restore his majesty, they
" hoped he would not continue those yokes and
not] Omitted in MS.
270 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 663. " shackles upon them, which had been prepared and
~ " put upon them to keep them from returning to
" their allegiance. "
This was proposed in the presence of those of the
English council, who had been formally admitted
to be of the council of Scotland, and continued to
meet upon that affair. The Scots lords enlarged
with much warmth " upon the intolerable oppres-
" sion that nation had undergone, on the poverty
" they still suffered, and the impossibility of being
" able to bear any part of the charge, and the jea-
" lousy that it would keep up between the nations,
" which could not be to the king's profit and conve-
" nience. " They had privately spoken before with
the king upon it, and had prevailed with him to
think what they desired had reason and justice in
it; and the English lords could not upon the sud-
den, and without conference together, resolve what
was fit for them to say : so that they desired, without
expressing any inclination in the matter, " that the
" debate might be put off to another day ;" which
the Scots took very ill, as if the very deferring it
were an argument that they thought it might be
denied. But when they saw they would not pre-
sently speak to it, they were content that another
day should be appointed for the consideration of it :
and they afterwards desired the king, " that he
" would call the committee of the English council,
" who used to attend him in the most secret affairs,
" to consult what was to be done. " Nobody could
deny but that the Scots had reason to demand it.
And they who thought it a bridle fit to keep in their
mouths, to restrain them from future rebellions
which they might be inclined to, could not easily
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 271
resolve what answer should be given to them in the 1663.
negative. And they who thought the demand to~~
be so just and reasonable, and so much for the king's
benefit and advantage, that it ought to be granted,
did believe likewise that it was a thing so capable of
censure and reproach, in regard of the general pre-
judice which the English have against that people,
that no particular person was able to bear the odium
of the advice ; nor that the king himself should take
the resolution upon himself without very mature
deliberation.
That which advanced the proposition as fit to be Some cir-
cumstances
granted, was the charge of maintaining those forces; that faciiu
which that kingdom was so incapable of bearing, request! " 1
that Middleton and Glencarne (whose duties and
entire devotion to the king were above all exception
or suspicion) declared not only to the king, but to
those of the lords with whom they would confer
freely, " that if the king thought it necessary to
" keep that people still there, he must send more
" forces of horse and foot thither ; otherwise they
" were not strong enough to subdue the whole king-
" dom, but would as soon as they stirred out of their
" garrisons be knocked in the head ; nor would the
" country pay any thing towards their support, but
" what should be extorted by force : so that his
" majesty would not be thought to possess that
" kingdom in peace, which otherwise he would
" unquestionably do. "
And this consideration was improved by the re-
flection upon the body of men of which those forces
consisted, which was a parcel of the worst affected
men to the king of the whole army, and which the
general had therefore left in Scotland, when he
272 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1(563. marched into England under the command of major
""general Morgan, (who was worthy of any trust,)
because he was not sure enough of their fidelity to
take them with him, yet thought them P fit enough
to be left to restrain the Scots from any sudden in-
surrection. But now they saw all their model
brought to confusion, they were not so much above
temptation, but that they might, especially if they
were drawn together, concur in any desperate design
with a discontented party in Scotland, or with their
brethren of the disbanded army of England, who at
that season had rebellious resolutions in the north.
And which 1 was of no small importance, there was
at this very time an opportunity to transport all
those forces (the very disbanding whereof would not
be without danger for the reasons aforesaid) to Por-
tugal, in compliance with the king's obligation upon
his marriage.
On the contrary, it was very notorious that the
people generally throughout England, of what qua-
lity soever, a few London presbyterians excepted,
were marvellously pleased to see the Scots so ad-
mirably chastised and yoked; nor had Cromwell
ever done an act that more reconciled the affections
of the English to him, than his most rigorous treat-
ment of that nation ; and they never contributed
money so willingly towards any of his designs, as
for the erecting those forts in the several quarters
of the kingdom ; which, with a little addition of
force, they had good experience would suffice to
keep it from giving any disturbance to their neigh-
bours. And the demolishing all those structures in
P thought them] Not in MS. ' which] that which
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 273
one instant, and leaving an unquiet and an impo- 1663.
verished people to their own inclinations, could not ~
be grateful.
The king had, during the time that he resided
in Scotland before his march to Worcester, con-
tracted, and had brought with him from thence, a
perfect detestation of their kirk and presbyterian
government, and a great prejudice against the whole
family of Argyle and some other persons. But he
was exceedingly reconciled to the nation ; and be-
sides the esteem he had of the persons of very many
noblemen, he did really believe the burgesses and
common people to be as heartily affected to him, and
as much at his disposal, as any subjects he had. And
the lord Lautherdale cultivated this gracious cre-
dulity with so much diligence, that he assured the
king, " that he might depend upon the whole Scots
" nation as upon one man, to be employed r in
" his service and commands of what kind soever,
" and against what enemy soever. " His majesty The ting
upon the debate of this business declared, " that he
" did not only think it good husbandry in respect of
" the expense, and good policy, that he might keep
" Scotland entirely at his devotion, whilst Ireland
" remained in this confusion, and England itself was
" threatened by such factions in religion, to gratify
" them in what they desired ; but that he held him-
" self obliged in honour, justice, and conscience, to
" send all the forces out of that kingdom, and to de-
" face the monuments of that time : and that there
"would be no more to be consulted, but what to do
" with those forces," (which was quickly resolved,
r to be employed] to be employed as one man
VOL. II. T
274 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16C3. that they should be all sent for Portugal ; and order
was presently given for ships upon which they were
to be embarked,) " and then to consider in what
" method the other should be done. "
The Scots were very well satisfied 8 with the king's
resolution upon the main, but troubled at somewhat
that the English lords proposed for the way, " that
" the privy-council first, and then the parliament,
" should be informed of his majesty's intentions :
" which," they said, " would be against the honour
" and the interest and the right of Scotland, which
" never submitted any of their concernments to be
" debated at the council-board of England ; and the
" innovation would be no less in remitting it to the
" parliament, which had no pretence of jurisdiction
" over them. " To both which they were answered,
" that the withdrawing the English forces, and de-
" molishing the English fortifications, concerned
" England no less than the other kingdom ; and
" that his majesty did not intend it should be pro-
" posed to them, as a thing of which he made any
" doubt or required their advice, but only as a mat-
" ter of fact, which would prevent all murmurings or
" censures, which otherwise might arise. " The
English lords desired, " that the king's orders might
" be very positive, and that the commissioner might
" see them executed, for the utter demolishing all
" those fortifications which the English were to
" abandon, that they might not be continued for
" the entertainment of new garrisons of the natives,
" which would administer matter of new jealousies:"
all which they cheerfully consented to, well knowing
s satisfied] settled
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 275
that they might afterwards perform what they 1663.
found convenient; and many did since believe, that"*
there remains enough in some of the places to be
shelter to a rebellion hereafter.
The king appointed the chancellor to make a re-
lation, at a conference between the two houses of
parliament, " of the good posture his majesty's af-
" fairs of Scotland stood in ; of their having repeal-
" ed all those ill laws which had been made by the
" advantage of the rebellion, and all that concerned
" the church ; upon which that his majesty forth-
" with resolved to settle bishops in that kingdom,
" which appeared very unanimously devoted to his
" service : and that the king could not but commu-
" nicate this good news to them, which he knew
" would give them cause of rejoicing. " And then
he told them, " that the Scots parliament, in regard
" of the peace and quiet that they enjoyed, without
" the least apprehension of trouble from abroad or
** at home, had desired the king, that the English
** forces might be withdrawn and all the fortifica-
** tions razed ; and that those forces might be con-
*' venient, if his majesty thought fit, to be trans-
** ported to Portugal;" without discovering what TheEn ? -
. ii-i i . I' 8 ' 1 parlia-
nis majesty had resolved to do, or asking any opin-mentdo
ion from them, which however they might have " t ot opposi
given if they pleased. The effect was, that botli
houses sent their humble thanks to the king " for
" his having vouchsafed to let them know the good
" condition of Scotland, of which they wished his
" majesty much joy ; and hoped his other dominions
" would in a short time be in the same tranquillity :"
without taking any notice of withdrawing the garri-
sons. And so that affair ended.
T 2
276 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. During this agitation in London, it was discern-
ible enough that there were great jealousies between
the Scots lords. The commissioner and the other
had cause to believe, that the king gave much more
credit to Lautherdale than to them, and looked
upon him as a man of great interest in that country,
when they knew he had none, being neither in his
quality or fortune amongst those who were esteemed
men of power and dependance. And he thought
them linked in a faction against him, to lessen the
value the king had of him, which indeed was the
foundation of all his credit and interest. What
countenance soever he set upon it, he was sensibly
afflicted at the downfall of the presbytery, and that
Middleton had brought that to pass without any
difficulty, (as he had before told the king he would,)
which he had assured his majesty was impossible to
be effected but in long time and by many stratagems.
The marquis of Argyle had been a man univer-
sally odious to the whole nation, some ministers and
preachers excepted : and there had been always
thought to have been an implacable animosity from
Lautherdale towards him ; and after the king's re-
turn no man had appeared more against him, nor
more insisted upon his not being admitted to his
majesty's presence, or for his being sent into Scot-
land to be tried. Yet after all this it was discover-
ed, that he had interposed all he could with his ma-
jesty to save him, and employed all his interest in
Scotland to the same purpose. And the marquis
was no sooner executed, but the earl of Lautherdale
had prevailed with the king immediately to give his
Lord Lome son, the lord Lorne, (who had remained in London
and created to solicit on his father's behalf,) leave to kiss his
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 277
hand, and to create him earl of Argyle, and to con- 1663.
fer on him the office of general justice in the High- ear] of Ar _
lands, by which his father had been qualified to
most of the wickednesses he had committed; all
which the parliament of Scotland should have
treated as * the most sensible affront to them that
they could undergo.
It was well known that this young man, who was
captain of the king's guard when he was in Scot-
land, had treated his majesty with that rudeness
and barbarity, that he was much more odious to
him than his father ; and in all the letters which
Lautherdale had found opportunity to write, whilst
he was a prisoner in England, to the king when he
was beyond the seas, he inveighed equally against
the son as the father, and never gave him any other
title than, "That Toad's Bird:" so that nobody
could imagine from whence this change could pro-
ceed, but from a design to preserve an interest in
the presbyterian party against the time he should
have occasion to use them.
Then there were circumstances in this grace of
the king to the lord Lome, that exceeded all men's
comprehension : for his majesty caused all the estate
of the marquis of Argyle, which did not appear in
any degree so considerable as it was generally be-
lieved to have been, to be seized upon as forfeited
to him ; and then would grant it to the son so abso-
lutely, that neither the owners should recover what
had been injuriously and violently taken from them
for their loyalty to the king, nor the creditors re-
ceive satisfaction for the just debts which were due
1 have treated asj Omitted in MS.
T 3
278 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16( ' 3 - to them, and which must have been satisfied if the
king had retained the forfeiture. But upon the ap-
plication of the commissioner and the other lords,
that the king would hear all persons concerned,
there was some mitigation in those particulars, not-
withstanding all the opposition which Lautherdale
did barefaced make on the behalf of the lord Lome,
and which the other bore with great indignation :
which he knew very well, and did believe that the
oath and subscription, which he well knew they had
contrived for the next session of parliament, was le-
velled at him; that not taking it, as they did not
believe he would do, the secretary of Scotland's
place might become void, which they had much ra-
ther should have been in any man's hand than in
his. And therefore he took all occasions to profess
and declare, besides his constant raillery against the
presbytery, " that if they should require him to sub-
" scribe that he is a Turk, he would do it before he
" would lose his office. "
The matter of these offences being most in pri-
vate, and so not publicly taken notice of, they made
a fair show and kept good quarter towards each
other. And the king consenting to all that the
commissioner proposed with reference to the public,
being indeed abundantly satisfied with his comport-
ment, and at parting promising to give him the of-
fice of treasurer, when by Crawford's refusing to
. The com- subscribe it should become void ; they, with all their
aJiTbishops bishops, returned again for Scotland with incurable
Scotland, jealousy of Lautherdale, who remained waiting upon
the king, and resolved to cross all their designs he
could, and quietly to expect a better opportunity to
undo what he could not for the present prevent.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 279
It is time now to return to the parliament of 1664.
England, which, according to the time of the pro- The Eng .
rogation, met again in March towards the entrance ^^J, 1 ^.
into the year 1664 : when at their first meeting the
king informed them at large of the insurrection that
had been endeavoured in the summer before in
Yorkshire, which, how foolishly soever contrived,
was a very great instance of the distemper of the
nation ; that three years after the disbanding of the
army, the officers thereof should remain still so un-
quiet, as to hope to give any signal disturbance to
the peace of the kingdom, by such a commotion as
they could upon their credit raise.
The continual discourse of plots and insurrections An insur-
had so wearied the king, that he even resolved to tended in
give no more countenance to any such informations, Yorksbire >
nor to trouble himself with inquiry into them ; but
to leave the peace of the kingdom against any such
attempts to the vigilance of the civil magistrates,
and the care of the officers of the militia, which he
presumed would be sufficient to quell and suppress
any ordinary fanatic design. And upon this reso-
lution, and to avoid the reproach of the late times,
of contriving plots only to commit men to prison
against whom there was any prejudice, he totally
neglected the first information he received of this
seditious purpose. But when the intelligence was
continued from several parts, and so particular for
the time and place of the rendezvous, and for the
seizing upon the city of York ; and there was evi-
dence that some men of estate and fortune, and who
were held wary and discreet men, were engaged in
it ; his majesty thought it time to provide against it,
and not only commended the care of it to the lords
T 4
280 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
I6fi4. lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of the counties
~~ adjacent, but sent likewise several troops of his own
horse to possess the city of York before the day ap-
pointed, and to attend some of the places of the ren-
But prc- dezvous. And they came very seasonably, and sur-
vented. . . , , . _ , .
prised many upon the very place, before their com-
pany was strong enough to make resistance. Others
did make some resistance, but quickly fled and were
dispersed. Many were taken, and upon their ex-
amination behaved themselves as if they were sure
to be quickly rescued ; for it appeared that they did
believe that the insurrection would have been ge-
neral throughout the kingdom, and that all the dis-
banded army would have been brought together at
several rendezvouses.
All the prisons in the north were so full, that the
king thought it necessary to send down four or five
of the judges of the several benches of Westminster-
hall to York, with a commission of oyer and ter-
miner, to examine the whole matter. There, though
the judges did not believe that they had discovered
the bottom of the whole conspiracy, they found
Some of the cause to condemn very many ; whereof seventeen or
eighteen were executed, some reprieved, and very
many left in prison to be tried at the next assizes.
Amongst those who were executed, the man who
was most looked upon was one Rymer, of the qua-
lity of the better sort of grand-jurymen, and held a
wise man, and was known to be trusted by the
greatest men who had been in rebellion : and he
was discovered by a person of intimate trust with
him, who had heretofore the same affections with
him, but would venture no more. He was a sullen
man, and used few words to excuse himself, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 281
none to hurt any body else ; though he was thought 1664.
to know much, and that having a good estate he~
would never have embarked in a design that had no
probability of success. Some of the prisoners de-
clared, " that they were assured by those who en-
" g a e d them, that such and such great men would
" appear at the rendezvous or soon after. " But
that was not thought a sufficient ground to trouble
any man, though some of them were very liable to
suspicion ; since in all combinations of that kind, it
is a most usual artifice to work upon weak men, by
persuading them that other men, of whom they have
great esteem, are engaged in it, who in truth know
nothing of it.
The judges were returned from York little time
before the parliament met ; and therefore the king
thought it fit to awaken them to much vigilance, by
informing them with what secrecy that conspiracy
had been carried. And his majesty assured them, The king's
" that he was not yet at the bottom of that busi-
" ness ; and that it appeared manifestly, that this n
" conspiracy was but a branch of that which he had
" discovered as well as he could to them about two
" years since, and had been then executed nearer
" hand, if he had not by God's goodness come to
" the knowledge of some of the principal contrivers,
" and so secured them from doing the mischief they
" intended. "
His majesty told them, " that they would wonder
" (yet he said what was true) that they were now
" even in those parts, when they see their friends
" under trial and execution, still pursuing the same
" consultations : and it was evident that they had cor-
" respondence with desperate persons in most coun-
282 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " ties, and a standing council in London itself, from
~" " which they received their directions, and by whom
" they were advised to defer their last intended in-
" surrection. But those orders served only to dis-
" tract them, and came too late to prevent their
" destruction. " He said, " he knew more of their
" intrigues, than they thought he did ; and hoped he
*' should shortly discover the bottom : in the mean
" time he desired the parliament, that they might
" all be as watchful to prevent, as they were to con-
" trive their mischief. " He said, " he could not
*' upon this occasion omit to tell them, that these
" desperate men in their counsels (as appeared by
" several examinations) had not been all of one mind
" in the ways of carrying on their wicked resolu-
" tions. Some would still insist upon the authority
" of the long parliament, of which they say they have
" members enough willing to meet : others have fan-
" cied to themselves, by some computation of their
" own, upon some clause in the triennial bill, that
" this present parliament was at an end some months
" since ; and that for want of new writs they may
" assemble themselves, and choose members for par-
" liament ; and that this is the best expedient to
" bring themselves together for their other pur-
" poses. For the long parliament," his majesty said,
" that he and they together could do no more than
" he had done to inform and compose the minds of
" men ; let them proceed upon that at their peril.
" But he- thought there had been nothing done to
" disabuse men in respect of the triennial bill. He
" confessed that he had often himself read over that
" bill ; and though there is no colour for the fancy
" of the determination of this parliament ; yet he
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 283
" would not deny to them, that he had always ex- 1665.
" pected that they would, and even wondered that"
" they had not considered the wonderful clauses in
" that bill, which had passed in a time very uncare-
" ful for the dignity of the crown, or the security of
" the people. " His majesty desired the speaker and
the gentlemen of the house of commons, " that
" they would once give that triennial bill a reading
" in their house ; and then in God's name they
" might do what they thought fit for him, them-
" selves, and the whole kingdom. " His majesty
said, " that he needed not tell them how much he
" loved parliaments : never king was so much be-
" holden u to parliaments as he had been ; nor did
" he think that the crown could ever be happy with-
" out frequent parliaments. But he wished them
'* to assure themselves, that if he should think other-
" wise, he would never suffer a parliament to come
" together by the means prescribed by that bill. "
He renewed his thanks to them " for the free
" supply they gave him the last session of four sub-
" sidies ; yet he could not but tell them, that that
" supply was fallen much short of what he expected
" and they intended. That it would hardly be be-
" lieved, yet they knew it to be true, that very many
" persons, who have estates of three or four thou-
" sand pounds by the year, do not pay for these four
" subsidies sixteen pounds : so that whereas they
*' intended and declared, that they should be col-
" lected according to former precedents, they do not
" now arise to half the proportion they did in the
" time of queen Elizabeth ; and yet sure the crown
11 beholden] beholding
1665. " wants more now than it did then, and the subject
~~" is at least as well able to give. " His majesty said,
" the truth is, by the license of the late ill time, and
" ill humour of this, too many of the people, and
" even of those who make fair professions, believe it
" to be no sin to defraud the crown of any thing
" that is due to it. That they no sooner gave him
" tonnage and poundage, than men were devising
" all the means they could to steal custom ; nor
" could the farmers be so vigilant for the collection,
" as others were to steal the duties. They gave him
" the excise, which all people abroad believed to be
" the most insensible imposition that can be laid
" upon a people : what conspiracies and combina-
" tions were entered into against it by the brewers,
" who he was sure did not bear the burden them-
" selves, even to bring that revenue to nothing, they
" would hear in Westminster-hall. They had given
" him the chimney-money, which they had reason
" to believe was a growing revenue, for men build
" at least fast enough ; and they would therefore
" wonder, that it was already declined, and that this
" half year brings in less than the former did. " He
desired them therefore, " that they would review that
" bill ; and since he was sure that they would have
" him receive whatsoever they gave, that he might
" have the collecting and husbanding of it by his
" own officers, and then he doubted not but to im-
" prove that receipt, and he would be cozened as
" little as he could. "
His majesty concluded with " desiring and con-
" juring them to keep a very good correspondence
" together, that it might not be in the power of any
" seditious or factious spirits to make them jealous
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 285
" of each other, or either of them jealous of him, till 1665.
" they see him pretend one thing and do another, ~~
" which he was sure they had never yet done. " He
assured them, " it should be in nobody's power to
" make him jealous of them. " And so desired them,
" that they would despatch what they found neces-
" sary, that they might be ready for a session within
" two months or thereabout, because the season of
" the year would invite them all to take the country
" air. "
It was very happy for his majesty, that he did
cut out their work to their hand, and asked no
money of them, and limited them a short time to
continue together. It made their counsels very una-
nimous : and though they raised no new taxes and
impositions upon the people, they made what they
had before raised much more valuable to the king
than it was before, by passing other acts and decla-
rations for the explaining many things, and the bet-
ter collecting the money they had formerly given ;
which much added to his majesty's profit without
grieving the people, who were rather gratified in the
remedies which were provided against frauds and
cozenage.
The parliament had sat but very little more than The trien.
ten days, when they presented a bill to his majesty repealed.
for the repeal of the triennial bill, which he had re-
commended to them ; which x was so grateful to
him, that he came in person to the house to pass
it and to thank them : and he told them, " that
" every good Englishman would thank them for it ;
" for it could only have served to discredit parlia-
x which] and which
286 CONTINUATON OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. " ments, to make the crown jealous of parliaments
"~ " and parliaments of the crown, and persuaded
" neighbour princes that England was not governed
" under a monarch. " The truth is : it had passed
in a very jealous and seditious time, when the
wickedness was first in hatching, that ripened after-
wards to a dismal perfection ; and when all, who
were sworn never to consent to the disherison of the
crown, thought only of preserving their own inhe-
ritance which they had gotten, or improving it at
the expense of the crown ; and made it manifest
enough, that it should wither, at least while it stood
upon the head of that king ; for at that time the
conspiracy went no further, that is amongst those
who had then credit to promote its passage, though
they were weak men who thought it could rest
there.
some acts As they made this entrance, so they were wholly
passed.
intent upon matters of moment, and despatched all
they intended to do within the two months, in
which the king desired they would be ready for a
prorogation. And as there was greater order and
unanimity in their debates, so they despatched more
business of public importance and consequence, than
any other parliament had done in twice the time :
for, besides the repeal of the odious bill before men-
tioned, they made a very good additional bill for the
chimney-money, which made that revenue much
more considerable; and they passed likewise an-
other bill against the frequenting of conventicles,
which was looked upon as the greatest discounte-
nance the parliament had yet given to all the fac-
tions in religion, and if it had been vigorously exe-
cuted would no doubt have produced a thorough re-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 287
formation. They made likewise a very good act, I6C5.
and very necessary for a time of such corruption, ~"
that had contracted new ways of dishonesty and vil-
lany that former times had not thought of, when
many unworthy and . cowardly masters of ships and
seamen had been contented to be robbed, and to
suffer y all their owners' goods to be taken, upon an
allowance made to them by the pirates ; for the dis-
covery and punishment whereof the law had not
enough provided. They therefore presented a bill
to the king, " for the discovery and punishment of
" all such treacherous and infamous actions ; and
" for the reward of such honest and stout seamen, as
" should manfully and courageously defend their
" owners' goods, and therein maintain the honour of
" the nation. "
All this they presented to his majesty, and it z was
confirmed by his royal assent on the seventeenth of
May ; when his majesty, after giving such thanks to
them as they deserved, told them, " he did not in-
" tend to bring them together again till the month
" of November, that they might enjoy the summer
" in the transaction of their own affairs : yet be-
" cause there might some emergent occasion fall
" out, that might make him wish to find them to-
" gether sooner, he would prorogue them only to
" August ; and before the day they should have sea-
" sonable notice, by proclamation, not to give their
" attendance, except such occasion should fall out. "
And so they were prorogued to a day in August, The pariia
but met not till November following. ro s ui.
During this short session of parliament, they, who
> suffer] Not in MS. * it] Not in MS.
288 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. were very solicitous to promote a war with Holland,
~~ forget not what they had to do ; but they quickly
discerned that it was not a good season to mention
the giving of money, (which the king himself had
forborne to mention, that the people might see one
session of parliament pass without granting new im-
positions, which they had not yet seen,) and there-
fore it would be as unseasonable to speak of a war.
However, they made such an approach towards it,
as might make a further advance much more easy.
The mer- The merchants in the committee of trade much la-
monstr&te mented the obstructions and discouragements, which
DutTh! the tnev na d l n & f un d in their commerce by sea with a
other nations, and which were not removed even by
the blessed return of the king ; all which they im-
puted to the pride and insolence of the Hollanders,
" who," they said, " observed no laws of commerce,
"or any conditions which themselves consented to.
" That by their fraud and practice the English were
" almost driven out of the East and West Indies,
" and had their trade in Turkey and in Africa much
" diminished. In sum, that besides many insuffer-
" able indignities offered by them to his majesty and
" to the crown of England, his subjects had in few
" years sustained the damage of seven or eight hun-
" dred thousand pounds sterling. "
All which with some particular instances being
reported from the committee of trade to the house,
they had desired an audience from his majesty, and
then presented this grievance to him, and desired
his majesty, " that he would give such order in it,
" as to his wisdom should seem fit, that might pro-
a with] and with
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 289
' duce just and honourable satisfaction. " The king, 1665:
who continued firm to his former resolution, an-~
swered them, " that he would transmit the address
" they had presented to him to his resident at the
" Hague, with order that he should inform the
" States of it, and require satisfaction, which he
" hoped the States General would yield unto, rather
" than compel b him to demand justice in another
" way. " The answer pleased them well, nor could
they wish that the prosecution should be put into
a better hand than the resident's, who was a mem-
ber of the house, and a man who had inflamed them
more than the merchants themselves against the
Dutch.
That resident was sir George Downing, a man of character of
an obscure birth, and more obscure education, which Downing*
he had received in part in New England: he had
passed through many offices in Cromwell's army, of
chaplain, scoutmaster, and other employments, and
at last got a very particular credit and confidence
with him, and under that countenance married a
beautiful lady of a very noble extraction, which
was the fate of many bold men in that presump-
tuous time.
therefore it could not but seem strange to all men,
that when we had only made a treaty of peace with
Holland, and that so newly, and upon so long con-
sideration, and had none with either of the crowns,
we should so much desire to enter into a war with
them.
However, the duke's heart was set upon it, and
he loved to speak of it, and the benefits which would
attend it. He spake of it to the king, whom he The king
found no ways inclined to it, and therefore he knewt i t mc
it was unfit to propose it in council : yet he spake
often of it to such of the lords of whom he had the
best opinion, and found many of them to concur
with him in the opinion of the advantages which
might arise from thence. And sometimes he thought
he left the king disposed to it, by an argument
which he found prevailed with many : " that the
" differences and jealousies in point of trade, which
" did every day fall out and would every day in-
" crease between the English and the Dutch, who
" had in the late distractions gotten great advan-
" tages, would unavoidably produce a war between
" them ; and then that the question only was, whe-
y which] and which
238 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " ther it were not better for us to begin it now,
~ " when they do not expect it, and we are better
" prepared for it than probably we shall be then ;
" or to stay two or three years, in which the same
" jealousy would provoke them to be well provided,
" when probably we might not be ready. That we
" had the best sea officers in the world, many of.
" whom had often beaten the Dutch, and knew how
" to do it again ; and a multitude of excellent mari-
" ners and common seamen : all which, if they
" found that nothing would be done at home, would
" disperse themselves in merchant voyages to the
" Indies and the Straits ; and probably so many
" good men would never be found together again. "
And with such arguments he many times thought
that he left the king much moved : but when he
spake to him again (though he knew that he had no
kindness for the Dutch) his majesty was changed,
and very averse to a war ; which he imputed to
The chan- the chancellor, who had . not dissembled, as often as
poses itS*" his highness spake to him, to be passionately and
obstinately against it. And he did take all the op-
portunities he could find to confirm the king in his
aversion to it, who was in his heart averse from it,
by presenting to him the state of his own affairs,
" the great debt that yet lay upon him, which with
" peace and good husbandry might be in some time
" paid ; but a war would involve him in so much
" greater, that no man could see the end of it. That
" he would be able to preserve himself against the
" factions and distempers in his own kingdom, and
" probably suppress them, if he were without a fo-
" reign enemy : but if he should be engaged in a
" war abroad, his domestic divisions, especially those
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 239
" in religion, would give him more trouble than he 1663.
" could well struggle withal.
" That it was an erroneous assumption, that the
" Dutch would be better provided for a war two or
" three years hence, and his majesty worse, for
" which there was no reason. That within that
" time it would be his own fault, if the distempers
" in his three kingdoms were not composed, which
" would make him much fitter for a war ; whereas
" now neither of them could be said to be in peace,
" that of Ireland being totally unsettled, and that of
" Scotland not yet well pleased, and England far
" from it. That in that time it was very probable
" that the two crowns would be again engaged in a
" war ; since it was generally believed, and with
" great reason, that France only expected the death
" of the king of Spain, who was very infirm, and
" meant then to fall into Flanders, having at the
" same time with great expense provided great ma-
" gazines of corn and hay upon the borders, which
" could be for no other end. That whilst he conti-
" nued in peace, his friendship would be valuable to
" all the princes of Europe, and the two crowns
" would strive who should gain him : but if he en-
" gaged in a war, and in such a war as that with z
" Holland, which would interrupt and disturb all
" the trade of the kingdom, upon which the greatest
" part of his revenue did rise ; all other princes
" would look on, and not much esteem any offices
" he could perform to them. And lastly, that a
" little time might possibly administer a just occa-
" sion of a war, which at present there was not. "
' that witli] Not in MS.
240 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. These, and better arguments which the king's
"own understanding suggested to him, made him
fully resolve against the war, and to endeavour to
change his brother from affecting it, which wrought
not at all upon him ; but finding that many things
fell from the king in the argument, which had been
alleged to himself by the chancellor, he concluded
the mischief came from him, and was displeased ac-
The duke cordingly, and complained to his wife, " that her fa-
with him " ther should oppose him in an affair upon which he
" knew his heart was so much set, and of which
" every body took so much notice ;" which troubled
her very much. And she very earnestly desired her
father, " that he would no more oppose the duke in
" that matter. " He answered her, " that she did
" not enough understand the consequence of that
" affair ; but that he would take notice to the duke
" of what she had said, and give him the best an-
" swer he could. " And accordingly he waited upon
the duke, who very frankly confessed to him, " that
" he took it very unkindly, that he should so posi-
*' tively endeavour to cross a design so honourable
" in itself, and a so much desired by the city of Lon-
" don ; and he was confident it b would be very
" grateful to the parliament, and that they would
" supply the king with money enough to carry it
" on, which would answer the chief objection. That
" he was engaged to pursue it, and he could not but
" be sorry and displeased, that every body should
" see how little credit he had with him. "
ceiior satis- The chancellor told him, " that he had no appre-
duke. be " hension that any sober man in England, or his
a and] Not in M. S. b it] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.
" highness himself, should believe that he could 16(53.
" fail in his duty to him, or that he would omit~~
" any opportunity to make it manifest, which he
" could never do without being a fool or a madman.
" On the other hand, he could never give an advice,
" or consent to it whoever gave it, which in his
" judgment and conscience would be very mischiev,-
" ous to the crown and to the kingdom, though his
" royal highness or the king himself were inclined
'? to it. " He did assure him, " that he found the
" king very averse from any thought of this war, be-
" fore he ever discovered his own opinion of it ;"
but denied not, "that he had taken all opportuni-
" ties to confirm him in that judgment by argu-
" ments that he thought could not be answered ;
" and that the consequence of that war would be
" very pernicious. That he did presume that many
" good men, with whom he had conferred, did seem
" to concur with his highness out of duty to him,
" arid as they saw it would be grateful to him, or
" upon a sudden, and without making those reflec-
" tions which would afterwards occur to them, and
" make them change their minds. That a few mer-
" chants, nor all the merchants in London, were
. " not c the city of London, . which had had war
" enough, and could only become rich by peace.
" That he did not think the parliament would be
" forward to encourage that war ; nor should the
" king be desirous that they should interpose their
" advice in it, since it was a subject entirely in the
" king's own determination : but if they should ap-
" pear never so forward in it, he was old enough to
c not] Omitted in MS.
VOL. II. R
CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " remember when a parliament did advise, and upon
" the matter compel, his grandfather king James to
" enter into a war with Spain, upon promise of
" ample supplies ; and yet when he was engaged in
" it, they gave him no more supply ; so that at last
" the crown was compelled to accept of a peace not
" very honourable. "
Beside the arguments he had used to the king,
he besought his highness to reflect upon some others
more immediately relating to himself, "upon the
" want of able men to conduct the counsels upon
" which such a war must be carried on ; how few
" accidents might expose the crown to those dis-
" tresses, that it might with more difficulty be
" buoyed up than it had lately been ;" with many
other arguments, which he thought made some im-
The design pression upon the duke. And for some months
fo- the pre- . .
sent drop- there was no more mention or discourse in the
court of the war ; though they who first laid the de-
sign still cultivated it, and made little doubt d of
bringing it at last to pass.
The sale At or about this time there was a transaction of
great importance, which at the time was not popular
nor indeed understood, and afterwards was objected
against the chancellor in his misfortunes, as a princi-
pal argument of his infidelity and corruption ; which
was the sale of Dunkirk: the whole proceeding where-
of shall be plainly and exactly related from the be-
ginning to the end thereof.
The charge and expense the crown was at ; the
pay of the land forces and garrisons; the great
fleets set out to sea for the reduction of the Turkish
(1 doubt] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 243
pirates of Algiers and Tunis, and for guarding the j 663.
narrow seas, and security of the merchants ; the
constant yearly charge of the garrison of Dunkirk, of
,that at Tangier, and the vast expense of building a
mole there, for which there was an establishment,
together with the garrisons at Bombay ne and in
Jamaica, (none of which had been known to the
crown in former times ;) and the lord treasurer's
frequent representation of all this to the king, as so
prodigious an expense as could never be supported ;
had put his majesty to frequent consultations how
he might lessen and save any part of it. But no
expedient could be resolved upon. The lord trea-
surer, who was most troubled when money was
wanted, had many secret conferences with the ge-
neral and with the best seamen, of the benefit that
accrued to the crown by keeping of Dunkirk ; the
constant charge and expense whereof amounted to
above one hundred and twenty thousand pounds
yearly : and he found by them that it was a place
of little importance. It is true that he had- con-
ferred of it with the chancellor, with whom he held
a fast friendship ; but found him so averse from it, The chan-
that he resolved to speak with him no more, till the against it.
king had taken some resolution. And to that pur-
pose he persuaded the general to go with him to
the king and to the duke of York, telling them both,
" that the chancellor must know nothing of it :"
and after several debates the king thought it so
counsellable a thing, that he resolved to have it de-
bated before that committee which he trusted in his
most secret affairs ; and the chancellor being then
lame of the gout, he commanded that all those lords
should attend him at his house. Beside his majesty
R 2
244 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. himself and the duke of York, there appeared the
The busi- lord treasurer, the general, the earl of Sandwich,
fenreTto a ^ e vice-chamberlain sir George Carteret, who had
committee, been a great commander at sea, and the two secre-
taries of state. When the king entered the room
with the lord treasurer, he desired his majesty, smil-
ing, " that he would take the chancellor's staff
" from him, otherwise he would break his head. "
When they were all sat, the king told him, " they
" were all come to debate an affair that he knew
" he was against, which was the parting with Dun-
" kirk ; but he did believe, when he had heard all
" that was said for it and against it, he would
" change his mind, as he himself had done. " And
so the debate was entered into in this method, after
enough was said of the straits the crown was in, and
what the yearly expense was.
Reasons 1. " That the profit which did or could accrue to
parting " the kingdom by the keeping of Dunkirk was very
" inconsiderable, whether in war or peace. That
" by sea it was very little useful, it being no harbour,
" nor having place for the king's ships to ride in
" with safety ; and that if it were in the hand of
" an enemy, it could do us little prejudice, because
" three or four ships might block it up, and keep it
" from infesting its neighbours : and that though
" heretofore it had been a place of license at sea, and
" had much obstructed trade by their men of war,
" yet that proceeded only from the unskilfulness of
" that time in applying proper remedies to it ; which
" was manifest by Cromwell's blocking them up,
" and restraining them when he made war upon
" them, insomuch as all the men of war left that
" place, and betook themselves to other harbours.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 245
" That it was so weak to the land (notwithstanding 1663.
" the great charge his majesty had been at in the"
" fortifications, which were not yet finished) by the
" situation and the soil, that it required as many
" men within to defend it, as the army should con-
" sist of that besieged it ; otherwise that it could
" aever hold out and endure a siege of two months :
" as it appeared clearly by its having been taken
" and retaken so many times within the late years,
" in all which times it never held out so long, though
" there was always an army at no great distance to
" relieve it.
2. " That the charge of keeping and maintaining
" it, without any accidents from the attempt of an
" enemy, did amount unto above one hundred and
" twenty thousand pounds by the year, which was
" a sum the revenue of the crown could not supply,
" without leaving many other particulars of much
" more importance unprovided for. " And this was
not lightly or cursorily urged ; but the state of the
revenue, and the constant and indispensable issues,
were at the same time presented and carefully
examined.
3. " It could not reasonably be believed, but that
" if Dunkirk was kept, his majesty would be shortly
" involved in a war with one of the two crowns.
" The Spanish ambassador had already demanded
" restitution of it in point of justice, it having been
" taken from his master by the late usurper, in a
" time when there was not only a peace between
" his majesty and the king of Spain, but when his
" majesty resided, and was entertained by the ca-
" tholic king, in Flanders : and at this time both
" France and Spain inhibited their subjects from
R 3
246 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. "paying those small contributions to the garrison
~" at Dunkirk, and endeavoured to restrain the go-
" vernor himself from enjoying some privileges,
" which had been always enjoyed by him from the
" time that it had been put into Cromwell's hands. "
And it was upon this and many other reasons then
conceived, " that as it would be very hard for the
" king to preserve a neutrality towards both crowns,
" even during the time of the war between them,"
(which temper was thought very necessary for his
majesty's affairs ;) " so it would be much more diffi-
" cult long to avoid a war with one of them upon
" the keeping Dunkirk, if the peace that was newly
" made should remain firm and unshaken. "
Upon these reasons, urged and agreed upon by
those who could not but be thought very competent
judges, in respect of their several professions and
The king great experience, the king resolved to ease himself
resolves to _ - . ' 111 i /> TX i i
dispose of of the insupportable burden of maintaining Dunkirk,
and to part with it in such a manner as might be
most for his advantage and benefit. There remained
then no other question, than into what hand to put
it : and the measure of that was only who would
give most money for it, there being no inclination
to prefer one before another. It was enough under-
stood, that both crowns would be very glad to have
it, and would probably both make large offers for it.
Reasons for B u t it was then as evident, that whatsoever France
selling it to
France. should contract for, the king would be sure to re-
ceive, and the business would be soon despatched :
whereas on the other hand it was as notorious and
evident to his majesty, and to all who had any
knowledge of the court of Spain, and of the scarcity
of money there and in Flanders ; that how large of-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 24-7
fers soever the Spaniard might make, they could J663.
not be able in any time to pay any considerable sum
of money ; and that there would be so much time
spent in consult between Madrid and Brussels before
it could be despatched, that the keeping it so long
in his majesty's hands would in the expense disap-
point him of a good part of the end in parting
with it. Besides that it seemed at that time pro-
bable, that the Spaniard would shortly declare him-
self an enemy ; for besides that he demanded Dun-
kirk as of right, so he likewise required the resti- ~
tution of Tangier and Jamaica upon the same reason,
and declared, " that without it there could be no
" lasting peace between England and Spain," and
refused so much as to enter upon a treaty of alliance
with the king, before he should promise to make
such a restitution.
There wanted not in this conference and debate
the consideration of the States of the United Pro-
vinces, as persons like enough to desire the posses-
sion of Dunkirk, from whence they had formerly re-
ceived so much damage, and were like enough to
receive more whenever they should be engaged in
any war : and if in truth they should have any such
desire, more money might be reasonably required,
and probably be obtained from them, than could be
expected from either of the kings. But upon the
discussion of that point, it did appear to every man's
reason very manifest, that though they had rather
that Dunkirk should be put into the hands of the
Spaniard than delivered to France, or than it should
be detained by the English ; yet they durst not re-
ceive it into their own possession, which neither of
the two crowns would have approved of, and so it
R 4
248 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. would have exposed them to the displeasure, if not
~ to the hostility, of both the kings.
Upon this full deliberation, his majesty inclined
rather to give it up to France than to Spain ; but
deferred any positive resolution till he had imparted
The king the whole matter to the council-board, where the
refers it to . . .
the privy- debate was again resumed, principally, " whether it
" were more counsellable to keep it at so vast a
" charge, or to part with it for a good sum of money. "
And in that debate the mention of what had been
heretofore done in the house of commons upon that
subject was not omitted, nor the bill that they had
sent up to the house of peers for annexing it inse-
parably to the -crown : but that was not thought of
moment ; for as it had been suddenly entertained in
the house of commons, upon the Spanish ambas-
sador's first proposition for the restitution, so it was
looked upon in the house of peers as unfit in it-
self, and so laid aside after once being read, (which
had been in the first convention soon after the king's
return,) and so expired as soon as it was born. After
a long debate of the whole matter at the council-
board, where all was averred concerning the useless-
ness and weakness of the place, by those who had
where only said it at the committee ; there was but one lord
of the council who offered his advice to the king
against parting with it : and the ground of that
lord's dissenting, who was the earl of St. Alban's,
was enough understood to have nothing of public in
it, but to draw the negotiation for it into his own
hands. In conclusion, his majesty resolved to put
it into the hands of France, if that king would
comply with his majesty's expectation in the pay-
ment of so much money as he would require for it :
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 249
and a way was found out, that the king might pri- 1663.
vately be advertised of that his majesty's resolution,"
if he should have any desire to deal for it.
The advertisement was very welcome to the
French king, who was then resolved to visit Flan-
ders as soon as he should know of the death of the
king of Spain, which was expected every day. Nor
had he deferred it till then, upon the late affront
his ambassador had received at London from the
Spanish ambassador, (who by a contrived and la-
boured stratagem had got the precedence for his
coach before the other ; which the king of France
received with that indignation, that he sent pre-
sently to demand justice at Madrid, commanded his
ambassador to retire from thence, and would not
suffer the Spanish ambassador to remain in Paris
till he should have satisfaction, and was resolved to
have begun a war upon it,) if the king of Spain had
not acknowledged the fault of his ambassador, and
under his hand declared the precedence to belong to
France ; which declaration was sent to the courts of
all princes : and so for the present that spark of fire
was extinguished, or rather raked up.
The king sent M. D'Estrades privately to London Monsieur
. . D'Estrades
to treat about Dunkirk, without any character, but comes over
pretending to make it his way to Holland, whither
he was designed ambassador. After he had waited pnce>
upon the king, his majesty appointed four or five of
the lords of his council, whereof the chancellor and
treasurer and general were three, to treat with
M. D'Estrades for the sale of Dunkirk ; when the
first conference was spent in endeavouring to per-
suade him to make the first offer for the price, which
he could not be drawn to : so that the king's com-
250 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. missioners were obliged to make their demand.
~~And they asked the sum of seven hundred thousand
pounds sterling, to be paid upon the delivery of
Dunkirk and Mardike into the possession of the
king of France ; which sum appeared to him to be
so stupendous, that he seemed to think the treaty at
an end, and resolved to make no offer at all on the
part of his master. And so the conference brake
up.
At the next meeting he offered three millions of
livres, which according to the common account
amounted to three hundred thousand pistoles, which
the king's commissioners as much undervalued ; so
that any further conference was discontinued, till he
had sent an express or two into France, and till
their return : for as the expectation of a great sum
of ready money was the king's motive to part with
it, besides the saving the monthly charge ; so they
concluded that his necessities would oblige him to
part with it at a moderate price. And after the re-
turn of the expresses, the king's commissioners in-
sisting still upon what D'Estrades thought too much,
and he offering what they thought too little, the
treaty seemed to be at an end, and he prepared for
his return. In conclusion, his majesty being fully
as desirous to part with it as the king of France
could be to have it, it was agreed and concluded,
The price " that upon the payment of five hundred thousand
upon? " pistoles in specie at Calais to such persons as the
" king should appoint to receive it, his majesty's
" garrison of Dunkirk and Mardike should be with-
" drawn, and those places put into the hands of the
" king of France:" all which was executed accord-
ingly. And without doubt it was a greater sum of
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 251
money than was ever paid at one payment by any 1663.
prince in Christendom, upon what occasion soever ; ""
and every body seemed very glad to see so vast a sum
of money delivered into the Tower of London, as it
was all together ; the king at the same time declar-
ing, " that no part of it should be applied to any or-
" dinary occasion, but be preserved for some press-
" ing accident, as an insurrection or the like," which
was reasonably enough apprehended.
Nor was there e the least murmur at this bargain A vi
tion of the
in all the sessions of the parliament which sat after, chancellor
. -. _,, in this af-
until it fell out to some men s purposes to reproach fair.
the chancellor : and then they charged him " with
" advising the sale of Dunkirk, and that the very
" artillery, ammunition, and stores amounted to
" a greater value than the king received for the
" whole ;" when upon an estimate that had been
taken f of all those, they were not esteemed to be
more worth than twenty thousand pounds sterling ;
and the consideration of those, when the king's
commissioners insisted upon their being all shipped
for England, and the necessity of keeping them
upon the place where they were, had prevailed with
M. D'Estrades to consent to that sum of five hun-
dred thousand pistoles. But whether the bargain
was ill or well made, there could be no fault imputed
to the chancellor, who had no more to do in the
transaction than is before set down, the whole mat-
ter having been so long deliberated and so fully de-
bated. Nor did he ever before, or in, or after the
transaction, receive the value of half a crown for re-
ward or present, or any other consideration relating
e there] Omitted in MS. f taken] Omitted in MS.
252 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. to that affair: and the treatment he received after
"his coming into France was evidence enough, that
that king never thought himself beholden to him.
The queen A little before this time, the queen mother re-
brings a na- turned again for England, having disbursed a great
10 sum f money in making a noble addition to her
S " palace of Somerset-house. With the queen there
came over a youth of about ten or a dozen years of
age, who was called by the name of Mr. Crofts, be-
cause the lord Crofts had been trusted to take care
of his breeding ; but he was generally thought to be
the king's son, begotten upon a private Welch wo-
man of no good fame, but handsome, who had trans-
ported herself to the Hague, when the king was
first there, with a design to obtain that honour,
which a groom of the bedchamber willingly pre-
ferred her to ; and there it was this boy was born.
The mother lived afterwards for some years in France
in the king's sight, and at last lost his majesty's fa-
vour: yet the king desired to have the son deli-
vered to him, that he might take care of his educa-
tion, which she would not consent to. At last the
lord Crofts got him into his charge ; and the mo-
ther dying at Paris, he had the sole tuition of him,
and took care for the breeding him suitable to the
quality of a very good gentleman. And the queen
after some years came to know of it, and frequently
had him brought to her, and used him with much
grace ; and upon the king's desire brought him with
her from Paris into England, when he was about
twelve years of age, very handsome, and performed,
those exercises gracefully which youths of that age
used to learn in France. The king received him
with extraordinary fondness, and was willing that
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 253
every body should believe him to be his son, though 1663.
he did not yet make any declaration that he looked""
upon him as such, otherwise than by his kindness
and familiarity towards him. He assigned a liberal
maintenance for him ; but took not that care for a
strict breeding of him % as his age required.
The general, during the time of his command in
Scotland, had acquaintance with a lady of much ho-
nour there, the countess of Weemes, who had been
before the wife of the earl of Buccleugh, and by him
had one only daughter, who inherited his very great
estate and title, and was called the countess of Buc-
cleugh, a child of eight or ten years of age. All
men believed, that the general's purpose was to get
this lady for his own son, a match h suitable enough:
but the time being now changed, the lord Lauther-
dale, being a good courtier, thought his country-
woman might be much better married, if she were
given to the king for this youth, towards whom he
expressed so much fondness, those kinds of extrac-
tions carrying little disadvantage with them in Scot-
land ; and the general, whatever thoughts he had
before, would not be so ill a courtier as not to ad-
vance such a proposition. The lady was already in
possession of the greatest fortune in Scotland, which
would have a fair addition upon the death of her
mother. i>:< f
The king liked the motion well ; and so the mo-
ther was sent to, to bring up her daughter to Lon-
don, they being then both in Scotland. And when
they came, the king trusted the earl of Lautherdale
principally to treat that affair with the mother, who
e him] it h match] Not in MS.
254 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. had rather have been referred to any other body,
"~ having indeed some just exceptions. They were
traded to both yet under the years of consent ; but that time
ess of BUC- drawing on, such a contract was drawn up as had
leugh * been first proposed to the king, which was, " that
" the whole estate, for want of issue by the young
" lady, or by her death, should be devolved upon
" the young man who was to marry her, and his
" heirs for ever ; and that this should be settled by
" act of parliament in Scotland. " Matters being
drawn to this length, and writings being to be pre-
pared, it was now necessary that this young gentle-
man must have a name, and the Scots advocate had
prepared a draught, in which he was styled the
king's natural son : and the king was every day
pressed by the great lady, and those young men who
knew the customs of France, to create him a noble-
man of England ; and was indeed very willing to be
advised to that purpose.
The king Till this time, this whole matter was treated in
consults the 11-
chancellor secret amongst the ocots : but now the king thought
son 5 fit to consult it with others ; and telling the chan-
cellor of all that had passed, shewed him the draught
prepared by the Scots advocate, and asked him
" what he thought of it," and likewise implied,
" that he thought fit to give him some title of ho-
" nour. " After he had read it over, he told his ma-
The chan- jesty, " that he need not give him any other title of
vice. " honour than he would enjoy by his marriage, by
" which he would by the law of Scotland be called
" earl of Buccleugh, which would be title enough ;
" and he desired his majesty to pardon him, if he
" found fault with and disliked the title they had
" given him who prepared that draught, wherein
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 255
" they had presumed to style him the king's natural 1663.
" son, which was never, at least in many ages, used
" in England, and would have an ill sound in Eng-
" land with all his people, who thought that those
" unlawful acts ought to be concealed, and not pub-
" lished and justified. That France indeed had,
" with inconvenience enough to the crown, raised
" some families of those births ; but it was always
" from women of great quality, and who had never
" been tainted with any other familiarity. And
" that there was another circumstance required in
" Spain, which his majesty should do well to ob-
" serve in this case, if he had taken a resolution in
" the main ; which was, that the king took care for
" the good education of that child whom he believed
" to be his, but never publicly owned or declared
" him to be such, till he had given some notable evi-
" dence of his inheriting or having acquired such
" virtues and qualities, as made him in the eyes of
" all men worthy of such a descent. That this gen-
" tleman was yet young, and not yet to be judged
" of: and therefore if he were for the present mar-
" ried to this young lady, and assumed her title, as
" he must do, his majesty might defer for some
" years making any such declaration ; which he
" might do when he would, and which at present
" would be as unpopular an action in the hearts of
" his subjects as he could commit. "
Though the king did not seem to concur in all
that was said, he did not appear at all offended, and
only asked him, " whether he had not conferred
" with the queen his mother upon that subject. "
When he assured him, " he had not, nor with any
" other person, and though helwd heard some gene-
256 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " ral discourse of his majesty's purpose to make that
" marriage, he had never heard either of the other
" particulars mentioned ;" the king said, " he had
*' reason to ask the question, because many of those
" things, which he had said had been spoken to him
" by the queen his mother, who was entirely of his
" opinion, which she used not to be ;" and con-
cluded, " that he would confer with them together,"
seeming for the present to be more moved and
doubtful in the matter of the declaration, than in
the other, of the creation; and said, " there was
" no reason, since she brought all the estate, that
" she should receive no addition by her husband. "
The queen afterwards took an occasion to speak at
large to the chancellor of it with much warmth, and
The king manifestation that she did not like it. But the king
owns his spake with neither of them afterwards upon it, but
creates" him signed the declaration, and created him to be duke
f Monmouth ; very few persons dissuading it, and
the lady employing all her credit to bring it to pass:
and the earl of Bristol (who in those difficult cases
was usually consulted) pressed it as the only way to
make the king's friendship valuable.
Since the earl of Bristol is mentioned upon this
occasion, it will not be unseasonable to give him the
next part in this relation. Though he had left no
way unattempted to render himself gracious to the
king, by saying and doing all that might be accept-
able unto him, and contriving such meetings and
jollities as he was pleased with ; and though his ma-
jesty had been several ways very bountiful to him,
and had particularly given him at one time ten
thousand pounds in money, with which he had pur-
chased Wimbleton of the queen, and had given him
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 257
Ashdown-forest and other lands in Sussex: yet he 1663.
found he had not that degree of favour and interest ~~
in the king's affections, as he desired, or desired
that other people should think he had. The change
of his religion kept him from being admitted to the
council, or to any employment of moment. And
whereas he made no doubt of drawing the whole
dependance of the Roman catholics upon himself,
and to have the disposal of that interest, and to that
purpose had the Jesuits firm to him ; he found that he
had no kind of credit with them, nor was admitted
by them to their most secret consultations, and that
the fathers of the society had more enemies than
friends amongst the catholics.
His estate had been sold and settled by his own
consent, upon the marriage of his eldest son twice
to great fortunes : so that when he returned from
beyond the seas, he could not return to his estate as
others did, and had little more to subsist upon than
the king's bounty ; and that was not poured out
upon him in the measure he wished, though few per-
sons tasted more of it. He was in his nature very
covetous, and ready to embrace all ways that were
offered to get money, whether honourable or no, for
he had not a great power over himself, and could
not bear want, which he could hardly avoid, for he
was nothing provident in his expenses, when he had
any temptation from his ambition or vanity. Be-
sides, his appetite to play and gaming, in which he
had no skill, and by which he had all his life spent
whatever he could get, was not at all abated. He
spent as much money at Wimbleton in building and
gardening, as the land was worth.
By all these means he found himself in straits,
VOL. II. S
258 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. which he could neither endure nor get from, and
""which transported him to that degree, that he re-
solved to treat the king in another manner than
he had ever yet presumed to do. And having asked
somewhat of him that his majesty did not think fit
The eari of to grant, he told him, " he knew well the cause of
travagant*" " his withdrawing his favour from him ; that it pro-
to the'kiDg. " cee ded only from the chancellor, who governed
" him and managed all his affairs, whilst himself
" spent his time only in pleasures and debauchery :"
and in this passion upbraided him with many ex-
cesses, to which no man had contributed more than
he had done. He said many truths which ought to
have been more modestly and decently mentioned,
and all this in the presence of the lord Aubigny,
who was as much surprised as the king ; and con-
cluded, " that if he did not give him satisfaction '
" within such a time," (the time allowed did not ex-
ceed four and twenty hours,) " he would do some-
" what that would awaken him out of his slumber,
" and make him look better to his own business ;"
and added many threats against the chancellor.
The king stood all this time in such confusion, that
though he gave him more sharp words than were
natural to him, he had not that presentness of mind
(as he afterwards accused himself) as he ought to
have had ; and said, " he ought presently to have
" called for the guard," it being in his own closet,
" and sent him to the Tower. "
The court and the town was full of the discourse
that the earl of Bristol would accuse the chancellor
of high treason, who knew nothing of what had
' give him satisfaction] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 259
passed with the king. And it seems when the time 16C3.
was past that he prescribed to the king to give him ~~
satisfaction, he came one morning to the house of
peers with a paper in his hand ; and told the lords,
" that he could not but observe, that after so glori- He accuse*
3 . thechan-
" ous a return with which God had blessed the kingceiiorof
" and the nation, so that all the world had expected, !
" that the prosperity of the kingdom would have
" far exceeded the misery and adversity that it had
" for many years endured ; and after the parliament
" had contributed more towards it, than ever parlia-
" ment had done : notwithstanding all which, it was
" evident to all men, and lamented by those who
" wished well to his majesty, that his affairs grew
" every day worse and worse ; the king himself lost
" much of his honour, and the affection he had in
" the hearts of the people. That for his part he
? ' looked upon it with as much sadness as any man,
" and had made inquiry as well as he could from
" whence this great misfortune, which every body
*' was sensible of, could proceed ; and that he was
" satisfied in his own conscience, that it proceeded
" principally from, the power and credit and sole
" credit of the chancellor : and therefore he was re-
" solved, for the good of his country, to accuse the
" lord chancellor of high treason ; which he had
" done in the paper which he desired might be read,
" all written with his own hand, to which he sub-
" scribed his name. "
The paper contained many articles, which he
called Articles of High Treason and other Misde-
meanors ; amongst which one was, " that he had
" persuaded the king to send a gentleman (a crea-
" ture of his own) to Rome with letters to the pope,
s 2
260 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. " to give a cardinal's cap to the lord Aubigny, who
~~" was almoner to the queen. " The rest contained
" his assuming to himself the government of all
" public affairs, which he had administered unskil-
" fully, corruptly, and traitorously ; which he was
" ready to prove. "
The chancellor, without any trouble in his coun-
tenance, told the lords, " that he had had the ho-
" nour heretofore to have so much the good opinion
" and friendship of that lord, that he durst appeal
" to his own conscience, that he did not himself be-
" lieve one of those articles to be true, and knew
" the contrary of most of them. And he was glad
" to find that he thought it so high a crime to send
" to Rome, and to desire a cardinal's cap for a ca-
" tholic lord, who had been always bred from his
" cradle in that faith : but he did assure them, that
" that gentleman was only sent by the queen to
" the pope, upon an affair that she thought herself
** obliged to comply with him in, and in hope to do
" some good office to Portugal ; and that the king
" had neither writ to the pope, nor to any other
" person in Rome. " He spake at large to most of
the articles, to shew the impossibility of their being
true, and that they reflected more upon the king's
honour than upon his ; and concluded, " that he
" was sorry that lord had not been better advised,
" for he did believe that though all that was alleged
" in the articles should be true, they would not all
" amount to high treason, upon which he desired
" the judges might be required to deliver their
" opinion ; the which the lords ordered the judges
" to do. " It was moved by one of the lords, " that
" the copy of the articles might be sent to the king,
EDWARD ARL OF CLARENDON. 261
" because he was mentioned so presumptuously in 1663.
" them ;" which was likewise agreed; and the arti-~
cles were delivered to the lord chamberlain to pre-
sent to the king.
The chancellor had promised that day to dine in
Whitehall, but would not presume to go thither till
he had sent to the king, not thinking it fit to go
into his court, whilst he lay under an accusation of
high treason, without his leave. His majesty sent
him word, " that he should dine where he had ap-
" pointed, and as soon as he had dined that he
" should attend him. " Then his majesty told him
and the lord treasurer all that had passed between
the earl of Bristol and him in the presence of the
lord Aubigny; and in the relation of it expressed
great indignation, and was angry with himself,
" that he had not immediately sent him to the
" Tower, which," he said, " he would do as soon as
" he could apprehend him. " He used the chancel-
lor with much grace, and told him, "that the earl of
" Bristol had not treated him so ill as he had done
" his majesty ; and that his articles were more to
" his dishonour, and reflected more upon him, for
" which he would have justice. "
His majesty commanded the lord chamberlain to
return his thanks to the house, " for the respect
" they had shewed to him in sending those articles
" to him ;" and to let them know, " that he looked
" upon them as a libel against himself more than a
" charge against the chancellor, who upon his know-
" ledge was innocent in all the particulars charged
" upon him ;" which report the lord chamberlain
made the next morning to the house ; and at the
same time the judges declared their opinion unani-
s 3
262 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 663.
mously, " that the whole charge contained nothing
~ " of treason though it were all true. " Upon which
the earl of Bristol, especially upon what the lord
chamberlain had reported from the king, appeared
in great confusion, and lamented his condition,
" that he, for endeavouring to serve his country
" upon the impulsion of his conscience, was discoun-
" tenanced, and threatened with the anger and dis-
" pleasure of his prince ; whilst his adversary kept
" his place in the house, and had the judges so much
" at his devotion that they would not certify against
" him. " The chancellor moved the house, " that a
" short day might be given to the earl, to bring in
" his evidence to prove the several matters of his
" charge ; otherwise that he might have such repa-
" ration, as was in their judgments proportionable
" to the indignity. " The earl said, " he should
" not fail to produce witnessess to prove all he had
" alleged, and more : but that he could not appoint
" a time when he could be ready for a hearing,
" because many of his most important witnesses
" were beyond the seas, some at Paris, and others
" in other places ; and that he must examine the
" duke of Ormond, who was lieutenant in Ireland,
" and the earl of Lautherdale, who was then in
" Scotland, and must desire commissioners h to that
" purpose. "
The eari of But from that day he made no further instance :
mmbupon an ^ understanding that the king had given warrants
warrantee * a ser g eail t a ^ arms to apprehend him, he con-
apprehend cealed himself in several places for the space of near
him.
two years ; sending sometimes letters and petitions
k commissioners] commissions
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 263
by his wife to the king, who would not receive them. 1 663.
But in the end his majesty was prevailed with by~
the lady and sir Harry Bennet to see him in pri-
vate ; but would not admit him to come to the
court, nor repeal his warrants for his apprehension :
so that he appeared not publicly till the chancellor's
misfortune ; and then he came to the court and to
the parliament in great triumph, and shewed a more
impotent malice than was expected from his gene-
rosity and understanding.
We shall in the next place take a view of Scot- The affairs
land, whither we left Middleton sent the king's com-
missioner, who performed his part with wonderful
dexterity and conduct, and with more success than
some of his countrymen were pleased with. We
have remembered before the debate upon his in-
structions, and the earnest advice and caution given
by Lautherdale against any hasty attempt to make
alteration in the matters of the church, which was
at last left to the discretion of the commissioner, to
proceed in such a manner, and at such a time, as he
found most convenient. As soon as he came thi-Thecom-
ther, he found himself received with as universal an
exclamation, and the king's authority as cheerfully ed '
submitted to, as can be imagined or could be wish-
ed ; and such a consent to every thing he proposed,
that he made no question but any thing his majesty
required would find an entire obedience. The earl
of Glencarne, who was chancellor, and the earl of
Rothes, and all the nobility of any interest or credit,
were not only faithful to the king, but fast friends
to Middleton, and magnified his conduct in all their
letters.
The earl of Crawford alone, who was treasurer,
s 4
264 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. which is an office that cannot be unattended by a
~ great faction in that kingdom, retained still his ri-
gid affection for the presbytery, when the ministers
themselves grew much less rigid, and were even
ashamed of the many follies and madnesses they had
committed. But the earl of Crawford did all he
could to raise their spirits, and to keep them firm to
the kirk. In all other particulars he was full of de-
votion to the king, being entirely of the faction of
Hamilton, and nearly allied to it; and when the
king was in Scotland had served him signally, and
had then been made by him high treasurer of that
kingdom ; and upon Cromwell's prevailing and con-
junction with Argyle, was as odious as any man to
them both, and had for many years been prisoner in
England till the time of the king's return. There
was always a great friendship between him and
Lautherdale ; the former being a man of much the
greater interest, and of unquestionable courage ;
the other excelling him in all the faculties which
are necessary to business, and being 1 a master in
dissimulation.
Middleton, and the lords who went with him,
and the general, (upon whose advice the king de-
pended as much in the business of Scotland,) were
all earnest with his majesty to remove the earl of
Crawford from that great office, which would enable
him to do mischief. But the king's good-nature
prevailed. over him, though he knew him as well as
they did : and he thought it too hardhearted a thing
to remove a man, whom he found a prisoner for his
service, from an office he had formerly conferred
1 being] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 265
upon him for his merit, and which he had not for- 1663.
feited by any miscarriage. And it may be it was~
some argument to him of his sincerity, that when
others, who to his majesty's own knowledge were as
rigid presbyterians as he, were now very frank in
renouncing and disclaiming all obligations from it,
he, of all the nobility, was the only man who still
adhered to it, when it was evident to him that he
should upon the matter be undone by it. However,
the king sent him down with the rest into Scot-
land, being confident that he would do nothing to
disserve him, as in truth he never did; and re-
solved m that, when the business of the church came
to be agitated, if he did continue still refractory, he
would take the staff from him, and confer n it upon
Middleton : who, though all things were very fair
between him and Lautherdale, to whom all his de-
spatches must be addressed, yet depended more upon
those of the English council, to whom the king had
required the secretary to communicate all that he
received from the commissioner, and all the de-
spatches which he should make to him. And by this
means no orders were sent from the king which re-
strained him from proceeding in the matter of the
church according to discretion, as he was appointed
by his instructions ; though Lautherdale did not dis-
semble, when letters came from Scotland "of the
" good posture the king's affairs were in there, and
" that any thing might be brought to pass that he
" desired," to receive other letters to which he gave
more credit ; and was still as solicitous that no-
m resolved] Not in MS. " confer] resolved to confer
266 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. thing might be attempted with reference to the
~ kirk.
Proceedings As soon as the parliament was convened at Edin-
scotch par- burgh, and the commissioner found the temper of
iiament. them to be such as he could wish, the marquis of
Argyle (who had been sent by sea from the Tower
The mar- o f London to Leith) was brought to his trial upon
gyie tried, many, articles of treason and murder ; wherein all
and execut- his confederacies with Cromwell were laid open,
and much insisted upon to prove his being privy
to the resolution of taking the king's life, and ad-
vising it : and though there was great reason to sus-
pect it, and most men believed it, the proofs were
not clear enough to convict him. But then the evi-
dence was so full and clear of so many horrid mur-
ders committed by his order upon persons in his dis-
pleasure, and his immediate possessing himself of
their estates, and other monstrous and unheard of
acts of oppression ; that the parliament condemned
him to be hanged upon a gallows of an unusual
height, and in or near the place where he had
caused the marquis of Mountrose to be formerly ex-
ecuted : all which was performed the same day
with the universal joy of the people ; the unfortu-
nate person himself shewing more resolution and
courage than was expected from him, and expressing
much affection and zeal for the covenant, for which
he desired all men should believe he was put to
Giiaspy, a death. There was likewise one seditious preacher,
ecuted? CX Giiaspy, who had been a notorious and malicious re-
bel against the last and the present king, underwent
the same trial and judgment, with the same faith
in the covenant, and without show of repentance.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 267
And it was much wondered at, that no more of 1663.
that tribe, which had kindled the fire that had al-
most burned two kingdoms, and never had endea-
voured to extinguish it, were ever brought to jus-
tice ; and that the lives of two men should be
thought a sufficient sacrifice for that kingdom to
offer for all the mischief it had done.
When this work was done, the parliament without
hesitation repealed all those acts prejudicial to the
crown and the royal dignity, which had been made
since the beginning of the rebellion, and upon which
all the rebellions had been founded ; and branded
their beloved covenant with all the reproaches it de-
served, and this even with the consent and approba-
tion of the general assembly of the kirk. By all
which the obstructions were removed ; and it was
now in the power of the king to make bishops as
heretofore, and to settle the church in the same go-
vernment to which it had formerly been subject.
But the commissioner thought not this enough; and
apprehended that the king might yet be persuaded,
though there was no such appearance, " that the
" people were against it, and that it would be better
"to defer it:" and therefore the parliament pre- Tie pariia-
pared a petition to the king, highly aggravating the on the '
wickedness of the former time in destroying episco-
pacy, without which they could not have brought SCO
their wicked devices to pass; and therefore they
were humble suitors to his majesty, " that he would
" make choice of such grave divines, as he thought
" fit to be consecrated bishops, for all the vacant
" sees," they being at that time all vacant, there
being not one bishop of the nation alive.
And the commissioner having declared that he
268 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. meant to prorogue the parliament, they appointed a
Theypre _ draught of an oath or subscription to be prepared
Crationof a ams * * ne nex * session, whereby every man, who
the cove- wa s possessed of a church or any other ecclesiastical
promotion in that kingdom, should be bound to re-
nounce the covenant upon the penalty of being de-
prived ; intimating likewise, that they resolved, at
the next meeting, " that no man should be capable
" of holding any office, or of being a privy counsel-
" lor, who would not formally subscribe the same. "
And settle They settled a standing militia of forty thousand
fore* 1D men, to be always ready to march upon the king's
orders ; and raised two good troops of horse, and
provided for the payment of them ; and granted
such a sum of money to the king, as could be rea-
sonably expected from so poor and harassed a coun-
try, and which would serve the defraying the neces-
Thecom- sary expenses thereof. And all this being done,
missioner . .
returns to and the prorogation made, the commissioner and
some of the other lords came to London to kiss the
king's hand, and to receive his further directions,
having so fully despatched all his former orders.
They brought likewise with them some other propo-
sitions, which will be mentioned anon.
The king received the commissioner with open
arms, and was very well pleased with all that he
had done ; and nobody seemed to magnify it more
than Lautherdale, who was least satisfied with it.
Nor could he now longer oppose the making of bi-
shops there : so having presented the names of such
persons to the king who were thought fit to be con-
secrated bishops, whereof some had been with his
majesty abroad, they were all sent for to London ;
and such of them who had not before received their
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 269
ordination from a bishop, but from the presbytery 1663.
in Scotland, whereof the archbishop of St. Andrew's Scotch bi _
was one, first received orders of deacon and priest sh P s C ? IU
secrated.
from the bishop of London, and were afterwards
consecrated in the usual form by the bishops who
were then near the town, and made so great a feast
as if it had been at the charge of their country.
The commissioner, the chancellor, the earl of
Rothes and others, with the lord Lautherdale, were
deputed by the parliament to be humble suitors to
the king ; " since they had performed on their part
" all that was of the duty of good subjects, and were
" ready to give any other testimony of their obedi-
" ence that his majesty would require ; and since
" the whole kingdom was entirely at his devotion,
" and in such a posture that they were able as
" well as willing to preserve the peace thereof, and
" to suppress any seditious party that should at-
" tempt any disturbance; that his majesty would J e h s ^ c t ^ tch
" now remove the English garrisons from thence, English
" and permit the fortifications and works, which had ma"be
" been erected at a vast charge, to be demolished, Wl
" that there might remain no monuments of the
" slavery they had undergone. " And this they
demanded as in justice due to them, " since there
" were few men now alive, none in the least power,
" who had contributed to the ills which had been
" committed ; and all the men of power had under-
" gone for ten or a dozen years as great oppression
" as could be put upon them, because they would
" not renounce their fidelity to the king : and since
" it had pleased God to restore his majesty, they
" hoped he would not continue those yokes and
not] Omitted in MS.
270 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 663. " shackles upon them, which had been prepared and
~ " put upon them to keep them from returning to
" their allegiance. "
This was proposed in the presence of those of the
English council, who had been formally admitted
to be of the council of Scotland, and continued to
meet upon that affair. The Scots lords enlarged
with much warmth " upon the intolerable oppres-
" sion that nation had undergone, on the poverty
" they still suffered, and the impossibility of being
" able to bear any part of the charge, and the jea-
" lousy that it would keep up between the nations,
" which could not be to the king's profit and conve-
" nience. " They had privately spoken before with
the king upon it, and had prevailed with him to
think what they desired had reason and justice in
it; and the English lords could not upon the sud-
den, and without conference together, resolve what
was fit for them to say : so that they desired, without
expressing any inclination in the matter, " that the
" debate might be put off to another day ;" which
the Scots took very ill, as if the very deferring it
were an argument that they thought it might be
denied. But when they saw they would not pre-
sently speak to it, they were content that another
day should be appointed for the consideration of it :
and they afterwards desired the king, " that he
" would call the committee of the English council,
" who used to attend him in the most secret affairs,
" to consult what was to be done. " Nobody could
deny but that the Scots had reason to demand it.
And they who thought it a bridle fit to keep in their
mouths, to restrain them from future rebellions
which they might be inclined to, could not easily
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 271
resolve what answer should be given to them in the 1663.
negative. And they who thought the demand to~~
be so just and reasonable, and so much for the king's
benefit and advantage, that it ought to be granted,
did believe likewise that it was a thing so capable of
censure and reproach, in regard of the general pre-
judice which the English have against that people,
that no particular person was able to bear the odium
of the advice ; nor that the king himself should take
the resolution upon himself without very mature
deliberation.
That which advanced the proposition as fit to be Some cir-
cumstances
granted, was the charge of maintaining those forces; that faciiu
which that kingdom was so incapable of bearing, request! " 1
that Middleton and Glencarne (whose duties and
entire devotion to the king were above all exception
or suspicion) declared not only to the king, but to
those of the lords with whom they would confer
freely, " that if the king thought it necessary to
" keep that people still there, he must send more
" forces of horse and foot thither ; otherwise they
" were not strong enough to subdue the whole king-
" dom, but would as soon as they stirred out of their
" garrisons be knocked in the head ; nor would the
" country pay any thing towards their support, but
" what should be extorted by force : so that his
" majesty would not be thought to possess that
" kingdom in peace, which otherwise he would
" unquestionably do. "
And this consideration was improved by the re-
flection upon the body of men of which those forces
consisted, which was a parcel of the worst affected
men to the king of the whole army, and which the
general had therefore left in Scotland, when he
272 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1(563. marched into England under the command of major
""general Morgan, (who was worthy of any trust,)
because he was not sure enough of their fidelity to
take them with him, yet thought them P fit enough
to be left to restrain the Scots from any sudden in-
surrection. But now they saw all their model
brought to confusion, they were not so much above
temptation, but that they might, especially if they
were drawn together, concur in any desperate design
with a discontented party in Scotland, or with their
brethren of the disbanded army of England, who at
that season had rebellious resolutions in the north.
And which 1 was of no small importance, there was
at this very time an opportunity to transport all
those forces (the very disbanding whereof would not
be without danger for the reasons aforesaid) to Por-
tugal, in compliance with the king's obligation upon
his marriage.
On the contrary, it was very notorious that the
people generally throughout England, of what qua-
lity soever, a few London presbyterians excepted,
were marvellously pleased to see the Scots so ad-
mirably chastised and yoked; nor had Cromwell
ever done an act that more reconciled the affections
of the English to him, than his most rigorous treat-
ment of that nation ; and they never contributed
money so willingly towards any of his designs, as
for the erecting those forts in the several quarters
of the kingdom ; which, with a little addition of
force, they had good experience would suffice to
keep it from giving any disturbance to their neigh-
bours. And the demolishing all those structures in
P thought them] Not in MS. ' which] that which
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 273
one instant, and leaving an unquiet and an impo- 1663.
verished people to their own inclinations, could not ~
be grateful.
The king had, during the time that he resided
in Scotland before his march to Worcester, con-
tracted, and had brought with him from thence, a
perfect detestation of their kirk and presbyterian
government, and a great prejudice against the whole
family of Argyle and some other persons. But he
was exceedingly reconciled to the nation ; and be-
sides the esteem he had of the persons of very many
noblemen, he did really believe the burgesses and
common people to be as heartily affected to him, and
as much at his disposal, as any subjects he had. And
the lord Lautherdale cultivated this gracious cre-
dulity with so much diligence, that he assured the
king, " that he might depend upon the whole Scots
" nation as upon one man, to be employed r in
" his service and commands of what kind soever,
" and against what enemy soever. " His majesty The ting
upon the debate of this business declared, " that he
" did not only think it good husbandry in respect of
" the expense, and good policy, that he might keep
" Scotland entirely at his devotion, whilst Ireland
" remained in this confusion, and England itself was
" threatened by such factions in religion, to gratify
" them in what they desired ; but that he held him-
" self obliged in honour, justice, and conscience, to
" send all the forces out of that kingdom, and to de-
" face the monuments of that time : and that there
"would be no more to be consulted, but what to do
" with those forces," (which was quickly resolved,
r to be employed] to be employed as one man
VOL. II. T
274 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16C3. that they should be all sent for Portugal ; and order
was presently given for ships upon which they were
to be embarked,) " and then to consider in what
" method the other should be done. "
The Scots were very well satisfied 8 with the king's
resolution upon the main, but troubled at somewhat
that the English lords proposed for the way, " that
" the privy-council first, and then the parliament,
" should be informed of his majesty's intentions :
" which," they said, " would be against the honour
" and the interest and the right of Scotland, which
" never submitted any of their concernments to be
" debated at the council-board of England ; and the
" innovation would be no less in remitting it to the
" parliament, which had no pretence of jurisdiction
" over them. " To both which they were answered,
" that the withdrawing the English forces, and de-
" molishing the English fortifications, concerned
" England no less than the other kingdom ; and
" that his majesty did not intend it should be pro-
" posed to them, as a thing of which he made any
" doubt or required their advice, but only as a mat-
" ter of fact, which would prevent all murmurings or
" censures, which otherwise might arise. " The
English lords desired, " that the king's orders might
" be very positive, and that the commissioner might
" see them executed, for the utter demolishing all
" those fortifications which the English were to
" abandon, that they might not be continued for
" the entertainment of new garrisons of the natives,
" which would administer matter of new jealousies:"
all which they cheerfully consented to, well knowing
s satisfied] settled
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 275
that they might afterwards perform what they 1663.
found convenient; and many did since believe, that"*
there remains enough in some of the places to be
shelter to a rebellion hereafter.
The king appointed the chancellor to make a re-
lation, at a conference between the two houses of
parliament, " of the good posture his majesty's af-
" fairs of Scotland stood in ; of their having repeal-
" ed all those ill laws which had been made by the
" advantage of the rebellion, and all that concerned
" the church ; upon which that his majesty forth-
" with resolved to settle bishops in that kingdom,
" which appeared very unanimously devoted to his
" service : and that the king could not but commu-
" nicate this good news to them, which he knew
" would give them cause of rejoicing. " And then
he told them, " that the Scots parliament, in regard
" of the peace and quiet that they enjoyed, without
" the least apprehension of trouble from abroad or
** at home, had desired the king, that the English
** forces might be withdrawn and all the fortifica-
** tions razed ; and that those forces might be con-
*' venient, if his majesty thought fit, to be trans-
** ported to Portugal;" without discovering what TheEn ? -
. ii-i i . I' 8 ' 1 parlia-
nis majesty had resolved to do, or asking any opin-mentdo
ion from them, which however they might have " t ot opposi
given if they pleased. The effect was, that botli
houses sent their humble thanks to the king " for
" his having vouchsafed to let them know the good
" condition of Scotland, of which they wished his
" majesty much joy ; and hoped his other dominions
" would in a short time be in the same tranquillity :"
without taking any notice of withdrawing the garri-
sons. And so that affair ended.
T 2
276 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1663. During this agitation in London, it was discern-
ible enough that there were great jealousies between
the Scots lords. The commissioner and the other
had cause to believe, that the king gave much more
credit to Lautherdale than to them, and looked
upon him as a man of great interest in that country,
when they knew he had none, being neither in his
quality or fortune amongst those who were esteemed
men of power and dependance. And he thought
them linked in a faction against him, to lessen the
value the king had of him, which indeed was the
foundation of all his credit and interest. What
countenance soever he set upon it, he was sensibly
afflicted at the downfall of the presbytery, and that
Middleton had brought that to pass without any
difficulty, (as he had before told the king he would,)
which he had assured his majesty was impossible to
be effected but in long time and by many stratagems.
The marquis of Argyle had been a man univer-
sally odious to the whole nation, some ministers and
preachers excepted : and there had been always
thought to have been an implacable animosity from
Lautherdale towards him ; and after the king's re-
turn no man had appeared more against him, nor
more insisted upon his not being admitted to his
majesty's presence, or for his being sent into Scot-
land to be tried. Yet after all this it was discover-
ed, that he had interposed all he could with his ma-
jesty to save him, and employed all his interest in
Scotland to the same purpose. And the marquis
was no sooner executed, but the earl of Lautherdale
had prevailed with the king immediately to give his
Lord Lome son, the lord Lorne, (who had remained in London
and created to solicit on his father's behalf,) leave to kiss his
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 277
hand, and to create him earl of Argyle, and to con- 1663.
fer on him the office of general justice in the High- ear] of Ar _
lands, by which his father had been qualified to
most of the wickednesses he had committed; all
which the parliament of Scotland should have
treated as * the most sensible affront to them that
they could undergo.
It was well known that this young man, who was
captain of the king's guard when he was in Scot-
land, had treated his majesty with that rudeness
and barbarity, that he was much more odious to
him than his father ; and in all the letters which
Lautherdale had found opportunity to write, whilst
he was a prisoner in England, to the king when he
was beyond the seas, he inveighed equally against
the son as the father, and never gave him any other
title than, "That Toad's Bird:" so that nobody
could imagine from whence this change could pro-
ceed, but from a design to preserve an interest in
the presbyterian party against the time he should
have occasion to use them.
Then there were circumstances in this grace of
the king to the lord Lome, that exceeded all men's
comprehension : for his majesty caused all the estate
of the marquis of Argyle, which did not appear in
any degree so considerable as it was generally be-
lieved to have been, to be seized upon as forfeited
to him ; and then would grant it to the son so abso-
lutely, that neither the owners should recover what
had been injuriously and violently taken from them
for their loyalty to the king, nor the creditors re-
ceive satisfaction for the just debts which were due
1 have treated asj Omitted in MS.
T 3
278 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
16( ' 3 - to them, and which must have been satisfied if the
king had retained the forfeiture. But upon the ap-
plication of the commissioner and the other lords,
that the king would hear all persons concerned,
there was some mitigation in those particulars, not-
withstanding all the opposition which Lautherdale
did barefaced make on the behalf of the lord Lome,
and which the other bore with great indignation :
which he knew very well, and did believe that the
oath and subscription, which he well knew they had
contrived for the next session of parliament, was le-
velled at him; that not taking it, as they did not
believe he would do, the secretary of Scotland's
place might become void, which they had much ra-
ther should have been in any man's hand than in
his. And therefore he took all occasions to profess
and declare, besides his constant raillery against the
presbytery, " that if they should require him to sub-
" scribe that he is a Turk, he would do it before he
" would lose his office. "
The matter of these offences being most in pri-
vate, and so not publicly taken notice of, they made
a fair show and kept good quarter towards each
other. And the king consenting to all that the
commissioner proposed with reference to the public,
being indeed abundantly satisfied with his comport-
ment, and at parting promising to give him the of-
fice of treasurer, when by Crawford's refusing to
. The com- subscribe it should become void ; they, with all their
aJiTbishops bishops, returned again for Scotland with incurable
Scotland, jealousy of Lautherdale, who remained waiting upon
the king, and resolved to cross all their designs he
could, and quietly to expect a better opportunity to
undo what he could not for the present prevent.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 279
It is time now to return to the parliament of 1664.
England, which, according to the time of the pro- The Eng .
rogation, met again in March towards the entrance ^^J, 1 ^.
into the year 1664 : when at their first meeting the
king informed them at large of the insurrection that
had been endeavoured in the summer before in
Yorkshire, which, how foolishly soever contrived,
was a very great instance of the distemper of the
nation ; that three years after the disbanding of the
army, the officers thereof should remain still so un-
quiet, as to hope to give any signal disturbance to
the peace of the kingdom, by such a commotion as
they could upon their credit raise.
The continual discourse of plots and insurrections An insur-
had so wearied the king, that he even resolved to tended in
give no more countenance to any such informations, Yorksbire >
nor to trouble himself with inquiry into them ; but
to leave the peace of the kingdom against any such
attempts to the vigilance of the civil magistrates,
and the care of the officers of the militia, which he
presumed would be sufficient to quell and suppress
any ordinary fanatic design. And upon this reso-
lution, and to avoid the reproach of the late times,
of contriving plots only to commit men to prison
against whom there was any prejudice, he totally
neglected the first information he received of this
seditious purpose. But when the intelligence was
continued from several parts, and so particular for
the time and place of the rendezvous, and for the
seizing upon the city of York ; and there was evi-
dence that some men of estate and fortune, and who
were held wary and discreet men, were engaged in
it ; his majesty thought it time to provide against it,
and not only commended the care of it to the lords
T 4
280 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
I6fi4. lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of the counties
~~ adjacent, but sent likewise several troops of his own
horse to possess the city of York before the day ap-
pointed, and to attend some of the places of the ren-
But prc- dezvous. And they came very seasonably, and sur-
vented. . . , , . _ , .
prised many upon the very place, before their com-
pany was strong enough to make resistance. Others
did make some resistance, but quickly fled and were
dispersed. Many were taken, and upon their ex-
amination behaved themselves as if they were sure
to be quickly rescued ; for it appeared that they did
believe that the insurrection would have been ge-
neral throughout the kingdom, and that all the dis-
banded army would have been brought together at
several rendezvouses.
All the prisons in the north were so full, that the
king thought it necessary to send down four or five
of the judges of the several benches of Westminster-
hall to York, with a commission of oyer and ter-
miner, to examine the whole matter. There, though
the judges did not believe that they had discovered
the bottom of the whole conspiracy, they found
Some of the cause to condemn very many ; whereof seventeen or
eighteen were executed, some reprieved, and very
many left in prison to be tried at the next assizes.
Amongst those who were executed, the man who
was most looked upon was one Rymer, of the qua-
lity of the better sort of grand-jurymen, and held a
wise man, and was known to be trusted by the
greatest men who had been in rebellion : and he
was discovered by a person of intimate trust with
him, who had heretofore the same affections with
him, but would venture no more. He was a sullen
man, and used few words to excuse himself, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 281
none to hurt any body else ; though he was thought 1664.
to know much, and that having a good estate he~
would never have embarked in a design that had no
probability of success. Some of the prisoners de-
clared, " that they were assured by those who en-
" g a e d them, that such and such great men would
" appear at the rendezvous or soon after. " But
that was not thought a sufficient ground to trouble
any man, though some of them were very liable to
suspicion ; since in all combinations of that kind, it
is a most usual artifice to work upon weak men, by
persuading them that other men, of whom they have
great esteem, are engaged in it, who in truth know
nothing of it.
The judges were returned from York little time
before the parliament met ; and therefore the king
thought it fit to awaken them to much vigilance, by
informing them with what secrecy that conspiracy
had been carried. And his majesty assured them, The king's
" that he was not yet at the bottom of that busi-
" ness ; and that it appeared manifestly, that this n
" conspiracy was but a branch of that which he had
" discovered as well as he could to them about two
" years since, and had been then executed nearer
" hand, if he had not by God's goodness come to
" the knowledge of some of the principal contrivers,
" and so secured them from doing the mischief they
" intended. "
His majesty told them, " that they would wonder
" (yet he said what was true) that they were now
" even in those parts, when they see their friends
" under trial and execution, still pursuing the same
" consultations : and it was evident that they had cor-
" respondence with desperate persons in most coun-
282 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. " ties, and a standing council in London itself, from
~" " which they received their directions, and by whom
" they were advised to defer their last intended in-
" surrection. But those orders served only to dis-
" tract them, and came too late to prevent their
" destruction. " He said, " he knew more of their
" intrigues, than they thought he did ; and hoped he
*' should shortly discover the bottom : in the mean
" time he desired the parliament, that they might
" all be as watchful to prevent, as they were to con-
" trive their mischief. " He said, " he could not
*' upon this occasion omit to tell them, that these
" desperate men in their counsels (as appeared by
" several examinations) had not been all of one mind
" in the ways of carrying on their wicked resolu-
" tions. Some would still insist upon the authority
" of the long parliament, of which they say they have
" members enough willing to meet : others have fan-
" cied to themselves, by some computation of their
" own, upon some clause in the triennial bill, that
" this present parliament was at an end some months
" since ; and that for want of new writs they may
" assemble themselves, and choose members for par-
" liament ; and that this is the best expedient to
" bring themselves together for their other pur-
" poses. For the long parliament," his majesty said,
" that he and they together could do no more than
" he had done to inform and compose the minds of
" men ; let them proceed upon that at their peril.
" But he- thought there had been nothing done to
" disabuse men in respect of the triennial bill. He
" confessed that he had often himself read over that
" bill ; and though there is no colour for the fancy
" of the determination of this parliament ; yet he
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 283
" would not deny to them, that he had always ex- 1665.
" pected that they would, and even wondered that"
" they had not considered the wonderful clauses in
" that bill, which had passed in a time very uncare-
" ful for the dignity of the crown, or the security of
" the people. " His majesty desired the speaker and
the gentlemen of the house of commons, " that
" they would once give that triennial bill a reading
" in their house ; and then in God's name they
" might do what they thought fit for him, them-
" selves, and the whole kingdom. " His majesty
said, " that he needed not tell them how much he
" loved parliaments : never king was so much be-
" holden u to parliaments as he had been ; nor did
" he think that the crown could ever be happy with-
" out frequent parliaments. But he wished them
'* to assure themselves, that if he should think other-
" wise, he would never suffer a parliament to come
" together by the means prescribed by that bill. "
He renewed his thanks to them " for the free
" supply they gave him the last session of four sub-
" sidies ; yet he could not but tell them, that that
" supply was fallen much short of what he expected
" and they intended. That it would hardly be be-
" lieved, yet they knew it to be true, that very many
" persons, who have estates of three or four thou-
" sand pounds by the year, do not pay for these four
" subsidies sixteen pounds : so that whereas they
*' intended and declared, that they should be col-
" lected according to former precedents, they do not
" now arise to half the proportion they did in the
" time of queen Elizabeth ; and yet sure the crown
11 beholden] beholding
1665. " wants more now than it did then, and the subject
~~" is at least as well able to give. " His majesty said,
" the truth is, by the license of the late ill time, and
" ill humour of this, too many of the people, and
" even of those who make fair professions, believe it
" to be no sin to defraud the crown of any thing
" that is due to it. That they no sooner gave him
" tonnage and poundage, than men were devising
" all the means they could to steal custom ; nor
" could the farmers be so vigilant for the collection,
" as others were to steal the duties. They gave him
" the excise, which all people abroad believed to be
" the most insensible imposition that can be laid
" upon a people : what conspiracies and combina-
" tions were entered into against it by the brewers,
" who he was sure did not bear the burden them-
" selves, even to bring that revenue to nothing, they
" would hear in Westminster-hall. They had given
" him the chimney-money, which they had reason
" to believe was a growing revenue, for men build
" at least fast enough ; and they would therefore
" wonder, that it was already declined, and that this
" half year brings in less than the former did. " He
desired them therefore, " that they would review that
" bill ; and since he was sure that they would have
" him receive whatsoever they gave, that he might
" have the collecting and husbanding of it by his
" own officers, and then he doubted not but to im-
" prove that receipt, and he would be cozened as
" little as he could. "
His majesty concluded with " desiring and con-
" juring them to keep a very good correspondence
" together, that it might not be in the power of any
" seditious or factious spirits to make them jealous
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 285
" of each other, or either of them jealous of him, till 1665.
" they see him pretend one thing and do another, ~~
" which he was sure they had never yet done. " He
assured them, " it should be in nobody's power to
" make him jealous of them. " And so desired them,
" that they would despatch what they found neces-
" sary, that they might be ready for a session within
" two months or thereabout, because the season of
" the year would invite them all to take the country
" air. "
It was very happy for his majesty, that he did
cut out their work to their hand, and asked no
money of them, and limited them a short time to
continue together. It made their counsels very una-
nimous : and though they raised no new taxes and
impositions upon the people, they made what they
had before raised much more valuable to the king
than it was before, by passing other acts and decla-
rations for the explaining many things, and the bet-
ter collecting the money they had formerly given ;
which much added to his majesty's profit without
grieving the people, who were rather gratified in the
remedies which were provided against frauds and
cozenage.
The parliament had sat but very little more than The trien.
ten days, when they presented a bill to his majesty repealed.
for the repeal of the triennial bill, which he had re-
commended to them ; which x was so grateful to
him, that he came in person to the house to pass
it and to thank them : and he told them, " that
" every good Englishman would thank them for it ;
" for it could only have served to discredit parlia-
x which] and which
286 CONTINUATON OF THE LIFE OF
1 665. " ments, to make the crown jealous of parliaments
"~ " and parliaments of the crown, and persuaded
" neighbour princes that England was not governed
" under a monarch. " The truth is : it had passed
in a very jealous and seditious time, when the
wickedness was first in hatching, that ripened after-
wards to a dismal perfection ; and when all, who
were sworn never to consent to the disherison of the
crown, thought only of preserving their own inhe-
ritance which they had gotten, or improving it at
the expense of the crown ; and made it manifest
enough, that it should wither, at least while it stood
upon the head of that king ; for at that time the
conspiracy went no further, that is amongst those
who had then credit to promote its passage, though
they were weak men who thought it could rest
there.
some acts As they made this entrance, so they were wholly
passed.
intent upon matters of moment, and despatched all
they intended to do within the two months, in
which the king desired they would be ready for a
prorogation. And as there was greater order and
unanimity in their debates, so they despatched more
business of public importance and consequence, than
any other parliament had done in twice the time :
for, besides the repeal of the odious bill before men-
tioned, they made a very good additional bill for the
chimney-money, which made that revenue much
more considerable; and they passed likewise an-
other bill against the frequenting of conventicles,
which was looked upon as the greatest discounte-
nance the parliament had yet given to all the fac-
tions in religion, and if it had been vigorously exe-
cuted would no doubt have produced a thorough re-
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 287
formation. They made likewise a very good act, I6C5.
and very necessary for a time of such corruption, ~"
that had contracted new ways of dishonesty and vil-
lany that former times had not thought of, when
many unworthy and . cowardly masters of ships and
seamen had been contented to be robbed, and to
suffer y all their owners' goods to be taken, upon an
allowance made to them by the pirates ; for the dis-
covery and punishment whereof the law had not
enough provided. They therefore presented a bill
to the king, " for the discovery and punishment of
" all such treacherous and infamous actions ; and
" for the reward of such honest and stout seamen, as
" should manfully and courageously defend their
" owners' goods, and therein maintain the honour of
" the nation. "
All this they presented to his majesty, and it z was
confirmed by his royal assent on the seventeenth of
May ; when his majesty, after giving such thanks to
them as they deserved, told them, " he did not in-
" tend to bring them together again till the month
" of November, that they might enjoy the summer
" in the transaction of their own affairs : yet be-
" cause there might some emergent occasion fall
" out, that might make him wish to find them to-
" gether sooner, he would prorogue them only to
" August ; and before the day they should have sea-
" sonable notice, by proclamation, not to give their
" attendance, except such occasion should fall out. "
And so they were prorogued to a day in August, The pariia
but met not till November following. ro s ui.
During this short session of parliament, they, who
> suffer] Not in MS. * it] Not in MS.
288 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. were very solicitous to promote a war with Holland,
~~ forget not what they had to do ; but they quickly
discerned that it was not a good season to mention
the giving of money, (which the king himself had
forborne to mention, that the people might see one
session of parliament pass without granting new im-
positions, which they had not yet seen,) and there-
fore it would be as unseasonable to speak of a war.
However, they made such an approach towards it,
as might make a further advance much more easy.
The mer- The merchants in the committee of trade much la-
monstr&te mented the obstructions and discouragements, which
DutTh! the tnev na d l n & f un d in their commerce by sea with a
other nations, and which were not removed even by
the blessed return of the king ; all which they im-
puted to the pride and insolence of the Hollanders,
" who," they said, " observed no laws of commerce,
"or any conditions which themselves consented to.
" That by their fraud and practice the English were
" almost driven out of the East and West Indies,
" and had their trade in Turkey and in Africa much
" diminished. In sum, that besides many insuffer-
" able indignities offered by them to his majesty and
" to the crown of England, his subjects had in few
" years sustained the damage of seven or eight hun-
" dred thousand pounds sterling. "
All which with some particular instances being
reported from the committee of trade to the house,
they had desired an audience from his majesty, and
then presented this grievance to him, and desired
his majesty, " that he would give such order in it,
" as to his wisdom should seem fit, that might pro-
a with] and with
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 289
' duce just and honourable satisfaction. " The king, 1665:
who continued firm to his former resolution, an-~
swered them, " that he would transmit the address
" they had presented to him to his resident at the
" Hague, with order that he should inform the
" States of it, and require satisfaction, which he
" hoped the States General would yield unto, rather
" than compel b him to demand justice in another
" way. " The answer pleased them well, nor could
they wish that the prosecution should be put into
a better hand than the resident's, who was a mem-
ber of the house, and a man who had inflamed them
more than the merchants themselves against the
Dutch.
That resident was sir George Downing, a man of character of
an obscure birth, and more obscure education, which Downing*
he had received in part in New England: he had
passed through many offices in Cromwell's army, of
chaplain, scoutmaster, and other employments, and
at last got a very particular credit and confidence
with him, and under that countenance married a
beautiful lady of a very noble extraction, which
was the fate of many bold men in that presump-
tuous time.
