No More Learning

EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 3

he thought they were in earnest, prevailed with him iGf>r>
not only to suggest materials to them for that re-
proach, but to inculcate the same to the king upon
several occasions : but when he discovered that they
intended nothing of advantage to his particular, he
withdrew from that intrigue, though in all other
particulars he sided with them.

The king was too easy in making assignations
upon his revenue, which would make it uncapable
to satisfy others which were more necessary, and to
grant suits by lease or farm, (sometimes to worthy
men,) which were of mischievous consequence to all
the measures which could be taken ; and those the
treasurer found himself obliged to stop : and com-
monly, upon informing the king of it and of his
reasons, his majesty was very well pleased with
what he had done, and (as hath been said before)
did often give himself ease from the importunity of
many, by signing the warrants they brought to him,
in confidence that either the chancellor or treasurer
would not suffer them to pass. However, it raised
clamour ; and there were men enough who had the
same provocation to make a great noise ; and they
easily found countenance from others* who desired
it should be believed, " that it was a high arrogance
" and presumption in any subject to stop any sig-
" nature of the king, and so make his majesty's
" grace and bounty to be ineffectual, if his appro-
" bation and consent was not likewise procured. "
There was visibly great want of money, though
there were vast sums d raised ; which they laboured
to persuade the king proceeded from the unskilful-

d sums] sums of money
B 2



4 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I6fr>. ness or unactivity of the treasurer, who was again
~ tired with the vexation and indignity, when he had
so frequently presented the king with the particulars
of the receipts and disbursements, and made it de-
monstrable how much his expenses exceeded all his
income; and how impossible it would be, without
lessening these, to provide wherewithal to supply
necessaiy occasions* : but this was an ungracious
subject, and opened more mouths than could easily
be stopped.

There was a man who hath been often named,
sir George Downing, who by having been some years
in the office of one of the tellers of the exchequer,
and being of a restless brain, did understand enough
of the nature of the revenue and of the course of
the receipt, to make others who understood less of
it to think that he knew the bottom of it, and that
the expedients, which should be proposed by him
towards a reformation, could not but be very per-
tinent and practicable. And he was not unhurt in
the emoluments of his own office, which were less-
ened by the assignations made to the bankers, upon
the receipts themselves, without the money's ever
passing through the tellers' office ; by which, though
they did receive their just fees, they had not what
they would have taken, if the money had passed
through their own hands. He was a member of
parliament, and a very voluminous sj>eaker, who
would be thought wiser in trade than any of the
merchants, and to understand the mystery of all
professions much better than the professors of them.
And such a kind of chat is always acceptable in a

e necessary occasions] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 5

crowd, (where few understand many subjects,) who f 1(^5.
are always glad to find those put out of countenance
who thought they understood it best : and so they
were much pleased to hear sir George Downing in-
veigh against the ignorance of those, who could only
smile at his want of knowledge.

This gentleman was very grateful to sir William
Coventry as well as to lord Arlington, and was ready
to instruct them in all the miscarriages and over-
sights in the treasury, and to propose ways of re-
formation to them. " The root of all miscarriage
" was the unlimited power of the lord treasurer, that
" no money could issue out without his particular
" direction, and all money was paid upon no other
" rules than his order; so that, let the king want as
" much as was possible, no money could be paid by
" his, without the treasurer's warrant ;" which, to
men who understood no more than they did, seemed
a very great incongruity. *' But," he said, "if there A project of
" were such a clause inserted into the bill which Downing to
" was to be passed in the house of commons for j 1 ,^""^ 61
" money. , it might prevent all inconveniences, and sur y-
" the king's money would be paid only to those
" persons and purposes to which his majesty should
" assign them ; and more money would be presently
" advanced upon this act of parliament, than the
" credit of the bankers could procure ;" for he fore-
saw that would be a very natural objection against
his clause and the method he proposed.

He made his discourse so plausible to them, that
they were much pleased with it ; and it provided
for so many of their own ends, that they neither did

1 who] and ~ no] any

B 3



6 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. nor were able to consider the reverse of it, but were
"most solicitous that there might no obstructions
arise in the way. If it should come to the know-
ledge of the chancellor, he would oppose it for the
novelty, and the consequences that might attend it ;
and if the treasurer had notice of it, he would not
consent to it for the indignity that his office was
subjected to : they therefore discoursed it to the king
as a matter of high importance to his service, if it
were secretly carried; and then brought the pro-
jector, who was an indefatigable talker, to inform
his majesty of the many benefits which would accrue
to his service by this new method that he had de-
vised, and the many mischiefs which would be pre-
vented.

There were many 1 ' things which were suggested,
that were agreeable to some fancies that the king
himself had entertained ; there would not need now
so many formalities, as warrants and privy seals, be-
fore monies could be paid ; and money might here-
after issue out and be paid without the treasurer's
privity ; in which many conveniences seemed to ap-
pear : though besides the innovation and breach of
all old order, which is ever attended by many mis-
chiefs unforeseen, there were very great inconveni-
ences hi view in those very particulars which they
fancied to be conveniences. But it was enough that
the king so well liked the advice, upon conference
with them three, that he resolved to communicate
it with no others ; but appointed, that when the bill
for supply should be brought into the house, (it be-
ing to be, as was said before, for the sum of ,)

h many] so many



EDWARD EARL OP CLARENDON. 7

at the commitment Downing should offer that pro- 1665.
viso, which had been drawn by himself, and' read to ""
the king and the other two. And because it was
foreseen, that it would be opposed by many of those
who were known to be very affectionate to the
king's service, they had all authority privately to
assure them, that it was offered with the king's
approbation.

Against the time that the bill was to be brought A clamour

, raised a-

m, they prepared the house by many unseasonable gainst the
bitter invectives against the bankers, called them
cheats, bloodsuckers, extortioners, and loaded them
with all the reproaches which can be cast upon the
worst men in the world, and would have them looked
upon as the causes of all the king's necessities, and
of the want of monies throughout the kingdom : all
which was a plausible argument, as all invectives
against particular men are ; and all men who had
faculties of depraving, and of making ill things ap-
pear worse than they are, were easily engaged with
them. The bankers did not consist of above the
number of five or six men, some whereof were alder-
men, and had been lord mayors of London, and all
the rest were aldermen, or had fined for aldermen.
They were a tribe that had risen ad grown up in
Cromwell's time, and never were 1 heard of before
the late troubles, till when the whole trade of money
had passed through the hands of the scriveners :
they were for the most part goldsmiths, men known
to be so rich, and of so good reputation, that all the
money of the kingdom would be trusted or depo-
sited in their hands.



were] Not in MS.
B 4



8 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

From the time of the king's return, when though
The Miran- great and vast sums were granted, yet such vast
from" 1 ,,'* 1 "''' debts were presently to IK? paid, the armies by land
bankers. anc j sca j o fe p resen tly discharged, that k the money
that was to be collected in six and six months would
not provide for those present unavoidable issues ;
but there must be two or three hundred thousand
pounds gotten together ih few days, before they
could begin to disband the armies or to pay the sea-
men off; the deferring whereof every month in-
creased the charge to an incredible proportion : none
could supply those occasions but the bankers, which
brought the king's ministers first acquainted^ with
them ; and they were so well satisfied with their
proceedings, that they did always declare, " that
" they were so necessary to the king's affairs, that
" they knew not how to have conducted them with-
" out that assistance. "
The method T ne method of proceeding with them was thus.

of treat ing

with them. As soon as an act of parliament was passed, the king
sent for those bankers, (for there was never any con-
tract made with them but in his majesty's pre-
sence :) and he ' being attended by the ministers of
the revenue, and commonly the chancellor and
others of the council, the lord treasurer presented a
particular information to the king of the most ur-
gent occasions for present money, either for disband-
ing troops, or discharging ships, or setting out fleets,
(all which are to be done together, and not by par-
cels ;) so that it was easily foreseen what ready mo-
ney must be provided. And this account being
made, the bankers were called in, and told, " that

k that] Not in MS. ' he] No/ in J/*'.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 9

" the king had occasion to use such a sum of ready 1665.
" money within such a day ; they understood the ~
" act of parliament, and so might determine what
" money they could lend the king, and what man-
" ner of security would best satisfy them. " Where-
upon one said, " he would within such a time pay
" one hundred thousand pounds," another more, and
another less, as they found themselves provided ; for
there was no joint stock amongst them, but every
one supplied according to his ability. They were
desirous to have eight in the hundred, which was
not unreasonable to ask, and the king was " willing
" to give :" but upon better consideration amongst
themselves, they thought fit to decline that demand,
as being capable of turning to their disadvantage,
and would leave the interest to the king's own
bounty, declaring " that themselves paid six in the
" hundred for all the money with which they were
" intrusted," which was known to be true.

Then they demanded such a receipt and assign-
ment to be made to them by the lord treasurer, for
the payment of the first money that should be pay-
able upon that act of parliament, or a branch of that
act, or tallies upon the farmers of the customs or ex-
cise, or such other branches of the revenue as were
least charged ; having the king's own word and the
faith of the treasurer, that they should be exactly
complied with ; for, let the security be what they
could desire, it would still be in the power of the
king or of the lord treasurer to divert what was as-
signed to them to other purposes. Therefore there
is nothing surer, than that the confidence in the
king's justice, and the unquestionable reputation of



10 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. the lord treasurer's honour and integrity, was the
" true foundation of that credit which supplied all his
majesty's necessities and occasions ; and his majesty
always treated those men very graciously, as his
very good servants, and all his ministers looked upon
them as very honest and valuable men. And in this
manner, for many years after his majesty's return,
even to the unhappy beginning of the Dutch war,
the public expenses were carried on, it may be, with
too little difficulty, which possibly increased some
expenses ; and nobody opened his mouth against the
bankers, who every day increased in credit and re-
putation, and had the money of all men at their dis-
posal.

The solicitor general brought in the bill for sup-
ply according to course, in that form as those bills
for money ought and used to be : and after it had
been read the second time, when it was committed,
Downing Downing offered his proviso, the end of which was,

offers a new

proviso in " to make all the money that was to be raised by

the suj. pi) ; " this bill to be applied only to those ends to which

" it was given, which was the carrying on the war,

** and to no other purpose whatsoever, by what au-

" thority soever ;" with many other clauses in it so

which is monstrous, that the solicitor, and many others who

tbrMtici-' were most watchful for the king's service, declared

tor gene- a g a j ns t ft, as iiitroductive to a commonwealth, and

not fit for monarchy. It was observed, " that the

** assignment of the money that was given by act of

" parliament to be paid in another manner and to

** other persons than had lieen formerly used, though

" there wanted not plausible pretences, was the be-

" ginning of the late rebellion, and furnished the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 11

" parliament with money to raise a rebellion, when 1665.
" the king had none to defend himself; which had~~
" made Cromwell wise enough never to permit any
" of those clauses, or that the impositions which
" were raised should be disposed to any uses or by
" any persons but by himself and his own orders. 5 '
And by such and other arguments, which the con-
trivers had not foreseen, the proviso had been ab-
solutely thrown out, if sir William Coventry and
Downing had not gone to the solicitor and others
who spake against it, and assured them, " that it
" was brought in by the king's own direction, and
" for purposes well understood by his majesty. "
Upon which they were contented that it should be
committed, yet with direction " that such and such
" expressions should be reformed and amended. "

In the afternoon the king sent for the solicitor, The king

i P i i T . 1 commands

and iorbade him any more to oppose that proviso, i, im not to



for that it was much for his service. And when
would inform him of many mischiefs which would
inevitably attend it, some were of those which he
had no mind to prevent, being to lessen their power
who he thought had too much, and the other he
cared not to hear ; and said only, " that he would
" bear the inconveniences which would ensue upon
" his own account, for the benefits which would ac-
" crue, and which it was not yet seasonable to coni-
" municate with other members of the house of com-
" mons, whom he thought not to be so able to dis-
" pute it with him. " m

m Something seems to be ventry ; or, by the king to the

wanting here to make the sense solicitor. In the latter ease,

dear. Qu. Whether what fol- told them (as it is in the MS. )

lows was spoken by Downing should be altered to told him.

to the king, Arlington, and Co- [Note in the first edition. ]



12 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. He enlarged more in discourse, and told them,
" that this would be an n encouragement to lend mo-
" ney, by making the payment with interest so cer-
** tain and fixed, that there could be no security in
** the kingdom like it, when it should be out of any
" man's power to cause any money that should be
** lent to morrow to be paid before that which was
" lent yesterday, but that all should Ix? infallibly
** paid in order ; by which the exchequer (which was
** now bankrupt and without any credit) would be
** quickly in that reputation, that all men would de-
" posit their money there : and that he hoped in few
" years, by observing the method he now proposed,
" he would make his exchequer the best and the
** greatest bank in Europe, and where all Europe
** would, when it was once understood, pay in their
'* money for the certain profit it would yield, and
" the indubitable certainty that they should receive
" their money. " And with this discourse the vain
man, who had lived many years in Holland, and
would be thought to have made himself master of
all their policy, had amused the king and his two
friends, undertaking to erect the king's exchequer
into the same degree of credit that the bank of
Amsterdam stood upon i', the institution whereof he
undertook to know, and from thence to make it evi-
dent, " that all that should be transplanted into Eng-
" land, and all nations would sooner send their mo-
" ncy into the exchequer, than into Amsterdam or
" Genoa or Venice. " And it cannot be enough won-
dered at, that this intoxication prevailed so far, that

11 would be an] Omitted in c stood upon] Omitted in
MS. MS.

noj Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 13

no argument would be heard against it, the king i6Gf>.
having upon those notions, and with the advice of""
those counsellors, in his own thoughts new-modelled
the whole government of his treasury, in which he
resolved to have no more superior officers. But this
was only reserved within his own breast, and not
communicated to any but those who devised the
project, without weighing that the security for mo-
nies so deposited in banks is the republic itself,
which must expire before that security can fail ;
which can never be depended on in a monarchy,
where the monarch's sole word can cancel all those
formal provisions which can be made, (as hath since
been too evident,) by vacating those assignations
which have been made upon that and the like acts
of parliament, for such time as the present necessities
have made counsellable ; which would not then be
admitted to be possible.

And so without any more opposition, which was If is i iasse < !

. by the com-

llOt grateful to the king, that act passed the house mom.

of commons, with the correction only of such absur-
dities as had not been foreseen by those who framed
the proviso, and which did indeed cross their own
designs : and so it was sent from the commons to
the house of peers for their consent.

Bills of that nature, which concern the raising of
money, seldom stay long with the lords ; but as of
custom, which they call privilege, they are first be-
gun in the house of commons, where they endure
long deliberation, so when they are adjusted there,
they seem to pass through the house of peers witli
the reading twice and formal commitment, in which
any alterations are very rarely made, except in any
impositions which are laid upon their own persons,



14 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

for which there are usually blanks left, the filling up
whereof is all the amendment or alteration that is
commonly made by the lords : so that the same en-
grossment that is sent up by the commons, is usually
the bill itself that is presented to the king for his
royal assent. Yet there can be no reasonable doubt
made, but that those bills of any kind of subsidies, as
excise, chimney-money, or any other way of impo-
sition, are as much the gift and present from the
house of peers as they are from the house of com-
mons, and are no more Valid without their consent
than without the consent of the other; and they
may alter any clause in them that they do not think
for the good of the people. But because the house
of commons is the immediate representative of the
people, it is presumed that they best know what
they can bear or are willing to submit to, and what
they propose to give is proportionable to what they
can spare ; and therefore the lords use not to put
any stop in the passage of such bills, much less di-
minish what is offered by them to the king.

And in this parliament the expedition that was
used in all business out of fear of the sickness, and
out of an impatient desire to be separated, was very
notorious : and as soon as this bill for supply was
sent to the lords, very many members of the house
of commons left the town and departed, conceiving
that there was no more left for them to do ; for it
was generally thought <>, that at the passing that act,
with the rest which were ready, the king would
prorogue the parliament. Yet the novelty in this
act so surprised the lords, that they thought it worthy

i thought] OmitM in HIS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 15

a very serious deliberation, and used not their cus- i(i6f>.
tomary expedition in the passing it. It happened"
to lie in an ill conjuncture, when the terrible cold
weather kept the lord treasurer from going out of
his chamber for fear of the gout, of which the chan-
cellor laboured then in that extremity, that he was
obliged to remain in his bed ; and neither of them
had received information of this affair. Many of the some lords

. r> i remonstrate

lords came to them, and advertised them or this new to the king
proviso; and some of them went to the king, to let pfovUo.
him know r the prejudice it would bring him, and
censured the ill hand that had contrived it.

The lord Ashley, who was chancellor of the ex-
chequer, and had been privy in the first cabal in
which this reformation was designed, whether be-
cause he found himself left out in the most secret
part of it, or not enough considered in it, passion-
ately inveighed against it, both publicly and pri-
vately, and, according to the fertility of his wit and
invention, found more objections against it than any
body else had done, and the consequences to be more
destructive s ; with which he so alarmed the king, The king

. consults the

that his majesty was contented that the matter private
should be debated in his presence; and because the " "","'! e<
chancellor was in his bed, thought his chamber to
be the fittest place for the consultation : and the lord
treasurer 1 , though indisposed and apprehensive of
the gout, could yet use his feet, and was very willing
to attend his majesty there, without the least ima-
gination that he was aimed at in the least.

The king appointed the hour for the meeting,
where his majesty, with his brother, was present,

1 know] Omitted in MS. f treasurer] Omitted in MS.
s destructive] destruction



16 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I66. r ). the chancellor in his l>ed, the lord treasurer, the
"lord Ashley, the lord Arlington, and sir William
Coventry ; the attorney general and the solicitor
were likewise present, to word any alterations which
should be fit to be made ; and sir George Downing
likewise attended, who the king still believed would
l>e able to answer all objections which could IK?
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.