No More Learning

made. The chancellor had never seen the proviso
which contained all the novelty, (for all the other
parts of the bill were according to the course,) and
the treasurer had read it only an hour or two lx? -
fore the meeting : the lord Ashley therefore, who
had heard it read in the house of peers, and observed
what that house thought of it, opened the whole
business with the novelty, and the ill consequence
that must inevitably attend it ; all which he enforced
with great clearness and evidence of reason, and
would have enlarged with some sharpness upon the
advisers of it.

But the king himself stopped that by declaring,
" that whatsoever had been done in the whole trans-
" action of it had been with his privity and approba-
" tion, and the whole blame must be laid to his own
" charge u , who it seems was like to suffer most by
" it. " He confessed, " he was so fully convinced in
" his own understanding, that the method proposed
" would prove to his infinite advantage and to the
" benefit of the kingdom, that lie had converted
" many in the house who had disliked it ; and that
** since it came into the house of peers; he had
" spoken with many of the lords, who seemed most
" unsatisfied with it : and he was confident he had

" charge] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 17

" so well informed many of them, that they had 1GG5.
" changed their opinion, and would be no more"
" against that proviso. However, he confessed that
" some remained still obstinate against it, and they
" had given some reasons which he had not thought
" of, and which in truth he could not answer : he
" wished therefore that they would apply themselves
" to the most weighty objections which were in view,
" or which might probably result from thence, and
" think of the best remedies which might be applied
" by alterations and amendments in the house of
" lords, which he doubted not but that the com-
" mons would concur in. "

The first objection was " the novelty, which in objections
" cases of that nature was very dangerous, remem- gainst it
" bering what hath been mentioned before of the th
" beginning of the late rebellion, by putting the
" money to run in another channel than it had used
" to do : and that when once such a clause was ad-
" mitted in one bill, the king would hardly get it
" left out in others of the same kind hereafter ; and
" so his majesty should never be master of his own
" money, nor the ministers of his revenue be able to
" assign monies to defray any casual expenses, of
" what nature soever ; but that upon the matter the
" authority of the treasurer and chancellor of the
" exchequer must be invested in the tellers of the
" exchequer, who were subordinate officers, and qua-
" lifted to do nothing but by the immediate order of
" those their superior officers. And though there
" are four tellers in equal authority, yet sir George
" Downing would in a short time make his office
" the sole receipt, and the rest neither receive nor
" pay but by his favour and consent. "

VOL. III. C



18 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 665. The king had in his nature so little reverence or
""esteem for antiquity, and did in truth so much
contemn old orders, forms, and institutions, that
the objections of novelty rather advanced than ob-
structed any proposition. He was a great lover of
new inventions, and thought them * the effects of
wit and spirit, and fit to control the superstitious
observation of the dictates of our ancestors : so that
objection made little impression. And for the con-
tinuance of the same clause in future bills, he looked
for it as necessary, in order to the establishment of
his bank, which would abundantly recompense for
his loss of power in disposal of his own money.
And though it was made appear, by very solid ar-
guments, that the imagination of a bank was a mere
chimera in itself, and the erecting it in the exche-
quer must suppose that the crown must be always
liable to a vast debt upon interest, which would be
very ill husbandry ; and that there was great hope,
_ that after a happy peace should be concluded, and
care should be taken to bring the expenses into a
narrower compass, the king might in a short time
be out of debt : yet all discourse against a bank was
thought to proceed from pure ignorance. And sir
George was let loose to instruct them how easy it
was to be established, who talked imperiously " of
" the method by which it came to be settled in
" Holland ? by the industry of very few persons,
" when the greatest men despaired of it as imprac-
" ticable ; yet the obstinacy of the other prevailed,
" and it was now become the strength, wealth, and
" security of the state : that the same would be

* them] Omitted in MS. * in Holland] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 19

" brought to pass much more easily here, and would 1665.
" be no sooner done, than England would be the ~~
" seat of all the trade of Christendom. " And then
assuming all he said to be demonstration, he
wrapped himself up, according to his custom, in
a mist of words that nobody could see light in, but
they who by often hearing the same chat thought
they understood it.

The next objection was " against the injustice of
" this clause, and the ill consequence of that injus-
" tice. The necessities of the crown being still
" pressing, and the fleet every day calling for sup-
" ply, money had been borrowed from the bankers
" upon the credit of this bill, as soon as the first
" vote had passed in the house of commons for so
" considerable a supply ; and the treasurer had
" made assignments upon several branches of the
" revenue, which had been preserved and designed
" for the army and the immediate expenses of the
" king's and queen's household, and the like una-
" voidable issues, upon presumption that enough
" would come in from this new act of parliament to
" be replaced to those purposes, before the time
" that would require it should come. But by this
" proviso especial care was taken, that none of the
" money that should be raised should be applied to
" the payment of any debt that was contracted be-
" fore the royal assent was given to the bill : so that
" both the money lent by the bankers upon the pro-
" mise made to them must be unpaid and un-
" secured, and the money that had been supplied
" from other assignations must not be applied to
" the original use ; by which the army and house-

c 2



20 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " hold would be unprovided for, the inconveni-
~~ " ence whereof had no need of an enlargement.

" Besides that the hankers had the king's word,
" and the engagement of the ministers of the revenue,
" that all new bills of supply should still make good
" what former securities were not sufficient to do;
" as by this heavy visitation of the plague, the assig-
" nations which had been made upon the excise and
" chimney- money, and by the decay of trade that
" the war and sickness together had produced, the
" assignations made upon the customs had brought
" in so little money, that the debt to the bankers,
" which, but for those obstructions, might by this
" time have been much abated, remained still very
" little less than it was z near a year before. And
" when it should be known, that this sum of money
** that was to be raised was exempt from the pay-
" ment of any of those and the like debts, it would
" be a great heartbreaking to all those, who had
" not only lent all their own estates, but the whole
M estates of many thousands of other men, to the
** king, and must expect to be called upon by all
" who have trusted them for their money, which,
" by this invention, they have no means to pay :
" and for the future, let the necessities be what
" they will that the crown may be involved in,
" there is no hope of borrowing any money, since it
" is not in the power of the king himself to make
" any assignment upon this new imposition. "

Very much of this had been so absolutely un-
thought of by the king, that he was very much

7 was] was in



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 21

troubled at it; and he had in his own judgment a 1665.
just esteem of the bankers, and looked upon any pre-~~
judice 3 that they should suffer as hurtful to himself,
and a great violation of his honour and justice. But
it was plain enough that the principal design of the
contrivers was to prejudice the bankers, nor did
they care what ruin befell them, and so talked
loosely and bitterly " of their cozening the king, and
" what ill bargains had been made with them ;"
though it was made manifest, that no private gen-
tleman in England did, upon any real or personal
security, borrow money, but considering the brocage
he pays, and b the often renewing his security, it costs
him yearly much more than the king paid to the
bankers.

They slighted what was past as sufficiently pro-
vided for ; and for the future confidently undertook
the king should never more have need of the bank-
ers, " for that this act would be no sooner passed,
" but, upon the credit of it, money would be poured
" into the exchequer faster than it could be told. "
And when they were told, " that expectation would
" deceive them, and that great sums would not
" come in, and small sums would do hurt, because
" they would but stop up the security from giving
" satisfaction to others, because whatever was first
" paid in must be first paid :" all this was answered
confidently, " that vast sums were ready, to their
" knowledge, to be paid in as soon as the bill
" should pass ;" which fell out as was foretold.
For after ten or twenty thousand pounds were deli-



a prejudice] Not in MS. c should pass] Omitted in MS.

b and] Not in MS.

c 3



22 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. vered in by themselves and their friends to save



their credit, there was no more money like to come ;
and that sum did more harm than good, by inter-
rupting the security.

But notwithstanding all their answers, the king
remained unsatisfied in many particulars which he
had not foreseen, and wished " that the matter had
" been better consulted ;" and confessed " that
" Downing had not answered many of the ob-
" jections ;" and wished " that alterations might be
*' prepared to be offered in the house of peers as
" amendments, and transmitted to the commons,
" without casting out the proviso ;" the foundation
and end of which still pleased him, for those rea-
sons which he would not communicate, and for
which only it ought to have been rejected. But as
it had been very easy to have had it quite left out,
which was the only proper remedy ; so the mending
it would leave much argument for debate, and
would spend much time. . And it was to be appre-
hended, that there were so many of the best affected
members of the house of commons gone out of the
town, as having no more to do, that when it should
be sent down thither again, it might be longer de-
layed* 1 there than would be convenient for the pub-
lic ; and so the parliament be kept longer from a
prorogation, than would be grateful to them or
agreeable to the king.

it passed And therefore, upon the whole matter, his ma-
ioni' e jesty chose that no interruption should l>e given to
it in the house of peers, and only such small amend-
ments, which would be as soon consented to in

' delayed] detained



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 23

both houses as read, should be offered, rather than 1665.
run the other hazard of delay : and so accordingly it The lia _
was passed ; and upon the doing thereof, the parlia- ^ nt ' ro '
ment was prorogued to April following.

In this debate, upon the insolent behaviour of The king
Downing in the defence of that which could not "ended
be defended, and it may be out of the extremity ^nclnor
of the pain which at that time he endured in in this

affair.

his bed, the chancellor 6 had given some very sharp
reprehensions to Downing, for his presumption in
undertaking to set such a design on foot that
concerned the whole fabric of the exchequer, (in
which he was an inferior officer,) and such a branch
of the king's revenue, without first communicating
it to his superior officers, and receiving their advice ;
and told him, " that it was impossible for the king
" to be well served, whilst fellows of his condition
" were admitted to speak as much as they had a
" mind to ; and that in the best times such pre-
" sumptions had been punished with imprisonment
" by the lords of the council, without the king's
" taking notice of it :" which, with what sharpness
soever uttered, (in which he naturally exceeded in
such occasions,) in a case of this nature, in which,
with reference to any disrespect towards himself, he
was not concerned, he thought did not exceed the
privilege and dignity of the place he held ; and
for which there were many precedents in the past
times.

At the present there was no notice taken, nor
reply made to what he said. But they who knew
themselves equally guilty, and believed they were

e the chancellor] in MS. the charge

c 4



24 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. reflected upon, found quickly opportunity to incense
"the king, and to persuade him to believe, " that the
" chancellor's l)ehaviour was a greater affront to him
" than to Downing : that a servant should undergo
" such reproaches in the king's own presence, for no
" other reason but having, with all humility, pre-
" sented an information to his majesty, which was
" natural for him to understand in the office in which
" he served him, and afterwards followed and ob-
" served the orders and directions which himself
" had prescribed ; that this must terrify all men
" from giving the king any light in his affairs, that
" he may know nothing of his own nearest concern-
" ments but what his chief ministers thought fit to
" impart to him. " All which, and whatsoever else
was natural to wit sharpened with malice to suggest
upon such an argument, they enforced with warmth,
that they desired might be taken for zeal for his
service f and dignity, which was prostituted by those
presumptions of the chancellor.

And herewith they so inflamed the king, that he
was much offended, and expressed to them such a
dislike that pleased them well, and gave them op-
portunity to add more fuel to the fire ; and told them,
" that the chancellor should find that he was not
" pleased ;" as indeed he did, by a greater reserved-
ness in his countenance than his majesty used to
carry towards him ; the reason whereof his innocence
kept him from comprehending, till in a short time
he vouchsafed plainly to put him in mind of his be-
haviour at that time, and to express a great resent-
ment of it, and urged all those glosses which had

{ service] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 25
been made to him upon it, and " what interpretation 1665.



" all men must make of such an action, and be ter-
" rifled by it from offering any thing, of what im-
" portance soever to his service, if it would offend
" his ministers ;" and all this in a choler very unna-
tural to him, which exceedingly troubled the chan-
cellor, and made him more discern, though he had
evidence enough of it before, that he stood upon very
slippery ground.

He told his majesty, " that since he thought his The chan -

J J cellor satis-

" behaviour to be so bad in that particular, forfies his
" which till then his own conscience or discretion
" had not reproached him, he must and did believe
" he had committed a great fault, for which he did
" humbly ask his pardon ; and promised hereafter
" no more to incur his displeasure for such excesses,
" which he could never have fallen into at that time
" and upon that occasion, but upon the presumption,
" that it had been impossible for his majesty to have
" made that interpretation of it which it seems he
" had done, or that any body could have credit
" enough with him to persuade him to believe, that
" he desired that his majesty should not have a clear
" view, and the most discerning insight, into the
" darkest and most intricate parts of all his affairs,
" which they knew in their consciences to be most
" untrue. And he must with great confidence ap-
" peal to his majesty, who knew how much he had
" desired, and taken some pains, that his majesty
" might never set his hand to any thing, before he
" fully understood it upon such references and re-
" ports, as, according to the nature of the business,
" were * to be for his full information. "

P were] \va. s



26 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. He besought him to remember, " how often he
~ " had told him, that it was most absolutely neces-
" sary that he should make himself entirely master
" of his own business, for that there would be no
" acquiescence in any judgment but his own ; and
" that his majesty knew with what boldness he had
" often lamented to himself, that he would not take
" the pains perfectly to understand all his own af-
" fairs, which exposed his ministers to the censures
" of half-witted men, and was the greatest discou-
" ragement to all who served him honestly : and he
" desired his pardon again for saying that. He
" would h hereafter find that they who had advised
" him in this late transaction, in the handling where-
" of he had taken the liberty that had offended his
" majesty, had but a very dim insight into that bu-
" siness which they took upon themselves to direct. "
But his majesty was not willing to enter again
into that discourse, and concluded with forbidding
him to believe, " that it was or could be in any
" men's power to make him suspect his affection or
" integrity to his service ;" and used many other
very gracious expressions to him, nor ever after
seemed to remember that action to his prejudice.
But within a short time the bishopric of Salisbury
becoming void by the never enough lamented death
of Dr. Earle, his majesty conferred that bishopric
upon Dr. Hyde, the dean of Winchester, upon the
chancellor's recommendation, whose near kinsman
he was. Nor was his credit with the king thought
to be lessened by any body but himself, who knew
more to that purpose than other people could do :

h for saying that. He would] for saying, that he would



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 27

yet he judged more from the credit that he found 1665.
his enemies got every day, than from the king's"
withdrawing his trust and kindness from him ; nor
did the king believe that they had then that design
against him, which shortly after they did not dis-
semble.

The purpose of making the alteration in the go- The king

. P persuaded

vernment ot the treasury was pursued very indus- to desire the
triously. And since that proviso, with all the cir-' wou id -
cumstances thereof, had not produced the effect they Slgn '
proposed, for they had believed that the indignity
of the affront would have wrought so far upon the
great heart of the treasurer, that he would there-
upon have given up his staff; which he was too much
inclined to have done, if he had not been prevailed
with by those who he knew were his friends, not to
gratify those who desired him out of their way, in
doing that which they of all things wished : therefore,
that plot not succeeding, they persuaded the king to
try another expedient. For they all knew, that it
was too envious a thing for his majesty himself to
remove him from his office by any act of his, and
that it would be loudly imputed to them. But if
he could be himself persuaded to quit that which
every body knew he was weary of, it would prevent
all inconveniences : and they had been told that the
chancellor only had dissuaded him from doing it,
which he would not presume to do, if he were clearly
told that the king desired that he should give it up.
Hereupon the king one day called the chancellor
to 'him, and told him, "that he must speak with
" him in a business of great confidence, and which
" required great secrecy ;" and then enlarged in a
great commendation of the treasurer, (whom in truth



28 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. he did very much esteem,) " of his great parts of
~ " judgment, of his unquestionable integrity, and of
his general interest and reputation throughout
" the kingdom. But with all this," he said, " he
" was not fit for the office he held : that he did not
" understand the mystery of that place, nor could
" in his nature go through ' with the necessary
** obligations of it. That his bodily infirmities were
" such, that many times he could not be spoken
" with for two or three days, so that there could ! >e
" np despatch ; of which every body complained, and
*' by which his business suffered very much. That
" all men knew that all the business was done by
" sir Philip Warwick, whom, though he was a very
" honest man, he did not think fit to be treasurer ;
" which he was to all effects, the treasurer himself
** doing nothing but signing the papers which the
" other prepared for him, which was neither for the
" king's honour nor his. " The truth was, that his
understanding was too fine for such gross matters as
that office must be conversant about, and that if his
want of health did not hinder him, his genius did
not carry him that way ; nor would the laziness of
his nature permit him to take that pains, that was
absolutely necessary for the well discharging that
great office.

His majesty concluded, " that he loved him too
" well to disoblige him, and would never do any
" thing that would not be grateful to him : but he
" had some reason, even from what he had some-
" times said to him, to think that he was weary of
" it, and might be easily persuaded to deliver up his

' go through] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 29

" staff, which his majesty would be very glad of; 1665.
" and therefore he wished that he, the chancellor, The king
"who was known to have most interest in him, w . j 8he8 * he

chancellor

" would persuade him to it, in which he would do to a(lvise

him to it.

" his majesty a singular service. "

The chancellor presently asked him, " if he were
" so unfit, whom he would make treasurer in his
" room. " The king as presently answered, " that
" he would never make another treasurer, which
" was an office of great charge, and would be much
" more effectually executed by commissioners ; which
" had been done in Cromwell's time, as many offices
" had been : and that his majesty found by expe-
" rience, that in offices of that kind commissioners
" were better than single officers ; for though sir
" William Compton was a very extraordinary man,
" of great industry and fidelity, yet that the office
" of the ordnance was neither in so good order nor
" so thriftily managed whilst he was master of it,
" as it hath been since his death, since when it hath
" been governed by commissioners ; and so he was
" well assured his treasury would be. "

The chancellor replied, " that he was very sorry
" to find his majesty so much inclined to commis-
" sioners, who were indeed fittest to execute all
*' offices according to the model of a commonwealth,
" but not at all agreeable to monarchy : that if he
" thought the precedent of Cromwell's time fit to be
" followed, he should be in the posture that Crom-
" well was, with an army of one hundred thousand
" men, which made him have no need of the au-
" thority and reputation of a treasurer, either to
" settle his revenue or to direct the levying it ; he
" could do both best himself. " But he very pas-



30 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. sionately besought his majesty to believe, " that
~" they who advised him to this method of govern-
" ment, though they might have good affection to
" his person and his service, were very unskilful in
the constitution of this kingdom and in the nature
'* of the people. That the office of treasurer had
" sometimes, upon the death of a present officer,
" been executed by commissioners, but very seldom
" for any time, or longer than whilst the king could
" deliberately make choice of a fit minister. That
" himself had been twice a commissioner for the
" treasury, once in the time of his father, and again
" upon his majesty's return : and therefore that he
" could upon experience assure him, that commis-
" sioners, in so active a time as this, could never
" discharge the duty of that office ; and that the
" dignity of the person of the treasurer was most
" necessary for his service, both towards the pro-
" curing the raising of money in parliament, and
" the improving his revenue by the grant of addi-
" tions there, as likewise for the collecting and con-
" ducting it afterwards. For the present treasurer,"
he said, " there was no question, but if he knew that
" his majesty was weary of his service, and wished
" to have the staff out of his hand, he would most
" readily deliver it : but that they who gave the
" counsel, and thought it fit for his majesty's service,
" were much fitter to give him that advertisement,
" than he who in his conscience did believe, that
" the following it would be of the most pernicious
" consequence to his service of any thing that could
" be done. "

he chan- He most humbly and with much earnestness be-
tiy f pe"- n sought his majesty " seriously to reflect, what an ill



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 31

" savour it would have over the whole kingdom, at 1665.
" this time of a war with at least two powerful ene- tions him
" mies abroad together, of so great discontent and*
" jealousy at home, and when the court was in no
" great reputation with the people, to remove a per-
" son the most loved and reverenced by the people
" for his most exemplary k fidelity and wisdom, who
" had deserved as much from his blessed father and
" himself as a subject can do from l his prince, a
" nobleman of the best quality, the best allied and
" the best beloved ; to remove at such a time such
" a person, and with such circumstances, from his
" councils and his trust : for nobody could imagine,
" that, after such a manifestation of his majesty's
" displeasure, he would be again conversant in the
" court or in the council, both which would be much
" less esteemed upon such an action. That many
" with the same diseases and infirmities had long
" executed that office, which required more the
" strength of the mind than of the body : all were
" obliged to attend him, and he only to wait upon
" his majesty.

" That it was impossible for any man to discharge
" that office without a secretary : and if the whole
" kingdom had been to have preferred a secretary
" to him, they would have commended this gentle-
" man to him whom he trusted, who had for many
" years served a former treasurer in the same trust,
" in the most malignant, captious, and calumniating
" time that hath been known, and yet without the
" least blemish or imputation ; and who, ever since
" that time, had served his father in and to the end

k exemplary] exemplar ' from] for



32 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I6f>5. " of the war, and himself since in the most secret
~" and dangerous affairs," (for he had been trusted
by the persons of the greatest quality to hold intel-
ligence with his majesty to the time of his return ;)
" so that all men rather m expected to have found
" him preferred to some good place, than in the
" same post he had been in twenty years l^efore ;
" which he would never have undertaken under any
" other officer than one with whom he had much
" confidence, and who he knew would serve his ma-
" jesty so well. Yet," he said, " that whoever knew
" them could never n believe that sir Philip War-
" wick could govern the lord treasurer. "

The king said, " he had a very good opinion of sir
" Philip Warwick, and had never heard any thing to
" his prejudice. " But upon the main point of the
debate he seemed rather moved and troubled than
convinced, when by good fortune the duke of York
came into the room, who had been well prepared to
like the king's purpose, and to believe it necessary ;
and therefore his majesty was glad of his presence,
and called him to him, and told him what he had
been speaking of; and the chancellor informed him
of all that had passed between the king and him,
and told him, " that he could never do a better ser-
" vice to the king his brother, than by using his cre-
" dit with him to restrain him from prosecuting a
" purpose that would prove so mischievous to him. "
And at And so the discourse was renewed : and in the end
*M*. the duke was so entirely converted, that he pre-
vailed with his majesty to lay aside the thought of
it ; which so broke all the measures the other con-

m rather] Oniittitl in MS. " never] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 33

trivers had formed their counsels by, that they were 1665.
much out of countenance. But finding that they"
could not work upon the duke to change his mind,
and to return to the former resolution, they thought
not fit to press the king further for the present ;
and only made so much use of their want of success,
by presenting to his majesty his irresoluteness, which
made the chancellor still impose upon him, that the
king did not think the better of the chancellor or
the treasurer, for his receding at that time from
prosecuting what he had so positively resolved to
have done, and promised them " to be firmer to his
" next determination. "

After Christmas the rage and fury of the pesti- ] 666.
lence began in some degree to be mitigated, but so
little, that nobody who had left the town had yet
the courage to return thither : nor had they reason ;
for though it was a considerable abatement from the
height it had been at, yet there died still between
three and four thousand in the week, and of those,
some men of better condition than had fallen before.
The general writ from thence, " that there still
" arose new difficulties in providing for the setting
" out the fleet, and some of such a nature, that he
" could not easily remove them without communi-
" cation with his majesty, and receiving his more
" positive directions ; and how to bring that to pass
" he knew not, for as he could by no means advise
" his majesty to leave Oxford, so he found many ob-
" jections against his own being absent from Lon-
" don. " Windsor was thought upon as a place
where the king might safely reside, there being then
no infection there : but the king had adjourned the
term thither, which had possessed the whole town ;

VOL. III. D



34 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. and he was not without some apprehension, that the

""plague had got into one house.

The king In the end, towards the end of February, the
from Ox- king resolved that the queen and duchess and all
Hampton- their families should remain in Oxford ; and that
his majesty and his brother, with prince Rupert,
and such of his council and other servants as were
thought necessary or fit, would make a quick jour-
ney to Hampton-Court, where the general might be
every day, and return again to London at night, and
his majesty give such orders as were requisite for
the carrying on his service, and so after two or three
days' stay there return again to Oxford ; for no
man did believe it counsellable, that his majesty
should reside longer there, than the despatch of the
most important business required : and with this re-
solution his majesty made his journey to Hampton-
Court.

The plague It pleased God, that the next week after his ma-
jesty came thither, the number of those who died of
the plague in the city decreased one thousand ; and
there was a strange universal joy there for the king's
being so near. The weather was as it could be
wished, deep snow and terrible frost, which very
probably stopped the spreading of the infection,
though it might put an end to those who were al-
ready infected, as it did, for in a week or two the
number of the dead was very little diminished. The
general came and went as was intended : but the
business every day increased ; and his majesty's re-
move to a further distance was thought inconve-
nierit, since there appeared no danger in remaining
where he was.

And after a fortnight's or three weeks' stay, he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 35

resolved, for the quicker despatch of all that was to

be done, to go to Whitehall, when there died above ,7TT

1 lie king-
fifteen hundred in the week, and when there was retnrns to

. Whitehall.

not in a day seen a coach in the streets, but those
which came in his majesty's train ; so much all men
were terrified from returning to a place of so much
mortality. Yet it can hardly be imagined what
numbers flocked thither from all parts upon the
fame of the king's being at Whitehall, all men being
ashamed of their fears for their own safety, when
the king ventured his person. The judges at Wind-
sor adjourned the last return of the term to West-
minster-hall, and the town every day filled marvel-
lously ; and which was more wonderful, the plague
every day decreased. Upon which the king changed
his purpose, and, instead of returning to Oxford,
sent for the queen and all the family to come to
Whitehall : so that before the end of March the
streets were as full, the exchange as much crowded,
and the people in all places as numerous, as they
had ever been seen, few persons missing any of their
acquaintance, though by the weekly bills there ap-
peared to have died above one hundred and three- The nnm-
score thousand persons : and many, who could com- p ol e dTo
pute very well, concluded that there were in truth have died of
double that number who died ; and that in one
week, when the bill mentioned only six thousand,
there had in truth fourteen thousand died. The
frequent deaths of the clerks and sextons of parishes
hindered the exact account of every week ; but that
which left it without any certainty was the vast
number that was buried in the fields, of which no
account was kept. Then of the anabaptists and
other sectaries, who abounded in the city, very few

D 2



36 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

l G66. left their habitations ; and multitudes of them died,
~~ whereof no churchwarden or other officer had notice ;
but they found burials, according to their own fan-
cies, in small gardens or the next fields. The great-
est number of those who died consisted of women
and children, and the lowest and poorest sort of the
people : so that, as I said before, few men missed
any of their acquaintance when they returned, not
many of wealth or quab'ty or of much conversation
bring dead ; yet some of either sort there were.

The business of the king and of all about him
was t h at t he fl eet m ight; b e ready and at sea with

*



setting out

the fleet a ll the possible expedition : and in or towards this

ag&in.

there was less disturbance and interruption than
could reasonably have been expected, an universal
cheerfulness appearing in all who could obstruct or
contribute towards it, the people generally being
abundantly satisfied in the king's choice of the com-
manders. Prince Rupert was very much beloved,
for his confessed courage, by the seamen ; and the
people believed that they could not but have the
victory where the general commanded, who only
underwent unquietness and vexation from the tem-
pestuous humour of his wife. She, from his return
from Oxford, and from the time that she had the
first intimation that the king had designed her hus-
band for the command of the fleet, was all storm
and fury ; and, according to the wisdom and mo-
desty of her nature, poured out a thousand full-
mouthed curses against all those who had contri-
buted to that counsel : but the malice of all that
tempest fell upon the chancellor. She declared,
" that this was a plot of his to remove her husband
" from the king, that~he might do what he had a



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 37

" mind to ;" and threw all the ill words at him 166G.
which she had been accustomed to hear, accom-~
panied with her good wishes of what she would
have befall him. But the company she kept, and
the conversation she was accustomed to, could not
propagate the reproaches far ; and the poor gene-
ral himself felt them most, who knew the chancellor
to be his very fast and faithful friend, and that he
would not be less so because his wife was no wiser
than she was born to be. He was indefatigable in
taking pains night and day, that the fleet might be
at sea.

The duke of Beaufort, admiral of France, was al-
ready gone to Brest, and had taken leave of the
king at Paris, whither he was not to return till after
the summer's service at sea, and had appointed a
rendezvous of all the ships to be at Brest by the The French
middle of March, which they reported should con- pared!
sist of fifty ships of war.

The rupture was declared on both sides with Denmark
Denmark. That king had appeared much troubled Dutch. *"
at the ill accident at Bergen, which had fallen out
merely by the accidents of weather, which had hin-
dered the positive orders from arriving in the pre-
cise time : and he seemed still resolved to detain
the Dutch ships there, and only to fear the conjunc-
tion of the Swede with the Hollander, which the
king's agent, sir Gilbert Talbot, assured him he
need not to fear. Which the better to confirm,
Mr. Clifford, who had been present at Bergen, and
is before mentioned to be sent after that by the
king to Denmark, went from thence into Sweden
(where Mr. Coventry yet remained) with a project
of such a treaty as would have been with little al-

D 3



38 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. terations consented to in Sweden, who had good in-
""clinations to the king, and resolved to join with the
bishop of Munster, when he should advance, accord-
ing to his engagement. But the Danish resident in
Sweden delayed to conclude, and pretended to have
received less positive orders than the nature of the
affair required, and that he expected fuller : and so
all matters were deferred, till ambassadors came
from Holland with no expostulations, and a desire
to renew their alliance, and release some engage-
ments they had upon the Sound, which had been
very grievous to the Dane ; and many other condi-
tions were granted which were very convenient to
them. An ambassador likewise arrived in the nick
of time from France, to dispose them to a conjunc-
tion with Holland, and to warrant the performance
of whatsoever the Hollander should promise, and
likewise to undertake that France would protect
them against England, and therefore that they
should not apprehend any danger from a war from
thence ; and De Ruyter was now gone with the
fleet for Bergen.

Upon all these motives concurring in the same
conjuncture, the poor king embraced that party ;
and then declared and complained, " that the English
" had broken the law of nations in violating the
" peace of his ports, and endeavouring to fire his
" town, when they were hospitably received and
" treated there under the protection of his castle. "
He denied that he had ever made such an offer or
promise as sir Gilbert Talbot still charged him with,
and which he had not denied to Mr. Clifford when
he came first thither. But now he reproached sir
Gilbert Talbot " for falsifying his words, at least for



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 39

" mistaking them, and sending that to the king his 1666.
" master which he gave him no liberty to do. ""
And now sir Gilbert found his error in not having
drawn from him or his servant Gabell, in writing,
some evidence of the engagement : but after many
indignities he left the court and returned to Eng-
land. All English ships in Denmark or Norway
were seized upon ; and the persons of all merchants
and others who were his majesty's subjects, and to
some of whom the king of Denmark owed great
sums of money, which they had lent to him, were
imprisoned, and their goods seized and confiscated.

All which proceedings provoked the king to give
the like orders, and to look upon them as enemies,
and to emit a declaration of the motive he had to
send his fleet to Bergen, " which he could never
" have done but upon the invitation and promise of
" that king ; which was evident enough by the re-
" ception his ships had there, and expectation the
" governor had of their arrival, and his allegation,
" that he expected that very night fuller orders
" than he had yet received ; and lastly, his suffering
" them to depart securely, after all the acts of hos-
" tility had passed in the port. " Much of this
was denied with many indecent expressions, and
such evasions as made all that was said believed
by equal considerers : and so the war was de-
clared.

And then in the beginning of the year 1666, a
year long destined by all astrologers for the produc-
tion of dismal changes and alterations throughout
the world, and by some for the. end of it, the king
found his condition so much worse than it had been
the last year, as the addition of France and Den-

D 4



40 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 666. mark could make it ; against all which, and the
"prodigies which the year was to produce, (and it
did truly produce many,) the king prepared with
his accustomed vigour and resolution, though the
predictions had a strange operation upon vulgar
minds.

Ne K ocin- The proclamation of the war in France, and the
Frelld/at' 6 se i z " r e upon the estates of the English, with some
th. time, circumstances in the point of time, and other ac-
tions very unjust and unusual, the great maritime
preparations there, and the visible assistance of force
that was sent thence to the Dutch, did not trouble
nor hurt the king so much as the secret and in-
visible negociations of that crown. From the first
declaration of 4;he bishop of Munster of his resolu-
tion to make a war upon Holland, (with which he
acquainted the king of France before he declared"
it, and received such an answer that made him very
confident (as hath been remembered before upon his
first address to the king of Great Britain) that he
should meet with no obstruction from thence ; and
upon that confidence the treaty was concluded with
the king, and great sum^ of money paid to the bi-
shop upon his promise and engagement, " that he
" would fix himself with his army within the terri-
" tories of the States General before the winter was
" ended ; and that against the spring, when the
" king's fleet should be ready for the sea, he would
" at the same time march with an army of twenty
" thousand foot and five thousand horse into the
" heart of their country ;" and what the effect of
that would have been in that conjuncture may be

n declared] resolved and] Not in A/*'.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 41

in some degree guessed at by what hath since fallen 1666.
out:) I say P, France, from the first knowledge they"
had of his purpose, and before they declared on the
behalf of the Dutch, secretly sent to the neighbour
princes " not to join with the bishop, and to do all They deter

the neigh-

" that was in their power to hinder his levies ; bourin-
and prevailed with the elector of Brandenburgh, a J is e t j n m
who had given hopes to the bishop of a powerful ^[^P
assistance upon the expectation of the restoration of ster ;
Wesel, and other towns then possessed by Holland,
totally to decline any conjunction with him, upon
promise " that he should find his own account bet-
" ter from the friendship of France," The dukes of
Lunenburg, who had made the bishop believe that
they would join with him, and had made levies of
soldiers to that purpose, having abundant argument
of quarrel with Holland, were now persuaded by the
same way not only to desist from helping, but to
declare themselves enemies to the bishop, if he would
not desist, and " that they would serve the Dutch
" with their forces. "

When all this could not discourage the bishop
from prosecuting his intention, but that he still ga-
thered troops, and gave new commissions to officers
who had prepared for their levies further in Ger-
many ; the king of France sent an envoy expressly
to the bishop himself, and offered his mediation and
interposition with the Dutch, " that they should do
" him all the right that in justice he could demand
" from them % and if this r were not accepted by
" him, that he must 3 expect what prejudice the
" arms of France could bring upon him ;" and then

i' I say] But r this] Omitted in MS.

'i them] him 5 must] Omitted in MS.



42 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 t>66. sent to all those princes who had permitted levies to
~be made in their countries, " that they should not
" suffer those troops to march out of their country,"
but offered '* to receive and entertain them in his
" own army. " With this he sent to the other princes
of Germany and to the emperor himself, " that if
" they did not prevent this incursion of the bishop of
" Munster," (to which they all wished well,) " they
" would involve the empire in a war. "

When all this could not terrify the bishop, who
defended himself by his engagement to the king of
Great Britain, " that he would ' not enter into treaty
" nor give over his enterprise without his consent,"
and drew his forces together to a rendezvous, and
had got permission from the marquis of Castelle
Roderigo, then governor of Flanders, to make levies
in those provinces without noise or avowing it, and
marched with his army into the States' dominions,
and took a place or two even in the sight of prince
Maurice, (who drew as many of the States' troops
together as could be spared out of their garrisons,
but thought not fit to engage with them, after he
had found in some light skirmishes that they were
not firm ;) so that the bishop, by the advantage of
the situation of which he was possessed, began to
fasten himself in full assurance of increasing his
army, in spite of all discouragements, before the
spring, (and he had already received some troops out
of Flanders, and advertisement from other of his of-
ficers, that they were well advanced in their levies :)
the king of France in this conjuncture, in the im-
perious style he customarily used in those cases, sent

1 would] could



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 43

to the governor of Flanders for a license for such 1666.
troops, as he had occasion to send into Germany, to "
pass through such a part of his government ; which
as he had no mind to grant, so he durst not deny,
having orders from Spain to be very careful, that
no disgusts might be given to France which might
give any occasion, or pretence, or opportunity for a
breach, which they well knew was desired and
longed for.

Upon this permission the French troops marched
into Flanders : and in the first place, whether in
their way or out of their way, they fell upon the
levies which were made for the bishop, and routed
and dispersed them, or took them prisoners. In one
place, by the strength of their quarter and a neigh-
bour church, they defended themselves, imagining
the country would relieve them, without suspecting
that they had license and permission to march
through : but they were so much inferior in number
or strength, that after some of them were killed, the
rest were glad to throw down their arms and be-
come prisoners at mercy, the officers not compre-
hending what declared enemy could fall upon them
in those quarters. With this triumph they marched,
and joined with prince Maurice by the time the
bishop had notice of the disaster, and speedily ad-
vanced upon his quarters,, and beat some of his
troops.

L T pon which the poor bishop (who instead of the
supplies and commissions and other countenance
that he had reason to expect from those princes,
who had been privy and with great promises encou-
raged his enterprise, received every day arguments
from them against his proceeding further, with many



44 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. conjurations, that he would entirely submit to the
"king of France's determination) found himself ne-
cessitated to comply, and even heart-broken signed
Ami at a treaty with the French, who then were careful
f*r him enough both of his honour and interest in the con-
with ditions with the Dutch, as for an ally of whom they
the Dutch. mean t t make more use in another conjuncture.
Upon all which the bishop had been much more ex-
cusable, if he had not received some of the king's
money, even after he saw that he should be obliged
to sign the treaty ; which he ought not to have done,
though it had been due, and it may be expended,
before he had any such intention, and to which, it
cannot be denied, he had most forcible compulsions.
This was the most sensible blow, but the plague,
that the king had felt from the beginning of the
war, and was instance enough how terrible the
king of France was to all the neighbour kings and
princes, who had so suddenly departed from their
own inclinations and resolutions, and from their
own interest, only upon his insinuations, which be-
came orders to them. And Spain, if they knew that
which all the world besides discerned, could not but
believe that France would break all treaties as soon
as the other king should die, the news of which
was expected and provided for every week. But
the drowsy temper of that monarch, who had been
so much disquieted throughout his whole reign, ex-
tended so far only as to prepare a stock of peace
that would last during his own time, that he saw
would be very short, and to leave his dominions and
Iris infant son to shift for themselves when he was
dead : and it was an unhappy maxim of that state,
that it was the best husbandry to purchase present



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 45

peace and present money at how dear interest soever i6G6.
for the future, which would be assisted with some"
new expedients, as Spain had always been.

All these disadvantages made the king the more The king
solicitous to have but one enemy to struggle with, uniting
though it were France : and therefore he was very so- J! lJ^2nt
licitous, by all ways he could devise, to make a peace France -
with Holland, and to leave Denmark to their own
inventions ; and he had some encouragement to be-
lieve, that it was not impossible to separate Holland
from France. They were sensible enough, that they
had been upon the matter betrayed into the war, by
the positive promise of assistance, and a firm con-
junction from France in the instant that the war
should be entered upon, without any mention of
mediation or interposition for peace, which was
against their desire ; and that they had looked on
very unconcernedly, or rather well pleased to see
them beaten, and their own people ready to rise
against the government.
Then they knew that The Dutch
France did already provide for an expedition against p^nce. f
Flanders, which could not long defend itself with
its own forces; and that they depended upon this
war between England and the Dutch, as what must
hinder both those nations from giving it assistance :
and they as well knew what their own portion must
be, when that screen was removed, that was their
best security against so mighty a neighbour. And
this De Wit himself, who was the chief supporter of
the war, frequently observed and confessed to those
with whom he had most conversation, and in whom
he was believed to have most trust : and all those
advertisements were transmitted to the king by
those whose integrity could not be suspected, and



46 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. who did not dissemble, being of the States them-
~~ selves, to be very desirous of peace and very jealous

of France.

character There was a gentleman, one monsieur Bewett, of
eu* gT- a gd family in France and born there, but long



bred m Holland whilst the wars were there, and

of great

weight in who had been captain in the last prince of Orange's

Holland. , . . . . _ . .

horse-guards, and in very particular favour with
him, by which he was married to a woman of Hol-
land very rich, and very nearly allied to many of
those who had the greatest influence upon the go-
vernment; and who" was now looked upon rather
as a Dutchman than a Frenchman, and conversed
most familiarly amongst the burgomasters, and
other principal persons of the States. And by this
interest, after the death of the prince of Orange,
that troop was still preserved for a guard to the
States, and was the only horse-troop that remained
constantly in the Hague. And for the better pleas-
ing the people, it was still called the Prince of
Orange's Guard, and continued to wear the same li-
very it had always done : and the young prince
took much delight to see them, and to hear himself
called by them their captain ; and the commander
thereof, Bewett, professed and paid the same devo-
tion to him that he had done to his father.

This gentleman was generally beloved, and held
a man of great sincerity, brave in point of courage,
and of good parts of wit and judgment, save that he
was immoderately given to wine and to the excess
of it, which, being the disease or rather the health of
the country, made him not the worse thought of or

u who] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 47

less fit for business. He was well known to the
king, and well thought of by him, and had great fa- "
miliarity with some of the bedchamber, and others
near the king and trusted by him. He had made a
journey once, since the king's return into England,
only to kiss his hand, and profess the same affection
and duty he had often done when his majesty was
abroad, which had always made him acceptable to
him.

He was a bold speaker, and from the time that
the war was begun against England much inveigh-
ed against the counsel that persuaded it, as very
pernicious to the affairs of that country ; and in
this argument used not more freedom with any than
with De Wit himself, who loved his person and his
spirit, and conversed very freely with him, though
he knew his friendships were chiefly with the de-
pendents upon the house of Orange, and with others
of the States who were of his own opinion with re-
ference to the war : and the publishing his opinion
drew many of the greatest interest amongst the bur-
gomasters to delight in his conversation, and to
trust him much. With those he consulted freely
what means should be used to procure a peace, and
prevent x the mischief that must attend the continu-
ance of the wary, with good sense and judgment :
but those consultations were always in the exercise
of drinking, which never ended without the utmost
excess, though without noise or disquiet or unkind-
ness, which are never the effects of those excesses
amongst that people.

After the first battle, when the Dutch were so

x prevent] Omitted in MS. y of the war] Omitted in MS.



48 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

much beaten, and the people in that consternation
that they called aloud for peace, and reviled all those
who were thought to be against it, and amongst
those De Wit principally, who had the more ene-
mies, and peace the more friends, for the differences
which had arisen amongst the officers of the fleet
upon the death of Opdam, and upon the disgrace
which Trump had undergone by the power and in-
justice, as they said, of De Wit upon personal dis-
likes, and because he was known to have great affec-
tion for the prince of Orange, (and Van Trump
himself, as hath been said, was not only of much in-
terest amongst the seamen, but very popular in the"
government, and had his sisters married to burgo-
masters in some of the greatest towns ; so that the
disgrace of him increased the number of De Wit's
enemies :) in this conjuncture Bewett cultivated the
about best he could all those ill humours, how mutinous



a pace. soever> w hich grew most importunate for peace ; yet
without any reflection upon the person of De Wit,
with whom he was known by the company he
most kept to have much familiarity, and whom he
did at that time really believe to be inclined to peace,
and declared he did think so to. those who knew the
contrary, yet did not think the worse of him for
being deceived, being assured he would never de-
ceive them for want of integrity.

But he took advantage of this general distemper
and of the prejudice the people had against him, to
talk very frankly to De Wit of both ; and admired,
" since he did, as he professed, desire peace, that he
" would not find some way to undeceive the people,
" which was necessary for his own security ; and it
" might easily be effected, by giving a beginning to



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 49

" such a consultation as might look towards an ac- 1666.
" commodation. " De Wit had his spies in all places, ~~
and knew well what company Bewett most delight-
ed in, though his acquaintance was universal and
agreeable to all men : and he was informed too of
his particular behaviour with reference to him,
and that he did constantly and confidently vindicate
him from many imputations, in the presence of
those who were not pleased with his contradictions ;
so that he looked upon him as his friend, and one
that might by his interest and credit divert some of
that popular envy and malice, of which he had no
contempt, but much apprehension.

He renewed his former professions of his desire of D* wit

. . pretends to

peace, and gave so good reasons tor it as mignt na- desire a
turally gain belief; amongst which one was always''*
a vehement jealousy of France, " which," he said,
" though it had at last declared war against Eng-
" land, which they ought to have done so long be-
" fore, had done it only 7 - to draw England into
" some conditions which might facilitate their own
" enterprise upon Flanders, which it concerned
" them to prevent by all the ways possible ; of
" which none would be so probable as a peace
" between England and them, which would imme-
" diately make each solicitous for their own interest.
" But how to set any thing on foot that might con-
" tribute to this he knew not ; and the doing that
" which the other had proposed, by declaring him-
" self, was the way only to slacken all the provi-
" sions for war, the expediting of which would most
" advance a peace. "

'' had done it, only] uas only
VOL. III. E



50 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

Bewett replied, "that he knew he had many
'" friends in the English court, whereof some were
" of near trust about his majesty, for whose secrecy
" he would be accountable ;" and named the lord
Arlington, who had lately married a lady of the
Hague, the daughter of monsieur Beverwaert, a
person in his quality and fortune in the first rank.
He offered to him, "that he would himself write
" such a letter to the lord Arlington in his own
" name, which he should first see and approve,
" without which he would not send it, as should
" only testify his own good wishes for a peace be-
" tween the two nations, which were not unknown
" to the king himself; and would make no other
" mention of him, than that he had reason to believe,
" that monsieur De Wit (in whose good opinion he
" had the honour to be known to have some place)
" would not be unwilling to promote any good over-
" ture that should be made. " After some debate he
was content that he should write, provided that he
would promise to write nothing but what he should
first see, and would still bring the answers to him
which he should receive; to which the other con-
sented.
ikwett Upon this encouragement he begun his corre-

entcrs into

acorre- spondence with the lord Arlington, and acquainted
his bosom-friends witli it, to dispose them the more
* hope for peace, and to look upon De Wit as not



De wit's averse t o it. But what he writ was with so much

consent.

wariness, being dictated upon the matter by the
pensioner, that it could draw no other answers from
the secretary but of the same style, with expressions
of his majesty's desire of peace and esteem of De
Wit, and as if he expected some overtures to arise



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 51

from thence. This intelligence had not been long 1660.
on foot, but he begun to suspect the sincerity of He soon
De Wit, and that indeed he was not so well inclined *" s P ect ? De

t \Vits siu-

to peace as he had pretended to be : his countenance cerit y-
was not so open, nor he so vacant when he came,
as he used to be ; he grew less jealous of the French,
and more composed himself, and less apprehensive
of the people, as he found them more composed,
and a greater concurrence in the making all things
ready for the fleet. All which observations he like-
wise imparted to his companions, who were glad to
find him begin to be undeceived ; and from that time
he was apter to concur with them in the fiercer
counsels, how to compass a peace in spite of him And re-
by a majority of votes in the States, with the help ge t a peace
of the people, for the suppression of any accidental i
insurrection whereof a , there were no other forces in
view than tnose horse-guards that were commanded
by him.

Hereupon he took a new resolution, but would
not lose the advantage he had by the knowledge
De Wit had of his correspondence, and therefore
shewed him a letter that he had received from the
lord Arlington, in which he pressed him " to inform
" him, what particulars would dispose the States to
" peace, and to separate from the French," and had
sent him a cipher for the more free and safe com-
munication ; which cipher he deposited in the hands
of De Wit, having received his directions and ob-
served them by using the same cipher, which the
other examined and kept, and hoped by the answer
to put an end to that correspondence, of which he

a for the suppression of any for any accidental suppression"
accidental insurrection whereof] whereof

E 2



52 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. grew weary, and less confident of the person, be-
~ cause he heard that he was grown less zealous in
his defence than he had been.

Bewett upon this grew more resolute one way



a secret .

correspond- and less apprehensive the other way, and sent a per-
theEng-' son with whom he had great friendship, and who
iih court. wag we jj k nown to tne k m g an( j most about him,

monsieur Silvius, a servant to the late princess royal,
and a native of Orange, with a full account " of the
" state of the counsels at the Hague, and his disco-
" very that De Wit did not in truth desire a peace,
" nor would consent to it, but upon very unreason-
" able terms," whereof some were mentioned in his
letter in cipher which he had dictated ; " but that
" he was most assured, that he should be compelled
" at the next assembly of the States to submit to
" more reasonable conditions. " He gave the king
an account of the ground of his confidence, and an
information of the persons who were combined to-
gether to press it in the States, amongst which there
were some of the greatest power : and by their ad-
vice he offered the substance of a message they
wished the king should send to the States General
at the time of their convening, in which there was
nothing contained against which any thing could be
objected on his majesty's behalf; and " upon the de-
" livery thereof there would so few adhere to De
" Wit, that he should not be able to prevent a treaty,
" though France should protest against it. " He sent
likewise at the same time, and by the same person,
another cipher to the lord Arlington, with direction
" that in such letters as were intended for the view
" of the pensioner the former cipher should be used,
" and in the other letters, which were to be concealed



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 53

"from him, and 'which were for the most part to 1666'.
" contain intelligence and advice against him, the ~
" latter cipher was only to be made use of. "

Those informations by Silvius, who was a man of
parts, and had dependance upon the duke of York,
and meant not to return into Holland except upon
a pressing occasion, when he durst adventure to go,
being looked upon as an inhabitant of the Hague,
having been always bred there, and his relation to
the duke scarce yet taken notice of; I say, those
informations the king thought to be worthy to be
well considered, and conferred with the chancellor
upon the whole, and appointed the lord Arlington
to inform him of all that had passed from the be-
ginning ; and that Silvius, who was concealed, that
they might have no advertisement in Holland of his
having been in England, should likewise attend him
in some evening; which he shortly after did, and
made him an ample and clear relation of the state
of the counsels at the Hague, and the several fac-
tions amongst them, and the distemper of the people.
He had himself spoken with many of the burgomas-
ters and others in authority, who were privy to his
coming, and communicated the method they meant
to proceed in towards the depressing De Wit, by
mingling the proposition for peace with the interest
of the prince of Orange, which the people thought
to be inseparable.

In fine, he gave a perfect good account of all to
which he was instructed, with great modesty : and
when the chancellor, to whom Bewett and he were
both well known, would have induced him to de-
liver somewhat of his own judgment, whether he
thought that combination to be strong enough to

E 3



54 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I r>f>f>. overrule De Wit ; he could draw no other answer
from him than the magnifying the credit and inter-
est of Bewett, which he seemed principally to rely
upon, and the impossibility that he should fail in
point of integrity or courage.

Silvius had settled a sure way of correspondence,
and by every post received fresh intelligence of the
preparations and progress Bewett and his friends
made in their designs, of the success whereof they
were every day more confident, and thought their
party so much to increase, that as they did not ap-
prehend any discovery like to be made by treachery,
so they did not seem to fear it, if De Wit himself
should know all that they intended : and they pressed
very earnestly, " that the king's letter, in the man-
" ner they had proposed, might be at the Hague
" when the General States were to meet," the time
whereof approached.

The king called those to him to whom the whole
negociation had been imparted, to advise what was
to-be done. On the king's part nothing was consi-
derable, but whether he should write to the States
at all, and what he should write : and against writ-
ing there seemed to be no objection, and as little
against writing what they advised, which was no
more than he had formerly writ, and always said to
their ambassador. And that this might be a more
favourable conjuncture for the good reception of it,
and hearkening to it, his majesty was reasonably to
believe those who meant to second and promote it
with their own reasons : and therefore the time and
the manner of the delivery of it was left to be re-
solved amongst themselves, the king having no min-
ister there to present it.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 55

The way that they had thought of was, that Bewett ] 666.
should at the proper time deliver it to De Wit, who ~~
durst not conceal it, and if he should, there would
be ways enough to publish it to his reproach ; nor
could he take any advantage of Bewett for his cor-
respondence with their enemies, because it had been
entered into with his approbation. But for the
better security in the sending it, and the better in-
formation of the persons engaged, of all the re-
flections which had been made by the king, and
those with whom he had conferred by his majesty's
order, it was thought best that Silvius should return ;
and if Bewett thought fit to decline the delivery of
the king's letter, and no better way could be found
for the delivery of it, he might present it in the
manner his friends there should direct, and avow
his having been at London to solicit his own pre-
tences since the death of the princess royal his mis-
tress, and that he had received the letter from the
king's own hand. This being the concurrent opin-
ion of all, and the gentleman himself willing to un-
dertake it, Silvius was despatched.

In the debate of the matter, the king asked the
chancellor " what he thought of the design, and
" whether he thought it would succeed ;" who said,
" he doubted it much, and that it would conclude in
" the loss of poor Bewett's head, who had not a talent
" for the managery of an affair of that weight, which
" would require great secrecy and great sobriety,
" and the consideration of more particulars at once
" than his comprehension could contain together. "
Then he did not like the method they proposed, of
joining the demand of peace witlj the interest of
the prince of Orange, which, though it might pro-

E 4



56 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

i 66(i. bably follow the peace and be an effect of it, would
"not be seasonable to be joined with it in regard
of his infancy ; and that many did heartily desire
the peace, who had no mind that the prince should
be restored to the offices of his father and family, or
that there should be any debate of it, till the prince
came to the age that was provided by the solemn act
and declaration of the States : which had been the
reason that his majesty (who had all the tenderness
for his nephew that a parent could have) would
never be persuaded to mention him (though it had
been proposed by many, and even by the elector of
Brandenburgh and the princess dowager) in the
conditions of the peace ; the king foreseeing that De
Wit would have been glad to have that advantage,
as to observe to the people, that the king would
prescribe to them what officers they should choose
and admit into their government, and that they must
have no peace, except they would take a general
and a stadtholder and an admiral of his nomination,
which was to make them subject to himself.

And this was the reason, that in all conferences
with the French ambassadors, who sometimes would
mention the prince of Orange with compassion for
the ingratitude of the States towards him, and add,
" that they doubted not their master would be ready
" to join with his majesty in doing him all offices ;"
and sometimes when the Dutch ambassador (who
was of that party that did really wish the restora-
tion of the prince) in conference would seem to
wish and to believe, that the restoring the prince of
Orange would be the consequence of the peace : the
king never gave other answer, than " that he should
** be very glad that the States would gratify his ne-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 57

" phew ; but that it was a matter he had nothing to 1 66C.
" do to interpose in, it depending wholly upon their ~
" own good-will and pleasure. "

The rest who were present had much more esteem
of Bewett than the chancellor had, (who thought as
well of his courage and integrity as they did,) and
believed he would have success in what he designed,
his interest in the right of his wife being confessedly
very great amongst the States, and his jolly course
of living having rendered him very acceptable and
grateful to men of the most different affections ;
and then of all the officers of the militia he was most
esteemed, which was like to be of moment, if the
dispute brought the matter to a struggle : but the
event shewed the contrary.

After Siivius's departure, letters passed between
them, as they had used to do, for two or three posts.
And Bewett one day meeting De Wit when he
came from his good fellows, and they walking a
turn together in common discourse, De Wit asked
him, " when he had any letter from England, and
" how affairs went there :" to which he suddenly an-
swered, " that he came just then from receiving
" one, which he had not yet deciphered," and put his Bewett's
hand into his pocket, and took thence a letter ; and res



casting his eyes (which were never good, and now JS^ed' 3
worse by the company he had left) upon the super- b > Ue wit -
scription, he gave it to him, and said, " he would
" go with him that they might decipher it together
" according to custom. "

De Wit presently found that it was not the ac-
customed cipher, (for he had delivered the wrong
letter, that which he ought not to see,) and desired
him " that he would walk before, and he would pre-



58 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

16G6. " sently overtake him, after he had spoken a few
~~" words at a house in his way. " And so leaving
him, he took present order for the apprehending
him and searching his pockets; and at the same
time sent to his house, and caused his cabinet, where
all his papers were, to be examined and sealed up.
And so poor Bewett, whilst he stayed at the other's
house that they might decipher the letter, was ap-
prehended, and all his papers taken out of his
pockets, and he sent to prison. The other cipher
was quickly found, and many letters and other pa-
pers, which discovered many secrets. Whereupon a
court of justice was speedily erected: and within
three days, according to the expedition used there
Upon which in such cases, a scaffold was erected, and the poor
ccuted. gentleman brought thither in the sight of all his
friends ; and there, with his known courage, and in
few words declaring " that he had honest purposes
" to the country," lost his head.
His friends Silvius quickly heard of his imprisonment, and as

obliged to .

fl y . soon thought it necessary to make his own escape,

and arrived in England l>efore he heard of his last
misfortune, which he did not suspect, nor knew
how the discovery had been made. The knot, thus
broken, dispersed themselves : most of them got into
Flanders ; the burgomaster of Rotterdam, and two
or three others of note, made all the haste they
could into England ; some thought themselves se-
cure in Antwerp and other parts of Flanders ; and
some were seized upon in several places of the
States' dominions, and imprisoned with all the cir-
cumstances of severity, though upon the want of
clear proofs few of them were put to death. The
troop of guards was reformed, or rather transformed,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 59

under new officers, and assigned for a constant guard 1666.
to the States, without the least formal relation to the ~~
prince of Orange, or using his name or livery, or
permission to pay any reverence to him. And so
the prince was much lower than before, and all
hopes of reviving almost extinguished or expired ;
De Wit stood firmer upon his own feet than ever,
and directed all preparations for the war without
control ; and all the present expectation in England
vanished : whilst the pensionary informed France of
the dangers he had escaped for them, and what
great matters had been offered to him if he would
have departed from their interest ; and made the
plot to contain all that he fancied it might have
done.

When the parliament at Oxford was prorogued,
it was to a day in April : but the king had reason
to believe that they would not so soon be in good
humour enough to give more money, which was the
principal end of calling them together. And the
dregs of the plague still remaining, and venting its
malignity in many burials every week, his majesty
thought fit to dispense with their attendance at that
time by a proclamation : and he caused it at the
day to be prorogued to the twentieth of September
following. In the mean time the court abounded in
all its excesses. There had been some hope during
the abode at Oxford, that the queen had been with
child ; and whilst that hope lasted, the king lived
with more constraint and caution, and prepared to
make himself worthy of that blessing : and there
are many reasons to believe, besides his own natural
good inclinations, that if God had vouchsafed to
have given him a child, and the queen that blessing



60 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I66(j. to have merited from him, he would have restrained
~ all those inordinate appetites and delights ; and that
he would seriously have applied himself to his go-
vernment, and cut off all those extravagant expenses
of money and time, which disturbed and corrupted
the evenness of his own nature and the sincerity of
his intentions^ and exposed him to the temptations of
those who had all the traps and snares to catch and
detain him.

miMarrin 1 ^e imagination of the queen's breeding was one
cause of her stay there ; and her stay there was the
longer, because she miscarried when she intended to
begin her journey. And though the doctors declared
that it was a real miscarriage, ripe enough to make
a judgment of the sex ; yet some of the women who
had more credit with the king assured him, " that
" it was only a false conception, and that she had
" not been at all with child :" insomuch that his ma-
jesty, who had been so confident upon a former oc-
casion b , as to declare to the queen his mother and
to others, " that upon his own knowledge her ma-
" jesty had miscarried of a son," suffered himself
now to be so totally convinced by those ladies and
other women, that he did as positively believe that

Great H- s he never had, never could be, with child. And

cense in the . .

court. from that time he took little pleasure in her conver-
sation, and more indulged to himself all liberties in
the conversation of those, who used all their skill to
supply him with divertisements, which might drive
all that was serious out of his thoughts, and make
him undervalue those whom he had used, and still
did most trust and employ, in what he thought most
important ; though he sometimes thought many

l> occasion] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 61

things not of importance, which in the consequence 1 666.
were of the highest.

The lady, who had never declined in favour, was
now greater in power than ever : she was with child
again, and well enough contented that his majesty
should entertain an amour with another lady, and
made a very strict friendship with her, it may be
the more diligently out of confidence that he would
never prevail with her, which many others believed
too. But without doubt the king's passion was
stronger towards that other lady, than ever it was
to any other woman : and she carried it with that
discretion and modesty, that she made no other use
of it than for the convenience of her own fortune and
subsistence, which was narrow enough ; never seemed
disposed to interpose in the least degree in business,
nor to speak ill of any body ; which kind of nature
and temper the more inflamed the king's affection,
who did not in his nature love a busy woman, and
had an aversion from speaking with any woman, or
hearing them speak, of any business but to that pur-
pose he thought them all made for, however they
broke in afterwards upon him to all other purposes.

The lady herself, who every day (as was said be-
fore) grew in power and credit, did not yet presume
to interpose in any other business, than in giving all
the imaginable countenance she could to those who
desired to depend upon her, and, in their right as
well as her own, in depressing the credit of those
who she knew wished hers much less than it was ;
but in this last argument she was hitherto wary, and
took only such opportunities as were offered, with-
out going out of her way to find . them. Her prin-
cipal business was to get an estate for herself and



(>2 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. her children, which she thought the king at least as
"much concerned to provide as she to solicit; which
however she would not be wanting in, and so pro-
cured round sums of money out of the privy purse,
(where she had placed Mr. May,) and other assign-
ations in other names, and so the less taken notice
of, though in great proportions : all which yet
amounted to little more than to pay her debts,
which she had in few years contracted to an un-
imaginable greatness, and to defray her constant
expenses, which were very excessive in coaches and
horses, clothes and jewels, without any thing of ge-
nerosity, or gratifying any of her family, or so much
as paying any of her father's debts, whereof some
were very clamorous. Her name was not used in
any suits for the grant of lands ; for tesides that
there was no avowing or public mention of natural
children, she did think the chancellor and treasurer
willing to obstruct such grants, and desired not to
have any occasion to try the kindness of either of
them : and so all the suits she made of that kind
were with reference to Ireland, where they had no
title to obstruct, nor natural opportunity to know,
what was granted; and in that kingdom she pro-
cured the grant of several great quantities of land,
like to prove of great benefit and value to her or
her children.
An attempt The chief design they now began to design, and

to raise if a- . i i i

lousies in the worst they could ever design, was to raise a
iiiib k roth "r. jealousy in the king of his brother, to which his
majesty was not in any degree inclined, and had in
truth a just affection for him and confidence in him,
without thinking better of his natural parts than he
thought there was cause for; and yet, which made



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 63

it the more wondered at, he did very often depart i CGG.
in matters of the highest moment from his own
judgment to comply with his brother, who was in-
structed, by those who too well knew the king's na-
ture, to adhere to any thing he once advised, and to
be importunate in any thing he proposed ; in which
he prevailed the more easily, because he never used
it in any thing that concerned himself or his own
benefit.

The truth is, it was the unhappy fate and consti- The temper

and disposi-

tution of that family, that they trusted naturally tion of the
the judgments of those, who were as much inferior m j l |y'
to them in understanding as they were in quality,
before their own, which was very good ; and suffered
even their natures, which disposed them to virtue
and justice, to be prevailed upon and altered and
corrupted by those, who knew how to make use of
some one infirmity that they discovered in them ;
and by complying with that, and cherishing and
serving it, they by degrees wrought upon the mass,
and sacrificed all the other good inclinations to that
single vice. They were too much inclined to like
men at first sight, and did not love the conversation
of men of many more years than themselves, and
thought age not only troublesome but impertinent.
They did not love to deny, and less to strangers than
to their friends ; not out of bounty or generosity,
which was a flower that did never grow naturally
in the heart of either of the families, that of Stuart
or the other of Bourbon, but out of an unskilfulness
and defect in the countenance : and when they pre-
vailed with themselves to make some pause rather
than c to deny, importunity removed all resolution,

c than] Omitted in MS.



64 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. which they knew neither how to shut out nor to de-

~~fend themselves against, even when it was evident

enough that they had much rather not consent ;

which often made that which would have looked

like bounty lose all its grace and lustre.



Particularly jf t ne duke seemed to be more firm and fixed in

of the king

and duke, his resolutions, it was rather from an obstinacy in
his will, which he defended by aversion from the
debate, than from <l the constancy of his judgment,
which was more subject to persons than to argu-
ments, and so as changeable at least as the king's,
which was in greatest danger by surprise : and from
this want of steadiness and irresolution (whence-
soever the infirmity proceeded) most of the misfor-
tunes, which attended either of them or their ser-
vants who served them honestly, had their rise and
growth ; of which there will be shortly an occasion,
and too frequently, to say much more. In the
mean time it cannot be denied, and was observed
and confessed by all, that never any prince had a
more humble and dutiful condescension and submis-
sion to an elder brother, than the duke had towards
the king : his whole demeanour and behaviour was
so full of reverence, that it f might have given ex-
ample to be imitated by those, who ought but did
not observe a greater distance. And the conscience
and resentment he had within himself, for the sally
he had made in Flanders, made him after so wary in
his actions, and so abhorring to hear any thing that
might lessen his awe for the king, that no man who
had most credit with him & durst approach towards
any thing of that kind ; so that there was never less

' from] by ' it] Nnt in MS.

e their] its him] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 05

ground of jealousy than of him. And (as was said
before) the king (who was in his nature so far from
any kind of jealousy, that he was too much inclined
to make interpretations of many words and actions,
which might reasonably harbour other apprehensions)
was as incapable of any infusions which might lessen
his confidence in his brother, as any noble and vir-
tuous mind could be. And therefore those ill men,
who began about this time to sow that cursed seed
that grew up to bear a large crop of the worst and
rankest jealousy in the succeeding time, did not
presume to make any reflection upon the duke him-
self, but upon his wife, " upon the state she assumed,
" and the height of the whole family, that lived in
" much more plenty," they said, " than the king's,
" and were more regarded abroad. "

Such kind of people are never without some par- Endeavours
ticular stories of the persons whom they desire to " e s s e g e n to the
deprave : and so they h had many instances, which ki ' lg ' s

* J esteem or

they used upon all occasions, of some levity or va- tliedlirliess
nity, of some words affected by the duchess, or some
outward carriage, true or false, which for the most
part concluded in mirth and laughter, and seemed
ridiculous ; which was the method they used in all
their approaches of that kind towards the highest
acts of malice, first to make the person, whom they
hoped to ruin in the end, less esteemed, by the act-
ing and presentation of his words and gestures and
motions ; which commonly is attended with laughter.
And this is the first breach they make upon any
man's reputation ; and the frequent custom of this
kind of laughter and mirth, which is easily pro-



! l they] Nat in MS.
VOL. III. F



C6 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. duced without any malice, doth in the end open a
~~ space large enough to let in ' calumny and scandal
enough to weaken, if not to destroy, the l>est built
reputation.

This was the course they held with reference to
the duchess, whom the king had from the beginning
treated with great grace and favour, and considered
her as a woman of more than ordinary wit k and un-
derstanding : and the queen mother had from the
reconciliation used her with that abundant affection
and familiarity that was very wonderful; and the
heights she assumed, and all that greatness which
many thought too much, were } not only inculcated,
but enjoined by the queen as a duty due to her hus-
band, of whose high degree she thought she could
not be too tender and careful. And she had the
happiness so well to behave herself towards the
duke, that he was exceedingly pleased with her, and
lived towards her with an affection so remarkable
and notorious, that it grew to be the public discourse
and commendation ; and which made the liberties
that were taken elsewhere the more spoken of and
censured. It was very visible that he liked her
company and conversation very well, and was be-
lieved to communicate all his counsels, and all he
knew or thought, without reserve to her; which,
being so contrary to the professed doctrine of the
court, administered occasion to the men of mirth, in
those seasons which took up a good part of every
night, to be very pleasant upon the government of
the duchess, and the submission of the duke" 1 ; in
which there were always some witty reflections upon

' in] Omitted in MS. ' were] was

k ordinary wit] an ordinary wit m of the duke] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 67

the chancellor. And this kind of liberty, being first 1666.
grateful to the king for the wit that accompanied it ~
and the mirth that it produced, grew by the custom
of it the more acceptable ; and it may be the general
and public observation of the disparity in the lives
of the two brothers made it wished, that there were
no more of that strictness in the one place than in
the other, towards which there wanted not applica-
tion and advice accordingly as well as example.

In the mean time the chancellor had a hard part
to act, being neither able to do the good he con-
stantly endeavoured on one side, nor remove the ill
he disliked on the other side ; for he saw well the
mischief that would inevitably follow the great ex-
penses of the duke, which exceeded all limits, and
could never be provided for; and thought the du-
chess to be blamed for what she spent upon 'herself,
and used all the credit he had with both to begin in
time to reform what necessity would shortly do with
more dishonour: but the disease had grown from
the first ill digestion.

The lord Berkley had upon the king's first arrival
formed a family without rule or precedent, and
made the servants in a much better condition than
the master, by assigning liberal pensions and allow-
ances to them, who had paid him dear for their
places, without considering from what fund they
should arise : and now they all would have the duke
believe, " that he spent not too much ; but that he
" had too little provision assigned to him for his qua-
" lity and relation, and that n this proceeded from the

11 that] Not in MS.
F 2



68 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1666. " neglect in the chancellor, who was able, if he en-
" " deavoured it, to persuade the king to enlarge it to
" a just proportion. " And this was as much urged to
the duchess as to the duke, and it made in her a
greater impression ; and though she had in all other
respects a very entire affection and even a duty and
resignation to her father, yet in this he had no au-
thority with her, nor did she think him a competent
judge what expenses princes should make : and hav-
ing seen the state and lustre in which the duke of
Anjou lived in France, and having received many
infusions from the queen, of the great defect in the
customs of England, in providing either for the re-
spect or for the support of the younger sons of the
crown, she thought that the chancellor should ra-
ther use his credit for the enlarging that narrow-
ness, which the king was enough disposed to, than
to reform their expenses. But of this enough.

The plague had really swept away and destroyed
so many seamen, (Stepney and the places adjacent,
which were their common habitations, being almost
depopulated,) that now, all other obstructions being
removed, there seemed even an impossibility to pro-
cure sailors and mariners enough to set out the fleet;
insomuch as they found it necessary to press many
watermen, and to disfurnish all merchant ships
which were prepared to be set out to the planta-
tions or to other places of trade : all which turned
not so much to benefit one way, as it did to loss an-
other way. But the best way to expedite all things
was the two admirals going to the fleet themselves,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 69

that they who resolved to go might hasten thither, 1666.
and that they who had no mind to go might, out of ~
shame, likewise accompany them.

There appeared great unanimity and consent be-
tween them. Only prince Rupert had a great de-
sire to go in a ship apart, and that they might not
be both in one P ship : but upon debate it appeared
to be un practicable, and that in a time of action the
orders could not be the same, if they who gave
them were not together and in the same place ; and
so the prince was persuaded not to be positive in
that particular. And so they both went together, The fleet
and took leave of the king towards the end of April, under
and laboured so effectually, (as they were both men peruLdtiie
of great dexterity and indefatigable industry in such geueralt
conjunctures,) that they carried the fleet out to sea,
well fitted and provided, by the middle of May ;
with which they presently visited the coast of Hol-
land, and took many prizes ; and, by the intelli-
gence they met with, concluded that the Dutch fleet
would not be ready in c, month, of which they
gave the king advertisement, and returned into the
Downs. And prince Rupert at the same time ex- Tlie occa -

sion of the

pressed an inclination to go himself with part of the division of
fleet to meet the duke of Beaufort, who was re-
ported to be under sail to join with the Dutch, and
" that they would not put to sea till they foresaw
" that they were like to join about Calais. "

At or near the same time the lord Arlington re-
ceived intelligence, " that the Dutch were not yet
" well manned ; and that the ships which were in

i' one] Omitted in MS.
Y 3



70 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I (>Gti. " the Texel, and were to join with the other under
~ " De Ruyter in the Wierings, were more unpro-
" vided :" though at the same time secretary Mor-
rice (who had always better intelligence from Hol-
land) was assured from thence, " that all the ships
" in both places were so ready that they would join
" within very few days. " But the lord Arlington,
who thought he ought to be more believed, received
as positive 1 advertisement from France, " that the
" duke of Beaufort set sail from Brest on such a
" day :" and though the wind had not been yet di-
rectly favourable for him, it was concluded that he
must be well advanced in his way, and he had no
port to friend till he came to the coast of France
near Calais.

Upon this there seemed a great desire that prince
Rupert might take the course he had proposed ; for
the convenience was agreed to be very great, if the
French could be met with before the conjunction.
However, the council was so wary that at that time
attended the king at Worcester-house, the chancel-
lor being affected with the gout, that they advised
the king " not to send positive orders for the divid-
" ing the fleet, which by many accidents might
*' produce inconveniences ; but rather to send two
" of the council to the fleet, with an account of
" all the intelligence, and the reflections which oc-
" curred to the king upon it. " And hereupon sir
George Carteret and sir William Coventry were
presently sent, and carried such orders with them,
as would be necessary if the generals had not other
intelligence, or did think that the division was not
liable to more objections than had been in view.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 71

And this caution I set down more particularly, be- 1666.
cause the council underwent reproaches which it did~
not deserve.

The two counsellors used such expedition, and
found so good conveniences by land and water, that
they returned to the king the next day with an ac-
count, " that the state of the Dutch fleet was con-
" firmed to be the same that his majesty had heard,
" and that they believed the other concerning the
" duke of Beaufort to be very probable ; where-
" upon they had concluded with a mutual consent
" and approbation, that prince Rupert should take
" twenty of the ships, which he had already chosen,
" to meet the French, though they were superior in
" number, whilst the general remained in the Downs
" with the rest : and in order to this, that the prince
" went aboard his ship before they came away, and
" the rather, because the wind was so much against
" him, that his majesty's orders, if he found cause
" to send any, would be sure for some days to find
" him upon the western coast ; and the wind that
" was against him was so favourable to the duke of
" Beaufort, that it was probable they might speedily
" meet, and in a place to be wished. " The king
saw no cause yet to send orders to the contrary;
and this was the reason, and all the circumstances,
of the separation of the fleet, that proved unfortu-
nate.

It appeared very soon after, which secretary had
the better intelligence : for the very next day after
the departure of the prince, the general, who re-
mained in the Downs, had certain intelligence that
the Dutch were come out of their harbours, having
it seems received intelligence likewise of the French

F 4



72 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

l (5G6. fleet's being at sea, and lieing obliged to meet
"" them, and had been long ready to do so ; which had
deceived the court, they believing that they stayed
because they were not ready to come out ; whereas
they were ready, and expected only the other adver-
tisement.

As soon as the general was informed, he sent no-
tice presently to the duke late in the same evening,
who, informing the king of it, gave orders to sir
William Coventry to prepare orders to prince Ru-
pert immediately to return ; and if those orders had
been carefully despatched, they might have come to
A neglect the prince before the morning. But sir William

in forward-

ing an or- Coventry thought he had done his part when he got
prince RU- the order signed, which was about twelve of the
join the" clock at night, and then sent them by his servant to
fleet. th e i or( i Arlington, whose part he thought it was to
charge a messenger with them : but he was gone to
bed, and his servants durst not disquiet him, a ten-
derness not accustomed to be in the family of a se-
cretary. But whether they did not wake him, as
he pretended, or being awake he deferred it, it was
not sent away till the next day, and never came to
prince Rupert's hand till he had turned his sails
upon the thunder of the cannon ; and he no sooner
endeavoured to return, but the wind chopped about
to retard him, that' he could make little way that
day or the night following. Whose fault it was
that these important orders were not sent with more
expedition, whether sir William Coventry ought not
to have taken care for the conveying them, at least
to have given the lord Arlington notice what the
contents of them were, of which he denied to have
any notice, was disputed with some warmth between



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 73

themselves, and so came to be published : but it was
never examined any where else, though the negli-~
gence was very mischievous in its effect ; but they
were both too great men to be questioned in any ju-
dicatory.

The general, after the notice he had received of
the motion of the Dutch, ordered the fleet to weigh
anchor about three of the clock in the morning upon
the first of June 1666, to sail to the Buoy of the The Dutch
Gunfleet to join with some other ships which lay 01 1t.
there, to get more men, being then but ill manned :
and about seven of the clock in the morning the
scouts came in, and brought the general notice, that
the Dutch fleet was to the leeward, and probably in-
tended to decline fighting till they might join with
the French. And it had been to be wished that the
English had stood off too, upon confidence that
prince Rupert, whom the wind had kept from being
far off, as they could not but know, would receive
direction from court to return. But the general
(who was as impatient upon the sight of an enemy
to engage with him as prince Rupert himself, and
had a natural contempt of the Dutch) called his
flag-officers to council, and quickly resolved, "that
" it was not convenient nor safe nor honourable to
" decline the battle, lest it might take off the pre-
" sent courage of the seamen. " And truly in all
those consultations, upon the like occasions, who-
ever proposed any wary advice ran great hazard of
being reputed a coward. And so they bore up with
a full wind upon the enemy, notwithstanding the vi-
sible disadvantage they were in, in respect of the
strength of the enemy, for in the absence of prince
Rupert there remained little above fifty sail with



74 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I66f>. the general; whereas De Ruyter's fleet consisted of
~~ above fourscore sail, who easily perceived his advan-
tage, and that a great part of the English fleet was
absent, and so willingly embraced the occasion,
and made what sail he could to meet with them.
The etond It was about two of the clock in the afternoon
gagcment" when the engagement l)egan ; and the English had
got the wind, which was so high that they could not
The first carry out their lower tiers. The admiral was so

day's ac- . . . .

lion. shattered in his rigging and masts, that he was com-
pelled to get off and anchor, that he might mend
what was amiss; and many of his squadron had
their main-yards shot off, and received such damage
in their tackling, which was the chief aim of the
Dutch, that they could hardly govern their ships.
And by this means the enemy got the wind ; and
the battle continued with great fierceness, and loss
of many men on both sides, till nine or ten of the
clock at night, when all were willing to have some
rest.

The second That night was spent in repairing masts and rig-

tion. ging : and at six of the clock in the morning the
battle began again with the same firceness, and
lasted till night. And that day the Dutch suffered
much, and one of their vice-admirals was l>oarded
and afterwards sunk, as many of their other ships

The Dutch likewise were; so that they began to fall of: when

reinforced. .