No More Learning

formation as was necessary before any resolution
could be taken. There the whole state of the navy
was inquired into? ; what was in the stores, and
what the defects or deficiencies were, and what
hopes there were of supplying them ; what ships
were ready, and what would be made ready in three
months. The victualler was sent for, to give an ac-
count what provision of victuals was ready, and
what could be provided and put on board in the
same time, which was the utmost that could be li-
mited. Every officer protested, " that there could
" not be the least attempt^ towards any preparations
" without a good sum of ready money :" and the
yards were in that necessity by reason of the great
arrear of wages that was due to them, that they
were near a mutiny, and could not be kept to their
work, being necessitated to do any work abroad to
get victual for their families. The inferior officers,
which belonged to the stores, lived by stealing and
selling what they were intrusted to keep. In short,
all things were presented to be in that confusion,
that there appeared no probability of being able to set
out any fleet before the enemy would be so strong
upon the coast, that it would be very difficult to
make a conjunction between those ships which were

those] these in MS.

v was inquired into] Omitted ( ' attempt] Omitted in MS.



188 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. in the river, and the other which were at Portsmouth
"and in other ports.

This desperate representation did not make the
king take a sudden resolution : but the same coun-
cil met many days morning and evening. All ways
were thought upon which might administer hope to
get any money ; and considerations were entered
upon what was to be done in case a fleet could not
be provided fit to engage the enemy, and which way
a defensive war was to be made at sea, and how the
trade should be secured, and the coast and harbours
be so preserved, that the enemy might do no af-
front at land ; for every day brought loose and un-
grounded intelligence of bodies of horse and foot,
drawn in France to the sea-side in many places upon
that large coast, and likewise in Holland, and great
provision of flatbottoms, as if they intended to make
some descent ; which kind of rumours exceedingly
discomposed the common people, though they who
understood the expeditions of that nature, and with
what difficulty land armies were transported, were
not moved by those reports. After all expedients
were considered and well weighed, his majesty found
cause to despair of being able to set out in any time
Absolution a fleet equal to the occasion, and so contracted his
on the d *- thoughts to the other part, for the defensive.

There is a point of land on the Kentish coast
that, extends itself into the sea, and at the very en-
trance of the river, where the king had often thought
and discoursed of erecting a royal fort, that would
both preserve the coast, and likewise be a great se-
curity to the river : and the prosecuting this design
was in this consultation thought of great importance,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 189

and the erecting another fort in another place, and 1667.
repairing and strengthening Landguard r Point upon
the coast of Essex and Suffolk.

For preparations for the sea, it was thought fit
and enough, " that a good squadron of light frigates
" should ride on the coast of Scotland, and another
" of the same strength lie s off Plymouth, both which
" should intercept the trade of Holland both out-
" ward and inward, if they did not maintain it with
" strong convoys, which would break their fleet ;
" and in those cases the frigates would easily retire
" to their harbours. That some frigates should be
" always in the Downs, to chase picaroons from in-
" festing the coast, and to observe and get intelli-
" gence of the enemies' motion, and upon occasion
" should retire up the river. That there should be
" some of the greatest ships at Chatham, Ports-
" mouth, and other places, prepared and put in
" readiness against the end of summer, before which
" time money might be provided : and then the
" enemies' fleet being weary and foul, it might be
" presumed the French would return early into
" their own ports, which were so far off; and then
M the frigates from the west and the north might
" find the way to join with the great ships, which
" should be ready against that time, and either fight
" the Dutch if they should choose it, or infest their
" coast more than they had done this, and take all
" their ships homeward bound from all places, which,
" upon the fame of their being masters of the sea all
" the summer, would repair home without appre-
" hensiori of an enemy. " And there were some

r Landguard] Langhorne * lie] to lie



190 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

\6G7. officers of great experience at sea, who, being called

by the king to advise upon this project, declared

with confidence, " that the Dutch would be greater
" losers by the war thus conducted the next sum-
" mer, than they had been in any year since the
" war begun. "

For the security of trade, it was declared, " that
" there was no possible way to secure it but by re-
" straining it, and not suffering any merchants' ships
" to go to sea, and by giving them l advice to send
" to all their factors and correspondents, that they
" should send no goods home till they received new
" orders :" which restraint some were against, " both
" because it would have an ill reception with the
" people, when they should find that a war, which
" had been entered into for the enlargement and ad-
" vancement of trade, had produced a cessation of
" all trade; and it would appear very hard that men,
" who had laid out their own stocks and were will-
" ing to venture them, should be forbid and hin-
" dered from sending them to those markets for
" which they had provided them, which 1 would turn
" to little less loss to them than they should incur
" by their being taken by the enemy. Then it
" would be, not a discouragement but a dissipation
" of the seamen, who, if they could have no employ-
" ment in the king's ships or in the merchant ships,
" would be scattered abroad to seek their fortune,
" so y that they would not be brought together when
" the king had occasion for their service. In the
" last place 7 ; that the giving this order for restraint,

1 by giving them] lo give v so] Not in MS.
them ' ploe] Not hi MS.

* which] and which



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 191

" and advice to the merchants to inform their fac- 1667.
" tors and correspondents, would be, and could not ~~
" choose but be, an absolute publication of this reso-
" lution of the king to send out no fleet in the
" spring ; which was yet agreed to be the highest
" secret. "

All these reasons were temperately weighed and

answered, " that it could not be unreasonable or un-

" just to hinder men from doing themselves harm :

" the king could not take their goods from them to

" his own use ; but he might lawfully hinder them

" from spoiling or destroying the goods that were

" their own. That their being taken by the enemy

" (which would be unavoidable) concerned the king

" and the kingdom little less than it did the private

" owners : it would increase the insolence and the

" wealth of the enemy, and reflect upon his ma-

" jesty's honour as well as impoverish his subjects ;

" and the difference would be very great between

" losing, their goods, and keeping them upon their

" hands for a better market. For the dissipation of

" the seamen, there would no great danger be of

" that : the squadrons on the western and the

" northern coasts, which must be very well manned,

" would entertain good numbers ; and the rest

" would put themselves on board the privateers,

" who should be all bound to come home against

" the time the king would have occasion for their

" service, and then the privateers should be re-

" strained as now the merchants. For the keeping

" the present resolution secret, which would by this

" means be published, it were to be desired that it

" might remain a secret as long as should be possi-

" ble : but as discerning men would easily discover



192 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 667. " it* ;mi ' could not but already know that it was im-
" possible for the king in time to set out a fleet *, so
" it would b quickly be evident to all the world; and
" the secret was not to be affected longer than it
" could be concealed. "

There was another inconvenience or mischief that
was in view, that would come like an armed man
upon the city, which was want of fuel, especially
the want of coals from Newcastle, of which there'
had been a vast quantity consumed in the late fire,
which had likewise consumed those houses and'
chimneys which should be supplied ; yet the people
remained still, and were not like to be much the
warmer for being crowded closer together. But to*
that there could be no other remedy applied, but
the sending c orders to Newcastle to employ all their 1
ships, and all they could procure, in sending as much
coal as was possible to London and the towns adja-
cent, before the enemy's fleet could put to sea : and
convoys were assigned too strong for their privateers
or small parties of their men of war d : and the king
gave two or three vessels of his own, and likewise
money, to fetch coals, that the poor might have
them at the rates they cost ; and directed the city
to do the same. All which produced some good ef-
fect.

Upon the whole matter, and thorough examina-
tion of the whole, the king concluded upon all the
particulars mentioned before, assigning proper per-
sons to supervise every particular, that all should be
executed in time that was agreed upon. The



1 fleet] ship r sending] sending both

b would] would not ll of war] Omitted iw MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 193

issued out all his orders to the ships, with which sir 1667.
William Coventry was charged, whose office it was : ~~
and the king would charge himself with that which The king
was most important, the fortification at Sheerness ; f"r
whither his majesty made a journey in the cold an d
depth of winter, and took an engineer and some of-
ficers of the ordnance with him, that all things
might be supplied from thence which belonged to
that office. He caused master-workmen to be sent
from London, and drew common labourers enough
out of the country, having provided money to pay
them. And after all things were in this order, and
he had seen the work begun, he left the master-en-
gineer, whom he designed to be the governor of the
fort, for which he was very equal, upon the place ;
and committed the overlooking of the whole, that all
possible expedition might be used, to one of the
commissioners of the ordnance, who promised to
look carefully to it : and his majesty returned to
London, when in the opinion of all his servants he
had stayed too long in such a season, and such an
air, to the danger of his health. How all those re-
solutions and orders were executed afterwards, or
complied with, must unavoidably be mentioned in
its place.

It cannot be imagined by any man who in any
degree knew him, that the chancellor, though he
was present, could have any part in these reso-
lutions but the submitting to them ; every par-
ticular being so much out e of his sphere, that he
never pretended to understand what was fit and
reasonable to be done : nor throughout the whole

e out] Omitted in MS.
VOL. III. O



194 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. conduct of the war was he ever known to presume
"~ to give an advice ; but presuming f that all whose
profession it was advised what was fit, he readily
concurred. And he did always declare, "that in
" this last consultation all points were so fully de-
" bated ; and that there was so concurrent an opin-
" ion in the commanders of the ships, and the offi-
" cers of the navy, with the approbation of the duke
" of York, prince Rupert, and the general, that it
" was not possible to set out a fleet in time equal to
" that of the enemy, to engage with it ; and that
" the next best would be to stand upon the defensive
" in the manner proposed : that & it did not appear
" to him, that there was any election left but to
" pursue that course," which he did believe very
reasonably proposed and resolved upon ; nor did
any thing occur to him, why very much good might
not be hoped from it, he being so totally unskil-
ful in the knowledge of the coast and the river,
that he knew not where Sheemess was, nor had
ever heard of the name of such a place till this last
discourse, nor had ever been upon any part of the
river with any other thought about him, than to
get on shore as soon as could be possible.

The king had not himself thought of this defen-
sive way, but approved it very much when he
heard it so fully discussed, and in which himself had
proposed all his doubts, which no man raised more
pertinently in arguments of that nature than his
majesty ; and it may be he liked it the better, be-
cause at that time, as he was heartily weary of the
war, so he was not without a reasonable hope of

f presuming] presumed 8 that] Not in MS.







EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 195

peace, which he resolved to cherish, as he told the J 667.
parliament at parting he would do. The grounds of""
which hope, and the progress thereupon, the enter-
ing upon a treaty, and the conclusion thereof, will
be the discourse and relation we shall next enter
upon.

How ill success soever had attended the nego- The Swedes
ciation of Denmark by the irresolution and unsteadi- assfsTth
ness of that court, Mr. Coventry had conducted what Engllsh>
had been committed to him with very good effect in
Sweden. And after he had disposed that court
(where he had rendered himself extremely accept-
able) to a just esteem of the king's friendship, and an
equal aversion to the Hollander, and concluded
such articles as were for the present and joint con-
venience and benefit of both nations, and prepared
them to be willing to enter into a stricter and nearer
alliance, and to that purpose to send ambassadors
into England, where they had an agent ; he returned
to give his majesty an account and information of
the constitution and temper of that court, and of the
nature and disposition of the two ambassadors who
were to attend his majesty, who were chosen before
he left Stockholm, and resolved to embark within
ten days : which they did, and arrived about the They send
time, or soon after, that the city was so miserably ds1nt*o
destroyed by fire ; which was the less favourable En s lHml -
conjuncture, not so much by the influence that
dreadful distraction and damage was like to have
upon the vigorous carrying on the war, as by the
ill humour which the parliament shortly after ap-
peared to be in, and their manifest obstinacy against
the king's desires ; which was a temper very dif-
ferent from what they expected to have found, and

o 2



196 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. what they had been informed had possessed them
from the time of his majesty's return. Nor was this
manifest indisposition without some unhappy im-
pression upon the spirits of the ambassadors, and
that alacrity they brought with them presently to
enter into a treaty, and conjunction of forces against
the common enemy.

It was manifest enough, that the crown of Swe-
den was weary of the obligations they had been long
bound in to France, which had superciliously ne-
glected of late to comply with what was on their
part to be performed; and rather endeavoured to
make alliances with Denmark, and the lesser neigh-
bour princes, as those of the house of Brunswick
and Lunenburg, to their disadvantage, than to con-
sider that crown which had been so useful to them,
as if their friendship was so considerable to them.
Nor was this out of a real disesteem of them ; but
that they might bind them to a faster dependance
upon them, and that they might not be severed from
their interest, whatsoever they should declare it to be.
And therefore, when it was first suspected that they
might be inclined to England, and h Holland appre-
hended that they might be induced to make a con-
junction with the bishop of Munster, France (as
hath been touched before) sent their ambassador
Pompone into Sweden, with a full year's salary of
what was in arrear, much more still remaining due,
and to incline that crown to a neutrality between
the English and the Dutch ; in which he found Mr.
Coventry had prevented him, and though he had not
then the character of ambassador, he was much bet-

" and] and that



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 197

ter respected there than he was. And as they would 1 667.
have joined with the bishop of Munster, if he had ~
advanced according to his pretence, or had not been
absolutely taken off by France ; so, when he was di-
verted from his purpose, they were the more inclined
to make a firm alliance with England, and thereby
such a further conjunction with other princes, pro-
testant or catholic, that might give some check to
the impetuous humour of France, which they now
were as jealous of, and of their overflowing all the
banks which belonged to their neighbours, as they
had been formerly of the house of Austria ; and for
the same reason were as desirous to retire from any
dependance upon or relation to that crown, as they
had been formerly of its protection ; and were very
well prepared to change their alliance, and, if they
might not be losers by it, to make a conjunction with
Germany and the house of Austria, into which it was
reasonable to be presumed that the United Provinces
would be glad to be received upon moderate condi-
tions when a peace should be made with England.

And this was the prospect that had been pre-
sented to them by Mr. Coventry, and upon view of
which they now sent their ambassadors, without
being terrified by the declaration of France on the
behalf of the Dutch ; and with a resolution, if they
could not persuade Holland to separate from that
conjunction, and make a peace apart with the king,
(which they laboured by their ambassador the count
of Dhona to the States,) to join their interest frankly
to that of his majesty, and to run the hazard and
expect the issue and event of the war.

The two ambassadors were Flemming and Coyet, The cha-
racters of

both senators in the great council of Sweden, and the ambas-
sadors.
o 3



198 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. men of prime authority there: the former of the
~~ greater place and esteem, being a nobleman of an
ancient and noble extraction of a family in Scotland,
that had lived through many descents in Sweden in
great employment and lustre; and this man never
dissembled a particular devotion to the king, and
for that reason principally was designed to this ne-
gociation. The other was not so well born or bred,
or of so cheerful a complexion, but a more thinking
and melancholic man, more conversant in books,
and more versed in the course and forms of busi-
ness ; and by his own virtue and humble industry
had from a mean and low birth, which in those
northern kingdoms is the highest disadvantage, by
degrees ascended to the degree of a senator, which
is the chiefest qualification ; and had gotten his first
credit and reputation by a negociation he was in-
trusted with in Holland, and a treaty well managed
by him there : which made him liable in that court
to be much inclined to the Dutch, and to have
some particular friendship with De Wit, they having
studied together in Leyden when they were young ;
and their familiarity after was improved to a good
correspondence in that negociation in Holland.

This being well known and commonly spoken of
there, Mr. Coventry endeavoured to prevent his de-
signation to that employment, by speaking to the
chancellor of that kingdom, who always received
him with open arms, and gave good testimony of his
hearty and passionate desire of a firm conjunction
between the two crowns ; and, though he was of a
French extraction, had a full jealousy of the want of
sincerity and justice of that nation. When he dis-
covered the apprehension Mr. Coventry had, he per-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 109

suaded him to acquiesce in his judgment rather 1667.
than to credit common rumour : " that he well knew
" both, and had contributed to the election of both,
" who were very fit to be joined together in an em-
" ployment of this nature, the gaiety and warmth of
" the one standing in need sometimes of the phlegm
" of the other, who would yet pay that reverence to
" him that was due to his superior quality ; and
" that he was too good a Swede to have inclinations
" to the Dutch, how much conversation soever he
" had with them. In a word, he would pass his
" word ;" which put an end to all further doubts :
and it was well enough known, that he had been
raised by and was a creature of the chancellor.

And in truth, from the time of their arrival in
England he carried himself very fairly, and without
any visible inclination to the Dutch, and much less
to the French ; and they both very frankly declared
to those of the king's ministers with whom they
conferred with intimacy, " that that crown would
" gladly be separated from them, if a good expedient
" might be found to make them no losers by it. "
Yet it is as true, that after they had been some
months irt England, and saw in how ill a posture
the king was for the carrying on the war, and how
far the parliament was from giving money, or from
any reasonable compliance with his majesty's de-
sires, Coyet did not concur with the same warmth
in his despatches, with Flemming, into Sweden ; but
writ apart to the ministers there, " that they must
" take new measures, and not depend upon a con-
" junction with England, to which, how well soever
" the king was inclined, he would not be able to
" bear the part they expected, by reason that he

o 4



200 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 667. " had no power with the parliament ;" which letters
~his majesty's agent then in Sweden had a sight of:
which produced no other effect there, but a resolu-
tion ', that if they saw that either the king was in-
clined to a peace, or would be reduced to a necessity
to treat, the ambassadors should offer in the name
of their master his interposition, which their min-
isters in France and Holland should then likewise
make proffer of, upon advertisement first from them,
Sweden is but with a secret assurance to the king, " that if a
' " treaty sliould not take effect," (which it could

hardly be believed it would do,) "the crown of Swe-
" den would firmly unite itself to his majesty's inter-
" est, and engage in the war with him ;" which it
was evident they were more inclined to, than to a
peace in which France might be comprehended.
But that which they most desired was, that a peace
might be made with the Dutch without compre-
hending France, in which they would willingly
enter, which would draw Spain and all the princes
of Germany to desire to be admitted for their own
security.

The same The Conde of Molina was ambassador from Spain,
edlT'thT near ^ ne king, a man rather sincere than subtile,
Spanish and and so had the more need of the advice and assist-

ini penal

ambassa- ance of the baron of Isola, who was, under the title

j

of envoy from the emperor, entirely trusted and
supported (as most of the emperor's ministers were)
by the king of Spain ; who being a Burgundian,
born in those parts which remain subject to Spain,
had an implacable hatred to the French ; and by
the employments he had undergone in Italy and

1 a resolution] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 201

other places, where he had been ambassador, had 1667.
made himself so considerable, that he was become""
notoriously odious to the French, and was a man
of great experience and very subtile parts. Both
those ministers did heartily wish a peace between
England and Holland, with the exclusion of France :
but if that could not be, they had much rather the
war should continue as it was, than that France
should be comprehended in the peace ; for which
they had some reason. For at this time the king of
Spain died, which they had too many reasons to be-
lieve would put an end to the quiet of Flanders ;
and therefore would be glad that they might have
the assistance of England for their defence, and in
which Holland could not think itself unconcerned.
The probability of this, and the constant intelli-
gence they received from the Hague, " that there
" were already jealousies grown up between the
" French and the Dutch," persuaded them, and
they endeavoured to persuade the king, " that Hol-
" land might be now induced to treat by them-
" selves ; or if they could not do that, but must
" proceed jointly with France, they would upon as-
" surance of the king's affection sever themselves
" from them, if they insisted upon any thing that
" was not for the joint benefit of all. " The king
left them to do what they thought fit towards it,
without undertaking any thing on his part until
their fair intentions were discerned, and then to as-
sure them of his majesty's inclinations to peace upon
just and honourable conditions.

There is no doubt, there was a real jealousy and Holland
dissatisfaction between France and Holland at thisj 1 "^,,/ 6
time. The Dutch complained, "that the French each other -



202 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. " had broken their promise with them no less this
year than they had done the last : they had
" indeed declared and proclaimed a war, but they
" had done no acts of hostility ; and whereas they
" were engaged that their fleet should have joined
" with theirs in the month of May, they had never
" been in view but at a great distance, and suffered
" the Dutch to fight so many days together without
" any help from them. And upon their renewed
*' promise, they had again carried out their fleet to
" meet with them in August ; when they failed
" again, and left them exposed to the whole Eng-
" lish fleet : so that they were compelled with some
" loss to get again into their harbours. " And now
they had a real apprehension, that they might treat
with England apart, and leave them to support
the war at sea by themselves, whilst they pursued
their expedition against Flanders upon the death of
the king of Spain.

On the other side, France as much complained of
the proceedings of the Dutch : " that after they had
" received a great sum of money from them, with-
" out which they could not have set out their fleet,
" they no more cared for a conjunction with their
" ships, nor went to that length at sea which they
" were bound to, to join with them ; which they
" might have done, if they had continued their
" course when they put to sea in the beginning of
" June. Instead of which they went over to the
" coast of England to find the English, confessing
" thereby, that they had no need of the assistance
" of the French ships ; but leaving them k to shift
" for themselves. And afterwards, in the end of

k them] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 203

" August, they came not to the place they had pro- 1667.
" mised to have done ; by reason of which neglect ~"
" and breach of faith, if a singular act of Providence
" had not prevented it, their whole fleet had fallen
" into the hands of the English, as some part of it
" did. " But that which made them likewise willing
that this war should be at an end was, that now,
the king of Spain being dead, they might enter
upon a war with Spain ; towards which they pre-
pared manifestos to publish upon the matter of
their right, and already prepared levies of men, of
which they could pretend no other use : yet they
professed to the Spanish ambassador to have no
such design in their purposes. However, they
would not enter upon any treaty apart without the
Dutch : nor would De Wit, who entirely governed
the councils of Holland, be induced to consent to
any overtures made to separate, before or in the
treaty, from France ; but gave information ] of
whatsoever was proposed by the baron of Isola, or
the Spaniard, or any other person, to that purpose,
and enlarged upon that information more than was
true, to endear his own punctuality.

The mother of the king was then at Paris, hav- The <i een

. . _ mother en-

ing chosen rather to reside there than in England, deavours to
since she saw the resolution of a war between them, apeacewlui
and desired nothing more than to be an instrument * r
in the composing those differences, which she
thought were not good for either of the crowns ;
and found now another style in that court than it
had used to discourse in, and from the time of the
news of the death of the king of Spain, that the

1 gave information] informed me



304 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. French king had spoken as if he wished a peace
she eod with England : whereupon, about the time when
st^AthM'' tne parliament was prorogued, the earl of St. Al-
jntoEng- Dan ' s came to London, as to look to the queen's

lam) for

that pur- affairs, of which he was the great intendant. He

POM.

informed the king *' of the good temper the French
" court was in, and that he was confident, if his ma-
" jesty would make any advance towards a peace m ,
" the queen would be able to dispose that king to
" hearken to it, and to be a mediator between Eng-
" land and Holland ; and either to draw them to
" consent to what was just, or to separate from
" them : and he thought it very reasonable, that the
" conditions should be referred to the king of France,
" who he was sure, upon such a trust, would be
" very careful of the king's honour and interest. "
He professed " to have no authority for any thing
" he proposed, from the French king or any of his
" ministers, but from the queen's conjectures and
" his own observation : and if the king would give
" him a commission, he would presently return, and
" would not be known to have any powers, till he
" should find such a conjuncture to own it, as that"
" the peace should be concluded before there should
*"' be any discourse of a treaty, (which he knew the
" French most desired,) lest Spain might interpose
" to perplex or delay it. " And therefore he pro-
posed, " that he might cany instructions with him,
" upon what conditions the king would be willing
" that a peace should be established. " His majesty
was resolved never to make the French king arbi-
trator of the conditions of the peace, nor that it

m towards a peace] towards it n that] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 205

should be treated at Paris; and most of all, that 1667.
the earl of St. Alban's should not have any power"
to treat, " who," the king always used to say,
" was more a French than an English man :" and
he likewise resolved, " that no overture should be
" made towards peace in his name. "

Whilst this was in suspense, the earl received let-
ters from Paris, in which he was advised " to return
" thither with power to treat, and with information
" what conditions the king expected ; for that his
" most Christian majesty had so prepared the Dutch,
" that he should have present power to treat and
" conclude ; and so all things might be settled before
" the formality of a treaty should be entered into or
" heard of. " This did not alter the king's resolution
against authorizing the earl to treat, or making Paris
the place of the treaty. But because the letters
were written by monsieur Ruvigny, who was a per-
son well known to the king, and of whom he had a
good opinion, and whom he well knew to be too
wary a man to write in that manner without having
good authority to do so ; his majesty was contented
" that the earl should make haste to Paris ; and if
" he found by Ruvigny that what they proposed was
" really desired, he should undertake to know that
" the king was very well inclined to peace, and that
" himself would willingly confer with any body he
" would carry him to ; and whatsoever should be
" proposed, he would with all possible expedition
" transmit it to the king :" with this further direc-
tion, " that if he were satisfied that their intentions
" were real, which the alterations in their own af-
" fairs made probable, he should endeavour, by the
" queen or Ruvigny, to discover whether it would



206 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. " not be possible to persuade that king to treat apart
~" and exclude Holland; and if it appeared to him
" that was not to be hoped, that at least his ma-
"jesty would think it reasonable, that the Dutch
" should restore whatsoever fort or other place they
" had taken upon the coast of Guinea, and likewise
" pay a good sum of money to the king towards the
" charge of the war. "

The earl of St. Alban's had no mind to return
with no larger a commission, and pretended to know
" that this was not the way to advance a treaty,
" and that he could as well write what the king
" directed, and know again by letter what they
" thought of it ; and therefore he would stay and
" despatch the business which the queen sent him
" about, before he would return. " But when he
saw the king was contented he should stay, rather
than have nothing to do in the treaty, he chose to
be at the beginning of it, and thought he should not
be afterwards left out ; and so offered the king to
depart without further delay.

The king had from the beginning informed the
chancellor of all that the earl had said to him from
his arrival : and when he had received those letters
from Ruvigny, he sent him to shew them to him ;
and himself came presently whilst the earl was
there, and directed him to prepare the instructions
for him, which the earl likewise desired he might
do. The chancellor very well knew, that his credit
with the king was much lessened, and that of the
lord Arlington much increased, who did not like
that he should meddle in the affairs proper to his
office : besides he had no mind to be intrusted in
the transactions with France, of whose want of faith



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 207

he had too much experience ; which would neither be 1 667.

grateful to the queen mother nor to the earl. And"

therefore he very earnestly besought the king,

" that, it being the lord Arlington's province, all

" those despatches might pass through his hands. "

The king said, " that he knew the lord Arlington

" desired his help, and that he should prepare all

" those despatches," which he required him to do :

and the earl of St. Alban's seemed very much to

desire, " that not only his instructions might be pre-

" pared by him, but that he might always receive

" his majesty's pleasure signified by him, upon any

" material point that should arise ;" which the king

promised him he should do. Upon which the other,

who durst not decline those commands he was so

unwilling to obey, humbly desired his majesty, " that

" the whole matter might be first communicated to

" that committee of the council, with which he con-

" suited his most secret affairs ; and that the earl

" of St. Alban's might be present at the debate ; and

" that whatever he should be appointed to put into

" writing might be perused at that board, and if it

" required his majesty's signature, it should be pre-

" sented to him by the secretary :" all which his

majesty consented to. And all being done accord- He returns

into France

jng to what is mentioned before, the earl departed to negociate

r* TI a peace.

for 1* ranee.

It is very true, there was yet no visible alteration
in the king's confidence towards the chancellor with
reference to his business, in which his majesty had
no reserve, and spent as much time with him, and
vouchsafed as often to go to his house, as he had
ever used to do. But when he offered to speak to
him of other matters, as he could not forbear to do,



208 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. which he thought concerned him more than his most
~ public transactions ; he found his countenance pre-
sently shut, no attention, and no answer, or such a
one as shewed he was not pleased : and he took all
occasions to make others see, that he was advised
only by him in what immediately related to his bu-
siness, and not more in that than by other men.

When the earl came to Paris, he found the French
less upon their guard than he expected: and the
king himself frankly expressed himself " to wish an
" end of this war, and that he might be possessed of
" the king's friendship, which he valued exceeding-
" ly ;" and referred to monsieur Lionne, " who," his
majesty said, " was prepared to speak to him. "
Monsieur de Lionne kept himself within generals,
" of the benefit that England would receive by a
" peace, which made his Christian majesty desire to
" promote it, and never more to depart from his
" friendship. That he was obliged in honour now
" not to quit the Dutch, having entered into a treaty
" with them when he had no imagination that there
" would be a war between them and England ; that
'* he had been often sorry for it, and had given them
" just occasion to complain, that he forbore longer
" than he ought to have done to give them help :
" and therefore he could not now leave them to
" themselves, except they were obstinate, and re-
" fused to make peace upon just conditions ; and
" then he would renounce them. " But when he
found that the earl had no power, and that he talked
of money to be given for the charge of the war, and
expected to have particular overtures to send to the
king ; he brake off the discourse till he could confer
with his master.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 209

Within two or three days monsieur de Lionne vi- 1667
sited the earl, and told him, " that if any thing
'* were to be done towards a peace, there must be
" no time lost : it was yet in the power of the most
" Christian king to bring it to pass upon just and
" honourable terms ; but he knew not how long it
" would continue in his power ; for he confessed
" the Dutch took themselves to be so much behind-
" hand, that they had no mind to peace, believ-
" ing they had now advantage. That it was never
" heard of, that after a war between two nations,
" upon the making peace, either side consented to
" pay the charge of the war : therefore any expecta-
" tion of that, or but mention of it, would shut the
" door against any treaty. " He gave two papers to
him to send to the king, both under his own hand,
which his majesty had the choice of, and which the
Dutch would consent to ; " but if that P should be
" required, the treaty was at an end before it was
" begun, and the sword must determine it. "

One of the papers contained an equivalent, ofovprture

' . . made by

which his majesty might make his choice; whether France;
" all things should continue in the state and posture
" in which they were at present, either side enjoying
" what they had got, and sustaining what they had
" lost, and so all things to remain as they were be-
" fore the war ;" or, " that a true and just computa-
" tion should be made of the losses on both sides,
" and they who were found to have received most
" damage should be repaired at the charge of the
" other. " The other paper was, " that if his ma-
" jesty approved of either of these expedients, he

would] would not i> that] Omitted in MS.

VOL. III. P



210 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. " should himself make choice of the place where
~ " the treaty should l>e, whither all parties should
" send their ambassadors :" but then the French king
desired, " that his majesty would not make choice of
" any place in the king of Spain's dominions ;" and
the Dutch ambassador there had nominated Cologne
or Francfort or Hamburgh. And the earl of St.
Alban's immediately sent away an express with
those two papers to the king, upon receipt whereof
the council were summoned.

There was no hope of money, which some, not
reasonably, had expected should be paid whenever
a peace should be made ; and it had been mentioned
in Holland as a thing they expected should be pro-
pounded, it may be, that it might be propounded and
rejected. Then the despatch of whatsoever should
be agreed concerned the king very much, that the
Dutch might not put to sea, nor discover that the
king had no fleet to set out ; for the spring was not
yet come, though approaching. There appeared little
difficulty in the choice of the equivalent, for the
English had taken much more from the Dutch than
they had taken from England ; and the other com-
putation would be endless, and liable to very difti-
which the cult examinations : so that by an unanimous advice
prove^ the king resolved to choose the first equivalent.
Difficulties But then the place for the treaty was not so easy
tiingthV to be chosen. The most natural had been Brussels,
Antwerp, or some other large city in Flanders,
which were all neutral places, and to which all par-
ties might repair with the same ease and security.
Whereas all the places mentioned in Germany were
at so great a distance, that the summer would be far
entered into, and so, many acts of hostility pass, be-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 211

fore the ambassadors could meet; and the English 1C67.
must pass through the enemy's country thither : ~
therefore there could be no thought of any of those
places. Then the king of France had taken upon him
to exclude Flanders, which he had no power to do,
and it was as desirable to the Dutch as to the king :
and therefore it was thought reasonable, that the
king should insist upon some good town there, of
which there was choice enough ; and if Holland
should approve it, France could not reject it. But
on the other hand it was clearly discerned, that
France would never send ambassadors into a coun-
try which he meant at the same time to invade ;
and that his majesty knew very well to be the in-
tention, and the ground of that king's desiring the
peace, which it was plain enough the Dutch did not
desire, and were only drawn to consent to a treaty
by the positive demand of France, which they durst
not contradict : and therefore it concerned the king
to preserve that good disposition, and that the French
ambassadors might come fully instructed to concur
with the English in what should be just, and pre-
vent any insolent carriage of the Dutch, or the Dane,
who was likewise to have his ambassadors upon the
place.

Upon those reasons the express returned with his
majesty's consent and election of the first equivalent,
and " that as soon as he should know that the Dutch
" had consented to it, his majesty would propose
" some equal place for the treaty. " And as soon as
the express was despatched, his majesty entered
upon the debate of a fit place for the treaty ; and
said, " that he had a proposition then made to him
" by sir William Coventry, that was of such a na-

p 2



1667. ture as much surprised him, as he believed it
" would the lords ; yet he had not thought enough
" to dislike or condemn it :" and so bade the other
to propose it. He, with some short apology which
he did not use to make, said, " that he perceived
" there would be little less difficulty in agreeing
" upon a place for the treaty than upon any doubts
" which might arise in it ; for if the king of France
" was to be gratified in the exclusion of Flanders,
" it would be very inconvenient to oblige the king
" to send into Germany, which by the great delay
" would deprive the king of the greatest benefit he
" expected from the treaty ; the speedy despatch
" whereof would be attended with the greatest con-
" veniences : therefore he had proposed to the king,
" that he would immediately write to the States Ge-
" neral without acquainting France with it, and offer
" to send his ambassadors to treat the peace at the
" Hague, that it might be speedily concluded, which
" would otherwise take up much time in sending for
" any resolution to the States upon what should
" arise. If they consented to it, it would probably
" be attended with success, the general affection of
" the people being well known to desire peace : and
" if they refused it, the world would conclude that
" they would have no peace, when they would not
" treat about it ; and that his majesty would never
" have done them the honour to have sent his am-
" bassadors home to them, if he had intended to
" deny any thing that was reasonable to them. "

It was very new, and thought of by nobody but
the lord Arlington and sir William Coventry % who

i and sir William Coventry] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 213

had communicated it together; and the objection 1667.
of the condescension that it would seem to most"
men, as if the king sent to beg a peace at their own
doors, was obvious to all men : but that would have
been an r objection against admitting it to have been
at Paris. But the States not being s upon any level
that pretended to an equality, the probable conve-
nience or benefit that might attend it was only to
be considered ; and the affection and desire of the
people generally to peace was so notorious, that there .
was reason to believe that they would not be willing
that a treaty begun amongst them should end but
with effect: and therefore it was unanimously agreed,
that the advice should be pursued. But then it was
a new doubt, how the message or overture or letter,
for the form was not yet thought of, should be con-
veyed; for the sending a trumpet or express had
much more of application than the thing itself: and
it was to be wished, that it might be gone out of
the king's hands before the answer could come from
Paris, lest new instance should be made for a parti-
cular place.

It was at last resolved, that the Swedes ambas-
sadors (both France and Holland having accepted
the mediation of that crown) should be consulted
with, to engage their minister at the Hague to de-
liver it l to the States General ; for there was some
apprehension, that if De Wit knew of it, it might
be considered only by that committee which was
deputed for that affair, and never be brought to the
States : and the adjusting all that was commended
to the chancellor, who presently sent for the ambas-

1 an] Not in MS. * it] Omitted in MS.

' being] Omitted in MS.

P 3



ver



214 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. sadors, and found them very ready to perform any
"office which might bring them upon the stage in
the treaty. And upon communication together,
they were willing to send a servant of their own to
the Hague, who should deliver to their ambassador
the king's message to the States General, as an e
feet of their mediation and credit with the king.
And so it was delivered, not in the form of a letter,
but of a message in the third person to the States
General, signed by the king and under the signet ;
and the ambassadors sent a gentleman in post with it.
The Dutch But within two days a new alarm comes from
restore France ; and all that was done proved to be to no
purpose. When they received the king's answer,
^ey cou ld not but acknowledge that it was as fair
as they could expect; and monsieur de Lionne
shewed it as such to the Dutch ambassador, who
finding that he was satisfied with it, and by him,
that the king was so too, fell into much passion, and
declared, " that it was not according to the consent
" he had given to the king and to monsieur de
" Lionne ; and that he must protest against any
" treaty to be entered into upon this declaration. "
He put him then in mind, " that he had informed
" the king, in his presence, that there was an article
" in the late treaty between England and Holland,
" by which they were obliged to deliver up the
" island of Poleroone in the East Indies to the East
" India company of London, which they had for-
" merly consented to with Cromwell, but had nei-
" ther delivered it then nor yet, and were resolved
" rather to continue the war than to part with it ;
" which he had declared, when with reference to all
" other things he consented to the alternative : and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 215

" if the king would not 11 release that article of the 1667.
" former treaty, his masters would not enter upon ~~
" any new. "

Whether this was true or no cannot be known.
But monsieur de Lionne came in great disorder to
the lord of St. Alban's, and told him all that the
ambassador had said, and confessed it " to be very
" true, and that the king remembered it well, and
" promised that article should be released : but that
" he, not clearly understanding the delivery of it to
" be contained in a former treaty, and knowing it
" had" been many years in the possession of the Dutch,
" and that it still remained so, thought it had been
" comprehended in the alternative, and forgat to in-
" sert it in the paper that was sent to the king, for
" which he asked a thousand pardons ; and made it
". his suit to the king that he would yield to it, and
" that a treaty that was so necessary to the good of
"Christendom might not be extinguished upon his
" negligence and want of memory :" which was a
strange excuse for a minister of his known sagacity.

The earl of St. Alban's refused to transmit any
such tergiversation to the king, and said, " he knew
" the king would never consent to it ; and that this
" manner of proceeding, after that his majesty had
" consented to what themselves proposed, would
" shut out all future confidence of their sincerity. "
Monsieur de Lionne was exceedingly troubled and
out of countenance, as a man conscious to himself of
a great oversight, and desired him, " that he would
" meet the Dutch ambassador at his lodging, that
*' they might together endeavour to remove him

11 not] Omitted in MS.
p 4



216 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667.
"from the obstinacy he professed;" which the earl
"was contented to do, and the ambassador, how un-
willingly soever, was prevailed with to meet at the
time appointed : but they were no sooner met, and
monsieur de Lionne entered upon the argument of
Poleroone, but the ambassador fell into a rude pas-
sion, and said, " the war should determine it. " And
when the earl of St. Alban's began to speak of the
unreasonableness of the demand, and entered upon
the foul manner in which they had first taken that
island from the English, who were in possession of
it; 'he told him, " that he had nothing to say to
" him," and used much other language unfit for the
other to hear, and which * he had returned with in-
terest, if monsieur de Lionne had not interposed,
and been very desirous the conference should end,
the ambassador's insolence being not to be endured.
And so they parted, Lionne seeming very much of-
fended ; and he complained to the king, and the earl
gave the account of all to his majesty.

The French king was no less surprised and of-
fended when he heard what message the king had
sent to the States, (which he was advertised of by an
express from Holland,) than De Wit had been at the
delivery of it, who presently knew the drift of it,
and could not forbear to tell the States, " that the
" design was only to stir up the people against the
" magistrates, and indeed to make them the judges
" of the conditions of the peace :" and he knew well
that the people generally were no friends to the East
India company, (where himself had a great stock,
and therefore would never consent that a treaty en-

* which] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 217

tered into should break only upon their interest; 1667.
which likewise was the reason, why they had pro-
vided that that particular should be first Consented
to, before any treaty should be agreed upon. And
hereupon he prevailed upon the States General forth-
with to declare in the negative, " that the treaty
" should not be at the Hague. " But at the same
time, after the naming again of Cologne and Franc-
fort, they added, " that if the king desired to do
" them the honour to appoint it in any place of their
" dominions, which they did not presume to propose,
" they should consent that it might be at Breda, or
" Maastricht," or a place or two that they named :
and this was resolved before the people heard that
the king had named the Hague, and wondered and
murmured at their refusal.

The king of France took it ill, that at a time when
he proceeded with so much openness, and had given
the first rise to a treaty, and opened the door which
the Hollander peevishly shut against it, by his own
offering the alternative, which the king had so far
approved as to make his election ; he should at the
same time, without communicating it to him, send
this overture to the Hague : which troubled him
the more, that it gave him matter of jealousy to
apprehend, that there was some other underhand
treaty that was concealed from him, and contrived
by the baron of I sola, who he knew had been pri-
vately at the Hague, and had conference with De
Wit. And the same imagination did more perplex
the queen mother and the earl of St. Alban's, who
looked upon this as a device to exclude them from
having any share in the peace ; the earl having di-
gested the conclusion in his own breast, that in what



218 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. place soever the treaty should be held, he should
~~ without doubt be intrusted in the managery of it.
However the king could not own his part of the
dislike, since his majesty might without any viola-
tion of friendship make the overture by message to
the Hague, as well as to or by him : therefore he
seemed to take no exception to it, and only sent
the king word, " that he believed the Dutch would
" quickly discern, that this condescension in his ma-
" jesty proceeded from some expectation of a party
" amongst the people to second it ; and therefore he
" was confident they would never consent to treat
" at the Hague. " But he proposed, " as the best
** way for expedition, that it might be at Dover,"
which he advised his majesty not to reject : " for if
" it were once begun there, it might possibly, and
" he would further it all he could, quickly be re-
" moved to Canterbury, and probably might be con-
" eluded in London. "

But before this message arrived, the other new
demand of Poleroone, with monsieur de Lionne's
acknowledgment of the defect of his memory, and
that he ought to have inserted it in the paper that
contained the alternative, with all the excuses he
made for it, was received ; which seemed to put an
The king end to all hopes of peace. The king was highly in-
fended. censed, and look i. 'il upon it as an affront contrived
by both parties to amuse him. Every body con-
cluded, that there could be no safety in depending
upon any thing that could be offered from France,
when they could never be without as reasonable a
pretence as they had at present, to disclaim or avoid
any concession they had made in writing: that
the particular demanded could never be consented



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 219

to by his majesty, without swerving from the com- 1667.
mon rules of justice, and the violation of his own~~
honour : that though it did not immediately con-
cern his majesty in his own interest and the interest
of the crown, which was an argument used in France
for his majesty's not insisting upon it, it was how-
ever an unquestionable and a very considerable in-
terest of his subjects, which he was in justice bound
to maintain, and which in justice he had no power
to release. It was an interest so valuable, that
Cromwell had insisted upon it so resolutely, that
they had consented to it as a principal article of the
peace he made with them ; by which he gained great
reputation with the people. And his majesty had
thought himself so much concerned in honour not to
suffer his subjects to be deprived of that right which
Cromwell had vindicated, (though by his death it
came not to be executed,) that he would never con-
sent to the treaty that had been concluded since his
happy return, until they consented to and renewed
the same article, and promised the redelivery of the
said island to the English by such a day : and their
having broken their faith in not delivering it accord-
ing to the last treaty, and with very offensive cir-
cumstances, his majesty had declared to be a prin-
cipal cause of the war, and made them unquestion-
ably to appear the first aggressor. And in that re-
spect, his honour could not receive a more mortal
wound than in releasing that article, which con-
cerned the estates of other men, and would in the
opinion of the world draw the guilt of the war upon
himself, or, which would be as bad, the reproach of
having purchased a peace upon very dishonourable



220 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. conditions to himself, at the charge and with the

""estates of his subjects.

And n- Upon the whole, the king resolved rather to un-
rontlnue dergo the hazard of the war, upon what disadvan-
kar ' tage soever, than to consent to a proposition so dis-
honourable : and a despatch was presently sent to
the earl of St. Alban's, with a very lively resent-
ment " of the indignity offered to the king in reced-
" ing from what was offered by themselves, and in
" asking what he was resolved never to grant. " And
all were enjoined to review all that had been re-
solved for the war, and to give the utmost advance-
ment to it that was > possible : and without doubt,
if Spain had yet put itself into any posture to defend
itself against the power that was even ready to in-
vade it, and to act any part towards the support of
a common interest, the king would hardly have been
persuaded to hav,e hearkened more to any proposi-
tions from France.
New over. Notwithstanding all this, new overtures and new

tures from . . . ,

France. importunities were sent from France. " It was
" true, that the Dutch had always protested against
" making a peace or consenting to a treaty without
" the release of Poleroone ; which his Christian ma-
" jesty had consented to, and could not recede from
** it without their consent, though the mention of it
" had been unfortunately omitted by monsieur de
" Lionne : but his majesty promised and engaged
" his royal word, that when the treaty should be en-
" tered into, he would use all his credit and author-
44 ity to persuade the States General to recede from

v was] could be



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 221

" their obstinacy, and to make no alteration in the 1GG7.

" last treaty ; but that all things should 7 - remain as

" had been settled by it. And if he could not pre-

" vail with them to satisfy him therein, as he did

" fear that there was upon their particular interest

" some peremptory resolution fixed, from whence

" they would not be removed as to the main ; yet in

" that case he did in no degree despair of obliging

" them to give a considerable sum of money for re-

" compense thereof, which he desired might satisfy

" the king, who would find himself at much ease by

" it. And if the commissioners once met and the

" treaty was begun, it would not be dissolved before

" a peace should be concluded ; and that the French

" ambassadors, as soon as they met, should propose

" a cessation from all acts of hostility, which he

" expected should be as soon yielded to as proposed ;

" and that already they had promised that their

" fleet should remain in their harbours till the mid-

" die of May, before which time the treaty might

" well begin. " And from the present time the

French king promised, " that no hostile act should

" be done by him, and that his own fleet should not

" stir out of their port ; and that his ambassadors

" should in all things behave themselves as his ma-

" jesty could wish, that particular only of Poleroone

" excepted a , in which they should do as he had

" promised. "

The king had by this time had recourse to all
the inventions and devices, which might yet enable
him to set out a fleet that might be able to fight
the enemy ; but in vain. He found all men of the

2 should] to a excepted] Omitted in MS.



222 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. same opinion they had been, that he must be upon
""the defensive in the manner expressed before, and
expect the end of the summer before he could draw
his ships together ; and that there was an universal
impatience for peace : so that when the warmth of
his indignation was a little remitted, he was very
willing to hear any thing that might revive the hope
of a treaty, when this last overture from Paris ar-
rived ; upon which he presently convened the coun-
cil, that he might take a speedy resolution what he
was to do, for he saw many conveniences might be
lost by the not speedily entering upon the treaty, if
it were to be entered upon at all. The protestation
and promise of France to assist in all things, that
particular only excepted, for his majesty's service,
and his promise even in that, made him willing to
believe that they might be real : the hope of recom-
pense for it seemed little inferior to the redelivery
of the island, and was an equal satisfaction to his
majesty's honour. And it seemed the more probable
to be compassed, in that De Wit in his private con-
ference with the baron of Isola, in all his passion, in
which he would not endure the mention of the deli-
very of Poleroone, and said, " that the States would
" perish before they would part with it," concluded,
" that he would not say, that they might not be per-
" suaded to give some recompense for it. "

And many believed that the East India company,
which was only concerned in the interest of it, would
choose rather to receive a good recompense than
the island itself, which was a barren, sandy soil,
which yielded no fruit, but only nutmegs, which was
the sole commodity it bore, and is a commodity of
great value. But when they were bound to give it



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 223

up to Cromwell, there had been immediate order 1667.
sent to cut down all the trees upon the island ; ~~
which order would be now again repeated,: and so
no less than seven years must expire before any fruit
could be expected from thence. And it was so far
from any English factory, and so near to the Dutch,
that they would easily possess themselves of it again
when they had a mind to it. And therefore if the
company might have money, or such a quantity of
nutmegs delivered to them, as might, besides being
enough for the expense of England, bear a part in
the foreign trade, (which had been mentioned by
some merchants of that company,) it might be rea-
sonably preferable to the island.

Whatsoever resolution should in the end be taken,
this expedient of recompense gave a hint to a coun-
sel that had not been yet thought of, which was to
leave the business of Poleroone to the sole managery
of the East India company, who should be advised
to choose some members of their own, who should
go over with the ambassadors, and receive all advice
and assistance from them in the conduct of their
pretences : and they would be the witnesses of what
the king insisted upon on their behalf; and would
likewise judge, if nothing prevented the peace but
that interest, how far it should be insisted on.

The East India company was sent for, and were The East

India com-

told " that the king had hope of a treaty for peace, P an y >n-
" which he presumed would be welcome to them : reiation'to
" he heard that the greatest difficulty and obstruc- 1)ol '' r """-
" tion that was like to arise would be concerning
" their interest in the island of Poleroone, which he
" was resolved never to abandon. But because he
" heard likewise that the Dutch did intend to offer



224 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. " a recompense rather than to restore the place, and
~" " that the recompense might be such as might l>e as
" agreeable to them, (of whicli he would not take
" upon him to judge, but leave it entirely to them-
" selves,) he had given them this timely notice of
" it, that they might bethink themselves what was
" fit for them to do, upon a prospect of all that might
" probably occur ; and that they might make choice
" of such persons amongst themselves, who best un-
" derstood their affairs, to the end that when the
" treaty should be agreed upon and the place ap-
" pointed, and his majesty had resolved what am-
" bassadors he would send, (of all which they should
" have seasonable notice,) those persons elected by
" them as their commissioners might h go over with
" the ambassadors ; that when that point came into
" debate, and the Dutch should call some of their
" East India company to inform them, they likewise
"-might be ready to advertise his ambassadors of
" whatsoever might advance their pretences : and
" if a recompense was to be considered, they might
" enter into that consultation with the other depu-
" ties ; and that they should be sure to receive all
" the advice and assistance from his ambassadors,
" that they could require or stand in need of. " The
company received this information from his majesty
with all demonstration of duty and submission, giv-
ing humble thanks for his majesty's lx)unty and care
of their interest ; and said, " they would not fail to
" make choice of a committee to attend the am-
" bassadors, when they should know it would be
" seasonable. "

The king thought it now time to receive the

b might] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 225

advice of his whole council-board upon this affair, 1667.
which had been hitherto only debated before the Tlie king
committee for foreign affairs: and so they c being ^ ral . t8
assembled, an account was given of all that had council

upon the

passed, with all its circumstances, in France and in overtures
Holland, by the baron of Isola and by the Swedes France \
ambassadors. And his majesty said thereupon, " that
" he had yet taken no resolution, and had been so
" provoked by the miscarriage of France, that he
" would have been glad to have put himself into a
" better posture, and not thought further of a treaty,
" till there should appear a more favourable con-
" juncture : but they now understood as much as he
" did, with reference to the state he was in both at
" home and abroad, and that he was resolved to
" follow their advice. "

All the objections which had been foreseen before, winch ad-
and the considerations thereupon, were renewed and to enter
again debated : and in the end there was a general
concurrence, " that his majesty should embrace the
" opportunity of a treaty ; and if a reasonable peace
" could be obtained, it would be very grateful to
" the whole kingdom, that was weary of the war ;
" and that his majesty should lose no time in re-
" turning such a despatch to Paris, as might bring
" on the treaty. " And some of the lords proceeded
so far as to declare, " that the consideration of
" Poleroone was not of that importance, nor could
" be thought so by the East India company them-
" selves, as that the insisting upon it should deprive
" the kingdom of a peace that was so necessary for
" it. " But the king thought the entering upon that

c they] Nol in MS.
VOL. III. Q



upon the
treaty.



226 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

16G7. argument was not yet seasonable : but he gave order
~~ for the despatch to be prepared for France.

There were two material points not yet deter-
mined, the first of which was fit to l>e inserted into
the present despatch ; which was the nomination of
the place where the treaty should l>e. Some were
of opinion, " that his majesty should lay d hold of
" the overture that had been made from France,
" which was since likewise confirmed by Holland,
" that the treaty should be at Dover :" but they
changed their minds, when they well considered
that the same objections would be naturally made
against Dover on the king's behalf, that had lx? en
made by the Dutch against the Hague; and that
the people there, and less at Canterbury, were not
incapable of any impressions, which the numerous
trains of the French and the Dutch would be ready
to imprint in them. In a word, there was much more
fit to be considered upon that point, than is fit to be
Breda remembered. The conclusion was, " that Breda,
the place of" which had been offered by the Dutch, should be the
" place the king would accept ;" which was added to
the despatch for Paris, and presently sent away.

The other matter undetermined of was the choice
of ambassadors, which had been never entered upon.
The king had spoken with the chancellor, what
persons would be fit to be employed in that nego-
ciation, when the time should be ripe for it ; and
took notice, as he did frequently, of the small choice
he had of men well acquainted with business of that
nature : upon which he had named to the king the
lord Hollis, who had been lately ambassador in

J lay] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 227

France, and was in all respects. equal to any busi-
ness, and Mr. Henry Coventry of his bedchamber, ~~
who had shewed so great abilities in his late nego-
ciation in Sweden. Upon the naming of whom his
majesty said, " they were both very fit, and that he
" would think of no other :" so that when all other i-ord Hoiii*
particulars were adjusted with reference to the Henry co-
treaty, the king, without further consulting it, de- pointed^ie-
clared, " that he intended to send those two his am- ^ tentia -
" bassadors for the treaty," before either of them
knew or thought of the employment. And when
his majesty told them of it, he bade them repair to
the chancellor for their instructions. And this gave
new thoughts of heart to the lord Arlington, who
had designed himself and sir Thomas Clifford, who
was newly made a privy counsellor and controller
of the household upon the death of sir Hugh Pol-
lard, for the performance of that service ; and
thought himself the better qualified for it by his
late alliance in Holland, by his marriage with the
daughter of monsieur Beverwaert, a natural son of
prince Maurice. And this disappointment went
very near him ; though the other had not the least
thought that he had any such thing in his heart, but
advised it purely as they were e the fittest persons
who could be thought of ; and their abilities, which
were well thought of before, were very notorious in
this negociation.

The Swedish ambassadors, who were the only The swe-
mediators, prepared likewise to go to the treaty, ^l^me-'
having agreed with the king, "that if the treaty lliators -
" should not produce a peace," of which they who

e they were] Not in MS.



228 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 667. hoped most were not confident, " that crown would

" immediately declare for the king, and unite itself

" to his interest both against the Dutch and the
" French ;" their army at that time, being held the
best in Europe, under the command of their general
Wrangel, being near the States' dominions. And
for the better confirming them in that disposition,
the chancellor had brought the baron of Isola to a
conference with the Swedes ambassadors, and begun
that treaty between them which was shortly after
finished, and known by the style of the Triple Alli-
ance, that was the first act that detached the Swede
from France : and for the present the king himself
found means to supply the crown of Sweden with
a sum of money for the support of their army.

All things being thus adjusted, and the place of
the treaty being on all hands agreed to be Breda,
and notice being sent from Paris, " that their am-
" bassadors were departed from thence ;" the king
thought himself as much concerned in the expedition
in respect of the cessation, which the French pro-
mised to obtain in the very entrance into the treaty ;
and it was now the month of May. And so his am-
bassadors were despatched, and arrived there before
the middle of that month, with an equipage worthy
their master who sent them.

The death There happened at this time an accident that
of south- made a fatal breach into the chancellor's fortune,
with a gap wide enough to let in all that ruin which
soon after was poured upon him. The earl of
Southampton, the treasurer, with whom he had an
entire fast friendship, and who, when they were to-
gether, had credit enough with the king and at the
board to prevent, at least to defer, any very unrea-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.

sonable resolution, was now ready to expire with 1667.
the stone; a disease that had kept him in great"
pain many months, and for which he had sent
to Paris for a surgeon to be cut, but had deferred
it too long by the physicians not agreeing what
the disease was : so that at last he grew too weak
to apply that remedy. They who had with so
much industry, and as they thought certainty, pre-
vailed with the king at Oxford to have removed
him from that office, had never since intermitted
the pursuing the design, and persuaded his majesty,
" that his service had suffered exceedingly by his
" receding from his purpose ;" and did not think
their triumph notorious enough, if they suffered him
to die in the office : insomuch as when he grew so
weak, that it is true he could not sign any orders
with his hand, which was four or five days before
his death, they had again persuaded the king to
send for the staff. But the chancellor again pre-
vailed with him not to do so ungracious an act to a
servant who had served him and his father so long
and so eminently, to so little purpose as the ravish-
ing an office unseasonably, which must within five
or six days fall into his hands, as it did within less
time, by his death.

He was a person of extraordinary parts, of facui- His cimr

tcr

ties very discerning and a judgment very profound,
great eloquence in his delivery, without the least af-
fectation of words, for he always spake best on the
sudden. In the beginning of the troubles, he was
looked upon amongst those lords who were least in-
clined to the court, and so most acceptable to the
people : he was in truth not obliged by the court,
and thought himself oppressed by it, which his great



30 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 667. spirit could not bear ; and so he had for some years
forbore to be much seen there, which was imputed
to a habit of melancholy, to which he was naturally
inclined, though it appeared more in his counte-
nance than in his conversation, which to those with
whom he was acquainted was very cheerful.

The great friendship that had been between their
fathers made many believe, that there was a confi-
dence between the earl of Essex and him ; which
was true to that degree as could l>e between men of
so different natures and understandings. And when
they came to the parliament in the year 1640, they
appeared both unsatisfied with the prudence and
politics of the court, and were not reserved in declar-
ing it, when the great officers were called in ques-
tion for great transgressions in their several admin-
istrations : but in the prosecution there was great
difference in their passions and their ends. The
earl of Essex was a great lover of justice, and could
not have been tempted to consent to the oppression of
an innocent man : but in the discerning the several
species of guilt, and in the proportioning the degrees
of punishment to the degree of guilt, he had no fa-
culties or measure of judging ; nor was above the
temptation of general prejudice, and it may be of
particular disobligations and resentments, which pro-
ceeded from the weakness of his judgment, not the
malice of his nature. The carl of Southampton was
not only an exact observer of justice, but so clear-
sighted a discerner of all the circumstances which
might disguise it, that no false or fraudulent colour
could impose upon him ; and of so sincere and im-
partial a judgment, that no prejudice to the person
of any man made him less awake to his cause; but



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 231

believed that there is " aliquid et in hostem nefas," 1 667.
and that a very ill man might be very unjustly"
dealt with.

This difference of faculties divided them quickly
in the progress of those businesses, in the beginning
whereof they were both of one mind. They both
thought the crown had committed great excesses in
the exercise of its power, which the one thought
could not be otherwise prevented, than by its f being
deprived of it : the consequence whereof the other
too well understood, and that the absolute taking
away that power that might do hurt, would like-
wise take away some of that which was necessary
for the doing good ; and that a monarch cannot be
deprived of a fundamental right, without such a last-
ing wound to monarchy itself, that they who have
most shelter from it and stand nearest to it, the
nobility, could nots continue long in their native
strength, if the crown received a maim. Which if
the earl of Essex had comprehended, who set as
great a price upon nobility as any man living did,
he could never have been wrought upon to have
contributed to his own undoing ; which the other
knew was unavoidable, if the king were undone.
So they were both satisfied that the earl of Strafford
had countenanced some high proceedings, which
could not be supported by any rules of justice,
though the policy of Ireland, and the constant
course observed in the government of that king-
dom h , might have excused and justified many of
the high proceedings with which he was reproached:

1 its] Not in MS. h that kingdom] Ireland .

; not] Omitted in MS.

Q 4



232 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. and they who had now the advantage-ground, by
"" being thought to be most solicitous for the liljerty of
the subject, and most vigilant that the same out-
rages might not be transplanted out of the other
kingdom into this, looked upon him as having the
strongest influence upon the counsels of England as
well as governor of Ireland. Then he had declared
himself so averse and irreconcileable to the sedition
and rebellion of the Scots, that the whole nation had
contracted so great an animosity against him, that
less than his life could not secure them from the
fears they had conceived of him : and this fury of
theirs met with a full concurrence from those of the
English, who could not compass their own ends
without their help. And this combination too soon
drew the earl of Essex, who had none of their ends,
into their party, to satisfy his pride and his passion,
in removing a man who seemed to have no regard
for him ; for the stories, which were then made of
disobligations from the earl of Stratford towards the
earl of Clanrickard, were without any foundation of
truth.

The earl of Southampton, who had nothing of ob-
ligation, and somewhat of prejudice to some high
acts of power which had been exercised by the earl
of Strafford, was not unwilling that they should be
so far looked into and examined, as might raise
more caution and apprehension in men of great au-
thority of the consequence of such excesses. But
when he discerned irregular ways entered into to pu-
nish those irregularities, and which might 1>e at-
tended witli as ill consequences, and that they in-
tended to compound one great crime out of seve-
ral smaller trespasses, and, to use their own style, to



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 233

complicate a treason out of misdemeanours, and so 1 667.
to take away his life for what he might be fined"
and imprisoned ; he first dissuaded and then ab-
horred that exorbitance, and more abhorred it, when
he found it passionately and maliciously resolved by
a direct combination.

From this time he and the earl of Essex were
perfectly divided and separated, and seldom after-
wards concurred in the same opinion : but as he
worthily and bravely stood in the gap in the defence
of that great man's life, so he did afterwards oppose
all those invasions, which were every day made by
the house of commons upon the rights of the crown,
or the privileges of the peers, which the lords were
willing to sacrifice to the useful humour of the
other. And by this means, whilst most of the king's
servants listed themselves with the conspirators in
promoting all things which were ingrateful to him,
this lord, who had no relation to his service, was
looked upon as a courtier ; and by the strength of
his reason gave such a check to their proceedings,
that he became little less odious to them than the
court itself; and so much the more odious, because
as he was superior to their temptations, so his un-
questionable integrity was out of their reach, and
made him contemn their power as much as their
malice.

He had all the detestation imaginable of the civil
war, and discerned the dismal effects it would pro-
duce, more than most other men, which made him
do all he could to prevent it. But when it could not
be avoided, he made no scruple how to dispose of
himself, but frankly declared for the king, who had
a just sense of the service he had done him, and



CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. made him then both of his privy-council and gentlc-
~ man of his bedchamber, without the least applica-
tion or desire of his, and when most of those who
were under both those relations had chosen, as the
much stronger, the rebels' side: and his receiving
those obligations at that present was known to pro-
ceed more from his duty than his ambition. He had
all the fidelity that God requires, and all the affec-
tion to the person of the king that his duty sug-
gested to him was due, without any reverence for
or compliance with his infirmities or weakness ;
which made him many times uneasy to the king,
especially in all consultations towards peace, in
which he was always desirous that his majety should
yield more than he was inclined to do.

He was in his nature melancholic, and reserved
in his conversation, except towards those with whom
he was very well acquainted; with whom he was
not only cheerful, but upon occasion light and plea-
sant. He was naturally lazy, and indulged over-
much ease to himself: yet as no man had a quicker
apprehension or solider judgment in business of all
kinds, so, when it had a hopeful prospect, no man
could keep his mind longer bent, and take more
pains in it. In the treaty at Uxbridge, which was
a continued fatigue of twenty days, he never slept
four hours in a night, who had never used to allow
himself less than ten, and at the end of the treaty
was much more vigorous than in the beginning;
which made the chancellor to tell the king when
they returned to Oxford, " that if he would have
" the earl of Southampton in good health and good
" humour, he must give him good store of business
" to do. "



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 235

His person was of a small stature ; his courage, as 1 667.
all his other faculties, very great ; having no sign of
fear or sense of danger, when he was in a place
where he ought to be found. When the king had
withdrawn himself from Oxford in order to his
escape to the Scotch army, and Fairfax had brought
his army before the town ; in some debate at the
council-board, there being some mention of prince
Rupert with reference to his dignity in a large de-
gree above all of the nobility, the earl of Southamp-
ton, who never used to speak indecently, used some
expressions, which, being unfaithfully reported to
the prince, his highness interpreted to be disrespect-
ful towards him : whereupon he sent the lord Ge-
rard to expostulate with him. To whom the earl
without any apology related the words he had used ;
which being reported by him again to the prince,
though they were not the same which he had been
informed, yet he was not so well satisfied with
them, but that he sent the same lord to him again,
to tell him, " that his highness expected other sa-
" tisfaction from him, and expected to meet him
" with his sword in his hand, and desired it might
" be as soon as he could, lest it might be pre-
" vented. "

The earl appointed the next morning, at a place
well known ; and being asked " what weapon he
" chose," he said, " that he had no horse fit for such
" a service, nor knew where suddenly to get one ;
" and that he knew himself too weak to close with
" the prince : and therefore he hoped his highness
" would excuse him, if he made choice of such wea-
" pons as he could best use ; and therefore he rc-
" solved to fight on foot with a case of pistols only ;"



236 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. which the prince willingly consented to. And with-

out doubt they had met the next morning, the earl

having chosen sir George Villiers for his second;
but that the lord Gerard's coming to the earl so
often, with whom he had no acquaintance, had been
so much observed, that some of the lords who had
been present at the debate at the board, and heard
some replies which had been made, and thence con-
cluded that ill offices had been done, watched them
both so narrowly, and caused the town -gates to be
shut, that they ' discovered enough, notwithstanding
the denial of both parties, to prevent their meeting ;
and afterwards interposed till a reconciliation was
made : and the prince ever afterwards had a good
respect for the earl.

After the murder of the king, the earl of South-
ampton remained in his own house, without the
least application to those powers which had made
themselves so terrible, and which seemed to resolve
to root out the whole party as well as the royal fa-
mily ; and would not receive a civility from any of
them : and when Cromwell was near his house in
the country, upon the marriage of his son in those
parts, and had a purpose to have made a visit to
him ; upon a private notice thereof, he immediately
removed to another house at a greater distance. He
sent frequently some trusty person to the king with
such presents of money, as he could receive out of
the fortune they had left to him, which was scarce
enough to support him in that retirement : and after
the battle of Worcester, when the rebels had set a
price upon the king's head, and denounced the most

that they] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.

terrible judgment upon any person k , and his pos- 1667.
terity, that should presume to give any shelter or~
assistance to Charles Stuart towards his escape ;
he sent a faithful servant to all those persons, who
in respect of their fidelity and activity were most
like to be trusted upon such an occasion, that they
should advertise the king, " that he would most
" willingly receive him into his house, and provide
" a ship for his escape. " And his majesty received
this advertisement from him the day before he was
ready to embark in a small vessel prepared for him
in Sussex ; which his majesty always remembered
as a worthy testimony of his affection and courage
in so general a consternation. And the earl was
used to say, " that after that miraculous escape, how
" dismal soever the prospect was, he had still a con-
" fidence of his majesty's restoration. "

His own natural disposition inclined to melan-
cholic ; and his retirement from all conversation, in
which he might have given some vent to his own
thoughts, with the discontinuance of all those bodily
exercises and recreations to which he had been ac-
customed, brought many diseases upon him, which
made his life less pleasant to him ; so that from the
time of the king's return, between the gout and the
stone, he underwent great affliction. Yet upon the
happy return of his majesty he seemed to recover
great vigour of mind, and undertook the charge of
high treasurer with much alacrity and industry, as
long as he had any hope to get a revenue settled
proportionable to the expense of the crown, (towards
which his interest and authority and counsel contri-

k any person] whomsoever



238 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1067. buted very much,) or to reduce the expense of the
""court within the limits of the revenue. But when
he discerned that the last did and would still make
the former impossible, (upon which he made as fre-
quent and lively representations as he thought him-
self obliged to do,) and when he saw irregularities
and excesses to abound, and to overflow all the banks
which should restrain them ; he grew more dispirit-
ed, and weary of that province, which exposed him
to the reproaches which others ought to undergo,
and which supplied him not with authority to pre-
vent them. And he had then withdrawn from the
burden, which he infinitely desired to be eased of,
but out of conscience of his duty to the king, who
he knew would suffer in it ; and that the people who
knew his affections very well, and already opened
their mouths wide against the license of the court,
would believe it worse and incurable if he quitted
the station he was in. This, and this only, pre-
vailed with him still to undergo that burden, even
when he knew that they who enjoyed the benefit
of it were as weary that he should be disquieted
with it.

He was a man of great and exemplary virtue and
piety, and very regular in his devotions ; yet was not
generally believed by the bishops to have an affection
keen enough for the government of the church, lie-
cause he was willing and desirous, that somewhat
more might have been done to gratify the presby-
terians than they thought just. But the truth is ; he
had a perfect detestation of all the presbyterian prin-
ciples, nor had ever had any conversation with their
persons, having during all those wicked times strictly
observed the devotions prescril>ed by the church of



EDWARD EAHL OF CLARENDON. 239

England; in the performance whereof he had al- 1GG7.
ways an orthodox chaplain, one of those ] deprived
of their estates by that government, which disposed
of the church as well as of the state. But it is very
true, that upon the observation of the great power
and authority which the presbyterians usurped and
were possessed of, even when Cromwell did all lie
could to divest them of it, and applied all his interest
to oppress or suppress them, insomuch as they did
often give a check to and divert many of his designs;
he did believe that their numbers and their credit
had been much greater than in truth they were ll! .
And then some persons, who had credit with him by
being thought to have an equal aversion /rom them,
persuaded him to believe, that they would be satis-
fied with very easy concessions, w r hich would bring
no prejudice or inconvenience to the church. And
this imagination prevailed with him, and more witli
others who loved them not, to wish that there might
be some indulgence towards them. But that which
had the strongest influence upon him, and which
made him less apprehensive of the venom of any
other sect, was the extreme jealousy he had of the
power and malignity of the Roman catholics ; whose
behaviour from the time of the suppression of the
regal power, and more scandalously at and from the
time of the murder of the king, had very much irre-
conciled him towards them : and he did believe, that
the king and the duke of York had a better opinion
of their fidelity, and less jealousy of their affections,
than they deserved ; and so thought there could not
be too great an union of all other interests to con-

1 one of those] Omitted in MS. m they were] it was



240 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

IG67. trol the exorbitance of that. And upon this argu-
ment. with his private friends, he was more pas-
sionate than in any other.

He had a marvellous zeal and affection for the
royal family ; insomuch as the two sons of the duke
of York falling both into distempers, (of which they
both shortly after died,) very few days l>efore his
death, he was so marvellously affected with it, that
many l>elieved the trouble of it, or a presage what
might befall the kingdom by it, hastened his death
some hours : and in the agony of death, the very
morning he died, he sent to know how they did ;
and seemed to receive some relief, when the mes-
senger returned with the news, that they were both
alive and in some degree mended.

The king The next day after his death, which was about
put tbe the end of May, the king called the chancellor into
his closet ; and, the duke of York being only pre-



" to be treasurer, and therefore resolved, as he had
" long done, to put that office into commission ;''
and then asked, " who should be commissioners :" to
which he answered, " the business would be much
" better done by a single officer, if he could think
" of a fit one ; for commissioners never had, never
" would do, that business well. " The duke of York
said, " that he believed it would be best done by
" commission ; it had been so managed during all
" the ill times," (for from the beginning of the trou-
bles there had been no treasurer :) " and he had ob-
" served, (and the king found the benefit of it,) that
" though sir William Compton was an extraordinary
" person, and better qualified than most men for
" that charge, yet since his decease, that his majesty



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 241

" had put the office of the ordnance under the go- 1 667.
" vernment of commissioners, it was in much better ~
" order, and the king was better served there than
" he had ever been ; and he believed he would be
" so likewise in the office of the treasury, if fit per-
" sons were chosen for it, who might have nothing
" else to do. " And the king seemed to be of the
same mind.

The chancellor replied, " that he was very sorry, The chan-
" that they were both so much delighted with the vLsViiu
" function of commissioners, which were more suit- a * 8inst
" able to the modelling a commonwealth, than for
" the support of monarchy : that during the late
" troubles, whilst the parliament exercised the go-
" vernment, they reduced it as fast as they could to
" the form of a commonwealth ; and then no ques-
" tion the putting the treasury into the hands of
" commissioners was much more suitable to the rest
" of the model, than it could be under a single per-
" son. Besides, having no revenue of their own, but
" being to raise one according to their inventions
" and proportionable to their own occasions, it could
" never be well collected or ordered by old officers,
" who were obliged to forms which would not be
" agreeable to their necessary transactions : so that
" new ministers were to be made for new employ-
" merits, who might be obliged punctually to observe
" their new orders, without any superiority over
" each other, but a joint obedience to the supreme
" authority. But when Cromwell assumed the en-
" tire government into his own hands, he cancelled
" all those republican rules and forms, and appointed
" inferior persons to several functions, and reserved
" the whole disposition to himself, and was his own

VOL. III. R



242 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

Ifi67. " high treasurer: and it was well known that he

~~ " resolved, as soon as he should be able to reduce

" things to the forms he intended, to cancel all those

" commissions, and invest single persons in the go-

" vernment of those provinces. "

He said, " he would not take upon him to say
" any thing of the office of the ordnance, where the
" commissioners were his friends ; only he might
' say, that that kind of administration had not been
" yet long enough known to have a good judgment
" made of it : however, that it was of so different a
" nature from the office of the treasury, that no ob-
" servation of the one could be applied to the other.
" The ordnance was conversant only with smiths
" and carpenters, and other artificers and handi-
" craftsmen, with whom all their transactions were :
" whereas the treasury had much to do with the no-
" bility and chief gentry of the kingdom ; must have
" often recourse to the king himself for his parti-
" cular directions, to the privy-council for their as-
" sistance and advice, to the judges for their reso-
" lutions in matters of difficulty ; and if the ministers
" of it were not of that quality and degree, that
" they might have free recourse to all those, and find
" respect from them, his majesty's service would
" notoriously suffer. And that the white staff itself,
" in the hands of a person esteemed, did more to
" the bringing in several branches of the revenue,
" by the obedience and reverence all officers paid to
" it, than any orders from commissioners could do :
" and that how mean an opinion soever some men
" had of the faculties of the late excellent officer for
(t that administration, his majesty would find by ex-
" perience, that the -vast sums of money, which he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 243

"had borrowed in these late years, had been in
" a great measure procured upon the general confi-
" dence all men had in the honour and justice of
** the treasurer ; and that the credit of commission-
" ers would never be able to supply such necessi-
" ties. "

The king said, " he was not at all of his opinion,
" and doubted not his business would be much bet-
" ter done by commissioners ; and therefore he
" should speak to the nomination of those, since he
" was sure he could propose no single person fit for
" it. " To which the chancellor answered, " that he
" thought it much harder to find a worthy man, who
" would be persuaded to accept it in the disorder in
" which his affairs were, than a man who might be
" very fit for it : and that if that subject who had
" the greatest fortune in England and the most ge-
" neral reputation would receive it, his majesty
" would be no loser in conferring it on such a one ;
" and till such a one might be found, he might put
" it into commission. But," he said, " he perceived
" well, that he would not approve the old course in
" the choice of commissioners ; who had always
" been the keeper of the great seal, and the two se-
" cretaries of state, and two other of the principal
" persons of the council, besides the chancellor of
" the exchequer, who used to be the sole person of
" the quorum. "

Neither n the king nor duke seemed to like any of
those ; and the chancellor plainly discerned from
the beginning that they were resolved upon the
persons, though his opinion was asked : and the

11 Neither] Not in MS.
R 2



244 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1667. king said, "he would choose such persons, whether
" privy counsellors or not, who might have nothing
" else to do, and were rough and ill-natured men,
" not to be moved with civilities or importunities
" in the payment of money ; but would apply it all
" to his present necessities, till some new supplies
*' might be gotten for the payment of those debts,
" which were first necessary to be paid. That he,
" the chancellor, had so much business already upon
" his hands, that he could not attend this other ;
" and the secretaries had enough to do : so he
" would have none of those. " And then he named
sir Thomas Clifford, who was newly of the council
and controller of the house, and sir William Coven-
try ; and said, " he did not think there should IK?
" many :" and the duke then named sir John Dun-
combe, as a man of whom he had heard well, and
every body knew he was intimate with sir William
Coventry. The king said, "he thought they three
" would be enough, and that a greater number
" would but make the despatch of all business the
" more slow. "

The chancellor said, " he doubted those persons
" would not have credit and authority enough to go
" through the necessary affairs of that province ;
" that for his own part, he was not desirous to med-
" die in it ; he had indeed too much business to do :
" that he had no objection P to the three persons
" named, but that he thought them not known and
" esteemed enough for that employment ; and that
" it would be very incongruous to bring sir John
" Buncombe, who was a private country gentleman,

would] Not in MS. P objection] exception



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 245

" and utterly unacquainted with business of that 16*57.

" nature, to sit in equal authority with privy coun-

" sellers, and in affairs which would be often de-

" bated at the council-table, where he could not be

" present. " And he put his majesty in mind% that

" he must put the lord Ashley out of his office of

" chancellor of the exchequer, if he did not make him

" commissioner of the treasury, and of the quorum :"

and concluded, " that if he did not name the

" general, and some other person that might give

" some lustre to the others, the work would not be

" done as it ought to be ; for many persons would

" be sometimes obliged to attend upon the treasury,

" who would not think those gentlemen enough su-

" perior to them, how qualified soever. "

The king said, " he could easily provide against
" the exception to sit John Duncombe, by making
" him a privy counsellor ; and he did not care if he
" added the general to them. " The lord Ashley
gave him some trouble, and he said enough to make
it manifest that he thought him not fit to be amongst
them : yet he knew not how to put him out of his
place ; but gave direction for preparing the commis- commis-
sion for the treasury to the persons named before, the t^asur
and made the lord Ashley only one of the commis- Rppomted<
sioners, and a major part to make a quorum ; which
would quickly bring the government of the whole
business into the hands of those three who were de-
signed for it. And Ashley rather chose to be de-
graded, than to dispute it.

The king expected, that as soon as the ambassa- Negotia-
dors should meet at the Hague, a cessation would B?