No More Learning

Coventry found a way to break that resolution, *
having no mind to be in so great a court that his
greatness would not appear. He told the duke
"that there were general discontents throughout
" the kingdom," which was true, " and a probability
** of insurrections," which were much spoken of and
k were prepared] Omitted in MS.



406 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. apprehended; "and therefore it might be better
~" " that the king and the duke might not be together,
" but in several places, that they might draw what
" forces were necessary to them, which the presence
" of their own persons would easily do : that the
" fleet would probably be all the summer upon the
" northern coast in expectation of the Dutch East
" India fleet ;" for it was not then thought that the
Hollanders would have been able to have set out an-
other fleet able to have encountered ours. Upon
the whole matter he proposed to him, "that since
" the king meant to spend the summer in the west,
" with which there could very hardly be any cor-
" respondence from the fleet, his highness should go
" into the north, and reside at York ; by which he
" would have an influence upon all those parts
" where the most disaffected persons were l most in-
** habitant, and from Hull and those maritime parts
" he could not be long without receiving some m in-
" telligence from the fleet. "

The truth is; the constitution of the court at
this time was such, the prevalence of the lady so
great, and the queen's humour thereupon so incon-
stant, and all together so discomposed the king, that
there was no pleasure in being a part of it : and
therefore the advice was as soon embraced as given,
by the duke and his wife, who were well content to
enjoy themselves in their own family apart. And
the duke presently proposed it to the king, and Mr.
Coventry discoursed all the motives to him so fully,
that his majesty approved it. And then, if it were
to be done at all, the first attending the king to Salis-

1 were] Omitted in MS. m some] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 407

bury, which was so much out of the way, 'would be 16(15.
to no purpose: and therefore it was resolved (all the Theking
coaches and carriages being then at the doors to go o e a ^* to
to Farnham, which was the first day's journey to-
wards Salisbury) that the king and his brother
would part upon the place, and that the king and
queen should continue their purpose for Farnham,
and the duke and his wife should go that night to St.
Alban's, and so prosecute his journey for York; and all
orders were in the instant given out to this purpose.

Whether the reasons of this counsel were of im-
portance or not, the alteration on such a sudden from
what had been before determined was thought very
strange, and wondered at, and made many believe
that some accident was fallen out that must not be
discovered : for on the sudden it was, there having
been no such thought overnight, when the chancel-
lor left the court to go to his own house at Twicken-
ham. And when he returned the next morning, the
resolution was taken, and every body well pleased
with the change, and both the king and the duke
told him wijth satisfaction of it ; nor did he under-
stand it enough to make objections against it, which
would have been ingrateful ; nor was it convenient
to spend longer time in deliberation at that place,
where some of the inferior servants had died the
night before of the plague : and so they all entered
upon their journey by nine of the clock the same
morning.

It is necessary in this place to remember, that the The bishop
express, that had been sent by the bishop of Mun- engages to
ster's agent with the conditions which were offered unT
by the king, returned with great expedition, and v
brought the bishop's acceptation and engagement,

D d 4



408 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " that, upon the payment of the first sum that was
~~ " agreed upon, he would draw his army together,
" and march with an army of twenty thousand horse
" and foot into the States' dominions. " And the
king before he left London had signed the treaty,
and made the first payment, and provided for the
second : so that he now expected that the bishop
should be shortly upon his march, and fix his winter-
quarters in those provinces ; which he did resolve
and intend with courage and sincerity, and which in
that conjuncture must have put the counsels of Hol-
land into great confusion, when they began to be
again reduced into some order.
oe wit per- The indefatigable industry and dexterity of the

u. ult's the

Dutch to pensionary De Wit prevailed with the States to be-

prepare an- _. 1111 i n

other fleet, neve, " that he thought a peace to be necessary tor
" their affairs, and desired nothing but that it might
" be upon honourable and safe conditions, and that
" France was very real in the endeavouring it : but
" that the enemy was so insolent upon their late
" success, that they neglected all overtures, and be-
" lieved that the factions and divisions amongst
" themselves would hinder them from being able to
" set out another fleet ; and therefore that ought to
" be the first design. And if their fleet were ready
" to go out, he doubted not but a peace would quickly
" follow : for that France was engaged, if the king
" should not consent to what is just and reasonable,
" to declare a war against England, and to assist
" them with men and money, and all his own naval
" power, which the duke of Beaufort was then pre-
" paring and making ready in all the ports of France.
" But that it was not to be expected that they would
" send out their fleet, which was much inferior to



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 409

" the English, except they first saw a Dutch fleet at 1665.
" sea ready to join with them. " He wished them to
consider " how much they were all concerned in their
" India ships, which were in their voyage, and could
" not be far from their coasts in a short time ; all
" which would inevitably fall into the hands of the
" English, if they had no fleet at sea to relieve
" them. "

These reasons, of weight in themselves, and the
concernment of most of them in the preservation of
the Indian ships, prevailed with them to do all that
could be done to set out a new fleet : and to that
purpose they sent very strict and severe orders to their
several admiralties, for the proceeding against all,
without distinction of persons, who had misbehaved
themselves in the late battle, and to provide new
ships and all necessary provisions, to the end that
their fleet might be at sea by a time. And this
grew the more easy to them, by the seasonable re-
turn of De Ruyter with his fleet from Guinea, which
brought a present addition of good strength ; and he
had began the war upon the English, and was the
best sea-officer they had, and had exercised those
commands that no other officer could refuse to obey
him.

For the speedy carrying on these present pre- The Dutch

. , , . . . make a re-

parations, they made, according to their usual cus- formation
torn in extraordinary occurrences, committees of the H^y. 1 ' 11
States to assist in the admiralties of Zealand, Am-
sterdam, and Rotterdam ; and to that purpose De
Wit, and such other as he thought fittest at this
time to join with him, were appointed. They went
first to the fleet to reform the disorders there : and
though they durst not proceed with that severity as



410 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. had been fit, yet they cashiered many captains and
""other officers, and put some other marks of disgrace

upon others, and caused one or two to die.
De wit's But that which De Wit's heart was most set upon

malice

against van was to take revenge upon Van Trump, and to re-
move him from ever having any command at sea:
for though he was an excellent officer, and upon the
stock of his father's credit of great estimation with
the seamen, and inferior to no man but De Ruyter,
and had behaved himself in the battle with signal
courage ; yet his dispute with Evertson upon com-
mand had brought much prejudice to them. But
that which was worst of all and incensed De Wit
implacably was, that he was of entire ' devotion to
the prince of Orange, as his father had always been,
and all his children continued to be, and he knew
well had an especial part, how covertly soever, in
fomenting the murmurs of the people against n him
and the war : and he resolved to take this opportu-
nity of the good temper the States were in in their
concurrence for the setting out the fleet, not only to
provide for the better government of their ships and
marine conduct, but to punish and prevent the mur-
murs at land, by removing all those out of any power
whom he suspected to have secretly contributed to
them. He did all he could to make Van Trump's
offence capital, as if the right of command had been
so clear in Evertson that the other could not dis-
pute it : but Van Trump defended himself so well ,
and had so many friends, that he was absolved from
thajt guilt. Yet for some passionate and indiscreet
words, in which he did naturally abound, he was

n against] Omitted in MS. " so well] Not in MS.



" s f e ~



EDWARD EA11L OF CLARENDON. 411

deprived of his command, with a declaration, " that ] 665.
** he should no more be employed in the service of
" the States ;" which whilst the government was in
those hands he cared not for, and had a good estate
to subsist without it. And so for the present all
differences were composed so far, as to have a gene-
ral concurrence in whatsoever was necessary, and in
order to the making ready and setting out their fleet
to sea.

The king had been few days at Salisbury before The French
the French and Spanish ambassadors arrived there
and then they made some instance with the king, j" a s ti f
that there might be a treaty for peace ; and the P eac
French ambassadors P declared, " that the king their
" master was so far engaged by treaty with the
" Dutch, that if the king would not accept of a just
" and an honourable peace, his majesty must declare
** himself on their behalf, which he was unwilling to
" do. " The king answered, " that if there were any
" such engagement he had not been well dealt with ;
** for that the French 'king had given his word to
" him, that he would not enter into any treaty with
" the Dutch but * pari passu ' with his majesty,"
(and when his majesty had been informed that
there was some treaty concluded with them, he was
assured from France " that it was only a treaty of
" commerce, which he had been obliged to enter
" into to prevent an edict in Holland, by which
" strong waters and other French commodities would
" have been inhibited to be brought into those pro-
" virices, but that there was nothing in that treaty
" that could be to his majesty's prejudice :") " that

v the French ambassadors] Not in MS.



412 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " his majesty had been always ready to embrace
" peace, which had been never yet offered by the
" Dutch, nor did he know what conditions they ex-
" pected. "

The ambassadors seemed to be much offended
with the insolent behaviour of the Dutch ; and con-
fessed " that they were not solicitous for peace, but
"'only desired to engage the king their master in
" the war : but that if his majesty would make his
" demands, which they presumed would be reason-
" able, the other should be brought to consent to
" them. " To which the king replied, " that they had
" begun the war upon him, and not he upon them ;
" and that God had hitherto given him the advan-
" tage, which he hoped he should improve ; and till
" they were as desirous of a peace as he, it would not
" become him to make any propositions. " And in
this manner that affair stood whilst the court re-
mained at Salisbury.

And there now fell out an unexpected accident,
which looked as if Providence had been inclined to
repair the mischief and the damage that the plague
had produced to the affairs of the king. It hath
been mentioned before, that upon the first thoughts
of a war with the Dutch, the king had sent Mr.
Henry Coventry to Sweden, and sir Gilbert Talbot
to Denmark, to engage those crowns as far as might
be on his majesty's behalf, both of them being enough
disobliged and provoked by the Dutch.
success of Mr. Coventry in Sweden found a frank and open
reception, avowing a hearty affection to the king,
an d an inclination to join in any thing that might
not be destructive to their own affairs : nor did they
dissemble the injuries they had received from the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 413

Hollander even to the Dutch ambassador himself, 1665.
who was at the same time sent thither to unite that ~
crown to their interest, to which purpose he had
made several specious overtures. Nor did they con-
ceal the jealousy they had of the French, who had
not complied with the payment of the yearly sum of
money which they were obliged to make to them for
the support of their army, of which they were in
a great arrear, that discomposed their affairs very
much. And though M. Pompone, who had been
long resident in that court as an envoy, was now
come thither as ambassador from France, and brought
with him a good sum of money to retain them fast
to their dependance upon them ; yet the money was
not half that was due to them, and they well knew
what dark ends it was for : and they did exceed-
ingly fear the omnipotence of France.

There were two things which kept them from a
full declaration on the king's behalf, and engaging
presently in his interest. The first was the appre-
hension that they had of Denmark, that it would
take this opportunity to unite themselves more
firmly to the Hollander, and so attempt to deprive
Sweden of all their late conquest, which was con-
firmed to them by their own treaty of Copenhagen,
which they were resolved never to part from : and
in this particular they were to expect some satisfac-
tion and security from the negociation of sir Gilbert
Talbot. The other was, that they might see the bi-
shop of Munster fully engaged, upon whose expedi-
tion they had much expectation. And Mr. Coven-
try had informed them of that whole agreement,
which would have given them opportunity to have



1665. prosecuted their own design upon Bremen, to which

"their hearts were most devoted.

And of sir Sir Gilbert Talbot had been as well received in
bot-s to Denmark, with all the professions imaginable of af-
irk> fection to the king, and of their detestation of the
Dutch, who in truth had exercised a strange ty-
ranny over them by the advantage of their necessi-
ties ; nor is the injustice, oppression, and indignities
which they had sustained from them to be expressed
and described, without entering into a large dis-
course of particulars which are foreign to this rela-
tion : let it suffice, that there needed few arguments
to persuade that king to any thing that was within
his power, and which would have done signal mis-
chief to the Dutch. But the truth is, the kingdom
was very poor, the people unwarlike, the king him-
self very good and very weak, jealous of all the
great men, and not yet recovered of the fright that
Wolfelt had put him into. His chief minister, one
Gabell, had gotten his credit by having been his
barber, an illiterate and unbred man, yet his sole
confident in his business of greatest trust; which
made all the persons of quality in the kingdom, who
are as proud of their nobility as any nation, full of
indignation. And they were able to cross many re-
solutions after they were taken, though they could
not establish others in the place ; which made the
king very irresolute and unfixed : so that what was
concluded to-day was reversed or not pursued to-
morrow. They professed a great jealousy of the
Swede, as the greatest argument, but their weak-
ness, against a war with *i the Dutch ; yet were not
<i a war with] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 415

willing to propose any expedients which might se-
cure them against those jealousies. And the king
absolutely denied that he had ever given Hannibal
Zested authority to declare, " that he would again
" confirm the treaty he had made ;" and seemed to
take it unkindly that his majesty should think it
reasonable, who therefore thought it so, because it
was proposed by himself, and because he still con-
fessed, " that he could make no attempt to recover
" what he had parted with. " That which he did
unreasonably design, in all the disguises which were
put on, was to engage the king to endeavour to per-
suade the Swede to give up and restore Elsineur
and the other places to Denmark, or to assist him
with force for the recovery of them when there
should be a peace concluded with Holland : so that
the king despaired of any good from that negoci-
ation, and resolved shortly to recall his minister from
thence.

But there was on a sudden a change to wonder. A
Gabell came early in a morning to sir Gilbert Talbot, O f theat-



and told him, " his master was now resolved to unite

" his interest entirely to that of the Mng of Eng- atBergeiu

" land, having now an opportunity to do it securely

" to both their benefits. " He told him, " that there

" were letters arrived that night from Bergen, with

" news that the Dutch East India ships were all

" arrived in that port with orders to remain there

" till they received new orders from Holland, which

" they should have as soon as their fleet should be

" ready to join with them. This had disposed the

" king to resolve to give the king of England op-

" portunity to possess himself of all that treasure,

" out of which he presumed he would allow him ,



416 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " such a share, as might enable him to declare, and
~~" assist his majesty vigorously in his war, against
" the Dutch. That if he gave speedy notice to the
"king's fleet, which every body knew was then at
" sea, it might easily go to Bergen, where they might
" as easily surprise all those ships in the port, since
" they should receive no opposition from the castles
" under whose protection they lay. "

And when he had done his relation, he offered
him to go with him to the king, that he might re-
ceive the obligation from himself; which sir Gilbert
Talbot presently did, and found his majesty as cheer-
ful in the resolution as Gabell had been. He re-
peated all that the other had said, and more parti-
cularly " that he thought it reasonable that he might
" expect half of the value that the whole would
" amount to ; which he would rely upon the king's
" honour and justice for, after the ships should be
" in England, that r he might not be suspected by
" the Hollander, for he would protest against 8 the
" act as a violence that he could not resist : and
" that l he would expect so many of his majesty's
" ships u to arrive in Denmark, and to assist him,
" before he positively declared against the Dutch. "
He wished sir Gilbert Talbot " to send an express
" forthwith to the king with all these particulars ;"
which he did the next day.

This express arrived within few days after the
king came to Salisbury, and was despatched pre-
sently back again with letters to the king of Den-
mark of his majesty's consent and ratification of all
that he had proposed, and with letters likewise to

r that] and that i that] so

* against] Omitted in MS. " ships] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 417

the earl of Sandwich, who according to his former 1665.
orders had sailed northward in hope to meet with '
that fleet, which was before got into Norway. The
king's letters to him came in a very good season,
and he immediately continued his course for Nor-
way : and when he came to that length, and near
enough to that land of rocks which are terrible to
all seamen, he thought it best to remain at sea with
his fleet, lest De Ruyter might by this time be come
out with his fleet, (since his being come northward
could not be concealed, nor the arrival of the East
India fleet at Bergen ; which would hasten the other,)
and sent in a squadron of fifteen or sixteen good ships
(of strength sufficient for the business) into the har-
bour of Bergen with a letter to the governor. And
with it he sent in x a gentleman that was a volun-
teer on board him, who hath been often mentioned
before, Mr. Clifford, the confident of the lord Ar-
lington, who was well instructed in all the trans-
actions which had been at Copenhagen. Before
they went into the harbour, Mr. Clifford and another
gentleman or two went by boat to the town, where
he found all the Dutch ships (about a dozen in num-
ber) riding very near the shore, and all under the
protection of the castle, into which they had put
much of their richest lading from the time of their
first coming thither, as to a place of unquestionable
security.

The governor was not surprised with the mes-
sengers or the letter, as appeared by the reception
of both, but seemed troubled that they were come
so soon, before the manner of performing the action

* in] Not in MS.
VOL. II. E 6



418 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. was enough adjusted : he could not deny but " that
" he had received orders from Copenhagen ; but that
" he expected more perfect directions within four
" and twenty hours, and expected likewise the pre-
" sence of the vice-king of Norway, who was his
" superior officer, and would infallibly be there the
" next day. " The behaviour of the man was such
as made them believe it sincere, as in truth it was,
for he meant well, and was content that the ships,
which though they were not come into the port did
not ride safe amongst the rocks, should come into
the port, upon assurance that they would not at-
tempt any hostile act without his consent, which
was till all things should be agreed between them :
and so the fleet entered ; which the Dutch perceived
with great consternation, yet changed the posture
of some of their ships, and new-moored the rest, and
put themselves upon their defence.

It is a port like no other that the world knows, a
very great number of formidable rocks, between
each of which the sea runs deep enough for the
greatest ships to ride securely ; so that the ships
were as in so many chambers apart between the
rocks : and the Dutch, which came thither first, had
possessed themselves of that line of the sea that lay
next to the shore, to which they lay so near that
they could descend from their vessels on land ; which
had been much the better for the enterprise, if the
Dane had concurred in it.

It was so late before the English ships had taken
their places, which was as near the Dutch as the
rocks would permit, that they remained quiet all
night, which was spent in consultation between the
commander in chief of the English ships (who was



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 419

a stout and a good officer, but a rough man, who
knew better how to follow his instructions than to
debate the ground of them ; but he was advised by
Mr. Clifford, and conformed to his judgment) and
the governor of the town and castle, who seemed
still inclined not only to suffer the English to do
what they would, but to be willing to act a part in
it himself from the shore, and to expect hourly or-
ders to that purpose, as likewise the arrival of the
vice-king, whose authority was more equal to that
attempt, and who was a man well known to have a
particular reverence for the king, and as particular
a prejudice and animosity against the Dutch. The
night being over, the governor continued all the
next day as desirous and importunate that the
enterprise might be longer deferred ; upon which
there were some choleric words between the go-
vernor and a gentleman of quality who was a volun-
teer on board the ships, which many thought in
some degree irreconciled the governor to the affair.

In conclusion, the commander of the squadron
was willing to think that the governor had rather it
should be done without his declared consent than by
it, and so told him, " that the next morning he was
'* resolved to weigh his anchors and to fall upon the
" Dutch ;" to which the other made such a reply-as
confirmed him in his former imagination. And in
the morning the ships were brought out of their
several channels, and placed as near the sides of the
Dutch as they could be, from whence they resolved
to board them as soon as they had sent their broad-
sides upon them. But they found that the Dutch
had spent their time well ; for in the two days and
two nights that the English had been in the harbour,

E e 2



420 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. besides the unlading the richest of their commodities
~ that were left into the castle, they had drawn all
their ordnance, which lay on that side of the ships
which was to the shore, on land, and planted them
upon a rising ground, that they could shoot over
their own ships upon the English : and a breastwork
was cast up, behind which all the inhabitants of the
town were in arms.

The in sue- ft was a fair warning, and might very well have
persuaded our men to be glad to retire out of the
harbour, which yet they might have done : but their
courage or their anger disposed them to make fur-
ther trial of the governor, for they feared not the
ordnance from the land which the Dutch had plant-
ed, nor the muskets from the breastworks, if the
castle did them no harm, under the power of which
they all were. And so they fell upon their work :
and in some time, and with y the loss of many men
from the ships and from the land, they had dis-
mounted many of the ordnance upon the shore, and
were even ready to board the ships ; when out of
absurd rage or accident a ship or two of the English
discharged some guns both upon the breastworks,
from whence they had received no prejudice, and
upon the town, which beat down some houses. But
then all the muskets from the breastworks were
poured out, and guns from the castle, which killed,
very many common men, and five or six officers of
very good account, and some gentlemen volunteers,
amongst which was Edward Mountague, eldest son
to the lord Mountague of Boughton, and cousin
german to the earl of Sandwich, a proper man and

y with] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 421

well-bred, but not easy to be pleased, and who was ] 665.
then withdrawn from the court, where he was mas-~
ter of the horse to the queen, and in some discon-
tent had put himself on board the fleet with a cap-
tain, without the privity of the earl of Sandwich,
and was now slain. There was now no further ex-
periment to be made, but how they could get to sea,
which might easily have been prevented from the
shore and from the rocks : but from the minute
that they prepared to be gone and gave over shoot-
ing, there was no more done against them, and they
had pilots from the country that carried them safe
out.

The noise of the guns had called the earl of Sand-
wich as near the mouth of the harbour as could
safely be, to discover what became of his squadron ;
so that they came shortly to him with the whole ac-
count of their ill success, and within a short time
after a shallop from the governor 7 , with a letter
to the officer who had commanded the squadron,
complaining as much as he could do of the misbe-
haviour of the English in shooting upon the town,
and desiring "that Mr. Clifford would give him a
" meeting at a place he appointed, to which the
" shallop should convey him. " Mr. Clifford was more
willing to go than the earl was to permit him ; yet
at last upon his earnest desire he consented, and he
put himself into the shallop. It happened that when
the action was over and the English under sail, the
vice-king arrived at Bergen, with two or three regi-
ments of the country ; and the orders were likewise
come from Copenhagen, whereby, at least as they

z from the governor] Not in MS.

E e 3



422 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. pretended, they were required to permit all that the
~" English desired : and the vice-king had caused the
shallop to be sent, and was himself with the gover-
nor at the place whither Mr. Clifford was to come,
and there he spake with them together.

The governor with many protestations excused
himself for shooting from the castle, after the town
was assaulted, and many of the burghers killed, who
had stood in arms only to defend the town, without
being concerned for the Dutch or their ships ; and
made it an argument of his integrity and respect,
" that he had permitted them to depart when it
" was in his power to have sunk them. " He com-
plained, " that the commander would not have the
" patience to defer the assault one day longer,
" which if he had done, the orders from Copenhagen
" had been come, and the vice-king had been pre-
" sent with his forces, which would have secured
** the enterprise. " The vice-king seemed very much
troubled for what had been done, and earnestly de-
sired " that the same or another squadron might be
" again sent in, when they should be at liberty to do
" what they would upon the Dutch ; and if they
*' stood in need of assistance, they should have as
" much as was necessary. "

Mr. Clifford replied to many of the excuses which
were made, and urged " the suffering the Dutch to
** bring their ordnance on shore, and the townsmen
** being in arms to assist them ;" and proposed,
" that they would first begin by seizing upon some
" of their ships, and then that their fleet should an-
" swer :" but this the vice-king did absolutely refuse,
and made another proposition, that startled more,
and was directly new, " that when the English had



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 423

" seized upon all the Dutch ships, they should not 1665.
" have carried any of them away till a perfect divi- ~
" sion of the goods was made, that the king of
" Denmark might have his just proportion. " Mr.
Clifford made no answer but " that he would pre-
" sent all that they proposed to the earl of Sand-
" wich, in whom the power of concluding and ex-
" ecuting remained solely :" and so he returned to
the fleet, and they to the town, and expected an
answer.

The earl of Sandwich thought not fit to run any The eari of
more hazards, and was not satisfied that they
proceeded sincerely. But that which most
vailed with him was, that he had received i
gence "that De Ruyter was come out with the
" fleet," and he would not he should find him en-
tangled in those rocks, or obliged to fight with him
upon that coast; and the season of the year now
made that station very unsecure, for it was already
the beginning of October, when those seas run very
high and boisterous : and therefore he resolved to
be master of more sea-room, that he might fight De
Ruyter, if he came ; and if he did not, he might then
meet those East India ships more securely in their
way to Holland, than by making another attempt
in the harbour. And so, after some letters had
passed and repassed between the vice-king and
him, and both the vice-king and governor had
undertaken to keep the Dutch ships there for the
space of six weeks, for they desired to see the suc-
cess of another engagement between the two fleets ;
the earl steered that way with his fleet that most
probably might bring him and De Ruyter together,
which above all things he desired.

E e 4



424 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. This whole affair of Bergen and the managery
Tbe au _ thereof was so perplexed and intricate, that it was
thor-s re. never clearly understood. That which seemed to

flections J

upon this have most probability was, that as soon as the
Dutch fleet came to Bergen, they had unladen
many of their richest commodities and put them
into the castle, before the governor had received his
orders from Copenhagen : and so both his own and
his master's faith and honour were engaged to dis-
charge the trust, of which he made haste to send an
account to the king, and thereupon expected new
directions, which were not arrived when the English
fleet came thither. And when they did come,
whether that court, according to its custom, did
change its mind, and believe they should make a
better bargain by keeping what was already depo-
sited in their hands in the castle, than by making
an uncertain division with the king; or whether
they did in truth continue firm to the first agree-
ment, and that the messenger was stopped by ex-
traordinary accidents in his journey, (which was po-
sitively alleged,) so that he did not arrive in time ;
or whether the governor was not able to master the
town that was much inclined to the Hollanders,
before the vice-king came with his troops, who did
make all possible haste as soon as he heard that the
English were arrived ; or whether the English did
proceed more unadvisedly and rashly than they
ought to have done ; remains still in the dark :
and both parties reproached each other afterwards,
as they found most necessary for their several
defences and pretences ; of which more hereafter.
The king The king stayed not altogether so long at Salis-
eourt re- bury as he had intended to have done : for besides



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 425

a little accidental indisposition which made him dis- 1 665.
like the air, some inferior servants and their wives more to
came from London or the villages adjacent, and xford '
brought the plague with them ; so that the court
removed to Oxford before the end of September,
the parliament being to assemble there on the tenth
of the next month. And before he left Salisbury,
his majesty sent an express to York to his brother,
" that he would meet him as soon as he could. "
The duke had lived in great lustre in York all that
summer, with the very great respect and continual
attendance of all the persons of quality of that large
county : and the duke no sooner received his ma-
jesty's summons than he took post, and left his wife
and family to follow by ordinary journeys, and him-
self came to Oxford the next day after the king,
where there were indeed matters of the highest im-
portance to be consulted and resolved.

The king had sent Mr. Clifford to Denmark to be
satisfied, upon conference with sir Gilbert Talbot,
concerning the miscarriage at Bergen, and if the
ships remained still there according to the promise
the vice-king had made, and if that king were
ready to perform what he had undertaken, that all
particulars might be so adjusted that there might
be no further mistake ; and if he found that the jea-
lousy of Sweden was a real obstruction to that
alliance, that he should make a journey to Sweden,
and upon conference with Mr. Coventry, who by
his dexterity and very good parts had reconciled the
affections of that court to a very great esteem of
him, endeavour a to remove all those obstructions :
and as soon as his majesty should receive full infor-
a endeavour] to endeavour



426 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. mation of that whole affair, he must consider what
~he was to do to vindicate himself in that business
of Bergen ; for he knew well that he must suffer
with all the world, for violating the peace of a port
that was under the government of a neighbour
prince with whom he was allied, if he did not make
it appear that he had the consent of that prince,
which he was not willing to do till he first knew
what that king would do.



A further j n fa e next place his majesty was to resolve what

negotiation > J

with the answer to make to the French ambassadors, who

French am- -i i / i- -,

bassadors. now desired trequcnt audiences, and positively de-
clared, " that their master was engaged by his
*' treaty with the Dutch, that in case they were in-
" vaded or assaulted by any prince, he would assist
" them with men, money, and ships, which he had
** hitherto deferred to do out of respect to the king,
" and in hope that he would accept his mediation,
** and make such propositions towards peace as he
" might press the others to consent to. " The Dutch
ambassador was likewise come to town, rather to
treat concerning the prisoners and to observe what
the French ambassadors did, than that he had any
thing to propose in order to peace, there appearing
now since their fleet was at sea more insolence in
the Dutch, and a greater aversion from the peace,
than had been formerly.

The king complained to the ambassadors of the
French king's proceedings, " that the entering into
** that treaty was expressly against his word given to
" the king : that the Dutch had first began the war,
' and ought to make the first approach towards
" peace, but that their b ambassador had no instruc-
b their] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 427

" tion to make any such instance; and therefore it 1665.
" seemed very strange to his majesty, that the ~
" French king should press for that which they had
" no desire to have. "

The ambassadors confessed " that the Dutch did
" not desire a peace ; that they thought they were
" too much behindhand, and that they had at pre-
" sent great advantages ; that they looked upon the
" great plague in London" (which continued in its
full rage and vigour, insomuch as at that time in the
end of September there died not so few as six thou-
sand in the week, amongst which some were of the
best quality in the city) " as of such insupportable
" damage to the king, that he would not be able to
" set out another fleet the year following : and
" therefore that, when they had been pressed by the
" French king to make some propositions towards
" peace, he could get no other answer from them,
" than that they expected that the island of Pole-
" roone should be released to them, and that the
" fort at Cabo Corso in Guinea should be thrown
" down and slighted ; which they confessed was an
" insolent proposition. That they complained that
" the king their master, instead of giving them the
" assistance he was obliged to do, spent the time in
" procuring a peace, which they cared not for : so
" that," they said, " their master continued the same
" Christian office principally to do his majesty of
" Great Britain a service, who he in truth believed
" would be reduced to great straits by the terrible
" effect of the plague ; and in the next place to de-
" fend himself from entering into the war, which he
" could no longer defer to do, if his majesty did not,
" by consenting to some reasonable overture, give



428 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " him a just occasion to press them to yield to it;
~~ " and in that case he would behave himself in that
" manner that the king should have no cause to
" complain of his partiality. " The king's indigna-
tion was so provoked by the pride and impudence of
the Dutch demands, that he gave the ambassadors
no other answer, than " that he hoped God Al-
v mighty had not sent that heavy judgment of the
" plague upon him and his people on the behalf of
" the Hollanders, and to expose him to their inso-
" lerice. "

Tlie parliament convened at Oxford in greater



""oxford. * numbers than could reasonably have been expected,
the sickness still continuing to rage and spread itself
in several counties ; so that between the danger that
was in the towns infected, and the necessary severity
hi other towns to keep themselves from being in-
fected, it was a very inconvenient season for all per-
sons of quality to travel from their own habitations.
Upon the tenth of October the king commanded
both houses to attend him in Christ Church hall,

The ting's and told them, " that he was confident they did all
. " believe, that if it had not been absolutely neces-
" sary to consult with them, he would not have
" called them together at that time, when the con-
" tagion had spread itself over so many parts of the
" kingdom : and he thanked them for their compli-
" ance so far with his desires. "

His majesty said, " the truth was ; as he had en-
" tered upon the war by their advice and encou-
" ragement, so he desired that they might as fre-
" quently as was possible receive information of the
" effects and conduct of it, and that he might have
" the continuance of their cheerful supply for the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 429

" carrying it on. He would not deny to them, that 1665.
" it had proved more chargeable than he could ima- ~~
" gine it would have been : the addition the enemy
" had still made to their fleets, beyond their first
" purpose, made it unavoidably necessary for him to
" make proportionable preparations, which God had
" hitherto blessed with success in all encounters.
" And as they had used their utmost endeavours by
" calumnies and false suggestions to gain friends to
" themselves, and to persuade them to assist them
" against him, so he had not been wanting to en-
" courage those princes who had been wronged by
" the Dutch, to recover their own by force ; and in
" order thereunto, he had assisted the bishop of
" Munster with a great sum of ready money, and
" was to continue a supply to him, who he believed
" was at that time in the bowels of their country
" with a powerful army.

" Those issues, which he might tell them had
" been made with very much conduct and hus-
" bandry, (nor indeed did he know that any thing
" had been spent that could have been well and
" safely saved ;)" he said, " those expenses would
" not suffer them to wonder, that the great supply
" which they gave him for this war in so bountiful a
" proportion was upon the matter already spent : so
" that he must not only expect an assistance from
" them to carry on that war, but such an assistance
" as might enable him to defend himself and them
" against a more powerful neighbour, if he should
" prefer the friendship of the Dutch before his. "

He put them in mind, " that when he entered
" upon this war, he had told them, that he had not
" such a brutal appetite as to make war for war's



430 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

J665. " sake ; he was still of the same mind : he had been
" ready to receive any propositions that France had
" thought fit to offer to that end, but hitherto no-
" thing had been offered worthy his acceptance ;
" nor was the Dutch less insolent, though he knew .
" no advantage they had got but the continuance of
" the contagion, and he hoped that God Almighty
" would shortly deprive them of that encourage-
" ment. "
Substance The chancellor at the same time, by the king's

of the chan- J



command, made a short narrative of the history of
the war, the circumstances with which it was be-
gun, and the progress it had since made, and the
victory that the duke had attained; of the vast
number of the prisoners and sick and wounded men,
a charge that had never been computed.

He told them, " the French king had indeed of-
" fered his mediation, and that if he intended no more
" than a mediation, it was an office very worthy the
" most Christian king : he wished, that as a mediator
" he would make equal propositions, or that he
" would not so importunately press his majesty to
" consent to those he makes, upon an instance and
" argument, that he holds himself engaged by a for-
" mer treaty (of which his majesty had never heard
" till since the beginning of the war, and had some
" reason to have presumed the contrary) to assist
" the Dutch with men and money, if his majesty
" would not consent. "

He said, " his majesty had told them, that he had
" no appetite to make war for war's sake ; but he
" would be always ready to make such a peace as
" might be for his honour and the interest of his
" subjects = And no doubt it would be a great trouble



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 431

" and grief to his majesty to find so great a prince, 1665
" towards whom he had manifested so great an af-~~
" fection, in conjunction with his enemies : yet even
" the apprehension of such a war would not terrify
" him to purchase a peace by such concessions as he
" should be ashamed to make them acquainted with ;
" of which nature they would easily believe the pro-
" positions hitherto made to be, when they knew
" the release of Poleroone in the East Indies, and
" the demolishing the fort of Cabo Corso upon the
" coast of Guinea, were two ; which would be upon
" the matter to be contented with a very vile trade
" in the East Indies under their control, and with
" none in Guinea. And yet those are not propo-
" sitions unreasonable enough to please the Dutch,
" who reproached France for interposing for peace,
" instead of assisting them in the war, boldly in-
" sisting upon the advantage the contagion in Lon-
" don and some other parts of the kingdom gives
" them ; by which, they confidently say, the king
" will be no longer able to maintain a fleet against
" them at sea. "

He told them, " that he had fully obeyed the
" command that had been laid upon him, in making
" that plain, clear, true narrative of what had pass-
" ed ; he had no order to make reflection upon it, nor
"any deduction from it: the king himself had told
" them, that the noble, unparalleled supply they had
" already given him is upon the matter spent, spent
" with all the animadversions of good husbandly
" that the nature of the affair would bear. What
" was more to be done he left to their own generous
" understandings, being not more assured of any
" thing that was to come in this world, than that the



432, CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 665. " same noble indignation for the honour of the king
~ " and the nation, that first provoked them to inflame
" the king himself, would continue the same passion
" still boiling in their loyal breasts ; that all the
" world may see, which they never hoped to have
" seen, that never prince and people were so entirely
" united in their affections, for their true, joint, in-
" separable honour, as their only sure infallible expe-
** dient to preserve their distinct several interests. "
A further The king could not expect or wish a fuller con-
g^Jd. currence from a parliament than he now found.
With very little hesitation they declared, " that they
" would supply his majesty with another million,
" (ten hundred thousand pounds :)" and because
they desired to be dismissed as soon as might be to
their several habitations, not without apprehension
that so great a concourse of persons from all places,
even from London itself, (for the term was likewise
adjourned to Oxford,) might bring the contagion
thither likewise ; they rejected all other businesses
but what immediately related to the public. To
the supply they designed to the king they added
the sum of above forty thousand pounds, which they
desired his majesty to confer upon the duke, having
received some insinuation, " that it would not be
" ingrateful to the king that such a present should
An act for be made to his brother. " Then they passed two

attainting o i i/ti*

the English or three acts ot parliament very much for the king s
honour and security, amongst which one was, " for
" the attainting all those his subjects who either re-
" sided in Holland" (as some of the English officers
who had long served in that country presumed still
to do) " and continued in their service, or in any
" other parts beyond the seas, if they did not ap-



service.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 4433

" pear at a day prefixed, after notice by the king's 1C65.
" proclamation :" and the nomination of the persons "~
was entirely left to his majesty.

His majesty did hope, that this very good car-
riage in the parliament would have made some im-
pression upon France, either to have given c over
their mediation, or to have drawn reasonable and
just concessions from the States : but it did pro-
duce the contrary. The Hollander had received a
new damage which inflamed them exceedingly,
which shall be particularly mentioned in the next
place, whereupon they made grievous complaints to
France of its breach of faith upon the promises that
had been made to them. That d king upon this
required his ambassadors once more to make a lively
instance to his majesty, " that he would declare
" what he meant to insist upon in order to a peace,
" which if he should refuse to do, they should take
" their leaves and return into France with all pos-
" sible expedition. " In this audience they spake in
a higher style than they had formerly used. They The French
complained " of the intolerable damage the subjects dors re-



" of France had sustained in their goods and estates

" by the king's ships, and those who were licensed English*'' 6

" by his authority, which without any distinction

" seized upon all that came in their way as if they

" were Dutch : and when they complained to the

" admiralty or to the lords commissioners, they could

" procure no justice, and were obliged to such e an

" attendance and expense, that what they sued for

" did not prove of value to satisfy the charge of the

" prosecution ; and if after a long and a tedious so-

c have given] give d That] The e such] Not in MS.
VOL. II.
F f



434 CONTINUATION OR THE LIFE OF

1665. " licitation they did at last procure a sentence for the
~~ " redelivery of what had been taken from them,
" when they hoped to enjoy the benefit of this just
" sentence by the execution, they found the goods
" embezzled in the port or plundered by the seamen,
" that the owners had rarely a third part of their
" goods ever restored to them. And that by this
" violence and unjust proceeding, of which they had
" often made complaint, the French merchants had
" lost near five hundred thousand pistoles ; which
" their master resented and looked upon as a great
" indignity to himself, which he had hitherto borne,
" in hope that the license would have been restrained
" by the end of the war. "

They urged it as an argument of their master's
friendship to the king, " that after an offensive treaty
" had been so long since entered into by him, by
" which he was obliged to assist the Dutch with
" men, money, and ships, he had notwithstanding
" hitherto forborne it, and looked on whilst they
" were soundly beaten, and had lately sustained
" another blow ; and that it was not possible for
" him to defer it longer :" and so concluded with
very earnest persuasions, " that his majesty would
" consent to such a peace as their master should
"judge to be reasonable, who could not but be very
" just to his majesty ;" and wished, " that it might
" be considered, besides the damage by the plague,
" which nobody knew how long it might continue,
" how impossible it was for the king to sustain the
" arms of France in conjunction with those of
" Holland, when possibly some other prince might
" join likewise with them. "

They who were appointed by the king to confer



EDWARD EARL OF CjLARENDON. 435

with the ambassadors were most perplexed to justify JG6f>.
their first charge, " of the depredation that had A confer _
"been made upon the French merchants," which e " cebe ~

* tween them

had in truth been very great, though not amounting and the
to the sum they mentioned. Yet to that they an- ministers
swered, " that the damage and loss which the sub- r e P mon- "
" jects of France had undergone that way had ori- strance "
" ginally proceeded from themselves, and their own
" default in owning the goods and merchandise of
" the Dutch to belong to themselves as their proper
" goods, and in undertaking to carry and deliver
" the wine and other goods, which were bought and
" paid for in France by the Hollanders, in French
" vessels in that country ; all which had been fully
" and notoriously proved, and could not be contra-
" dieted : and when that discovery was once made,
" it was no wonder if the seamen sometimes seized
" upon some vessels which were not liable to the
" same reproach. But when any complaints of that
" kind had been made, the king had always given
" strict charge to the judges to cause restitution to
" be made, and the transgressors to be severely pu-
" nished ; and his majesty presumed that the judges
" had done their duty. For the French king's being
" bound by his treaty to assist the Hollanders," they
Said, " that if the king had any such obligation upon
" him, it was subsequent to his obligation to his
" majesty, by which he was bound to make no such
" treaty : nor in truth did they believe that he had
" entered into any such treaty ? for if it were only
" such as they themselves stated it to be, a defen-
" sive league, it would neither engage nor excuse
" France in giving assistance to them who had done
" the wrong and begun the war ; and therefore if

F f 2



436 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 665. " the king was in truth bound to assist them, it must
~ " be from some offensive, not defensive clause. "

The ambassadors replied, " that their master con-
" eluded that their king was the aggressor, and then
" the defensive article did oblige him ;" and they
acknowledged there was no other. It was answer-
ed, " that the king had assumed a power to judge
" upon a matter of fact of which he had taken no
" examination ; and that it was a partiality not agree-
" able to the office of a judge, to believe what the
" Dutch said, and not to believe what the king said,
" who had clearly published the true history of the
" fact ; and that it was notorious, and not possible
" to be denied, that they had refused to deliver Pole-
" roone according to their treaty, and that De Ruyter
" had begun the war in Guinea before one of their
" ships had been seized on by the king. " To which
they replied, " that their master thought otherwise,
" and did look upon the king as aggressor. " When
they were urged with the violation of the former
obligation by entering into the latter, all the answer
they gave was, " that they knew nothing of it, and
" that they had commission only to treat upon the
" present state of affairs, and not upon what had
" passed long before ;" and so, according to the cha-
racter they underwent near fourteen hundred years
since, " Galli ridentes fidem fregerunt. "

The counsellors of the king told them, " that
" their master had very well considered the disad-
" vantage he must undergo by the access of so pow-
" erful a friend, and of whose friendship he had
" thought himself possessed, to the part of his ene-
" mies, who were too insolent already ; and there-
" fore to prevent that disadvantage, he had and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 437

" would do any thing that would consist with the
" dignity of a king : but that he must be laughed
" at and despised by all the world, if he should con-
" sent to make him the arbitrator of the differences
" who had already declared himself to be a party,
" and that he is resolved to make war against him
"on the behalf of his enemy ; and that such menaces
" would make no impression in the last article of
" danger that could befall the king. " The ambas-
sadors took that expression of menaces very heavily,
as if it were a tax upon their manners, and said
" they had never used words that could imply a
" menace. " To which it was replied, " that there
" was no purpose to make any reflection upon their
" persons, who had always carried themselves with
" great respect to the king, and who his majesty be-
" lieved did in their own particular affection wish
" him better than they did the Dutch : however the
" declaring, that if the king did not do this or that,
" the French king would make war upon him, could
" in no language be looked upon to have any other
"signification than of a menace and threat. " This
raised a little warmth on both sides, which made
the conference break off at that time.

The ambassadors prepared to be gone ; and the
king discerned clearly that there was no way to
divert the French from an entire conjunction with
the Dutch : and thereupon he assembled his secret
council together again, to consult what should be
the final answer his majesty -should give to the
French ambassadors at parting. There was no per-
son present, who had not a deep apprehension of the
extreme damage and danger that must fall upon the

Ff8



438 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. king's affairs, if in this conjuncture France should

""declare a war against England.

The pros- It was well known, that the duke of Beaufort
kfng-s af- e was forthwith to be at Brest, where all the French
ume. at " s king's ships were to assemble at their rendezvous by
Christmas ; that the French king f had already sent
to the bishop of Munster to dissuade him from pro-
secuting his enterprise against Holland, and that pro-
bably he might unite Denmark again to the Dutch,
and probably even allay those warm inclinations
which the Swede had for the king. It was well
known, that the French king had in the last dis-
tractions in Holland contributed very much to the
composing them, and to the support of the power
and credit of De Wit, who was the soul of the war,
and that he had sent him one hundred thousand
pistoles, without which they would have hardly been
able to have set out their last fleet under De Ruyter.
And ^above all this, his giving life to some domestic
rebellion in England and in Ireland, by sending mo-
ney to discontented persons, was apprehended : for
as there were enough discontented and desperate per-
sons in the latter, who wanted only arms and money
to declare for any prince who would take them into
his protection ; so % it was well known that there
was a general combination amongst those of the
late army to have risen, if the duke of York had
been defeated at sea, and that it was that victory
that disappointed that intended insurrection. That
there had been a later design, in the very height of
this dismal sickness and contagion, in London, (whi-

f the French king] he s so] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 439

ther the fanatic party had repaired from all the 1665.
quarters of the kingdom, and had appointed a day ~
upon which the general should be assassinated, which
some soldiers of his own regiment had undertaken,
and then the whole rendezvous x was to be in several
streets at the same time ;) which in so formidable a
conjuncture might have succeeded to a great degree,
if by God's blessing it had not been discovered two
days before to the general, who caused some of the
chief conspirators to be apprehended, who suffered
afterwards by the hand of justice. And yet the
chief amongst them, colonel Danvers, who in spite
of all the vigilance that could be used had been al-
ways searched for and always concealed from the
time of the king's return, being at this time appre-
hended and brought before the general, and by him
sent with a lieutenant and a guard of soldiers to the
Tower, was rescued in Cheapside, and so escaped,
all the citizens looking on without aiding the officer.
This was the prospect that the king had of his
condition and affairs in this consultation : and there-
fore if any thing could have occurred that might
probably have diverted this storm, it would no doubt
have been embraced. But then the exceeding breach
of faith in entering into that treaty, the denying it
afterwards, and concealing his engagement by it so
long after the war was entered into, (which if he
had not done, the king could never have looked
upon him as a fit mediator,) and the impossibility
of depending upon any thing -that should be pro-
mised for the future, were convincing arguments
against any such reference of the conditions to his
determination as was proposed, and was the only
expedient that was proposed towards the making a

Ff 4



440 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1665. peace. It was well known that the chief counsels



of France, since monsieur Colbert entered upon the
ministry, had been directed towards the advance-
ment of manufactures at home, by which they might
have less need of commerce with their neighbours ;
and for the erecting a trade h abroad, with which
they had been very little acquainted in former times.
And it was justly to be feared, that where the judg-
ment was left to them, they would imitate the in-
famous Roman precedent, of adjudging that to
themselves that was in difference between their
neighbours and left to their decision : and so both
Poleroone in the East Indies, and Cabo Corso for
the West, must be determined to belong to them ;
which might be the rather apprehended, by their
having erected an East India company and a West
India company, before they had any visible founda-
tion for a trade in either, to which both these places
might carry with them great conveniences.

A final an- These considerations being seriously reflected upon,
with a little generous indignation to find himself
thus treated, prevailed with the king to lay aside
all thoughts of further complying with France, and
to resolve to dismiss the ambassadors without any
other answer, than what should contain complaints,
" of the French king's want of kindness, which his
" majesty had cultivated by all the offices he could
" perform since his restoration, which did not re-
" ceive an equal return, by the preferring the friend-
" ship of the Dutch before that of his majesty. "

They leave And with this answer the ambassadors were dis-

the king-
dom, missed, with liberal presents and all gracious de-

h a trade] a foreign trade



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 441

monstrations of esteem of their persons, and so 1665.



returned for France, where they always gave just
testimony of the civilities and fair treatment they
had received.

But this resolution increased the king's appetite
to peace, and made him think of all other expedi-
ents that might contribute to it ; and none seemed
so hopeful, as that France and Holland might be
divided : and he would have been very willing to A prospect
have agreed with Holland upon any reasonable con- France and
ditions, that he might continue the war with France ; Holland -
which there were many reasonable inducements to
hope might be brought to pass. It was notorious,
that preparations had been made for two or three
years past by France at a very great expense upon
the borders, that they might be ready to enter
into Flanders as soon as news should arrive of the
king of Spain's death ; and that war would immedi-
ately fall out as soon as that king's decease should
be known, which from his age and infirmities must
be expected every day : and in that case the friend-
ship could not continue long with Holland, which
thought that France was already too near a neigh-
bour to them, to be willing that they should be nearer
by a conquest of Flanders, which with its own force
could not make an equal resistance. It was likewise
as notorious that all the other provinces, Holland
only excepted, did impatiently desire the peace; and
Holland had only been restrained from the same
impatience by the sole credit" and authority of De
Wit, and by his persuading them, " that France
" would assist them with men, money, and ships, and
*' likewise declare a war. against England, which"



442 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. (as hath been said before) " would produce a peace
~ " upon such conditions as would make it happy to
" them :" and that though it was true that it had
indeed assisted them with some money, it was not
considerable to their vast expenses, nor in truth of
importance in comparison of the other, which it was
equally obliged to do, and had performed nothing.
And it was evident that Holland itself was jealous
of those proceedings ; and even De Wit, in his pri-
vate discourses to other ministers, seemed to be much
unsatisfied with their breach of faith, and not to be
without apprehension that they would in the end
enter into a stricter alliance with England, and leave
Holland as a prey to both.

The Spanish ambassador, who always desired that
the peace might be established between the English
and the Dutch, and that they would both join with
Spain in a defensive league, into which Denmark
would be glad to enter, and Sweden might be drawn
in upon the same conditions which they now re-
ceived from France, towards which he had often de-
sired the king to interpose, was now very glad that
the French ambassadors had taken their leaves and
were gone ; and he pretended to have many assu-
rances from the Spanish ambassador at the Hague,
that the Dutch had those inclinations which are
mentioned before, " and that De Wit would be glad
" to confer in private with any man trusted by the
" king, if he might be sure that it should not be
" communicated to France. " Upon all these proba-
bilities, and the certainty that no good could be ex-
pected from France, his majesty resolved to embrace
all opportunities to agree with Holland ; towards



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 443

which he had a secret intelligence, to which he gave 1665.
more credit than to all the rest, which shall be~
mentioned hereafter.

There were so many great transactions during the
king's residence in Oxford, besides what was done
in the parliament and what related to the dismission
of the French ambassadors, so many counsels which
were executed, and so many secret designs only ini-
tiated then, and not executed till long after, that
there cannot be too particular a recollection of the
occurrences of all that time. And if some things
are mentioned which seem too light and of too small
importance to have a place in this relation, they will
be found at last to be the rise and principal ingre-
dient to some counsel and resolution, which proved
afterwards of consequence enough, as well to the
public as to the interest of particular persons.

The first attempt that was made was to make a AD attempt
breach between the chancellor and the treasurer, friendship



who had been long fast friends, and were believed
to have most credit with the king; and they who an ^ trea *
loved neither of them thought the most likely way
to hurt them was to make them love one another
less. Several attempts had been made upon the
chancellor to that purpose without effect : he knew
the other too well to be shaken in the esteem he had
of his friendship, and the knowledge he had of his
virtue.

But there was now an accident fell out, that gave
them an opportunity to suggest to the treasurer,
" that the chancellor had failed in his friendship to-
" wards him. " The occasion was upon the vacancy The occa.
of an office near the queen by the death of Mr. 8lonoflU
Mountague, master of the horse to her majesty, who



444 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. had been killed before Bergen : and the news arriv-
ing with the duke at York, before it was known at
Salisbury to the king, the duke and his wife writ to
the king and to the queen " to confer that place
" upon his younger brother," who was now become
both the eldest and the only son to his father, the
lord Mountague of Boughton ; and the gentleman
himself, on whose behalf the letters were writ, came
himself by post with them within two or three
hours after the news was brought to Salisbury, and
he brought likewise a letter from the duchess to the
chancellor, " to assist the gentleman all he could
" in his pretence," he at the same time enjoying
the same office under the duchess that his brother
had under the queen.

The chancellor had never used to interpose in
matters of that nature, nor had he any acquaintance
with this gentleman who was now recommended :
yet he could not refuse to wait upon the queen, and
shew her the letter he had received, without any
intention to appear further in it. But when he
waited upon the queen, who had received her letter
before, her majesty seemed graciously disposed to
gratify the gentleman, if the king approved it ; but
said, " that she would make no choice herself of any
" servant without knowing first his majesty's plea-
" sure :" and she added, " that she had been in-
" formed, that the lord Mountague was very angry
" with his son that was unfortunately slain, for hav-
" ing taken that charge in her family, and that he
" never allowed him any thing towards his support ;
" and if all other obstructions were out of the way,
" she would not receive him, except she were first
" assured that his father would like and desire it. "



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 445

Her majesty vouchsafed to wish the chancellor " to 1665.
" speak with the king, and as dexterously as he could ~~
" to dispose him to recommend Mr. Mountague to
" her, as just and reasonable, since his brother had
" lost his life in his service. "

This command of her majesty obliged the chan-
cellor to wait upon the king, and to shew him the
letter he had received from the duchess ; and at the
same time the king gve him that which he had
from the duke, in which his highness desired him,
" that if that place was not presently conferred upon
" Mr. Mountague, his majesty would not dispose of
" it till he waited upon him. " The chancellor told
him, " that the queen gave no answer, but referred
" it entirely to his majesty. " And he said, " he
" would never recommend any person to her but
" such a one as would be very grateful to her. " He
said, " it would seem very hard to deny one brother
" to succeed another who was killed in his service. "
He confessed, " that the lord Crofts had moved him
" on the behalf of Mr. Robert Spencer, of whom he
" had a good opinion : but that he had answered
" him, that he would not do any thing in it till
"he saw his brother ; which resolution he would
" keep. " To which the chancellor made no reply,
having in his own private inclinations and affection
much more kindness for Mr. Spencer, of whose pre-
tence he had never received the least intimation
before, than for the other, with whom he had spoken
very few words in his life. He told Mr. Mountague
no more but that which the king himself had told
him, " that he would not dispose of the place till
" the duke should arrive ;" only he added what
the queen had said of his father, and advised him



446 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1G65. to think of the way to remove that obstruction.
~ Whereupon he resolved to make a journey to his fa-
ther, which he knew he might well do before the
king and his brother could meet.

The same night Mr. Spencer came to the chan-
cellor, and brought him a letter from the treasurer
(whose nephew he was, and who was unfortunately
gone out of the town the day before to a house of
his own twenty miles distant) to recommend his ne-
phew to the queen, to whom and to the king he had
likewise letters. The chancellor gave him an ac-
count of all that had passed, shewed him the letter
that he had received from the duchess, and told him
what the queen and the king had said, and " that it
" was not possible for him to do him service, for
" which he was very sorry ;" but advised him " to
" deliver both his letters, and to attend their ma-
" jesties, who he was confident had yet taken no re-
" solution :" with all which he was very well satis-
tisfied, and confessed " he could not expect that he
" should appear for him. " When he delivered his
letters to both their majesties, he received so gra-
cious an answer from both, that he might reasonably
expect 1 his suit to be granted, though the king told
him, " he would not dispose of the place till he
" spake with his brother. " And there is no doubt
but if the lord treasurer had been in the town when
the news first came to the king of Mr. Mountague's
death, which was a whole day before the arrival of
the duke's letter, the king or queen would not have
denied him his request.

Within a short time after Mr. Spencer had left

1 expect] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 447

him, the lord Crofts, who had married his sister, and ifi65.
was governed by the lord Arlington, came to the""
chancellor, and desired him " to take care, out of
" his friendship with the treasurer, that the king
" might not refuse to gratify him in this suit for his
" nephew, which was the first he had ever made ;
" and if he should be denied, it would exceedingly
" trouble him. That when he spake to the king of
" it, as soon as the news came, and told him, he was
" sure that the treasurer would be a suitor to him
" for his nephew, his majesty did promise him that
" he should have it ; and that both their majesties
" had as good as said the same now to Robert
" Spencer : and therefore, if he would now use his
" credit, the thing might be despatched presently,
"^nd without further delay. " **y^

The chancellor asked him, " whether Mr. Spencer
" had informed him of all that had passed between
" them two :" he said, " yes ; and that he had done
" all that the duchess had desired him, in speaking
" both to the king and queen, and that his friendship
" to the lord treasurer should prevail with him to
" use all his endeavours for his nephew. " Where-
upon the chancellor shewed the duchess's letter, and
repeated to him again all that he had formerly said
to Mr. Spencer, and asked him, " what the duke
" and his wife must think of him, if, instead of pur-
" suing what they desired, he should solicit quite
" contrary to it. " He said, " that he might tell
" them that he was engaged by the lord treasurer
" before he received their letter;" and then talked
passionately and indiscreetly " of the affront the
" treasurer would think he received, if this were de-
" nied him; and that all the world would say, that



448 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " he might have compassed it, if he had not failed

" in his friendship. " To which he made no other

answer, than " that the doing so base a thing as he
*' desired would more probably destroy that friend-
" ship with a man so punctual in honour and justice
" as the treasurer was, than any thing that he had
" done or should leave undone ;" and advised him
" not to make the business worse by his activity,
" and that if he had the king's and queen's promise,
" as he pretended, he might very well acquiesce till
" the duke came. "

However, his very great indiscretion and pre-
sumption made the thing much worse, by deliver-
ing messages from the king to the queen, and from
her majesty to the king, that they both disavowed,
and by his usual discourses, " that it should now
" appear who had the most credit with the king,
" the duke or the treasurer, and how much the king
" would suffer, if he disobliged the treasurer;" all
which was quickly transmitted by the intelligence
that was every day sent to York. On the other
hand, he still advised the treasurer " to continue his
" importunity to the king and queen," (a thing the
most contrary to his nature,) and assured him, " that
" it would be grateful to them, and was expected
" by them. " Whereupon, as soon as the treasurer
came to the court, which was not till the king came
to Oxford, he went to both their majesties, and re-
newed his suit to them with more warmth and con-
cernment than was customary to him, and received
such an answer from both as very well satisfied him :
and without doubt the king intended to persuade his
brother to desist from pressing him further on the
behalf of the other, for whom he had no kindness.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 449

But the duke, who arrived by post the very next 1665.
day, came in another temper than was expected.
The intelligence from Salisbury of the contest that
was for that place, and the insolent behaviour and
expressions used by the lord Crofts, had exceedingly
moved him, and he looked upon the treasurer as
engaged to try who had the greatest power, and as k
in opposition to him : so that the same night that he
came to town, when the king and he were in pri-
vate, he complained of it with much warmth ; and
he besought his majesty importunately " that he
" would declare, that the world might know who had
" most interest in his favour, he or the treasurer. "
The king was so much put out of the method he
intended to use in this affair, knowing that the ex-
pressions the duke had mentioned had been too often
used by the lord Crofts, for which he had often re-
prehended him, that he presently applied that re-
medy which he thought most proper; and, after
conference with the queen, signed the warrant for
admitting Mr. Mountague into the office, who was
sworn the next morning : so that the first news the
treasurer heard, after both their majesties had the
day before said all to him that he could desire, was,
that the place was already full ; which he received
with more commotion than was natural to him, and
looked upon it as a designed contrived affront, to
expose him to contempt. " Why would not the
" king, if he had changed his mind after he left
fl him, first send him word of it, that he might have
" known his purpose ? "

All this storm fell presently upon the chancellor :

k as] Not in MS.
VOL. II. G g



450 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. the lord Crofts assured him, " that it had been done
~" at Salisbury, if he had not hindered it; that he
" had been with the duke before he spake with
" the king, and given him advice what tune he
" should speak in, which was used accordingly, and
" had prevailed ; and that when he came into the
" duke's chamber to kiss his hand, his highness
" turned away, and would not speak to him, which
" must proceed from the influence of the chancellor. "
Whereas in truth the chancellor had only seen the
duke in public, and said no more to him than what
he said in public, thinking it no good manners to
trouble him with any private discourse, when he
was so weary of his journey ; nor did he know that
any thing was done in that affair till the day after
it was done, and after it was known to the treasurer.
Upon the 'whole matter, how unwilling soever he
was to believe that he could be so grossly faulty to
him, when he saw the chancellor next, his counte-
nance was not the same it used to be ; which the
other taking notice of, asked him, according to his
"usual familiarity, " what the matter was ;" but re-
ceived such an answer as made him discern that
there was somewhat amiss : and so he said no more.
The other being the same day with the king, the
duke came into the room, and in his looks mani-
fested a displeasure towards the treasurer, which
confirmed the former jealousy of the chancellor ;
which was improved by the ladies, who did not like
their lodging, and thought it proceeded from want
of friendship in him, who had the power over the
university, and might have assigned what lodgings
he pleased to the treasurer; and he had assigned
this, as the best house in the town for so great a



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 451

family, and which their own servant had desired as 1G65.
the best in the town, as it was.

When the chancellor discovered the ground of
this alteration, he grew out of humour too, and
thought himself unworthily suspected: and so for
two or three days the two friends came not together.
And in that time the chancellor had enough to do
to inform the duke, who was not only very much
offended with the treasurer, but thought that he had
been, out of his friendship to the treasurer, more re-
miss than he ought to have been in a business so
earnestly recommended by him and his wife ; and
the intelligence from Salisbury had made reflections
upon him as much as upon the other. But his royal
highness willingly received information of all that
had passed, and discerned the foul carriage of others
as well as of the lord Crofts; and was pleased to
confess, " that he had done all he ought to do, and
" that he had been misinformed of the lord trea-
" surer's part in that affair, which had made him
" think amiss of him ; which he would acknowledge
" to him next time he saw him. "

After this the chancellor, having a more clear
view, upon conference with the king and the duke,
of this pernicious design, which in some degree had
compassed its end, if there grew a strangeness be-
tween the treasurer and him, went to him : and they
being together without any others, he told him, " it
" should not be in his power to break friendship
" with him to gratify the humour of other people,
" without letting him know what the matter was,"
which he conjured him to impart to him ; assuring
him, " that he would find that nothing was more im-
" possible than that he could commit a fault towards

Gg2



452 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " him, and that they who wished well to neither of
~ " them had contrived this separation as the best
" way to hurt them both. " And when he saw that
lie did not yet open himself, he told him, " that he
'" had heard that he had received some umbrage in
'* the pretence of his nephew, and therefore he would
" give him an account of all that he knew of it,"
which he did exactly ; and concluded with a pro-
testation,' " that he had not known what had been
" done at Oxford till after he came from him, when
" he observed the change of his countenance towards
" him, of the cause of which he could not then make
" any conjecture. "

The treasurer thereupon with his usual freedom
told him, " that if his part had been no other than
" as he related, he thought himself obliged to give
" him a narration of all he had done, and of the
" grounds and motives he had to think that he had
" failed in his friendship. " And thereupon he men-
tioned " the kindness and esteem he had for his
" nephew, whom he thought in all respects of birth
" and breeding at least as worthy of that relation as
" the gentleman who was possessed of it ; and yet
" that since he was not upon the place, he had no
" mind to engage himself in the suit : and that
" when his nephew had given him an account what
" the chancellor had said to him," which he did with
great ingenuity, " and he knew that the duke of
" York appeared in it for another, he resolved to
" prosecute it no further ; until the lord Crofts with
" all confidence assured him, that the king had pro-
'" mised him to confer the place upon Robert Spencer,
" and that both their majesties expected that he
" should make it his suit, to the end that they might



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 453

" thereby decline the importunity that he expected 1665.

" from his brother. " He told him of some expressions ~~

he had used to the king in that affair, which the king

himself had reported ; and " that when he took his

" leave of the queen to go to Oxford," (which was

the next day after Mr. Mountague came from York,)

" he dissuaded her majesty from receiving Mr.

" Spencer, alleging some reasons against it, which a

" lady who was near overheard, and informed the

" person of it who acquainted him with it : all

" which, with the king's and queen's so ample pro-

" mises to him so few hours before the conferring

'* the place upon another, and the duke of York's

" manner of receiving him after he had been shut

" up with him, as he was informed, might very well

" excuse him for thinking he had some share in the

" affront he had undergone. "

To which the other replied, " that if indeed he
" did believe all that he had been told, he could not
" but think so ; but," he said, " he thought he had
" known him better than to give credit to such re-
" ports, which must make him a fool and a knave :
" that for the words he should have used to the
" king or the queen, there had nothing passed like
" it to either of them, but that they were purely
" devised out of malice ; which should be manifest
" unto him, for he would not speak a word of it to
" the king till they were both with him together)
" and then he would ask before him what his car-
" riage had been, and by his majesty's sudden an-
" swer he might judge of the report. " He told him
then, " how much he had suffered with the duke,
" and what excellent stories had been made to his
" royal highness of both of them, and of the good

Gg3



454 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " part the lord Crofts had acted, of which he was
~~" not without some evidence. " After this eclair-
cissement, of the sincerity whereof every day admin-
istered new testimony, they both returned to their
mutual confidence in each other : and they who had
contrived this former device entered into a new
confederacy, how they might first remove the trea-
surer, which would facilitate the pulling the chan-
cellor down ; of which anon.
The duke Within a short time after the duke returned out

consults the

chancellor of Yorkshire, his highness told the chancellor in
\ng two"* confidence, " that he had two suits which he in-
king. * the " tended to make to the king, and with which he
" first acquainted him, that he might have his as-
" sistance in the obtaining them. The first was, in
" which he and his wife were equally engaged, to
" prevail with the king to make sir George Savile a
" viscount. " He said, " he knew well the resolution
" the king had taken, to which he had contributed
" his advice, to make no more lords : but that he
" hoped in this particular case his majesty would
" upon his desire dispense with a general rule.
" That sir George had one of the best fortunes of
" any man in England, and lived the most like a
" great man ; that he had been very civil to him
" and his wife in the north, and treated them at his
" house in a very splendid manner ; and that he
" was engaged to prevail with the king in this
" point, or to confess he had no power, which he
" hoped he should not be without in this matter ;"
and asked his opinion.

The chancellor in his usual freedom, which he
always took when he was to deliver his advice to
the king or duke, said, "that he could not advise



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 455

*' his highness to move the king in it; for besides
" that he knew the king's positive determination,
" the departure from which might ,be of ill con-
" sequence, sir George Savile was a man of a very
" ill reputation amongst men of piety and reli-
" gion, and was looked upon as void of all sense
" of religion, even to the doubting, if not denying,
" that there is a God, and that he was not reserved
" in any company to publish his opinions : which
" made him believe that it would neither be for
" his highness's honour to propose it, nor for the
" king's to grant it, in a time when all license in
" discourse and in actions was spread over the king-
" dom, to the heart-breaking of very many good
" men 1 , who had terrible apprehensions of the con-
" sequence of it. " The duke was not at all pleased
with his discourse, and said, " he was resolved to
" use all his credit with the king to compass it, and
" that he hoped, that whatever he thought, he would
" not oppose it. "

The other particular was, " that he would move
" the king to make Mr. Coventry his secretary a
'* privy counsellor ;" and asked him " what he
" thought of that. " To which he answered, " that
" his opinion in that point would please him no bet-
" ter than in the former. That he did not think it
" fit to be asked : and if the king his brother were
" inclined to be jealous of him, as some had endea-
" voured to persuade him, such an instance as this
" would very much confirm it ; for never any
" prince of Wales had a servant of the highest de-
" gree about him called to the council, till his father
" called the earl of Newcastle, who was the prince's
1 men] Omitted in MS.
Gg4



456 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " governor, to the board; which was not till upon
"~" the approach of the troubles he discerned that he
" should employ him in another charge. That the
" members of that board had been always those
" great officers of state, and other officers, who in
" respect of the places they held had a title to sit
'* there, and of such few others who, having great
" titles and fortunes and interest in the kingdom,
" were an ornament to the table. That there were
" at present too many already, and the number
" lessened the dignity of the relation : that his high-
" ness had already brought the lord Berkley thither,
" who had no manner of title to be there but his de-
" pendance upon him ; and now to bring in his se-
" cretary, for no other reason but for being his se-
" cretary, might be thought an encroachment, and
" be misinterpreted by the king. " He added, " that
" his wrangling litigious nature would give the
'* board much trouble ; and that he knew him to be
" so much his particular enemy, that he would
" watch all the opportunities to do him all possible
" ill offices to the king and to his royal highness. "

The duke replied only to the last, and said, " he
" perceived somebody had done Will. Coventry ill
(C offices, which he knew to be unjust and false :
** and that he could assure him, upon his own
" knowledge, that he had a great respect for him,
" and desired his favour ; and that he would pass
" his word for him, that he would never do any
** thing to disserve him, which if he should do, he
" should for ever lose his favour, which he knew
" well. " And no doubt the duke did believe all he
said, for he had a perfect kindness for the chancel-
lor; and when he did not comply with what he



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 457

wished, he knew that it was out of the integrity of 1665.
his judgment, and his strict duty to the king and""
himself, and that he had never flattered or dissem-
bled with either of them. And Mr. Coventry had
skill enough to persuade him to believe what he de-
sired should be true, though there were in the view
of all men frequent instances of the contrary, and of
the absence of all ingenuity and sincerity in his ac-
tions.

Within very few days after this conference, and ^he duke

11-1 . 11 moves the

when the duchess had made new instance with her king to
father in the case of sir George Savile, and with
more importunity than the duke, and appeared more
concerned and troubled that he should not be more
forward to comply with the duke's desires, (but the
chancellor, who always with the respect that was
due to her quality preserved the dignity of a father
very entire, would give no other answer than he
had done to the duke, and advised her to dissuade
him from making the request to the king ;) his
highness one day desired the king that he would re-
tire into his closet, and call the chancellor to him :
and when they three were together in the room,
after a short discourse of letters which he had TG-
ceived from the earl of Sandwich, which there will
be occasion anon to mention at large, the duke told
the king, " he had an humble suit to his majesty ;"
and then spake much of the great interest that sir
George Savile had in the northern parts, of the
greatness of his estate, and his orderly and splendid
way of living, and concluded with his desire, " that
" his majesty would make him an English viscount. "
Upon which the king presently put him in mind
" of the resolution he had formerly made in that



458 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " room, and he thought upon his own motion, but
~~" he was sure it had been with his concurrence and
" approbation. "

The duke replied, " that he remembered it very
" well, and thought he should do well still in the.
" general to observe it : yet it was in those cases al-
" ways supposed, that an extraordinary case might
" fall out, that might produce an exception ; and he
" did most humbly beseech his majesty, that he
" would, upon his very earnest interposition-, from
" which nobody could make a precedent, dispense
" with the rule. " He did confess, " that he was so
" confident of his majesty's favour, that he had given
" sir George Savile cause to believe that he would
" prevail in that suit ; which if he should not do, he
" must be thought either not to have intended what
" he promised, or to have no credit with his ma-
" jesty, neither of which would be for his honour. "
which the The king replied roundly, and with more pre-
not consent sence of mind than he had always about him, " that
" it was absolutely necessary to be very precise in
" the observation of the rule, which if he should
" once break, a world of inconveniences would break
" in upon him, which he could not defend himself
" against. " He named two or three persons who
were very solicitous for honours, and had several
pretences to it, and his majesty had only been able
to resist and evade their importunity, by objecting
this declared resolution to them. The plain truth
is ; he had made some promise (a weakness he was
too often liable to), to those persons or to their friends,
" that when he should make any new creations,
" they should be sure to be in the number :" nor did
he apprehend any inconvenience from redeeming



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 459

himself from the present importunity, which was still 1665.
grievous to him, since he had resolved to make no
new creation. And this was the true reason that
made him now so inexorable to his brother, who was
very much troubled, and declined to move any thing
else in so unlucky a season, not without some appre-
hension, from the king's quicker way of discourse,
that he had been prepared for it by the chancellor,
who though present had not spoke one word in the
debate, nor indeed ever informed the king of the
conference his highness had formerly held with him
upon that subject, nor ever spoken to him concern-
ing it.

However, in this perplexity, as the duke thought
it necessary to inform Mr. Coventry, who had prin-
cipally advanced this pretence, all that had passed
before the king, that his nephew (for so sir George
Savile was) might see he could make no further pro-
gress in it ; so in the passion he unwarily told him
all that had passed in the former conference with
the chancellor, which he took care should not be
concealed from any who were like to be willing to
revenge it. And the duke, to shew how willing he
was to oblige the family, immediately received a
younger brother of sir George Savile, whom he had
only seen in the north, to wait upon him in his bed-
chamber ; who being a young man of wit, and in-
credible confidence and presumption, omitted no
occasion to vent his malice against the chancellor,
with a license that in former times would have been
very penal, though it had concerned a person of a
much inferior quality in the state.

Within a short time after, the king told the Mr. wniiam
chancellor, " that his brother had desired him that adm! ttc7of



460 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. " his secretary Mr. Coventry might be admitted of
the privy. " the privy-council, which he could not deny, but
council and na( j p rom j se( i it should be done at the next meet-

the private

committee;"' ing;" which was accordingly done, and he knight-
. ed: and quickly after, upon the like desire of the
duke, he was called to that committee with which
his majesty used to consult his most secret affairs.
And from this time there was an alteration in the
whole carriage and debate of all manner of business :
and as the chancellor had found his own credit with
the king much diminished from the time of the lord
Arlington's being secretary ; so a greater decrease of
it was now visible to all men from the access of this
new counsellor.

The lord Arlington had not the gift of speaking
nor of a quick conception, and go rarely contradicted
any thing in council: his talent was in private,
where he frequently procured, very inconveniently,
changes and alterations from public determinations.
But sir William Coventry (between whom and the
other there was an entire conjunction and combina-
tion) was a man of quick parts and a ready speaker,
unrestrained by any modesty or submission to the
age, experience, or dignity of other men, equally
censorious of what had been done before he was a
counsellor, as solicitous in contradiction of whatsoever
was proposed afterwards : insomuch as the very first
time that he was admitted to the private committee,
the debate being about providing money to be paid
at a day approaching to the bishop of Munster, ac-
cording to the king's obligation, he said, " we had
" need enough of money for our own immediate
" occasions ; and that we ought not to assign any to
" the advancement of the affairs of other men. "



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 461

Whereupon he was informed " of the treaty the 1665.
" king had entered into, and that the bishop was at ~~
" that time upon his march, which was by every
" body looked upon as of great importance to his
" majesty ;" to which he answered, " that he had
" heard somewhat of it, how secretly soever it had
" been carried, and that he had never liked it from
" the beginning, nor would give his consent that any
" more money should be paid towards it ;" which
the king himself looked upon as a rare impudence.

His great ambition was to be taken notice ef j for where he
opposing and contradicting whatsoever was proposed oppoleftL
or said by the chancellor or treasurer, towards whom chancellor

and trea-

all other counsellors, how little soever they cared surer -
for their persons, had ever paid respect in regard of
their offices. He was a declared enemy to all law-
yers, and to the law itself; and any thing passed
under the great seal of England was of no more
authority with him, than if it were the scroll of a
scrivener. He had no principles in religion or state ;
of one mind this day, and another to-morrow ; and
always very uneasy to those who were obliged to
consult with him; whose pride and insolence will
administer frequent occasions of mention throughout
the ensuing relation.

The king had not been many days in Oxford, ^" e cc ^ t of
when news arrived that the earl of Sandwich had& fterthe

. a m . i T-V n attempt at

been engaged in some conflict with the Dutch fleet ; Bergen.
of the particulars whereof there was a general long-
ing to be advertised. The truth was, that whilst
the earl rode, after the business of Bergen, as near
that coast as was safe, in expectation of the Dutch
fleet, the winds, which are always tempestuous in
that season of the year, September, made it abso-



462 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1665. lutely necessary for him to remove with his whole
~ fleet to the coast of Scotland, where there were har-
bours enough for him to ride safe ; and in this in-
terval of time De Ruyter was passed by towards
that of Norway. The news of their Indian fleet
having been attacked by the English in Bergen, and
the letters of some of their officers, which implied as
if they were not satisfied in the security of the port
and of the fidelity of the governor, produced a won-
derful consternation in Holland ; and if they should
be deprived of that wealth, the very company of the
East Indies would be in danger of being dissolved.

The fleet was ready to set sail, under the com-
mand of De Ruyter, well fitted and manned : but
there were still many m factions amongst the cap-
tains and other officers, that might upon any acci-
dents produce many mischiefs ; for the better pre-
vention whereof, the pensionary De Wit was willing
to venture his own person, believing himself to be
as secure any where as on shore, if any misfortune
should befall the fleet. And so he was by a special
commission made plenipotentiary, with an ample
allowance for his table, and a guard of halberdiers
for the safety of his person, with a good train of vo-
lunteers : and so he put himself on board the ship
of De Ruyter, who received orders from him.