No More Learning

And so we return to the time from whence
this digression led us, and shall take a particular
view of all those accidents, which had an influence
upon the quiet of the kingdom, or which were the
cause of all the chancellor's misfortunes; which,
though the effect of them did not appear in many
years, were discerned by himself as coming and un-
avoidable, and foretold by him to his two bosom-
friends, the marquis of Ormond and the earl of
Southampton, who constantly adhered to him with
all the integrity of true friendship.
The chan- The greatness and power of the chancellor, by

cellor not r . . .

elated with this marriage of his daughter, with all the circum-
riagef r his stances which had accompanied and attended it,
daughter. seeme j t o a \[ men ^ o have established his fortune,
and that of his family ; I say, to all men but to him-
self, who was not in the least degree exalted with it.
He knew well upon how slippery ground he stood,
and how naturally averse the nation was from ap-
proving an exorbitant power in any subject. He
saw that the king grew every day more inclined to
his pleasures, which involved him in expense, and
company that did not desire that he should intend his
business, or be conversant with sober men. He



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 405

knew well that the servants who were about the 1660.
duke were as much his enemies as ever, and intended ~~
their own profit only, by what means soever, with-
out considering his honour; that they formed his
household, officers, and equipage, by the model of
France, and against all the rules and precedents of
England for a brother of the crown ; and every day
put into his head, " that if he were not supplied for all
" those expenses, it was the chancellor's fault, who
" could effect it if he would. " Nor was he able to
prevent those infusions, nor the effects of them, be-
cause they were so artificially administered, as if
their end was to raise a confidence in him of the
chancellor, not to weaken it ; though he knew well
that their design was to create by degrees in him a
jealousy of his power and credit with the king, as
if it eclipsed his. But this was only in their own
dark purposes, which had been all blasted, if they
had been apparent ; for the duke did not only profess
a very great affection for the chancellor, but gave
all the demonstration of it that was possible, and
desired nothing more, than that it should be mani-
fest to all men, that he had an entire trust from the
king in all his affairs, and that he would employ all
his interest to support that trust : whilst the chan-
cellor himself declined all the occasions, which were
offered for the advancement of his fortune, and de-
sired wholly to be left to the discharge of his office,
and that all other officers might diligently look to
their own provinces, and be accountable for them ;
and detested nothing more than that title and appel-
lation, which he saw he should not always be able
to avoid, of principal minister or favourite, and
which was never cast on him by any designation of



406 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

lf>60. the king, (who abhorred to be thought to be go-

verned by any single person,) but by his preferring

his pleasures before his business, and so sending all
men to the chancellor to receive advice. And here-
by the secretaries of state, not finding a present
access to him, when the occasions pressed, resorted
to the chancellor, with whom his majesty spent most
time, to be resolved by him ; which method exceed-
ingly grieved him, and to which he endeavoured to
apply a remedy, by putting all things in their pro-
per channel, and by prevailing with the king, when
he should be a little satiated with the divertisements
he affected, to be vacant to so much of his business,
as could not be managed and conducted by any body
else.
some in- And here it may be seasonable to insert at large

stances of , ' t >

hisdisin- some instances, which I promised before, and by
ness! eC which it will be manifest, how far the chancellor was
from an immoderate appetite to be rich, and to raise
his fortune, which he proposed only to do by the
perquisites of his office, which were considerable at
the first, and by such bounty of the king as might
hereafter, without noise or scandal, be conferred on
him in proper seasons and occurrences ; and that he
was y as far from affecting such an unlimited power
as he was believed afterwards to be possessed of,
(and of which no footsteps could ever be discovered
in any of his actions, or in any one particular that
was the effect of such power,) or from desiring 7 - any
other extent of power than was agreeable to the great
office he held, and which had been enjoyed by most
of those who had been his predecessors in that trust.

y that he was] Not in MS.

' or from desiring] or that he did desire



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 407

The king had not been many weeks in England, 1 660.
when the marquis of Ormond came to him with his He refused
usual friendship, and asked him, " Whether it would > n w r -

able offer

" not be now time to think of making a fortune, that of crown -
" he might be able to leave to his wife and children,
" if he should die ? " And when he found that he
was less sensible of what he proposed than he ex-
pected, and that he only answered, " that he knew
" not which way to go about it," the marquis told
him, " that he thought he could commend a proper
" suit for him to make to the king ; and if his mo-
" desty would not permit him to move the king for
" himself, he would undertake to move it for him,
" and was confident that the king would willingly
" grant it :" and thereupon shewed him a paper,
which contained the king's just title to ten thou-
sand acres of land in the Great Level of the Fens,
which would be of a good yearly value; or they,
who were unjustly possessed of it, would be glad to
purchase the king's title with a very considerable
sum of money. And, in the end, he frankly told
him, " that he made this overture to him with the
" king's approbation, who had been moved in it,
" and thought at the first sight, out of his own
" goodness, that it might be fit for him, and wished
" the marquis to propose it to him. "

When the chancellor had extolled the king's gene-
rosity, that he could, in so great necessities of his
own, think of dispensing so great a bounty Upon a
poor servant, who was already recompensed beyond
what he could be ever able to deserve, he said,
" that he knew very well the king's title to that
" land, of which he was in possession before the re-
" bellion began, which the old and new adventurers

D d 4



408 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1660. " now claimed by a new contract, confirmed by an
~~" ordinance of parliament, which could not deprive
" the crown of its right ; which all the adventurers
" (who for the greatest part were worthy men) well
" knew, and would for their own sakes not dispute,
" since it would inevitably produce a new inunda-
" tion, which all their unity and consent in main-
" taining the banks would and could with difficulty
" enough but prevent. That he would advise his
" majesty to give all the countenance he could to
" the carrying on and perfecting that great work,
" which was of great benefit as well as honour to
" the public, at the charge of private gentlemen,
" who had paid dear for the land they had re-
" covered ; but that he would never advise him to
" begin his reign - with the alienation of such a par-
" eel of land from the crown to any one particular
" subject, who could never bear the envy of it.
" That his majesty ought to reserve that revenue to
" himself, which was great, though less than it was
" generally reputed to be ; at least till the value
" thereof should be clearly understood, (and the de-
" taining it in his own hands for some time would
" be the best expedient towards the finishing all the
" banks, when the season should be fit, which else
" would be neglected by the discord among the ad-
" venturers,) and the king knew what he gave. He
" must remember, that he had two brothers," (for
the duke of Gloucester was yet alive,) " who were
'* without any revenue, and towards whom his
" bounty was to be first extended ; and that this
" land would be a good ingredient towards an ap-
" panage for them both. And that till they were
" reasonably provided for, no private man in his



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 409

" wits would be the object of any extraordinary
" bounty from the king, which would unavoidably
" make him the object of an universal envy and ha-
" tred. That, for his own part, he held by the
" king's favour the greatest office of the kingdom
" in place ; and though it was not near the value
" it was esteemed to be, and that many other offices
" were more profitable, yet it was enough for him,
" and would be a good foundation to improve his
" fortune : so that," he said, " he had made a reso-
" lution to himself, which he thought he should not
" alter, not to make haste to be rich. That it was
" the principal part or obligation of his office, to dis-
" suade the king from making any grants of such a
" nature, (except where the necessity or conveni-
" ence was very notorious,) and even to stop those
" which should be made of that kind, and not to
" suffer them to pass the seal, till he had again
" waited upon the king, and informed him of the
" evil consequence of those grants ; which discharge
" of his duty could not but raise him many enemies,
" who should not have that advantage, to say that
" he obstructed the king's bounty towards other
" men, when he made it very profuse towards him-
" self. And therefore, that he would never receive
" any crown-lands from the king's gift, and did not
" wish to have any other honour or any advantage,
" but what his office brought him, till seven years
" should pass; in which all the distractions of the
" kingdom might be composed, and the necessities
** thereof so provided for, that the king might be
" able, without hurting himself, to exercise some li-
" berality towards his servants who had served him
" well. " How he seemed to part from this resolu-



410 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

Hif>0. tion in some particulars afterwards, and why he
~~ did so, may be collected out of what hath been truly
set down before.

When the marquis of Ormond had given the
king a large account of the conference between him
and the chancellor, and " that he absolutely refused
" to receive that grant ;" his majesty said, " he was
" a fool for his labour, and that he would be much
" better in being envied than in being pitied. " And
though the inheritance of those lands was after-
wards given to the duke, yet there were such es-
tates granted for years to many particular persons,
most whereof had never merited by any service,
that half the value thereof never came to his high-
ness.

1661. As soon as the king and duke returned from Ports-
mouth, where they had seen the queen embarked



knight of f or France, the king had appointed a chapter, for

the garter.

the electing some knights of the garter into the
places vacant. Upon which the duke desired him
" to nominate the chancellor," which his majesty
said "he would willingly do, but he knew not
" whether it would be grateful to him ; for he had
" refused so many things, that he knew not what
" he would take ;" and therefore wished him " to
" take a boat to Worcester-house, and propose it to
" him, and he would not go to the chapter till his
** highness returned. " The duke told the chancel-
lor what had passed between the king and him, and
" that he was come only to know his mind, and
" could not imagine but that such an honour would
"please him. " The chancellor, after a million of
humble acknowledgments of the duke's grace and
of "the king's condescension, said, " that the honour



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 411

" was indeed too great by much for him to sus- 1661,
" tain ; that there were very many worthy men, ~
" who well remembered him of their own condi-
" tion, when he first entered into his father's service,
" and believed that he was advanced too much be-
" fore them. " He besought his highness, " that his
<c favours and protection might not expose him to
" envy, that would break him to pieces. " He asked
" what knights the king meant to make ;" the duke
named them, all persons very eminent : the chancel-
lor said, "no man could except against the king's
" choice ; many would justly, if he were added to
" the number. " He desired his highness " to put
" the king in mind of the earl of Lindsey, lord high
,'* chamberlain of England," (with whom he was
known to have no friendship ; on the contrary, that
there had been disgusts between them in the last
king's time ;) " that his father had lost his life with
" the garter about his neck, when this gentleman,
" his son, endeavouring to relieve him, was taken
" prisoner ; that he had served the king to the end
" of the war with courage and fidelity, being an ex-
" cellent officer : for all which, the king his father
" had admitted him a gentleman of his bedchamber,
" which office he was now without : and not to
" have the garter now, upon his majesty's return,
" would in all men's eyes look like a degradation,
" and an instance of his majesty's disesteem ; espe-
" dally if the chancellor should supply the place,
" who was not thought his friend :" and, upon the
whole matter, entreated the duke " to reserve his
" favour towards him for some other occasion, and
" excuse him to the king for the declining this ho-
" nour, which he could not support. " The duke



412 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. replied, with an offended countenance, "that he
~~" saw he would not accept any honour from the
" king, that proceeded by his mediation ;" and so
left him in apparent displeasure. However, at that
chapter the earl of Lindsey was created knight
of the garter, with the rest; and coming after-
wards to hear by what chance it was, he ever lived
with great civility towards the chancellor to his
death.

And when the chancellor afterwards complained
to his majesty " of his want of care of him, in his so
" easily gratifying his brother in a particular that
" would be of so much prejudice to him," and so en-
larged upon the subject, and put his majesty in
mind of Solomon's interrogation, " Who can stand
" against envy? " the king said no more, than "that
" he did really believe, when he sent his brother,
" that he would refuse it ;" and added, " I tell you,
" chancellor, that you are too strict and apprehen-
" sive in those things ; and trust me, it is better to
" be envied than pitied. " The duke did not dis-
semble his resentment, and told his wife, " that he
" took it very ill ; that he desired that the world
" might take notice of his friendship to her father,
" and that, after former unkindness, he was heartily
" reconciled to him ; but that her father cared not
" to have that believed, nor would have it believed
" that his interest in the king was not enough, to
" have no need of good offices from the duke :"
which discourse he used likewise to the marquis of
Ormond and others, who he thought would inform
the chancellor of it. And the duchess was much
troubled at it, and took it unkindly of her father,
who thought himself obliged to wait upon his royal



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 413

highness, and to vindicate himself from that folly he icfil.
was charged with ; in which he protested to him,
" that he so absolutely and entirely depended upon
" his protection, that he would never receive any
" favour from the king, but by his mediation and
" interposition :" to which the duke answered, " that
" he should see whether he would have that defer-
" ence to him shortly. "

And it was not long before the day for the coro- He refused
nation was appointed, when the king had appointed * e a r " iad
to make some barons, and to raise some who were
barons to higher degrees of honour ; most of whom
were men not very grateful, because they had been
faulty, though they had afterwards redeemed what
was past, by having performed very signal services
to his majesty, and were able to do him more : upon
which the king had resolved to confer those honours
upon them, and in truth had promised it to them, or
to some of their friends, before he came from beyond
the seas. At this time the duke came to the chan-
cellor, and said, " he should now discover whether
" he would be as good as his word ;" and so gave
him a paper, which was a warrant under the king's
sign manual to the attorney general, to prepare a
grant, by which the chancellor should be created an
earl. To which, upon the reading, he began to
make objections ; when the duke said, " My lord, I
" have thought fit to give you this earnest of my
" friendship ; you may reject it, if you think fit ;"
and departed. And the chancellor, upon recollec-
tion, and conference with his two friends, the trea-
surer and the marquis of Ormond, found he could
not prudently refuse it. And so, the day or two
before the coronation, he was with the others created



414 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

IGOI. an earl by the king in the banqueting-house ; and,
^ in the very minute of his creation, had an earnest of



length un- ^he envy that would ensue, in the murmurs of some,

willingly J

consented, who were ancienter barons, at the precedence given
to him before them, of which he was totally igno-
rant, it being resolved by the king upon the place,
and the view of the precedents of all times, when
any officers of state were created with others. Yet
one of the lords concerned swore in the ears of two
or three of his friends, at the same time, " that he
" would be revenged for that affront ;" which re-
lated not to the chancellor's precedence, for the other
was no baron, but for the precedence given to an-
other, whom he thought his inferior, and imputed
the partiality to his power, who had not the least
hand in it, nor knew it before it was determined.
Yet the other was as good as his word, and took
the very first opportunity that was offered for his re-
venge.

I will add one instance more, sufficient, if the
other were away, to convince all men how far he
was from being transported with that ambition, of
which he was accused, and for which he was con-
demned. After the firm conjunction in the royal
family was notorious, and all the neighbour princes
had sent their splendid embassies of congratulation
to the king, and desired to renew all treaties with
this crown, and the parliament proceeded, how
slowly soever, with great duty and reverence to-
wards the king ; the marquis of Ormond (whom the
king had by this time made duke of Ormond) came
one day to him, and, being in private, said, " he
" came to speak to him of himself, and to let him
" know, not only his own opinion, but the opinion of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 415

" his best friends, with whom he had often conferred 1G61.
" upon the argument; and that they all wondered,"
" that he so much affected the post he was in, as to
" continue in the office of chancellor, which took up
" most of his time, especially all the mornings, in
" business that many other men could discharge as
" well as he. Whereas he ought to leave that to He was

. strongly

" such a man as he thought fit for it, and to betake urged to

" himself to that province, which nobody knew so offic^of ' S

well how to discharge. That the credit he had cliancellor -

" with the king was known to all men, and that he

" did in truth remit that province to him, which he

" would not own, and could not discharge, by the

" multiplicity of the business of his office, which was

" not of that moment. That the king every day

" took less care of his affairs, and affected those

" pleasures most, which made him averse from the

" other. That he spent most of his time with confi-

" dent young men, who abhorred all discourse that

" was serious, and, in the liberty they assumed in

" drollery and raillery, preserved no reverence to-

" wards God or man, but laughed at all sober men,

" and even at religion itself; and that the custom of

" this license, that did yet only make the king merry

" for the present, by degrees a would grow accept-

" able to him ; and that these men would by degrees

" have the presumption (which yet they had not,

"nor would he in truth then suffer it) to enter into

" his business, and by administering to those ex-

" cesses, to which his nature and constitution most

" inclined him, would not only powerfully foment

" those inclinations, but intermeddle and obstruct

a by degrees] yet by degrees



416 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

iCfil. " his most weighty counsels. That, for the preven-

~ " tion of all this mischief, and the preserving the

" excellent nature and understanding of the king

" from being corrupted by such lewd instruments,

" who had only a scurrilous kind of wit to procure

" laughter, but had no sense of religion, or reverence

And to as- f OT fae \ aws there was no remedy in view, but

suine the *

character of his giving up his office, and betaking himself

prime niin- , ,7 . , , .

ister. " wholly to wait upon the person of the king, and
" to be with him in those seasons, when that loose
" people would either abstain from coming, or, if
" they were present, would not have the confidence
" to say or do those things which they had been ac-
" customed to do before the king. By this means,
" he would find frequent opportunities to inform the
" king of the true state of his affairs, and the dan-
" ger he incurred, by not throughly understanding
" them, and by being thought to be negligent in the
" duties of religion, and settling the distractions in
" the church ; at least, he would do some good in all
" these particulars, or keep the license from spread-
" ing further, which in time it would do, to the rob-
" bing him of the hearts, of his people. That the
" king, from the long knowledge of his fidelity, and
" the esteem he had of his virtue, received any ad-
" vertisements and animadversions, and even suf-
" fered reprehensions, from him, better than from
" any other man ; therefore he would be able to do
" much good, and to deserve more than ever he had
" done from the whole kingdom. And he did verily
" believe b , that this would be acceptable to the king
" himself, who knew he could not enough attend to c

b believe] Omitted in MS. c attend to] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 417

" the many things, which, being left undone, must 1661
*' much disorder the whole machine of his govern- ~~
" ment, or, being ill done, would in time dissolve it ;
** and that his majesty would assign such a liberal which
" allowance for this service, that he should find more be



" himself well rewarded, and a great gainer by ac- f,| 1(
" cepting it and putting off his office. "

He concluded, " that was the desire and advice
" of all his friends ; and that the duke was so far of
" the same judgment, that he resolved to be very
" instant with him upon it, and only wished that he
" should first break the matter to him, that he might
** not be surprised when his royal highness entered
" upon the discourse. " And he added, " that this
" province must inevitably at last be committed to
" some one man, who probably would be without
" that affection to the king's person, that experience
" in affairs, and that knowledge of the laws and
" constitution of the kingdom, as all men knew to be
" in the chancellor. "

When the marquis had ended, with the warmth
of friendship which was superior to any temptation,
and in which no man ever excelled him, nor de-
livered what he had a mind to say more clearly, or
with a greater weight of words ; the chancellor said,
*' that he did not much wonder that many of his
" friends, who had not the opportunity to know him
" enough, and who might propose to themselves
" some benefit from his unlimited greatness, might
" in truth, out of their partiality to him, and by
" their not knowing the king's nature, believe, that
" his wariness and integrity, and his knowledge of
" the constitution of the government and the nature
" of the people, would conduct the king's counsels

VOL. I. EC



418 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

I6fil. "in such a way, as would lead best to his power
~ " and greatness, and to the good and happiness of
" the nation, which would be the only secure sup-
" port of his power and authority. But that he,
" who knew both the king and him so well, that no
" man living knew either of them so well, should be
" of that opinion he had expressed, was matter of
" admiration and surprisal to him. " He appealed to
him, " how often he had heard him say to the king
" in France, Germany, and Flanders, when they two
" took all the pains they could to fix the king's
" mind to a lively sense of his condition ; that he
" must not think now to recover his three kingdoms
" by the dead title of his descent and right, which
" had been so notoriously baffled and dishonoured,
" but by the reputation of his virtue, courage, piety,
" and industry ; that all these virtues must centre in
" himself, for that his fate depended upon his per-
" son ; and that the English nation would sooner
te submit to the government of Cromwell, than to
" any other subject who should be thought to go-
" vern the king. That England would not bear a
" favourite, nor any one man, who should out of his
" ambition engross to himself the disposal of the
" public affairs. "

But this he He said, " he was more now of the same mind,
refused. ' 7 " an d was confident that no honest man, of a com-
" petent understanding, would undertake that pro-
" vince ; and that for his own part, if a gallows were
' erected, and if he had only the choice to be hanged
" or to execute that office, he would rather submit
" to the first than the last. In the one, he should
" end his life with the reputation of an honest man ;
" in the other, he should die with disgrace and in-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 419

" faray, let his innocence be what it would. " He 1661,
put the marquis in mind, " how far the king was ~~
" from observing the rules he had prescribed to him-
" self, before he came from beyond the seas ; and
" was so totally unbent from his business, and ad-
" dieted to pleasures, that the people generally be-
" gan to take notice of it ; that there was little care
" taken to regulate expenses, even when he was
" absolutely without supply ; that he would on a
" sudden be overwhelmed with such debts, as would
tf disquiet him, and dishonour his counsels ;" of
which the lord treasurer was so sensible, that he was
already weary of his staff, before it had been in his
hands three months. " That the confidence the
" king had in him, besides the assurance he had of
" his integrity and industry, proceeded more from
" his aversion to be troubled with the intricacies of
" his affairs, than from any violence of affection,
" which was not so fixed in his nature as to be like
" to transport him to any one person : and that as
" he could not, in so short a time, be acquainted
" with many men, whom in his judgment he could
" prefer before the chancellor for the managery of
" his business, who had been so long acquainted with
" it ; so he would, in a short time, be acquainted
" with many, who would, by finding fault with all
" that was done, be thought much wiser men ; it
" being one of his majesty's greatest infirmities,
" that he was apt to think too well of men at the
" first or second sight. "

He said, " whilst he kept the office he had, (which
" could better bear the envy of the bulk of the af-
" fairs, than any other qualification could,) and that
" it supported him in the execution of it, the king

E e 21



420 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661 felt not the burden of it; because little of the
" profit of it proceeded out of his own purse, and, if
** he were dead to-morrow, the place still must be
" conferred upon another. Whereas, if he gave over
" that administration, and had nothing to rely upon
" for the support of himself and family, but an ex-
" traordinary pension out of the exchequer, under no
" other title or pretence but of being first minister,
" (a title so newly translated out of French into Eng-
" lish, that it was not enough understood to b
" liked, and every man would detest it for the bur-
" den it was attended with,) the king himself who
" was not by nature immoderately inclined to give,
" would be quickly weary of so chargeable an officer,
" and be very willing to be freed from the reproach
" of being governed by any, (the very suspicion
" whereof he doth exceedingly abhor,) at the price
" and charge of the man, who had been raised by
" him to that inconvenient height above other men.
" That whilst he had that seal, he could have ad-
" mission to his majesty as often as he desired, be-
" cause it was more ease to receive an account of
" his business from him, than to be present at the
" whole debate of it ; and he well knew, the chan-
" cellor had too much business to desire audiences
" from his majesty without necessary reason. But
" if the office were in another hand, and he should
" haunt his presence with the same importunity as
" a spy upon his pleasures, and a disturber of the
" jollities of his meetings ; his majesty would quickly
" be nauseated with his company, which for the pre-
" sent he liked in some seasons ; and they, who for
"the present had submitted to some constraint by
" the gravity of his countenance, would quickly dis-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 421

" cover that their talents were more acceptable, and 1661.
" by degrees make him appear grievous to his ma-~
" jesty, and soon after ridiculous. That all his hope
" was, that the king would shortly find some lady
" fit to be his wife, which all honest men ought to
" persuade him to, and that being married, he made
" no doubt he would decline many of those delights
" to which he was yet exposed, and which exposed
" him too much ; and till that time he could not
" think that his best servants could enjoy any plea-
" sant lives. That he presumed the parliament
" would, after they had raised money enough to
" disband the armies, and to pay off the seamen,"
(towards both which somewhat was every day done,
and both which amounted to an incredible and in-
supportable charge,) " settle such a revenue upon
" the crown, as the king might conform his expense
" to; and that it should not be in any 'body's power
" to make that revenue be esteemed by him to be
" greater, than in truth it would be. That when
" these two things should be brought to pass, he did
" hope, that the king would take pleasure in making
" himself master of every part of his business, and
" not charge any one man with a greater share of it
" than he can discharge, or than will agree with his
" own dignity and honour. In the mean time," he
besought the marquis, " that he would convert the
" duke of York and all other persons from that
" opinion, which could not but appear erroneous to
" himself, by the reasons he had heard ; and that if
" he could be brought to consent to what had been
" proposed to him, (and which rather than he would
" do, he would suffer a thousand deaths,) as it would
" inevitably prove his own ruin and destruction, so

e 3



1661. " it would bring an irreparable damage to the king. "
""And therefore he conjured him " to invite the king
" by his own example, and by assuming his own
" share of the' work," which for some time he had
declined since the return into England ; and by being
" himself constantly with his majesty, to whom he
" was acceptable at all hours, he would obstruct the
" operation of that ill company, which neither knew
" how to behave themselves, nor could reasonably
" propose so much benefit to themselves, as by the
" propagation of their follies and villanies, and by
" degrees induce his majesty more proportjonably to
" mingle his business with his pleasures, which he
" could not yet totally abandon. "

The marquis could not deny, but that many of
the reasons alleged by the chancellor were of that
weight as ought to prevail with him ; and therefore
forbore ever after to press him upon the same par-
ticular. And the duke of York shortly undertook a
conference with him upon the same argument, upon
which the other durst not enlarge with the same
freedom as he had done to the marquis ; both be-
cause his eyes could not bear the prospect of so
many things at once, as likewise that he knew he
communicated with some persons, who, whatever
they pretended, had nothing like good affection for
him : so that he rather pacified his royal highness
upon that subject, and diverted him from urging it,
than satisfied him with his grounds. And others
who wished well to him, and better to the public,
acquiesced with his peremptory resolution, without
believing that he resolved well either for his own
particular, or the king's affairs ; and did always think
that he might have prevented his own fate, if he had



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 423

at that time submitted to the judgment of his best 1661.

friends ; though himself remained so positive to the ~~

contrary, that he often said, " that he would not

" have redeemed himself by that expedient ; and

" that he could never have borne that fate with that

" tranquillity of mind, which God enabled him to

" do, if he had passed to it through that province. "



Whilst the general affairs of England, by the long c
debates in parliament, remained thus unsettled, the Io Jh
king was no less troubled and perplexed how to['j a s n c j t ~
compose his two Other kingdoms of Scotland and lrelftnd -
Ireland; from both which there were several per-
sons of the best condition of either kingdom sent,
with the tender and presentation of their allegiance
to his majesty, and expected his immediate direction
to free them from the distractions they were in ; and
by taking the government upon himself, into his own
hands, to be freed from those extraordinary com-
missions, under which they had been both governed
with a rod of iron by the late powers ; the shifting
of which from one faction to another had adminis-
tered no kind of variety to them, but they had re-
mained still under the same full extent of tyranny.

The whole frame of the ancient government of*^ 6

of Scotland

Scotland had been so entirely confounded by Crom-atthat
well, and new modelled by the laws and customs of u
England, that is, those laws and customs which the
commonwealth had established ; that he had hardly
left footsteps by which the old might be traced out
again. The power of the nobility was so totally sup-
pressed and extinguished, that their persons found
no more respect or distinction from the common
people, than the acceptation they found from Crom-
well, and the credit he gave them by some particular

E e 4



424 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 66 1 . trust, drew to them. Their beloved presbytery was
~~ become a term of reproach, and ridiculous ; the
pride and activity of their preachers subdued, and
reduced to the lowest contempt; and the standard
of their religion d remitted to the sole order and di-
rection of their commander in chief. All criminal
cases (except where the general thought it more ex-
pedient to proceed by martial law) were tried and
punished before judges sent from England, and by
the laws of England ; and matters of civil interest
before itinerant judges, who went twice a year in
circuits through the kingdom, and determined all
matters of right by the rules and customs which
were observed in England. They had liberty to
send a particular number, that was assigned to them,
to sit in the parliament of England, and to vote
there with all liberty ; which they had done. And
in recompense thereof, all such monies were levied
in Scotland, as were given by the parliament of Eng-
land, by which such contributions were raised, as
were proportionable to the expense, which the army
and garrisons which subdued them put the kingdom
of England to. Nor was there any other authority
to raise money in Scotland, but what was derived
from the parliament or general of England.

And all this prodigious mutation and transforma-
tion had been submitted to with the same resigna-
tion and obedience, as if the same had been trans-
mitted by an uninterrupted succession from king
Fergus : and it might well be a question, whether
the generality of the nation was not better contented
with it, than to return into the old road of subjec-

d religion] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 425

tion. But the king would not build according to 1661,
Cromwell's models, and had . many reasons to con-~
tinue Scotland within its own limits and bounds,
and sole dependance upon himself, rather than unite
it to England, with so many hazards and dangers as
would inevitably have accompanied it, under any
government less tyrannical than that of Cromwell.
And the resettling that kingdom was to be done
with much less difficulty, than the other of Ireland,
by reason that all who appeared concerned in it or
for it, as a committee for that kingdom, were united
between themselves, and did, or did pretend to de-
sire the same things. They all appeared under the
protection and recommendation of the general ; and
their dependance was the more upon him, because
he still commanded those garrisons and forces in
Scotland, which kept them to their obedience. And
he was the more willing to give them a testimony of
their affection to the king, and that without their
help he could not have been able to have marched
into England against Lambert, that they might
speak the more confidently, " that they gave him
" that assistance, because they were well assured
" that his intention was to serve the king :" whereas
they did indeed give him only what they could not
keep from him, nor did they know any of his inten-
tions, or himself at that time intend any thing for
the king. But it is very true, they were all either
men who had merited best from the king, or had
suffered most for him, or at least had acted least
against him, and (which they looked upon as the
most valuable qualification) they were all, or pre-
tended to be, the most implacable enemies to the
marquis of Argyle ; which was the " shibboleth" by



426 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. which the affections of that whole nation were best

distinguished.
Some ac- The chief of the commissioners was the lord Sel-

< i unit of .

the Scotch kirk, a younger son of the marquis of Douglass, who
toners! * had been- known to the king in France, where he
or the eari nac i \y eeTl faed a Roman catholic, which was the re-

of Selkirk.

ligion of his family, but had returned into Scotland
after it had been subdued by Cromwell ; and being
a very handsome young man, was easily converted
from the religion of his father, in which he had been
bred, to that of his elder brother the earl of Angus,
that he might marry the daughter and heir of James
duke Hamilton, who from the battle of Worcester,
where her uncle duke William was killed, had in-
herited the title of duchess, with the fair seat of Ha-
milton, and all the lands which belonged to her fa-
ther. And her husband now, according to the cus-
tom of Scotland, assumed the same title with her,
and appeared in the head of the commissioners un-
der the style of duke Hamilton, with the merit of
having never disserved the king, and with the ad-
vantage of whatsoever his wife could claim by the
death of her father, which deserved to wipe out the
memory of whatever had been done amiss in his
life.

of the eari The earl of Glencarne was another of the com-
missioners, a man very well born and bred, and of
very good parts. As he had rendered himself very
acceptable to the king, during his being in Scotland,
by his very good behaviour towards him, so even
after that fatal blow at Worcester he did not dis-
semble his affection to his majesty ; but withdraw-
ing himself into the Highlands, during the time that
Cromwell remained in Scotland, he sent over an ex-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 427

press to assure the king of his fidelity, and that he 1661.
would take the first opportunity to serve him. And
when upon his desire Middleton was designed to
command there, he first retired into the Highlands,
and drew a body of men together to receive him.
H[e was a man of honour, and good principles as
well with reference to the church as to the state,
which few others, even of those which now appeared
most devoted to the king, avowed to be; for the
presbytery was yet their idol. From the time that
he had received a protection and safeguard from
general Monk, after there was little hope of doing
good by force, he lived quietly at his house, and was
more favoured by the general than any of those who
spoke most loudly against the king, and was most
trusted by him when he was at Berwick upon his
march into England; and was now presented by
him to the king, as a man worthy of his trust in an
eminent post of that kingdom.

With these there were others of less name, but of
good affections and abilities, who came together from
Scotland as commissioners ; but they found others
in London as well qualified to do their country ser-
vice, and whose names were wisely inserted in their
commission by those who assumed the authority to
send the other. The earl of Lautherdale, who had f the earl

. . . . . f Lauther-

been very eminent in contriving and carrying on the dale.
king's service, when his majesty was crowned in
Scotland, and thereby had wrought himself into a
very particular esteem with the king, had marched
with him into England, and behaved himself well
at Worcester, where he was taken prisoner; had,
besides that merit, the suffering an imprisonment
from that very time with some circumstances of ex-



428 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. treme rigour, being a man against whom Cromwell
"had always professed a more than ordinary animo-
sity. And though the scene of his imprisonment
had been altered, according to the alteration of the
governments which succeeded, yet he never found
himself in complete liberty till the king was pro-
claimed by the parliament, and then he thought it
not necessary to repair into Scotland for authority
or recommendation ; but sending his advice thither
to his friends, he made haste to transport himself
with the parliament commissioners to the Hague,
where he was very well received by the king, and
left nothing undone on his part that might cul-
tivate those old inclinations, being a man of as much
address and insinuation, in which that nation excels,
as was then amongst them. He applied himself to
those who were most trusted by the king with a
marvellous importunity, and especially to the chan-
cellor, with whom, as often as they had ever been
together, he had a perpetual war. He now magni-
fied his constancy with loud elogiums, as well to his
face as behind his back ; remembered " many sharp
" expressions formerly used by the chancellor, which
** he confessed had then made him mad, though
" upon recollection afterwards he had found them
" to be very reasonable. " He was very polite in all
his discourses ; called himself and his nation, " a
" thousand traitors and rebels ;" and in his dis-
courses frequently said, " when I was a traitor," or
" when I was in rebellion ;" and seemed not equally
delighted with any argument, as when he scornfully
spake of the covenant, upon which he brake a hun-
dred jests. In sum, all his discourses were such as
pleased all the company, who commonly believed all



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 429

he said, and concurred with him. He renewed his
old acquaintance and familiarity with Middleton, by
all the protestations of friendship ; assured him " of
" the unanimous desire of Scotland to be under his
" command ;" and declared to the king, " that he
" could not send any man into Scotland, who would
" be able to do him so much service in the place of
" commissioner as Middleton ; and that it was in his
" majesty's power to unite that whole kingdom to
" his service as one man. " All which pleased the
king well: so that, by the time that the commis-
sioners appeared at London, upon some old promise
in Scotland, or new inclination upon his long suffer-
ings, which he magnified enough, the king gave him
the signet, and declared him to be secretary of state
of that kingdom ; and at the same time declared Many of
that Middleton should be his commissioner; the officeTof
earl of Glencarne his chancellor ; the earl of Rothes, ^ Jj|,
who was likewise one of the commissioners, and his ed ofi
person very agreeable to the king, president of the
council ; and conferred all other inferior offices upon
men most notable for their affection to the old go-
vernment of church and state.

And the first proposition that the commissioners
made after their meeting together, and before they
entered upon debate of the public, was, " that his
" majesty would add to the council of Scotland,
" which should reside near his person, the chancellor
" atid treasurer of England, the general, the marquis
" of Ormond, and secretary Nicholas, who should
" be always present when any thing should be de-
" bated and resolved concerning that kingdom :"
which desire, so different from any that had been in
times past, persuaded the king that their intentions



430 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

IOC I. were very sincere. Whatever appearance there was
~ of unity amongst them, for there was nothing like
contradiction, there was a general dislike by them
all of the power Lautherdale had with the king,
who they knew pressed many things without com-
munication with them, a's he had prevailed that the
or the eari earl of Crawford Lindsey should continue in the
office he formerly had of being high treasurer of that



kingdom, though he was known to be a man incor-
rigible in his zeal for the presbytery, and all the
madness of kirk, and not firm to other principles
upon which the authority of the crown must be
established ; so that they could not so much as con-
sult in his presence of many particulars of the high-
est moment and importance to the public settlement.
Yet his having behaved himself well towards the
king, whilst he was in that kingdom, and his having
undergone great persecution under Cromwell, and
professing now all obedience to his majesty, prevailed
that he should not be displaced upon his majesty's
first entrance upon his government, but that a new
occasion should be attended to, which was in view,
and when the king resolved, without communicating
his purpose to Lautherdale, to confer that office upon
Middleton, when he should have proceeded the first
stage in his commission ; and of this his resolution
he was graciously pleased to inform him.
Thema- The marquis of Argyle, (without mentioning of
gyle sent r whom there can hardly be any mention of Scotland,)
Tower. though he was not of this fraternity, yet thought he
could tell as fair a story for himself as any of the
rest, and contribute as much to the king's absolute
power in Scotland. And therefore he had no sooner
unquestionable notice of the king's being in London,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 431

but he made haste thither with as much confidence 16GI.
as the rest. But the commissioners, who were be-~~
fore him, wrought so far with the king, that in the
very minute of his arrival he was arrested by a war-
rant under the king's hand, and carried to the
Tower, upon a charge of high treason.
He was a man like Drances in Virgil,

Largus opum, et lingua melior, sed frigida bello H|S cha -

. . . . , , f >i racter.

Dcxtera, consilus habitus non minis auctor,

Seditione potens.

Without doubt he was a person of extraordinary
cunning, well bred ; and though, by the ill-placing
of his eyes, he did not appear with any great advan-
tage at first sight, yet he reconciled even those who
had aversion to him very strangely by a little con-
versation : insomuch as after so many repeated in-
dignities (to say no worse) which he had put upon
the late king, and when he had continued the same
affronts to the present king, by hindering the Scots
from inviting him, and as long as was possible kept
him from being received by them ; when there was
no remedy, and that he was actually landed, no man
paid him so much reverence and outward respect,
and gave so good an example to all others, with
what veneration their king ought to be treated, as
the marquis of Argyle did, and in a very short time
made himself agreeable and acceptable to him. His
wit was pregnant, and his humour gay and pleasant,
except when he liked not the company or the argu-
ment. And though he never consented to any one
thing of moment, which the king asked of him ; and
even in those seasons in which he was used with
most rudeness by the clergy, and with some bar-
barity by his son the lord Lome, whom he had made



432 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1G61. captain of his majesty's guard, to guard him from
"~ his friends, and from all who he desired should have
access to him, the marquis still had that address,
that he persuaded him all was for the best. When
the other faction prevailed, in which there were
likewise crafty managers, and that his counsels were
commonly rejected, he carried himself so, that they
who hated him most were willing to compound with
him, and that his majesty should not withdraw his
countenance from him. But he continued in all his
charges, and had a very great party in that parlia-
ment that was most devoted to serve the king ; so
that his majesty was often put to desire his help to
compass what he desired. He did heartily oppose
the king's marching with his army into England ; the
ill success whereof made many men believe after-
wards, that he had more reasons for the counsels he
gave, than they had who were of another opinion.
And the king was so far from thinking him his
enemy, that when it was privately proposed to him
by those he trusted most, that he might be secured
from doing hurt when the king was marched into
England, since he was so much* against it ; his ma-
jesty would by no means consent to it, but parted
with him very graciously, as with one he expected
good service from. All which the commissioners
well remembered, and were very unwilling that he
should be again admitted into his presence, to make
his own excuses for any thing he could be charged
with. And his behaviour afterwards, and the good
correspondence he had kept with Cromwell, but
especially some confident averments of some parti-
cular words or actions which related to the murder
of his father, prevailed with his majesty not to speak



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 433

with him ; which he laboured by many addresses, in 1 GC I .
petitions to the king, and letters to some of those"
who were trusted by him, which were often presented
by his wife and his son, and in which he only desired
" to speak with the king or with some of those lords,"
pretending, " that he should inform and communi-
" cate somewhat that would highly concern his ma-
" jesty's service. " But the king not vouchsafing to
admit him to his presence, the English lords had no
mind to have any conference with a man who had
so dark a character, or to meddle in an affair that
must be examined and judged by the laws of Scot-
land : and so it was resolved, that the marquis of Sent into

* Scotland to

Argyle should be sent by sea into Scotland, to be be tried.
tried before the parliament there when the com-
missioner should arrive, who was despatched thither
with the rest of the lords, as soon as the seals and
other badges of their several offices could be pre-
pared. And what afterwards became of the mar*-
quis is known to all men ; as it grew quickly to ap-
pear, that what bitterness soever the earl of Lau-
therdale had expressed towards him in his general
discourses, he had in truth a great mind to have
preserved him, and so kept such a pillar of presby-
tery against a good occasion ; which was not then
suspected by the rest of the commissioners.

The lords of the English council, who were ap-
pointed to sit with the Scots, met with them to
consult upon the instructions which were to be given
to the king's commissioner, who was now created
earl of Middleton. ' The Scots seemed all resolute
and impatient to vindicate their country from the
infamy of delivering up the last king, (for all things
relating to the former rebellion had been put in ob-

VOL. I. F f



434 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 66 1 . livion by his late majesty's act of indemnity, at his
"last being in Scotland,) and stricdy to examine who
of that nation had contributed to his murder, of
which they were confident Argyle would be found
The eari of Very guilty.
Middleton was very earnest, " that he
Jrot^e? " " might, for the humiliation of the preachers, and
* P reven ^ anv unruly proceeding of theirs in their
assembly, begin with rescinding the act of the



Scotland. " covenant, and all other acts which had invaded
" the king's power ecclesiastical, and then proceed
" to the erecting of bishops in that kingdom, ac-

in which cording to the ancient institution :" and with him

all the

Glencarne, Rothes, and all the rest (Lautherdale



S CUT Incept' only excepted) concurred ; and averred, " that it
" wou ld be very easily brought to pass, because the
" tyrannical proceedings of the assemblies and their
" several presbyteries had so far incensed persons of
" all degrees, that not only the nobility, gentry, and
" common people, would be glad to be freed from
" them, but that the most learned and best part of
" the ministers desired the same, and to be subject
" again to the bishops ; and that there would be
" enough found of the Scots clergy, very worthy
" and very willing to supply those charges. "

Lautherdale, with a passion superior to the rest,
inveighed against the covenant ; called it " a wick-
" ed, traitorous combination of rebels against their
" lawful sovereign, and expressly against the laws
" of their own country ; protested his own hearty
" repentance for the part he had acted in the pro-
" motion thereof, and that he was confident that
" God, who was witness of his repentance, had for-
" given him that foul sin : that no man there had a
" greater reverence for the government by bishops



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 435

" than he himself had ; and that he was most confi- J661.

'* dent, that the kingdom of Scotland could never be ~

" happy in itself, nor ever be reduced to a perfect

(( submission and obedience to the king, till the

** episcopal government was again established there.

" The scruple that only remained with him, and

" which made him differ with his brethren, was, of

" the manner how it should be attempted, and of the

" time when it should be endeavoured to be brought

" to pass. " And then with his usual warmth, when

he thought it necessary to be warm, (for at other

times he could be as calm as any man, though not

so naturally,) he desired, " that the commissioner

" might have no instruction for the present to make

" any approach towards either ; on the contrary, who art-

" that he might be restrained from it by his ma- tempt* to

" jesty's special direction: for though his own pru- f^ e * d>

" dence, upon the observation he should quickly

" make when he came thither, would restrain him

" from doing any thing which might be inconvenient

" to his majesty's service ; yet without that he would

" hardly be able to restrain others, who for want of

" understanding, or out of ill-will to particular men,

" might be too forward to set such a design on

" foot"

He desired, "that in the first session of parlia^
" ment no further attempt might be made, than in
" pursuance of what had been first mentioned, the
" vindicating their country from all things which
" related to the murder of the late king, which
" would comprehend the delivery up of his person,
" the asserting the king's royal power, by which all
" future attempts towards rebellion would be pre-
" vented, and the trial of the marquis of Argyle ;

F f 2



436 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. "all which would take up more time than parlia-
~~" ments in that kingdom, till the late ill times, had
" used to continue together. That after the expi-
" ration of the first session, in which a good judg-
" ment might be made of the temper of that king-
" dom, and the commissioner's prudence might have
" an influence upon many leading men to change
" their present temper, such further advance might
" be made for the reformation of the kirk as his
" majesty should judge best ; and then he made no
" doubt, but all would by degrees be compassed in
" that particular which could be desired, and which
" was the more resolutely to be desired, because he
" still confessed that the king could not be secure, nor
" the kingdom happy, till the episcopal government
" could be restored. But he undertook to know so
" well the nature of that people," (though he had
not been in that kingdom since his majesty left it,)
" that if it were undertaken presently, or without
" due circumstances in preparing more men than
" could in a short time be done, it would not only
" miscarry, but with it his majesty be disappointed
" of many of the other particulars, which he would
" otherwise be sure to obtain. "

He named many of the nobility and leading men,
who he said " were still so infatuated with the cove-
" nant, that "they would with equal patience hear of
" the rejection of the four Evangelists, who yet, by
" conversation, and other information, and applica-
" tion, might in time be wrought upon. " He fre-
quently appealed to the king's own memory and ob-
servation, when he was in that kingdom, " how su-
" perstitious they who were most devoted to do him
" service, and were at his disposal in all things, were



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 437

" towards the covenant: that all they did for him,
" which was all that he desired them to do, was
" looked upon as the effects of those obligations
" which the covenant had laid upon them. " He
appealed to the general, (" who," he said, " knew
" Scotland better than any one man of that nation
" could pretend to do,) whether he thought this a
" proper season to attempt so great a change in
" that kingdom, before other more pressing acts
"were compassed ; and whether he did not know,
" that the very pressing the obligations in the cove-
" nant lately in England had not contributed very
** much to the restoration of the king, which the
" London ministers confidently urged at present as
" an argument for his indulgence towards them.
" And," he said, " though he well knew that his
" majesty was fully resolved to maintain the go-
" vernment of the church of England in its full lus-
" tre, (which he thanked God for, being in his
"judgment the best government ecclesiastical in
" the world,) yet he could not but observe, that the
" king's prudence had yet forborne to make any
" new bishops, and had upon the matter suspended
" the English Liturgy by not enjoining it, out of
" indulgence to dissenters, and to allow them time
" to consider, and to be well informed and in-
" structed in those forms, which had been for so
" many years rejected or discontinued, that the
" people in general and many ministers had never
" seen or heard it used : so that the presbyterians
" here remained still in hope of his majesty's favour
" and condescension, that they should be permitted
" to continue their own forms, or no forms, in their
" devotions and public worship of God. In consi-

Ff3



438 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " deration of all which, he thought it very incongru-
"~" ous, and somewhat against his majesty's dignity,
" suddenly and with precipitation to begin and
" attempt such an alteration in Scotland, against
" a government that had more antiquity there, and
" was more generally submitted to and accepted,
" than it had been in England, before he himself
" had declared his own judgment against it in this
" kingdom ; which he presumed he would shortly
" do, and which would be the best introduction to
" the same in Scotland, where all the king's actions
" and determinations would be looked upon with
" the highest veneration. "

He concluded, "that if the other more vigorous
" course should be resolved upon, the marquis of
" Argyle would be very glad of it ; for though he
" was generally odious to all degrees of men, yet he
" was not so much hated as the covenant was be-
" loved and worshipped : a. nd that when they should
" discern that they must be deprived of that, they
" would rather desire to preserve both. And there-
" fore," he said, " his advice still was, that he
" should be first out of the way, who was looked
" upon as the upholder of the covenant and the
" chief pillar of the kirk, before any visible attempt
" should be made against the other, which would
" assuredly be done by degrees. "

Many particulars in this discourse confidently
urged, and with more advantage of elocution than
the fatness of his tongue, that ever filled his mouth,
usually was attended with, seemed reasonable to
many, and worthy to be answered; and his fre-
quent appeals to the king, in which there were
always some ridiculous instances of the use made of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 489

the covenant, with reference to the power of the
preachers in the domestic affairs of other men, and^ 3 ^ 7 ^* 35 '
the like, (which, though it made it the more odious,
was still an argument of the reverence that was ge-
nerally paid to it, all which instances were^well re-
membered by the king, who commonly added others
of the same standard from his own memory,) madeHi*di-

,. . . i i' 1 i ' C urs *

his majesty in suspense, or rather inclined that no- makes some
thing should be attempted that concerned the kirk, o
till the next session of parliament, when Lauther- kmg>
dale himself confessed it might be securely effected.
To this the general seemed to incline, not a little
moved by what had been said of Argyle, to whom he
was no friend, but much more by the disadvantage
which might arise, by a precipitate proceeding in
Scotland, to the presbyterian party here, and espe-
cially to the preachers, to whom he wished well for
his wife's sake, or rather for his own peace with his
wife, who was deeply engaged to that people for
their seasonable determination of some nice cases
of conscience, whereby he had been induced to re-
pair a trespass he had committed, by marrying her ;
which was an obligation never to be forgotten.

Middleton, and most of the Scots lords, were
highly offended by the presumption of Laiitherdale,
in undertaking to know the spirit and disposition of
a kingdom which he had not seen in ten years ; and
easily discerned that his affected raillery and railing other iord
against the covenant, and his magnifying episcopal Lauther-
government, were but varnish to cover the rotten- ^ s<
ness of his intentions, till he might more securely
and efficaciously manifest his affection to the one,
and his malignity to the other. They contradicted

F f 4



440 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. positively all that he had said of the temper and af-
"fections of Scotland, and named many of those lords,
who had been mentioned by him as the most zealous
assertors of the covenant, " who," they undertook,
" should, upon the first opportunity, declare their
" abomination of it to the world ; whereof they knew
" there were some who had written against it, and
" were resolved to publish it as soon as they might
" do it with safety. " They advised his majesty,
" that he would not choose to do his business by
" halves, when he might with more security do it
" all together, ajid the dividing it would make both
" the more difficult. However," they besought him,
" to put no such restraint, as had been so much
" pressed, upon his commissioner, that though he
" should find the parliament most inclined to do that
" now, which every body confessed necessary to be
" done at some time, he should not accept their
" good-will, but hinder them from pursuing it, as
" very ungrateful to the king ; which," they said,
** would be a greater countenance to, and confirma-
" tion of, the covenant, than it had ever yet re-
" ceived, and a greater wound to episcopacy. " And
And pre- that indeed was consented to by all. And there-
upon the king resolved to put nothing like restraint
upon his commissioner from effecting that he wished
might be done to-morrow if it could be, but to leave it
entirely to his prudence to judge of the conjuncture,
with caution " not to permit it to be attempted, if
" he saw it would be attended with any ill conse-
" quence or hazard to his service. " And so the
commissioner, with the other officers for Scotland,
were dismissed to their full content ; and therewith



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 441

the king was at present eased, by having separated 1 66 1 .
one very important affair from the crowd of the rest, ~
which remained to perplex him.

That in Ireland was much more intricate, and The state of

. 1-11 Ireland at

the intricacy in many respects so involved, that no- that time.
body had a mind to meddle with it. The chancel-
lor had made it his humble suit to the king, " that
" no part of it might ever be referred to him ;" and
the duke of Ormond (who was most concerned in
his own interest that all men's interests in that king-
dom might be adjusted, that he might enjoy his,
which was the greatest of all the rest) could not see
any light in so much darkness, that might lead him
to any beginning. The king's interest had been so
totally extinguished in that kingdom for many years
past, that there was no person of any consideration
there, who pretended to wish that it were revived.
At Cromwell's death, and at the deposition of Rich-
ard, his younger son Harry was invested in the full
authority, by being lieutenant of Ireland. The
two presidents of the two provinces, were the lord
Broghill in that of Munster, and sir Charles Coote
in that of Connaught ; both equally depending upon
the lieutenant : and they more depended upon him
and courted his protection, by their not loving one
another, and being of several complexions and con-
stitutions, and both of a long aversion to the king
by multiplications of guilt. When Richard was
thrown out, the supreme power of the militia was
vested in Ludlow, and all the civil jurisdiction in
persons who had been judges of the king, and pos-
sessed ample fortunes, which they could no longer
hold than their authority should be maintained. But
the two presidents remained in their several pro-



442 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. viuces with their full power, either because they
~had not deserved to be suspected, or because they
could not easily be removed, being still subject to
the commissioners at Dublin. The next change of
government removed Ludlow and the rest of that
desperate crew, and committed the government to
others of more moderate principles, yet far enough
from wishing well to the king. In those revolutions
sir Charles Coote took an opportunity to send an ex-
press to the king, who was then at Brussels, with
the tender of his obedience, with great cautions as
to the time of appearing; only desired " to have
" such commissions in his hands as might be applied
" to his majesty's service in a proper conjuncture ;"
which were sent to him, and never made use of by
him. He expressed great jealousy of Broghill, and
an unwillingness that he should know of his engage-
ment. And the alterations succeeded so fast one
upon another, that they both chose rather to depend
upon general Monk than upon the king, imagining,
as they said afterwards, " that he intended nothing
" but the king's restoration, and best knew how to
" effect it. " And by some private letter, for there
was no order sent, to Coote and some other officers
there, " that they would adhere to his army for the
" service of the parliament against Lambert," Coote
found assistance to seize upon the castle of Dublin,
and the persons of those who were in authority,
who were imprisoned by them, and the government
settled in that manner as they thought most agree-
able to the presbyterian humour, until the general
was declared lieutenant of Ireland, who then sent



thedifferent commissioners to the same persons, who, as soon as

parties in . . .

Ireland, the king was proclaimed, sent their commissioners



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 443

to the king, who were called commissioners from
the state, and brought a present of money to the
king from the same, with all professions of duty
which could be expected from the best subjects.

These were the lord Broghill, sir Audly Mervin, i- c
sir John Clotworthy, and several other persons of i! ie state.
quality, much the greater number whereof had been
always notorious for the disservice they had done
the king; but upon the advantage of having been
discountenanced, and suffered long imprisonment and
other damages, under Cromwell, they called them-
selves the king's party, and brought expectations
with them to be looked upon and treated as such.
Amongst them was a brother, and other friends,
made choice of and more immediately trusted by
sir Charles Coote, who remained in the castle of
Dublin, and presided in that council that supplied
the government, and was thought to have the best
interest in the army as well as in his own province.
" And these men," he said, " had been privy to the
" service he meant to have done the king, and ex-
" pected the performance of several promises he had
" then made them by virtue of some authority had
" been sent to him to assure those, who should join
" with him to do his majesty service. " All these
commissioners from the state had instructions, to
which they were to conform in desiring nothing
from the king, but ** the settling his own authority
" amongst them, the ordering the army, the reviving
" the execution of the laws, and settling the courts
" of justice," (all which had been dissolved in the
late usurpation,) " and such other particulars as
" purely related to the public. " And their public
addresses were to this and no other purpose. But



444 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. then to their private friends, and such as they desired
~~ to make their friends, most of them had many pre-
tences of merit, and many expedients by which the
king might reward them, and out of which they
' would be able liberally to gratify their patrons. And
by this means all who served the king were fur-
nished with suits enough to make their fortunes, in
which they presently engaged themselves with very
troublesome importunity to the king himself, and to
all others who they thought had credit or power to
advance their desires. Nor was there any other art
so much used by the commissioners in their secret
conferences, as to deprave one another, and to dis-
cover the ill actions they had been guilty of, and
how little they deserved to be trusted, or had in-
terest to accomplish. The lord Broghill was the
man of the best parts, and had most friends by his
great alliance to promise for him. And he appeared
very generous, and to be without the least pretence
to any advantage for himself, and to be so wholly
devoted to the king's interest, and to the establish-
ing of the government of the church, that he quickly
got himself believed. And having free access to the
king, by mingling apologies for what he had done,
with promises of what he would do, and utterly re-
nouncing all those principles as to the church or state,
(as he might with a good conscience do,) which made
men unfit for trust, he made himself so acceptable
to his majesty, that he heard him willingly, because
he made all things easy to be done and compassed ;
and gave such assurances to the bedchamber men,
to help them to good fortunes in Ireland, which
they had reason to despair of in England, that he
wanted not their testimony upon all occasions, nor



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 445

their defence and vindication, when any thing was 1661.
reflected upon to his disadvantage or reproach.

2. There were many other deputies of several 2 - Deputies
classes in Ireland, who thought their pretences to be bishops and
as well grounded, as theirs who came from the state.
There were yet some bishops alive of that kingdom,
and other grave divines, all stripped of their dig-
nities and estates, which had been disposed of by
the usurping power to their creatures. And all they
(some whereof had spent time in banishment near
the king, and others more miserably in their own
country and in England, under the charity of those
who for the most part lived by the charity of others)
expected, as they well might, to be restored to what
in right belonged to them ; and besought his ma-
jesty " to use all possible expedition to establish the
" government of that church as it had always been,
" by supplying the empty sees with new prelates in
" the place of those who were dead, that all the
" schisms and wild factions in religion, which were
" spread over that whole kingdom, might be extir-
" pated and rooted out. " All which desires were
grateful to the king, and according to his royal in-
tentions, and were not opposed by the commissioners
from the state, who all pretended to be well wishers
to the old government of the church, and the more
by the experience they had of the distractions which
were introduced by that which had succeeded it,
and by the confusion they were now in without any.
Only sir John Clotworthy (who, by the exercise of
very ordinary faculties in several employments, whilst
the parliament retained the supreme power in their
hands, had exceedingly improved himself in under-
standing and ability of negociation) dissembled not



446 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 66 1 . his old animosity against the bishops, the cross, and



the surplice, and wished that all might be abolished ;
though he knew well that his vote would signify
nothing towards it. And that spirit of his had been
so long known, that it was now imputed to sincerity
and plain-dealing, and that he would not dissemble,
(which many others were known to do, who had the
same malignity with him,) and was the less ill
thought of, because in all other respects he was of a
generous and a jovial nature, and complied in all de-
signs which might advance the king's interest or
service,
s. A com. 3 There appeared likewise a committee deputed

mittee de-
puted by by the adventurers to solicit their right, which was

the adven- /

turers. the more numerous by the company or many alder-
men and citizens of the best quality, and many ho-
nest gentlemen of the country; who all desired
" that their right might not be disturbed, which
** had been settled by an act of parliament ratified
** by the last king before the troubles ; and that if it
" should be thought just, that any of the lands of
** which tliey stood possessed should be taken from
" them, upon what title soever, they might first be
" put into the possession of other lands of equal va-
*' lue, before they should be dispossessed of what

An account they had already. " All that they made claim to

of these ad- '

venturers, seemed to be confirmed by an act of parliament.
The case was this : When the rebellion first brake
out in Ireland, the parliament then sitting, and
there being so much money to be raised and already
raised for the payment of and disbanding two ar-
mies, and for the composing or compounding the
rebellion of Scotland, where the king was at that
time ; it had been propounded, " that the war of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 447

" Ireland might be carried on at the charges of par- 1661
" ticular men, and so all imposition upon the people ~
" might be prevented, if an act of parliament were
" passed for the satisfaction of all those who would
" advance monies for the war, out of the lands which
" should become forfeited. "

And this proposition being embraced, an act was
prepared to that purpose ; in which it was provided,
" that the forfeited lands in Leinster, Munster, Con-
" naught, and Ulster, should be valued at such seve-
" ral rates by the acre, and how many acres in
" either should be assigned for the satisfaction of
" one hundred pounds, and so proportionally for
" greater sums. That for all monies which should
" be subscribed within so many days (beyond which
" time there should be no more subscriptions) for
" that service, one moiety thereof should be paid to
4t the treasurer appointed, within few days, for the
" present preparations ; and the other moiety be
" paid within six months, upon the penalty of losing
" all benefit from the first payment. That when
" God should so bless their armies, (which they
" doubted not of,) that the rebels should be so near
" reduced, that they should be without any army
" or visible power to support their rebellion ; there
" should a commission issue out, under the great
** seal of England, to such persons as should be no-
" minated by the parliament, who should take the
" best way they could in their discretion think fit,
" to be informed, whether the rebels were totally
" subdued, and so the rebellion at an end. And
" upon their declaration, that the work was fully
" done and the war finished, other commissions
" should likewise issue out, in the same manner, for



448 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " the convicting and attainting all those who were
" guilty of the treason and rebellion by which their
" estates were become forfeited ; and then other
" commissions, for the distribution 6f the forfeited
" lands to the several adventurers, according to the
" sums of money advanced by them. The king was
" to be restrained from making any peace with the
" Irish rebels, or cessation, or from granting pardon
" to any of them ; but such peace, cessation, or par-
" don, should be looked upon as void and null. "
* This act the king had consented to and confirmed
in the year 1641, and in the agony of many troubles
which that rebellion had brought upon him, think-
ing it the only means to put a speedy end to that ac-
cursed rebellion, the suppression whereof would free
him from many difficulties. And upon the security
of this act, very many persons, of all qualities and af-
fections, subscribed and brought in the first moiety
of their money, and were very properly styled adven-
turers. Great sums of money were daily brought in,
and preparations and provisions and new levies of
men were made for Ireland. But the rebellion in
England being shortly after fomented by the parlia-
ment, they applied very much of that money brought
in by the adventurers, and many of the troops which
had been raised for that service, immediately against
the king : which being notoriously known, and his
majesty complaining of it, many honest gentlemen,
who had subscribed and paid one moiety, refused to
pay in the other moiety at the time, and so were
liable to lose the benefit of 1 their adventure ; which
they preferred before suffering their money to be
applied to the carrying on the rebellion against the
king, which they abhorred. And by this means



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 449

Ireland was misapplied ; and the rebellion spread
and prospered with little opposition for some time.
And the parliament, though the time for subscribing
was expired, enlarged it by ordinances of their own
to a longer day, and easily prevailed with many of
their own party, principally officers and citizens, to
subscribe and bring in their money ; to which it
was no small encouragement, that so many had lost
the benefit of their whole adventure by not paying
in the second payment, which would make the con-
ditions of the new adventurers the less hazardous.

When the success of the parliament had totally
subdued the king's arms, and himself was so inhu-
manly murdered, neither the forces in Ireland under
the king's authority, nor the Irish, who had too late
promised to submit to it, could make any long re-
sistance; so that Cromwell quickly dispersed them
by his own expedition thither : and by licensing as
many as desired it to transport as many from thence,
for the service of the two crowns of France and
Spain, as they would contract for, quickly made a
disappearance of any army in that kingdom to op-
pose his conquests. And after the defeat of the
king at Worcester, he seemed to all men to be in as
quiet a possession of Ireland as of England, and to
be as much without enemies in the one as the other
kingdom ; as in a short time he had reduced Scot-
land to the same exigent.

Shortly after that time, when Cromwell was in-
vested with the office of protector, all those commis-
sions were issued out, and all the formality was used
that was prescribed by that act for the adventurers.
Not only all the Irish nation (very few excepted)
were found guilty of the rebellion, and so to have

VOL. i. G g



450 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. forfeited all their estates; but the marquis of Or-
~~mond, the lord Inchiquin, and all the English catho-
lics, and whosoever had served the king, were de-
clared to be under the same guilt ; and the lands
seized upon for the benefit of the state. There were
very vast arrears of pay due to the army, a great
part e of which (now the war was ended) must be
disbanded ; for the doing whereof no money was to
be expected out of England, but they must be sa-
tisfied out of the forfeitures of the other kingdoms.
The whole kingdom was admeasured ; the accounts
of the money paid by the adventurers within the
time limited, and what was due to the army for
their pay, were stated ; and such proportions of
acres in the several provinces were assigned to the
adventurers and officers and soldiers, as were agree-
able to the act of parliament, by admeasurement.
v Where an officer of name had been likewise an ad-
venturer, his adventure and his pay amounted to
the more. And sometimes the whole company and
regiment contracted for money with their captains
or colonels, and assigned their interest in land to
them ; and possession was accordingly delivered,
without any respect to any titles by law to former
settlements, or descents of any persons soever, wives
or children ; except in some very few cases, where
the wives had been great heirs, and could not be
charged with any crime, such proportions were as-
signed as were rather agreeable to their own con-
veniences, than to justice and the right of the
claimers.

And that every body might with the more se-

e part] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 451

curity enjoy that which was assigned to him, they 1661,
had found a way to have the consent of many to~
their own undoing. They found the utter extirpa-
tion of the nation (which they had intended) to be
in itself very difficult, and to carry in it somewhat
of horror, that made some impression upon the
stone-hardness of their own hearts. After so many
thousands f destroyed by the plague which raged
over the kingdom, by fire, sword, and famine ; and
after so many thousands transported into foreign
parts, there remained still such a numerous people,
that they knew not how to dispose of: and though
they were declared to be all forfeited, and so to
have no title to any thing, yet they must remain
somewhere. They therefore found this expedient,
which they called an act of grace. There was a
large tract of land, even to the half of the province
of Connaught, that was separated from the rest by
a long and a large river, and which by the plague
and many massacres remained almost desolate. Into
this space and circuit of land they required all the
Irish to retire by such a day, under the penalty of
death ; and all who should after that time be found
in any other part of the kingdom, man, woman, or
child, should be killed by any body who saw or met
them. The land within this circuit, the most barren
in the kingdom, was out of the grace and mercy of
the conquerors assigned to those of the nation who
were enclosed, in such proportions as might with
great industry preserve their lives. And to those
persons, from whom they had taken great quantities
of land in other provinces, they assigned the greater

' thousands] millions g thousands] millions

Gg2



452 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. proportions within this precinct ; so that it fell to
~~ some men's lot, especially when they were accommo-
dated with houses, to have a competent livelihood,
though never to the fifth part of what had been
taken from them in a much better province. And
that they might not be exalted with this merciful
donative, it was a condition that accompanied this
their accommodation, that they should all give re-
leases of their former rights and titles to the land
that was taken from them, in consideration of what
was now assigned to them ; and so they should for
ever bar themselves and their heirs from ever laying
claim to their old inheritance. What should they
do ? they could not be permitted to go out of this
precinct to shift for themselves elsewhere ; and
without this assignation they must starve here, as
many did die every day of famine. In this deplor-
able condition, and under this consternation, they
found themselves obliged to accept or submit to the
hardest conditions of their conquerors, and so signed
such conveyances and releases as were prepared for
them, that they might enjoy those lands which be-
longed to other men.

And by this means the plantation (as they called
it) of Connaught was finished, and all the Irish na-
tion enclosed within that circuit ; the rest of Ireland
being left to the English ; some to the old lords and
just proprietors, who being all protestants, (for no
Roman catholic was admitted,) had either never
offended them, or had served them, or had made
composition for their delinquencies by the benefit of
some articles ; and h some to the adventurers and

11 and] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 453

soldiers. And a good and great part (as I remem- 1661,
ber, the whole province of Tipperary) Cromwell had ~
reserved to himself, as a demesne (as he called it)
for the state, and in which no adventurer or soldier
should demand his lot to be assigned, and no doubt
intended both the state and it for the making great
his own family. It cannot be imagined in how easy
a method, and with what peaceable formality, this
whole great kingdom was taken from the just lords
and proprietors, and divided and given amongst
those, who had no other right to it but that they
had power to keep it i ; no men having so great k
shares as they who had been instruments to murder
the king, and were not like willingly to part with it
to his successor. Where any great sums of money
for arms, ammunition, or any merchandise, had
been so long due that they were looked upon as des-
perate, the creditors subscribed all those sums as
lent upon adventure, and had their satisfaction as-
signed to them as adventurers. Ireland was the
great capital, out of which all debts were paid, all
services rewarded, and all acts of bounty performed.
And which is more wonderful, all this was l done
and settled, within little more than two years, to
that degree of perfection, that there were many
buildings raised for beauty as well as use, orderly
and regular plantations of trees, and fences and en-
closures raised m throughout the kingdom, purchases
made by one from the other at very valuable rates,
and jointures 1 made upon marriages, and all other
conveyances and settlements executed, as in a king-

' it] Omitted in MS. m fences and enclosures rais-

k great] Omitted in MS. ed] raising fences and enclo-

1 was] Not in MS. sures

Gg3



454 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. dom at peace within itself, and where no doubt
"could be made of the validity of titles. And yet in
all this quiet, there were very few persons pleased
or contented.

And these deputies for the adventurers, and for
those who called themselves adventurers, came not
only to ask the king's consent and approbation of
what had been done, (which they thought in justice
he could not deny, because all had been done upon
the warrant of a legal act of parliament,) but to
complain, " that justice had not been equally done
" in the distributions ; that this man had received
" much less than was his due, and others as much
" more than was their due ; that one had had great
" quantities of bogs and waste land assigned to him
" as tenantable, and another as much allowed as
" bogs and waste, which in truth were very tenant-
" able lands. " And upon the whole matter, they all
desired " a review might be made n , that justice
" might be done to all ;" every man expecting an
addition to what he had already, not suspecting
that any thing would be taken from him, to be re-
stored to the true owner.
Another And this agitation raised another party of adven-

class of ad- . 111

venturers turers, who thought they had at least as good a
right as any of the other ; and that was, they, or
the heirs and executors of them, who upon the first
making of the act of parliament, had subscribed
several good sums of money, and paid in their first
moieties ; but the rebellion coming on, and the mo-
nies already paid in being notoriously and visibly
employed contrary to the act, and against the per-

V

11 -be made] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 455

son of the king himself, they had out of conscience

forborne to pay the second moiety, lest it might

also be P so employed ; whereby, according to the
rigour of the law, they lost the benefit of the first
payment. And they had hitherto sustained that
loss, with many other, without having ever applied
themselves for relief. " But now, when it had
" pleased God to restore the king, and so many who
" had not deserved very well desired help from the
" king upon the equity of that act of parliament,
" where the letter of the law would do them no
" good % they presumed to think, that by the equity
" of the law they ought to be satisfied for the money
" they did really pay ; and that they should not un-
. " dergo any damage for not paying the other moiety,
" which out of conscience and for his majesty's ser-
" vice they had forborne to do. " No man will doubt
but that the king was very well inclined to gratify
this classis of adventurers, when he should find it in
his power. But it is time to return to the com-
mittee and deputies of the other parties in that dis-
tracted kingdom.

4. There was a committee sent from the army 4. A com-

,1 . . T i j t , n . -i mittee from

that was in present pay in Ireland, " tor the arrears t he army.
" due to them," which was for above a year's pay ;
most of those who had received satisfaction in land
for what was then due to them, as well officers as sol-
diers, being then disbanded, that they might attend
their plantations and husbandry, but in truth because
they were for the most part of the presbyterian fac-
tion, and so suspected by Cromwell not to be enough
inclined to him. The army now on foot, and to

to pay] to make P be] Omitted in MS. 'i good] king
Gg4



456 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. whom so great arrears were due, consisted for the
"greatest part of independents, anabaptists, and le-
vellers, who had corresponded with and been di-
rected by the general, when he marched from Scot-
land against Lambert : and therefore he had advised
the king to declare, " that he would pay all arrears
" due to the army in Ireland, and ratify the satisfac-
" tion that had been given to adventurers, officers,
" and soldiers there ;" which his majesty had accord-
ingly signified by his declaration from Breda. And
whoever considers the temper and constitution of
that army then on foot in that kingdom, and the
body of presbyterians that had been disbanded, and
remained still there in their habitations, together
with the body of adventurers, all presbyterians or
anabaptists; and at the same time remembers the
disposition and general affection of the army in
England, severed from their obedience to the general
and the good affection of some few superior officers ;
will not wonder that the king endeavoured, if it had
been possible, rather to please all, than by any un-
seasonable discovery of a resolution, how just soever,
to make any party desperate ; there being none so
inconsiderable, as not to have been able to do much
mischief.



5. A com- - 5 T]^ satisfaction that the officers and soldiers

mittee from

the officers had received in land, and the demand of the present

who bad .

served the army, had caused another committee to be sent and
employed by those reformed officers, who had served
the king under the command of the marquis of
Ormond, from the beginning of the rebellion to the
end thereof, with courage and fidelity; and had
since shifted beyond the seas, and some of them in
his majesty's service, or suffered patiently in that



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 457

kingdom under the insolence of their oppressors; 1-661.
who, because they had always fought against the~
Irish, were by articles, upon their laying down their
arms when they could no longer hold them in their
hands, permitted to remain in their own houses, or
such as they could get within that kingdom. These
gentlemen thought it a very incongruous thing, " that
" they who had constantly fought against the king's
" father and himself, should receive their pay and
" reward by his majesty's care, bounty, and as-
" signation ; and that they, who had as constantly
" fought for both, should be left to undergo all want
" and misery now his majesty was restored to his
" own. " And they believed their suit to be the
more reasonable, at least the easier to be granted, by
having brought an expedient with them to facilitate
their satisfaction. There had been some old order
or ordinance, that was looked upon as a law, where-
by it was provided, that all houses within cities or
corporate towns, which were forfeited, should be re-
served to be specially disposed of by the state, or in
such a manner as it should direct, to the end that all
care might be taken what manner of men should be
the inhabitants of such important places : and there-
fore such houses had not been, nor were to be, pro-
miscuously assigned to adventurers, officers, or sol-
diers, and so remained hitherto undisposed of. And
these reformed officers of the king made it their
suit, that those houses might be assigned to them in
proportions, according to what might appear to be
due to their several conditions and degrees in com-
mand. And to this petition, which might seem
equitable in itself, the commissioners from the state
gave their full approbation and consent, being ready



458 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1 66 1 . to take all the opportunities to ingratiate themselves

"towards those whom they had oppressed as long as

they were able, and to be reputed to love the king's

party.

e. A com- (J. Lastly, there was a committee for, or rather the

mittee for

the Roman whole body of, the Irish catholics, who, with less
modesty than was suitable to their condition, de-
manded in justice to be restored to all the lands that
had been taken from them : alleging, " that they
" were all at least as innocent as any of them were,
" to whom their lands had been assigned. " They
urged " their early submission to the king, and the
" peace they had first made with the marquis of
" Ormond, by which an act of indemnity had been
" granted for what offences soever had been com-
" mitted, except such -in which none of them were
" concerned. " They urged " the peace they had
" made with the marquis of Ormond upon this king's
" first coming to the crown, wherein a grant of in-
" demnity was again renewed to them ;" and confi-
dently, though very unskilfully, pressed, " that the
" benefit of all those articles which were contained
" in that peace, might still be granted and observed
" to them, since they had done nothing to infringe
" or forfeit them, but had been oppressed and broken,
" as all his majesty's other forces had been. " They
urged " the service they had done to the king be-
" yond the seas 4 having been always ready to obey
" his commands, and stayed in r or left France or
" Spain as his majesty had commanded them, and
" were for the last two years received and listed as
" his own troops, and in his own actual service, un-

i

T in] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 459

" der the duke of York. " They pressed " the in- J661,
" tolerable tyranny they had suffered under, now
" almost twenty years ; the massacres and servitude
" they had undergone ; such devastation and laying
" waste their country, such bloody cruelty and exe-
" cutions inflicted on them, as had never been
" known nor could be paralleled amongst Christians :
" that their nation almost was become desolated, and
" their sufferings of all kinds had been s to such an
" extent, that they hoped had satiated their most
" implacable enemies. " And therefore they humbly
besought his majesty, " that in this general joy for his
" majesty's blessed restoration, and in which nobody
" could rejoice more than they, when all his majesty's
" subjects of his two other kingdoms (whereof many
" were not more innocent than themselves) had their
" mouths filled with laughter, and had all their
" hearts could desire, the poor Irish alone might not
" be condemned to perpetual weeping and misery
" by his majesty's own immediate act. " Amongst
these, with the same confidence, they who had been
transplanted into Connaught appeared, related the
circumstances of the persecution they had under-
gone, and " how impossible it had been for them to
" refuse their submission to that they had no power
" to resist ; and therefore that it would be against
" all conscience to allege their own consent, and
<( their releases, and other grants, which had they
" not consented to in that point of time, they, their
" wives, and children, could not have lived four and
" twenty hours. " All these particulars were great
motives to compassion, and disposed his majesty's

s had been] Not in MS.



460 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. heart to wish that any expedient might be found,

"which might consist with justice and necessary po-

licy, that though it might not make them very happy, 4

yet might preserve them from misery, until he should

hereafter find some opportunity to repair their con-

dition according to their several degrees and merit.

The kiug These several addresses being presented to his

greatly per- .

with majesty together, before any thing was yet settled



in England, and every party of them finding some
ses * friends, who filled the king's ears with specious dis-
courses on their behalf for whom they u spake, and
with bitter invectives against all the rest ; he was
almost confounded how to begin, and in what me-
thod to put the examination of all their pretences,
that he might be able to take such a view of them,
as to be able to apply some remedy, that might keep
the disease from increasing and growing worse, un-
til he could find some cure. He had no mind the
parliament should interpose and meddle in it, which
would have been grateful to no party ; and by good
fortune they were so full of business that they
thought concerned them nearer, that they had no
mind to examine or take cognizance of this of Ire-
land, which they well knew properly depended upon
the king's own royal pleasure and commands. But
these addresses were all of so contradictory a nature,
so inconsistent with each other, and so impossible
to. be reconciled, that if all Ireland could be sold at
its full value, (that is, if kingdoms could be valued
at a just rate,) and find a fit chapman or purchaser
to disburse the sum, it could not yield half enough

1 that though it might not very happy,
make them very happy,] that u they] he
might make them, though not



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 461

to satisfy half their demands ; and yet the king was 1661
not in a condition positively to deny any one party ~
that which they desired.

The commissioners from the state, in respect of
their quality, parts, and interest, and in regard of
their mission and authority, seemed the most proper
persons to be treated with, and the most like to be
prevailed upon not to insist upon any thing that
was most profoundly unreasonable. They had all
their own just fears, if the king should be severe ;
and there would have been a general concurrence in
all the rest, that he should have taken a full ven-
geance upon them : but then they who had most
cause to fear, thought they might raise their hopes
highest from that power that sent them, and which
had yet interest enough to do good and hurt ; and
they thought themselves secure in the king's decla-
ration from Breda, and his offer of indemnity, which
comprehended them. Then they were all desirous
to merit from the king; and their not loving one
another, disposed them the more to do any thing
that might be grateful to his majesty. But they
were all united and agreed in one unhappy extreme,
that made all their other devotion less applicable to
the public peace, that is, their implacable malice to
the Irish : insomuch as they concurred in their de-
sire, that they might gain nothing by the king's re-
turn, but be kept with the same rigour, and under
the same incapacity to do hurt, which they were till
then. For which instance they were not totally
without reason, from their barbarous behaviour in
the first beginning of the rebellion, which could not
be denied, and from their having been compelled to'
submit to and undergo the most barbarous servi-



462 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1C61. tilde, that could not be forgotten. And though era-
""dication was too foul a word to be uttered in the
ears of a Christian prince, yet it was little less or
better that they proposed in other words, and hoped
to obtain : whereas the king thought that miserable
people to be as worthy of his favour, as most of the
other parties ; and that his honour, justice, and po-
licy, as far as they were unrestrained by laws and
contracts, obliged him more to preserve them, at
least as much as he could. And yet it can hardly
be believed, how few men, in all other points very
reasonable, and who were far from cruelty in their
nature, cherished that inclination in the king; but
thought it in him, and more in his brother, to pro-
ceed from other reasons than they published : whilst
others, who pretended to be only moved by Christ-
ian charity and compassion, were more cruel to-
wards them, and made them more miserable, by ex-
torting great engagements from them for their pro-
tection and intercession, which being performed
would leave them in as forlorn a condition as they
were found.

In this intricacy and perplexity, the king thought
it necessary to begin with settling his own author-
ity in one person over that kingdom, who should
make haste thither, and establish such a council
there, and all courts of justice, and other civil offi-
cers, as might best contribute towards bringing the
rest in order. And to this purpose he made choice
of several persons of the robe, who had been known
by or recommended to the marquis of Ormond, but
of more by the advice and promotion of Daniel
O'Neile of his bedchamber, who preferred a friend
of his, and an Irishman, to the office of attorney



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.