" except with
reference
to Scotland," from which The C011< _
they had receded.
they had receded.
Edward Hyde - Earl of Clarendon
professions of affection and duty to the king they
had ever done, they did not conceal the very ill
opinion they had of the court and the continual riot-
ings there: and the very idle discourses of some
(who were much countenanced) upon the miserable
event of the fire made them even believe, that the
former jealousies of the city, when they saw their
houses burning at such a distance from each other,
were not without some foundation, nor without just
apprehension of a conspiracy, and that it had not
A commit- been diligently enough examined ; and therefore
pointed to they appointed a committee, with large authority to
IhJ'cause"* send for and examine all persons who could give
of the fire. an y information concerning it.
When any mention was made of the declaration
they had so lately passed, for giving the king sup-
ply, and " that it was high time to despatch it, that
" all necessary provisions might be made for the
" setting out a fleet against the spring;" it was an-
swered with passion, " that the king's wants must
" be made first to appear before any supply must be
" discoursed of: that there were already such vast
" sums of money given to the king, that there was
" none left in the country ; nor could any commo-
" dities there, upon which they should raise where-
" with to pay their taxes, be sold for want of mo-
" ney, which was all brought to London in specie,
" and none left to carry on the commerce and trade
" in the country, where they could not sell their corn
" or their cattle or their wool for half the value. "
They who had not sat in the parliament at Ox-
ford were exceedingly vexed, that there had been so
much given there, so soon after the two millions and
a half had been granted ; and said, " if the king
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 129
" wanted again already, that he must have been 1666.
" abominably cheated, which was fit to be examined. ~~
" That the number of the ships, which had been set
" out by the king in several fleets since the begin-
" ning of this war, was no secret ; and that there
" are men enough who are acquainted with the
" charge of setting out and manning and victual-
" ling ships, and can make thereby a reasonable com-
" putation what this vast expense can amount to :
" and that they cannot but conclude, that if his ma-
" jesty hath been honestly dealt with, there must
" remain still a very great proportion of money to
** carry on the war, without need of imposing more
" upon the people, till they are better able to bear it.
" And therefore that it was absolutely necessary, that
" all those, through whose hands the money had
" passed, should first give an exact account of what
" they had received,' and what and how they had
" disbursed it : and when that should appear, it
" would be seasonable to demand an addition of
" supply, which would be cheerfully granted. "
And for the better expedition of this (for every
body confessed that the time pressed) it was proposed,
" that forthwith a bill should be prepared, which
" should pass into an act of parliament, in which
" such commissioners should be appointed as the
" houses should think fit, Ito examine all accounts of
" those who had received or issued out any monies
" for this war ; and where they found any persons
" faulty, and who had broken their trust, they
" should be liable to such punishment as the parlia-
" ment should think fit :" and a committee was pre- A bin
, . ,, 1*1 brought in
sently named to prepare such a bill accordingly. f or inspect-
This proposition found such a concurrence in theJJJjJ[*
VOL. III. K
130 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. house, that none of the court thought fit to oppose
~ it ; and others who knew the method to be new, and
liable to just exceptions, thought it to as little pur-
pose to endeavour to divert it : and so all motions
for present supply were to be laid aside till a more
favourable conjuncture ; and the overture had been
contrived and put on by many who seemed not to
like it, which is an artifice not unusual in courts or
parliaments.
The persons, who were principally aimed at, (for
no doubt they believed that others would be com-
prehended,) were sir George Carteret, the treasurer
of the navy, through whom all that expense had
passed, who had many enemies upon the opinion
that his office was too great, and the more by the ill
offices sir William Coventry was always ready to do
him ; and the lord Ashley, who was treasurer of all
the money that had been raised upon prizes, which
could not but be a great proportion. The former
was a punctual officer and a good accountant, and
had already passed his account in the exchequer for
two years, upon which he had his " quietus est ;"
which was the only lawful way known and practised
by all accountants to the crown, who can receive a
good discharge no other way : and he was ready to
make another year's account. But what method
commissioners extraordinary by act of parliament
would put it into, he could not imagine, nor be well
satisfied with. The other, the lord Ashley, had more
reason to be troubled, for he was by his commission
exempted from giving any other account but to the
king himself, which exemption was the only reason
that made him so solicitous for the office ; and he
well knew that there were great sums issued, which
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 131
could not be put into any public account: so that 1666.
his perplexity in several respects was not small. ~~
And they both applied themselves to the king for
his protection in the point.
His majesty was no less troubled, knowing 1 that upon which
both had issued out many sums upon his warrants, coLuuf the
which he would not suffer to be produced; and E"mmittee.
called that committee of the privy-council with
which he used to advise, and complained of this
unusual way of proceeding in the house of commons,
which would terrify all men from serving his majesty
in any receipts; to which employment men sub-
mitted because they knew what they were to do,
and what they were to suffer. If they made their
account according to the known rules of the exche-
quer, their discharge could not be denied ; and if they
failed, they knew what process would be awarded
against them. But to account by such orders as
the parliament should prescribe, and to be liable to
such punishment as the parliament would inflict,
was such an uncertainty as would deprive them of
all rest and quiet of mind ; and was in itself so un-
just, that his majesty declared " that he would never
" suffer it : that he hoped it would never find a con-
" sent in the house of commons ; if it should, that
" the house of peers would reject it ; but if it should
" be brought to him, he was resolved never to give
" his royal assent. " There was no man present,
who did not seem fully to concur with his majesty
that he should never consent to it : " however, that
" the best care and diligence should be used, that it
" might never be presented to him, but stopped in
1 knowing] knew
K 2
132 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. " the houses ; and to that purpose, that the mem-
~" bers should be prepared by giving them notice of
" his pleasure. "
The chan- The chancellor upon this argument, in which he
yen his discerned no opposition, enlarged himself upon what
vy 'freely: he had often before put his majesty in mind of;
" that he could not be too indulgent in the defence
",of the privileges of parliament; that he hoped he
" would never violate any of them :" but he desired
him " to be equally solicitous to prevent the ex-
" cesses in parliament, and not to suffer them to
" extend their jurisdiction to cases they have no-
" thing to do with ; and that to restrain them within
" their proper bounds and limits is as necessary, as
" it is to preserve them from being invaded. That
" this was such a new encroachment as had no bot-
" torn ; and the scars were yet too fresh and green
" of those wounds which had been inflicted upon
" the kingdom from such usurpation. " And there-
fore he desired his majesty " to be firm in the reso-
" lution he had taken, and not to depart from it ;
" and if such a bill should be brought up to the
" house of peers, he would not fail in doing his duty,
" and speaking freely his opinion against such inno-
Which is vations, how many soever it might offend. " All
toon re- .
ported a- which discourse of his was in a short time after
prejudice, "communicated to those, who would not fail to make
use of it to his disadvantage.
There was a correspondence by this time begun
and warmly pursued between some discontented
members of the house of peers, who thought their
parts not enough valued, (and the duke of Bucking-
ham was in the head of them,) and some members
of the house of commons, who made themselves
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 133
remarkable by opposing all things which were pro- 1666.
posed in that house for the king's service, or which ~~
were like to be grateful to him, as sir Richard Tem-
ple, Mr. Seymour, and Mr. Garraway, and sir Robert
Howard ; who were all bold speakers, and meant to
make themselves considerable by saying, upon all
occasions, what wiser men would not u , whatever
they thought.
The duke of Buckingham x took more pains than The duke of
, , , . . Bucking-
Was agreeable to his constitution to get an interest ham at the
in all such persons, invited them to his table, pre- opposition?
tended to have a great esteem of their parts, asked
counsel of them, lamented the king's neglecting his
business, and committing it to other people who
were not fit for it ; and then reported all the license
and debauchery of the court in the most lively co-
lours ? , being himself a frequent eye and earwitness
of it. He had a mortal quarrel with the lady, and
was at this time so much in the king's displeasure,
(as he was very frequently,) that he forbore going
to the court, and revenged himself upon it by all
the merry tales he could tell of what was done
there.
It cannot be imagined, considering the loose life
he led (which was a life more by night than by day)
in all the liberties that nature could desire or wit
invent, how great an interest he had in both houses
of parliament ; that is, how many in both would fol-
low his advice, and concur in what he proposed.
His quality and condescensions, the pleasantness of
his humour and conversation, the extravagance and
sharpness of his wit, unrestrained by any modesty
" not] Omitted in MS. -\ colours] courage
x of Buckingham] Not in MS.
K 3
134 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. or religion, drew persons of all affections and in-
clinations to like his company ; and to believe that
the levities and the vanities would be wrought off
by age, and there would enough of good he left to
become a great man, and make him useful to his
country, for which he pretended to have a wonderful
affection and reverence ; and that all his displeasure
against the court proceeded from their declared ma-
lignity against the liberty of the subject, and their
desire that the king should govern by the example
of France. He had always held intelligence with
the principal persons of the levelling party, and pro-
fessed to desire that liberty of conscience might be
granted to all; and exercised his wit with most
license against the church, the law, and the court.
The king had constant intelligence of all his be-
haviour, and the liberty he took in his discourses of
him, for which he had indignation enough : but of
this new stratagem to make himself great in parlia-
ment, and to have a faction there to disturb his bu-
siness, his majesty had no apprehension, believing it
impossible for the duke to keep his mind long bent
upon any particular design, or to keep and observe
those hours and orders of sleeping and eating, as
men who pretend to business are obliged to; and
that it was more impossible, for him to make and
preserve a friendship with any serious persons, whom
. he could never restrain himself from abusing and
making ridiculous, as soon as he was out of their
company. Yet, with all these infirmities and vices,
he found a respect and concurrence from men of
different tempers and talents, and had an incredible
opinion with the people.
The great object of his dislike, displeasure, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 135
hatred, was the duke of Ormond, who being his 1666.
equal in title, and superior in credit with the king, His hatred
and at least equal to him in all other respects, he *
looked upon him" as his rival ; and that his constant
attendance upon the king through all his fortunes,
was a reproach to him for not having performed his
duty that way, and gave him a general reputation
in the kingdom with all men who had been faithful
to the crown. The duke of Ormond's younger son
had married his niece, who was the heir apparent
of his house ; to which, though he had given his
consent when he saw it was not in his power to
contradict it, yet he pretended that the duke had
made many promises of friendship to him which he
had not made good ; whereas in truth the other did
really desire, and had heartily endeavoured, to do
him all the good offices he could with the king,
which some other new extravagance of his own dis-
appointed and made uneffectual. Let the ground
and reason be what they will, he did not dissemble
to hate the duke of Ormond heartily, and to be will-
ing to undertake the prosecution of any complaint
against him ; of which, in that distempered and dis-
jointed condition of Ireland, there could not be oc-
casion wanting z , as soon as it was known that such
a patron was ready to undertake their defence. And
it cannot be denied, (the spirit of envy is so power-
ful,) that there were too many, who had no affection
for the duke of Buckingham, who were yet willing
that any thing should be done to the prejudice of
the duke of Ormond, who they thought eclipsed the
nobility of England.
7 there could not be occasion wanting] could not be wanting
K 4
136 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. There had been for many months a great mur-
~ mur, rather than complaint, " of the great damage
" the kingdom in general sustained by the importa-
" tion of such great quantities of Irish cattle, which
*' were bred there for nothing, and transported for
" little, that they might well undersell all the cat-
" tie here ; and from hence the breed of cattle in
" the kingdom was totally given over, and thereby
" the land would yield no rent proportionably to
" what it had ever done : and that this was a prin-
" cipal cause of the want of money in the country,
" which could only be remedied by a very strict act
" of parliament, to forbid the importation of any
" sort of cattle out of Ireland into this kingdom. "
A bin And some of them who had most thought of the
brought
into the matter had prepared a bill, and brought it into the
house of _
commons house ot commons, where it was read. At first it
S^portaJion underwent very calm and reasonable debates. Very
cauie Sh manv members of several counties desired, " that
" their counties might not undergo any damage for
" the benefit of other individual places. " They pro-
fessed " that their counties had no land bad enough
" to breed : but that their great traffick consisted in
" buying lean cattle, and making them fat, and
" upon this they paid 'their rent ; and if the bringing
" over Irish cattle should be restrained, their coun-
" ties must be undone. " And this appeared to be
the case of very many counties in England. And
the complaint was of so new a nature, that it had
never been heard of in England till some few
months before this meeting in parliament ; only it
had been mentioned in the parliament at Oxford, as
a grievance to the northern counties, which com-
plained no less of the Scots than of the Irish cattle ;
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 137
and the bill that was at this time brought into the 1666,
house of commons provided as well against the one"
as the other.
Whether this complaint originally proceeded from
the damage which the people of some counties sus-
tained, or thought they sustained, which made their
members in parliament press the restraint with
much earnestness, (and it cannot be denied that
many worthy men were passionate in it, who were
not like to be- engaged in particular and factious
contests, to comply with the humours of other men,)
is not easy to other men to judge of than those who
sat in the houses, and observed the manner and the
passion in which those debates were carried. And
it cannot be denied but that, how innocently soever
the grievance first came to be mentioned, and to be
recommended to the consideration and wisdom of
the house, the carrying it on was with unusual heat
and passion, different from what appeared in the
transaction of any other business, that had an aspect
only to the public : and it was observed, that the
cabal that is mentioned before, between some of the
house of peers and of the house of commons, began
at this time to meet more frequently, and were
united in the driving on this affair ; which suddenly
grew to be insisted on as of that importance, that
there could be no debate begun with reference to the
giving money to the king, till this bill were first
passed.
In the mean time the council of Ireland had the The privy-
alarm of what was intended before the parliament, Ireland re-
and did not only write to the king himself, but a ^
large letter to the lords of the privy-council, in billf
which they represented the present distracted con-
138 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. dition of that kingdom, " that there were more than
~ " one hundred thousand persons who had nothing else
" to live upon but their droves of cattle ; out of
" which they twice a year sent as many as they
" could spare into England, which enabled them to
" pay their rents, and return such goods and mer-
" chandise from thence as the kingdom stood a in
" need of;" for no money in specie was returned
upon that commerce. " That if this liberty of
" trade, which they had enjoyed in all ages, should
" be taken from them, the king's army could not be
" supported, nor the government maintained, but
" the kingdom must necessarily be ruined ; and pro-
" bably a new rebellion, in so general a discontent
" as this restraint would administer, might be again
** entered into : and therefore they desired, that at
" least some years might be allowed to that traffick
" which had been always enjoyed ; to the end that
" some other husbandry might be introduced into
" the kingdom, by which the people might live,
" and which the government would endeavour to
" plant with all possible dib'gence and encourage-
" ment. "
*
The king The king himself was so much moved with those
wT. ns e letters, that he declared, " that he could neither in
" justice nor in conscience consent to such a bill,
" which upon pretence of benefit to one of his king-
" doms might and must be so mischievous to the
" other two," (for Scotland, as is said, was yet com-
prehended as well as Ireland :) " that he was equally
" king to b all, and obliged to have an equal care of
" all ; and never to consent to any thing that might
* stood] Omitted in MS. b to] of
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 139
" be prejudicial to either of the other, especially if 1666.
" the benefit to the one were not proportionable to, ~~
" and as evident as, the damage was to the other. "
And upon these grounds he recommended to them,
" to give such a stop to this bill, that it might never
" be presented to him ; for if it were, he must posi-
" tively reject it :" and without doubt his majesty
at that time did not resolve any thing more within
himself, than never to give his royal assent to that
bill.
The letters from Ireland did not make the same The privy-
impressions upon the lords of the council, who were v^TiTm '"
very much divided in their opinions, even they f
whose zeal for the king's service was most unques- il -
tionable. Some were, upon the sole consideration
of the injustice of it, and the mischief that it would
produce in Ireland, positively against ever consent-
ing to it, and as positive that it might be stopped in
the house of commons, or thrown out of the lords'
house, that it should never come to the king: others
did as much believe that it was a real grievance, in
which the subject should have relief; and insisted
much, " that in a point evidently for the benefit and
" advantage of England, Ireland ought not to be
" put into the scale, because it would be some incon-
" venience there. " Some did in truth think that
the king was too much inclined to favour the Irish,
and in that respect were well content that this bill
should be a mortification to them : and there wanted
not others, who in dark expressions (which grew
clearer when the matter came into the house of peers)
seemed to think, " that the estates in Ireland were
" more valuable than they were in England ; and that
" some noblemen of that kingdom lived in a higher
140 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " garb, and made greater expenses, than the noble-
" men in England were able to do ; which had not
" been in former times. " But they never considered,
that those noblemen had nothing but what descend-
ed to them from their ancestors; and that they
had faithfully adhered to the king, and undergone
as much damage for doing so, as any men had
done.
The house of commons seemed much more mo-
rose and obstinate than it had formerly appeared to
be, and solicitous to grasp as much power and au-
thority as any of their predecessors had done, though
no doubt with no ill intention : and c it may be
this would not have so much appeared, if there had
been the same vigour in those who had used to con-
duct the king's business in that house, as there had
used to be. But that spirit was much fallen. The
chief men of the court, upon whose example other
men looked, were much more humble than they had
used to be, and took more pains to ingratiate them-
selves than to advance the interest of their master :
and instead of pressing what was desirable upon the
strength of reason and policy, as they had used to
do, and by which the major part of the house had
usually concurred with them, they now applied
themselves with address to those, who had always
frowardly opposed whatsoever they thought would
be grateful to the king ; and desired rather to buy
their votes and concurrence by promises of reward
and preferment, (which is the most dishonourable
and unthrifty brokery that can be practised in a par-
liament, which from this time was much practised,
r and] nor
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 141
and brought many ill things to pass,) than to pre- 1666.
vail upon those weighty and important arguments"
which would bear the light. Which low artifice
raised the insolence of those, which would, as easily
as it had been, have been still overruled and sup-
pressed ; and was quickly discerned by those others,
who, upon the principles of honour and wisdom, had
hitherto swayed the house in all matters of public
concernment, and who now concluded by those new
condescensions that the former sober spirit and reso-
lution was laid aside, and that peevish men would be
compounded with ; and so resolved to sit still or look
on, till the success of this stratagem might be dis-
cerned.
And by this means the bill for Irish cattle was
driven on with more fury, and the other concerning
accounts more passionately spoken of; whilst every
day not only many of those, who had constantly ob-
served the advice that had been given them on the
behalf of the king, fell off to the other party, but
many of his household servants concurred in the bill
for Ireland ; whilst the rest, who did not yet think
fit to do so, applied themselves to the king for his
leave that they might do the same. And sir William
Coventry, who had now by his insinuations and
communication made himself very grateful to the re-
fractory party, persuaded the king, " that the house
" had taken the Irish bill so much to heart, that
" they would never enter upon the debate of money,
" till that had passed the house and was sent to the
" lords, who no doubt, upon the knowledge of his
" majesty's mind and resolution, would easily throw
" it out. That if his servants continued obstinate in
" opposing it below, they should but provoke and
142 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " anger the house, and render themselves useless to
"""" other parts of his majesty's more important busi-
** ness : whereas if they did now gratify the house by
" concurring with them in this matter, they should
" make themselves acceptable, have credit enough to
" divert the bill of accounts, and presently to dispose
" every body to enter upon the matter of supply. "
The king was not pleased with the counsel, but
had a very good opinion of the counsellor, who he
believed could not but judge aright of the temper
of those with whom he had sat and conversed so
long : and so his majesty told him, " he was con-
" tented he should follow the dictates of his own
" judgment and conscience ;" and the same answer
he gave to all such members of the house of commons
The bin, who came to receive his orders. And after all this,
opposition, * ne bill was carried with great difficulty, and long
opposition given to it by those members of several
counties, which professed, " that the bringing over
" the Irish cattle was so much for their benefit, that
" they could not live well without it," and were ex-
ceedingly perplexed that it should pass ; which yet
they hoped would be prevented in the house of
peers : and so the bill was in great triumph, and by
all the members, (as in cases they much delight in
is usual,) presented to the house of peers.
And the commons no sooner repaired to their own
house, than they assumed the debate upon the ac-
counts, with the same fervour they had pursued the
other bill of Ireland, and with the same declaration,
" that they would not enter upon the subject of
" money, till they saw what success that bill would
" likewise have ;" and appearing every day more out
of humour, expressed less reverence towards the
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 143
court. And some expressions were frequently used, 1666.
which seemed to glance at the license and disorders"
and extravagant expense of that place, not without
some reflections which aimed at the lady, and at the
exorbitant power exercised by her. And this impe-
rious way of proceeding confirmed those in their wa-
riness, who had no mind to oppose or contradict the
party that they would and meant should prevail :
but they the more endeavoured to render themselves
gracious to the leaders, as being willing to ad-
minister fuel to the fire the others intended to
kindle; and, so they might preserve themselves,
were very willing to expose other ministers to the
jealousy of them, who they thought would not be
quiet without some sacrifice. And thus they alarmed
the king with the new apprehensions, " that the
" house, which had yet dutiful intentions, if they
" were crossed in what they designed for his service,
" might be provoked to be bolder with his majesty
" than they had been yet, and to mention the preva-
" lence of the lady," which every body knew the
duke of Buckingham would have been glad to have
contributed to. And with these continued repre-
sentations, but especially with their old argument of
casting it out by the house of peers, where his power
could not be doubted, they at last prevailed with
the king to leave all men to themselves in the busi- ' rhe bi " f r
inspecting
ness or the accounts, (where there was a greater public ac -
concurrence,) as he had done in the Irish bill : and p s "<] S by
so that bill likewise was transmitted to the lords. mlm~
And at this time many wise men thought, that it The pro-
would have been very happy for the king if he would dUwfvTng
have dissolved the parliament, and presently after mentanhi
called another ; which would have discovered many tinie>
144 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. combinations, when the actors had found themselves
~" excluded from entering again upon the stage ; and
it would have appeared, that all the storms had
been raised by those winds which had their birth
in the king's own house. And such a dissolution
(to t which the king himself was enough inclined)
would have been very popular throughout the king-
dom, which naturally doth not love long parlia-
ments, and exceedingly detested this for having
only given away their money, and raised a war of
which they saw no end nor possible benefit, without
passing any good laws for the advancement of the
peace and happiness of the kingdom. And very few
of those, who had gotten credit in the house to ob-
struct what the king desired, were men of any in-
terest or reputation with the people.
But as nobody was forward publicly to own and
avow this counsel, the consequence whereof they
knew if it were not consented to; so they who
meant to do themselves more good by the present
indisposition and distemper, than they could propose
from a new convention of men utterly unknown,
and who were like enough to bring prejudice against
their own particulars, used all the means they could
devise to divert the king from that inclination.
They told him, " that he would never have such
" another parliament, where he had near one hun-
" dred members of his own menial servants and their
" near relations, who were all at his disposal ; by
" which they had incurred so much prejudice in the
" country, that very few of thm would ever be
" elegted again. That the present distemper was
" contracted by accidents and mistakes, and would
" vanish upon very reasonable condescensions, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. H5
"in another prorogation: whereas if it should be 1666.
" dissolved and new writs sent out, the people would"
" return none but presbyterians and known enemies
" to the church, and such who were most notori-
" ously disaffected to the court. " And this argu-
ment, pressed by men who had no more affection
for the church than the Quakers had, prevailed with
most of the bishops to dissuade the king from
hearkening to any such advice; when they had
much more reason to expect a stronger party in a
new parliament, and might have observed that their
friends fell from them every day in both houses, and
that the court was not propitious to them, of which
they had afterwards a sad experience, and which
they might then have well foreseen.
The house of peers was no sooner possessed of the Great ani-
bill against Irish cattle, but it was read, and a mar- the house of
vellous keen resolution appeared in many to use all t ,' e bJii P '
expedition in the passing it ; though if the matter if*
itself had been without exception, there were so
many clauses and provisos in it so derogatory to the
king's honour and prerogative, that many thought it
a high disrespect to his majesty to admit them into
debate. But of these anon. The duke of Bucking-
ham appeared in the head of those who favoured the
bill, with a marvellous concernment : and at the
times appointed for the debate of it, contrary to his
custom of coming into the house, indeed of not ris-
ing till eleven of the clock, and seldom staying above
a quarter of an hour, except upon some affair which
he concerned himself in, he was now always present
with the first in a morning, and stayed till the last
at night ; for the debate often held from the morn-
VOL. in. i.
146 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. ing till four of the clock in the afternoon, and
""sometimes till candles were brought in.
And it grew quickly evident, that there were
other reasons which caused so earnest a prosecution
of it, above the encouragement of the breed of cattle
in England : insomuch as the lord Ashley, who next
the duke of Buckingham appeared the most violent
supporter of the bill, could not forbear to urge it as
an argument for the prosecuting it, " that if this bill
** did not pass, all the rents in Ireland would rise in
" a vast proportion, and those in England fall as
" much ; so that in a year or two the duke of Or-
" mond would have a greater revenue than the earl
" of Northumberland ;" which made a visible im-
pression in many, as a thing not to be endured.
Whereas the duke had indeed at least four times the
proportion of land in Ireland that descended to him
from his ancestors, that the earl had in England ;
and the revenue of it before the rebellion was not
inferior to the other's. But nothing was more ma-
nifest, than that the warmth of that prosecution in
the house of peers in many lords did proceed from
the envy they had of the duke's station in one king-
dom, and of his fortune in the other.
And the whole debate upon the bill was so dis-
orderly and unparliamentary, that the like had never
been known : no rules or orders of the house for the
course and method of debate were observed. And
there being, amongst those who advanced the bill,
fewer speakers than there were of those who were
against it, those few took upon them to speak
oftener than they ought to do, and to reply to every
man who declared himself to be of another opinion :
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 147
and when they were put in mind of the rule of the \6G6.
house, " that no man should speak above once upon
" the same question," they called presently to have
the house resolved into a committee, which any sin-
gle member may require, and then every man may
speak as often as he please ; and so the time was
spent unprofitably without the business being ad-
vanced. In the mean time the house of commons
proceeded as irregularly, in sending frequent mes-
sages to hasten the despatch of the bill, when they
knew well the debate of every day : and it was fre-
quently urged as an argument, "that the house of
" commons was the fittest judge of the necessities
" and grievances of the people ; and they having
" passed this bill, the lords ought to conform to their
" opinion. " In fine, there grew so great a license
of words in this debate, and so many personal reflec-
tions, that every day some quarrels arose, to the
great scandal and dishonour of a court that was the
supreme judicatory of the kingdom.
The duke of Buckingham, who assumed a liberty
of speaking when and what he would in a dialect
unusual and ungrave, his similes and other expres-
sions giving occasion of much mirth and laughter,
one day said in the debate, "that whoever was
" against that bill had either an Irish interest or an
" Irish understanding:" which so much offended the
lord Ossory, who was eldest son to the duke of Or-
mond, (who had very narrowly escaped the censure
of the house lately, for reproaching the lord Ashley
with having been a counsellor to Cromwell, and
would not therefore trust himself with giving a pre-
sent answer,) that d meeting him afterwards in the
rf that] but
I, 2
148 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. court, he c desired the duke "that he would walk
~ " into the next room with him ;" and there told
The lord him, "that he had taken the liberty to use many
fen^thS "" loose and unworthy expressions which reflected
Bucking- " u Pn the whole Irish nation, and which he him-
ham. se jf resented so much that he expected satisfaction,
" and to find him with his sword in his hand ;"
which the duke endeavoured to avoid by all the fair
words and shifts he could use, but was so far pressed
by the other, whose courage was never doubted,
that he could not avoid appointing a place where
they would presently meet, which he found the
other would exact to prevent discovery, and there-
fore had chosen rather to urge it himself than to
send a message to him. And so he named a known
place in Chelsea Fields, and to be there within less
than an hour.
The lord Ossory made haste thither, and expect-
ed him much beyond the time ; and then seeing
some persons come out of the way towards the place
where he was, and concluding f they were sent out
to prevent any action between them, he avoided
speaking with them, but got to the place where his
horse was, and so retired to London. The duke
was found by himself in another place on the other
side of the water, which was never known by the
name of Chelsea Fields, which he said was the place
he had appointed to meet.
Finding that night that the lord Ossory was not
in custody, and so he was sure he should quickly
hear from him, and upon conference with his friends,
that the mistake of the place would be imputed to
e he] Not in MS. ' and concluding] he concluded
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 149
him ; he took a strange resolution, that every body 1 666.
wondered at, and his friends dissuaded him from.
And the next morning, as soon as the house was sat,
the lord Ossory being likewise present that he might
find some opportunity to speak with him, the duke
told the house, "that he must inform them of some- The duke of
i r> i i i Bucking-
" what that concerned himself ; and being sure that ham in-
" it would come to their notice some other way, he
" had therefore chose to acquaint them with it him- afiair -
" self;" and thereupon related "how the lord Ossory
" had the day before found him in the court, and
" desired him to walk into the next room, where
" he charged him with many particulars which he
" had spoken in that place, and in few words told
" him he should fight with him ; which though he
" did not hold himself obliged to do in maintenance
" of any thing he had said or done in the parlia-
" ment, yet that it being suitable and agreeable to
" his nature, to fight with any man who had a
" mind to fight with him,'' (upon which he enlarged
with a little vanity, as if duelling were his daily ex-
ercise and inclination,) " he appointed the place in
" Chelsea Fields, which he understood to be the
" fields over against Chelsea; whither, having only
" gone to his lodging to change his sword, he hast-
" ened, by presently crossing the water in a pair of
" oars, and stayed there in expectation of the lord
" Ossory, until such gentlemen," whom he named,
" found him there, and said, they were sent to pre-
" vent his and the lord Ossory's meeting, whom
" others were likewise sent to find for the same pre-
" vention. Whereupon, concluding that for the
" present there would be no meeting together, he
" returned with those gentlemen to his lodging,
L 3
150 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
IMG. " being always ready to give any gentleman sa-
" tisfaction that should require it of him. "
Every body was exceedingly surprised with the
oddness and unseasonableness of the discourse, which
consisted, with some confusion, between aggravat-
ing the presumption of the lord Ossory, and making
the offence as heinous as the violating all the privi-
leges of parliament could amount unto ; and magni-
fying his own courage and readiness to fight upon
any opportunity, when it was clear enough that he
had declined it by a gross shift : and it was won-
dered at, that he had not chosen rather that some
other person might inform the house of a quarrel
between two members, that it might be examined
and the mischief prevented. But he believed that
way would not so well represent and manifest the
lustre of his courage, and might leave him under an
examination that would not be so advantageous to
him as his own information : and therefore no per-
suasion and importunity of his friends could prevail
with him to decline that method.
The lord Ossory seemed out of countenance, and
troubled that the contest was like to be only in that
place, and cared not to deny any thing that the
duke had accused him of ; only " wondered, that he
" should say he had challenged him for words
" spoken in the house, when he had expressly de-
" clared to him, when his grace insisted much upon
" the privilege of parliament to decline giving him
any satisfaction, that he did not question him for
" any words spoken in parliament, but for words
" spoken in other places, and for affronts, which he
" had at other times chosen to bear rather than to
"disturb the company. " He confessed, "he had
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 151
" attended in the very place where the duke had 1666.
" done him the honour to promise to meet him ;"
and mentioned some expressions which he had used
in designing it, which left the certainty of it not to
be doubted.
When they had both said as much as they had a
mind to, they were both required, as is the custom,
to withdraw to several rooms near the house : and
then the lords entered upon debate of the trans-
gression ; many insisting " upon the magnitude of
" the offence, which concerned the honour and safety
" of the highest tribunal in the kingdom, and the
" liberty and security of every member of the house,
" That if in any debate any lord exceeded the modest
" limits prescribed, in any offensive expressions, the
" house had the power and the practice to restrain
" and reprehend and imprison the person, according
" to the quality and degree of the offence ; and that
*"' no other remedy or examination could be applied
" to it, even by the king himself. But if it should
" be in any private man to take exceptions against
" any words which the house finds no fault with, and
" to require men to justify with their swords all
" that they say in discharge of their conscience, and
" for the good and benefit of their country ; there is
" an end of the privilege of parliament and the free-
" dom of speech : and therefore that there could not
" be too great a punishment inflicted upon this no-
" torious and monstrous offence of the lord Ossory,
" which concerned every lord in particular, as much
" as it did the duke of Buckingham ; who had car-
" ried himself as well as the ill custom and iniquity
" of the age would admit, and had given no offence
L 4
152 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " to the house, towards which he had always paid
~ " all possible respect and reverence. "
They who considered the honour and dignity only
of the house, and the ill consequence of such viola-
tions as these, which way soever their affections
were inclined with reference to their persons, were
all of opinion, " that their offences were so near
" equal that their punishment ought to be equal :
" for that besides the lord Ossory's denial that he
" had made K any reflection upon any words spoken
" in parliament, which was. the aggravation of his
" offence, there was some testimony given to the
" house by some lords present, that the lord Ossory
" had complained of the duke's comportment to-
" wards him before those words used in the house
" by him, of the Irish interest or Irish understand-
" ing, and resolved to expostulate with him upon
" it ; so that those words could not be the ground
" of the quarrel. And it was evident by the duke's
" own confession and declaration, that he was as
" ready to fight, and went to the place appointed by
" himself for encounter ; which made the offence
" equal. " And therefore they moved, " that they
" might be both brought to the bar, and upon their
" knees receive the sentence of the house for their
" commitment to the Tower. "
Some, who would shew their kindness to the duke,
were not willing that he should undergo the same
punishment with' the other, until some lords, who
were known not to be his friends, were very earnest
" that the duke might receive no punishment, be-
*' cause he had committed no fault ; for that it was
s made] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 153
" very evident that he never intended to fight,' and 1666.
" had, when no other tergiversation would serve his ~
" turn, prudently mistaken the place that was ap-
" pointed by himself;" which was pressed by two or
three lords in such a pleasant manner, with reflec-
tion upon some expressions used by himself, that his
better friends thought it would be more for his ho-
nour to undergo the censure of the house than the
penalty of such a vindication : and so they were They are
, __. both sent
both sent to the 1 ower. to the
And during the time they remained there, the
bill against Ireland remained in suspense, and un-
called for by those, who would not hazard their
cause in the absence of their strongest champion.
But the same spirit was kept up in all other argu-
ments, the displeasure, that had arisen against each
other in that, venting itself in contradictions and
sharp replies in all other occasions ; a mischief that
is always contracted from the agitation of private
affairs, where different interests are pursued ; from
whence personal animosities arise, which are not
quickly laid aside, after the affair itself that pro-
duced those passions is composed and ended. And
this kind of distemper never more appeared, nor
ever lasted longer, than from the debate arid con-
testation upon this bill.
Those two lords were no sooner at liberty, and
their displeasure towards each other suppressed or
silenced by the king's command, but another more
untoward outrage happened, that continued the
_ A scuffle
same disturbance. It happened that upon the de- between
bate of the same affair, the Irish bill, there was a Baking-
conference appointed with the house of commons, in ^ n *" r ^ His
which the duke of Buckingham was a manager ; and" f D '"-
Chester ;
154 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
I6fifi. as they were sitting down in the painted chamber,
"which is seldom done in good order, it chanced that
the marquis of Dorchester sat next the duke of
Buckingham, between whom there was no good
correspondence. The one changing his posture for
his own ease, which made the station of the other
the more uneasy, they first endeavoured by justling
to recover what they had dispossessed each other
of, and afterwards fell to direct blows ; in which the
marquis, who was the lower of the two in stature,
and was less active in his limbs, lost his periwig,
and received some rudeness, which nobody imputed
to his want of courage, which was ever less ques-
tioned than that of the other.
The misdemeanour, greater than had ever hap-
pened, in that place and upon such an occasion, in
any age when the least reverence to government
was preserved, could not be concealed ; but as soon
as the conference was ended, was reported to the
house, and both parties heard, who both confessed
enough to make them undergo the censure of the
house. The duke's friends would fain have justified
him, as being provoked by the other ; and it was
evident their mutual undervaluing each other always
disposed them to affect any opportunity to manifest
For which it. But the house sent them both to the Tower ;
comiaittod from whence after a few days they were again re-
Towlr. leased together, and such a reconciliation made as
after such rencounters 'is usual, where either party
thinks himself beforehand with the other, as the
marquis had much of the duke's hair in his hands
to recompense for his ll pulling off his periwig, which
he could not reach high enough to do to the other.
h his] the
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 155
When all things were thus far quieted, the bill 1666.
was again entered upon with no less passion for the
stock that had been wasted. - The arguments which Ar gments
urged
were urged against the bill for the injustice of it a gainstthe
. Irish bill iu
were \ " that they should, without any cause or de- the house
" merit on their part, or any visible evidence of a pee
" benefit that would accrue from it to this kingdom,
" deprive his majesty's two other kingdoms of a pri-
" vilege they had ever been possessed of: that they
" might as reasonably take away the trade from any
" one county in England, because it produced some
" inconvenience to another county more in their
" favour : that the large counties of Norfolk, Suf-
" folk, Kent, and other provinces, would lose as
" much by the passing of this act, as the northern
" and any other counties would gain by it : that
" those two kingdoms might with the same justice
" press his majesty's concurrence, that they might
" have no trade with England, which would bring
" more damage to England by much, than it would
" gain by this act of restraint : and that it was
" against all the maxims of prudence, to run the dan-
" ger of a present mischief and damage, as this
" would produce in Ireland by the testimony of the
" lord lieutenant and council of that kingdom, only
" upon the speculation of a future benefit that might
" accrue, though it were yet only in speculation. "
These, and many other arguments of this kind,
which for the most part were offered by men who
had not the least relation to Ireland, made no other
impression, than that they were content to leave
Scotland out of the bill ; which increased their party
' were] Omitted in MS.
156 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
166G. against Ireland, and gave little satisfaction to the
""other, who did not so much value the commerce
with the other kingdom. And this alteration the
house of commons likewise consented to, but with
great opposition, since in truth that concession de-
stroyed the foundation upon which the whole fabric
of the bill was supported.
Against Then the debate fell upon some derogatory clauses
clauses in it
derogatory and provisos very contrary to his majesty's just pre-
* rogative and power, (for they made his majesty's
own license and warrant of no effect or authority,
but liable to be controlled by a constable ; nor would
permit the importation of 'three thousand beeves,
which, by an act of parliament in Ireland, were
every year to be delivered at Chester and another
port for the provision of the king's house ;) which
in many respects the house generally disliked, and
desired " that it might have no other style than had
" been accustomed in all the penal acts of parlia-
" ment which were in force, it being to be presumed,
" that the king would never dispense with any vio-
" lation of it, except in such cases as the benefit and
" good of the kingdom required it ; which might
" naturally fall out, if there should happen such a
" murrain amongst the beasts of that species, as had
" been these late years amongst horses, which had
" destroyed so many thousand, that good horses
" were now hard to be procured. And if the same
" or the like destruction should fall upon the other
" cattle, we should have then more cause to com-
" plain of the scarcity and the dearness of meat, than
" we have now of the plenty and cheapness, which
*' was the only grievance now felt, and which king-
" doms seldom complained of: and in such a case
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 157
" it would be very great pity, that the king should 1666.
" not have power enough to provide for the supply"
" of his subjects, and to prevent a common dearth. "
But this was again opposed with as much passion
and violence as had fallen out in any part of the de-
bate ; and such rude arguments used against such a
power in the king, as if the question were upon re-
posing some new trust in. him, whereas it was upon
divesting him of a trust that was inherent in him
from all antiquity : and " that it was the same thing
" to be without the bill, and not to provide against
" the king's dispensing with the not obeying it,
" whose inclinations were well known in this parti-
" cular ; and therefore the effect of them, and of the
" importunity of the courtiers, must be provided
" against. " And throughout this discourse there
was such a liberty of language made use of, as re-
flected more upon the king's honour, and indeed upon
his whole council and court, than had been k heard
in that house, but in a time of rebellion, without
very severe reprehension : and it so much offended
the house now, that, notwithstanding all the sturdy
opposition, it was resolved that those clauses and These
clauses are
provisos should be amended in some places, and to- amended by
ii i n i AI--IT the lords.
tally left out in others. And with the alteration
and amendments it was sent down to the house of
commons.
At this time the public affairs and necessities
were little looked after or considered. The fleet was
come into the ports, but there was 1 no money to
pay off the men : and what was equally mischievous,
there was no way to make the provisions for the
k than had been] as had not ' there was] Omitted in MS.
been
158 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. next spring, that the fleet might be ready for the
sea by the time the enemy would assuredly be out.
If the victualler were not supplied, who had much
money due to him, the season would be past in
which he was to buy the cattle that he must kill ;
and he complained how much he should suffer by
this bill of Ireland, which already raised the price
of all meats. And thei yards wanted all those tack-
lings and rigging and masts, without which another
fleet could not be sent out, and which could no
otherwise be provided than by ready money. The
king had anticipated all his own revenue, and was
ready to expose that for further security, but nobody
would trust. The new provisos in the bill of supply
at Oxford gave no new credit, but were found as mis-
chievous as any body had apprehended they would
be : and the bankers, who in all such occasions were
a sure refuge, wanted now credit themselves ; which
that they might not recover^ the parliament had
treated them as ill since they came together, that is,
with reproaches and threats, as they had done at
Oxford. In which kind of persecution sir William
Coventry, and some who followed him, led the van,
very much to the king's prejudice and against his
command ; but they excused themselves, upon the
credit it gave them in the house to do him service.
All this was well enough understood : and it was
as visible, that they intended to make it a forcible
argument for the passing the Irish bill, which, though
from different motives, was now become the sacri-
fice, without which they would not be appeased ;
and therefore, when the bill was sent to them with
those alterations and amendments, they rejected
them all, and voted. " that they would adhere to
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 159
their own bill without departing from a word of it, 16(56.
" except with reference to Scotland," from which The C011< _
they had receded. And if upon this very unusual ! 1U)ll V ld -
J * here to
return the house of peers had likewise voted, " that their ^11.
" they too would adhere," which they might regu-
larly have done, and would have been consented to
by the major part of the house if the question had
been then put ; there had been an end of that bill.
But that must not be suffered : the party that che-
rished it was too much concerned to let it expire in
a deep silence, and were numerous enough to ob-
struct and defer what they liked not, though not to
establish what they desired. Some of them, that is,
some who desired that the bill should pass, though
uncorrupted by their passions, did not like the ob-
stinacy of the house of commons in not departing
from some unusual clauses and pretences ; yet were
not willing to have the like vote for adhering to pass
in that house, which it might do when all other re-
medies should fail; and therefore moved, " that a
" conference might be required, in which such rea-
" sons might be given as might satisfy them. " Many
conferences, and free conferences, were held, in
which the commons still maintained their adherence
with a wonderful petulance : and those members,
who were appointed to manage the conferences,
took the liberty to use all those arguments, and the
very expressions, which had been used in the house
of peers, against leaving any power in the king to
dispense ; and added such other of their own as
more reflected on m his majesty's honour ; and yet
concluded as if they could say more if they were
tn on] upon
IfX) CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. provoked, upon which every man might make what
glosses he pleased, and the king himself was left to
his own imaginations.
An instance There need be no other instance given of the un-
M. . II of the heard of and incredible passion that was shewed in
thi* ff^r. ' n the transaction of that bill, than a particular that
related to the city of London. Upon the news of the
great fire in London, and the devastation that it
made there, there was so general a lamentation in
Ireland as might be expected from a neighbour pro-
vince, that had so great a commerce with and de-
pendance upon it. And the consent in this lamen-
tation was so digested, that the several provinces
had made a computation and division between them-
selves, and presented a declaration to the lord lieu-
tenant and council, " that they had so tender a sense
" of that calamity, that if they were able to raise
" money to administer some assistance to the city
" towards the reparation of their great loss, they
" would willingly offer and present it : but that not
" being in their power or possession, the great
" scarcity and want of money throughout that king-
" dom being notoriously known, but there being
" somewhat in their power to offer, which might at
" least testify their good-will, and not be wholly use-
" less towards the end they designed it ; they had
" agreed between themselves to give unto the lord
" mayor and city of London, to be n disposed of by
" them to such particular uses as they should judge
" most convenient, the number of thirty thousand
" Irish beasts, which should be delivered within
" such a time and at such ports," which were named,
11 to be] nnd to be
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 161
" to any such persons as should be appointed to re- 1666.
" ceive them. " And of this they desired the lord
lieutenant and council to advertise the king, and
likewise give notice to the city of London : both
which were done accordingly ; and the advertise-
ment arrived in the city in the time when this bill
was depending in the lords' house. Whereupon the
lord mayor and aldermen presented a petition to the
lords, with a proviso that they desired might be in-
serted in the bill that was before them, by which it
was provided, " that nothing contained in that bill
4< should hinder the city of London from enjoying the
** charitable donative of the thirty thousand cattle,
" but that they might have liberty to import the
" same. "
It can hardly be believed with what passion and
indignation this petition was received by the house,
what invectives were made against the city, " for
" their presumption in interposing their own parti-
" cular interest to obstruct the public affairs of the
*. * kingdom ;" and then the reflections which were
" made upon the council of Ireland, for giving coun-
" tenance to such an address, and becoming instru-
" ments themselves to promote and advance it:"
which they would not allow " to be an offering of
" charity, but a cheat and a cozenage by combination
" to elude an act of parliament, which they could not
" choose but hear of, and could not but believe that
*5 it was passed by this time. Which if it had been,
" and that power left in the king as had been pro-
" posed, they might now see how it would have been
" applied : for they could not doubt, but there would
" enough have advised the king, that he should gra-
" tify the city of London with a license for this im-
VOL. III. M
162 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. ' portation ; which could not or would not have
" been so warily drawn, but that, under the license
" for thirty thousand, there would be three hundred
' thousand imported into England; and this the
" great charity aimed at and was assured of. " And
so, after much bitterness, they desired " that the pe-
" tition and the proviso might be both rejected. "
But this passion did not cover the whole house,
which neither commended nor approved it, and were
much less transported with it. They believed it was
a very seasonable intention of charity, and would
not take upon them to frustrate it ; and so prevailed,
that it was passed in that house, and transmitted
with approbation to the other. But it had the same
fate there with the other provisos, and was thrown
out with that bitterness and observation which had
been offered against it by some lords. Nor could
any expedients alter or remove their obstinacy,
though many were offered upon conferences, and
particularly " that all the beasts should be killed in
" Ireland and powdered there, and then sent over in
" barrels or other casks ;" but they found cozenage
in that too, and were as angry with the cattle when
they were dead, as when they were alive, as if it
would for a time keep down the price of meat in
England, which they desired to advance : so that
there was nothing gotten in all those conferences,
but the discovery of new jealousies of the king and
the court, and new insinuations of the discontents
and murmurs in the country, that this bill was so
long obstructed. Which being still represented to
the king with the most ghastly aspects towards what
as if it would] and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 163
effects it might produce, his majesty in the end was 1666.
prevailed upon, notwithstanding very earnest advice ~~
to the contrary, not only to be willing to give his
royal assent when it should be offered to him, but
to take very great pains to remove those obstructions
which hindered it from being offered to him, and to
solicit particularly very many lords to depart from
their own sense, and to <i conform to what he thought
convenient to his service ; which gave those who
loved him not great argument of triumph, and to
those who loved him very passionately much matter
of mortification. Yet after all this, and when his
majesty had changed some men's resolutions, and
prevailed with others to withdraw and to be absent
when the bill should come again to be discussed, it The bi " at
. . /v ' i length con-
WaS carried with great difficulty and with great op- sented to by
position, and against the protestation of many of norJs. se
the lords.
In all the debate upon this bill, and upon the
other of accounts, the chancellor had the misfortune
to lose much credit in the house of commons, not
only by a very strong 1 " and cordial opposition to 8
what they desired, but by taking all occasions, which
were offered by the frequent arguments which were
urged " of the opinion and the authority of the The chan-
r> T f cellor of-
" house of commons, and that it was fit and neces- fends the
" sary to concur with them," to mention them with by TsWng
less reverence than they expected. It is very true : ]I| e re ^- n
he had always used in such provocations to desire tlieir en -
croach-
the lords, " to be more solicitous in preserving their ments.
" own unquestionable rights and most important
" privileges, and less tender in restraining the excess
i to] Not in MS. ' strong] Omitted in MS. s to] of
M 2
164 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. " and new encroachments of the house of commons,
""which extended their jurisdiction beyond their
"limits. " He put them often in mind " of the
" mischiefs which had their original from the liber-
" ties the house of commons assumed, and the com-
" pliance the house of peers had descended to, in the
" late ill times, and which produced the rebellion ;
'* and were carried so far, till, after all the multi-
" plied affronts, they had wrested the whole autho-
" rity out of the hands of the house of peers, and at
" last declared them useless members of the com-
" monwealth, and shut up the door of their house
" with a padlock, which they had never power to
" unfasten till the king's return. " And in those
occasions his expressions were many times so lively,
that they offended many of the lords who were
present, and had too much contributed to those
extravagancies, as much as it could do any of the
commons.
The truth is, he did never dissemble from the
time of his return with the king, whom he had like-
wise prepared and disposed to the same sentiments
whilst his majesty was abroad, that his opinion was,
" that the late rebellion could never be extirpated
" and pulled up by the roots, till the king's regal
" and inherent power and prerogative should be
" fully avowed and vindicated ; and till the usurpa-
" tions in both houses of parliament since the year
" 1640 were disclaimed and made odious ; and many
" other excesses, which had been affected by both
" before that time under the name of privileges,
" should be restrained or explained :" for all which
reformation the kingdom in general was very well
disposed, when it pleased God to restore the king to
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 165
it. Nor did the convention, which proclaimed the 1666.
king and invited him to return, exercise after his
return any exorbitant power, but what was of ne-
cessity upon former irregularities, and contributed
to the present ends and desires of the king.
And this parliament, that was upon the dissolu-
tion of the former quickly summoned by the king's
writ, willingly inclined to that method, as appears
by those many excellent acts which vindicated the
king's sovereign power over parliaments, and de-
clared the nullity of all acts done by one or both
houses without the king's assent ; declared and set-
tled the absolute power of the crown over the militia;
repealed that act of parliament that had excluded
the bishops from being members of the house of
peers, and restored them to their session there; and
repealed that other infamous act for triennial par-
liaments, which had clauses in it to have led the
people into rebellion ; and would willingly have pro-
secuted the same method, if they had had the same
advice and encouragement.
But " they had continued to sit too long together,
and were invited to meddle and interpose in matters
out of their own sphere, to give their advice with
reference to peace and war, to hold conferences with
the king, and to offer their advices to him, and to
receive orders from himself; and x his majesty was
persuaded by very unskilful men, " that they were
" so absolutely at his disposal, that he need never
" doubt their undertaking any thing that would be
" ingrateful to him, and that whilst he preserved
" that entire interest he had in the lower house,
11 But] But when * and] when
M 3
166 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " (which he might easily do,) he need not care what
~" " the other house did or had a mind to do ;" and so
induced his majesty to undervalue his house of peers
as of little power to do him good or harm, and pre-
vailed with him too far to countenance that false
doctrine; towards which the house of peers them-
selves contributed too much, by not inquiring into
or considering the public state of the kingdom, or
providing remedies for growing evils, or indeed med-
dling with any thing in the government till they
were invited to it by some message or overture from
the house of commons: insomuch as they sat not
early in the morning, according to the former cus-
tom of parliaments, but came not together till ten
of the clock ; and very often adjourned as soon as
they met, because that nothing was brought from
the house of commons that administered cause of
consultation ; and upon that ground often adjourned
for one or two days together, whilst the other house
sat, and drew the eyes of the kingdom upon them,
as the only vigilant people for their good.
Then when any thing fell in their way, that they
could draw a consequence from that might relate to
their privileges, they were so jealous of an invasion,
that they neither considered former precedents,
nor rules of honour or justice ; and were not only
solicitous for that freedom which belonged to them-
selves and their menial servants, who ought not to
be disquieted by private suits and prosecutions in
law, whilst they are obliged to attend upon the ser-
vice of their country in parliament, but gave their
protections " ad libitum," which x were commonly
y which] and which
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 167
sold by their servants to bankrupt citizens, and to I6C6'.
such who were able but refused to pay their just~
debts. And when their creditors knew that they
could have no relation of attendance to any man,
and thereupon caused them to be arrested, they
produced some protection granted to them by some
lord ; whereupon they were not only discharged, but
their creditors, and all who bore any part in the
prosecution, were punished with great rigour, and
to their great loss and damage, and to the great
prejudice of the city, and interruption of the whole
course of the justice of the kingdom.
When the house of commons sent up a bill for
the suppression or reformation of many irregularities
and misdemeanours, which had grown up in the late
times of disorder and confusion, as conventicles and
other riotous assemblies, wherein there was a ne-
cessity of some clauses of power to inferior officers,
whereby they were qualified to discover those trans-
gressions which would otherwise be concealed ; the
lords would be sure always to insert some proviso
to save their privileges, even in acts which pro-
vided for the punishment of such crimes as no per-
son of quality could be supposed to be guilty of, as
stealing of wood, and such vile trespasses : whicli
took up much time in debate, and incensed the house
of commons, and produced many froward debates,
in which the king thought the peers in the wrong.
This kind of temper or distemper upon very trivial
and light occasions, in seasons which required gra-
vity and despatch, provoked the house of commons
to take more upon' them, to enter upon contests
sometimes unreasonably with the lords, and to as-
sume to themselves an authority in matters in which
M 4
168 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. they ought not to interpose ; and then were encou-
~ raged and indeed induced by those who had near
relation to the king and were trusted in his service,
to affect novelties both in the form and substance of
their proceedings, which those persons concurred in,
much out of ignorance what was to be done, and
more out of affectation to compass some crooked
end of their own, to the prejudice of another person
who was in their disfavour. And when these sallies
out of the old trodden path were taken notice of,
and his majesty had been 7 - advised to prevent them
in time, he was persuaded, either " that the ex-
" ceptions were in matters of little moment, and
" made only by formal men who liked nothing that
" was out of the old common road ; or that the li-
" berty would be applied to his service, and in many
" useful occasions would mollify or subdue the in-
" convenient morosity of the lords ; or, when it
" should exceed, it would be still in his majesty's
" power to restrain it, when he found it necessary. "
And these discourses prevailed too much with his
majesty, till he now found the humour was grown
too sturdy for him to contend with ; and the same
men, who had persuaded him to contemn it, were
now more importunate with him that he would com-
ply with it.
He offends The chancellor had always as earnestly opposed
the lords , . . . . . . .
hy advising the over-captious insisting upon privilege in the
! uiu unV" lords' house, either when in truth there was not a
reasonably j us j. ground for it, or when they would extend it
upon pnri-
'< further than it would regularly reach ; and often-
times put them in mind " of many exorbitant acts
* been] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 169
" which stood still mentioned in their journal-books, 1666.
" of their proceedings in the late rebellious times,"
" which might be looked upon as precedents by
" posterity, and in which the house of commons
" had really invaded their greatest privileges, and
" trampled upon their highest jurisdiction ; which
" was worthy of their most strict proceedings a to
" vindicate by protestation, and by expunging the
" memorial thereof out of all their books and re-
" cords, that there might be no footsteps left to mis-
" lead the succeeding ages ;" and often desired them
" to preserve a power in themselves to put the
" house of commons in mind of their exceeding
" their limits, for which they often gave them occa-
" sion, and particularly as often as they sent to
" quicken them in any debate, which was a very
" modern presumption, and derogatory from that
" respect which a house of commons had always
" paid to the house of lords. And this they could
" not reasonably or effectually do, till they declined
" all unjust or unnecessary pretences to privileges
" which were not their due, and especially to a
" power of calling private cases of right and justice,
" which ought to be determined by the law and in
" courts of justice, to be heard and adjudged before
" themselves in parliament ; of which there were
"too frequent occasions to oppose and contradict
" their jurisdiction. "
This free way of discourse offended many of the
lords, who thought him not jealous enough of nor
zealous for the privilege of the peerage : and they
were now very glad that he used so much more
a proceedings] Omitted in MS.
170 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. freedom against the proceedings of the house of
"commons, which they were sure would be resented
below, more than it had been above. And many of
his friends informed him " how ill it was taken ;
" and how carefully all that he said, and much that
" he did not say, was transmitted by some of the
" lords to them, who would not fail in some season
** to remember and apply it to his highest disadvan-
" tage ;" and therefore desired him " to use less fer-
" vour in those argumentations. " But he was in
that, as in many things of that kind that related to
the offending other men, for his own sake uncoun-
sellable : not that he did not know that it exposed
him to the censure of some men who lay in wait to
do him hurt, but because he neglected those cen-
sures, nor valued the persons who promoted them ;
being confident that he would be liable to no charge
that he should be ashamed of, and well knowing
that he had, and being well known to have, a
higher esteem of parliament, and a greater desire to
preserve the just privileges of both houses, than
they had who seemed to be angry with him on that
behalf; and that the extending them b beyond their
due length would in the end endanger the destruc-
tion of parliaments.
But he shortly after found, that this guard was
not secure enough to defend him. What'toe said in
parliament was the sense of more who would not
speak it, than there were of those who disliked it ;
and how much soever it offended them, they could
not out of it find a crime to accuse him of. But
they who were more concerned to remove him from
b them] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL -OF CLARENDON. 171
a post, where he too narrowly watched and too 1666.
often obstructed the liberties they took, resolved to
sacrifice all their oaths and obligations, which oblig-
ed them to the contrary, to the satisfaction of their
envy and their malice: and so whatsoever he said or
advised in the most secret council to the king him-
self with reference to things or persons, they commu-
nicated all to those who had most reason to be an-
gry, yet could not own the information. * Of all which
he had advertisement, and that a storm would be
shortly raised to shake him, of which he had little
apprehension ; never suspecting that it would arise
out of that quarter, from whence he soon after dis-
cerned it to proceed.
There was another particular and private ac- Lord ROOS
cident that fell out at this time, that admin isteredbnuo set*
more occasion of faction and dissension in the "|, d */y ""
houses, which always obstructed and perplexed all lad >-
public business. The marquis of Dorchester had
some years before married one of his daughters to
the lord Roos, eldest son to the earl of Rutland ;
both families very noble in themselves, and of great
fortunes, and allied to all the great families of the
kingdom. The lady being of a humour not very
agreeable, and not finding the satisfaction she ex-
pected where she ought to have received it, looked
for it abroad where she ought not to find it. And
her husband, as men conscious to themselves of any
notable defect used to be, was indulgent enough, not
strictly inquiring how she behaved herself, and she
as little dissembling or concealing the contempt she
had of her husband ; until his friends, especially the
mother, (who was a lady of a very great spirit and
most exalted passion,) took notice of her frequent
172 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. absence from her husband, and of her little kindness
~~ towards him when she was present with him. And
the young lady, who with her other defects had
want of wit to bear a reprehension she deserved, in-
stead of excusing, avowed her no esteem of her
husband ; charged him with debauchery, and being
always in drink, which was too true ; and reproach-
ed him with folly, as a man not worthy to be be-
loved. And the passion swelling to a great height
on both sides, the marquis came to be engaged on
the behalf of his daughter, and challenged her hus-
band to fight with him, who in many respects
was not capable, nor did understand those encoun-
ters.
In the end, after many acts of passion, which ad-
ministered too much cause of mirth and scandal to
the world, yet c by the advice and mediation of
friends, as good a reconciliation as in such cases is
usual was made, and the young couple brought to
live again together. And the lady having the as-
cendant over the lord, who was very desirous to b've
quietly upon any conditions, that he might enjoy
himself though he could not enjoy her, he was con-
tented that she made a journey to London upon
pretence to see some friends : and the time being
expired which she had prescribed for her absence,
he sent to her to return, which she deferred from
time to time. But at last, after many months, she
returned to him in so gross a manner, that it ap-
peared that she had kept company too much, which
she never endeavoured to conceal ; and when her
husband told her " that she was with child," and
r yet] yet in the end
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 173
asked " who got it ;" she answered him confidently, 1 666.
" that whoever got it, if it proved a boy, as she be- ~~
" lieved it would, he should be earl of Rutland. "
This was more than the young man could bear
without informing his mother, (the good earl not
loving to engage himself in so much noise,) who pre-
sently took care that the great-bellied lady was
made a prisoner in her chamber, strictly guarded,
that she could not go out of those lodgings which
w r ere assigned her ; all her own servants removed
from her, and others appointed to attend ; and all
other things supplied that she could stand in need
of or require, liberty only excepted. Yet in this
close restraint she found means to advertise her fa-
ther of the condition she was in, and made it much
worse than it was, seeming to apprehend the safety
of her life threatened by the malice of the countess,
mother to her husband, " who," she said, " did all
" she could to alienate his affection from her ; and
" now that she found she was with child, would per-
" suade him that it was not his ; and took all this
" extreme course, either to make her miscarry and
" so endanger her life, or to put an end to mother
" and child when she should miscarry :" and there-
fore besought her father, " that he would find some
" way to procure her liberty, and to remove her
" from that place, as the only means to save her
" life. "
The marquis, with the passion of a father, and
confidence of his daughter's virtue, and having no
reverence for the countess, thought it an act of great
barbarity, and consulted whether he could have any
remedy at law to recover his daughter's liberty ; and
finding little hope from thence, (the restraint of
174 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. a wife by the jealousy of her husband in his own
house being not a crime the law had provided a
remedy against,) he resorted then to the king, who
as little knew how to meddle in it. In the mean
time he sent women to see and attend his daugh-
ter, who were admitted to see and confer with her,
but not to stay with her; the countess declaring,
" that she should want nothing; but that since it
" was impossible that the child could be of kin
" to her son, who had not seen her in so many
" months before the child must have been got,
" she would provide that there should be no more
" foul play, when she should be delivered ; and
" after that time she should have no more restraint
*' or residence in that house, but be at liberty to go
" whither she would. "
The conclusion was, the lady was delivered, and
a son born, who was quickly christened by the name
of Ignoto, and committed to a poor woman, who
lived near, to be nursed ; and as soon as the lady re-
covered strength enough, she was dismissed and
sent to a house of her father, who received her with
the affection he thought was due to her. And hav-
ing conferred and examined her with all the strict-
ness he could, he remained satisfied in her innocence,
and consequently of the barbarous treatment she had
received, and the injury and indignity, both to him
and her, that was done to the son ; for which he
was resolved to leave no way untried in which he
might receive a vindication. In order to which he
first desired the king to hear all parties, who was
prevailed with to appoint a day for the doing it,
being attended by some bishops and other lords of
his council ; when the marquis and his daughter,
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 175
and the lord Roos and his mother, appeared d , with 1666.
more ladies than could have the patience to stay till
the end of the examination, where there were so
many indecent and uncleanly particulars mentioned,
that made all the auditors very weary. Nor was
there any room for his majesty to interpose towards
a reconciliation, which was in view impossible ; nor
could the lady be excused for a great delight she
took in making her husband jealous of her, and in
expressing a contempt of him, whatever else she
was guilty of: and so the king left it as he found it.
And the marquis, who had heard many things he
did not expect to have heard, took his daughter to
his own house, that by her own strict behaviour she
might best vindicate herself from the scandal she
lay under : but she quickly freed him from that hope
and expectation ; for within a short time after, she,
not being able to submit to the strict order and dis-
cipline of her father's house, which would not per-
mit those wanderings she desired to make, nor the
visits she desired to receive, made an escape from
thence, and lodged herself at more liberty, and lived
in that manner as gave too much evidence against
her with reference to the time that was past.
The marquis, who was a man of great honour,
and most punctual in all things relating to justice,
gave a noble instance of both, and how much he de-
tested the base and unworthy behaviour of his own
child, when it was manifest to him. He went to
the other noble family, asked their pardon " for his
" incredulity, and for any offence he had committed
" against them, or reproach he laid upon them e , for
d appeared] Omitted in MS. e them] Omitted in MS.
1/6 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
166G. " the vindication of an unworthy woman, who he
~~ " believed now had deserved all and more aspersions
" than had been laid on her : and therefore he was
" ready to join with them to free the family, as much
" as was possible, from the infamy she had brought
" to them and him, and that her base issue might
" not be an eternal reproach in their family. " Upon
this she was first, upon the complaint of her hus-
band, cited into the court of the arches before the
ecclesiastical judges : where, after a full examina-
tion of witnesses on both sides, and hearing what
she could allege in her own defence, her crime was
declared to be proved sufficiently ; and thereupon a
judgment was pronounced " of a full and entire se-
" paration a toro et a mensa pro causa adulterii"
in such a form, and with such circumstances, as are
of course in those cases.
But all this was not remedy enough against the
bastard's title to the honour of that illustrious fa-
mily : and therefore there was a bill prepared,
wherein all the foul carriage of the lady was set out,
the birth and christening of Ignoto, the declaration
and judgment of the court of the arches, and sepa-
ration of the parties for the adultery proved; and
thereupon a desire that it might be declared by act
A bin of parliament, " that the son, Ignoto by name, is a
foMbis m " bastard, and incapable to inherit any part of the
" title, honour, or estate of or belonging to the house
" of Rutland ; and the same incapacity to attend all
" other children, which from that time, the birth of
" Ignoto, had or might be born from the body of
" that lady. " And this bill being presented to the
house of peers by a lord nearly allied to that family,
the earl of Rutland being present with the marquis, as
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 177
soon as it was read the marquis stood up, and " with l GC6.
" expressions of trouble, and of the justice that was~
" due to the greatness of a noble house, that had
" received a foul blemish by a woman of too near a
" relation to him, of whom he was ashamed," gave f
his free consent to the bill, and desired that it might
pass : and the earl likewise besought the house, " that
" so infamous a branch might not be ingrafted into
" his family, of which his son, the lord Roos, was
" the sole heir male, with whom the honour must
" expire. "
It was a case of general concernment as well as
compassion, that an impudent woman should have
the power to give an heir to inherit a noble title
and fortune by descent, when it was so notoriously
known and adjudged to be illegitimate, and a mere
stranger to the blood of the house. Yet there were
some very good lords, and who detested the woman
and the wickedness, made much scruple of making
a new precedent in a particular case, that under- Some lords
mined a foundation of law, and opened a door to let precedent
in an unjust declaration, upon pretences not so well nre . " s
proved, to the disinherison of one that should not
be illegitimate. But though it was a rare case, it
was found not to be a new one, there having been
one or two declarations of bastardy in parliament in
the reign of king Henry VII. and Henry VIII.
However, it was as just that she should be heard,
to defend both herself and her son ; and therefore
the bill being read the second time, it was com-
mitted, with direction " that the lady should have
" personal notice * to attend, before the committee
f gave] and therefore gave e notice] Omitted in MS.
VOL. III. N
178 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
166C. entered upon it:" and after long inquiry at the
~~ places where she used to be, it was found that she
had transported herself into Ireland, in the company
of the person whom she had preferred before her
husband; and there was reason to believe, that it
was after she had notice of the bill. However, all
proceedings were respited till there was full proof
given to the house, by the person himself who had
spoken with her in Ireland, and given her the war-
rant that required her attendance upon the com-
mittee : and then, after many days longer delay, it
was read and debated, and by the committee re-
ported to the house to be engrossed.
The duke And then, and not till then, the duke of Bucking-
hlS U ob-" g nam opposed the passing of it, upon pretence, " that
struct* the in the bill the lord Roos h na d assumed a title that
bill.
" belonged to him by his mother, who had been
" heir female to Francis earl of Rutland ;" when
that title, now challenged, had descended to George
the brother of Francis, and had been enjoyed by two
earls of Rutland since. It was generally thought
a strange exception : nor was it known, whether
the duke was disposed to it as a revenge upon the
marquis, or to shew his own power, (for he had
many who concurred with him in both houses upon
many occasions,) or whether he did in truth desire
to support the lady in her infamy, he not being over-
tender in cases of that nature. However, it was
necessary to recommit the bill, that some expedient
might be there found to remove the obstruction,
which though he was obstinate in till the house was
tired with many days debate upon it, in which most
11 the lord Rwos] Omitteti in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 179
of his adherents upon the unreasonableness left him, 1666.
he persisted still and maintained the debate almost
alone, till the time of the session approached ; when
the lord Roos was compelled to humour him in
leaving out a title that all the world gave him.
And then, after intolerable vexation to the house But it is
and loss of time, he desisted to appear against it ; p ass e e d S
and the act passed the royal assent.
The ill humour of the house of commons was not 1667.
abated ; and though they knew well that their Irish
bill could never have passed the upper house but by
the king's powerful interposition, they remained
still jealous, or pretended to be so, that he would
not give his assent ; which till he should do, they
would admit no debate of money : so that as soon
as the bill was presented to him, his majesty came
to the house of peers, and sent for the commons to
attend him upon the 18th day of January ; when,
after he had given his consent to that and another
private bill which they had presented, he told them,
" that he had now passed their bills, and that he The idn^
" had been in hope to have had other bills ready to iriTiTbn'f
" have passed too. " He said, " that he could not^h.
" forget, that within few days after their coming
" together in September, both houses had presented
" to him their vote and declaration, that they would
" give him a supply proportionable to his occasions ;
" and the confidence of that had made him anti-
" cipate that small part of his revenue which was
" unanticipated, for the payment of the seamen ;
" and his credit had gone further than he had rea-
" son to think it would, but it was now at an end.
" This was the first day," he said, " he had heard
" of a supply, being the 18th of January, and what
N 2
180 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. " it would amount unto, God only knew ; and what
" time he had to make such preparations as were
" necessary to meet three such enemies as he had,
" they could well enough judge. And he must tell
" them, what discourses soever were abroad, he was
" not in any treaty ; but by the grace of God he
" would not give over himself and them, but would
" do what was in his power for defence of both. It
" was high time for them to make good their pro-
" raise ; and it was high time for them to be in the
" country, as well for the raising of money, as that
" the lords lieutenants and deputy lieutenants might
" watch those seditious spirits which were at work
" to disturb the public peace. And therefore he
" was resolved to put an end to that session on
" Monday next come sennight, before which time
" he desired that all things might be made ready
" that he was to despatch. " His majesty said, " he
" was not willing to complain that they had dealt
" unkindly with him in a bill he had then passed,
" in which they had manifested a greater distrust of
" him than he had deserved. He did not pretend
" to be without infirmities, but he had never broken
" his word to them ; and if he did not flatter him-
" self, the nation had never less cause to complain
" of grievances, or the least injustice or oppression,
" than it had had in those seven years since it had
" pleased God to restore him to them : he would,"
he said, " be glad to be used accordingly. "
This little quickness in his majesty prevailed more
upon them, than all the former application had done :
and now they saw that they should not be suffered
to continue longer together, they resolved to leave
some relish of their former duty and compliance.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 181
Not that the humour was at all reformed or abated 1667.
in those who had shewed so much frowardness, who ~~
still continued as perverse as ever ; but they were
overruled by the major part of the house, as they
would have been sooner, if it had not been that a
contrary course had been pursued to what had been
formerly. Nor were they, who had advised that
change, willing that his majesty should decline the
same method, and were much troubled that he had
not caressed the house more in his late discourse.
And as they had before advised his majesty freely
and without any condition to offer the repeal, and
release the act that had granted the chimney-money
to him, which was a very good and a growing reve-
nue, but they observed to be unpopular ; upon a pre-
sumption (which they assured him could not fail)
that so generous an action in his majesty towards
his people would be immediately requited by a grant
of much greater value, (and they had prevailed in
this counsel, if the chancellor and the treasurer had
not with great resolution opposed it, and made evi-
dent to his majesty, " that he ought never to pro-
" pose it himself though with conditions, because
" it would make the grace undervalued, and the
" conditions to be esteemed unreasonable ; nor to
" hearken to any general proposition, or consent to
" the repeal of that act, without having a full and
" equivalent recompense (which ought to be very
" well weighed) granted in the same act of parlia-
" ment ; for he had now sufficient evidence, that the
" constant good-humour of the house was not to
" be depended upon :" which confirmed his majesty
to resolve never to hearken to the one without the
other, and so that mischief was prevented :) so they
182 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. were' now as desirous that the house of commons
~ would still press the despatch of the bill of accounts,
which rested in the lords' house ; and assured them,
" that if they would embrace the same positiveness
" they had done, the chancellor would be no more
" able to hinder the passing of that act, than he had
*' been to keep his majesty from consenting to the
** Irish bill so much against his resolution. " But
they and their friends could not keep up the same
spirit of stubbornness in the house, nor prevail
with the king to recede from his purpose : so that
the bill for accounts remained still in the house of
lords not fully discussed. And such a progress was
made in the house of commons, notwithstanding all
A supply opposition, that a bill for supply was prepared within
the time prescribed, though in respect of the pro-
portion not equal to the occasions, and entangled
still with the same inconvenient clauses and pro-
visos which had so unwarily been admitted at Ox-
ford, and which made what was granted unapplicable
to the procuring ready money ; of which his majesty
was now fully convinced. But the time was too
short to labour in the alteration. And so the bill,
as it was, was sent up to the lords, who, after the
short formality that cannot be avoided, gave it a
passage through that house : so that it was now
ready for the king.
The king's The eighth of February the king came to the
thTproro- parliament, and the speaker of the house presented
parua- ^ o /
thanked them for it, with his assurance, " that
the money should be laid out for the ends it was
1 so they were] yet were
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 183
" given : however," he said, " he hoped he should 1667.
" live to have bills of this nature in the old style, ~
" with fewer provisos. " He took notice, " that the
" bill of accounts for the money that had been al-
" ready raised since the war was not offered to him:
" but," his majesty said, " that he would take care
" (after so much noise) that the same should not be
" stifled ; but that he would issue out his commis-
" sion in the manner he had formerly promised the
" house of peers ; and the commissioners should
" have very much to answer, if they should not dis-
" cover all matters of fraud and cozenage. " He
told them, " the season of the year was very far
" spent, in which the enemy had got great advan-
" tage ; but by the help of God, he would make all
" the preparations he could, and as fast as he could :
" "and yet he would tell them, that if any good over-
" tures were made for an honourable peace, he would
" not reject them ; and he believed all sober men
" would be glad to see it brought to pass.
" He would now prorogue them till towards win-
" ter, that they might in their several places intend
" the peace and security of their several countries,
" where there were unquiet spirits still working.
" He did pray them," and said, " he did expect it
" from them, that they would use their utmost en-
" deavours to remove all those false imaginations
" out of the hearts of the people, which the malice
*' of ill men had industriously infused into them, of
" he knew not what jealousies and grievances : for
" he must tell them again, and he was sure he was
" in the right, that the people had never so little
*' cause to complain of oppression and grievances, as
N 4
184 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. " they had since his return to them. If the taxes
~" ' and impositions were grievous and heavy upon
" them, they would put them in mind, that a war
" with such powerful enemies could not be main-
" tained without taxes ; and he was sure the money
" raised thereby came not into his purse. " He con-
cluded " with promising himself good effects from
" their affections and wisdoms, wherever they were :
" and he did hope they should all meet again of one
" mind, for his honour, and the good of the king-
" dom. " And so they were prorogued to the tenth
day of October next.
beking And now the king had very much to do, more
lS? than he had time or tools to despatch. Yet he be-
jSio / gan first where the parliament left off k , that when
ots'" *^ e y came again together, they might have no cause
to say, that he had not performed what he had pro-
mised, and so with the same passion renew their
clamour upon the accounts, which was made now a
very popular complaint; and whoever was accused
of obstructing that examination, was presently con-
cluded to have had a share in the prey. Yet he was
not willing that such a strict account or examina-
tion should be made, especially into the receipt of
the lord Ashley for the prizes, that all the world
should know what money had been issued out by his
own immediate orders, and to whom. Hereupon he
commanded his attorney and solicitor general to pre-
pare a commission, with all necessary clauses, to call
all persons to account who had received any such
monies, and to examine and take any exception to
the same.
k off] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 185
And that there might be no just exception to the 1667.
commission, which he knew would be strictly looked ~~
into, they were required " to advise with all or any
" of the judges, that it might have their approba-
" tion ; and that there should be a clause in the com-
" mission, whereby the commissioners should be
" authorized to call any of the judges to their assist-
" ance, when upon any matters of difficulty they
" should think it necessary. " And that there might
be no exception to any of the commissioners, as like
to be partial in respect of friendship or alliance to
any of those who were to be called before them, his
majesty appointed all those persons, who were nomi-
nated for commissioners in the bill sent to the house
of lords by the commons, to be inserted into this
commission ; and likewise made choice of such a
number of the peers as was fit, to be joined to the
others, and named those who had upon all debates
in the house appeared most solicitous, that a very
exact account should be required, and of such others
who had no relation to the court, and were looked
upon with the utmost l esteem by the house of com-
mons : all which was prepared with the expedition
that was possible, and the commission sealed; and
notice given to all the commissioners, that they
should meet at a place appointed ; upon a day
named, presently after Easter, by which time the
judges would be returned out of their circuits" 1 ;
and they were then at liberty to adjourn to what
place they pleased.
We are now to enter upon the occurrences of the
year 1667, a year little more prosperous to the pub-
1 utmost] most circuits] circuit
186 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. He than the year preceding, and fatal in respect to n
"many calamitous accidents to the chancellor, and
which put a period to his greatness; the circum-
stances whereof, very notorious, were so interwoven
with the public transactions of state, that it is not
easy to make a distinct and clear relation of the one
without the other.
The king The temper the parliament had been in, and the
involved . . . .
in great dif- delay they had used in giving the king any supply
towards the carrying on the war, made the king
discern that he had been too confident of their gene-
rosity, and that they had already departed from that
spirit with which they first had persuaded him to
enter into that war : and it was as evident (which
had been often foretold to him) that the Dutch could
endure being beaten longer than he could endure to
beat them. They were now relieved and supplied
with the money of France, and the governing party
had subdued all contradictions ; and whatever their
affections were, all compliance and submission ap-
peared to the commands of the state ; and there
wanted nothing but the season of the year to carry
their fleet again to sea, as great and as well provided
as it had ever been. All murmuring was trans-
planted from thence into England, where it grew
up plentifully : and the king was, upon the credit of
an act of parliament that was passed on the eighth
of February, to provide a fleet ready to encounter
with the potent enemies in the spring. There was
no trade by sea, and therefore could not be much by
land, that could bring any benefit to the king ; and
the seamen ran all to the privateers, who adventured
11 to] ol
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 187
for booty, which they preferred before serving in the 1 667.
royal navy.
The king' in those straits called that council to- He consults
gether with whom he used to consult his most se-^^tTee
cret affairs ; and the chief officers at sea, and the u *
commissioners of the navy, attended to give such in- state of his
affairs.
formation as was necessary before any resolution
could be taken. There the whole state of the navy
was inquired into? ; what was in the stores, and
what the defects or deficiencies were, and what
hopes there were of supplying them ; what ships
were ready, and what would be made ready in three
months. The victualler was sent for, to give an ac-
count what provision of victuals was ready, and
what could be provided and put on board in the
same time, which was the utmost that could be li-
mited. Every officer protested, " that there could
" not be the least attempt^ towards any preparations
" without a good sum of ready money :" and the
yards were in that necessity by reason of the great
arrear of wages that was due to them, that they
were near a mutiny, and could not be kept to their
work, being necessitated to do any work abroad to
get victual for their families. The inferior officers,
which belonged to the stores, lived by stealing and
selling what they were intrusted to keep.
had ever done, they did not conceal the very ill
opinion they had of the court and the continual riot-
ings there: and the very idle discourses of some
(who were much countenanced) upon the miserable
event of the fire made them even believe, that the
former jealousies of the city, when they saw their
houses burning at such a distance from each other,
were not without some foundation, nor without just
apprehension of a conspiracy, and that it had not
A commit- been diligently enough examined ; and therefore
pointed to they appointed a committee, with large authority to
IhJ'cause"* send for and examine all persons who could give
of the fire. an y information concerning it.
When any mention was made of the declaration
they had so lately passed, for giving the king sup-
ply, and " that it was high time to despatch it, that
" all necessary provisions might be made for the
" setting out a fleet against the spring;" it was an-
swered with passion, " that the king's wants must
" be made first to appear before any supply must be
" discoursed of: that there were already such vast
" sums of money given to the king, that there was
" none left in the country ; nor could any commo-
" dities there, upon which they should raise where-
" with to pay their taxes, be sold for want of mo-
" ney, which was all brought to London in specie,
" and none left to carry on the commerce and trade
" in the country, where they could not sell their corn
" or their cattle or their wool for half the value. "
They who had not sat in the parliament at Ox-
ford were exceedingly vexed, that there had been so
much given there, so soon after the two millions and
a half had been granted ; and said, " if the king
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 129
" wanted again already, that he must have been 1666.
" abominably cheated, which was fit to be examined. ~~
" That the number of the ships, which had been set
" out by the king in several fleets since the begin-
" ning of this war, was no secret ; and that there
" are men enough who are acquainted with the
" charge of setting out and manning and victual-
" ling ships, and can make thereby a reasonable com-
" putation what this vast expense can amount to :
" and that they cannot but conclude, that if his ma-
" jesty hath been honestly dealt with, there must
" remain still a very great proportion of money to
** carry on the war, without need of imposing more
" upon the people, till they are better able to bear it.
" And therefore that it was absolutely necessary, that
" all those, through whose hands the money had
" passed, should first give an exact account of what
" they had received,' and what and how they had
" disbursed it : and when that should appear, it
" would be seasonable to demand an addition of
" supply, which would be cheerfully granted. "
And for the better expedition of this (for every
body confessed that the time pressed) it was proposed,
" that forthwith a bill should be prepared, which
" should pass into an act of parliament, in which
" such commissioners should be appointed as the
" houses should think fit, Ito examine all accounts of
" those who had received or issued out any monies
" for this war ; and where they found any persons
" faulty, and who had broken their trust, they
" should be liable to such punishment as the parlia-
" ment should think fit :" and a committee was pre- A bin
, . ,, 1*1 brought in
sently named to prepare such a bill accordingly. f or inspect-
This proposition found such a concurrence in theJJJjJ[*
VOL. III. K
130 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. house, that none of the court thought fit to oppose
~ it ; and others who knew the method to be new, and
liable to just exceptions, thought it to as little pur-
pose to endeavour to divert it : and so all motions
for present supply were to be laid aside till a more
favourable conjuncture ; and the overture had been
contrived and put on by many who seemed not to
like it, which is an artifice not unusual in courts or
parliaments.
The persons, who were principally aimed at, (for
no doubt they believed that others would be com-
prehended,) were sir George Carteret, the treasurer
of the navy, through whom all that expense had
passed, who had many enemies upon the opinion
that his office was too great, and the more by the ill
offices sir William Coventry was always ready to do
him ; and the lord Ashley, who was treasurer of all
the money that had been raised upon prizes, which
could not but be a great proportion. The former
was a punctual officer and a good accountant, and
had already passed his account in the exchequer for
two years, upon which he had his " quietus est ;"
which was the only lawful way known and practised
by all accountants to the crown, who can receive a
good discharge no other way : and he was ready to
make another year's account. But what method
commissioners extraordinary by act of parliament
would put it into, he could not imagine, nor be well
satisfied with. The other, the lord Ashley, had more
reason to be troubled, for he was by his commission
exempted from giving any other account but to the
king himself, which exemption was the only reason
that made him so solicitous for the office ; and he
well knew that there were great sums issued, which
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 131
could not be put into any public account: so that 1666.
his perplexity in several respects was not small. ~~
And they both applied themselves to the king for
his protection in the point.
His majesty was no less troubled, knowing 1 that upon which
both had issued out many sums upon his warrants, coLuuf the
which he would not suffer to be produced; and E"mmittee.
called that committee of the privy-council with
which he used to advise, and complained of this
unusual way of proceeding in the house of commons,
which would terrify all men from serving his majesty
in any receipts; to which employment men sub-
mitted because they knew what they were to do,
and what they were to suffer. If they made their
account according to the known rules of the exche-
quer, their discharge could not be denied ; and if they
failed, they knew what process would be awarded
against them. But to account by such orders as
the parliament should prescribe, and to be liable to
such punishment as the parliament would inflict,
was such an uncertainty as would deprive them of
all rest and quiet of mind ; and was in itself so un-
just, that his majesty declared " that he would never
" suffer it : that he hoped it would never find a con-
" sent in the house of commons ; if it should, that
" the house of peers would reject it ; but if it should
" be brought to him, he was resolved never to give
" his royal assent. " There was no man present,
who did not seem fully to concur with his majesty
that he should never consent to it : " however, that
" the best care and diligence should be used, that it
" might never be presented to him, but stopped in
1 knowing] knew
K 2
132 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. " the houses ; and to that purpose, that the mem-
~" bers should be prepared by giving them notice of
" his pleasure. "
The chan- The chancellor upon this argument, in which he
yen his discerned no opposition, enlarged himself upon what
vy 'freely: he had often before put his majesty in mind of;
" that he could not be too indulgent in the defence
",of the privileges of parliament; that he hoped he
" would never violate any of them :" but he desired
him " to be equally solicitous to prevent the ex-
" cesses in parliament, and not to suffer them to
" extend their jurisdiction to cases they have no-
" thing to do with ; and that to restrain them within
" their proper bounds and limits is as necessary, as
" it is to preserve them from being invaded. That
" this was such a new encroachment as had no bot-
" torn ; and the scars were yet too fresh and green
" of those wounds which had been inflicted upon
" the kingdom from such usurpation. " And there-
fore he desired his majesty " to be firm in the reso-
" lution he had taken, and not to depart from it ;
" and if such a bill should be brought up to the
" house of peers, he would not fail in doing his duty,
" and speaking freely his opinion against such inno-
Which is vations, how many soever it might offend. " All
toon re- .
ported a- which discourse of his was in a short time after
prejudice, "communicated to those, who would not fail to make
use of it to his disadvantage.
There was a correspondence by this time begun
and warmly pursued between some discontented
members of the house of peers, who thought their
parts not enough valued, (and the duke of Bucking-
ham was in the head of them,) and some members
of the house of commons, who made themselves
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 133
remarkable by opposing all things which were pro- 1666.
posed in that house for the king's service, or which ~~
were like to be grateful to him, as sir Richard Tem-
ple, Mr. Seymour, and Mr. Garraway, and sir Robert
Howard ; who were all bold speakers, and meant to
make themselves considerable by saying, upon all
occasions, what wiser men would not u , whatever
they thought.
The duke of Buckingham x took more pains than The duke of
, , , . . Bucking-
Was agreeable to his constitution to get an interest ham at the
in all such persons, invited them to his table, pre- opposition?
tended to have a great esteem of their parts, asked
counsel of them, lamented the king's neglecting his
business, and committing it to other people who
were not fit for it ; and then reported all the license
and debauchery of the court in the most lively co-
lours ? , being himself a frequent eye and earwitness
of it. He had a mortal quarrel with the lady, and
was at this time so much in the king's displeasure,
(as he was very frequently,) that he forbore going
to the court, and revenged himself upon it by all
the merry tales he could tell of what was done
there.
It cannot be imagined, considering the loose life
he led (which was a life more by night than by day)
in all the liberties that nature could desire or wit
invent, how great an interest he had in both houses
of parliament ; that is, how many in both would fol-
low his advice, and concur in what he proposed.
His quality and condescensions, the pleasantness of
his humour and conversation, the extravagance and
sharpness of his wit, unrestrained by any modesty
" not] Omitted in MS. -\ colours] courage
x of Buckingham] Not in MS.
K 3
134 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. or religion, drew persons of all affections and in-
clinations to like his company ; and to believe that
the levities and the vanities would be wrought off
by age, and there would enough of good he left to
become a great man, and make him useful to his
country, for which he pretended to have a wonderful
affection and reverence ; and that all his displeasure
against the court proceeded from their declared ma-
lignity against the liberty of the subject, and their
desire that the king should govern by the example
of France. He had always held intelligence with
the principal persons of the levelling party, and pro-
fessed to desire that liberty of conscience might be
granted to all; and exercised his wit with most
license against the church, the law, and the court.
The king had constant intelligence of all his be-
haviour, and the liberty he took in his discourses of
him, for which he had indignation enough : but of
this new stratagem to make himself great in parlia-
ment, and to have a faction there to disturb his bu-
siness, his majesty had no apprehension, believing it
impossible for the duke to keep his mind long bent
upon any particular design, or to keep and observe
those hours and orders of sleeping and eating, as
men who pretend to business are obliged to; and
that it was more impossible, for him to make and
preserve a friendship with any serious persons, whom
. he could never restrain himself from abusing and
making ridiculous, as soon as he was out of their
company. Yet, with all these infirmities and vices,
he found a respect and concurrence from men of
different tempers and talents, and had an incredible
opinion with the people.
The great object of his dislike, displeasure, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 135
hatred, was the duke of Ormond, who being his 1666.
equal in title, and superior in credit with the king, His hatred
and at least equal to him in all other respects, he *
looked upon him" as his rival ; and that his constant
attendance upon the king through all his fortunes,
was a reproach to him for not having performed his
duty that way, and gave him a general reputation
in the kingdom with all men who had been faithful
to the crown. The duke of Ormond's younger son
had married his niece, who was the heir apparent
of his house ; to which, though he had given his
consent when he saw it was not in his power to
contradict it, yet he pretended that the duke had
made many promises of friendship to him which he
had not made good ; whereas in truth the other did
really desire, and had heartily endeavoured, to do
him all the good offices he could with the king,
which some other new extravagance of his own dis-
appointed and made uneffectual. Let the ground
and reason be what they will, he did not dissemble
to hate the duke of Ormond heartily, and to be will-
ing to undertake the prosecution of any complaint
against him ; of which, in that distempered and dis-
jointed condition of Ireland, there could not be oc-
casion wanting z , as soon as it was known that such
a patron was ready to undertake their defence. And
it cannot be denied, (the spirit of envy is so power-
ful,) that there were too many, who had no affection
for the duke of Buckingham, who were yet willing
that any thing should be done to the prejudice of
the duke of Ormond, who they thought eclipsed the
nobility of England.
7 there could not be occasion wanting] could not be wanting
K 4
136 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. There had been for many months a great mur-
~ mur, rather than complaint, " of the great damage
" the kingdom in general sustained by the importa-
" tion of such great quantities of Irish cattle, which
*' were bred there for nothing, and transported for
" little, that they might well undersell all the cat-
" tie here ; and from hence the breed of cattle in
" the kingdom was totally given over, and thereby
" the land would yield no rent proportionably to
" what it had ever done : and that this was a prin-
" cipal cause of the want of money in the country,
" which could only be remedied by a very strict act
" of parliament, to forbid the importation of any
" sort of cattle out of Ireland into this kingdom. "
A bin And some of them who had most thought of the
brought
into the matter had prepared a bill, and brought it into the
house of _
commons house ot commons, where it was read. At first it
S^portaJion underwent very calm and reasonable debates. Very
cauie Sh manv members of several counties desired, " that
" their counties might not undergo any damage for
" the benefit of other individual places. " They pro-
fessed " that their counties had no land bad enough
" to breed : but that their great traffick consisted in
" buying lean cattle, and making them fat, and
" upon this they paid 'their rent ; and if the bringing
" over Irish cattle should be restrained, their coun-
" ties must be undone. " And this appeared to be
the case of very many counties in England. And
the complaint was of so new a nature, that it had
never been heard of in England till some few
months before this meeting in parliament ; only it
had been mentioned in the parliament at Oxford, as
a grievance to the northern counties, which com-
plained no less of the Scots than of the Irish cattle ;
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 137
and the bill that was at this time brought into the 1666,
house of commons provided as well against the one"
as the other.
Whether this complaint originally proceeded from
the damage which the people of some counties sus-
tained, or thought they sustained, which made their
members in parliament press the restraint with
much earnestness, (and it cannot be denied that
many worthy men were passionate in it, who were
not like to be- engaged in particular and factious
contests, to comply with the humours of other men,)
is not easy to other men to judge of than those who
sat in the houses, and observed the manner and the
passion in which those debates were carried. And
it cannot be denied but that, how innocently soever
the grievance first came to be mentioned, and to be
recommended to the consideration and wisdom of
the house, the carrying it on was with unusual heat
and passion, different from what appeared in the
transaction of any other business, that had an aspect
only to the public : and it was observed, that the
cabal that is mentioned before, between some of the
house of peers and of the house of commons, began
at this time to meet more frequently, and were
united in the driving on this affair ; which suddenly
grew to be insisted on as of that importance, that
there could be no debate begun with reference to the
giving money to the king, till this bill were first
passed.
In the mean time the council of Ireland had the The privy-
alarm of what was intended before the parliament, Ireland re-
and did not only write to the king himself, but a ^
large letter to the lords of the privy-council, in billf
which they represented the present distracted con-
138 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. dition of that kingdom, " that there were more than
~ " one hundred thousand persons who had nothing else
" to live upon but their droves of cattle ; out of
" which they twice a year sent as many as they
" could spare into England, which enabled them to
" pay their rents, and return such goods and mer-
" chandise from thence as the kingdom stood a in
" need of;" for no money in specie was returned
upon that commerce. " That if this liberty of
" trade, which they had enjoyed in all ages, should
" be taken from them, the king's army could not be
" supported, nor the government maintained, but
" the kingdom must necessarily be ruined ; and pro-
" bably a new rebellion, in so general a discontent
" as this restraint would administer, might be again
** entered into : and therefore they desired, that at
" least some years might be allowed to that traffick
" which had been always enjoyed ; to the end that
" some other husbandry might be introduced into
" the kingdom, by which the people might live,
" and which the government would endeavour to
" plant with all possible dib'gence and encourage-
" ment. "
*
The king The king himself was so much moved with those
wT. ns e letters, that he declared, " that he could neither in
" justice nor in conscience consent to such a bill,
" which upon pretence of benefit to one of his king-
" doms might and must be so mischievous to the
" other two," (for Scotland, as is said, was yet com-
prehended as well as Ireland :) " that he was equally
" king to b all, and obliged to have an equal care of
" all ; and never to consent to any thing that might
* stood] Omitted in MS. b to] of
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 139
" be prejudicial to either of the other, especially if 1666.
" the benefit to the one were not proportionable to, ~~
" and as evident as, the damage was to the other. "
And upon these grounds he recommended to them,
" to give such a stop to this bill, that it might never
" be presented to him ; for if it were, he must posi-
" tively reject it :" and without doubt his majesty
at that time did not resolve any thing more within
himself, than never to give his royal assent to that
bill.
The letters from Ireland did not make the same The privy-
impressions upon the lords of the council, who were v^TiTm '"
very much divided in their opinions, even they f
whose zeal for the king's service was most unques- il -
tionable. Some were, upon the sole consideration
of the injustice of it, and the mischief that it would
produce in Ireland, positively against ever consent-
ing to it, and as positive that it might be stopped in
the house of commons, or thrown out of the lords'
house, that it should never come to the king: others
did as much believe that it was a real grievance, in
which the subject should have relief; and insisted
much, " that in a point evidently for the benefit and
" advantage of England, Ireland ought not to be
" put into the scale, because it would be some incon-
" venience there. " Some did in truth think that
the king was too much inclined to favour the Irish,
and in that respect were well content that this bill
should be a mortification to them : and there wanted
not others, who in dark expressions (which grew
clearer when the matter came into the house of peers)
seemed to think, " that the estates in Ireland were
" more valuable than they were in England ; and that
" some noblemen of that kingdom lived in a higher
140 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " garb, and made greater expenses, than the noble-
" men in England were able to do ; which had not
" been in former times. " But they never considered,
that those noblemen had nothing but what descend-
ed to them from their ancestors; and that they
had faithfully adhered to the king, and undergone
as much damage for doing so, as any men had
done.
The house of commons seemed much more mo-
rose and obstinate than it had formerly appeared to
be, and solicitous to grasp as much power and au-
thority as any of their predecessors had done, though
no doubt with no ill intention : and c it may be
this would not have so much appeared, if there had
been the same vigour in those who had used to con-
duct the king's business in that house, as there had
used to be. But that spirit was much fallen. The
chief men of the court, upon whose example other
men looked, were much more humble than they had
used to be, and took more pains to ingratiate them-
selves than to advance the interest of their master :
and instead of pressing what was desirable upon the
strength of reason and policy, as they had used to
do, and by which the major part of the house had
usually concurred with them, they now applied
themselves with address to those, who had always
frowardly opposed whatsoever they thought would
be grateful to the king ; and desired rather to buy
their votes and concurrence by promises of reward
and preferment, (which is the most dishonourable
and unthrifty brokery that can be practised in a par-
liament, which from this time was much practised,
r and] nor
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 141
and brought many ill things to pass,) than to pre- 1666.
vail upon those weighty and important arguments"
which would bear the light. Which low artifice
raised the insolence of those, which would, as easily
as it had been, have been still overruled and sup-
pressed ; and was quickly discerned by those others,
who, upon the principles of honour and wisdom, had
hitherto swayed the house in all matters of public
concernment, and who now concluded by those new
condescensions that the former sober spirit and reso-
lution was laid aside, and that peevish men would be
compounded with ; and so resolved to sit still or look
on, till the success of this stratagem might be dis-
cerned.
And by this means the bill for Irish cattle was
driven on with more fury, and the other concerning
accounts more passionately spoken of; whilst every
day not only many of those, who had constantly ob-
served the advice that had been given them on the
behalf of the king, fell off to the other party, but
many of his household servants concurred in the bill
for Ireland ; whilst the rest, who did not yet think
fit to do so, applied themselves to the king for his
leave that they might do the same. And sir William
Coventry, who had now by his insinuations and
communication made himself very grateful to the re-
fractory party, persuaded the king, " that the house
" had taken the Irish bill so much to heart, that
" they would never enter upon the debate of money,
" till that had passed the house and was sent to the
" lords, who no doubt, upon the knowledge of his
" majesty's mind and resolution, would easily throw
" it out. That if his servants continued obstinate in
" opposing it below, they should but provoke and
142 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " anger the house, and render themselves useless to
"""" other parts of his majesty's more important busi-
** ness : whereas if they did now gratify the house by
" concurring with them in this matter, they should
" make themselves acceptable, have credit enough to
" divert the bill of accounts, and presently to dispose
" every body to enter upon the matter of supply. "
The king was not pleased with the counsel, but
had a very good opinion of the counsellor, who he
believed could not but judge aright of the temper
of those with whom he had sat and conversed so
long : and so his majesty told him, " he was con-
" tented he should follow the dictates of his own
" judgment and conscience ;" and the same answer
he gave to all such members of the house of commons
The bin, who came to receive his orders. And after all this,
opposition, * ne bill was carried with great difficulty, and long
opposition given to it by those members of several
counties, which professed, " that the bringing over
" the Irish cattle was so much for their benefit, that
" they could not live well without it," and were ex-
ceedingly perplexed that it should pass ; which yet
they hoped would be prevented in the house of
peers : and so the bill was in great triumph, and by
all the members, (as in cases they much delight in
is usual,) presented to the house of peers.
And the commons no sooner repaired to their own
house, than they assumed the debate upon the ac-
counts, with the same fervour they had pursued the
other bill of Ireland, and with the same declaration,
" that they would not enter upon the subject of
" money, till they saw what success that bill would
" likewise have ;" and appearing every day more out
of humour, expressed less reverence towards the
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 143
court. And some expressions were frequently used, 1666.
which seemed to glance at the license and disorders"
and extravagant expense of that place, not without
some reflections which aimed at the lady, and at the
exorbitant power exercised by her. And this impe-
rious way of proceeding confirmed those in their wa-
riness, who had no mind to oppose or contradict the
party that they would and meant should prevail :
but they the more endeavoured to render themselves
gracious to the leaders, as being willing to ad-
minister fuel to the fire the others intended to
kindle; and, so they might preserve themselves,
were very willing to expose other ministers to the
jealousy of them, who they thought would not be
quiet without some sacrifice. And thus they alarmed
the king with the new apprehensions, " that the
" house, which had yet dutiful intentions, if they
" were crossed in what they designed for his service,
" might be provoked to be bolder with his majesty
" than they had been yet, and to mention the preva-
" lence of the lady," which every body knew the
duke of Buckingham would have been glad to have
contributed to. And with these continued repre-
sentations, but especially with their old argument of
casting it out by the house of peers, where his power
could not be doubted, they at last prevailed with
the king to leave all men to themselves in the busi- ' rhe bi " f r
inspecting
ness or the accounts, (where there was a greater public ac -
concurrence,) as he had done in the Irish bill : and p s "<] S by
so that bill likewise was transmitted to the lords. mlm~
And at this time many wise men thought, that it The pro-
would have been very happy for the king if he would dUwfvTng
have dissolved the parliament, and presently after mentanhi
called another ; which would have discovered many tinie>
144 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. combinations, when the actors had found themselves
~" excluded from entering again upon the stage ; and
it would have appeared, that all the storms had
been raised by those winds which had their birth
in the king's own house. And such a dissolution
(to t which the king himself was enough inclined)
would have been very popular throughout the king-
dom, which naturally doth not love long parlia-
ments, and exceedingly detested this for having
only given away their money, and raised a war of
which they saw no end nor possible benefit, without
passing any good laws for the advancement of the
peace and happiness of the kingdom. And very few
of those, who had gotten credit in the house to ob-
struct what the king desired, were men of any in-
terest or reputation with the people.
But as nobody was forward publicly to own and
avow this counsel, the consequence whereof they
knew if it were not consented to; so they who
meant to do themselves more good by the present
indisposition and distemper, than they could propose
from a new convention of men utterly unknown,
and who were like enough to bring prejudice against
their own particulars, used all the means they could
devise to divert the king from that inclination.
They told him, " that he would never have such
" another parliament, where he had near one hun-
" dred members of his own menial servants and their
" near relations, who were all at his disposal ; by
" which they had incurred so much prejudice in the
" country, that very few of thm would ever be
" elegted again. That the present distemper was
" contracted by accidents and mistakes, and would
" vanish upon very reasonable condescensions, and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. H5
"in another prorogation: whereas if it should be 1666.
" dissolved and new writs sent out, the people would"
" return none but presbyterians and known enemies
" to the church, and such who were most notori-
" ously disaffected to the court. " And this argu-
ment, pressed by men who had no more affection
for the church than the Quakers had, prevailed with
most of the bishops to dissuade the king from
hearkening to any such advice; when they had
much more reason to expect a stronger party in a
new parliament, and might have observed that their
friends fell from them every day in both houses, and
that the court was not propitious to them, of which
they had afterwards a sad experience, and which
they might then have well foreseen.
The house of peers was no sooner possessed of the Great ani-
bill against Irish cattle, but it was read, and a mar- the house of
vellous keen resolution appeared in many to use all t ,' e bJii P '
expedition in the passing it ; though if the matter if*
itself had been without exception, there were so
many clauses and provisos in it so derogatory to the
king's honour and prerogative, that many thought it
a high disrespect to his majesty to admit them into
debate. But of these anon. The duke of Bucking-
ham appeared in the head of those who favoured the
bill, with a marvellous concernment : and at the
times appointed for the debate of it, contrary to his
custom of coming into the house, indeed of not ris-
ing till eleven of the clock, and seldom staying above
a quarter of an hour, except upon some affair which
he concerned himself in, he was now always present
with the first in a morning, and stayed till the last
at night ; for the debate often held from the morn-
VOL. in. i.
146 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. ing till four of the clock in the afternoon, and
""sometimes till candles were brought in.
And it grew quickly evident, that there were
other reasons which caused so earnest a prosecution
of it, above the encouragement of the breed of cattle
in England : insomuch as the lord Ashley, who next
the duke of Buckingham appeared the most violent
supporter of the bill, could not forbear to urge it as
an argument for the prosecuting it, " that if this bill
** did not pass, all the rents in Ireland would rise in
" a vast proportion, and those in England fall as
" much ; so that in a year or two the duke of Or-
" mond would have a greater revenue than the earl
" of Northumberland ;" which made a visible im-
pression in many, as a thing not to be endured.
Whereas the duke had indeed at least four times the
proportion of land in Ireland that descended to him
from his ancestors, that the earl had in England ;
and the revenue of it before the rebellion was not
inferior to the other's. But nothing was more ma-
nifest, than that the warmth of that prosecution in
the house of peers in many lords did proceed from
the envy they had of the duke's station in one king-
dom, and of his fortune in the other.
And the whole debate upon the bill was so dis-
orderly and unparliamentary, that the like had never
been known : no rules or orders of the house for the
course and method of debate were observed. And
there being, amongst those who advanced the bill,
fewer speakers than there were of those who were
against it, those few took upon them to speak
oftener than they ought to do, and to reply to every
man who declared himself to be of another opinion :
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 147
and when they were put in mind of the rule of the \6G6.
house, " that no man should speak above once upon
" the same question," they called presently to have
the house resolved into a committee, which any sin-
gle member may require, and then every man may
speak as often as he please ; and so the time was
spent unprofitably without the business being ad-
vanced. In the mean time the house of commons
proceeded as irregularly, in sending frequent mes-
sages to hasten the despatch of the bill, when they
knew well the debate of every day : and it was fre-
quently urged as an argument, "that the house of
" commons was the fittest judge of the necessities
" and grievances of the people ; and they having
" passed this bill, the lords ought to conform to their
" opinion. " In fine, there grew so great a license
of words in this debate, and so many personal reflec-
tions, that every day some quarrels arose, to the
great scandal and dishonour of a court that was the
supreme judicatory of the kingdom.
The duke of Buckingham, who assumed a liberty
of speaking when and what he would in a dialect
unusual and ungrave, his similes and other expres-
sions giving occasion of much mirth and laughter,
one day said in the debate, "that whoever was
" against that bill had either an Irish interest or an
" Irish understanding:" which so much offended the
lord Ossory, who was eldest son to the duke of Or-
mond, (who had very narrowly escaped the censure
of the house lately, for reproaching the lord Ashley
with having been a counsellor to Cromwell, and
would not therefore trust himself with giving a pre-
sent answer,) that d meeting him afterwards in the
rf that] but
I, 2
148 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. court, he c desired the duke "that he would walk
~ " into the next room with him ;" and there told
The lord him, "that he had taken the liberty to use many
fen^thS "" loose and unworthy expressions which reflected
Bucking- " u Pn the whole Irish nation, and which he him-
ham. se jf resented so much that he expected satisfaction,
" and to find him with his sword in his hand ;"
which the duke endeavoured to avoid by all the fair
words and shifts he could use, but was so far pressed
by the other, whose courage was never doubted,
that he could not avoid appointing a place where
they would presently meet, which he found the
other would exact to prevent discovery, and there-
fore had chosen rather to urge it himself than to
send a message to him. And so he named a known
place in Chelsea Fields, and to be there within less
than an hour.
The lord Ossory made haste thither, and expect-
ed him much beyond the time ; and then seeing
some persons come out of the way towards the place
where he was, and concluding f they were sent out
to prevent any action between them, he avoided
speaking with them, but got to the place where his
horse was, and so retired to London. The duke
was found by himself in another place on the other
side of the water, which was never known by the
name of Chelsea Fields, which he said was the place
he had appointed to meet.
Finding that night that the lord Ossory was not
in custody, and so he was sure he should quickly
hear from him, and upon conference with his friends,
that the mistake of the place would be imputed to
e he] Not in MS. ' and concluding] he concluded
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 149
him ; he took a strange resolution, that every body 1 666.
wondered at, and his friends dissuaded him from.
And the next morning, as soon as the house was sat,
the lord Ossory being likewise present that he might
find some opportunity to speak with him, the duke
told the house, "that he must inform them of some- The duke of
i r> i i i Bucking-
" what that concerned himself ; and being sure that ham in-
" it would come to their notice some other way, he
" had therefore chose to acquaint them with it him- afiair -
" self;" and thereupon related "how the lord Ossory
" had the day before found him in the court, and
" desired him to walk into the next room, where
" he charged him with many particulars which he
" had spoken in that place, and in few words told
" him he should fight with him ; which though he
" did not hold himself obliged to do in maintenance
" of any thing he had said or done in the parlia-
" ment, yet that it being suitable and agreeable to
" his nature, to fight with any man who had a
" mind to fight with him,'' (upon which he enlarged
with a little vanity, as if duelling were his daily ex-
ercise and inclination,) " he appointed the place in
" Chelsea Fields, which he understood to be the
" fields over against Chelsea; whither, having only
" gone to his lodging to change his sword, he hast-
" ened, by presently crossing the water in a pair of
" oars, and stayed there in expectation of the lord
" Ossory, until such gentlemen," whom he named,
" found him there, and said, they were sent to pre-
" vent his and the lord Ossory's meeting, whom
" others were likewise sent to find for the same pre-
" vention. Whereupon, concluding that for the
" present there would be no meeting together, he
" returned with those gentlemen to his lodging,
L 3
150 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
IMG. " being always ready to give any gentleman sa-
" tisfaction that should require it of him. "
Every body was exceedingly surprised with the
oddness and unseasonableness of the discourse, which
consisted, with some confusion, between aggravat-
ing the presumption of the lord Ossory, and making
the offence as heinous as the violating all the privi-
leges of parliament could amount unto ; and magni-
fying his own courage and readiness to fight upon
any opportunity, when it was clear enough that he
had declined it by a gross shift : and it was won-
dered at, that he had not chosen rather that some
other person might inform the house of a quarrel
between two members, that it might be examined
and the mischief prevented. But he believed that
way would not so well represent and manifest the
lustre of his courage, and might leave him under an
examination that would not be so advantageous to
him as his own information : and therefore no per-
suasion and importunity of his friends could prevail
with him to decline that method.
The lord Ossory seemed out of countenance, and
troubled that the contest was like to be only in that
place, and cared not to deny any thing that the
duke had accused him of ; only " wondered, that he
" should say he had challenged him for words
" spoken in the house, when he had expressly de-
" clared to him, when his grace insisted much upon
" the privilege of parliament to decline giving him
any satisfaction, that he did not question him for
" any words spoken in parliament, but for words
" spoken in other places, and for affronts, which he
" had at other times chosen to bear rather than to
"disturb the company. " He confessed, "he had
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 151
" attended in the very place where the duke had 1666.
" done him the honour to promise to meet him ;"
and mentioned some expressions which he had used
in designing it, which left the certainty of it not to
be doubted.
When they had both said as much as they had a
mind to, they were both required, as is the custom,
to withdraw to several rooms near the house : and
then the lords entered upon debate of the trans-
gression ; many insisting " upon the magnitude of
" the offence, which concerned the honour and safety
" of the highest tribunal in the kingdom, and the
" liberty and security of every member of the house,
" That if in any debate any lord exceeded the modest
" limits prescribed, in any offensive expressions, the
" house had the power and the practice to restrain
" and reprehend and imprison the person, according
" to the quality and degree of the offence ; and that
*"' no other remedy or examination could be applied
" to it, even by the king himself. But if it should
" be in any private man to take exceptions against
" any words which the house finds no fault with, and
" to require men to justify with their swords all
" that they say in discharge of their conscience, and
" for the good and benefit of their country ; there is
" an end of the privilege of parliament and the free-
" dom of speech : and therefore that there could not
" be too great a punishment inflicted upon this no-
" torious and monstrous offence of the lord Ossory,
" which concerned every lord in particular, as much
" as it did the duke of Buckingham ; who had car-
" ried himself as well as the ill custom and iniquity
" of the age would admit, and had given no offence
L 4
152 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " to the house, towards which he had always paid
~ " all possible respect and reverence. "
They who considered the honour and dignity only
of the house, and the ill consequence of such viola-
tions as these, which way soever their affections
were inclined with reference to their persons, were
all of opinion, " that their offences were so near
" equal that their punishment ought to be equal :
" for that besides the lord Ossory's denial that he
" had made K any reflection upon any words spoken
" in parliament, which was. the aggravation of his
" offence, there was some testimony given to the
" house by some lords present, that the lord Ossory
" had complained of the duke's comportment to-
" wards him before those words used in the house
" by him, of the Irish interest or Irish understand-
" ing, and resolved to expostulate with him upon
" it ; so that those words could not be the ground
" of the quarrel. And it was evident by the duke's
" own confession and declaration, that he was as
" ready to fight, and went to the place appointed by
" himself for encounter ; which made the offence
" equal. " And therefore they moved, " that they
" might be both brought to the bar, and upon their
" knees receive the sentence of the house for their
" commitment to the Tower. "
Some, who would shew their kindness to the duke,
were not willing that he should undergo the same
punishment with' the other, until some lords, who
were known not to be his friends, were very earnest
" that the duke might receive no punishment, be-
*' cause he had committed no fault ; for that it was
s made] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 153
" very evident that he never intended to fight,' and 1666.
" had, when no other tergiversation would serve his ~
" turn, prudently mistaken the place that was ap-
" pointed by himself;" which was pressed by two or
three lords in such a pleasant manner, with reflec-
tion upon some expressions used by himself, that his
better friends thought it would be more for his ho-
nour to undergo the censure of the house than the
penalty of such a vindication : and so they were They are
, __. both sent
both sent to the 1 ower. to the
And during the time they remained there, the
bill against Ireland remained in suspense, and un-
called for by those, who would not hazard their
cause in the absence of their strongest champion.
But the same spirit was kept up in all other argu-
ments, the displeasure, that had arisen against each
other in that, venting itself in contradictions and
sharp replies in all other occasions ; a mischief that
is always contracted from the agitation of private
affairs, where different interests are pursued ; from
whence personal animosities arise, which are not
quickly laid aside, after the affair itself that pro-
duced those passions is composed and ended. And
this kind of distemper never more appeared, nor
ever lasted longer, than from the debate arid con-
testation upon this bill.
Those two lords were no sooner at liberty, and
their displeasure towards each other suppressed or
silenced by the king's command, but another more
untoward outrage happened, that continued the
_ A scuffle
same disturbance. It happened that upon the de- between
bate of the same affair, the Irish bill, there was a Baking-
conference appointed with the house of commons, in ^ n *" r ^ His
which the duke of Buckingham was a manager ; and" f D '"-
Chester ;
154 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
I6fifi. as they were sitting down in the painted chamber,
"which is seldom done in good order, it chanced that
the marquis of Dorchester sat next the duke of
Buckingham, between whom there was no good
correspondence. The one changing his posture for
his own ease, which made the station of the other
the more uneasy, they first endeavoured by justling
to recover what they had dispossessed each other
of, and afterwards fell to direct blows ; in which the
marquis, who was the lower of the two in stature,
and was less active in his limbs, lost his periwig,
and received some rudeness, which nobody imputed
to his want of courage, which was ever less ques-
tioned than that of the other.
The misdemeanour, greater than had ever hap-
pened, in that place and upon such an occasion, in
any age when the least reverence to government
was preserved, could not be concealed ; but as soon
as the conference was ended, was reported to the
house, and both parties heard, who both confessed
enough to make them undergo the censure of the
house. The duke's friends would fain have justified
him, as being provoked by the other ; and it was
evident their mutual undervaluing each other always
disposed them to affect any opportunity to manifest
For which it. But the house sent them both to the Tower ;
comiaittod from whence after a few days they were again re-
Towlr. leased together, and such a reconciliation made as
after such rencounters 'is usual, where either party
thinks himself beforehand with the other, as the
marquis had much of the duke's hair in his hands
to recompense for his ll pulling off his periwig, which
he could not reach high enough to do to the other.
h his] the
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 155
When all things were thus far quieted, the bill 1666.
was again entered upon with no less passion for the
stock that had been wasted. - The arguments which Ar gments
urged
were urged against the bill for the injustice of it a gainstthe
. Irish bill iu
were \ " that they should, without any cause or de- the house
" merit on their part, or any visible evidence of a pee
" benefit that would accrue from it to this kingdom,
" deprive his majesty's two other kingdoms of a pri-
" vilege they had ever been possessed of: that they
" might as reasonably take away the trade from any
" one county in England, because it produced some
" inconvenience to another county more in their
" favour : that the large counties of Norfolk, Suf-
" folk, Kent, and other provinces, would lose as
" much by the passing of this act, as the northern
" and any other counties would gain by it : that
" those two kingdoms might with the same justice
" press his majesty's concurrence, that they might
" have no trade with England, which would bring
" more damage to England by much, than it would
" gain by this act of restraint : and that it was
" against all the maxims of prudence, to run the dan-
" ger of a present mischief and damage, as this
" would produce in Ireland by the testimony of the
" lord lieutenant and council of that kingdom, only
" upon the speculation of a future benefit that might
" accrue, though it were yet only in speculation. "
These, and many other arguments of this kind,
which for the most part were offered by men who
had not the least relation to Ireland, made no other
impression, than that they were content to leave
Scotland out of the bill ; which increased their party
' were] Omitted in MS.
156 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
166G. against Ireland, and gave little satisfaction to the
""other, who did not so much value the commerce
with the other kingdom. And this alteration the
house of commons likewise consented to, but with
great opposition, since in truth that concession de-
stroyed the foundation upon which the whole fabric
of the bill was supported.
Against Then the debate fell upon some derogatory clauses
clauses in it
derogatory and provisos very contrary to his majesty's just pre-
* rogative and power, (for they made his majesty's
own license and warrant of no effect or authority,
but liable to be controlled by a constable ; nor would
permit the importation of 'three thousand beeves,
which, by an act of parliament in Ireland, were
every year to be delivered at Chester and another
port for the provision of the king's house ;) which
in many respects the house generally disliked, and
desired " that it might have no other style than had
" been accustomed in all the penal acts of parlia-
" ment which were in force, it being to be presumed,
" that the king would never dispense with any vio-
" lation of it, except in such cases as the benefit and
" good of the kingdom required it ; which might
" naturally fall out, if there should happen such a
" murrain amongst the beasts of that species, as had
" been these late years amongst horses, which had
" destroyed so many thousand, that good horses
" were now hard to be procured. And if the same
" or the like destruction should fall upon the other
" cattle, we should have then more cause to com-
" plain of the scarcity and the dearness of meat, than
" we have now of the plenty and cheapness, which
*' was the only grievance now felt, and which king-
" doms seldom complained of: and in such a case
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 157
" it would be very great pity, that the king should 1666.
" not have power enough to provide for the supply"
" of his subjects, and to prevent a common dearth. "
But this was again opposed with as much passion
and violence as had fallen out in any part of the de-
bate ; and such rude arguments used against such a
power in the king, as if the question were upon re-
posing some new trust in. him, whereas it was upon
divesting him of a trust that was inherent in him
from all antiquity : and " that it was the same thing
" to be without the bill, and not to provide against
" the king's dispensing with the not obeying it,
" whose inclinations were well known in this parti-
" cular ; and therefore the effect of them, and of the
" importunity of the courtiers, must be provided
" against. " And throughout this discourse there
was such a liberty of language made use of, as re-
flected more upon the king's honour, and indeed upon
his whole council and court, than had been k heard
in that house, but in a time of rebellion, without
very severe reprehension : and it so much offended
the house now, that, notwithstanding all the sturdy
opposition, it was resolved that those clauses and These
clauses are
provisos should be amended in some places, and to- amended by
ii i n i AI--IT the lords.
tally left out in others. And with the alteration
and amendments it was sent down to the house of
commons.
At this time the public affairs and necessities
were little looked after or considered. The fleet was
come into the ports, but there was 1 no money to
pay off the men : and what was equally mischievous,
there was no way to make the provisions for the
k than had been] as had not ' there was] Omitted in MS.
been
158 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. next spring, that the fleet might be ready for the
sea by the time the enemy would assuredly be out.
If the victualler were not supplied, who had much
money due to him, the season would be past in
which he was to buy the cattle that he must kill ;
and he complained how much he should suffer by
this bill of Ireland, which already raised the price
of all meats. And thei yards wanted all those tack-
lings and rigging and masts, without which another
fleet could not be sent out, and which could no
otherwise be provided than by ready money. The
king had anticipated all his own revenue, and was
ready to expose that for further security, but nobody
would trust. The new provisos in the bill of supply
at Oxford gave no new credit, but were found as mis-
chievous as any body had apprehended they would
be : and the bankers, who in all such occasions were
a sure refuge, wanted now credit themselves ; which
that they might not recover^ the parliament had
treated them as ill since they came together, that is,
with reproaches and threats, as they had done at
Oxford. In which kind of persecution sir William
Coventry, and some who followed him, led the van,
very much to the king's prejudice and against his
command ; but they excused themselves, upon the
credit it gave them in the house to do him service.
All this was well enough understood : and it was
as visible, that they intended to make it a forcible
argument for the passing the Irish bill, which, though
from different motives, was now become the sacri-
fice, without which they would not be appeased ;
and therefore, when the bill was sent to them with
those alterations and amendments, they rejected
them all, and voted. " that they would adhere to
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 159
their own bill without departing from a word of it, 16(56.
" except with reference to Scotland," from which The C011< _
they had receded. And if upon this very unusual ! 1U)ll V ld -
J * here to
return the house of peers had likewise voted, " that their ^11.
" they too would adhere," which they might regu-
larly have done, and would have been consented to
by the major part of the house if the question had
been then put ; there had been an end of that bill.
But that must not be suffered : the party that che-
rished it was too much concerned to let it expire in
a deep silence, and were numerous enough to ob-
struct and defer what they liked not, though not to
establish what they desired. Some of them, that is,
some who desired that the bill should pass, though
uncorrupted by their passions, did not like the ob-
stinacy of the house of commons in not departing
from some unusual clauses and pretences ; yet were
not willing to have the like vote for adhering to pass
in that house, which it might do when all other re-
medies should fail; and therefore moved, " that a
" conference might be required, in which such rea-
" sons might be given as might satisfy them. " Many
conferences, and free conferences, were held, in
which the commons still maintained their adherence
with a wonderful petulance : and those members,
who were appointed to manage the conferences,
took the liberty to use all those arguments, and the
very expressions, which had been used in the house
of peers, against leaving any power in the king to
dispense ; and added such other of their own as
more reflected on m his majesty's honour ; and yet
concluded as if they could say more if they were
tn on] upon
IfX) CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. provoked, upon which every man might make what
glosses he pleased, and the king himself was left to
his own imaginations.
An instance There need be no other instance given of the un-
M. . II of the heard of and incredible passion that was shewed in
thi* ff^r. ' n the transaction of that bill, than a particular that
related to the city of London. Upon the news of the
great fire in London, and the devastation that it
made there, there was so general a lamentation in
Ireland as might be expected from a neighbour pro-
vince, that had so great a commerce with and de-
pendance upon it. And the consent in this lamen-
tation was so digested, that the several provinces
had made a computation and division between them-
selves, and presented a declaration to the lord lieu-
tenant and council, " that they had so tender a sense
" of that calamity, that if they were able to raise
" money to administer some assistance to the city
" towards the reparation of their great loss, they
" would willingly offer and present it : but that not
" being in their power or possession, the great
" scarcity and want of money throughout that king-
" dom being notoriously known, but there being
" somewhat in their power to offer, which might at
" least testify their good-will, and not be wholly use-
" less towards the end they designed it ; they had
" agreed between themselves to give unto the lord
" mayor and city of London, to be n disposed of by
" them to such particular uses as they should judge
" most convenient, the number of thirty thousand
" Irish beasts, which should be delivered within
" such a time and at such ports," which were named,
11 to be] nnd to be
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 161
" to any such persons as should be appointed to re- 1666.
" ceive them. " And of this they desired the lord
lieutenant and council to advertise the king, and
likewise give notice to the city of London : both
which were done accordingly ; and the advertise-
ment arrived in the city in the time when this bill
was depending in the lords' house. Whereupon the
lord mayor and aldermen presented a petition to the
lords, with a proviso that they desired might be in-
serted in the bill that was before them, by which it
was provided, " that nothing contained in that bill
4< should hinder the city of London from enjoying the
** charitable donative of the thirty thousand cattle,
" but that they might have liberty to import the
" same. "
It can hardly be believed with what passion and
indignation this petition was received by the house,
what invectives were made against the city, " for
" their presumption in interposing their own parti-
" cular interest to obstruct the public affairs of the
*. * kingdom ;" and then the reflections which were
" made upon the council of Ireland, for giving coun-
" tenance to such an address, and becoming instru-
" ments themselves to promote and advance it:"
which they would not allow " to be an offering of
" charity, but a cheat and a cozenage by combination
" to elude an act of parliament, which they could not
" choose but hear of, and could not but believe that
*5 it was passed by this time. Which if it had been,
" and that power left in the king as had been pro-
" posed, they might now see how it would have been
" applied : for they could not doubt, but there would
" enough have advised the king, that he should gra-
" tify the city of London with a license for this im-
VOL. III. M
162 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. ' portation ; which could not or would not have
" been so warily drawn, but that, under the license
" for thirty thousand, there would be three hundred
' thousand imported into England; and this the
" great charity aimed at and was assured of. " And
so, after much bitterness, they desired " that the pe-
" tition and the proviso might be both rejected. "
But this passion did not cover the whole house,
which neither commended nor approved it, and were
much less transported with it. They believed it was
a very seasonable intention of charity, and would
not take upon them to frustrate it ; and so prevailed,
that it was passed in that house, and transmitted
with approbation to the other. But it had the same
fate there with the other provisos, and was thrown
out with that bitterness and observation which had
been offered against it by some lords. Nor could
any expedients alter or remove their obstinacy,
though many were offered upon conferences, and
particularly " that all the beasts should be killed in
" Ireland and powdered there, and then sent over in
" barrels or other casks ;" but they found cozenage
in that too, and were as angry with the cattle when
they were dead, as when they were alive, as if it
would for a time keep down the price of meat in
England, which they desired to advance : so that
there was nothing gotten in all those conferences,
but the discovery of new jealousies of the king and
the court, and new insinuations of the discontents
and murmurs in the country, that this bill was so
long obstructed. Which being still represented to
the king with the most ghastly aspects towards what
as if it would] and
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 163
effects it might produce, his majesty in the end was 1666.
prevailed upon, notwithstanding very earnest advice ~~
to the contrary, not only to be willing to give his
royal assent when it should be offered to him, but
to take very great pains to remove those obstructions
which hindered it from being offered to him, and to
solicit particularly very many lords to depart from
their own sense, and to <i conform to what he thought
convenient to his service ; which gave those who
loved him not great argument of triumph, and to
those who loved him very passionately much matter
of mortification. Yet after all this, and when his
majesty had changed some men's resolutions, and
prevailed with others to withdraw and to be absent
when the bill should come again to be discussed, it The bi " at
. . /v ' i length con-
WaS carried with great difficulty and with great op- sented to by
position, and against the protestation of many of norJs. se
the lords.
In all the debate upon this bill, and upon the
other of accounts, the chancellor had the misfortune
to lose much credit in the house of commons, not
only by a very strong 1 " and cordial opposition to 8
what they desired, but by taking all occasions, which
were offered by the frequent arguments which were
urged " of the opinion and the authority of the The chan-
r> T f cellor of-
" house of commons, and that it was fit and neces- fends the
" sary to concur with them," to mention them with by TsWng
less reverence than they expected. It is very true : ]I| e re ^- n
he had always used in such provocations to desire tlieir en -
croach-
the lords, " to be more solicitous in preserving their ments.
" own unquestionable rights and most important
" privileges, and less tender in restraining the excess
i to] Not in MS. ' strong] Omitted in MS. s to] of
M 2
164 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. " and new encroachments of the house of commons,
""which extended their jurisdiction beyond their
"limits. " He put them often in mind " of the
" mischiefs which had their original from the liber-
" ties the house of commons assumed, and the com-
" pliance the house of peers had descended to, in the
" late ill times, and which produced the rebellion ;
'* and were carried so far, till, after all the multi-
" plied affronts, they had wrested the whole autho-
" rity out of the hands of the house of peers, and at
" last declared them useless members of the com-
" monwealth, and shut up the door of their house
" with a padlock, which they had never power to
" unfasten till the king's return. " And in those
occasions his expressions were many times so lively,
that they offended many of the lords who were
present, and had too much contributed to those
extravagancies, as much as it could do any of the
commons.
The truth is, he did never dissemble from the
time of his return with the king, whom he had like-
wise prepared and disposed to the same sentiments
whilst his majesty was abroad, that his opinion was,
" that the late rebellion could never be extirpated
" and pulled up by the roots, till the king's regal
" and inherent power and prerogative should be
" fully avowed and vindicated ; and till the usurpa-
" tions in both houses of parliament since the year
" 1640 were disclaimed and made odious ; and many
" other excesses, which had been affected by both
" before that time under the name of privileges,
" should be restrained or explained :" for all which
reformation the kingdom in general was very well
disposed, when it pleased God to restore the king to
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 165
it. Nor did the convention, which proclaimed the 1666.
king and invited him to return, exercise after his
return any exorbitant power, but what was of ne-
cessity upon former irregularities, and contributed
to the present ends and desires of the king.
And this parliament, that was upon the dissolu-
tion of the former quickly summoned by the king's
writ, willingly inclined to that method, as appears
by those many excellent acts which vindicated the
king's sovereign power over parliaments, and de-
clared the nullity of all acts done by one or both
houses without the king's assent ; declared and set-
tled the absolute power of the crown over the militia;
repealed that act of parliament that had excluded
the bishops from being members of the house of
peers, and restored them to their session there; and
repealed that other infamous act for triennial par-
liaments, which had clauses in it to have led the
people into rebellion ; and would willingly have pro-
secuted the same method, if they had had the same
advice and encouragement.
But " they had continued to sit too long together,
and were invited to meddle and interpose in matters
out of their own sphere, to give their advice with
reference to peace and war, to hold conferences with
the king, and to offer their advices to him, and to
receive orders from himself; and x his majesty was
persuaded by very unskilful men, " that they were
" so absolutely at his disposal, that he need never
" doubt their undertaking any thing that would be
" ingrateful to him, and that whilst he preserved
" that entire interest he had in the lower house,
11 But] But when * and] when
M 3
166 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. " (which he might easily do,) he need not care what
~" " the other house did or had a mind to do ;" and so
induced his majesty to undervalue his house of peers
as of little power to do him good or harm, and pre-
vailed with him too far to countenance that false
doctrine; towards which the house of peers them-
selves contributed too much, by not inquiring into
or considering the public state of the kingdom, or
providing remedies for growing evils, or indeed med-
dling with any thing in the government till they
were invited to it by some message or overture from
the house of commons: insomuch as they sat not
early in the morning, according to the former cus-
tom of parliaments, but came not together till ten
of the clock ; and very often adjourned as soon as
they met, because that nothing was brought from
the house of commons that administered cause of
consultation ; and upon that ground often adjourned
for one or two days together, whilst the other house
sat, and drew the eyes of the kingdom upon them,
as the only vigilant people for their good.
Then when any thing fell in their way, that they
could draw a consequence from that might relate to
their privileges, they were so jealous of an invasion,
that they neither considered former precedents,
nor rules of honour or justice ; and were not only
solicitous for that freedom which belonged to them-
selves and their menial servants, who ought not to
be disquieted by private suits and prosecutions in
law, whilst they are obliged to attend upon the ser-
vice of their country in parliament, but gave their
protections " ad libitum," which x were commonly
y which] and which
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 167
sold by their servants to bankrupt citizens, and to I6C6'.
such who were able but refused to pay their just~
debts. And when their creditors knew that they
could have no relation of attendance to any man,
and thereupon caused them to be arrested, they
produced some protection granted to them by some
lord ; whereupon they were not only discharged, but
their creditors, and all who bore any part in the
prosecution, were punished with great rigour, and
to their great loss and damage, and to the great
prejudice of the city, and interruption of the whole
course of the justice of the kingdom.
When the house of commons sent up a bill for
the suppression or reformation of many irregularities
and misdemeanours, which had grown up in the late
times of disorder and confusion, as conventicles and
other riotous assemblies, wherein there was a ne-
cessity of some clauses of power to inferior officers,
whereby they were qualified to discover those trans-
gressions which would otherwise be concealed ; the
lords would be sure always to insert some proviso
to save their privileges, even in acts which pro-
vided for the punishment of such crimes as no per-
son of quality could be supposed to be guilty of, as
stealing of wood, and such vile trespasses : whicli
took up much time in debate, and incensed the house
of commons, and produced many froward debates,
in which the king thought the peers in the wrong.
This kind of temper or distemper upon very trivial
and light occasions, in seasons which required gra-
vity and despatch, provoked the house of commons
to take more upon' them, to enter upon contests
sometimes unreasonably with the lords, and to as-
sume to themselves an authority in matters in which
M 4
168 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. they ought not to interpose ; and then were encou-
~ raged and indeed induced by those who had near
relation to the king and were trusted in his service,
to affect novelties both in the form and substance of
their proceedings, which those persons concurred in,
much out of ignorance what was to be done, and
more out of affectation to compass some crooked
end of their own, to the prejudice of another person
who was in their disfavour. And when these sallies
out of the old trodden path were taken notice of,
and his majesty had been 7 - advised to prevent them
in time, he was persuaded, either " that the ex-
" ceptions were in matters of little moment, and
" made only by formal men who liked nothing that
" was out of the old common road ; or that the li-
" berty would be applied to his service, and in many
" useful occasions would mollify or subdue the in-
" convenient morosity of the lords ; or, when it
" should exceed, it would be still in his majesty's
" power to restrain it, when he found it necessary. "
And these discourses prevailed too much with his
majesty, till he now found the humour was grown
too sturdy for him to contend with ; and the same
men, who had persuaded him to contemn it, were
now more importunate with him that he would com-
ply with it.
He offends The chancellor had always as earnestly opposed
the lords , . . . . . . .
hy advising the over-captious insisting upon privilege in the
! uiu unV" lords' house, either when in truth there was not a
reasonably j us j. ground for it, or when they would extend it
upon pnri-
'< further than it would regularly reach ; and often-
times put them in mind " of many exorbitant acts
* been] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 169
" which stood still mentioned in their journal-books, 1666.
" of their proceedings in the late rebellious times,"
" which might be looked upon as precedents by
" posterity, and in which the house of commons
" had really invaded their greatest privileges, and
" trampled upon their highest jurisdiction ; which
" was worthy of their most strict proceedings a to
" vindicate by protestation, and by expunging the
" memorial thereof out of all their books and re-
" cords, that there might be no footsteps left to mis-
" lead the succeeding ages ;" and often desired them
" to preserve a power in themselves to put the
" house of commons in mind of their exceeding
" their limits, for which they often gave them occa-
" sion, and particularly as often as they sent to
" quicken them in any debate, which was a very
" modern presumption, and derogatory from that
" respect which a house of commons had always
" paid to the house of lords. And this they could
" not reasonably or effectually do, till they declined
" all unjust or unnecessary pretences to privileges
" which were not their due, and especially to a
" power of calling private cases of right and justice,
" which ought to be determined by the law and in
" courts of justice, to be heard and adjudged before
" themselves in parliament ; of which there were
"too frequent occasions to oppose and contradict
" their jurisdiction. "
This free way of discourse offended many of the
lords, who thought him not jealous enough of nor
zealous for the privilege of the peerage : and they
were now very glad that he used so much more
a proceedings] Omitted in MS.
170 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. freedom against the proceedings of the house of
"commons, which they were sure would be resented
below, more than it had been above. And many of
his friends informed him " how ill it was taken ;
" and how carefully all that he said, and much that
" he did not say, was transmitted by some of the
" lords to them, who would not fail in some season
** to remember and apply it to his highest disadvan-
" tage ;" and therefore desired him " to use less fer-
" vour in those argumentations. " But he was in
that, as in many things of that kind that related to
the offending other men, for his own sake uncoun-
sellable : not that he did not know that it exposed
him to the censure of some men who lay in wait to
do him hurt, but because he neglected those cen-
sures, nor valued the persons who promoted them ;
being confident that he would be liable to no charge
that he should be ashamed of, and well knowing
that he had, and being well known to have, a
higher esteem of parliament, and a greater desire to
preserve the just privileges of both houses, than
they had who seemed to be angry with him on that
behalf; and that the extending them b beyond their
due length would in the end endanger the destruc-
tion of parliaments.
But he shortly after found, that this guard was
not secure enough to defend him. What'toe said in
parliament was the sense of more who would not
speak it, than there were of those who disliked it ;
and how much soever it offended them, they could
not out of it find a crime to accuse him of. But
they who were more concerned to remove him from
b them] Omitted in MS.
EDWARD EARL -OF CLARENDON. 171
a post, where he too narrowly watched and too 1666.
often obstructed the liberties they took, resolved to
sacrifice all their oaths and obligations, which oblig-
ed them to the contrary, to the satisfaction of their
envy and their malice: and so whatsoever he said or
advised in the most secret council to the king him-
self with reference to things or persons, they commu-
nicated all to those who had most reason to be an-
gry, yet could not own the information. * Of all which
he had advertisement, and that a storm would be
shortly raised to shake him, of which he had little
apprehension ; never suspecting that it would arise
out of that quarter, from whence he soon after dis-
cerned it to proceed.
There was another particular and private ac- Lord ROOS
cident that fell out at this time, that admin isteredbnuo set*
more occasion of faction and dissension in the "|, d */y ""
houses, which always obstructed and perplexed all lad >-
public business. The marquis of Dorchester had
some years before married one of his daughters to
the lord Roos, eldest son to the earl of Rutland ;
both families very noble in themselves, and of great
fortunes, and allied to all the great families of the
kingdom. The lady being of a humour not very
agreeable, and not finding the satisfaction she ex-
pected where she ought to have received it, looked
for it abroad where she ought not to find it. And
her husband, as men conscious to themselves of any
notable defect used to be, was indulgent enough, not
strictly inquiring how she behaved herself, and she
as little dissembling or concealing the contempt she
had of her husband ; until his friends, especially the
mother, (who was a lady of a very great spirit and
most exalted passion,) took notice of her frequent
172 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1666. absence from her husband, and of her little kindness
~~ towards him when she was present with him. And
the young lady, who with her other defects had
want of wit to bear a reprehension she deserved, in-
stead of excusing, avowed her no esteem of her
husband ; charged him with debauchery, and being
always in drink, which was too true ; and reproach-
ed him with folly, as a man not worthy to be be-
loved. And the passion swelling to a great height
on both sides, the marquis came to be engaged on
the behalf of his daughter, and challenged her hus-
band to fight with him, who in many respects
was not capable, nor did understand those encoun-
ters.
In the end, after many acts of passion, which ad-
ministered too much cause of mirth and scandal to
the world, yet c by the advice and mediation of
friends, as good a reconciliation as in such cases is
usual was made, and the young couple brought to
live again together. And the lady having the as-
cendant over the lord, who was very desirous to b've
quietly upon any conditions, that he might enjoy
himself though he could not enjoy her, he was con-
tented that she made a journey to London upon
pretence to see some friends : and the time being
expired which she had prescribed for her absence,
he sent to her to return, which she deferred from
time to time. But at last, after many months, she
returned to him in so gross a manner, that it ap-
peared that she had kept company too much, which
she never endeavoured to conceal ; and when her
husband told her " that she was with child," and
r yet] yet in the end
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 173
asked " who got it ;" she answered him confidently, 1 666.
" that whoever got it, if it proved a boy, as she be- ~~
" lieved it would, he should be earl of Rutland. "
This was more than the young man could bear
without informing his mother, (the good earl not
loving to engage himself in so much noise,) who pre-
sently took care that the great-bellied lady was
made a prisoner in her chamber, strictly guarded,
that she could not go out of those lodgings which
w r ere assigned her ; all her own servants removed
from her, and others appointed to attend ; and all
other things supplied that she could stand in need
of or require, liberty only excepted. Yet in this
close restraint she found means to advertise her fa-
ther of the condition she was in, and made it much
worse than it was, seeming to apprehend the safety
of her life threatened by the malice of the countess,
mother to her husband, " who," she said, " did all
" she could to alienate his affection from her ; and
" now that she found she was with child, would per-
" suade him that it was not his ; and took all this
" extreme course, either to make her miscarry and
" so endanger her life, or to put an end to mother
" and child when she should miscarry :" and there-
fore besought her father, " that he would find some
" way to procure her liberty, and to remove her
" from that place, as the only means to save her
" life. "
The marquis, with the passion of a father, and
confidence of his daughter's virtue, and having no
reverence for the countess, thought it an act of great
barbarity, and consulted whether he could have any
remedy at law to recover his daughter's liberty ; and
finding little hope from thence, (the restraint of
174 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1 666. a wife by the jealousy of her husband in his own
house being not a crime the law had provided a
remedy against,) he resorted then to the king, who
as little knew how to meddle in it. In the mean
time he sent women to see and attend his daugh-
ter, who were admitted to see and confer with her,
but not to stay with her; the countess declaring,
" that she should want nothing; but that since it
" was impossible that the child could be of kin
" to her son, who had not seen her in so many
" months before the child must have been got,
" she would provide that there should be no more
" foul play, when she should be delivered ; and
" after that time she should have no more restraint
*' or residence in that house, but be at liberty to go
" whither she would. "
The conclusion was, the lady was delivered, and
a son born, who was quickly christened by the name
of Ignoto, and committed to a poor woman, who
lived near, to be nursed ; and as soon as the lady re-
covered strength enough, she was dismissed and
sent to a house of her father, who received her with
the affection he thought was due to her. And hav-
ing conferred and examined her with all the strict-
ness he could, he remained satisfied in her innocence,
and consequently of the barbarous treatment she had
received, and the injury and indignity, both to him
and her, that was done to the son ; for which he
was resolved to leave no way untried in which he
might receive a vindication. In order to which he
first desired the king to hear all parties, who was
prevailed with to appoint a day for the doing it,
being attended by some bishops and other lords of
his council ; when the marquis and his daughter,
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 175
and the lord Roos and his mother, appeared d , with 1666.
more ladies than could have the patience to stay till
the end of the examination, where there were so
many indecent and uncleanly particulars mentioned,
that made all the auditors very weary. Nor was
there any room for his majesty to interpose towards
a reconciliation, which was in view impossible ; nor
could the lady be excused for a great delight she
took in making her husband jealous of her, and in
expressing a contempt of him, whatever else she
was guilty of: and so the king left it as he found it.
And the marquis, who had heard many things he
did not expect to have heard, took his daughter to
his own house, that by her own strict behaviour she
might best vindicate herself from the scandal she
lay under : but she quickly freed him from that hope
and expectation ; for within a short time after, she,
not being able to submit to the strict order and dis-
cipline of her father's house, which would not per-
mit those wanderings she desired to make, nor the
visits she desired to receive, made an escape from
thence, and lodged herself at more liberty, and lived
in that manner as gave too much evidence against
her with reference to the time that was past.
The marquis, who was a man of great honour,
and most punctual in all things relating to justice,
gave a noble instance of both, and how much he de-
tested the base and unworthy behaviour of his own
child, when it was manifest to him. He went to
the other noble family, asked their pardon " for his
" incredulity, and for any offence he had committed
" against them, or reproach he laid upon them e , for
d appeared] Omitted in MS. e them] Omitted in MS.
1/6 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
166G. " the vindication of an unworthy woman, who he
~~ " believed now had deserved all and more aspersions
" than had been laid on her : and therefore he was
" ready to join with them to free the family, as much
" as was possible, from the infamy she had brought
" to them and him, and that her base issue might
" not be an eternal reproach in their family. " Upon
this she was first, upon the complaint of her hus-
band, cited into the court of the arches before the
ecclesiastical judges : where, after a full examina-
tion of witnesses on both sides, and hearing what
she could allege in her own defence, her crime was
declared to be proved sufficiently ; and thereupon a
judgment was pronounced " of a full and entire se-
" paration a toro et a mensa pro causa adulterii"
in such a form, and with such circumstances, as are
of course in those cases.
But all this was not remedy enough against the
bastard's title to the honour of that illustrious fa-
mily : and therefore there was a bill prepared,
wherein all the foul carriage of the lady was set out,
the birth and christening of Ignoto, the declaration
and judgment of the court of the arches, and sepa-
ration of the parties for the adultery proved; and
thereupon a desire that it might be declared by act
A bin of parliament, " that the son, Ignoto by name, is a
foMbis m " bastard, and incapable to inherit any part of the
" title, honour, or estate of or belonging to the house
" of Rutland ; and the same incapacity to attend all
" other children, which from that time, the birth of
" Ignoto, had or might be born from the body of
" that lady. " And this bill being presented to the
house of peers by a lord nearly allied to that family,
the earl of Rutland being present with the marquis, as
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 177
soon as it was read the marquis stood up, and " with l GC6.
" expressions of trouble, and of the justice that was~
" due to the greatness of a noble house, that had
" received a foul blemish by a woman of too near a
" relation to him, of whom he was ashamed," gave f
his free consent to the bill, and desired that it might
pass : and the earl likewise besought the house, " that
" so infamous a branch might not be ingrafted into
" his family, of which his son, the lord Roos, was
" the sole heir male, with whom the honour must
" expire. "
It was a case of general concernment as well as
compassion, that an impudent woman should have
the power to give an heir to inherit a noble title
and fortune by descent, when it was so notoriously
known and adjudged to be illegitimate, and a mere
stranger to the blood of the house. Yet there were
some very good lords, and who detested the woman
and the wickedness, made much scruple of making
a new precedent in a particular case, that under- Some lords
mined a foundation of law, and opened a door to let precedent
in an unjust declaration, upon pretences not so well nre . " s
proved, to the disinherison of one that should not
be illegitimate. But though it was a rare case, it
was found not to be a new one, there having been
one or two declarations of bastardy in parliament in
the reign of king Henry VII. and Henry VIII.
However, it was as just that she should be heard,
to defend both herself and her son ; and therefore
the bill being read the second time, it was com-
mitted, with direction " that the lady should have
" personal notice * to attend, before the committee
f gave] and therefore gave e notice] Omitted in MS.
VOL. III. N
178 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
166C. entered upon it:" and after long inquiry at the
~~ places where she used to be, it was found that she
had transported herself into Ireland, in the company
of the person whom she had preferred before her
husband; and there was reason to believe, that it
was after she had notice of the bill. However, all
proceedings were respited till there was full proof
given to the house, by the person himself who had
spoken with her in Ireland, and given her the war-
rant that required her attendance upon the com-
mittee : and then, after many days longer delay, it
was read and debated, and by the committee re-
ported to the house to be engrossed.
The duke And then, and not till then, the duke of Bucking-
hlS U ob-" g nam opposed the passing of it, upon pretence, " that
struct* the in the bill the lord Roos h na d assumed a title that
bill.
" belonged to him by his mother, who had been
" heir female to Francis earl of Rutland ;" when
that title, now challenged, had descended to George
the brother of Francis, and had been enjoyed by two
earls of Rutland since. It was generally thought
a strange exception : nor was it known, whether
the duke was disposed to it as a revenge upon the
marquis, or to shew his own power, (for he had
many who concurred with him in both houses upon
many occasions,) or whether he did in truth desire
to support the lady in her infamy, he not being over-
tender in cases of that nature. However, it was
necessary to recommit the bill, that some expedient
might be there found to remove the obstruction,
which though he was obstinate in till the house was
tired with many days debate upon it, in which most
11 the lord Rwos] Omitteti in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 179
of his adherents upon the unreasonableness left him, 1666.
he persisted still and maintained the debate almost
alone, till the time of the session approached ; when
the lord Roos was compelled to humour him in
leaving out a title that all the world gave him.
And then, after intolerable vexation to the house But it is
and loss of time, he desisted to appear against it ; p ass e e d S
and the act passed the royal assent.
The ill humour of the house of commons was not 1667.
abated ; and though they knew well that their Irish
bill could never have passed the upper house but by
the king's powerful interposition, they remained
still jealous, or pretended to be so, that he would
not give his assent ; which till he should do, they
would admit no debate of money : so that as soon
as the bill was presented to him, his majesty came
to the house of peers, and sent for the commons to
attend him upon the 18th day of January ; when,
after he had given his consent to that and another
private bill which they had presented, he told them,
" that he had now passed their bills, and that he The idn^
" had been in hope to have had other bills ready to iriTiTbn'f
" have passed too. " He said, " that he could not^h.
" forget, that within few days after their coming
" together in September, both houses had presented
" to him their vote and declaration, that they would
" give him a supply proportionable to his occasions ;
" and the confidence of that had made him anti-
" cipate that small part of his revenue which was
" unanticipated, for the payment of the seamen ;
" and his credit had gone further than he had rea-
" son to think it would, but it was now at an end.
" This was the first day," he said, " he had heard
" of a supply, being the 18th of January, and what
N 2
180 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. " it would amount unto, God only knew ; and what
" time he had to make such preparations as were
" necessary to meet three such enemies as he had,
" they could well enough judge. And he must tell
" them, what discourses soever were abroad, he was
" not in any treaty ; but by the grace of God he
" would not give over himself and them, but would
" do what was in his power for defence of both. It
" was high time for them to make good their pro-
" raise ; and it was high time for them to be in the
" country, as well for the raising of money, as that
" the lords lieutenants and deputy lieutenants might
" watch those seditious spirits which were at work
" to disturb the public peace. And therefore he
" was resolved to put an end to that session on
" Monday next come sennight, before which time
" he desired that all things might be made ready
" that he was to despatch. " His majesty said, " he
" was not willing to complain that they had dealt
" unkindly with him in a bill he had then passed,
" in which they had manifested a greater distrust of
" him than he had deserved. He did not pretend
" to be without infirmities, but he had never broken
" his word to them ; and if he did not flatter him-
" self, the nation had never less cause to complain
" of grievances, or the least injustice or oppression,
" than it had had in those seven years since it had
" pleased God to restore him to them : he would,"
he said, " be glad to be used accordingly. "
This little quickness in his majesty prevailed more
upon them, than all the former application had done :
and now they saw that they should not be suffered
to continue longer together, they resolved to leave
some relish of their former duty and compliance.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 181
Not that the humour was at all reformed or abated 1667.
in those who had shewed so much frowardness, who ~~
still continued as perverse as ever ; but they were
overruled by the major part of the house, as they
would have been sooner, if it had not been that a
contrary course had been pursued to what had been
formerly. Nor were they, who had advised that
change, willing that his majesty should decline the
same method, and were much troubled that he had
not caressed the house more in his late discourse.
And as they had before advised his majesty freely
and without any condition to offer the repeal, and
release the act that had granted the chimney-money
to him, which was a very good and a growing reve-
nue, but they observed to be unpopular ; upon a pre-
sumption (which they assured him could not fail)
that so generous an action in his majesty towards
his people would be immediately requited by a grant
of much greater value, (and they had prevailed in
this counsel, if the chancellor and the treasurer had
not with great resolution opposed it, and made evi-
dent to his majesty, " that he ought never to pro-
" pose it himself though with conditions, because
" it would make the grace undervalued, and the
" conditions to be esteemed unreasonable ; nor to
" hearken to any general proposition, or consent to
" the repeal of that act, without having a full and
" equivalent recompense (which ought to be very
" well weighed) granted in the same act of parlia-
" ment ; for he had now sufficient evidence, that the
" constant good-humour of the house was not to
" be depended upon :" which confirmed his majesty
to resolve never to hearken to the one without the
other, and so that mischief was prevented :) so they
182 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. were' now as desirous that the house of commons
~ would still press the despatch of the bill of accounts,
which rested in the lords' house ; and assured them,
" that if they would embrace the same positiveness
" they had done, the chancellor would be no more
" able to hinder the passing of that act, than he had
*' been to keep his majesty from consenting to the
** Irish bill so much against his resolution. " But
they and their friends could not keep up the same
spirit of stubbornness in the house, nor prevail
with the king to recede from his purpose : so that
the bill for accounts remained still in the house of
lords not fully discussed. And such a progress was
made in the house of commons, notwithstanding all
A supply opposition, that a bill for supply was prepared within
the time prescribed, though in respect of the pro-
portion not equal to the occasions, and entangled
still with the same inconvenient clauses and pro-
visos which had so unwarily been admitted at Ox-
ford, and which made what was granted unapplicable
to the procuring ready money ; of which his majesty
was now fully convinced. But the time was too
short to labour in the alteration. And so the bill,
as it was, was sent up to the lords, who, after the
short formality that cannot be avoided, gave it a
passage through that house : so that it was now
ready for the king.
The king's The eighth of February the king came to the
thTproro- parliament, and the speaker of the house presented
parua- ^ o /
thanked them for it, with his assurance, " that
the money should be laid out for the ends it was
1 so they were] yet were
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 183
" given : however," he said, " he hoped he should 1667.
" live to have bills of this nature in the old style, ~
" with fewer provisos. " He took notice, " that the
" bill of accounts for the money that had been al-
" ready raised since the war was not offered to him:
" but," his majesty said, " that he would take care
" (after so much noise) that the same should not be
" stifled ; but that he would issue out his commis-
" sion in the manner he had formerly promised the
" house of peers ; and the commissioners should
" have very much to answer, if they should not dis-
" cover all matters of fraud and cozenage. " He
told them, " the season of the year was very far
" spent, in which the enemy had got great advan-
" tage ; but by the help of God, he would make all
" the preparations he could, and as fast as he could :
" "and yet he would tell them, that if any good over-
" tures were made for an honourable peace, he would
" not reject them ; and he believed all sober men
" would be glad to see it brought to pass.
" He would now prorogue them till towards win-
" ter, that they might in their several places intend
" the peace and security of their several countries,
" where there were unquiet spirits still working.
" He did pray them," and said, " he did expect it
" from them, that they would use their utmost en-
" deavours to remove all those false imaginations
" out of the hearts of the people, which the malice
*' of ill men had industriously infused into them, of
" he knew not what jealousies and grievances : for
" he must tell them again, and he was sure he was
" in the right, that the people had never so little
*' cause to complain of oppression and grievances, as
N 4
184 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. " they had since his return to them. If the taxes
~" ' and impositions were grievous and heavy upon
" them, they would put them in mind, that a war
" with such powerful enemies could not be main-
" tained without taxes ; and he was sure the money
" raised thereby came not into his purse. " He con-
cluded " with promising himself good effects from
" their affections and wisdoms, wherever they were :
" and he did hope they should all meet again of one
" mind, for his honour, and the good of the king-
" dom. " And so they were prorogued to the tenth
day of October next.
beking And now the king had very much to do, more
lS? than he had time or tools to despatch. Yet he be-
jSio / gan first where the parliament left off k , that when
ots'" *^ e y came again together, they might have no cause
to say, that he had not performed what he had pro-
mised, and so with the same passion renew their
clamour upon the accounts, which was made now a
very popular complaint; and whoever was accused
of obstructing that examination, was presently con-
cluded to have had a share in the prey. Yet he was
not willing that such a strict account or examina-
tion should be made, especially into the receipt of
the lord Ashley for the prizes, that all the world
should know what money had been issued out by his
own immediate orders, and to whom. Hereupon he
commanded his attorney and solicitor general to pre-
pare a commission, with all necessary clauses, to call
all persons to account who had received any such
monies, and to examine and take any exception to
the same.
k off] Not in MS.
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 185
And that there might be no just exception to the 1667.
commission, which he knew would be strictly looked ~~
into, they were required " to advise with all or any
" of the judges, that it might have their approba-
" tion ; and that there should be a clause in the com-
" mission, whereby the commissioners should be
" authorized to call any of the judges to their assist-
" ance, when upon any matters of difficulty they
" should think it necessary. " And that there might
be no exception to any of the commissioners, as like
to be partial in respect of friendship or alliance to
any of those who were to be called before them, his
majesty appointed all those persons, who were nomi-
nated for commissioners in the bill sent to the house
of lords by the commons, to be inserted into this
commission ; and likewise made choice of such a
number of the peers as was fit, to be joined to the
others, and named those who had upon all debates
in the house appeared most solicitous, that a very
exact account should be required, and of such others
who had no relation to the court, and were looked
upon with the utmost l esteem by the house of com-
mons : all which was prepared with the expedition
that was possible, and the commission sealed; and
notice given to all the commissioners, that they
should meet at a place appointed ; upon a day
named, presently after Easter, by which time the
judges would be returned out of their circuits" 1 ;
and they were then at liberty to adjourn to what
place they pleased.
We are now to enter upon the occurrences of the
year 1667, a year little more prosperous to the pub-
1 utmost] most circuits] circuit
186 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1667. He than the year preceding, and fatal in respect to n
"many calamitous accidents to the chancellor, and
which put a period to his greatness; the circum-
stances whereof, very notorious, were so interwoven
with the public transactions of state, that it is not
easy to make a distinct and clear relation of the one
without the other.
The king The temper the parliament had been in, and the
involved . . . .
in great dif- delay they had used in giving the king any supply
towards the carrying on the war, made the king
discern that he had been too confident of their gene-
rosity, and that they had already departed from that
spirit with which they first had persuaded him to
enter into that war : and it was as evident (which
had been often foretold to him) that the Dutch could
endure being beaten longer than he could endure to
beat them. They were now relieved and supplied
with the money of France, and the governing party
had subdued all contradictions ; and whatever their
affections were, all compliance and submission ap-
peared to the commands of the state ; and there
wanted nothing but the season of the year to carry
their fleet again to sea, as great and as well provided
as it had ever been. All murmuring was trans-
planted from thence into England, where it grew
up plentifully : and the king was, upon the credit of
an act of parliament that was passed on the eighth
of February, to provide a fleet ready to encounter
with the potent enemies in the spring. There was
no trade by sea, and therefore could not be much by
land, that could bring any benefit to the king ; and
the seamen ran all to the privateers, who adventured
11 to] ol
EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 187
for booty, which they preferred before serving in the 1 667.
royal navy.
The king' in those straits called that council to- He consults
gether with whom he used to consult his most se-^^tTee
cret affairs ; and the chief officers at sea, and the u *
commissioners of the navy, attended to give such in- state of his
affairs.
formation as was necessary before any resolution
could be taken. There the whole state of the navy
was inquired into? ; what was in the stores, and
what the defects or deficiencies were, and what
hopes there were of supplying them ; what ships
were ready, and what would be made ready in three
months. The victualler was sent for, to give an ac-
count what provision of victuals was ready, and
what could be provided and put on board in the
same time, which was the utmost that could be li-
mited. Every officer protested, " that there could
" not be the least attempt^ towards any preparations
" without a good sum of ready money :" and the
yards were in that necessity by reason of the great
arrear of wages that was due to them, that they
were near a mutiny, and could not be kept to their
work, being necessitated to do any work abroad to
get victual for their families. The inferior officers,
which belonged to the stores, lived by stealing and
selling what they were intrusted to keep.
